A moment later, Thanos is there.

"You fools," he says. "Thinking you could undo my great work. I am inevitable."

The arc of green lightning continues and intensifies.

The Ancient One is struggling.

:Help me,: she says to all the mages. :I can't channel enough power alone.:

Strange takes her hand and helps her.

:Vanyel?: 

:This place doesn't have nodes -: 

Leareth makes an impatient mental gesture at the Time Stone.

...That is not a node. If a node were a puddle after a rainstorm, that would be the ocean. 

It's probably not even the stupidest thing he's ever done. 

Vanyel reaches out to take Leareth's hand, both physically and mentally, slipping into rapport as Leareth joins with Strange. He reaches for the stone. 

- it hurts a LOT - 

He rides the wave. Stays in control, barely, and adds ten time the channeling-capacity of an ordinary Velgarth Adept to the mix. 

Leareth, for all his millennia of practice, isn't sure he would be able to do this at all, let alone with any level of safety, if Vanyel weren't there in mind-rapport with him. 

He adds his strength as well. 

REVEEEEEEEEEEEEENGE!!!!!! 

Brightstar has neither the Gift strength nor the training that he would really need to do this, but he's more than angry enough to make up for it. 

....Nayoki, on reflection, is going to stay out of this one. She has a suspicion that if this lasts more than ten seconds, very soon there are going to be three unconscious mages on the ground, and someone needs to be capable of dealing with whatever happens next. 

And Featherfire, who isn't a mage and can't help with the energy-channelling at all, instead flings out her Animal Mindspeech Gift to its full range - are there any minds registering to her, are any of them big - 

There aren't any particularly big animal minds in range.

As the mages channel the Time Stone's power, a bubble of energy starts growing from the stone around the Ancient One's neck.

When the bubble is big enough to encompass all the Avengers, Strange shouts mentally at the group.

:Go! Go! Go! I don't know how long we can hold him.:

One by one the Avengers except Strange wink out.

Vanyel doesn't hear Strange. There's no space in him for anything, anymore, except the blazing power of the stone. 

....Leareth gave her very firm orders, for a contingency like this one. 

Get Vanyel out first. 

Vanyel does not seem to be capable of listening to her right now, so Nayoki dives into his mind - normally she'd have no chance of getting through, but his native shields are wide open for the concert-meld, and the talisman he's wearing is Leareth's work, one that she's keyed to. 

She doesn't need him to be aware of what's happening, to seize control of his hand and toggle the controls on his suit. 

:Brightstar! Get out–: 

:Do not wait: Nayoki yells at Featherfire, with the power of her Mindhealing Gift behind it, and an instant later Featherfire winks out along with Vanyel. 

And she turns to Leareth -

With Vanyel out of the meld, more of the strain is suddenly falling onto Leareth. Like a building dropped on his head. 

He collapses onto his knees, barely clinging to consciousness, but still holding the meld and channeling power. 

:Get. Out.: Strange says to Leareth.

Leareth hears him, this time, as though from a very very long way off. 

He isn't sure he can, he's mostly incapable of feeling his body at all, but he fumbles at the controls of the suit with nerveless hands. He practiced that part, a lot, he wanted it deep in muscle memory for exactly this sort of situation -

- he would check with Strange if the man has a plan to get the Time Stone - and himself - out in time, but there very clearly isn't time to even ask -

- he releases his link to the Time Stone, but clumsily, and manages to drop an incredible amount of energy kind of on top of himself, and as he vanishes from the New York of 2012, there's nothing but an instant of agony and then nothing at all. 

:GO!: Nayoki screams at Brightstar, and mashes her own suit controls to follow Leareth. 

Brightstar doesn't want to go.

Thanos isn't DEAD yet. 

He starts to reach for his suit panel anyway, but slowly, he's fighting the set-command -

Moments after Leareth leaves the meld, the bubble collapses. The 2012 Time Stone explodes violently, instantly killing the three who remain. Even Thanos is badly injured, and portals to safety immediately.

Strange, Brightstar, and the Ancient One wake up in a featureless grey hall.

Strange gets his bearings quickly.

"Alright, we're dead," he tells the others. "Luckily, I've been here before, and the god who rules this place is able and willing to send people back to help fight Thanos."

He starts walking towards what feels like the central anchor-point of the Halls, where he expects to find Mandos. The Ancient One follows him.