[Third person POV]
Gamora recounted how Thanos had traveled from world to world, systematically wiping out half the population of each planet. Now, with the Infinity Stones nearly in his grasp, he intended to do the same to the entire universe—with just a snap of his fingers.
"Now I understand why they call him The Mad Titan," Melissa scoffed, her eyes narrowing as the screen showed Thanos smiling gently at a younger version of Gamora. "He really is mad… and stupid, by the looks of it."
She leaned forward, animated. "There are so many better ways to achieve universal balance! Killing half the population is only effective for, what, a generation? People repopulate. That cycle doesn't break. If anything, he's only delaying the inevitable."
Her earlier wariness and exhaustion were gone now, replaced by fiery curiosity and passionate irritation as she got pulled deeper into the film's narrative.
"You know, in the comics he does all this for a completely different reason," Tony chimed in, casually smug as he always got when sharing comic book trivia.
Melissa tilted her head. "Wait—what other reason could there possibly be for this kind of galactic-scale genocide?"
Tony leaned back and raised a brow. "You ready for this? He was in love. With Death. Like, the literal, cosmic embodiment of Death. It was his twisted way of courting her—killing half the universe to impress his crush."
Melissa stared at him blankly for a moment.
"You're being serious?"
"Yup."
Her palm met her forehead with an audible slap as she sighed deeply and leaned back into the couch. "I take back everything I wanted to know about him. That's just dumb."
She shook her head in disbelief and turned her attention back to the screen, choosing to focus on the events unfolding in the movie rather than Thanos' bizarre romantic motivations.
As the heroes strategized, it became clear that Thanos would be heading to Knowhere to retrieve the Reality Stone from the Collector. Meanwhile, Thor decided to travel to Nidavellir, hoping the legendary forge and its master smith, Eitri, could help him craft a weapon powerful enough to kill Thanos. Rocket and Groot volunteered to accompany him.
The Guardians split—Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, and Mantis made their way to Knowhere.
Elsewhere in Scotland, Vision and Wanda Maximoff tried to live a quiet life, away from war and expectation—until they were suddenly ambushed by two of Thanos' enforcers: Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. Vision was quickly overwhelmed, and Wanda struggled to defend them both.
Then—reinforcements arrived.
"WOOOOOAAAAHHH!" Melissa yelled as Steve Rogers emerged from the shadows, now sporting darker hair and a full, rugged beard. "He looks awesome!"
She pointed at the screen, grinning. "Tony, when you get older, you should totally grow a beard like that."
Tony turned to her with a blank expression. "Melissa, you called me brave earlier, but now I'm starting to think you're the one growing bold."
Flustered, Melissa tried to deflect, pointing again as Natasha and Falcon stepped into view. "I'm sorry, but look at him! That's Captain freaking America."
Then her eyes lit up mischievously as a new thought hit her. "Wait a sec... can you cosplay—?"
Before she could finish, a pillow hit her square in the face, courtesy of Tony.
"You've got some nerve," Tony grumbled. "What if I asked you to cosplay as Nat?"
Melissa rubbed her nose and glared at him. "I wouldn't mind. It's just cosplay."
The movie continued.
On Knowhere, the Guardians watched in horror as Thanos interrogated the Collector. It was a tense, quiet moment… until Gamora launched into action and, with surprising ease, stabbed Thanos through the chest, seemingly killing him.
"Wait—what? That can't be it," Melissa said skeptically, narrowing her eyes. "That was way too easy. He's supposed to be unstoppable."
Her doubts were confirmed moments later. The reality around them shimmered and collapsed—the entire scene had been a projection. Thanos had already obtained the Reality Stone and was merely toying with them. He dropped the illusion, revealing the true state of Knowhere: flames, ash, and ruin.
"Ah, that makes more sense," Melissa nodded, lips tight. "But if he really can manipulate reality like that, they're all screwed."
Thanos revealed that he had anticipated Gamora's attack and knew she was the only one with knowledge of the Soul Stone's location. He incapacitated Drax and Mantis with ease and seized her, fully intending to extract that information by any means necessary. Quill aims at Thanos' head, but Gamora begs Quill to keep his promise and kill her, with Thanos taunting him to do so.
Despite his heartbreak, Quill pulls the trigger, only for the gun to shoot harmless bubbles, thanks to the Reality Stone. Thanos then teleports away with Gamora.
Melissa turned toward Tony with a curious glint in her eye and asked, "If I asked you to pull the trigger on me—like Gamora did—would you do it?"
Tony let out a long groan, rubbing his forehead. "God, I hate these kinds of questions…" he muttered, then sighed heavily. "I don't know. It'd depend on the situation, what's at stake. But if I'm being honest, I'm pretty confident I'd find some weird, science-defying way to bring you back afterward."
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Resurrecting the dead just sounds like something I'd eventually figure out anyway."
Back at the facility, James Rhodes discusses recent events with Thaddeus Ross, who is outraged at Vision's recent disappearance. Rhodes counters that Vision is only missing because of the Sokovia Accords, which even he now regrets signing. Rogers, Wilson, Romanoff, Vision, and Maximoff arrive, and Ross demands they all be arrested. Rhodes cuts his transmission off, an act which will likely end his military career, and greets his old teammates.
Banner emerges as well, sharing a brief reunion with everyone. After bringing everyone up to speed, Banner suggests calling in Hawkeye for help, but Romanoff explains that he as well as Scott Lang are unavailable, having surrendered themselves to the US government, making deals to be placed under house arrest with their families.
Together, the team decides that the Mind Stone must be destroyed and that Maximoff is the only member powerful enough to do so. However, in order to destroy the stone without killing Vision, Rogers suggests traveling to Wakanda.
In Wakanda, T'Challa and Okoye deliver a new vibranium arm to Bucky Barnes, who has recovered from his mental programming and living a quiet life away from Wakanda's capital. They warn him that a battle may be coming as they are providing refuge to the Avengers who will undoubtedly be followed by Thanos' children.
In Ebony Maw's Q-Ship, Stark and Parker successfully rescue Strange from Maw's torture by blowing a hole in the ship's hull, fatally shooting Maw into space. While Strange advocates returning to Earth, Stark suggests keeping the course set on Titan in an effort to gain an element of surprise over Thanos. Strange agrees but warns Stark that he will have to protect the Time Stone, even if it means sacrificing Stark or Parker.
All Melissa did through the scene was laugh at Peter's interaction between Stark and doctor strange.
The scene shifts to Gamora telling Thanos that she doesn't know the location of the Soul Stone and calls her adoptive father insane for planning to exterminate half of all life in the universe.
Thanos insists on the righteousness of his ultimate desire for "perfect balance". He informs Gamora that her home planet Zen-Whoberi has been thriving since he eradicated half of its population.
As Thanos needs the Soul Stone to fulfill his goal, he reveals that Nebula is his prisoner. Thanos tortures Nebula in front of Gamora, slowly and painfully pulling her body apart. Unable to bear it, Gamora reveals that the Soul Stone is hidden on Vormir.
"Really, I love their relationship. Even though it might not seem like they care about each, they clearly do" Melissa said with a hand over her heart.
Meanwhile, Thor, Rocket Raccoon and Groot land in Nidavellir, where the forges have gone frozen and dark. They encounter Eitri, now the only remaining Dwarf on the forge, and he explains that Thanos ordered him to craft the Infinity Gauntlet, crippling the Dwarf afterward so he could never forge anything else.
However, Thor convinces Eitri that, working together, they have the power to defeat Thanos. In order to do so, they plan on crafting a new weapon for Thor - Stormbreaker, a weapon that can summon the power of the Bifrost.
"Bahhh!" Melissa scoffed, waving her hand dismissively. "There's no way some fancy axe could ever replace Mjolnir! Utter nonsense. Rubbish. Absolutely rubbish!"
Tony cleared his throat loudly, clearly unable to resist.
"It's clear to me you've forgotten about the 'Hammer' I wield," he said, puffing his chest with mock pride. "Far mightier than Mjolnir. Usable only by the truly worthy."
Melissa paused the movie.
Then slowly turned to Tony with an unreadable expression, silently staring at him for several long seconds.
Tony's face slowly flushed red as he squirmed under the pressure of her silence. His hands rose sheepishly to cover his cheeks.
"Please resume the movie!!" he begged, voice cracking. "I beg of you!"
(A/N: I'm actually going to kill myself, I hate this so much, why did I even think this was a good idea)
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