Thanos awoke in a small hut to the smell of something cooking. Getting up slowly, still recuperating from both the wound given to him by the god of thunder and the deed he had just accomplished: the erasure of half of the universe, leaving everything in perfect balance as he saw it. Thanos walked to the entrance of his hut and saw a lone young man stirring a cauldron.
"I wasn't sure when you'd wake up" said the figure. "Anyway, soup's almost ready."
Thanos was intrigued by the young man before him. The figure wore a red leather jacket with an AC/DC shirt underneath, topped off with a pair of blue jeans and strange device on his wrist.
"Who are you?" inquired the Mad Titan, unsure of the stranger before him.
"I've been known by many names across different universes…"explained the boy, "I've been called conquerer…Kang….Time Traveler…but in this universe I'm known as Nathaniel Richards."
Thanos took a moment to take in what he just heard. Different universes? Kang? Whatever that meant. He walked closer to Nathan and gazed into the cauldron.
"I figured you needed a little company after what just happened" said Nathan.
"Thank you. I spent countless years to get to this one point" explained Thanos, "Everything is now in perfect balance. The universe can flourish once more."
"Are you sure about that?"
"Yes. It costed me everything. My life. My daughter Gamora. But sacrifices must be made to ensure the survival of this universe." exclaimed the Mad Titan, "But if I'm honest…I don't want to be alone."
Nathan let out smirk and sigh, "No one should ever be alone. Do you want me to stay?"
Thanos simply nodded. Nathan brought him a bowl of soup and spoon and then sat next to the tall purple man. There was dead silence between them as Thanos enjoyed his first meal in awhile.
"You said that you did this to bring the universe into balance, correct?" questioned the young man.
Thanos nodded as he continued on his bowl of soup.
"You know Thanos" continued Nathan, "You can't bend the universe wholly. You can only truly change yourself and hopefully help others do the same."
"How can you know that?!" exclaimed Thanos, "How can you say something like that?"
Nathan paused for a moment before continuing, "Because in one universe, I tried to do the same thing you did. I tried to bend the universe to make sense but I couldn't."
Thanos absorbed what the young man next to him had said.
"No matter what you do, heroes will always rise up to challenge people like you. But you still have time Thanos. You still have the gauntlet. You can undo your mistake. It's too late for me but not for you."
Thanos gave it some thought. He looked at the gauntlet and at the landscape around him. It seemed so peaceful, so full of life. Could he really undo what he had done? Would the universe be better off for it if he did?
"How would I go about do that? What if I don't wish to…" he said turning his head to Nathan. All he saw was Nathan starting to turn to ash.
"I'm sorry I couldn't stay." said Nathan, "But I guess that's all we are now, just dust in the wind. Farewell Thanos, I hope you enjoyed the soup."
And with that Nathan turned to complete ash and floated away in the wind. Thanos was left completely alone, wondering if things were truly balanced.
The sun began to rise in the east and Thanos had a perfect view of it. He thought back to what he said he'd do once he completed his plan: to sit there and enjoy the sunrise. He could do that now but for some reason, he couldn't.
For once in his life, Thanos felt truly alone.
