-Real World-
"Is this the scene when you created Stormbreaker?" Tony raised his eyebrows, studying Thor's expression. The God of Thunder had mentioned going through a life-and-death ordeal to obtain the axe, but Tony hadn't expected Thor to literally be moments from death.
Captain Marvel tilted her head, her eyes reflecting the memory of what they'd just witnessed. Even she had been shaken by the scene. "I honestly thought you were dead. Your heart stopped beating—there was no vital sign at all."
"Can the tree kid's branch really serve as an axe handle?" War Machine looked at Thor with renewed curiosity. "I mean, you mentioned the handle you're using now came from some legendary world tree branch or something?"
"Yeah!" Thor took a swig of his beer, wiping foam from his beard. "Groot's race is called the Flora Colossus. You can tell from the name alone that they're a divine species. Naturally, they possess extraordinary abilities far beyond normal plants."
Tony glanced at the Stormbreaker leaning against the wall nearby, its presence almost palpable even when dormant. "So what's the actual difference? Between Groot's wood and this World Tree material you mentioned?"
Thor paused, considering the question carefully. "The World Tree branch has given Stormbreaker capabilities beyond what Groot's sacrifice provided. It allows the axe to summon and channel the Bifrost—the Rainbow Bridge. I can use it to travel anywhere in the Nine Realms, or unleash devastating energy attacks. It's also amplified my own divine power considerably."
Natasha nodded, recalling recent events. "That would explain how you managed to take down Hela with a single strike. That was... unexpected, to say the least."
-Broadcast-
Back on the Wakandan battlefield, the situation was deteriorating by the second. Banner piloted the Hulkbuster Mark II through the chaos, using the armor's massive weight and strength to his advantage. He leaped over a group of Outriders, landing with both feet and crushing several beneath the armor's weight. His mechanical arms swung in wide arcs, sending monsters flying through the air with each impact.
"Come on! Come on!" Banner shouted, more to psyche himself up than anything else.
Bucky Barnes fired his rifle with mechanical precision, each shot finding its mark. But the Outriders were learning, adapting. One of the creatures came in low, faster than the others, and its clawed appendage struck his rifle, sending the weapon spinning away through the grass.
Before Bucky could react, the Outrider tackled him to the ground. Its weight crushed down on his chest, jaws snapping inches from his face. Bucky's vibranium arm came up, catching the creature's throat, while his other hand pulled his combat knife. He stabbed repeatedly into the Outrider's torso, but the creature's thick hide and redundant organs made it incredibly difficult to kill. Black blood sprayed across his face as he fought for his life.
Across the battlefield, Captain America and T'Challa fought back-to-back, their enhanced abilities allowing them to hold ground where others fell. Steve's new vibranium shields became extensions of his arms—blocking, striking, killing. Beside him, T'Challa was a blur of claws and precision, his Black Panther suit absorbing kinetic energy with each hit, making him stronger.
"On your left!" Steve called out, and T'Challa spun, claws extended, eviscerating an Outrider that had tried to flank them.
High above the melee, War Machine maintained altitude, his targeting systems struggling to keep up with the sheer volume of targets. He deployed micro-missile pods from his wrist gauntlets, and dozens of small rockets streaked toward the barrier breach. The concentrated barrage created a brief vacuum in the Outrider assault, explosions tearing through alien flesh.
"Ordinance depleted!" his suit's AI announced.
Rhodes immediately switched to his shoulder-mounted chain gun and dual arm cannons. "Then we do this the old-fashioned way!" All three weapons opened fire simultaneously, creating a wall of lead and energy that cut down Outriders by the dozen.
But even his sustained fire wasn't enough. From the tree line, Black Dwarf—Cull Obsidian—hefted his massive chain-hammer. With a grunt of effort, he hurled the weapon like a ballista bolt. It spun through the air, covering hundreds of meters in seconds.
The hammer struck War Machine square in the chest with tremendous force. The impact drove Rhodes from the sky, his armor's systems screaming warnings as he plowed into the ground. He carved a deep trench through the earth, debris and dirt flying everywhere, before finally sliding to a stop.
Cull Obsidian's hammer retracted on its chain, flying back to his hand. He began striding toward the fallen War Machine, Proxima Midnight walking at his side with her spear ready.
The tide of battle was shifting. The Wakandan forces, despite their bravery and superior technology, were being overwhelmed by sheer numbers and the ferocity of Thanos's shock troops.
T'Challa fought desperately, his claws slicing through Outrider after Outrider. But there were too many. One tackled him from the side, its jaws clamping down on his leg. The Black Panther suit absorbed most of the damage, but the creature's grip was strong. It dragged T'Challa backward across the ground before hurling him through the air. He crashed into a boulder with bone-jarring force.
Captain America found himself backed against a massive rock formation, his tactical position compromised. An Outrider rushed him, and he raised his shields to block its attack. The creature's claws scraped against vibranium, seeking any opening.
Steve's peripheral vision caught movement—another Outrider charging from his right. He was pinned, unable to dodge without exposing himself to the first creature.
At the last possible second, Steve dropped flat to the ground. The two Outriders collided with each other where his head had been, their momentum sending them crashing to the earth in a tangle of limbs and confusion.
Steve rolled, trying to regain his feet, but a third Outrider was already bearing down on him. There was no time to—
The Hulkbuster Mark II was under siege. Dozens of Outriders had swarmed the massive armor, climbing over it like ants on a carcass. They bit and tore at joints, at exposed cabling, at anything they could reach. The sheer weight of bodies drove Banner to the ground. The armor's servos whined in protest as he tried to stand, but there were too many. They pinned him down.
"We're getting our asses kicked!" Banner shouted over the comms, desperation creeping into his voice as his view was completely obscured by alien bodies.
Then, in an instant, everything changed.
A beam of rainbow light—the Bifrost—crashed into the battlefield like a meteor strike. The sheer force of its arrival sent Outriders flying in all directions, their bodies ragdolling through the air. The colorful energy of Asgardian transportation magic blazed across the grassland.
From within that divine light, a weapon emerged—an axe wreathed in crackling blue-white lightning. Stormbreaker swept through the battlefield in a devastating arc, moving too fast for the eye to properly follow. It cut through the Outrider attacking Captain America, then spun through the horde surrounding Banner, then cleared the creatures off Bucky, all in the span of a single heartbeat.
The axe completed its circuit and flew back to its master as the Bifrost light faded.
Thor stood revealed, his remaining eye blazing with power, his new weapon held ready. At his feet, Rocket Raccoon landed in a crouch, his massive rifle at the ready. Behind them, Groot surveyed the battlefield with solemn determination.
Rocket hopped off Thor's shoulder, checking his weapon's charge. "Heh. You guys are screwed now!"
The assembled Avengers—bloodied, exhausted, pushed to their limits—looked at Thor and couldn't help but smile. Hope had just arrived in the form of a god with a new weapon and a score to settle.
Banner, still prone in his damaged armor, burst into slightly hysterical laughter. "HAHAHA! You guys are screwed now!"
Proxima Midnight's eyes widened as she recognized the Asgardian. A chill of premonition ran through her. This was the one who had defeated the Hulk before the Black Order captured him, the one who had killed her partner Corvus Glaive on the Q-Ship.
Thor began running forward, his stride lengthening into a full sprint. Stormbreaker crackled with increasing power, lightning arcing from its blade. His voice was thunder itself, rolling across the battlefield. "BRING ME THANOS!"
Groot and Rocket charged alongside him, adding their strength to the assault.
Thor leaped into the air, and in that moment, he transformed. Lightning erupted from his body like a living thing, blue-white electricity that turned him into a being of pure energy. His eye blazed with the same electric light, making him appear more elemental force than flesh and blood.
"AAAAHHHH!" His war cry shook the air as he brought Stormbreaker down with apocalyptic force.
The axe struck the ground, and the result was cataclysmic. A shockwave of pure lightning exploded outward in a perfect circle, the electricity jumping from Outrider to Outrider like a living plague. Everything within a ten-meter radius simply ceased to exist, vaporized by the concentration of divine power. Those beyond the initial radius were thrown back, their bodies smoking and convulsing.
A crater formed where Thor had struck, the earth itself scorched black by temperatures that rivaled the surface of the sun.
When the lightning faded, Thor stood at the center of the devastation, breathing hard, his hair wild and his eye still glowing with residual power.
Rocket looked up at the God of Thunder with genuine admiration. "Well. Alright then."
-Real World-
"Wow! That was incredible!" Scott Lang said, unable to hide his envy. "That's one hell of an entrance! I mean, talk about showing up in style!"
"It looks like you arrived just in time," Pietro observed. "With that kind of power, the battle on Earth should be won easily now, right?"
But Doctor Strange shook his head slowly, his expression grave. "It depends entirely on what happens on Titan. The Earth battle itself probably won't determine the final outcome."
War Machine frowned, not understanding Strange's pessimism. "But Tony and the others should be able to handle Thanos on Titan, right? You've already seen how to win. Can't you just follow those steps?"
Strange's response was quiet but firm. "I'm afraid it's not that simple." His eyes were distant, haunted by the memory of fourteen million six hundred and five futures, only one of which ended in victory. "If it were easy, there would have been more than one way to win."
-Broadcast-
On Titan, Thanos stepped through a portal created by the Space Stone, emerging onto his homeworld for the first time in years. The planet that should have been a paradise had become a graveyard—a dead world of broken spires and barren wastelands, exactly as he had predicted when the Titan elders rejected his solution.
He stood for a moment, looking out across the devastation. Mixed emotions played across his face—vindication, sorrow, regret, and determination all warring within him.
Thanos turned to see Doctor Strange sitting cross-legged on a piece of rubble, casually tossing a small stone from hand to hand. The sorcerer looked remarkably calm for someone facing a cosmic warlord.
Thanos's eyes narrowed as recognition dawned. This was the man who should have died, executed by Ebony Maw. His gaze shifted to the Eye of Agamotto hanging from Strange's neck. "The Maw is dead. This day extracts a heavy toll."
He began walking toward Strange, his focus entirely on the sorcerer and the Time Stone he carried. "Still, he accomplished his mission."
Strange stood slowly, orange sparks beginning to dance around his hands as he formed the opening gestures of combat spells. "You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."
"Where do you think he brought you?" Thanos asked, spreading his arms to indicate the dead world around them.