Five years after Thanos destroyed half of life, the remaining Avengers mount a rescue mission – a Time Heist – back to the year 2012 to undo the destruction the mad titan caused…
Thor radioed the rest of his group over the comm unit in his time suit, his authoritative, unwavering voice echoing off the walls of his old castle home. "I have the soul stone. Avengers, what is your status?"
"Power stone is in my possession", replied Nebula, from the planet Morag. But no one else replied.
"Is that it?" Rocket said, concerned, after a short pause. "Please tell me that's not it"
Tony Stark chimed in. "Uhh, we may have run into a slight… complication… in New York City"
"Define complication" said Thor.
"The infinity gems… they're simply gone. It's like-"
"Like they never existed at all," Steve Rogers finished Stark's sentence, equally perplexed. But suddenly a thought popped into his head. "The time stone… You don't think…"
A collective gasp echoed through the Avengers as a large yellow portal began to form in front of Stark, Rogers, Ant Man and the Hulk. And before they could gather themselves enough to react, Thanos, the Mad Titan himself stepped through, three infinity gems in his hand. Immediately, the heroes knew their plan had backfired in a major way. Atop Thanos's gauntlet, the Time and Space stones still glowed red-hot, still cooling off from intense use.
"You didn't think you were the only ones here with time travel, did you?" Thanos said dramatically.
"But- But how?" Stark muttered, confused.
As a chaotic battle raged in the city behind him, The Mad Titan stood as still as the Avengers, gazing at the motley crew before him, his face smug. "After I vaporized half of all life, I never destroyed the gems. Instead, with the combination of the mind and time stones in my possession, I had infinite time to grow stronger. Infinite time to strategize. The Gems would not let me take them back in time, but they contained the power to send me back to stop you. And in an instant – an instant for you – I knew what I had to do. I knew your every move. But your pitiful attempt to stop me will not work, for I am all powerful. I am inevitable, I am—"
Without a word, Nebula's fist glowed red as she punched her father in the stomach, the power stone in her hand erupting in a ball of pink fire as Thanos flew backward, his ribs disintegrating into a powder from the sheer force of the blow. But after a moment of agony, the Reality stone in his hand began to glow, and he stood up easily, brushing the dust from his shoulder. "Can't you see?" He took a deep breath. "The game is already over, Nebula. I am inevitable!"
Soon, another portal appeared, and the Ancient One – the original keeper of the Time Stone – walked through. Using her powerful sorcery, Thor, Rocket, Nebula and Hawkeye were soon transported to join the rest of the Avengers in New York City. "I saw this happen a thousand times" she said, somber. "and yet I was still helpless to stop Thanos from collecting my stone. Our fate now rests in your hands, Avengers."
"I fear our plan will no longer work", Thor said, concerned.
"You don't say," Hawkeye replied, glancing upwards at the purple giant standing before him.
"I fear there is only one solution," Thor continued. Ant Man looked at the ground, gulping visibly. He shook his head. Thor nodded reassuringly; his face equally pained.
"Plan A?" Ant Man finally asked.
"Plan A" replied Thor. And in an instant, Ant Man had vanished to the size of a small insect.
"Go," yelled Captain America. "Buy him time!"
Thor threw his axe at Thanos, as the titan ducked just milliseconds before it would have decapitated him. Nebula saw the perfect timing, and walloped Thanos once again with the Power stone, this time to the head. But before she connected, Thanos disappeared – rematerializing to her right, the space stone sparking. He swung at Nebula, who caught Thanos's punch with the powerful might of her right hand alone, and the two began a deadly dance, expertly parrying each other's fists.
Suddenly, looking at her father's fist, she saw the Mind Stone begin to glow. What was he doing? Who's mind was he attempting to read?
Meanwhile, Ant Man stared up at the massive purple ass above him, large and muscular. He shuddered, knowing what lengths he must go. The fate of mankind was at stake.
But suddenly, Nebula's question was quickly answered when Thanos began to shrink, channeling the power of the Reality Stone to compress his body to the size of a grain of sand. From this size, Ant Man looked like a giant.
"I know what you are up to," Thanos said, his voice high and squeaky. "And I raise you this" Thanos quickly bolted around to Ant Man's backside, shrinking even smaller before jumping upward with immense force. But Ant Man had already anticipated the attack. He shrunk further, as small as he could. And soon, the two foes were nearly the size of a molecule.
"Shrink any further and you will enter the Quantum Realm," Thanos said smugly.
"The rules of physics apply to you too," Ant Man said. "Shall we consider this a draw?"
"I accept no compromises, only victor-"
Suddenly a massive green foot came crashing down upon the two heroes, crushing Ant Man and Thanos. "HULK SQUIIISH".
Captain America gasped, as the world seemed to stand still. "You killed Ant Man!"
"I did what must be done," Hulk replied, sad but confident. Nebula lowered her fists, the glow of the power stone ceasing. The Avengers looked around at the destruction surrounding them, unsure what to do.
"Is that… it?" Rocket finally said. "Did we win?"
"Uhh," replied Nebula, her face suddenly twisting to an expression of pure dread. "Something doesn't feel right." She scratched her butt, alarmed, as every Avenger's head snapped to her, gazing intently at her behind. Her power stone began to glow with intensity. But before she could gather the strength to act, her body exploded in a gory mess as her father, the Mad Titan, expanded to full size. Both the Space Stone and the Reality Stone glowed as he yelled with rage. And before the Avengers could move, the Power Stone, once held by his daughter, flew towards him, snapping into its rightful place inside the Infinity Gauntlet. Five down, one to go. Thanos shuddered, shaking a piece of intestine off from around his neck. This had to be done, he thought to himself. All of humanity was at stake.
A massive spaceship suddenly materialized above the heroes, and Thanos smiled. This war was over before it even began, he thought. But my cavalry will make sure of that. "All cannons ready to fire!" an alien voice echoed above.
"Your time ends now," Thanos yelled, giving the remaining Avengers a thumbs-down. The signal to fire. One bullet came streaking towards the heroes, before a lightning-fast object collided with the spaceship, ripping it to pieces.
"That didn't last long," Stark quipped as Captain Marvel flew through the heavens, energized by her sheer willpower. But Thanos was undeterred. He touched the mind gem in his hand, and suddenly Captain Marvel's flight became erratic – spiraling about as if she had no control over her powers. She plummeted at a thousand miles an hour, seeing the skyscraper before her, knowing she would see nothing more. Her vision blacked out as she impacted the building, her body disintegrating without a trace.
"That didn't last long," Thanos replied. "Anyone else?"
Iron Man took his stand. He aimed his palm at Thanos, ready to unleash a deadly bolt from his upgraded Arc Reactor. He aimed to sever Thanos's neck, seeing the perfect line of sight to his target. Power: 100% Jarvis said. "I need more. Overload!"
Overloading will destroy your suit. It will damage you heavily. confirm?
"Confirm". The reactor began sparking, a heated beam of plasma erupting from its core. But before Stark knew what was happening, he disappeared, rematerializing a thousand feet beneath the ocean. The reactor let out a final spark, it's electronics fried. And at that moment, as his heart ceased beating, as his last breath of air escaped his lungs, he realized the titan's true power.
"Truly a pitiful attempt", Thanos said as yellow lightning began painfully burning a path up his arm. The gems began taking their toll on him, but he stood steadfast, resisting the destructive force of the stones. He had prepared for this, for several lifetimes, the time stone giving him a near infinite time to grow his strength. "I can play all day."
Captain America began to swing the hammer gifted to him by Thor. "You want the soul stone? Come and get it!"
The Titan charged Thor, who quickly tossed the stone to Captain America before getting thrown violently into the ground. Steve Rogers wound up his shield, gathering all his strength to throw it.
"Wait! Stop!" Hawkeye yelled from the sidelines.
"Not now, Hawkeye. It is my time to strike"
"Listen to the stone! It's glowing!" Cap glanced down at the orange gem in his hand, noticing a swirling energy rippling through its surface. And as he concentrated more intensely on the patterns, time began to slow to nothing. He felt himself rising, above his body, as he saw the battlefield in its entirety. Plasma bullets frozen in mid-air, his hammer Mjolnir wound up to strike. And Thanos, unfazed, five infinity gems in his fist. But then he saw something more. The souls of the Vanished, each without a body, speaking in a cacophony of voices. And soon, one voice echoed stronger in the back of his mind. The voice of Doctor Stephen Strange.
"I lied to you, Rogers," the voice said. "When I saw all possible futures. When I said there is only one where we win."
"Are you saying… You saw no way to defeat Thanos?"
"No, the exact opposite," replied Strange, his ghostly voice unwavering. "Most of the timelines… They seem to converge."
"But how? That makes no sense"
"It makes perfect sense," the doctor explained. "When a man's power becomes nearly infinite, when his knowledge grows to all powerful, the possibilities decrease. He begins to see only few ways forward, since he knows exactly what he is capable of, and what he will do in advance. He sees only the most effective paths forward amongst the clutter of possibilities, and he takes those paths without hesitation. In fact, out of the fourteen billion timelines I saw Thanos gain the stones, there resulted only two endings."
"Only two?"
The voice of Vision spoke startlingly, the original holder of the Stone. "Yes. And in both, you surrender the Soul Stone to him."
"Never" Rogers replied, resolute.
"I'm afraid that is not up to you. It will happen, and that is absolute" said Doctor Strange.
The captain struggled with this concept. He could not fathom giving his nemesis the only scrap of power his team had left.
The voice of Gamora spoke, with an importance and strength he had never heard from her. "But what is up to you," the empath said, "is what you make of the stone's power while you still have it. The soul is a powerful thing, Rogers. And as much as the Titan believes otherwise, Thanos has a soul too. It is unpredictable, so he represses it. But it is still there."
Amidst his confusion, he began to see a glimpse of clarity. The Soul Stone's true power.
"Why did Thanos vaporize half of all life?" Director Nick Fury asked. But before Rogers could answer, the world began to speed up once more, the voices of the Vanished beginning to fade. "The path he will take is chosen by you." the Doctor called out to him. "The time for combat is over, but the true Endgame has begun."
"Go get em, Cap", Peter Parker's voice joined the cheering.
"You heard the kid," Tony Stark replied. "No pressure, of course."
The bullets blasted across New York City once more. Cap's hammer began winding up to full speed. And for the first time since the mission began, Thor sensed something new welling up inside him. A sense of hope.
"Listen, Thanos!" Rogers demanded, locking eyes with the titan. "Look around! Death, destruction! Is this what you want?"
"It was the only way," the Titan replied. But Captain America began to see the slightest hint of insecurity in the giant's voice.
"Do you see humanity rebuilding, like you imagined?" Rogers answered his own question. "No! They cannot move on. They cannot overcome their losses. Do you know why?"
Thanos leaned towards Rogers, a strong intensity in his face, as the remaining heroes took a step back. "Why? Because they are incompetent creatures. Do they not realize, death is final?"
"No," replied Captain America. "It is not. Because humanity is more than flesh and blood overpopulating this earth. We have souls." With every word he spoke, Rogers' voice raised in volume. "And with our souls, we create legacies. We create change. We are remembered! And because of this, we never truly die."
"Your pathetic attempt at creating sympathy for mankind amuses me."
"C'mon, Thanos. You know I'm right. You see what is around you. You see the future. All the pain you have caused! They may never rebuild…"
"Not unless I make them" Thanos finally said, connecting the Captain's dots.
Captain America saw deep into Thanos's soul, and he liked what he saw. With a slight smile, he nodded his head. "You know what you must do," Rogers said, as he threw Mjolnir and his shield to the ground. He opened his fist, revealing the soul stone, and offered it to the world-ending giant.
"Yes," replied Thanos, as he inserted the final gem into his gauntlet, and snapped his fingers. "I shall put this Earth back to the way it was always meant to be"
In an instant, the world disintegrated to dust, leaving nothing but a void. There was no sound, no pain, only instantaneous, all-powerful destruction. And with it, Thanos faded to ash. The power extended throughout all timelines, a universal collapse leaving only the stones themselves, floating in the void of space. But in the place where the world once stood, matter began to rematerialize. It formed a similar shape, similar creatures, until once again the Earth had been created. But this time, it had been created with an abundance of resources, with all of humanity, and all life on it intact once again. As the six stones scattered into the farthest reaches of the universe, the souls of the once-Vanished within the final Stone began streaming out, once again occupying the bodies Thanos had re-created in his dying act of power.
And with those bodies, the Avengers gathered in full, to eat Shawarma in peace, only a faint blur of a memory to remind them of the adventure that seemed to have never happened.