With A Snap
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 48: Thanos
Thanos moved through the field with the vegetables he'd plucked. The pain in his arm hadn't stopped; the burned flesh would peel off but never heal. He had tried to use the time stone to undo the damage as he had with the stab wound in his chest, but it didn't work.
He theorized the gauntlet fused to his arm was deflecting the energy of the stones. Maybe the stones left it, a reminder of his deeds.
As he returned to his shack, he began to prepare his simple meal.
He told himself that it was okay that it was all worth it.
He brought the universe into balance, and it now would fall into peace. He knew there was some civil unrest, but birth is always painful. And this was the birth of a new world, a whole new universe and a new way of life.
As he started to cut through the vegetable, his eyes paused on a small cup with bright red flowers.
He picked them the first day he arrived; his mind turned back to years ago. When Gamora was young, she brought her flowers like this.
It eased his soul a bit; he told himself it was a small reward from the universe for his good deeds.
It wasn't done yet.
The stones on his gauntlet were a constant temptation; they needed to be removed. He'd have to use them once more to get rid of them. The first snap nearly killed him; he wasn't sure if he'd survive. It didn't matter much if he did as long as he did it.
He would rest and do his best to recover, and when he had enough energy, he'd do it. He'd need to, even small actions with the stones, just using one or two pained him. His body could only take so much more stress; he could heal quickly, but that only help so much with these wounds. He couldn't give in, not when it was so close to completion. Not after everything he had given up, everything that had lost.
He would put this all to an end, and then he could truly rest.
He paused his preparations and looked at the flowers. He reached for the flowers but paused as he saw the soul stone glimmer.
The cost was high, and he had to make it worth it.
He paused, the crackling of the wood in flames filling the air. He felt a shift in temperature, just the slightest fluctuation.
He'd felt it before; someone was scanning the shack.
The shack exploded, and through the smoke, three pepper shaker like tanks walked through. Their glowing blue eye stalks, breaking through the smoke.
They spoke in loud shrill voices.
"Energy pattern confirmed!"
The smoke cleared, and Thanos held up out the gauntlet as the space stone glowed brightly.
"GemStone sighted, confirmed as the source of the energy pattern."
Thanos looked at these creatures; the machines were not something he was familiar with. There were plenty of species that used devices such as these to move, but these seemed battle readied. The metal seemed rather sturdy, and despite the odd design, he could tell there was a purpose behind it. Thanos also sensed an intent behind it; these creatures overflowed with hatred.
They were also uninformed, they spoke with the same voice, no difference in their units. He'd chalk that to army seeking to seem uniform, but there didn't seem to be anything different.
No, this creature didn't evolve naturally; they were made. What kind of mind would forge creatures that felt so much hate?
"Hand over the gems!" One of the creatures ordered.
"Or You shall be exterminated!"
Thanos felt pain rush through his arm, "I think not,"
"Exterminate!"
"Exterminate!"
"Exterminate!"
The creature screamed, and plasma shot fired out of their gun only to hit a shimmering blue wall. Thanos held out the stones, the power of the space stone distorting space around him, diverting them around him.
They continued to fire.
Thanos grunted, "The power of the stones is too great for a creature as yourself."
The red stone glowed brightly along with the purple stone, their attacks twisted and fired back and with a massive blast hit them.
Thanos strode out, seeing the cases strode about broken. A one-eyed tendrilled creature crawled out of one of them or attempted to.
He looked up to see armies of those tanks hovering above and countless saucers waiting.
Thanos looked behind him, his shack in ruins, and he caught sight of the flower burning up.
He clenched his fist, "You don't know the cost of these stone, and if you think I will just let you take them away, you are mistaken. "
Thanos clenched his fist and prepared for battle.
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Those creatures were the first but certainly not the last.
"Burn!"
A large alien creature rushed towards Thanos; he was dressed in a red and black uniform with a lantern-like symbol on its chest.
Its scream at him and it spewed out blood, crimson liquid struck Thanos's arms, and it burned.
The Titan hissed in pain.
More creatures in the same uniform rushed at him. He raised a shield that blocked the blood.
Thanos looked on disgusted; these aliens were little more than beast driven by rage. He at first thought it was an ability of the species, but there were so many different species amongst their ranks. This was something else.
He shattered the shield sending them hurling back.
Not to get pushed back, Thanos rushed forwards and grabbed the first's one head with the gauntlet. His finger curled around their head, and with a crack, he crushed their skull. The acid blood hissed against the Uru of the gauntlet.
Thanos dropped the corpse and readied to fight the next one.
"-Life Signs- A red ring flew off the dead's finger and flew around Thanos.
It sped away into one of the mobile tanks.
In a flash of red light, the squid creature screamed out of it as the ring laid on its tendril. "EXTERMINATE!"
The ring's light glowed repairing it's mobile suit as best it could, the lantern logo manifesting around it.
Thanos felt rage bubbled within him, "I'll have to destroy that ring."
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He couldn't tell if it was hours or days, the heat of battle had kept him going. His arm screamed in agony, but he pressed on. If he lingered for more than a second, someone could hurt him or kill him.
The problem was he was a man who fought on many battles, amongst the dead and the struggle around him was a second home to him. He would not stop until it was done.
He had no choice; more armies arrived with creatures he'd never seen.
He continued to fight more out of instinct rather than anything else.
Another army showed up, one whose troops wore white armor. They flew around and fired energy from their hands.
They were brutes; they had some power but little in skill. These troops were made of many different species, and the way they moved to fight him, Thanos, summoned they feared for their lives if they failed.
They were rather easily defeated until he meets their leader.
And when he saw them floating in the air, Thanos understood.
He sat on a floating throne, a purple being smirking.
"I must say I have not been disappointed." He stood up, his long pointed tail swaying behind him, "You turned half my troops into ash from universes away. I would have been sorely disappointed if you had just some fluke or a trick. But now, there is some power behind you."
Thanos stood tall; he'd met being like these before. Dictators and conquerer who thought they were beyond reproach.
"I'll have you know you are in the presence of Lord Frieza. Who might I say I have the pleasure of speaking to?"
"…"
"Is your name Jiren? Because you seem like a Jiren."
Thanos sighed; people like this adored to hear themselves speak.
"Thanos,"
"Yes, there, was that so hard?" Frieza saw the stones sitting on the glove; he felt energy wafting off them. They had enough power in them that it impressed him.
The stones were providing this purple behemoth more power, but he wasn't lacking. Frieza was watching him fight, he was skilled using his abilities and even turning his soldier against each other. No move was wasted; no energy used or expended unless needed.
"I suppose I should reward you, giving you a taste of my true power."
Frieza glowed as his body twisted and changed; it became more streamlined, white with purple spots. With a golden light, his body became shiny and gold.
"I'm unimpressed," Thanos scowled.
"I'll have to show you the error of that statement."
Frieza had not been ideal; the tournament of power had taught him to be more careful. He'd been building his power; Frieza didn't think he could beat the power those stones gave Thanos, but if he struck fast enough and with enough power.
Frieza held out a hand, a ball of his culminated energy, Thanos made no motion any show of concern. It irked Frieza.
That wasn't going to stop him, not wanting to leave him a chance to count her fired. With every bit of energy he could muster, he fired it forwards; Thanos walked towards it calmly. Thanos raised his hand, and the purple and blue gems glowed. The balls of energy quickly collapsed into a small speck, Thanos just plucked it out of the air and examined it.
"Somewhat impressive," Thanos let out.
Frieza hissed as he was about to bolt at him.
Before the freaky alien Geno-morph could react, the space around him folded into itself, the world moved, the space between them collapsing between them.
Stunned, Frieza felt Thanos' hand wrapped around his neck and hold him up.
Fed up with this would-be conqueror, he held the speck before him, "I believe this is yours."
The tiny speck hit him in his face before Frieza could react; he found his own energy hurling him into the air.
Thanos looked up as with a thunderous crash of light and energy, Frieza collided with the moon above him.
The moon shook as a massive crack formed across its face.
Thanos hoped that this display of power would force some people to fall back and leave him at peace.
There was a sharp pain and burning.
He forced his head back to see someone plunging a flaming sword through his back.
A new foe had arrived and used this distraction to get the jump on him. This was an odd alien, greenish in color. It had tendrils on its face.
It struggled to force the sword deeper into him, Thanos was mildly impressed it had managed to push it in as far as it had.
Thanos flicked his fingers, and purple energy ruptured from him, blasting back the attacker.
Thanos groaned as he forced out the sword. He hissed as with the time stone; he undid the damage.
The strain of the stones pulled on his muscles; he might have to hold back on that ability.
He turned to the attacker, "Who dar-"
The attacker held out his hand, he held on a glove with a small ruby on it, and it fired a laser straight at his chest.
Thanos fell back; it had been a long time since someone managed to land a solid blow on him. Thanos growled. He'd started to become far too dependant on the stones.
"Impressive, few beings could survive a direct blast,"
With a flick of his fingers, a swirling portal formed and dropped off his sword. Thanos wrapped his hand around his old weapon and charged.
Vilgax growled, "You won't survive another one." He fired another shot from the Ruby Ray of Rouleau.
Thanos spun the sword like the blades of a helicopter deflecting the blast.
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Thanos sliced through Vilgax's army of robots. He forced his way through and reached Vilgax, but as they struggled, little did he know there was more to this.
Psyphon worked on a large machine as Vilgax fought the Titan. Vilgax was under no illusion he could defeat him in a straight-up fight.
But there were other ways to win.
Vilgax kept himself at a distance; he had his army of robots fighting close up. They barely slowed down Thanos even without him relying on the stones.
Vilgax called on his device, "Psyphon, is it ready?"
"Almost my lord."
Thanos rushed at him, holding out his sword ready to slice him apart.
Vilgax unraveled his arm, turning them to a few tendrils wrapping the blade. Vilgax rarely used this ability; changing forms could be severe, and under the wrong circumstances, it could kill him.
"Now!" Vilgax bellowed.
Psyphon did as he was commanded and turned the barrel of the canon towards the purple Titan. He pressed the buttons and fired it.
Thanos spotted the blast and turned to block the blow with the power of the space stone.
The beam collided with the energy, and to Thanos' surprise, it dissipated, forcing him to block it the gauntlet.
The stones glowed as it pained Thanos, he felt the energy drain off him. Thanos fell to his knees. Much of the energy that helped sustain him through all this damage was coming from the stones.
Alarms began to blare, and the canon began to shake violently.
Psyphon, in a panic, looked at the machine's readings, "Master! It's too much it can't-"Steam began to hiss from it, Psyphon moved on the controls and fired the energy contained in it at Vilgax.
The energy fired out just before it exploded. Vilgax was struck with the raw power from the stones.
Vilgax screamed as he felt the new surge of power fill his very core. He forced himself to stay steady as he tried to reign in power.
"The power," Thanos began, "Its overwhelming isn't?"
"That it is," Vilgax could feel everything, every drop of power in his body, the spinning of the stars and moons, the heartbeat of every living thing in the planet, he could feel their souls, he could hear the humming of their thoughts, he felt every second tick away… he felt it all.
He felt an emptiness, some sort of void coming. The emptiness screamed at him.
In turn, Vilgax screamed, "Make it stop!"
"You think screaming at the infinitude, will make it bend to your orders." Thanos taunted, "You certainly have the drive, but the power is not meant for you. You are not meant to wield such power."
"Will you take it?"
"I will," Thanos clenched his fist.
Vilgax stood up, "I won't allow it,"
Vilgax used his newfound energy to blast the Titan. Thanos tanked the blast and skid to a stop.
"You think I will give you a chance," Thanos growled as the stones glowed on his gauntlet. "Something you failed to notice, you only drained off a small fraction of power."
The reality stone glowed on the gauntlet, and the world twisted around Vilgax, large arms formed from the ground grasping him. Energy soon erupted outwards, shattering the hands.
Before the fight could continue, a blast from the sky struck around them.
"That isn't enough to finish me!" A golden streak rushed towards them, Frieza bloodied and with a murderous intent rushed at them.
With extra blast struck them both, Frieza continued his volley of attacks eager to destroy them.
The dust began to settle, and Frieza confronted the Titan, Frieza was about to blast him when the world froze before him. There was a flicker of green light and then only saw a purple glint as the golden gauntlet struck his face, Stunned Frieza realized was hurling backward. Thanos grabbed him by the tail and spun him right into the face of Vilgax.
More Robots and more of Frieza's troops arrived.
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The last blast of energy was deflected, and it spun towards the nearby star.
Frieza collapsed to the ground, his body reverting to his base form. Vilgax twitched as the last bit of the stone's energy faded fro his body.
Thanos stood as the victor but saw the star change in color. Vilgax, last attempt at an attack, had drained him and damaged the star.
Thanos didn't have much time to ponder it; there were still armies coming at him. More people seemed to a portal in and brought troops. Many ended up fighting against each other; some decided to team up.
He thought he could have put this in the past, but the universe seemed to have other ideas.
A loud cackle ripped through the air, a slender, almost insect-like green robot with black stripes on her legs, and a pair of black antennae stood tall. She held a staff with a gem on end, and she called herself Vexus.
She flew into the air and commanded machines all around her to rise; her power allowed her to repair and manipulate machines.
Thanos was annoyed; the robots he had defeated had risen and gotten upgrades with her power.
"Attack my soldiers!" Vexus ordered.
Thanos saw many of he defeated rise at her command. He even saw some of the saucers rise and transform at her commands.
No, something was wrong. More of those screaming aliens showed by her side.
"Exterminate!"
Something was happening; there was something else at foot. Had they decided to work together? No, he couldn't imagine those creatures agreeing to help anyone.
He held out the gauntlet; the space stone glowed as several portals peppered the landscape.
Vexus paused, looking confused, and then terror struck her face.
Through portals, flood out armies of Chitauri, Outriders, and Sakaaran soldiers. A massive portal formed for Leviathan used to fly through.
What remained of his armies walked towards him, and as Thanos raised his fist, they bowed and moved to fight.
Even as the mission had come to a close, they remained loyal to their master.
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Thanos was done playing; with his army behind him, the numbers advantage the others had was crushed. More armies fleed, others died, and those that remained pulled their resources together just to try and survive.
A Dalek saucer crashed into the ground.
The Dalek inside scrambled to gain control of things. There was a crackle of purple light as the wall exploded outwards.
As the Dalek drone collapsed to the ground in pieces, Thanos strode in.
"I thought it was time we met,"
Thanos loomed over a figure that had fallen on the floor; it was an odd-looking man in a Dalek like a chair. He had two closed eyes and a glowing blue eye.
Thanos flicked his fingers, and the chair exploded, leaving him on the ground, it revealed him to be missing legs just a prosthetic spin hanging below his waist.
"Please! Mercy!" He begged.
"Davros." Thanos spoke his name, making the old man shudder, "You created these Daleks. After I caught Vexus, she spoke highly of you."
"I am no one," Davros squealed, his usual boastful personality was placed aside as he tried to get out of this, "The Daleks… they are in control… they force me-"
"Don't speak of yourself, little of yourself."
Thanos wasn't buying it, Davros might not be in control but had some influence, enough to get the Daleks to team up with Vexus and a few others.
"My troops have already caught one of your ships and scanned through the computers. You created an entire species; you made them fight a war you couldn't win. You made them to survive all things. To bring order. And they have. Yet they have made enemies of all life, and yet they continued. They even fought a war across time, were wiped from existence, and yet they return." He looked down at the man, "Impressive. I'd say nearly perfect if you didn't make them so hateful. They even turned against you; they keep you little more than a pet. Such a sad state for such a brilliant mind. I have many questions, and I think you will answer them."
Davros knew that he wouldn't be able to refuse.
A lone Dalek moved behind the Titan, "Exterminate!"
Thanos smiled a yellow stone glowing on his gauntlet.
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"Make My monster grow!"
An explosion of power hit a small insect, and suddenly it began to grow. Soon it towered over the landscape, it's form twisted and became battle-ready.
This monster attacked one of the leviathans.
Lord Zedd walked behind the creature. One of the Chitauri troops tried to him, but he held out his staff, and thunder cracked off it striking them.
One of the troops managed to escape the attack and charged, Zedd chuckled just quickly striking its skull. There was a sickly crunch, and it fell to the ground, unmoving.
"You can stop hiding; I can sense you," Zedd let out.
The world faded away with a strange shimmer, and Thanos stood there.
Lord Zedd chuckled, "That is some trick, I doubt most people could find you. I still sensed your energies, the same I used to track you here."
Thanos looked at him; he was a man without skin, bits of silver metal seemingly holding him together. A silver grill like a mask hiding his facial features. He was rather a gruesome sight, but he sensed a tremendous magical power behind him and a hint of some sort of time power lingering on him.
"I'll keep that in mind,"
Zedd clutched his staff, he knew he was powerful, but he sensed an even higher power coming from Thanos. That was why he joined the little alliance with some of the other invaders. They had a better chance of surviving and to share the power if they won.
"You should take your own advice."
Thanos punched the air as the power gem glowed; a shimmer faded away, revealing the monster Zedd had created.
Zedd had hoped to keep him distracted long enough for him to use a spell on his monster and command it to attack him while hidden. That plan fell apart quickly, Zedd grit his teeth as he watched his beast torn apart by the energies of the stone. The energy crackled through the air.
Zedd charged as energy crackled off his staff, calling upon every bit of magic he could draw he fired at the Titan. The giant collapsed onto the ground motionless.
Drained, Zedd leaned on his staff for support. He moved cautiously towards the fallen form, quickly he raised the staff and plunged deep into his chest.
But to his surprise, the body faded away in reddish dust.
Zedd gasped as he felt a hand wrap around his throat, and another hand pulled his staff away.
The world twisted again, revealing Thanos. Thanos snapped the staff in half.
Thanos smiled, happy to see that he could genuinely hide the presence of the stones.
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The armies had dwindled, and his troops continued to fight on. But there were still small surprises that tended to come up.
Thanos hadn't expected a purple truck just showing up and driving into him.
Thanos hissed and dug in his feet and grabbing it. The wheel spun wildly as they pressed on, with a huff, Thanos flipped over the truck.
Mid-air, the truck transformed turning into a sizeable purple robot, strangely marking on it's a face made it look like it had a beard.
The collar on its neck beeped, reminding him of his task at hand. He and the rest of the remaining Autobots were in the service of another.
They had come to find the source of the strange dusting and found the battle unfold, they brought an army of mindless robots created by Sumdac, but they did little on their own.
This evil version of Optimus Prime charged at Thanos, he had no great love for organic, but he'd enjoy killing this Thanos if he could.
Thanos got ready to attack, but suddenly several soldiers in grey armor rushed him firing. Horde soldier, along with round robots, opened fire on him.
A throwing star struck him in the back. Thanos quickly ripped it out of his body; it was sent by a black and silver robot known as Prowl. Prowl quickly faded back and hid to strike from the shadows. For now, he'd leave it to his clones to fight.
Copies of Prowl got out of their hiding spots and moved along with the Horde soldiers.
Thanos didn't fail to see that, and the soul stone glowed eager to find him. Thanos' eyes went wide; he turned around to see a dark specter from within the space behind him. It looked like a burned skeleton amongst a bright shining light.
"Anubis now!" Optimus yelled.
Anubis hated anyone to give him an order, much less a machine, but had joined in this alliance and agreed to the plan.
Energy erupted from the partially ascended energy being, nature itself upheaved itself. Winds tore at Thanos, the ground shook and moved to wrap the alien; lightning cracked through the air striking him.
Anubis could almost smile; the ancient were not in this universe, nor would they be in a position to stop him. For once, he could fully use all the powers that they denied him.
Nearby stood Catra and Sari, just watching the battle.
Sari grimaced, "Mister Ghost isn't going to last."
"Tell me something I don't already know," The leader of the Horde sighed. "Zedd, Davros, Vexus, those red lanterns, and the others are either dead or ran away."
"Well, we better make this work, or we will all bed dead." Sari hissed to a nearby by bot, "Bumblebee, give it to her."
A grey bot knew as Bumblebee inched forward, holding out a whip.
Sari explained, "We upgraded your toy."
Catra took the whip and looked it over, not sure they hadn't laid a surprise for her.
"We better get to it." Sari transformed, the purple-haired girl vanished as armor formed around her. The face mask closing up a jet pack sprung from her back. Her hands opened up, and a pair of chain saws popped out.
"Get a move on, Bee."
Hesitant the transformed charged after her.
Catra tested the whip and rushed in.
Anubis urged on, The ground dragging Thanos down. Thanos forced his covered fingers to move, and a portal formed before him and open up behind Anubis. The lighting charged through striking the energy being. Thanos wasted no time taring himself free and held out the stones, the orange stone glowing and fired at Anubis.
The ancient bein screamed in agony as it felt itself be torn apart.
"Aaaah!" Thanos screamed as the ground around him exploded, tossing aside those who moments ago had fought him. Bumblebee arrived just in time to get thrown back.
The ground beneath them coming to live and burying them up to their heads.
Stones flew through the air, taking the form of bats striking down flyers.
"Damn it!" Sari hissed, barely dodging the attacks.
Catra jumped between spike desperate to reach her goal. Things had gotten bad quickly, she had expected their forces could last a few more minutes, but now it left just two of them. The rest of their troops tied up with Thanos' army.
Thanos glared at them, ready to end this; he held out his gauntlet and prepared to fire at the cat girl.
Sari fired a pair of mini rocket right at his head. Thanos reacted out quickly as green symbols formed over his hand; the missiles stopped. With a subtle turn of his hand, the missiles flew backward right at Sari.
"Sh-"Sari let out before they collided with her and exploded.
Catra was not willing to waste the chance and rushed in and held out the whip. "Please work!" Catra begged as she lashed out the whip.
Thanos turned to her just in time for the whip to wrap around his arm. He was about to twitch his finger to end this, but energy crackled off the whip.
The modifications were based on Bumblebee's stingers, modified to affect the nervous system and to make it impossible for them to move. Thanos' finger no longer got the message to move. Catra jumped off and upturned stone and jumped onto Thanos and pulled the whip around his neck and tugged.
Choking Thanos grabbed the whip with his free hand to try and free it, but soon as his hand touched it the charge kept his other hand from moving
"I'm holding him!"
"My turn!" With a murderous glee, Sari rushed through the air and reeved the saws.
Sari plunged the saw into his eyes, the weakest point they could find. Purple blood dripped out, saw forced her jets to push her, his skin was strong, and even at its most vulnerable spot, she could feel them about to break.
Through the saw sounds and the sound of blood and eye ground to sludge, they heard something.
They were both ready for screams; they got something else.
"Haha hahaha!"
Thanos was laughing as his face was torn and his eyes ground.
Both girls paused, unsure of how to take this. Had he gone mad? Had the power warped his mind? Had the pain broke him?
Thanos smiled; those two girls remind him of his traitorous daughters. When they were young and rowdy, they tried something similar to him. These two seemed to be so much of what he hoped his daughter could have been.
The power in the whip died, Thanos grabbed Catra and flung her into Sari. They quickly crashed into the ground. Thanos smiled, the soul stone glowing, he would have to teach them a lesson, just like his daughter.
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There was a green light of the time stone undid the damage to his eyes. He was greeted with the sight of the battle ended.
Laid before him were the defeated forms of his enemies as his army brought them.
"We obey!" A Dalek moved beside the Chitauri.
Thanos grinned, he'd discovered that they Dalek all shared a network mind link. With the Mind stone, he edited it, turning their natural inborn hatred into nothing but loyalty for him.
He didn't like turning people's minds, he'd instead they see things as he saw them naturally, but with these pitiful creatures, he was willing to make an exception.
Moved before him where the broken bodies of the leader of the attacks.
Davros wriggled in pain, his lower body gone. He had no way to escape.
Frieza was face down in the ground, his lower body sliced off when he tried another attack. He hated to be in this state again.
Vilgax hissed as he struggled to breathe, now unable to change back and stuck in his other form; he was little more than a beached octopus.
Zedd was unable to move, his broken staff jammed through his chest.
Anubis trapped in the broken body of a fallen Sakaaran soldier, Anubis was caught thanks to the stones and felt the broken body slowly decay.
Vexus twitched, her body shattered and left broken, her head only just barely working.
Sari's armor transformation was stuck halfway, her hands broke and left with tools, and part half stuck out. Her jet pack exploded, leaving her back exposed and many broken machine parts sticking out of it.
Catra left, trying to stifle a cry as her arms and legs were broken so she could move.
One of the horde soldiers, a force captain, a very hairy guy, was brought towards Thanos. Thanos pressed the power stone next to him; he screamed as purple energy ripped through him. He screamed as he burned from the inside out.
Thanos spoke calmly, no hint of any anger, "I have questions; you will answer me and hide nothing."
That wasn't a question; he just told them how things would go.
"I don't recognize some of your species. I've seen your computer files; they describe events that I do not know of."
Davros spoke up, "I- I can explain that- our people dissolved. I tried to find out the cause and detected the power trail to those stones. It permutated the barriers between reality,"
"We think-"Catra gasped, "It made the walls between dimension, made them weaker. Not long ago, we had something happen-"Catra spoke through the pain, "something happened, and our dimension nearly crumbled. We used that data to get here."
"Same!" Sari shouted, "Except the dimension crumbling thing. We just picked something up in the space bridge."
Vexus just grimaced, "I came from my universe searching for such power, we all did."
Thanos looked at the stones, had it been possible. He had never dream the stones could carry out his command across into other universes to bring balance to every world.
There was applause; he turned to see A woman in a black skin-tight suit, her black hair swaying as she walked towards him.
"Hello," she smiled, "I have to admit, I would never have imagined they were that powerful. "
"Who are you?"
"Hela, goddess of death."
"Asgardian?"
"Oh, finally, someone who knows me."
Thanos let the gems glow as a warning, "What brings you here?"
"Goddess of death, half the universe suddenly blinks away; it got my attention. Then this massive battle and untold death drew me here." She smiled widely, "I must say I'm impressed."
"If you are here because of your people."
"The thing on the ship? No, I don't care. If given a chance, I would kill all of them." Her words were bitter, but she changed her tone, "No, I'm here for you."
Thanos stood stoically.
"I'm here to serve you."
"Serve me?"
"I did plan on working for myself, but that didn't work. I respect power; I respect strength; I respect the will to do what needs to be done to accomplish your goals. I have no qualms working for someone with those traits. Plus, I'm sure there would be some benefits."
"Benefits?"
"To be at your right-hand side, to reap the rewards, maybe a kingdom of my own, that would serve your needs."
"I think you misunderstand; I do not seek to rule."
"You don't? Then what?"
"I seek to bring balance. The resources of this universe, to all universes, are finite and people too many."
"Oh, I see you cut down the people, then resources are doubled."
"Yes, with that absence, this universe can become a paradise where people have all they need."
"That fine, that's all well and good, but it won't work. People won't work like that. On my way here, there are people in a panic, tearing each other apart. People ready to kill each other; people are killing each other. Your utopia is burning itself down. This universe is wild and untamed; it needs a leader — someone to reign in the chaos and brings it to order. Then and only then will your dream become a reality. And you have the power to make it happen."
Thanos looked at the stones once more.
"Or you cannot do anything. More armies will come from all over; these fools were just the first to put everything together and make the journey. I saw the battle; some got close how long can you manage on your own? How long until someone gets lucky? What will they do? If you want this to last, you must make it happen."
Thanos hated that this wasn't over, but Hela made sense. He'd had to force his will unto the universe to bring the balance. She wasn't lying; he knew, the universe was tearing itself apart, and he was sure it would settle, but they wouldn't see. They hadn't seen it. They would always strive for what they lost. He couldn't let them. No, not after everything he had given up.
"This power must be used responsibly,"
"And you are so very gracious to take it up. I'd be glad to serve you." Hela lowered her head and bowed.
He stroked her cheek," Raise your head; there is work to do. Your loyalty will be rewarded."
"I'll serve you!" Catra shouted, "I'll give you my army, my tech, everything we have."
Thanos looked her over, "And what do you want in return." Thanos lowered herself to look at her.
"Bring back my people. That glove can do anything, then bring them back."
He looked sadly at her, "I cannot, my child. Balance has been brought, and I won't let it be undone."
His tone made it clear that he wouldn't have his mind changed.
Thanos' hand moved her head so that she could look at her in the eyes.
"Let me have my world." Catra spoke up, "Let it be mine to rule. No changes, no anything. It's a small world tucked away in its own dimension. My scientist already freaked out about this whole thing. It almost shattered, we got lucky it didn't."
Thanos listened to the words and thought struck him, something akin to fear seeded itself in his heart. He needed to go to this world to see.
"And if I give you this world, you must keep it under control. You will serve me. Otherwise, all decisions are yours to manage. But your people cannot affect the rest of the universe. They must be controlled."
"I will; I'll make sure." Catra trembled.
Thanos smiled. She could be instrumental.
"Very well," He held out the gauntlet as green light covered her Catra gasped.
The pain left her, and her wounds were undone.
Catra trembled and bowed before the Titan.
"Yeah, can I get some of that too." Sari spoke up, "I'll give you my army of bots, my Autobot slaves, my tech, and my loyalty. The whole jazz."
Humbled, the other leaders began to offer themselves to Thanos, thought Frieza has to choke it out.
Thanos smiled, they were far from perfect, but they had the skill and have proved themselves to find him and not die. They could all be useful.
"Rise my Black Order," Thanos said as he used the time stone to undo their damage. "Serve, and you will rule, you will make a difference, you will live. If not."
The gauntlet glowed, shining through the sky.
0000
Above the planet hidden in a cloaking field hovered a skull-like ship. The ship belonged to the being known as Brainiac.
But Brainiac was gone, now piloting the ship was one Lex Luthor in his power suit. The ship's long-distance screens showed him the fight and the results.
It didn't take him too long to find out that the source of the dusting was coming from another universe. It took him a bit longer to find out it didn't come from the 52 universes he knew about. He hated to admit it, but he would need help, he searched for the only other being he would consider being somewhat on the same mental level as him. But Brainiac was gone, so Luthor helped himself to the ship.
Though he wasn't alone, a young-looking woman with blue skin and pink hair wearing a black top and a black skirt walked up behind him.
That was the Coluan android descendant of Brainiac, who came from the future to prevent her people's defeat. She was Brainiac 8 or better known as Indigo. She looked for Brainiac like Luthor; they had decided to work together to solve this mystery. After all, neither sought to end their universe.
"Well, that went terribly," Indigo let out.
Luthor had to agree, they arrived in the middle of the battle and stayed behind to watch it play out.
Screens displayed data, and nothing seemed good.
The power those stones held was beyond anything he could have wished, the specs they got off Thanos himself made him formable. Now he managed to gather an army which only grew.
"The so-called heroes have failed even to discover this threat. They are too busy treating the symptoms and instead of curing the diseases. They haven't even seen the full extent yet. No, it will fall to us. We will have to gather our army to resolve this."
Soon the ship came to life and flew off to parts unknown.
Author's Notes: Okay, first thing. People stop suggesting or requesting stuff! I'm not doing any more request or suggestions, no more trying to sneak in a suggestion. No. I have had the message that I'm not taking anymore in the story summary, I've had that up for weeks. People are sending me reviews and DM's for these stuff and it's getting annoying, some people are getting very pushy about it too. So I won't say it again, no more request or suggestions. I don't want to come off as rude but I've said this a number of time and it's in the summary and people kept sending messsages. One guy sent me 20 just the other day. People are starting to harrass me about this and I've had to start blocking people.
This stuff is super annoying, it drains all the fun of writing this, and I'm already strained in my enjoyment from this.
Sorry to get so heavy on this but I have to state it. I've had to state it so many times now.
Anyway, leave me a review telling me what you guys think of the chapter. Honestly hearing what you guys think really does help me and motivates me. What did you guys think of the new Black Order?
Q&A:
nickyreader1: No more requests. I never read Percy Jackson. I never finished Harry Potter. I did one scene for Harry Potter in chapter 45. Thats all I'm doing, I saw the scene and that was all I know about the last book or movie.
Maximum Rhapsody: I don't do spoilers.
acosta perez jose ramiro: You'd think.
supergodzillasailorcosmos: Yeah, just explained it here. Red Lanterns, Frieza forces. People need to stop asking me for stuff I am going to explain eventually.
DeltaGamer: Looks like Thanos has a new idea. Probably holding off on getting rid of the stones.