"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, girlie? You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain - to enjoy it - righteous anger won't hurt me for long - I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson -"

—Bellatrix Lestrange to Rose Potter.

The very idea of an Unforgivable Curse was something that Rose Potter hated at the moment. She was the only witch in this universe - she, and she alone had access to its magic - But pumping in power wouldn't change one, simple fact; she was trying to protect Quill, not abuse him. The spell fizzled out on contact.

"No! No you didn't!" Quill yelled as he used the butt of his gun to pummel Thanos in the face.

"Quill!" Tony yelled as Mantis gasped, starting to lose her control over the Mad Titan. Stark grabbed Quill's arm, but wasn't quick enough to stop a few more hits. "Hey, stop! Hey, stop! Stop! Hey, stop! Stop!" Tony's voice began to get more and more frantic.

Meanwhile, Peter was using his super-strength to pull on the Gauntlet. Rose let go of her ropes in order to assist him. Thanos came back to his senses. Strange wasn't ready for the sudden pressure as Mantis was thrown back and Rose let go, and was pulled forward and slammed into the ground. "It's coming, it's coming!" He shouted. "I got it, I got it!"

Rose was quick to assist the boy. She wrapped her magic around the gauntlet, and literally flung it a couple dozen yards across the moon... with Spider-Man still attached. Thanos roared with anger, and threw Mantis off from her position around her neck. Peter's 'saving-people' instinct kicked in, and he bounced off the Gauntlet to catch her, leaving the metal contraption to sit in a small crater as they were carried away by their momentum.

Drax was the next to go, as Thanos kicked his leg with enough force to produce a small 'boom' noise, which flung the alien away, into Star-Lord and Nebula. Dr. Strange had started to get up from the ground, but was grabbed and flung into Iron Man, who had flown into the air to target his missiles at the psychopath. Rose poured some power into the runes on her shoes, floating up and coating her leg in magic as she caught the Titan in the side of the head, sending him stumbling a few feet to the right.

Star-Lord raised his guns, firing at the Titan, the bullets bouncing off his durable skin. He growled and backhanded Nebula, who came running at him, and brought his other arm down on Drax, who swiftly counted with a dagger, which shattered, embedding metal fragments into the purple alien's hand. Thanos howled. "You can not defeat me!"

Iron Man came back into the fight, Strange floating beside him. "Really? Sorta seems to me like that's what we're doing right now. Weird." He powered up his chest repulsor and fired a beam of energy at the Titan, sending him back to a waiting Rose, who sent him back with a Confringo, allowing Strange to to finish the combo by slamming him into the ground with the Mystic Arts.

"Not so tough, are you now, big guy?" Quill sneered as they all surrounded the crater in which Thanos laid, smoking. "Guess without the glove you're just a really nasty, annoying, weak alien."

Thanos muttered something under his breath. "What was that?" Tony asked, his mask folding away.

"I said... You're all fools..." Rose caught sight of the sun reflecting off of something, and she belatedly realized that Strange had blasted the man directly into where the Infinity Gauntlet had fallen earlier.

"No!" She screamed, reaching out with both hands, sending an overpowered Petrificus Totalus at the Titan, but it was too late. He quickly slipped the glove on, not even stopping to relish in the rush of power in order to block the spell from hitting his body, causing it to bounce off and instead hit the still-recovering Mantis, who had just stumbled back into the fight, causing her limbs to lock up and fall over, moaning in pain.

The rest of the assembled heroes took aim, but the Mad Titan took a page out of Strange's book and opened a portal beneath himself that let him out right behind Drax, who he quickly kicked into the pit, knocking him out as he fell onto the condensed rock. Nebula reacted soon after, stabbing Thanos in the leg with a dagger, which he pulled out and jammed back into her arm, blood leaking out of both wounds. He grabbed his daughter with the gauntlet, which glowed purple, making the cyborg go limp as she blacked out. He dropped her, discarding her at his feet as the rest of the group looked at him warily.

Tony was the first to charge in, the nanotech in his suit forming an energy sword, which sizzled as it made contact with Thanos' skin, but didn't cut much more than a centimeter deep. The alien growled, but grabbed onto the suit and tossed it back, the Gauntlet glowing red, causing the suit to sink into the ground like it was quicksand, then harden. Stark grunted, and started using his rockets to get out of the ground, but was out of the fight for the moment.

Thanos was suddenly hit in the back of the head by two of Quill's shots. He marched over to him, but Spider-Man suddenly jumped out from being the Guardian and attached two webs to the Mad Titan's shoulders. Rose sent a Bombarda through each hand, hitting Thanos in the back of each knee, weakening his stance, allowing for Peter to use his super-strength to pull him to the ground. Strange took advantage of this and sent a fireball at his opponent, only for Thanos to repeat his earlier trick and absorb the fire and return it to the sender, luckily missing as the cape pulled Stephen out of the way.

Thanos growled, and got up, but had his foot stuck to the ground by another one of Quill's contraptions, which Rose added a layer of ice on top of. The Titan growled and one of his stones glowed, allowing him to move his foot freely through the objects. He took another step towards Quill, but quickly turned around and planted his foot in the chest of Spider-Man, who had tried to pull the same trick a second time. The teenager was shot backwards, but was caught by Stark as he managed to break free of the ground holding him. "Kid, you alright?"

"Yeah, thanks Mr. Stark," Peter wheezed, then coughed up some blood. "Maybe... a quick rest, though..." Tony set the boy down near the wreckage of the ship as the Mad Titan volleyed an explosive device back at Quill, knocking him away.

"Don't close your eyes too long," he warned. "We still need you." The hero then took off, making his way back to the fight, just in time to see Strange get taken down by a shot from one of the stones. He sped up, and transformed one of his feet into a clamp, which he locked onto Thanos' ungloved hand. He then did a bit of Wing Chun to the Titan's face, his strength boosted by his armor. "Learned that one just for Natasha," He commented.

The Titan was about to respond, but was cut off by Rose sending two Sectumsempra's at him, cutting into his chest, making him cough up blood. Stark punched the part where the two slices intersected, causing Thanos to groan in pain and counterattack, swinging the Gauntlet around to make contact with Stark, sending him hurtling into a monolith and freeing the Titan's second arm.

"Witch," Thanos addressed, finally in a one versus one against Rose. "I find myself somewhat glad you survived the explosion of your ship. I do not wish to cause death..." He trailed off, seeing her furious eyes.

"I've faced off against psychopaths before, and if this isn't looking like death, I don't know what does," She snarked back.

"Psychopath?" The Titan questioned. "Bold words coming from the women who was ready to take over her teammates' mind." Rose's breath hitched. 'How did he... One of the Stones! It must have informed him.' Still, the Mad Titan was not incorrect.

"I was doing it for his own good."

The Titan nodded. "Just like I'm doing this for the good of the universe. I don't relish in death, I relish in life. If some need to die to save the rest, they should be honored with their sacrifice."

Rose rolled her eyes. "You're insane."

"That's not the first time I've been told that, and I assume it won't be the last." All of the sudden, he raised his gauntlet at her, firing a beam of energy at her, which she blocked with a Protego Duo. The barrier remained solid, but the sheer force was still pushed her backwards. Luckily, Peter came to the save, catapulting a rock, which exploded into dust against the Titan's arm, and stopped the beam. "Vermin..." Thanos muttered.

The Gauntlet glowed as he pointed it in Peter's direction. Pillars of earth shot up from the ground. Peter was keeping up for the first few, jumping from one to the other, but eventually lost his footing and fell. The pillars quickly collapsed and buried the boy in rubble. "Peter!" Rose screamed, her protective instincts calling out to the boy. Unfortunately, she had more urgent matters.

In her distraction, Thanos had gotten behind her, and decked her, sending her hurtling through the thin atmosphere thirty feet away, where she laid, groaning. She watched as Tony, the last Avenger standing, faced off against the Titan. "Stark," the Titan acknowledged.

"What am I supposed to say, glad you know who I am?" Thanos snorted.

"Or something. You are not the only one gifted... or, rather, cursed, with knowledge." Something changed on the Titan's face. Rose knew the look well. She had seen it on Voldemort's face many a time. One of both respect... and fear.

"Less talking, more getting pounded into a pulp, Raisin Bran," Tony grinned, sending missiles at the Titan, who was unable to react fast enough. The explosions, which could've leveled a mountain, barely managed to send the Titan back a foot or two.

"Is that all you've got?" He growled, taking a steady step forward as Iron Man focused two repulsors at him. He raised the Gauntlet, blocking the two beams, fighting against the force. Tony upped the power. The Titan grunted, but still took another step forward. As soon as he got close, Tony cut off the power flow and flew around to deliver a quick to the Titan's back, counting on him being off balance.

Unluckily, the Titan had recovered quickly, and caught the outstretched leg and threw the man in the suit to the ground. He hit the Bleeding Edge suit, tearing off the helmet, and more nanotech filled in to replace it, over and over. Tony must have seen something in his HUD, because he diverted power to his feet thrusters, blasting him away, and bringing Thanos down to a knee, but he quickly got up.

"He's... definitely aiming to kill," Rose said to herself, struggling to get to her feet. His entire fighting style was different. He was aiming for fatal blows instead of unconsciousness, like he had been previously... Which meant he had been holding back against them, and still winning. She growled. She had had enough of being underestimated about two centuries ago. She cracked her neck and powered the runes in her shoes.

As she flew over, she saw what was about to happen in slow motion. Stark formed a sword with most of his remaining nanotech, and thrust it at Thanos. The move was practically televised, and the Titan easily dodged, and broke the sword off from the rest of the suit, turning it around. Rose pushed more power into her shoes, some of the runes starting to smoke, and she made it just in time to push the hero out of the way, taking the sword in her right lung instead. She and Stark crashed into the ground, and she coughed, blood starting to dribble from her mouth. Just because she couldn't die didn't mean she couldn't become temporarily disabled...

Thanos raised the Gauntlet at them. "Two for the price of one..." He muttered, smiling slightly. That fear... It was still there. But now, there was triumph, too. He had defeated his two greatest foes. All because...

"Dad..." Rose whispered, looking at the superhero's face. The instant she had seen him, she had been shaken by how much Tony Stark looked like James Potter. The more she learned about him, the more certain she became... Tony Stark was this reality's version of her father. The Gauntlet started to glow. She frowned. She had been too young to protect her father and mother last time. Here she was, failing again to protect the ones she loved... A choked out sob sent more blood dribbling out of her mouth.

"Stop!" A voice called out.

"Strange..." Tony muttered, the only one of the two able to move still, identified the voice.

"Spare their lives..."

"Strange... no..." Tony coughed, his wounds starting to catch up to him.

"... and I will give you the Stone." Rose wanted to scream, tell Strange not to, but she recalled the memories she had plucked from his mind using Legilimency. This... needed to happen. It brought their chance to win up to 1 in 10284, which was... better than before, at least. She shushed Tony, hoping her eyes displayed enough urgency as she gurgled on her blood.

"No tricks," Thanos laid down the law. He did not drop his hand, even as Strange revealed the Time Stone from the pocket realm where he had hidden it. They started at the glowing, green stone for a few moments before it floating over into Thanos' grasp. He smiled, admiring the jewel for a moment before putting it into the Gauntlet, and more power flowed through him. He smirked... "One to go." Tony looked on in disbelief as the Mad Titan started to teleport away, presumably to Earth, where Vision resided.

All of the sudden... A yell. Quill came flying over one of the hills, but his shots were ultimately ineffective against the Titan's armor, where he then finished teleporting to, the portal closing behind him. Quill fell, his rocket shoes out of power, and he rolled on the ground, but he quickly got to his feet. "Where is he?" He yelled, looking around wildly for the alien who had just disappeared. His eyes came to rest on Tony, who had gotten up and was kneeling over Rose, a device sticking out of his suit, spraying something that was healing her wound. "Did we just lose...?" He questioned. He did not get an answer.

Tony finished sealing up the wound, and helped Rose sit up and lay her back against a rock. He looked at Strange. "Why would you do that...?"

Strange couldn't tell him the truth. That wasn't in the cards he was dealt. Instead, he settled with, "We're in the endgame, now."

Over the next few minutes, the group all managed to gather around. Tony wasted no time in digging Peter out of the rubble he had been trapped in, the teen's enhanced durability luckily saving his life. All of the sudden, Mantis straightened up. "Something's happening..." She whimpered. Particles started to flake off of her body, much to everyone else's surprise. Then... all of the sudden, she was gone.

Drax was next. It was slower. "Quill...?" He asked, looking to the man who had been leading him for the past couple years. Even if he had his moments, he was one of the people Drax trusted most. Then... he was gone. Quill himself was next. "Steady, Quill," Tony tried to assure, but couldn't do much to stop it.

"Tony..." Strange started. Tony turned around slowly to see pieces flake off of Strange's skin as he, too, started to disappear. "There was no other way." The Sorcerer Supreme dissolved with those words.

"Mr. Stark...?" 'No... no... Not him, too. Please, not him.' Tony thought as he turned around to face the teen he had started to see as somewhat of a son, if not a protege. "I don't feel so good..." The teen whimpered. His voice was shaky, along with his movements, as he walked towards Stark.

"You're alright," The hero tried to assure, but he didn't know what to do. Flakes started peeling off of Peter, and he held back a sob.

"I don't... I don't know what's happening. I don't know..." He stumbled, falling into Tony's arms. "I don' want to go. I don't want to go, sir. Please." There was so much fear in the boy's voice. Tony wished he could stop it. It was taking longer. Peter's natural healing factor and durability were elongating the process. "Please, I don't want to go. I don't want to go." Tony laid him down on the ground to save his energy. They looked at each other. "I'm sorry..." Peter whispered, as he, too, dissolved.

Nebula stood over Stark. "He did it..." Stark sat down, and waited for he, himself, to dissolve. But... no flakes were coming off of his skin. He choked back another sob. He was losing everyone... Even the kid... The kid! Stark's head whipped around to Rose, who's body was flaking too, and shaking. He ran over to her, only to find her hand over her mouth. He rested his hand over hers.

"Everything's going to be alright," he promised, trying to soothe her passing. But... she wasn't disappearing. She was flaking constantly, but nothing was fading to dust. He moved her hand... and then he heard the screaming she had been muffling. It was pure, agonizing, undiluted pain. His heart broke to hear it, but he quickly placed her hand back over her mouth, quieting the noises again. "What the hell...?" Dust was still coming off of her.

"What's going on?" Nebula asked in her monotone, but somehow, he could hear the concern in her voice.

"I... don't know." He looked at the girl. "I think... She was chosen, but for some reason..."

"It's not going through," Nebula agreed, leaving him to nod.

"We need to get back to Earth."

And... the end of Infinity War! It was heartbreaking to write, but it needed to be done. I remember starting this with Ragnarok, and just a little idea over a year ago, thinking it would be just a little story to get me into the mood for Avengers: Endgame, but instead, we've gotten this far. Over 750 favorites, nearly 1,200 follows, almost 50-thousand views, and more than 28000 words later... We've come so far. Thank you all for your support.

I'll be seeing you in the next chapter, once we head into Avengers: Endgame...

Much love through these trying times,

- PJO Fan Power