The screen paused.
In the TVA command center, Tony stroked his chin, frowning. "This is completely different from what I knew."
"But everything seemed perfect. How could Thanos be meddling with the Multiverse?"
He turned to Malrick. "And the Mind Stone they lost—could it possibly be the one on Jarvis's head?"
Malrick nodded casually. "It is that one."
"So you secretly saved another world?" Tony raised an eyebrow.
"That's not the important part, Tony."
Malrick turned to B15. "Don't tell me Thanos is hunting other Universes because of the Mind Stone."
B15 exhaled sharply. "I'd like to say no, but unfortunately, that is exactly the case."
She typed quickly on her keyboard. "Please continue watching."
Thor's frozen face vanished from the screen as the footage jumped forward.
---
First scene:
Thanos stood with his back to the camera, hands clasped behind him, gazing out a spaceship viewport.
He commanded the Black Order, "Find a way to cross into other Universes. The Mind Stone must be retrieved."
Ebony Maw hesitated. "But no one can travel between Universes. Could the Earthlings be lying?"
Thanos remained unmoved. "It is not a lie. Start with the people who know who can cross Worlds."
"Yes, my lord."
---
Second scene:
The Black Order attacked Pym Technologies, abducted Dr. Pym and his family, and stole critical research.
Third scene:
Thanos's minions experimented with using Pym Particles in the Quantum Realm to travel across Universes.
Fourth scene:
Thanos used the Space Stone to pinpoint a destination, successfully arriving in another World.
The Thanos of this Universe had just snapped his fingers. After a brief exchange, the alternate Thanos willingly lent him a complete six-Stone Infinity Gauntlet.
Thanos prepared to return to his own Universe, intending to snap. But the other Thanos intervened:
"Since someone can travel between Universes, they might disrupt our plans across multiple worlds. We should intervene until we find them."
Decisive, ruthless, and determined, Thanos had no reason to refuse. The two Thanos immediately allied, forming a mutual agreement—though dangerously miscalculated—to ensure every Thanos in the Multiverse could snap successfully.
---
The two Thanos got to work.
First, Thanos 1 returned to his own Universe and snapped, eliminating half the population. Then, together, they visited other Universes, assisting alternate Thanos in performing their own snaps.
Soon, snaps echoed across dimensions, accompanied by shared satisfaction and grim triumph.
At this point, the TVA had not yet noticed any major deviations. Thanos snapping was almost a mandated event in every Universe, recorded in the Sacred Timeline. TVA personnel were accustomed to it.
But changes arose quickly.
After snapping, the Thanos increasingly traveled together. Two became three, three became more, forming what felt like a multiversal family.
They observed timelines, witnessing Captain America's life, Iron Man's achievements, and other Thanos performing their snaps. After each snap, they congratulated their alternate selves, exchanging praise and approval.
---
Then the pattern escalated.
The Thanos army had just been turned to dust in one Universe when all Thanos simultaneously realized the surviving half of life did not appreciate their efforts.
Instead of gratitude, these worlds celebrated, holding reckless "Joker parties."
The Thanos were enraged. Their patience exhausted, they abandoned the random killing strategy. They prepared to return to their Universes and destroy the remaining life, intending to recreate worlds where every being recognized Thanos's authority and beneficence.
The footage ended with a Thanos gazing coldly into deep space, snapping his fingers. The Universe dissolved into cosmic chaos.
---
Tony and Wanda were speechless. Malrick's expression was grim.
"If all these Thanos have full six-Stone Gauntlets… this is going to be a serious problem," Malrick said.
Holland-Spider, attempting levity, said, "It's terrifying. I felt my eyes go purple just watching!"
Malrick rubbed his forehead. "You see them shouting 'destiny' and still smiling. You really are optimistic, Peter."
Holland-Spider hesitated, then offered a small, sad smile. "After joining the TVA, I secretly visited an alive Aunt May. She said Uncle Ben, Mr. Stark, and others who've passed can no longer smile. If I lose my smile too, their sacrifices would be meaningless. So we must keep finding solutions."
Malrick couldn't help but smile. "Finally, you're starting to feel like a middle-aged Peter Parker."
"Am I? I'm still in my twenties!" Peter protested, rubbing the back of his head.
Tony clapped his armored hand. "Peter's right. We have to confront the Thanos problem."
"So we're not just facing a single army of Thanos. This is an army composed of six-Stone Thanos?"
B15 typed quickly on her keyboard. "Not necessarily. Before explaining further, I need to clarify the TVA's mechanism."