Disclaimer: I have no creative rights over the characters and places you can identify in this story and have no way profited from this work.

06/11/2018

Chapter 2 – Prologue

Before the dawn of time the Ilúvatar granted the Ainur a vision of the universe He was going to create. Those who became the Valar now realised that grandest of visions had still only just hinted at the immensity of what would come to be called 'Eä'.

It had been five years since Arda's realignment in the cosmos. The Convergence had impacted on the Valar as much as the world they watched over. Not even Varda, whose gaze could reach into the depths of space, had realised there were so many other celestial bodies let alone races of people.

Some parts of the wider universe were a joy and wonder to behold. But it also meant Arda was exposed to new and powerful threats. Malekith and Ultron had been the most notable examples. However, the Valar believed the danger posed by the pair was negligible compared to a previously unknown set of relics. Purportedly old as creation itself, the relics were commonly referred to as the 'Infinity Stones'. In response, the Valar had tasked one of their most trusted servants to find out as much about the stones as possible.

Gandalf normally resided in the Gardens of Lorien. Currently he was alone in private chambers within the Halls of Nienna. Well outside the populated areas of Valinor, the chambers allowed White Wizard to secretly learn how to travel the multiverse from the book Stephen Strange had given him (its contents were classified top secret by the Valar who wanted to maintain tight control over travel to and from the Undying Lands). Gandalf mastered the art of summoning portals in months given his knowledge of magic was far greater than the average Kamar-Taj student. It led to the chamber becoming the wizard's base for his newest mission.

The Valar had prohibited Gandalf from joining Thor on his quest to learn more about the Infinity Stones. The main reason was the risk to the wizard of becoming directly entangled in affairs on Asgard. As Ragnarok loomed, Gandalf was ordered to discreetly travel the multiverse to pick up where the God of Thunder left off. Gandalf's first journey saw him take up an earlier offer.

Wong happily showed the wizard around the House of Wisdom and its vast collection of arcane texts. That included supplying him with Agamotto's own writings on the Infinity Stones. Gandalf poured over the ancient scrolls learning about the affinity of each stone – Power, Time, Space, Reality, Mind, and Soul – and their potential applications. But there was no indication of who might be responsible for many of the stones recently resurfacing. That changed when Gandalf's skill at summoning portals became advanced enough for him to follow-up a tip of Odin's.

The White Wizard found Xandar more akin to visiting Minas Tirith than Novi Grad. For one, he did not need to change attire to blend in. The information he required was also located in a historical archive – in Xandar's case, that of the Nova Corps. Upon entering the public section, Gandalf's experience with Costel's tablet held him in good stead. He used an interactive terminal to find the relevant information as well as print copies of it to take with him. The wizard soon returned to his chambers with a large bundle of papers. Seated at a table, Gandalf smoked his pipe as he read them. The longer he read, the more he needed to smoke to settle his nerves.

A fanatic named 'Ronan' recently failed in his attempt to lay waste to Xandar with the Power Stone. Gandalf quickly concluded that the Accuser was just a piece in another's game. For two of Ronan's former associates were the adopted daughters of a great and terrible warlord from a world called 'Titan'. A warlord whose name was feared across countless systems – Thanos.

Thanos and his Black Order (what he called his 'Children') went from world to world, killing half the sentient population. Their genocide wasn't for conquest nor driven by hatred. The Mad Titan sincerely believed it was the only solution to what he perceived to be an overpopulated universe. As someone who cherished individuals, it went without saying Gandalf saw such thinking as both arrogant and grotesque. Anger quickly turned to dread as he linked Agamotto's writings with Thanos's goal.

Thanos's armies were seemingly limitless. Yet even they would take thousands, if not millions, of years to kill half the universe's population. But from what Agamotto had described, the Infinity Stones would allow Thanos to do it an instant. And just like Sauron and the One Ring, it meant the immortal Thanos would not stop until all the stones were in his possession.

A disturbed Gandalf poured himself a glass of red wine from a bottle on the table. He took a deep sip before gathering his thoughts. As far as Gandalf knew, the Power and Space Stones were on Xandar and Asgard respectively. Sif once told him the Reality Stone was in the possession of an eccentric but grasping collector. That left the Mind and Time Stones on Earth with the Soul Stone unaccounted for. Two immediate questions formed in the wizard's mind. The first was where Thanos would initially strike? The second was how to tell the Valar a threat existed even they might be powerless to stop?

Gandalf.

The wizard was startled by the mental contact. It was an important ally he had not heard from in several months.

"Heimdall?" Gandalf checked before receiving indirect confirmation.

Save Thor and Loki.

Gandalf immediately began to worry, "Save them from what, my friend?"

Asgard's former Gatekeeper had just used the dark magic a final time to teleport Hulk to Earth. Heimdall only hoped his last trans-dimensional communication could save the Sons of Odin. Gandalf's eyes glowed yellow as his consciousness was instantly transported aboard the Statesman. The wizard found himself standing over Heimdall in the ship's burning interior. Heimdall seemed to be the only Asgardian alive among the hundreds lying around him. A shocked Gandalf initially believed he'd been dragged into Ragnarok.

"Is this all that remains of Asgard?" he thought aloud.

"Not all," Heimdall whispered in strain before directing his attention right.

Gandalf quietly gasped at what he saw. Thor was forcibly kneeling due to being encased in metal from the neck down. Standing close to his brother was an anxious Loki. They were being guarded by three sinister looking individuals – a dark-haired woman; a creature resembling a massive Attack Troll; and a short figure grasping the Tesseract with his spindly fingers.

"That was a mistake."

Gandalf shuddered at the menacing voice from behind. He turned around and came face-to-face with the eight-foot tall Thanos. The images Gandalf had seen of the purple-skinned tyrant did nothing to prepare one for being in his presence. Even across dimensions, the Mad Titan felt every bit as frightening as Sauron. That fear intensified upon noticing the massive gauntlet on Thanos's left hand.

The Infinity Gauntlet had six slots in all, one at the back of the hand and five across the knuckles. One of the knuckle slots contained the Power Stone, meaning the carnage aboard the Statesman was likely a microcosm of countless such scenes on Xandar. Gandalf's combined feelings of dismay and terror made it easy to forget who Thanos was talking to. Heimdall was about to pay for sending Hulk to Earth.

Corvus Glaive passed the weapon bearing his surname to his master. Thanos plunged it deep into Heimdall's chest. Thor and Gandalf's reaction were the same.

"NO!" both cried in anguish.

Gandalf's head snapped back as his consciousness returned to his chambers. The first thing he felt was a tear running down his cheek. But there was no time to mourn Heimdall, only just enough to honour his last request. The wizard slipped on Narya…

Back on the Statesman, Thor had been gagged with a piece of metal debris. Loki felt no satisfaction from any similarities to the gag he wore six years ago. Thanos crushed the Tesseract in his fist before slotting the Space Stone into the gauntlet. The Mad Titan gritted his teeth as its energies surged through him. Thanos also cast off his customary helm and breastplate. The armour was now redundant given the protective capabilities of the two Infinity Stones now in his possession. However, Thanos still did not have the capability he desired most.

"There are two more stones on Earth," Thanos commanded the Black Order. "Find them, my children, and bring them to me on Titan."

Glaive, Proxima Midnight and Cull Obsidian joined Ebony Maw in kneeling before the individual of their dark devotion. Glaive's wife spoke for all of them.

"Father, we will not fail you," Midnight reverently vowed.

The God of Mischief tried playing a final trick.

"If I might, interject," Loki interrupted their solemnity. "If you're going – "

Loki stopped as a fiery ring of orange energy started forming at his feet.

"Not again," was his immediate reaction.

Thanos seethed upon noticing another ring opening at the base of Thor. Heimdall's calm demeanour in the face of death was to mask he had secretly called for aid. His murderer also had little doubt who that call had been sent to. The Mad Titan immediately clenched his left fist to activate the Power and Space Stones.

The Statesman violently exploded in a burst of purple energy. Gandalf was flung on his back as the force of the blast rushed through the two portals he had opened. The White Wizard scrambled back onto his feet hoping to have rescued the Sons of Odin. To his dismay, the only one in his chamber was a bleeding and unconscious Loki.

Thanos teleported himself and the Black Order off the Statesman the same moment he turned it into dust. The five of them were now in the throne room of the Sanctuary II, Thanos's gargantuan warship.

"Go," he dismissed the Black Order.

As his Children left the room for their mission to Earth, Thanos pondered where to go next himself. The Space Stone allowed him near-instantaneous travel to any point in the universe. A thin smile curled into the corners of the Titan's mouth. Given the attempted rescue of Thor and Loki, his choice of destination was clear.

"It's time destiny came to Arda," Thanos told himself.

I wanted to shake things up from the word go. Given the Xandar scenes in GotG, I thought Gandalf would find it easier to blend in compared to Novi Grad. And readers are correct in assuming Loki will play a key part in this crossover.

The start of this chapter is an attempt to syncretise MCU and Tolkien cosmologies. That syncretising is based on one my favourite lines from the Ainulindalë: "Yet some things there are that they cannot see…for to none but himself has Ilúvatar revealed all that he has in store." And, to quote a certain trailer, the 'end' is here.

Heimdall and Gandalf's last contact is obviously derived from the former's long-distance conversation with Thor in Ragnarok.

I know Kevin Feige has said Thanos's snap killed half of all life. IMHO if your objective is full bellies, it makes little sense to also halve the food supply. MTCU Thanos's viewpoint is akin to Agent Smith's (when he's not being Elrond or Herr Schmidt) – plants and animals are in equilibrium, sentients are the ones out of control.