Thanos arrives on Titan, finding only fresh debris from Ebony Maw's ship
Strange was sitting on what may have been plaza steps once "Oh, yeah...you're much more of a 'Thanos.'"
"I take it, the Maw is dead. This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."
"You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."
"And where do you think he brought you?"
Star-Lord crouches behind wreckage with his weapon ready, behind Thanos and to his left; Peter peeks from above and behind Doctor Strange.
"Let me guess. Your home?"
Thanos smiling reminiscently. "It was. And it was beautiful."
Thanos curls his gauntleted fist and activates the Reality Stone to show Strange Titan before it was destroyed -- green lawns, intact buildings, water-filled ponds, strolling citizens, the jack-like structures hovering and connected to the ground-based buildings with beams of energy.
"Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, and not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."
"Genocide."
"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass."
He relaxes his fist; the Stone stops glowing and the illusion fades back into the true state of Titan.
"Congratulations. You're a prophet." Strange says sarcastically
'I'm a survivor."
"Who wants to murder trillions."
"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist; I call that... mercy."
Strange stands. "And then what?"
"I finally rest...and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. "
"The hardest choices require the strongest wills." Strange says
He summons his Mandalas, entering a fighting pose.
"I think you'll find our will...equal...to yours."
"Ours?" Thanos asks
He looks up to a see a chunk of wreckage descending rapidly on him, too rapidly to react -- and powered by Tony and Astrid. He is subsequently crushed by it.
"Piece of cake, Quill." Tony says as he flies in
"Yeah, if your goal was to get him mad!" Star Lord says
The wreckage on top of Thanos erupts in purple, as he bellows in rage. He turns the hovering fragments into a flock of bats with the Reality Stone and swarms Tony and Astrid with them, driving him back through the ruins.
Peter webs his eyes, and swings in to kick him in the face at the same time that Drax leaps from cover, blades in both hands, to knee-slide behind Thanos and try for a tendon slide across the back of the Titan's knee.
Strange jumps through a portal and summons a sword of golden energy, dueling with Thanos while Drax attacks similarly on his other side. Thanos punches Drax through a ruined wall, then shatters the blade with one hand and tears the web from his eyes. He advances on Strange and kicks at him, but Strange's shield absorbs the damage -- the Cloak lifts him free of the ground.
Astrid summons the rocks on the ground and shoots them towards Thanos. She flies towards him and punches his face and kicks him. Thanos throws her to the side.
"Tony, shoot towards me. Now"
Tony looks skeptical. But he does as she asks. He shoots his repulsors towards Astrid, and Astrid closes her eyes and controls the blast. She opens her eyes and everyone turns to look at her.
Her eyes were blue with streaks of yellow, her wings were blue, with a yellow glow around the, and she was hovering in mid air.
She closes her eyes sucks the energy up, and then blasts it all out with as much force as she can, and it causes him to be shaken and falls on the ground.
Here eyes glowed yellow, and her hair glowed yellow, and was floating. She flew towards Thanos and focused her energy on moving the stone.
She started to succeed, the purple red stone started coming off, but Thanos got up and started to pull.
Star-Lord has been making his way back on the ground, and shoots Thanos from behind. Thanos uses the Power Stone to shoot balls of energy at Star-Lord while Star-Lord leaps towards Thanos using magical platforms thrown in his path by Doctor Strange, the last one placed above Thanos' head so Star-Lord can flip over him and slap a mine on Thanos' back. Star-Lord sticks his landing, he disengages his helmet, and falls backward into a portal.
"Boom!"
The explosion knocks Thanos to his knees and dazes him briefly.
"Do not let him close his fist." Strange says to the Cloak
The Cloak swoops off Doctor Strange's shoulders and wraps itself tightly around Thanos' armored hand, who starts tugging at this unexpected wrapping.
Doctor Strange starts throwing portals everywhere. Peter leaps through one on Thanos' left
Astrid was continuing to try to pry the reality stone off the gauntlet.
"Magic!"
He punches Thanos in the head and vanishes through a portal to the lower right before reappearing above Thanos
"More magic!"
He yanks Thanos' head down hard, then leaps into a portal in front of him. He leaps through another portal high and behind Thanos
"Magic with a kick!"
Delivers a flying kick and falls feet-first into an exit, then appears on his right
"Magic with a--"
Before he can finish Thanos turns, grabbing him from the air, and throwing him to the ground, with his hand around his neck.
"Insect!"
He then throws him at Doctor Strange, knocking them both down. He swings his left arm around and Astrid looses the grab she had. She falls panting to the ground. Thanos finally tears the Cloak away and is then promptly surrounded by fiery explosions as Iron Man bombards him. He sucks all the flame into the gauntlet with the Power Stone and fires it in a stream at Iron Man, hitting him dead on and sending him far away, plowing through a massive fallen machine.
Peter leaps from behind, more conventionally this time, while Thanos concentrates his fire on Tony, webs the gauntlet and drops down in front of him, pulling hard -- but Thanos yanks on the web-line, pulling the much lighter teenager towards him, and punching him on his way past. He tears the webbing free of the gauntlet just in time for a small spaceship to attempt to crash-land on him.
The ship drags Thanos along for a distance, burying him under debris. He stands just as the pilot leaps in a great arc to punch him, landing in front of him with an energy-blade at the ready.
"Well, well." Thanos says
Nebula runs at Thanos, attacking him with her sword. "Where's Gamora?!"
Thanos punches her away. Strange uses the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to pinion the gauntlet, pulling Thanos' fingers open and trying to pry the gauntlet off his hand.
Thanos tries to pull free, as Drax slides in from his right, kicking his knee and knocking him off-balance, then wrapping himself around Thanos' kneeling leg.
Star-Lord shoots a electric trap onto the ground to Thanos' right, the tangle-field holding down his unarmored hand.
Peter swings in, webs Thanos' chest then wraps it around behind him, digging his Iron Spider legs into the ground to anchor himself.
Astrid flies in, and controls the ground underneath him and makes a small whole, which his legs fall into, and controls the dirt to fill the whole.
Strange opens a portal straight above Thanos' out of which drops Mantis, landing on the Titan's shoulders, her hands on his temples. He bellows as she tries to put him under.
Tony, having returned, is pulling on the gauntlet. Doctor Strange reapplies the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak to reinforce the trap's hold on Thanos' right hand, and the Cloak helps him pull. Thanos is finally subdued enough to incapacitate, not fully asleep.
"Is he under? Don't let up." Tony says
Mantis starts to cry. "Be quick. He is very strong."
"Parker, help! Get over here."
Peter drops his web-line, and hurries to help Tony with the gauntlet.
"She can't hold him much longer. Let's go." Tony says
Star Lord flies over to join the others, stands in front of Thanos, tauntingly. "I thought you'd be harder to catch. For the record, this was my plan. Not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?"
"My Gamora...?"
"No. Where is she?"
"He is in anguish." Mantis says
"Good." Star Lord says
"He... he mourns."
"What does this monster have to mourn?" Drax says
"Gamora."
"What?" Star Lord says stunned.
"My Gamora...?" Thanos whispers.
Nebula realizes with horror and sadness what has happened. "He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone... but she didn't"
Tony frasps the danger immediately and de-helmets. "Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now, you understand?"
Quill slowly turns to Thanos
"Don't, don't, don't engage, we've almost got this off!" Tony yells pleadingly
"Tell me she's lying. Tell me you didn't do it!"
"I... had... to." Thanos whispers.
Star Lord starts to tear up; quietly. "No, you didn't...! No, you didn't...!"
He then snaps and starts pistol-whipping Thanos thrice in the face, causing Mantis to let go in pain.
"NO, YOU DIDN'T!"
"QUILL!" Tony yells
Tony leaps for Star-Lord's arm, re-helmeting and leaving Peter to pull off the gauntlet.
"Hey, stop! Hey, stop! Stop! Hey, stop! Stop!" Tony yells at Star Lord.
"It's coming! It's coming! It's coming! I got it! I got it.... !" Peter yells excitedly
Thanos wakes completely, now well and truly furious. He head-butts Mantis, grabbing the cuff of the gauntlet just as it is sliding off his hand, causing Peter to stumble back, and then throwing Mantis away off his shoulders.
Astrid looses concentration and Thanos slaps her away.
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Next chapter coming soon
Keep reading my little avengers and keep the world safe!
AVENGERS
Assemble