It Begins With Taking The Stones Away From Thanos. Tony Smirks, Content And Proud That He Outsmarted

It begins with taking the stones away from Thanos. Tony smirks, content and proud that he outsmarted his greatest enemy. 

This enemy haunted him for years. He was buried so deep in his subconsciousness, armies he had sent to conquer Earth made Tony feel so small. He felt like he could not control his life, his destiny. The threat that he witnessed during the attack on New York was much larger than anyone could have foreseen , and he knew it. He felt it. He knew it was coming, but no one would listen. He tried to protect his planet and  its people, but none of his attempts payed off. 

In the end, there he was, looking at this monster, knowing his moment has finally come. 

“And I…” he starts saying the very words that made the living legend come to life in the public eye. The words that best described him. Creature in front of him might be inevitable, but he IS Iron Man. He controls his own faith. He is no longer afraid. He is ready. 

Power surge starts flowing through his heart, right across the chest. He pauses for a moment to gather strength for words that are supposed to come. It burns, he feels the energy passing through his whole body. 

“am”, he says breathlessly. He couldn’t have imagined that he would be in this much pain. 

He smirks for the last time, shortly, as he feels he doesn’t have much strength left. Just long enough so Thanos knows he was never good enough to beat a man like him. 

His eyes fill with tears. His pain is immense, he feels the power of the stones is tearing him apart from the inside. Every cell in his body is getting electrocuted. With devastation in his eyes, he accepts what is about to come. Losing Pepper, Morgan, Rhodey, Happy, losing his very essence and life. He is saddened that all he has overcome ends like this. But he always knew he would have a bitter end. 

“Iron Man.” the last act of defiance of great Tony Stark. Great titan being beaten by a man. An ordinary man with no superpowers. Just a mechanic with his intellect. 

He does not give up. 

Snap.