The explosion lingered in the void like a gaping wound carved into the fabric of the cosmos.
A newborn star, no larger than a city yet impossibly brilliant, blazed into existence for a fleeting, furious heartbeat. Its light surged outward in concentric waves, scattering across satellites, warships, drifting asteroids, and the distant bronze barrier shielding Earth in its protective embrace.
Every defender of Earth who beheld it felt an aching sorrow swell within their hearts, powerful enough to halt their efforts for a breathless moment.
Amid the drifting shrapnel of fractured space-time, Thanos floated, letting the shockwave roll over him. His armor shimmered faintly with lingering radiation, arcs of prismatic energy dancing along its surface as his gaze lingered on the dying traces of the miniature supernova.
And then, he smiled.
It was not the measured, confident smirk of the Mad Titan the universe feared, but something far more unhinged, twisted, elated, and burning with a madness even he seldom displayed.
He had just witnessed a monster like the Hulk annihilate himself to halt the cataclysm…
Yet Thanos was exhilarated.
"Magnificent," he murmured, tightening his grip on the Infinity Gauntlet as embers of cosmic dust spiraled past. "Such strength… such ferocity… such purity of will."
His violet-fire eyes narrowed toward the fading cloud where Hulk's soul should have reformed, a soul potent enough to quake the very boundaries of the afterlife.
A soul that could make even a Titan greater.
A soul he craved.
Slowly, ceremonially, almost reverently, he lifted the Gauntlet high.
The Soul Stone throbbed with life.
Deep amber brilliance shimmered through the void, spreading like molten honey across the infinite dark. It grew, swelled, spiraling outward in a vast vortex of spiritual gravity, tugging at the very weave of the ethereal.
Thanos projected his will into the cosmos.
"Come forth, mighty green titan."
The glow condensed into filaments, then hardened into chains, each one snaking through the drifting debris of creation, seeking, grasping, dragging.
"Your soul," he snarled, "is mine now."
The Soul Stone's power surged… swelled… ROARED beyond imagining.
But then—
It faltered.
A flicker. A distortion. A pulse alien to Thanos's command.
The amber blaze twisted, its perfect symmetry warping into jagged spirals and fractured patterns, as though the stone itself were being bent in submission before a force more supreme.
Thanos's grin evaporated.
"What—?"
The Soul Stone quaked violently upon the Gauntlet, as though rebelling against his grasp, resisting him, resisting something it had never been meant to face.
Then, the interference unveiled itself. A whisper. A pressure. A sensation. Not a sound, not a voice, not even a tangible presence.
But a claim.
Something brushed against the Soul Stone's radiance, an unseen claw, tendril, or abstract force, something that did not simply reach for Hulk's soul.
It seized it.
Not gently.
Not peacefully.
But with fierce possession.
The amber vortex ruptured as if struck by a meteor, collapsing inward. Chains splintered. The glow recoiled into the stone with such violence that Thanos staggered amidst the void, clutching his fist as the Gauntlet blazed with heat.
"What is this?" Thanos roared, eyes igniting with wrath. "This is MY right! MY power!"
The Soul Stone flickered once more, this time not with steadfast loyalty, but with a tremor of fear. Emerald-black lightning crackled and danced, shivering across the fractured sphere of space.
The drifting remnants of Hulk's obliterated form dissolved into shimmering green motes, spiraling not toward the Infinity Gauntlet, but toward a yawning tear in the void, a wound of shadow and insatiable hunger.
From within it stirred something ancient, something infinitely patient, something untouched by the dominion of the Stones, drawing Hulk's very soul into its depths.
As the rift sealed shut, Thanos felt, if only for a heartbeat, a gaze sweep over him. Cold. Insatiable.
Primordial. It was as though he had been weighed, measured…and dismissed.
For the first time in countless years, a chill coiled down his spine.
The Soul Stone dimmed, heavy with shame.
Slowly, deliberately, Thanos lowered his fist, his gaze fixed on the place where Hulk had been taken by a force beyond even Infinity itself. "…Intriguing," he murmured at last.
And though his smile returned, it was smaller now, almost thoughtful.
In the distance, a roar of anguished fury tore through the air as William beheld the Hulk's sacrificial gambit.
A dense lattice of bioelectricity crackled fiercely around his aura, flickering and surging as he clamped one hand around Corvus Glaive's neck.
Arcs of searing energy lashed relentlessly into the alien's flesh, each burst charring his skin darker with every passing second.
From above, Gladiator, Kallark, hurtled toward William, his eyes blazing with unrestrained intensity as he poured the last reserves of his Power into his very core.
A swirling halo of ambient energy radiated outward from his fist, rippling through the air in all directions as he drove it forward with devastating force toward William's abdomen, determined to disable the Saiyan and free Corvus from his grasp.
WHOOOSH!
POW!
Gladiator's fist slammed into William's abdomen with the force of a collapsing star.
B O O M—
The detonation rippled across the battlefield, a flawless sphere of violet shockwave erupting outward with cataclysmic power.
The impact wrenched William's grip from Corvus's throat in a burst of splintering bone and seared flesh, flinging him backward at an unfathomable velocity.
Corvus crumpled to the ground, hacking and choking, tendrils of steam curling from the blackened handprint scorched deep into the flesh of his neck.
SHING!
In a murderous frenzy, Corvus summoned his twin blades, their metallic song echoing with the anguished voices of every soul he had claimed in service to the Mad Titan, and even before that, during his days as a planet-bound assassin evading the law.
With lethal intent, the alien killer launched himself toward the now-distant Saiyan, his every movement shadowed by Kallark, who was already gathering a devastating beam of energy in his eyes.
Still hurtling backward, William caught sight of a figure flickering into existence above him, her form framed by the deadly gleam of a spear radiating murderous power, as she plummeted toward him with meteoric force.
Ki blazing to the absolute limit of Super Saiyan 3, William abruptly halted his retreat, pivoting midair just as the spear's shimmering blade grazed his arm, carving a shallow but stinging wound.
But Proxima was relentless. Letting out a scream of rage and fury so intense it seemed to carry physical weight, she drew upon the might of the Space Stone, summoning a miniature portal before the spear's tip.
In an instant, her missed strike was redirected, the weapon bursting forth from the portal to slam into William's chest with catastrophic force.
A blast of piercing spatial energy penetrated from William's chest and exited through a hole in his back, causing a ribbon of blood to spray from both his chest and his mouth as his course was forcibly altered.
William's blazing eyes caught the malevolent gleam of Corvus Glaive's twin blades as the warrior advanced from afar, yet in the same instant, the searing wrath of Kallark's eye beams erupted toward him, cutting through the air from an angle designed to intercept any possible escape route.
"KA..."
WHOOOSH!
Murmuring the opening syllable of the legendary technique, a radiant orb of blue ki, crackling with arcs of violent lightning, materialized between his palms.
"ME..."
The sphere swelled and contracted in a hypnotic rhythm, its shifting size both mesmerizing and terrifying to behold, as its energy compacted and intensified. Gradually, the blue orb became shrouded in a strange green mist, as though the ki itself was forging its own atmosphere.
"HA..."
William's aura erupted with ferocious force as he thrust himself backward, accelerating to blistering speeds that pushed the limits of even his formidable flight abilities. The three in pursuit strained to close the distance, yet there was a chasm between pure travel velocity and the deadly precision of combat speed, and William was most certainly engaged in the latter.
"ME..."
They stood arrayed before him, each warrior poised to unleash a final, devastating blow upon their formidable foe.
Corvus Glaive darted in from the flank, his wicked, space and soul-rending blades angling with merciless precision to tear through William's vital organs.
Proxima Midnight thrust her spear forward with lethal focus, aiming unerringly for the exact point where William's heartbeat within his chest.
Kallark's eyes ignited with a furious, swirling power before releasing a concentrated, searing beam of energy, straight toward William's head, intent on erasing any possibility of reprisal.
Yet, before these cataclysmic strikes, each capable of leveling legions of the mightiest warriors, could find their mark, a thunderous cry tore through the air: "HAAAAAAAAAAAA!" And then—
WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!
The sphere of ki in William's hands erupted outward like a volcanic cataclysm, condensed into a dazzling blue beam of annihilation, meeting Kallark's blazing optic assault in an instant with an impact that shook the heavens.
For the briefest fraction of a second, the clash raged, until the burning orange of Kallark's beam fractured and dissolved against the overwhelming force of the Kamehameha, like glass splintering upon an unyielding mountain or a raindrop vanishing into an endless ocean.
Corvus and Proxima narrowly evaded the lethal energy beam, darting aside in the final instant, but Kallark, bound by his commitment to the attack, could only brace himself as the immeasurably dense torrent of power struck him with the crushing force of a neutron star.
BOOOOOM!
In an instant, Kallark's suit melted into molten slag before disintegrating completely, his body hurtling through the chaos of the Kandorian/Saiyan battle.
The surrounding combat froze momentarily as warriors on both sides stared in awe, captivated by the devastating beauty of the scene unfolding before them.
POW!
POW!
POW!
Kallark's trajectory carried him through Thanos' fleet, each bone-shattering impact igniting massive explosions that consumed fighters, destroyers, and frigates alike.
His unstoppable charge only came to an end when he collided with a massive battleship, carving a crater into its armored hull, yet still the relentless beam drove his body deeper into the wound he had created in the ship's previously flawless surface.
As the beam finally ceased its relentless force, no longer driving Gladiator deeper into the colossal vessel, the swirling haze of dust began to settle, revealing the grim tableau where Kallark lay.
His once mighty, muscle-bound arms were now nothing more than bloodied stumps, a brutal testament to the ferocity of the assault.
At the very core of his chest yawned a deep, circular wound, laying bare the sight of his still-beating heart, a fragile, defiant rhythm that declared his survival.
Though slumped and unmoving, it was clear the indomitable Shi'ar champion remained merely unconscious, clinging tenaciously to life as if balanced upon the razor's edge.
A chilling dread seized both Proxima and Corvus as a primal, almost tangible fury radiated from William's position, visible to the naked eye like a storm of raw power.
The shallow wound on his arm hissed with steam, while a deep, foreboding green bled into the blazing intensity of his Super Saiyan 3 aura.
Electricity that once danced violently within him now erupted outward in uncontrolled waves, saturating the void between the moon and Earth with the sharp, metallic scent of ozone.
RUMBLE!
Space itself seemed to shudder. William's long golden hair grew wilder, the pristine gold of his Super Saiyan form corrupted by the chaotic intrusion of that ominous green energy.
CRACKLE!
SNAP!
SPATZ!
Jagged, furious arcs of electricity lashed out, forcing Proxima and Corvus to retreat lest they be scorched, their eyes wide with the grim realization that restraining this being, let alone overpowering him, might be beyond them.
Already swollen with the immense, focused energy of Super Saiyan 3, William's muscles bulged to monstrous proportions, his frame expanding in both size and height until he loomed like a titan, a terrifying fusion of raw might and untamed rage.
William's roar abruptly ceased as he vanished from sight, reappearing behind Corvus, who only realized the danger when William's fist descended like a mountain crashing from the heavens. Yet, before the devastating blow could land, a portal materialized, just wide enough for his arm to pass through, accompanied by a second portal opening beneath William's chin.
POW!
The massive fist slammed into his own jaw, but the Legendary Super Saiyan was far from subdued. No force, least of all his own, could humble him. The strike merely tilted his head upward before he snapped it back into place, yanking his arm free from the portal just before Proxima could close it and sever the limb.
As the portal faded, William heard Proxima's feral roar as she descended from above, her blade aimed for the kill. But as the weapon drew near, a chilling, demonic smile curled across William's face, one so unsettling it sent icy tremors down her spine, evoking memories of the Mad Titan himself.
With casual precision, William raised a single hand, sweeping the blade aside effortlessly and gripping the spear's shaft just below the lethal tip, holding it fast with unyielding strength.
In desperation, Proxima triggered a defensive surge, sending crackling arcs of electricity racing through the spear's haft. Yet these bolts were consumed by the ravenous green lightning swirling within William's aura, devoured as though they were prey caught in the jaws of a greater predator.
William's grip on the spear tightened, and in a sudden, ferocious motion, Proxima found herself wielded as a brutal weapon.
BANG!
She crashed with devastating force into the retreating Corvus Glaive, whose body crumpled like a cheap lawn chair under the tremendous impact.
The collision sent them both hurtling toward the waiting fleet, their momentum carrying them into the hulls of ships which, unlike the ships destroyed by the beam that had pummeled Kallark, stood resilient against the sheer, punishing force of the blow.
Thanos beheld the ruin of his greatest champions, his generals, his executioners, the very pillars of his dominion, shattered before his eyes.
Corvus lay mangled and gasping, each breath a ragged battle for life. Proxima was crumpled in a heap of fractured armor and agonized cries.
Kallark had been hurled like a living missile, tearing through ship after ship until his arms were burned away to blackened stumps. And all of it was the work of a single being.
One anomaly.
One aberration of destiny.
A Saiyan who was never meant to exist.
And the Mad Titan… smiled.
It was not the grin of triumph, nor the sneer of disdain, nor the hungry curl of bloodlust.
It was the expression of an artist who had just witnessed his greatest creation eclipsed.
"Remarkable," Thanos murmured, his voice low and reverent as he hovered above the carnage. "Truly… remarkable."
The Power Stone surged, spitting snarls of violet lightning across his golden armor.
The Space Stone thrummed, twisting the very fabric of the void around him.
The Time Stone flickered in quiet calculation, sifting through infinite possibilities in the recesses of his mind.
And deep within the Gauntlet, the Soul Stone quivered, sensing the energies of the Mind Stone and the Reality Stone in William's possession.
William's power surged once more, making the very fabric of the void tremble. A blinding green flash tore into existence beside the scarred, wounded moon, followed by a shockwave that thundered outward, hurling fleets and fighters adrift like fragile leaves swept into the fury of a solar storm.
Then came the eruption, the feral, golden blaze of the Legendary Super Saiyan 3 aura, alive with snarling arcs of green lightning, his long golden hair lashing wildly like burning banners caught in a galactic tempest.
His pupils dissolved into searing orbs of pure, electric viridian light.
Smoke still curled from his chest where Proxima's spatial strike had landed, and blood drifted lazily from his wounds, trailing behind him like the tail of a crimson comet. And yet, he grinned. A savage, unrestrained, predatory grin locked squarely on the Mad Titan.
Thanos rose to his full height, cracking his neck with deliberate menace, rolling his shoulders as the Power Stone's glow intensified, flooding the void with the radiance of a newborn star.
"So," he said evenly, "you choose me next." His armored fingers flexed as he raised the Gauntlet, and in that same heartbeat, William vanished into motion.
FWOOOOOM!
A blazing comet of gold and green ripped across the void, shattering the silence with a sonic boom that reverberated even through the emptiness.
William didn't merely fly; he exploded forward, his form a streak of incandescent fury.
His ki warped the vacuum itself, while thrusters of raw, unbridled rage carved a fiery tunnel through space.
Wreckage from obliterated ships spiraled away in his wake as he tore past with unstoppable momentum.
Thanos had scarcely a heartbeat to react, yet he neither flinched nor raised a guard, nor even tried to evade. Instead, he spread his arms wide, as though embracing a long-awaited tempest.
"Come then, Saiyan." William's roar erupted, feral, primal, a sound forged in the very marrow of wrath. "RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!"
The soundless void trembled.
Reality split, and William descended upon the Mad Titan like a cataclysmic meteor intent on erasing the very notion of resistance.