"To think that one day we would work together," Stick said as he struck two Sakaraans with his batons.
Elektra grabbed a Chitauri from behind, held his head, and electrocuted him, frying him from the inside. His body dropped lifelessly to the ground immediately.
"You have to keep up with the times, old man. How long has it been since the Hand stopped being the Hand you knew?"
As she spoke, she kept attacking everyone who came close. When one of them was about to wound her, a gunshot blew his head off.
Elektra looked at Stick in surprise, more specifically at the weapon he was holding, clearly stolen from a dead Sakaraan.
"You use guns now?"
"I think you're right, it was about time I updated myself," Stick said with a smile.
Stick and Elektra joined forces, and around them the Hand and the Chaste did the same, eliminating every enemy in their path.
Nearby, the Defenders and the Punisher were fighting together.
Further away, Bucky showed his lone wolf grit, fighting without asking for help, although now and then someone had his back.
In another sector, T'Challa and part of his army, since a large portion remained in Wakanda, used vibranium weapons to attack. Compared to the rudimentary spears of years past, their current firearms were impressive, eliminating enemies instantly without allowing anyone to get close.
In the sky and on the ground, the hundreds of ships of Thanos were being destroyed one by one, at a pace of barely seconds per ship, by a blonde woman covered in golden energy who flew through them, piercing them without any trouble.
The entire battlefield was completely tilted in Earth's favor, with thousands of people with different abilities, creating a chaotic and varied scene.
Roarrrr.
With a roar, the attention of many was drawn to one of the most striking presences on the battlefield, a living dinosaur.
The creature advanced, knocking down enemies while tearing apart a Sakaraan it carried in its mouth.
Near it, basically a weaker version of Captain Marvel, flying and using light-based powers, was also eliminating enemies with ease.
The proximity to a group of teenagers made it clear they were a team. While some fought hand to hand, another used various gadgets, and one of them wielded a strange staff to conjure a spell.
Dozens of enemies within their field of vision turned to stone before they could even understand what had happened.
Nico Minoru, the girl who had cast the spell, looked at the petrified soldiers and felt relieved to have executed it correctly.
"Not bad, kid. Is that an artifact?" a voice beside her said, drawing her attention.
When she turned, she saw Doctor Strange floating next to her, watching her with curiosity.
"Ah, yes, but..." Nico hesitated, unsure whether she should confess the nature of her staff.
Strange noticed and smiled.
"I know what it is. It should ask for blood in exchange and have strict rules in return for very powerful spells, right? However, if you can use it, that means you have the potential to cast those spells even without the staff," Strange explained, far more familiar with magic than she was.
"Really?" Nico asked with surprise and excitement.
"That's right. Have you ever thought about becoming a sorceress?" Strange asked.
"I..."
Before Nico could answer, Strange flew off rapidly in another direction.
"Sorry, come find me later to answer. Don't worry, we don't care about family context," he said as he moved away.
Strange flew quickly until he reached where Thanos was.
There, Steve was fighting him. Even though the fight should have been completely one sided, Steve was holding his ground.
This was because the combat experience of both allowed them to face each other on equal technical footing. Of course, Steve was not dealing real damage, limiting himself to constant evasion, but his ability to do so enraged Thanos, who prepared to use the Power Stone.
Before he could attack, a beam of energy hit him head on, forcing him to raise his arm to defend himself.
Steve moved away, and Thor repeated the attack, although this time Thanos dodged it.
Thor attacked a third time, but when Thanos was about to dodge again, he was struck by Tony, whose attack had been previously charged by Thor.
"Arghh," Thanos let out a cry of pain, immediately receiving another frontal attack from Thor.
Attacked from the front and the back, Thanos fell to the ground. Sensing that Thor was about to finish him, he tried to protect himself.
However, he did not receive lightning this time, instead Thor's axe directly severed his right hand before he could react, no, rather Thor took advantage of the fact that his reaction was to protect himself with his right hand to cut it off, taking the gauntlet and the stones with it.
"You lost, Thanos," Steve said.
"You never had a chance to win. Earth is no longer what it once was," Thor continued.
As king of Asgard, he knew that Earth's current level ranked among the higher tiers even across the entire universe.
But above all, while other planets barely had two or three special traits, Earth possessed thousands, intelligent people, beings focused on strength, non humans, mages, people with abilities, and much more.
Because of that, Thor never doubted Earth's victory.
Tony moved toward Thanos's arm, trying to take the gauntlet, but Strange appeared and stopped him, restraining him with a kind of magical whip.
"Are you insane? You can't touch something like that or you'll die."
"I wasn't planning to use it," Tony defended himself.
"Even if you don't use it, this gauntlet contains three Infinity Stones. Touching it is enough to hurt you."
Having said that, Strange used a spell to hold the gauntlet and examined the stones.
Then he frowned seriously.
"It's not there."
"What's not there?" Tony asked.
"The Time Stone. It's not there," Strange replied tensely.
"Where is it?" Thor asked, pointing his axe at Thanos, kneeling before him.
Thanos smiled before answering.
"I knew it," he began. "I knew that Earth was already beyond what I could threaten, especially without any of my children.
I knew that the dream I had pursued for years would be thwarted by you. By the Avengers."
He paused and looked at Thor.
"You said there was no chance of victory, but are you sure? Are you sure there is no possibility at all?"
"What did you do?" Strange asked, fearing to confirm his suspicion.
"You won't know it, Avengers, but I will win this war. I will repeat it again and again until I find the possibility in which I finally win."
"You created a loop," Strange said.
"That's right. I will fight until I win," Thanos nodded.
"Then you will fight forever," Steve said.
"So be it. Even if I have to fight eternally, I will. This is my war, the one I have fought since my world fell."
Thanos raised his gaze, observing everyone before him and the battlefield behind them.
"And if in the infinity of possibilities there is none in which I win..."
He paused.
"Then I will fight for infinity."
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+4 chapters in advance on Patreon.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)