"The Heartless Blade – Second From: Sever… the World!"
A flash of silver light.
Then, silence. The entire world fell into a breathless stillness.
"It's over, Thanos."
Kagura slowly sheathed her blade. "It's time to wake up…
From your dream—and my nightmare."
The second slash of the Heartless Blade was unlike the first.
While the first could slay all things in existence, the second severed something far more absolute—
Concepts themselves.
It didn't destroy matter.
It erased the very idea of its target.
Thanos still stood before Kagura, his body seemingly untouched.
But the glow of the Power Stone had completely vanished.
Even its once-invincible offensive and defensive powers granted by the stone couldn't withstand the edge of the Heartless Blade.
No matter how Thanos had endured her past attacks through the Power Stone's might,
This strike… was one he could never endure.
In that moment, the mighty purple Titan let out a breath—and relaxed.
His battle spirit evaporated.
His life, like a candle flickering in the wind, was already fading fast.
Soon, there would be nothing left of him.
No corpse. No ashes. Not even a memory in the cosmos.
That… was the terror of the Heartless Blade—
A weapon born of the fragments of the Universe's core.
The moment it struck, the outcome was absolute.
Unchangeable. Irrevocable.
"You've won, Kagura," Thanos sighed, fully aware that his fate was sealed. "No matter how I resist… it's pointless now."
His voice was calm, but tinged with regret.
"What a shame… This universe will now plunge into a future of scarcity and civilizational collapse…"
But Kagura shook her head.
"You're wrong, Thanos."
"Every civilization is both stubborn… and brilliant.
They aren't foolish.
They just need to grow from their mistakes."
"They may stumble. They may suffer disasters.
But they will rise again—
From the rubble, from despair, they will unite, and continue carrying the torch of wisdom through the ages."
"No matter what the future holds for them,
I choose to give them the right to decide their own destiny—
Not to take it away in the name of 'salvation' or 'mercy' like you did,
wielding violence under a banner of virtue."
She gazed into his stubborn eyes and reached toward his cracked Infinity Gauntlet.
With a tug, she pulled out the Power Stone—
And pressed it gently into her chest.
"With this," she murmured, "the Infinity Stones are complete."
A rainbow-colored light surged across her entire body.
The combined power of the Infinity Stones awakened within her—
A force capable of judging all existence.
"Tell me… Kagura…" Thanos' voice trembled with curiosity, his eyes fixed on her ascending figure—like a god in the making.
"With this infinite power… what will you do?"
His body had begun to gray and flake, slowly dissolving into dust like leaves falling in silent autumn.
Kagura gave a gentle shake of her head.
"I will do… nothing, Mr. Thanos."
She held the Heartless Blade close to her chest, cradling both sword and scabbard like a vow.
"I'll let this power become the cornerstone of peace— A force that protects the future… for all eternity."
"I see… Then perhaps… We weren't so different after all…"
As his final particles faded into the wind.
Kagura bowed her head slightly, and let out a long, exhausted breath.
The rainbow light vanished.
The glow of the Infinity Stones faded from her chest.
The silver-haired girl—her clothes disheveled, body weary— collapsed softly onto the scorched, crystal-black earth.
And at last, she slept.
"Ah… What a long, hard journey it's been…"
————————————————————————
2018. A New Future for the Marvel Universe.
Thanos was gone.
In the vast, desolate Sahara Desert— no Avengers, no superheroes, no grand fleets in the sky.
Just one silver-haired, golden-eyed girl… and one fearsome Titan.
Kagura and Thanos had fought— alone, unseen, unrecorded.
A pure duel. A raw battle.
Fair. Primal. Honest.
No armies. No allies. No observers. No referees.
Yet that duel— changed the course of the entire world.
And the universe.
Kagura survived.
Thanos was erased—forever.
Her dream… finally came true.
And the superheroes?
They began to walk a very different path.
Tony Stark continued running Stark Industries with Pepper Potts, while overseeing the Avengers.
As Iron Man, he slowly let go of his relentless guilt— and finally married Pepper.
"No more surprises this time!" he laughed.
At the wedding, Doctor Strange entertained children with balloon animals and dimensional magic.
The all-powerful Sorcerer Supreme had entered a golden age for mystics—
An era without Dormammu.
With no threat from the Dark Dimension, even the multiverse respected the Earth that defeated Dormammu.
Peace reigned.
Steve Rogers (Captain America) and Bucky Barnes (the "White Wolf")
traveled to the Aegean Sea.
Not for a vacation— but to visit Rhodes Island Industries.
Under Bucky's guidance, Steve sought to continue his mission to protect the world.
In this era of peace, the Avengers became mentors and guides, helping balance superhumans and society.
But old soldiers never die.
Steve Rogers continued to embody justice and liberty, working with Griffin Security to safeguard the world.
Dr. Bruce Banner, with Rhodes Island's help, fully merged with the Hulk.
Now peaceful and wise, the Hulk became a leading researcher at Rhine Life,
a division focused on life sciences.
He worked on advanced technologies— the Despair Virus, Gamma serums, Super Soldier formulas.
Hawkeye (Clint Barton) chose a different path.
After Thanos' fall, he retired.
No longer a hero—just a man at peace.
Home with his family.
Finally… truly happy.
In contrast, Natasha Romanoff (Black Widow) remained with Griffin Security.
She followed Kagura and the new Captain America to continue watching over the world.
Thanks to the Despair Virus, Natasha gained an ageless body.
She was ready to leave her humanity behind to witness the rise and fall of civilizations through the ages.
"Natasha… are you sure about this?"
"It's fine, Hitomi," Natasha replied with a calm smile.
"This is a path of redemption I've chosen willingly. Besides—there's no way I'm letting you, a little brat, go off fighting alone while I kick back and enjoy retirement in Norway."
Speaking of Norway, the Ancient One—now peacefully living out her twilight years—had recently gained a few new, rather unusual neighbors.
Two not-so-normal "people": Vision and Cortana.
These two super AIs had decided to seek guidance from the Ancient One herself—hoping to understand the true meaning of life and existence… and explore the possibility of spiritual union between artificial intelligences.
Of course, being AIs, their humanoid bodies were just surface-level avatars.
While their main selves were meditating in Norway, their other instances remained in New York, still assisting Stark and Kagura with their work.
Call it a very AI-style enlightenment retreat, if you will…
————————————————————————
Meanwhile, the rest of Earth's superheroes had also found a measure of peace.
Spider-Man continued patrolling Queens alongside Lila Barton, Hawkeye's daughter, who had officially taken up her father's mantle and become the new "Hawkeye."
Still, something nagged at Peter Parker's mind.
"I haven't seen Neko Hitomi in ages… And why do I get this weird feeling that Rhodes Island Industries' ridiculously good-looking CEO, Kagura Hitomi, kinda reminds me of her…?"
"…Could Neko Hitomi be her daughter?"
As for other heroes like War Machine, Ant-Man, and Falcon, who hadn't interacted much with Kagura, they remained active within their own territories under the broader guidance of the Avengers.
Scarlet Witch (Wanda) and her brother Pietro (Quicksilver) chose to join Kagura's Griffin Security Organization instead.
To them, the Avengers still carried a legacy of suspicion and hostility—something they preferred to avoid.
Earth's superhero forces continued to grow stronger, but out in space, other cosmic heroes carried on with their wild lives.
Sure, the universe had been spared Thanos' cataclysm, but that didn't mean peace was absolute.
Heroes were still out there—loud, proud, and weird as ever.
There were the Guardians of the Galaxy, joyfully wandering the cosmos, adventuring, getting smacked around, and occasionally breaking into cringe-inducing dance-offs.
Captain Marvel (Carol Danvers)?
Still MIA. Probably off "strategically slacking" somewhere unknown.
And Thor, perpetually overwhelmed by royal duties, frequently suffering under his sister's training sessions (read: brutal beatdowns).
More than once, he had tried to shove the throne onto Loki just so he could go gallivanting off into the stars again.
But in the end, Kagura's dream had truly come true.
Everyone she cared about was living the good life.
And as for Kagura herself…?
She finally earned the right to slack off in peace!
————————————————————————
"Oh hey, don't forget about me!"
A familiar, red-suited figure stood on a rooftop in New York City, two vibranium katanas strapped to his back, munching on a Korean instant meal from that certain chicken place.
Basking in the sunset, he grinned.
"So… should I keep being Deadpool tomorrow, or should I become Lady Deadpool again?"
"Ugh, Lady Me is just way too hot! I'm totally addicted to myself!"
"…Ah… Ahhh! I feel better already!"
————————————————————————
After a decade of Marvel adventures, Kagura, Rhodes Island Industries, Griffin Security, and the YoRHa Legion had left their mark on human civilization.
These names would forever be etched into history— Guiding mankind toward the infinite sea of stars!
But although Kagura's Marvel story had come to an end…
her story was far from over.
Back in New York, this silver-haired little gremlin of a girl had already begun tinkering with new and mysterious things…
————————————————————————
—2019, Marvel Universe
[Experimental Log Record]
"This is the Rhodes Island Industries, New York Branch."
"Top-secret R&D division 'Azure Abyss Laboratory' is preparing to conduct the first activation test of the experimental Quantum Domain Traversal Device."
"Codename: Eye of the Abyss."
"All systems nominal. Final diagnostics complete. Preparing for launch."
"Three… two… one… Eye of the Abyss—engage."