By Thanos' words, there was a flash of naked mortification across Tony's face before his struggling was redoubled. He fell back to the earth, just barely catching himself on all fours. Before another word could be said, every nanite reformed into a gauntlet circling his left arm that he thrust at Thanos and fired.

There was only dust left in the wake of the blast. Once again, the Titan had vanished. His arm remained raised, shaking futilely.