THANOS

"I do not understand your disgust with me, woman. I know the mortals took the stones from me, but all of my power does is not derived directly from the infinity gauntlet. I have other means to which I can defeat them with." The man said, glaring accusingly at the woman before him. She sits on a throne of skulls, tapping her finger, clearly bored with the situation.

"The mistress is not disgusted, but simply disappointed." A servant croaked, gazing up at the angry and disheveled titan. He snarls in the servants direction, his purple skin folding over.

"I will not listen to this slave's words again. I want to hear yours, I WANT TO BE YOUR EQUAL!" He growled, scrunching his nose in disgust. His golden armor shined as he moved, pacing back and forth. The woman leaned forward, her purple cloak barely moving through the stiff air. Stars twinkled behind her, a whole galaxy that she wanted to take for her own.

"She has lost faith in you, Thanos. She expected greater things from you." The servant mimicked, as the woman glared at Thanos with pure anger.

"Faith." Thanos hissed, "Since when does Death have faith?" He chuckled, still pacing back and forth, tightening his hands into fists. He felt so powerless, and he did not enjoy it at all. He glanced over at his left hand, which used to contain the infinity gauntlet. All the power was gone, and could not be returned. Those mortals, those idiots who called themselves the Avengers, and Guardians of the Galaxy, had stopped him somehow.

"It does not matter, because you are dismissed." The servant replied, his voice shaking slightly. Thanos snickered, amused by the slave's fear of him. Just that small flicker of a fearful flame was enough to make him feel like his old self. He may not have the infinity gauntlet, but he was still powerful nonetheless. He was the mad titan, and he would win. He would always win.

"Dismissed? I do not think so." He marched forward, and grabbed the servant by the throat, crushing it. It feel to the ground, limp and withered. Thanos looked up at Death, who still sat, seemingly unamused.

"What do I need to do?" He asked, speaking directly to her. He wanted to hear he speak, one and for all. Just as she opened her mouth, a shining light interrupted her.

It wrapped around Thanos, engulfing him in lights. They swirled around him in a daze, as he tried to fight back, shoving away the pink and purple hues. She stood up, just for a second, gazing with the slightest worrisome. Not for Thanos, but for the fact that something this strange was able to enter her chambers undetected.

"What is the meaning of this?" Thanos boomed, as he begun to lose sight of the room around him. I don't understand! Show yourself, you-" He was cut off as everything turned white, and then he was somewhere, completely different.

Others surrounded him, looking around in a confused daze. His head throbbed as he searched to see where he exactly was. Was it Death who did this? It did not seem so. His vision became more in focus, and he could make out a few faces. A man with a raw red skull, a metal robot… it was all random. Too random.

He was on a ship, a very strange ship, surrounded by all mysterious people. He glared out past the galaxy, and there it was. Another ship.

There was one question that lingered in his mind as he planned how to get out; who was on the other ship?

BLACK WIDOW

Natasha had just finished an espionage mission with Hawkeye in the depths of Soviet, Russia. As much as she disliked the bitter taste that was brought to her mouth when she had to come back to Russia, Director Coulson had sent her there, along with her colleague Clint Barton, to recover a potentially threatening unidentified artifact. She still was not comfortable with having to follow someone else's orders besides Fury's, but she respected Coulson. After the situation that had recently occurred, she obliged to any mission of finding numerous unknown threats. Seeing what that gauntlet could do, all of its power, she couldn't bear to see anything else alien come to the hands of a human.

"I just received a call from Carol. She's saying that the rest of the team haven't been responding to her. Should we call them in?" Clint asked, as Natasha started up the jet.

"We're following SHIELD's direct orders at the moment. Tell her we haven't heard anything." Natasha responded, flicking a few switches.

"Which we haven't, by the way. Aren't you considered at all? Usually Tony is all in our business with this kind of stuff." Clint replied, staring at Natasha in concern.

"Maybe he's just being nice for a change." She answered, smiling.

"I don't know… it's just, usually someone would respond. The team's big at the moment, and I find it strange no one could take the time to answer Carol." Clint swung his arrow pouch over his back, feeling strangely discomforted. A small wisp of a red light began to form around Natasha. He shook his head, thinking he was seeing things. But it continued to glow, and grow bigger, and it begun to form around him. "Natasha? What is happening?"

"I… I don't know." The light consumed both of them, flickering and fuming. The jet was crashing as they both hovered ever so slightly. With one last huge flash of white, they had teleported.

Both agents were quick to get on their feet in their new surroundings. They had teleported to a large metal ship, and were somewhere in space. Natasha noticed another ship not too far away. She saw The Avengers, looking concerned and distraught, as well as another group of people.

"I am Groot!" One of them proclaimed.