Chapter Text
Dry, dusty winds blew through the ruins of the shattered Planet Titan. An eerie silence surrounded the remnants of the fighters who were still standing after Thanos snapped his fingers. Tony sat weakly on the ground, clutching his injured abdomen.
He turned toward Dr. Strange, who was sitting cross-legged. Suddenly, Strange's body began to erode from the tips of his fingers. The golden-orange light turned into black ash. Strange looked at Tony with a calm, resigned gaze. “Tony, there is no other way,” he whispered softly, just moments before his entire body disintegrated into the wind, leaving nothing but emptiness.
Before Tony could process what had just happened, a panicked voice broke the silence.
“Mr. Stark?”
He quickly turned around. Peter staggered toward him. The teenager’s face was deathly pale, his eyes wide with fear.
“I don’t feel so good,” Peter said, his voice trembling violently.
Peter immediately fell forward, and Tony quickly caught the boy’s frail body. Peter clutched Tony’s shoulders tightly, as if holding onto the only pillar of salvation left in the world.
“I don’t know what’s happening...” He said, beginning to cry, overwhelming fear taking over him.
“I don’t want to go, Sir.”
“Please, I don’t want to go.”
“I don’t want to go!”
Tony didn’t know what to do. The genius who always had an answer for everything was now silent, only able to hold the boy tightly in his arms on the ground.
Peter slowly laid his body down on the dusty ground, looking at Tony with eyes that were beginning to grow dull.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered weakly.
Within seconds, Peter’s body crumbled into fine dust in Tony’s hands. His trembling fingers clutched at the dust that remained on them, but the wind immediately carried it away.
Tony Stark was left alone in the deadly emptiness, accompanied only by Nebula, who stared at him from a distance with a cold, sorrowful gaze.
“He did it,” Nebula said quietly.
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Three weeks passed. In the silent darkness of space, The Benatar drifted aimlessly. The ship's fuel had completely run out, and the life-support systems inside were slowly shutting down.
Tony, now gaunt, pale, and extremely weak, sat on the cold floor of the ship. He activated his damaged Iron Man helmet to record one last message. A pale blue light illuminated his haggard face.
“Hi, Miss Potts,” He began, his voice hoarse and nearly gone. “If you find this recording, don’t be sad. Death is a part of the journey. Honestly, drifting through space with no chance of being rescued is actually more pleasant than it sounds. The food and water ran out four days ago. The oxygen will run out tomorrow morning... and that’s it.”
He closed his eyes for a moment, holding back his tears. “When I fall asleep, I’ll dream of you. Because you’re always the one on my mind.” He turned off the helmet, leaned back in the pilot’s seat, and closed his eyes, resigned to waiting for death to come for him in the darkness of the universe.
However, fate had other plans.
A blinding golden light suddenly pierced through the ship’s front window. Tony struggled to open his weary eyes. Out there, floating in the vacuum of space, stood a blonde woman whose body was surrounded by pure cosmic energy. Carol Danvers—Captain Marvel had arrived.
Some time later, The Benatar slowly descended from the sky above Earth and landed in the courtyard outside the Avengers Compound. The ship’s doors opened. With Nebula’s support, Tony stepped out, his body trembling violently.
At the bottom of the stairs, Pepper ran toward him, tears streaming down her face, and immediately wrapped her arms tightly around her husband’s nearly helpless body.
Steve, Natasha, Bruce, and Rhodey walked closer, their faces filled with grief. Steve looked at Tony, his old friend whom he had not seen since their falling-out. “I couldn’t stop him,” Tony said breathlessly as he saw Steve standing in front of him.
“Neither could we,” Steve replied, his voice heavy with regret.
Tony stared directly at Steve, his sunken eyes reflecting deep guilt, unresolved trauma, and heart-shattering grief.
“I lost the kid,” Tony whispered, his voice trembling as he remembered Peter crumbling in his arms.
Steve stepped forward and placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him. “Tony...”
“You know? I wanted to say that I...” He began to ramble, the emotions he had held back for 22 days in space finally exploding.
“Take it easy, Tony. Sit down first,” Steve interrupted, trying to steady Tony’s unsteady body. However, He brushed Steve’s hand away with the little strength he had left.
“No, listen to me! We needed you!"
"Out there, out there! It was too late. I told you years ago, I had a vision of this, but you wouldn’t listen!” he shouted, lashing out at Steve for not being by his side when the great war took place.
His breathing grew rapid, his heart pounding hard, and his body was completely drained of energy. His vision began to blur. Before he could say another word, his knees gave out, and he collapsed unconscious onto the ground from overwhelming physical and mental exhaustion. Steve and the others immediately caught him and carried him to the medical room.
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Inside the medical room at the Avengers Compound, Tony lay weakly on the bed, an IV needle inserted into his hand. Outside the room, the remaining members of the team gathered in front of a massive holographic screen displaying photos of the missing victims.
Faces they knew all too well appeared one by one: Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff, Bucky Barnes, Sam Wilson, dozens of other names, until finally, photos of Scott Lang and Hope van Dyne flickered onto the screen.
Natasha sat in a chair with a blank stare, her voice sounding hoarse as she read the data. “Thanos snapped his fingers, and just like that... fifty percent of all living creatures in the universe vanished.”
Steve stood by the window, staring outside with his arms crossed. “How long have we been looking for him?” He asked without turning around.
“All global and cosmic satellites have been deployed,” Natasha replied, shaking her head weakly. “There’s no sign of him anywhere.”
Rhodes let out a heavy sigh, leaning against the table. “Tony said Thanos had some kind of space transport, but the ship they were using was destroyed. We’re completely blind now.”
In the corner of the room, Carol stood calmly, her face showing strong determination. “I know where to look. I’ll go into space and find him myself.”
Bruce, still shaken because Hulk refused to come out during the battle in Wakanda, looked at Carol skeptically. “Hold on. We usually work as a team here, and honestly, our morale is at an all-time low. You’re just going to go out there by yourself?”
“I want to kill Thanos,” Carol answered shortly and coldly. “And take the stones back to bring everyone back.”
Rhodes stepped closer to Carol, folding his arms across his chest with a sarcastic tone.
“Hey, newbie. Everyone in this room is used to the superhero life. If you don’t mind me asking, where have you been all this time? Earth has gone through a whole lot of chaos before this.”
Carol stared directly at Rhodes, not intimidated in the slightest. “There are many other planets in this universe, Rhodes. And unfortunately, they don’t have a group like the Avengers to protect them."
"They only have me.”
The atmosphere in the room suddenly became tense and silent. Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps came from behind.
Thor, who had been sitting quietly in the corner while chewing on some food with a blank stare, rose to his feet. He slowly walked toward Carol. His heavy footsteps made the room feel even quieter. Thor stopped right in front of Carol.
The God of Thunder was physically much taller and larger, but Carol continued to stand tall, looking up into his eyes without blinking. Thor raised his right hand to the side, then opened his palm.
WHOOSH.
A loud whistling sound of rushing wind could be heard from a distance. The massive Stormbreaker came flying across the room from the opposite corner, heading straight for Thor’s waiting hand. The weapon flew incredibly fast, passing only a few millimeters away from Carol’s ear and cheek.
The strong gust from the axe’s flight made her blonde hair blow in the wind. However, Carol didn’t even blink. She didn’t move a single muscle on her face. She simply stared at Thor with a faint, challenging smile. Thor firmly caught the handle of Stormbreaker. He lowered his weapon, looked Carol up and down, and then a faint smile appeared on his bearded face.
He then turned toward Steve and Natasha.
“I like this one,” Thor said in his characteristic deep voice.
The tense atmosphere immediately began to ease. At the same time, Rocket entered the room and jumped onto the main control table.
“Hey, stop arguing. Look at this,” he exclaimed as he pressed several buttons on the computer keyboard. A large, circular 3D holographic map of the galaxy immediately opened in the middle of the room.
“Two days ago, a planet experienced a massive surge of cosmic energy,” Rocket explained, pointing at a dark green planet on the screen.
“The energy levels were enormous. It hadn’t happened since the incident on Earth... until two days ago.”
Natasha immediately stood from her chair, her eyes widening as she looked at the energy readings. “He used the stones again,” she whispered, realizing something.
Bruce shook his head anxiously. “But we’re short on personnel now. Tony is injured, and we don’t even know if this is a trap or not.”
Steve stepped forward into the middle of the room. He stared at the holographic planet with a sharp, determined gaze. After weeks of being plagued by guilt, there was finally a glimmer of hope to make things right.
“I don’t care whether it’s a trap or not,” He said firmly and authoritatively, his voice reflecting the Captain America who was ready to lead once again.
“Even if the chances are slim, we owe this to everyone who isn’t in this room right now."
"Get ready.”
Steve turned toward Nebula, who was standing near the door. “Nebula, do you know the exact coordinates?”
Nebula nodded slowly. “My father always referred to that place as ‘The Garden.’ A peaceful planet, a place he wanted to go to after his mission was complete.”
“Then we’re going,” Steve said firmly, ending the discussion that night and beginning their most dangerous mission of revenge.
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The vast darkness of space surrounded the Benatar as it sped through the stars. Inside the cockpit, the atmosphere felt cold and tense. There was no music, no casual conversation. Only the faint hum of the ship’s engines could be heard.
Rocket sat in the pilot’s seat, his hands skillfully handling the controls. Beside him, Nebula sat in silence, staring straight ahead as she busily calculated the coordinates for an intergalactic jump.
In the passenger seats, Steve sat upright. His eyes were fixed on an old pocket compass opened in his hand, displaying a photo of Margaret “Peggy” Carter, the love of his life.
His hand trembled slightly, not from fear, but from the heavy burden he carried as the leader of the remnants of humanity. Beside him, Natasha sat back, staring blankly at her own fingers.
Meanwhile, Thor sat separately in the very back corner. The God of Thunder was not wearing a seatbelt, nor did he care about his surroundings. His bearded face looked stiff.
His eyes were empty, radiating an intense anger. In his hand, he gripped the handle of Stormbreaker tightly. Slowly, Thor closed his eyes, and in an instant, streams of pale blue lightning began to crawl from his palm, enveloping the blade of the cosmic axe with sharp crackling sounds. He was fully charging his weapon, preparing for one purpose: revenge.
Outside the ship’s glass window, Carol’s silhouette flew ahead of them, surrounded by a brilliant aura of golden cosmic energy.
“We’re gonna jump in three, two, one...” Rocket announced, breaking the silence.
WHOOSH!
The Benatar shot forward at the speed of light, crossing the dimensional gateway of space until they finally arrived in the atmosphere of a lush, green planet. Planet 026. The Garden.
Carol flew down to the planet’s surface first, piercing through the clouds to scout the situation below. Moments later, her voice came through the communication system inside the cockpit.
“No satellites, no ships, no armies, no ground defenses of any kind. It’s just him,” She reported from below.
Nebula turned toward her. “That’s enough.”
On the surface of the planet, in a simple wooden hut surrounded by fields of strange crops, everything seemed peaceful.
Thanos walked with a limp, moving very slowly. The entire left side of his body—from his face and neck to his arm—was severely blistered and burned from the effects of the radiation caused by his snap three weeks ago.
He stepped into his dimly lit wooden hut, picked up a small pot filled with soup made from his harvest, and sat down on a low wooden chair. His breathing sounded heavy, labored, and filled with pain.
Suddenly, his instincts sensed something. But before he could even stand—
BLAARRR!
The roof of the wooden hut was blown apart. Carol shot down like a golden meteor, immediately tackling Thanos. With incredible speed, she locked her arm around Thanos’s neck from behind, forcing the giant to remain on his knees on the ground.
The next second, the ground inside the hut shook. Bruce, wearing the massive Hulkbuster armor, broke through the floor from below, immediately charging at Thanos and gripping his right arm tightly, pinning it to the floor with the armor’s hydraulic strength.
From the breached ceiling, Rhodes descended in his War Machine armor, landing right beside Thanos. He immediately grabbed Thanos’s left wrist, the one wearing the Infinity Gauntlet—the golden glove holding the Infinity Stones—and pinned it to the ground so Thanos could not clench his fingers again.
Just as Thanos was completely restrained and unable to move, a bolt of blue lightning tore through the air.
SLASH!!
Thor shot down with Stormbreaker and immediately struck Thanos’s left wrist without mercy. The giant purple hand wearing the golden gauntlet was severed instantly, rolling across the dusty ground. Thanos roared in immense pain, his voice echoing through the ruined hut.
Steve, Natasha, Rocket, and Nebula walked through the doorway of the hut with their weapons ready. The atmosphere immediately fell silent, leaving only the sound of Thanos’s ragged breathing as he lay on the floor.
Rocket walked toward the severed golden hand lying on the ground. Full of hope, he used his foot to flip the gauntlet over so they could see the six Infinity Stones. But when the gauntlet turned over—
Rocket’s eyes widened. The gauntlet was completely empty. There wasn’t a single stone inside. Only six empty, scorched sockets remained.
“Oh, no...” He whispered, his voice trembling with disappointment.
Steve stepped forward, his face tightening in disbelief. “Where are the Stones?” he demanded.
Thanos, still kneeling while clutching his severed and bleeding left arm, looked up at Steve. His breathing was heavy, but his gaze remained calm, cold, and arrogant.
“The world is in order,” Thanos replied in his deep, raspy voice.
“I have fulfilled my mission.”
Bruce, still wearing his Hulkbuster armor, stepped forward and roughly shoved Thanos, nearly knocking the Titan to the ground. “We asked where the Stones are?!” he shouted furiously.
Thanos steadied himself, then looked at them one by one. “I destroyed them. I reduced them to atoms.”
Hearing this, Natasha immediately cut in, her voice filled with immense frustration. “You used them two days ago!”
Thanos slowly nodded, his face grimacing as he endured the pain throughout his body.
“I used the Stones... to destroy the Stones themselves. It nearly cost me my life. But my work is done. And it always will be.”
He paused, taking a deep breath before continuing in an incredibly arrogant tone.
“I am... inevitable.”
Rhodes shook his head, refusing to believe what he had just heard. “He’s lying. He must have hidden them! Let’s search the place!”
However, Nebula stepped forward ahead of the others. Her cybernetic eyes stared sharply at her father. “He’s not lying,” she said in a cold, flat voice.
“My father is many things... but he is not a liar. He has never lied.”
Thanos looked at his daughter, whom he had tormented for so long. For the first time, there was a flicker of regret, or perhaps appreciation, in his eyes.
“Thank you, daughter,” he whispered sincerely.
“Maybe I was too hard on you all this time...”
Before Thanos could finish his sentence—
SWIIISSHHH—CRACK!!!
A movement as fast as lightning occurred. Thor stepped forward, his eyes blazing with cosmic fury, swinging Stormbreaker with all the strength of a god. The massive blade struck Thanos with devastating force.
Thanos fell, his body going still. The Mad Titan was dead.
Everyone in the room flinched in shock. An eerie silence once again took over the hut. They all stood frozen, staring at Thanos before slowly turning toward Thor, their faces filled with shock and disbelief at the brutal act that had just taken place.
“Thor... what did you just do?” Rhodes asked, his voice trembling.
Thor did not turn toward Rhodes. He simply stared straight ahead through the window, looking out at the empty fields.
Killing Thanos changed nothing. The victims of the Blip would never return.
“I went for the head,” Thor said in a very quiet, cold, trembling voice, referring to his greatest mistake in the past when he failed to stop Thanos’s snap in Wakanda.
Without saying another word, Thor turned around. He dragged his heavy footsteps, walking out and leaving the ruined hut behind, leaving his friends standing in silence, defeated in the most devastating defeat of their lives.