A PORTAL FINALLY BREAKS IN THE ATMOSPHERE. A Titan soon walks out from the rip of Earth's air, bringing him back home, to where everything had first started. It was odd being back home, but there was no form of regret or grief he felt for his own people. Thanos was fulfilling a prophecy.
"Oh, yeah," Strange hums, capturing the Titan's attention. "You're much more of a 'Thanos.'"
The purple giant eyes the destroyed ship, but there wasn't a change in his features. Thanos wasn't angry . . . he was simply calm. The Titan had nothing to fear.
"I take it the Maw is dead," Thanos states more than questions. Strange nods his head in confirmation. The Titan purses his lips as he slowly paces forward. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."
"You may regret that," Strange's voice lowers in a threatening manner. "He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."
"And where do you think he brought you?"
Strange's eyes raked the destructive planet. It was obvious to Strange. "Let me guess. Your home?"
With his leg propped up on top of a small pile of debris, Thanos rests the gauntlet-covered hand on his thigh. With his head bowed in an almost amusement, he grew serious as his sarcastic smile was replaced with a frown.
"It was," suddenly, Thanos closes his fist, and the red Reality Stone glows brightly, humming as reality burned into a different picture. "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."
The once gloomy deserted planet was painted as if it had never happened; buildings and ships were built just how they were, not broken and abandoned. Living beings were scattered across the scenery as they pictured to be as normal as possible. It was a beautiful city; however, it became a wasteland after a destructive killer murdered them all.
A planet filled with other beings--families, destroyed from a Titan--one of their own people.
With raised brows, Strange answers. "Genocide."
"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman," and as soon as it came, the scenery burns away with the power of the Reality Stone, returning to its present state. "And what I predicted came to pass."
"Congratulations," Strange breaks the seriousness. "You're a prophet."
"I'm a survivor," Thanos corrects.
"Who wants to murder trillions."
Thanos ignores his words. "With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers. They would all cease to exist. I call that . . . mercy."
Strange stands up. "And then what?"
"I'd finally rest . . . and watch the sunrise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills."
"I think you'll find our will equal to yours," Strange creates two orange circular spells, breaking them apart as they connected with both his hands.
"Our?" Suddenly, a large piece of metal began falling from the sky--with the help of Iron Man pushing it downward--the Power Stone shimmers before the metal lands on top of him.
"Piece of cake, Quill."
"Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off," clicking the side of his mask, it morphs over Quill's face just as his rocket boots come to life.
Grunting, a large purple light pushes the metal off of him and into smaller pieces. With a yell, Thanos changed the objects into living creatures. They ended up trailing after Tony, causing him to flee as he shoots at them. Eszter emerges from the darkness from deep within the shadows as her green eyes narrow at Thanos, who haunted her mind.
Peter swings by as he shoots a thick substance of webs into Thanos' eyes, blinding him. Then, Drax rushes over as he slides from behind, cutting the Titan's back leg.
Greatly, Thanos was highly trained with his senses and could predict Drax's attacks, he raises his hand to defend himself. Creating a sword-like figure with his magic, Strange swings it before Thanos captures it into his grasp. He tears the webs from his eyes to see Strange's eyes. The magic breaks apart in time for the sorcerer to create a shield just as Thanos kicks him back.
With a blast from behind, Quill fires his blaster at the Titan and leaps into the air. With the help from Strange, he's lifted into the air. With one final step, Quill leaps over Thanos before the creature could capture him. Quill plants a bomb on his back.
Retracting his mask, Quill flips Thanos off before jumping into a makeshift portal. "Boom!"
Suddenly, Thanos was being beaten up by Spider-Man, which began to annoy the big creature tremendously; as the Titan waits for the moment, he manages to capture Peter by his neck and began to force him towards the ground.
To his dismay, a large smokey portal began to form on the ground, pulling Peter through. Thanos huffs as he lifts his hand from the smoke, the boy gone. The disappointment was evident on Thanos' face, but it didn't beat the anger that lingers on his features once his eyes met the witch. The female teenager--Eszter Maximoff, enhanced being with dark magical powers, the exact person he wanted on his side. Things were going to be slightly more difficult with her around, yet Thanos wasn't afraid of a child.
The Titan snarls, baring his teeth as he tears the Cloak of Levitation from his gauntlet; Thanos closes his fist as one of the Stones began to glow. Eszter produced two orbs into her palms as she stood her ground, ready to fight the Titan, but was interrupted by a missile hitting Thanos from behind.
"Jesus . . ." For a second, Eszter nearly jeopardizes the plan by engaging any further. She quickly creates a shield around her, Strange, and Peter, protecting them from the explosion.
The fire dances as it twirls in the sky; the fire was being sucked into the Stones. Thanos was able to use this against them with the protection of the Stones, the Titan shouts as he fires it at Tony, but then a strong force was trying to stop it. The flames smacked against the violet shield, protecting Tony. Thanos glanced back at Eszter, and he chose her as his next target, but Peter shoots his web at the gauntlet, swinging himself around.
Eszter glances to her right, and a ship was growing closer with maximum speed, crashing into Thanos' body; when she sees Peter had moved to a safer distance, the enhanced rushes towards where the ship had landed. A blue robotic woman was fighting with Thanos but failed as he managed to kick her away. Eszter raises her hands as the orbs were glowing in her hands, a force-field formed in front of him, blocking him from going near the stranger.
"I warned you, child," Thanos turns around as he faces Eszter, he tries to make his way to her, but his feet only slide as she was forcing him back.
"So I heard."
To his surprise, Strange flung his arm as a whip-like figure across the air and wraps around the gauntlet; Thanos tries to reach for it. Eszter notices this and flicks her fingers as a powerful force was wrapped around his hand and pulled his hand back. Thanos grunts in anger as he tries to regain himself, trying to break past the enhanced's mental abilities. Drax slides across the floor and kicks Thanos, pushing him off balance as he falls onto his knees.
Suddenly, a small contraption was thrown into the ground and captured Thanos' hand. Eszter mentally thanks him as she no longer needed to hold his arm down. With Drax holding his leg, the magnetic field holding Thanos' right arm, and Strange on the gauntlet, Eszter focused less on holding him down as she began to relax.
As the group struggle with restraining Thanos, Strange quickly creates a portal where Mantis jumped through, landing on Thanos' shoulders. With her hands pressed to his temples, Thanos screams out in anger as he was trying to pull himself free. Mantis grunts as her antennas glow from her abilities.
A wave of grayness washes over Thanos' eyes, hissing him away in a slumber-like stance.
"Is he under? Don't let up."
"Be quick," Mantis struggles. "He is very strong."
"Parker, help! Get over here," Peter quickly rushes to Tony's size as he tugs onto the gauntlet. "She can't hold him much longer. Let's go."
"We gotta open his fingers to get it off," Peter adds, noticed that Thanos had closed his fist.
A voice surprises Eszter. She furrows her brows in concern at the noticeably angered tone in Quill's voice. "I thought you'd be hard to catch. For the record, this was my plan."
"Who actually cares?" Eszter retorts, causing Quill to look over at her with a frown. "We don't have time for your little vendetta, Quill."
Quill chuckles bitterly, wiggling his finger in the enhanced's face. "Oh, no. Don't act like you don't have beef with this guy. We all know that you want to get a punch out of him, too."
Eszter squares her shoulders. "But I'm not trying to taunt him at a time like this."
"Guys, you need to focus," Strange grumbles. He was levitating in the air with his own grip on Thanos.
Eszter rolls her eyes as Quill turns away from her. He ignores everyone as his eyes were filled with fear and anger. "You're not so strong now, huh? Where is Gamora?"
Thanos groans as he spoke slowly. "My . . . Gamora . . . "
"No, bullshit!" Quill seethes. "Where is she?"
With a short pause, Mantis speaks out tiredly. "He is in anguish."
"Good."
Sensing his emotions, Eszter frowns in confusion. "He . . . mourns."
Quill glances at the enhanced, wondering how she knows. "What does this monster have to mourn?"
"Gamora," Nebula responds, feeling her own despair and grief. Quill looks to her with a puzzling look, questioning what the woman had meant by that. "He took her to Vormir. He came back with the Soul Stone. But she didn't."
Sensing a change in the air, Tony retracts his mask to calm the broken man. "Okay, Quill, you gotta cool it right now. You understand?" However, Quill was drowning out everything around him as he grew mournful and irked. Ever so slightly, he faces Thanos again. "Don't, don't. Don't engage. We almost got this off!"
"Quill . . ." Eszter warns.
"Tell me she's lying," Quill demands. "Asshole, tell me you didn't do it!"
Struggling to spit out his words, Thanos responds. "I had to."
"No, you didn't," Quill was furious, and it began to cloud his judgment.
But it all happened too soon. The silence was broken with a cry of anger and despair, filling every bone of Quill's body. It took everyone by surprise when Quill retracts his arm and smacks his gun at the side of the Titan's head, a bit too close to Mantis.
Thanos groans and grunts in discomfort as Quill was shouting at him, completely overtaken by his emotions. His gun ended up hitting Mantis's hand in the process, causing her to retract her hands as she gasps from the Titan, forcing himself awake.
Eszter quickly forces Quill away as the tendrils of the darkness wrapped around his front. He was forced to retreat. "Quill, stop!" She turns away from Thanos briefly, marching after Quill as she glared darkly at the man.
"It's coming, it's coming," Peter exclaims, growing anxious. "I got it. I got it!"
But then Thanos awoke.
Thanos gripped the gauntlet before Peter managed to remove it; the Titan pulls it back towards him as the teenager falls backward. Thanos managed to throw Mantis like she was nothing. Peter rushes to save her. Thanos manages to unrestrained himself when Eszter jerks her head in his direction, staring in horror. The enhanced was breathing heavily as she stared back at the Titan.
Tony fires at Thanos to keep him distracted, but he punches the suited-man away from him. As he stopped three of the Guardians, they collapsed to the ground. Closing his fist and with the help of the Stones, Eszter gasps as she claws at her neck as a purple hue formed around her neck. Eszter's eyes were bulging as she stares back at Thanos in horror.
She didn't have a destiny as a Child of Thanos, and the Titan had never cared for her at all. He didn't care if he killed her on the spot. Eszter was merely an obstacle in his path. With her here, it only makes his mission difficult.
To her savior, Tony flew forward and kicked the gauntlet down, dropping his power on Eszter. The enhanced gasps for air as they refilled her lungs, the beating of her heart was loud in her ears as her body felt numb in fear. And as if she had run out of luck, Thanos destroyed another planet and was plummeting it in their direction. Large pieces of rocks flew from the sky at a fast rate, and Tony knew he needed to get Eszter out of there. Flying up, he speeds to the enhanced, dodging the rocks, but it was too late--a large rock had slammed into him.
Gasping, Eszter covers herself in her protective bubble as rocks slams on top of her force-field. Eszter grunts weakly as she puts all her strength into the bubble shield.
While Peter was trying to save everyone, Thanos was making his way towards the enhanced.
Eszter removed her force-field and tried to get up but immediately loses her balance as she felt the large rock shake and lift from the ground. Eszter grunts and falls back onto her knees; the enhanced takes a moment to breathe until she was interrupted. A strong force collided with her side, throwing her back toward the edge of the boulder. Eszter grunts in pain. She grips her side as the enhanced could feel it was growing harder to breathe; Eszter forces her eyes open, and to her dismay, Thanos was marching towards her.
"You've brought this upon yourself," Thanos lifts the girl by her hair, to which she yelps out in pain, hitting at his fist. Eszter grits her teeth. "You chose to be against me."
"Yeah," Eszter shuffles on her feet, gripping her hair to relieve some pain. "And I meant it."
Violet tendrils formed around Thanos' fist and began peeling his fingers from her hair. He knew she was too powerful. She and her sister combined can easily take him out.
Thanos needed to get rid of the enhanced because, without her and the warlock, he's unstoppable. Eszter grunts as she struggles to force his hand from her; the enhanced immediately leaps out of the way just as Strange shoots out a glass wall in Thanos' direction. Eszter managed to escape unharmed, but to her dismay, Thanos was able to shatter the glass.
Without hesitation, Strange conjured a protective shield that blocked the black hole, which then transformed it into a thousand green butterflies. Thanos was tired of the wizard's tricks that he kept playing; the Titan merely pulled him into his grasp as Strange struggles in his grip.
"You're full of tricks, wizard," Thanos spoke ever so lightly as he tugs the Eye of Amagotto from Strange's neck. He crushes it in his fist. "You never once used your greatest weapon. A fake."
Strange was useless to him. The man can pull many tricks, and Thanos was no ignorant being. He knows Strange will speak up soon. Thanos easily tosses Strange aside; the wizard grunts in pain as his body is practically rolling on the ground, Strange lies unconsciously.
With a raised hand, all he had to do was simply close his fist, and the Stones will do their job; however, violet tendrils wrapped around the gauntlet, preventing him from closing his fist. The Titan focuses his attention on Eszter that he had high hopes for, yet seemed to only disappoint him even further.
Eszter has such great power, great potential, and yet, she was wasting it all away. Thanos knew the girl tasted the power and yearned for more.
"That's enough!" Eszter grits her teeth as her hands were forced into the air as they were pointed at the gauntlet, yet her eyes were glaring back at the Titan.
Thanos smiles. "You fight for what you believe in," Thanos takes a step forward, almost like he was taunting the witch. Eszter could see right through him, and she wouldn't budge. "And for that, I respect it."
"Then you see why we're so damn sure as to why you can't have the stones."
Thanos hums.
The Mad Titan continues to approach the teenager as he goes to slam his large fist where she stood, forcing Eszter to quickly drop her focus from the gauntlet to jump out of the way. The enhanced gasps from the small rumble in the ground, she was caught off guard when sharpened rocks began to land in front of her. Eszter scurries backward as she crawls from harm, she easily swipes her hands, and the rocks shoot the other way.
The Titan goes for a swing, but a red contraption grabs his hand and locks them open. "You're so screwed," Eszter smirks up at the frowning Thanos.
Tony lands just behind Eszter as she gets back onto her feet; she narrows her eyes upon the Titan as his eyes shift onto the man in iron.
"Stark," Thanos greets, which confuses Eszter as well as Tony.
"You know me?"
"I do. You're not the only one cursed with knowledge."
Tony exhales. He was slightly nervous as it took him off guard, he retorts. "My only curse is you," missiles retract from the back of the Iron Man suit and fire out at Thanos, who stood in a defensive stance. "Alright, half-pint. Let's give him all we got."
"Right behind you," Eszter nods.
Tony flies over Eszter as his feet connect to form a flat surface; the billionaire slams his feet into Thanos' chest. The Titan stumbles back but was able to gain his balance and charged at Tony, but was pushed back with a dark force. Thanos catches a glimpse of Eszter making her way to them, a dark blast emitting from her hands as they stream across from her and striking Thanos, pinning the alien.
The enhanced drops the blasts hoping that Thanos was in defeat, but the purple giant still got back onto his feet and was ready to continue fighting. Eszter was flabbergasted, but she didn't dare back down. Thanos rips Tony's headgear off, shattering it into tiny pieces before it could reform.
"Crap," Eszter curses as Tony is knocked down. She captures Thanos ripping the contraption from his palm.
With a shout, Eszter conjures enough energy as she could before firing it at Thanos, pushing the Titan back; he held the gauntlet up, shielding himself from Eszter's powers. Quickly, the enhanced disappears into the shadows. Then, Thanos looked over the gauntlet and to where Eszter once stood, narrowing his eyes as he waited for the enhanced to reappear.
Suddenly, Tony jumps in front of Thanos and strikes the Titan in the face, barely grazing the creature. Appearing from the shadows, Eszter grunts as she blasted Thanos with an energy blast, knocking him to the ground.
Thanos pants as he dabs the small cut with his finger. He glances between Eszter and Tony with his cold eyes. "All that for a drop of blood," his frown instantly turned into a smirk before he used his elbow to knock the girl away.
Eszter flips in the air with a yelp and fell back five feet as Tony flew back to catch her. Relief floods him as he manages to catch her. His stomach drops when he sees the blood streaming Eszter's nose; however, her eyes seem to widen as they weren't looking at him.
"Look out!"
But it was too late; Thanos punches Tony from behind, knocking the two to the ground. The man in iron turns around as dirt fell from his mask; Tony turns to see a fist hurtling his way, knocking him back down. Every time he tried to get back up, Thanos would always knock him back down before he even got the chance.
Then, the Titan knocks the man further away. Tony quickly got up, half of his helmet was missing, but he had to keep Thanos' attention away from Eszter, who was curling into a ball, trying to prevent herself from falling unconscious. So, instead, Tony blasts Thanos for him to continue his way towards him--but the great Titan shoots his hand up, letting the Stones practically absorb the power.
Thanos breaks Tony's last bit of helmet as the human tries to punch the Titan, but he was no match for the purple giant as he catches his hand in mid-air. Constructing a sword in his free hand, Tony goes to pierce it into Thanos' body, but then it happened so suddenly that it felt almost slow motion; the color drains from Tony's face, and all hope is gone when Thanos grips his wrist and holds Tony against his will.
It was all so quick. Thanos snaps the sword and steals it from the human when he twists it between his large fingers and stabs it into Tony's side.
Tony stumbles, gasping in absolute shock. There were no words. It was completely silent as Thanos lead Tony to sit.
"You have my respect, Stark," Thanos pets Tony's head, who sat there in pain, panting and groaning as every breath he took. "When I'm done, half of humanity will still be alive. I hope they remember you."
Struggling back to her feet, Eszter huffs tiredly. She was done, tired of running. The enhanced wasn't sure if there was any more fight left inside her, but Eszter definitely can't sit here and watch Tony die; she wouldn't allow it. This was her purpose--to protect, not hurt.
"No," Eszter mutters weakly, curling her fingers as she forces the gauntlet away from Tony, pointing it at her.
Eszter's face was stained with dirt and blood, leaving an unsettling feeling in Tony's chest.
"Eszter," Tony gasps but nearly chokes as he coughs up blood.
She heaves but manages to glare at the Titan. "If you want to kill someone . . . then you kill me."
Thanos hums in amusement, he watches as the enhanced struggles on the floor, Eszter had given up. "You've became pathetic, Dusk. I saw so much potential," Thanos' hand doesn't falter as the stones glowed again. "Such a waste of power."
She was standing before Thanos and ready to receive her death that isn't meant for her. Eszter is too young to die, and even though Eszter isn't ready to let Death take her soul from her body, she couldn't help but think of Pietro. She'll be at peace and be able to see her brother once again.
"Stop," a strangled voice calls out, catching Thanos' attention. He pauses his actions and turns to see Strange sitting up. "Spare her life . . . and I will give you the stone."
Thanos tests. "No tricks."
"Don't."
Strange ignores Eszter as he raises his hand, and between his fingers, the Time Stone blinks back into existence. Strange stares at it longingly, but as he had seen, this was the only way they could win. Thanos lifts his free hand for Strange to pass on with a waiting hand, and the wizard lets the Stone free.
Much to her consternation, Eszter watches as Thanos takes the Stone and places it on the gauntlet, embracing the new power in his possession. The enhanced gapes as she rapidly blinks her wet eyes, spilling the tears down her cheeks as she feared for the most.
"One to go."
With a surprise, blasters began shooting across the sky and directed at Thanos, but the Titan seemed unharmed and not fazed by it at all. A battle cry came from behind Tony, and as Eszter glances up to see who had been the one to shoot those beams, the enhanced grew angry. Quill was flying near Thanos with a vendetta, but as he nears, Thanos disappears into the pool of his portal.
"Where is he?" Quill shouts, retracting his mask as he looks around with wide eyes; the man sees the two men and the young teen girl collapsed on the floor, broken down. Realization hits Quill late, and the man couldn't believe what had happened. "Did we just lose?"
Tony glances at Strange, shaking his head as he felt hopeless. "Why would you do that?"
"We're in the endgame now."