"Oh yeah. You're much more of a Thanos."
Strange sits on the set of dilapidated steps, surrounded by wreckage, as he watches Thanos appear and walk toward him. The planet around them is quiet, eerily so. The others have already scattered as part of Tony's plan, lying in wait until the Mad Titan appears.
"I take it the Maw is dead," he replies. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."
"You may regret that," Strange deadpans. "He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."
Thanos sighs, "And where do you think he brought you?"
"Let me guess. Your home?"
The Mad Titan stops for a moment, his hand upon his thigh, as he gazes down for a moment. He looks at the Infinity Gauntlet he's currently wielding, the sight of the Soul Stone bringing him back to Vormir, to Gamora, but he shakes it off. It was a necessary sacrifice—painful as it was—and it brought him here, one step closer to his goal.
"It was," Thanos replies.
Activating the Reality Stone, the landscape around them ripples. Lush greenery appears, replacing the wreckage of countless ships and civilizations, and the blue sky above them is filled with clouds as ships travel to and from the planet.
"And it was beautiful. Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."
Strange frowns, "Genocide."
"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman, and what I predicted came to pass," he says, the illusion fading back to the desolate surface of Titan once more.
"Congratulations, you're a prophet."
"I'm a survivor."
"Who wants to murder trillions," Strange snaps back.
"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers," Thanos clicks the fingers of his ungloved hand together. "They would all cease to exist. I call that...mercy."
Strange pushes himself to his feet, "And then what?"
"I'd finally rest," the Mad Titan replies. "And watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
"I think you'll find our will," Strange claps his hands together, forming an intricate pattern with his hands as the orange glow of his magic appears around his hands before pulling them back into separate shields, "equal to yours."
"Our?"
He looks up just as a chunk of wreckage appears above him, slamming him into the ground before he can use the Power Stone to stop it. Tony flies away from the rubble in his suit, a cloud of dust and smoke rushing out from the impact site, as the others prepare themselves.
"Piece of cake, Quill," Tony says, flying by him.
Blasters in hand, Quill activates his helmet and flies after him, "Yeah, if you're goal was to piss him off."
They swarm the wreckage on top of Thanos just as it glows purple, then explodes around him. He switches the Gauntlet from the Power Stone to the Reality Stone, and with a wave of his arm the debris surrounding him turns into a swarm of bats who immediately start chasing Tony. Peter takes advantage of his distraction to shoot a wad of web into Thanos' face, while Drax slides in to deliver a slice at Thanos' thigh. He twists behind him and strikes again, but Thanos parries the blow away easily. Strange appears through a portal to join the fight wielding a glowing orange blade, but Thanos bats away Drax and grabs Strange's sword by the blade only to send him backward with a kick to the chest, narrowly summing a shield to protect him from the force of the blow.
Quill shoots Thanos from behind, and Thanos swirls around to retaliate while Quill leaps from steps that Strange summons in the air for him. Twisting over Thanos' head, he drops an electric mine on his back with a thunk, deactivating his mask and diving backward into a portal.
"Boom," Quill says, flipping him off as he disappears.
"Don't let him close his fist," Strange whispers to the Cloak of Levitation, just as the mine detonates.
Just as the mine detonates, the Cloak whips over to Thanos, wrapping itself tightly around his hand, as a new portal appears beside Thanos.
"Magic!" Peter Parker cries, punching him in a flying blow before disappearing into another portal summoned by Strange. The portal redirects his momentum, sending him flying back to Thanos a split second later. "More magic!"
While Thanos struggles with the Cloak of Levitation, Peter disappears through another portal, only for a new one to appear behind him.
"Magic with a kick," he says with a grunt, before disappearing and reappearing once more. "Magic with a--"
The words stop as Thanos' hand catches him around the neck, snatching him from the air and slamming him to the rock beneath him. He pushes his hand into Peter's throat with a grimace.
"Insect."
Lifting him off the ground, he tosses him into the distance—where he slams into Dr. Strange, bringing them both to the ground—and Thanos takes the opportunity to grab the Cloak of Levitation and rip it from his hand. Just as he's about to use the Gauntlet, an explosion engulfs him, as Tony swoops back in and fires a series of missiles at him. He activates the Gauntlet, siphoning the flames into a single stream, before shooting them back at Tony.
Peter re-engages, shooting web at the Gauntlet in an attempt to force it off the Mad Titan, but he's thrown to the side just as a ship appears behind the two of them and crashes into Thanos.
The ship screeches to a halt, and a body appears just as Thanos emerges from the rubble. Nebula crouches in front of him, weapon extended in her hand, as he straightens.
"Well, well."
"You should've killed me," she grimaces.
Thanos smirks, "It would've been a waste of parts."
She runs at Thanos, attacking him with her staff, "Where's Gamora?!"
He backhands her, sending her crashing backward, and pivots just as Strange summons energy ropes that grapple onto the Gauntlet. Thanos tries to pull it free, but Drax slides into him—kicking at his leg—and he falls to one knee. Using the opportunity, Quill fires an electric magnet to the ground next to him, and it seizes Thanos' other arm and locks him into the ground. Peter swings in next, firing a web across his chest to hold him back, while Tony can attempt to pull off the Gauntlet. With a twist of his hands, Strange summons Mantis from the sky to land on Thanos' head, using her power to sedate him as much as possible, before recalling another series of ropes to secure Thanos' other hand.
"Is he under?" Tony asks. "Don't let up."
"Be quick," she replies. "He is very strong."
"Parker, help!" Tony snaps. "Get over here, she can't hold him much longer. Let's go."
Peter scrambles over to help Tony, "We gotta open his fingers to get it off."
They fight against Thanos, all of them actively engaged in subduing the Mad Titan, while Quill flies up and lands in front of them. Deactivating his helmet, he smirks.
"I thought you'd be harder to catch," he says. "For the record, this was my plan. Not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?"
"My Gamora," Thanos growls, struggling against Mantis' influence.
"No, bullshit," Quill snaps. "Where is she?!"
Mantis gasps from atop Thanos' shoulders, her palms pressed firmly against his temples, "He is in anguish."
"Good."
"He..." Her eyes fill with tears. "He mourns."
"What does this monster have to mourn?!" Drax shouts while Nebula's eyes widen.
"Gamora," she whispers in disbelief.
Quill turns back to her, "...what?"
"He took her to Vormir," Nebula explains. "He came back with the Soul Stone...but she didn't."
Tony panics, deactivating his helmet, as he tries to interrupt, "Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now. You understand?"
Quill turns back to Thanos, slowly, until their eyes meet.
"Don't, don't, don't engage," Tony begs, his voice rising to a shout. "We almost got this off!"
"Tell me she's lying," Quill demands. "Asshole! Tell me you didn't do it."
"I...had...to," Thanos mutters.
"No, you didn't," replies Quill, tears welling in his eyes. "No, you didn't."
He rears back with a cry, before slamming his blaster into Thanos' face, rage painting his features dark. Tony shouts his name, but the impact throws Mantis off balance, and she breaks her connection with Thanos. Diving for Quill, Tony abandons his struggle against the Gauntlet with Peter to restrain him.
"Hey, stop!" Tony cries, trying to hold him back. "Hey, stop! Stop! Stop stop!"
"It's coming, it's coming," Peter groans, the Gauntlet slipping from Thanos' hand. "I got it, I got it!"
Just before the Gauntlet slips from his fingers, Thanos wakes from his trance—head butting Mantis to break the connection once more—and tosses Peter to the side before sending Mantis flying. Peter scrambles up, leaping to catch her in mid-air, before extending his mechanical spider legs to form a protective casing around them for impact.
The rest are sent flying with a wave of Thanos' hand, and he turns his attention to Strange. Pulling on the energy ropes, he uses them to whip Strange over his head and into the distance, before pivoting back to those who remain. Quill, Drax, and Nebula all prepare to engage, but a single swipe from the Power Stone sends out a shockwave to incapacitate all of them, leaving Tony on his own, but it's too late. Thanos activates the Space Stone, pulling down the surface of the moon above them, and sends it hammering into the surface of the planet.
Confession: I hate this scene so much. It's just so stupid.
They were so close, and Quill...
*sigh*
It's hard to write something that infuriates you.