Aoi Dragon: I have always wondered what sort of event would have made Arthur Harrow leave Khonshu's service. So, here's my take on it. Enjoy!

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Cairo's midday sun beat down on Arthur Harrow. The blond strands of his hair stuck to his forehead despite his recent shave, and a thin sheen of sweat coated his brow. He shuffled through the bustling market, his hands jammed deep in his pockets, a grimace twisting his features. An unsettling premonition gnawed at him, a prickling sensation that snaked up his spine. It was a feeling he knew all too well, a harbinger of chaos courtesy of his moon god patron, Khonshu.

Today just felt… wrong. The vibrant chatter of the market seemed muted, replaced by a nervous undercurrent. Even the stray cats usually weaving between ankles seemed to slink with an unusual caution. Arthur stopped, his gaze sweeping over the throng. A knot of unease tightened in his gut. Was it just the heat? Or was something more sinister brewing?

Suddenly, a woman's scream pierced the air. It was a primal shriek that sent shivers down Arthur's spine. He whipped his head around, his eyes widening in horror. A young woman, moments ago haggling with a spice vendor, disintegrated before his very eyes. Her vibrant red dress turned to dust, dissolving into a swirling cloud of black particles that dissipated into the scorching air.

Panic erupted. People shoved each other, scrambling to escape an unseen threat. A man clutched his chest, his face contorting in agony before he too crumbled into dust. Arthur felt the blood drain from his face. This wasn't just some street brawl, some petty human squabble. This was something different, something… cosmic. His instincts, honed by years under Khonshu's tutelage, screamed at him that something far more powerful than any earthly weapon was at play.

A cold dread gripped Arthur. He didn't understand what was happening, but his gut told him the nightmare had just begun. He quickly made his way to a building where a radio was playing, and a broadcast in Arabic told him that this... dusting was happening all over the world.

People were wailing in the streets, their loved ones having vanished, and Arthur could do nothing to help the innocents, the people he had vowed to protect using Khonshu's power. Some evil had slipped through Khonshu's gaze and caused this... decimation.

Rage, a familiar feeling, coursed through him. It gave him focus. Arthur had to confront the moon god about this devastation to the people he was supposed to look after and protect. If Arthur didn't like the answer, he would leave the god's service and seek a higher calling, one where evil and wickedness could be sensed before the action was committed.

Arthur strode away from the main roads of Cairo and found an area where no one was around except... black particles of dust. Seeing that dust just added gasoline to his fiery fury.

"Khonshu," he snarled through gritted teeth, "I demand to speak with you. Now."

A booming voice, cold and ancient, echoed from the swirling shadows. "You tread a dangerous path, Harrow. Demanding audience with a god is not a wise course."

Khonshu materialized slowly, his skeletal form draped in a swirling cloak. His hollow gaze focused on Arthur with an intensity that stole the heat from the Egyptian sun.

Arthur, though unnerved by the god's imposing presence, stood his ground. "This… dusting… this wasn't part of the plan, Khonshu. Innocent people are dying! What have you unleashed?"

There was a pause, a surprising disquiet in the god as his purview focused back on Earth, "This... was not my doing."

Khonshu's unexpected admission hung heavy in the air, thick with the scent of dust and panic. Arthur stared, bewildered. "Not yours? Then whose?" he demanded, his voice shaking with a mixture of anger and disbelief.

The moon god remained silent, the inky depths of his eye sockets swirling with an unreadable emotion. The shadows around him writhed, whispers of forgotten languages and glimpses of unimaginable horrors dancing on the edge of Arthur's perception. A shiver ran down his spine, colder than any desert night.

There was a hiss from the moon god, "The Mad Titan."

This was just another cryptic utterance from his enigmatic god. The weight of Khonshu's silence, however, spoke volumes. This unseen enemy, powerful enough to cause a global disintegration event, was far beyond anything Arthur had faced before.

"Who is the Mad Titan?" he pressed, his voice tight with a newfound urgency. "And how do we stop this… dusting?"

Khonshu's form flickered, the shadows around him churning with what seemed like suppressed anger. "Something blocked my sight. The Mad Titan is responsible for this decimation."

Khonshu's cryptic pronouncements left a bitter taste in Arthur's mouth. Here he was, Khonshu's avatar, supposed protector of innocents, yet this cosmic horror had unfolded entirely beneath the moon god's radar. Doubt, a serpent long coiled within him, began to unfurl.

"Blocked your sight?" Arthur scoffed, his voice laced with a dangerous edge. "A god, blindsided? Forgive my skepticism, Khonshu, but this reeks of a monumental failure on your part."

The air crackled with tension. Khonshu's gaze narrowed, a flicker of something akin to annoyance crossing his spectral visage. "Do not mistake my words, Harrow. This Mad Titan wields a power beyond your comprehension. Even my sight can be… obscured."

"Then enlighten me," Arthur demanded, his defiance surprising even himself. The line between righteous anger and rebellion was blurring rapidly. "Who is this Mad Titan? How do we… un-dust these people?"

A flicker of something akin to respect flickered in Khonshu's eye sockets. Perhaps the avatar's defiance was not unwelcome. "The Mad Titan is Thanos," the god rumbled, the name echoing through the dusty alleyway. "A being of immense power, obsessed with universal balance through… oblivion."

Arthur's blood ran cold. Universal balance through oblivion? "Thanos…" he muttered, the name tasting foreign on his tongue. "How do we stop him?"

Khonshu's form flickered, "He has done what he set out to do. Half of all life snuffed out."

"This can't go unanswered!" Arthur said, horrified by the implications. Half of all life. That meant that it was more than just Earth, "We need to find him and take our vengeance-"

"He is beyond where you can go, my avatar."

The air hung heavy with the weight of Khonshu's pronouncement. Arthur's defiance faltered, replaced by a cold dread. Half of all life, gone. The bustling market he'd walked through just moments ago was a chilling reminder of the devastation. He swallowed, the taste of sand and despair thick in his mouth.

"Then what do we do?" Arthur rasped. "Leave the rest of the universe to his whim?"

Khonshu rumbled, as if in thought. "He still possesses all of the Infinity Stones. Even I would have difficulty confronting him and obtaining victory."

Arthur stares blankly at Khonshu. "Infinity Stones? What are those?" The god's cryptic pronouncements were reaching a whole new level of frustrating.

Khonshu, perhaps sensing Arthur's confusion, sighs (if a god can sigh). "They are artifacts of immense power, capable of tipping the scales of the universe. Thanos used them to enact his… vision."

The revelation about the Infinity Stones hammered Arthur. Not only had Khonshu failed to prevent this cosmic catastrophe, but the key to undoing it was beyond their reach, in the hands of a genocidal madman. Despair threatened to engulf him, but a flicker of defiance, a spark ignited by the innocents who had turned to dust before his eyes, refused to be extinguished.

"There has to be a way," Arthur insisted, his voice hoarse but firm. "We can't just accept this… this oblivion."

Khonshu raised his head toward the sky, "The Infinity Stones have the ability to safely rend reality to reshape it according to the wishes of their wielder. They are the singularities of the universe. What he has done cannot be undone from here… particularly when the Stones remain in the possession of the Mad Titan."

Arthur's mind raced. He grasped the abstract concepts Khonshu had thrown at him – Infinity Stones, singularities, universal reshaping. It felt like trying to understand the cosmos through a dusty keyhole. But one thing resonated with chilling clarity: Thanos, with the Infinity Stones, held the power to rewrite reality itself.

"So, we need to get the Stones," Arthur stated, the defiance in his voice morphing into a steely resolve.

Khonshu swirled, the shadows around him deepening. "Easier said than done, Harrow. Thanos will be as relentless in guarding them as he was in acquiring them."

"Then we find a way," Arthur pressed on, a spark of recklessness igniting within him. "There has to be a way to take them from him, to undo this… genocide."

Khonshu's form flickered again and then trembled with anger. "Something is blocking me." His voice was a low growl, "Something is preventing my power from interfering."

The revelation hung heavy in the air. Arthur, for all his newfound defiance, felt a sliver of fear pierce his resolve. Khonshu, a powerful god, somehow obstructed? This foe, Thanos, was deadlier than he initially imagined.

"What is blocking you?" Arthur pressed, needing to understand the full scope of the situation.

"It is not the Mad Titan. It is something... outside of time and space. Something... other."

The weight of Khonshu's words settled on Arthur like a shroud. Something beyond time and space? The situation had morphed from a cosmic conflict to an existential threat. A tremor of fear snaked through him, but it was quickly eclipsed by a surge of anger. He wouldn't give in to fear. Not now.

"This power..." The shadows writhed around Khonshu as he trailed off. "If this other can block even a god..."

Arthur clenched his fists, "Then maybe I need a new patron god, someone more powerful. Someone who isn't blinded by outside forces. Someone who can sense evil before the act is committed."

The pronouncement hung heavy in the air, a challenge that echoed through the dusty alleyway. Khonshu's form flickered, the shadows swirling around him in a disarray Arthur had never witnessed before. The moon god, who had always projected an aura of cold indifference, seemed genuinely taken aback by Arthur's defiance.

"Do not be hasty, Harrow," Khonshu rumbled, a hint of something akin to urgency creeping into his voice. "Those who reside beyond the veil are not to be trifled with. Their power is immeasurable, their motives even more so."

Arthur scoffed. "And yours, apparently, is limited. People are dead, Khonshu. Millions, maybe billions, lost to dust in the blink of an eye. If some 'other' force can block you, then maybe it's time I found a god who can actually protect his followers." Arthur straightened, "Our bargain has been broken, Khonshu. You have failed to uphold your end, and so I must be released from your service."

A tense silence choked the dusty alleyway. Khonshu's skeletal form flickered, the shadows around him churning in a maelstrom of dark energy. Arthur, his heart pounding a frantic rhythm against his ribs, met the god's gaze with unwavering defiance. He knew he was on shaky ground, challenging a being of immense power, but the memory of the woman dissolving into dust fueled his rebellion.

Suddenly, Khonshu's hollow gaze flared with an intensity that momentarily blinded Arthur. When his vision cleared, the alleyway was empty. The god was gone, leaving Arthur alone with the weight of his decision and the crushing reality of a decimated world.

Despair threatened to engulf him, but a flicker of defiance, a spark ignited by the innocents who had vanished before his eyes, refused to be extinguished. He wouldn't let this be the end. He wouldn't become another victim of Thanos' twisted vision.

Squaring his shoulders, Arthur started walking. He didn't know where he was going, but he knew one thing for sure: he wasn't Khonshu's avatar any longer. He would find another way, another source of power, to fight against this cosmic tyranny.

He would have his true justice, even if he had to kill the perpetrators before they'd committed the act.