The space collapsed, and from the swirling, dark blue vortex emerged a towering figure—Thanos. His gaze swept across the battlefield, taking in the ruins of his ship and the lone figure perched casually atop the wreckage, staring down at him.
"It seems Ebony Maw has failed," Thanos remarked, his deep voice carrying a tinge of irritation. "Today has cost me dearly." His eyes narrowed with predatory determination. "But the mission is not in vain. You must be the Guardian of the Time Stone."
The figure waved dismissively. "Me? A Guardian? Not quite. I'm here for... other reasons."
Thanos frowned, his mind racing. Ebony Maw had reported capturing the Guardian of the Time Stone. Was this intruder an ally? Or had the mage escaped? His face darkened at the latter thought. No matter—he would handle this himself.
"Did you free him?" Thanos growled, his voice cold.
"Technically," the figure replied with a nonchalant shrug, "if I hadn't come, he'd be dead by now."
In the mirror dimension, Doctor Strange, witnessing this exchange, felt a chill. This stranger had intervened in what would have been his moment of death. But how did he know?
Back in the real world, Thanos's expression hardened. "Why meddle? You could have hidden, survived, even thanked me for sparing half of life. But now you face extinction."
"Classic," the figure interrupted with a chuckle, cutting Thanos short. "You're quite the broken record, aren't you? That whole 'thank me for mercy' speech—it's getting old. Maybe have Ebony Maw write you some fresh lines. Oh wait... he's dead. My bad."
Thanos's face flushed with rage, his purple skin darkening. "Madman. Your insolence will be your undoing."
"Well, it's nice to see you enthusiastic," the figure said, clapping mockingly. "Bring it on."
With a snarl, Thanos raised a hand, and a section of a nearby satellite disappeared, only to reappear moments later as a storm of colossal meteorites streaking toward the battlefield. The blazing trail of destruction filled the air, as if the heavens themselves rained death.
In the mirror dimension, the Guardians of the Galaxy watched in horror. Star-Lord paled. "Okay, maybe not the best time for jokes. We're toast!"
But in the real world, the figure raised a hand, and with a snap of his fingers, the meteors froze mid-flight. The immense space-bound debris hung motionless, as if time itself had halted. Then, with a gesture, the meteors shattered into countless pieces, reforming into razor-sharp black blades that rained down upon Thanos.
The Titan reacted instantly, his gauntlet glowing. The Space Stone warped reality, teleporting him away from the barrage, while the Reality Stone transformed the deadly blades into harmless leaves. Yet even with the power of two Infinity Stones, sweat beaded on his brow. His body strained under the combined might of the gauntlet's power.
"You're strong," Thanos admitted, his voice strained. "But this ends now!"
The Power Stone flared, unleashing a surge of violet energy. The figure countered with a blazing gaze, beams of concentrated light colliding with the purple energy. The resulting shockwave obliterated everything within a hundred meters.
"He's going to win!" Spider-Man exclaimed, watching the beam of light push back against Thanos's attack.
In a final act of desperation, Thanos activated the Soul Stone, releasing an orange storm of soul energy. The figure vanished in an instant, reappearing unscathed above the battlefield. A massive sigil formed in the sky, its rotating edges brimming with arcane power.
"No way!" Strange gasped. "That's the Seal of Vishanti! But how—?"
A flaming sword materialized within the sigil, its radiant heat warping the space around it. Thanos, summoning every ounce of his power, used the Space and Reality Stones to counter, turning the sword into harmless wood and trapping his opponent within an unbreakable spatial cage.
But then, the Reality Stone dimmed, pried from Thanos's gauntlet by an unseen force. It hovered in the air, out of his reach. His expression twisted in disbelief.
"Telekinesis?!" he growled, realizing the truth too late.
Before he could react, the figure summoned a torrent of thunderclouds. Lightning converged on him, encasing him in a storm of divine energy. Wielding a reforged Mjölnir, the figure descended like a comet, his thunderous strike shattering Thanos's spatial barrier and breaking through his final defenses.
The battlefield erupted in a cataclysmic explosion, leaving behind a massive crater. When the dust settled, Thanos lay defeated at its center.
The figure floated above, his armor crackling with residual energy, the air around him heavy with power. He looked down at the broken Titan and said, "Three. You're the third Thanos I've killed."