The battlefield was already screaming.
Explosions tore through the air. Leviathans roared overhead. The ground buckled beneath gods, soldiers, and monsters colliding all at once. Captain America barely registered the shield in his hand before a blast sent him skidding across broken stone.
He rolled, came up fast—
—and slammed straight into someone.
Not armor.
Not alien.
Not dust.
A woman stumbled back a step, boots scraping against rubble.
"Sorry—!" she blurted automatically, steadying herself like she'd been bumped on a crowded sidewalk instead of the middle of a universe-ending war.
Steve froze.
No suit.
No tactical gear.
No helmet.
Just… clothes. Civilian. Wrong in a way that made his gut tighten.
"Who are you?" he demanded, shield already rising as another shockwave rippled through the field.
She blinked, clearly disoriented. Smoke curled around her as she glanced left, then right—eyes wide, not with fear, but with concentration.
"Uh—sorry," she said again, distracted. "Do continue on your fight, I just need… um…"
She trailed off, squinting like she'd misplaced something important.
Steve sucked in a breath. "Get down—!"
Too late.
A Chitauri vaulted through the smoke, blade raised, shrieking as it hurled itself straight at her.
She didn't scream.
Didn't flinch.
She raised one hand.
Her fingers curled slowly, deliberately—like crushing something invisible.
The Chitauri folded.
Armor buckled. Bone snapped. The body compacted in on itself with a wet, brutal crack before collapsing into a lifeless heap at her feet.
Silence—just for a heartbeat.
Steve stared.
He'd fought gods. Aliens. Monsters.
Nothing like that.
"What the hell—"
She winced, shaking her hand as if she'd strained a muscle. "Ugh. Still hate doing that."
Then she looked at him—really looked at him—and smiled faintly.
"Oh. Hi."
Another explosion ripped through the field. Steve snapped back into motion, blocking incoming fire, but his eyes kept tracking her.
"Get behind me!" he ordered, instinct overriding disbelief.
She tilted her head. "…Right. Sure."
She didn't move.
Around them, the Avengers were starting to notice.
Wanda, mid-leap, shot the woman a sharp look as she landed. Tony's HUD flickered, tagging an unidentified human with NO KNOWN FILE. Thor frowned, lightning crackling faintly as his gaze locked onto the newcomer.
The woman scanned the battlefield again, more urgently now.
"Okay, quick question," she said, raising her voice just enough to carry over the chaos.
Steve blocked another strike, eyes never leaving her.
"Yes?"
She turned back to him, deadly calm amid the carnage.
"Is there a Hulk here?"
Steve hesitated.
Then somewhere behind them, the ground shuddered. A familiar roar rolled across the battlefield, deep and furious.
The woman's face lit up with relief.
"Oh. Good."
The roar split the air like thunder.
Celestia turned fully toward the sound, then squealed.
"Oh! Oh good. Perfect, perfect!" She clapped her hands together, bouncing once on her heels like she'd just found the last missing ingredient in a recipe.
Hulk skidded to a stop in front of her, chest heaving, eyes blazing. He slammed his fists together and roared straight in her face.
Several Avengers froze.
Steve took a step forward. "Hulk, wait—"
Celestia lifted a finger, polite.
"Now, if you'd just mind," she said, tilting her head up to meet his glare, utterly unfazed, "I only need a pint of your blood. That's all."
Hulk roared again, louder, and launched himself at her.
Midair.
Celestia sighed.
She raised one hand and made a simple shoving motion, like brushing dust off a table.
Hulk vanished from in front of her.
The force hurled him backward across the battlefield, carving a trench through rubble and bodies before he slammed into a broken structure half a football field away.
For a split second, everything went quiet.
Then Hulk started to get back up.
Celestia flicked her wrist.
The invisible pressure around him shifted, softened. His movements slowed. The roar dwindled into a confused rumble. His massive head drooped, eyelids fluttering as if sleep was suddenly winning.
"Shh," Celestia murmured, already walking toward him. "This'll be quick."
"Not today!" Peter Parker shouted.
Webs shot out, snapping around her wrists and yanking her arms together as he landed nearby. "Lady, you cannot just kidnap the Hulk!"
Celestia looked down at the webbing, mildly curious.
"Oh. That's clever."
The strands melted.
Not burned. Dissolved. Like sugar in water, sliding off her skin and evaporating into nothing.
Peter's eyes went wide. "Mr. Stark, I'm gonna need an adult—"
Celestia raised both hands, palms open. The air between them rippled, folding inward like space itself was responding to her.
Something formed.
Metal. Glass. Glowing runes lining the barrel. A syringe, massive and unmistakable, assembling piece by piece until it settled solidly in her grip.
Thor's eyes widened. "She conjures like Loki."
"No," Strange muttered, a portal flickering behind him. "Not like that."
The battlefield erupted again. An explosion sent slabs of concrete and burning debris crashing down toward them.
Celestia didn't turn.
She looked at the falling rubble.
It turned to dust midair.
Not ash. Not smoke.
Dust. Fine and harmless, drifting down like sand in sunlight.
Several Avengers just stared.
Celestia knelt beside the dozing Hulk, pressing the syringe gently against his arm.
"Thank you for your cooperation," she said softly, almost sincerely.
The needle slid in.
Somewhere across the battlefield, Thanos paused.
And for the first time since the fighting began, something like unease crossed his face.
He raised the Gauntlet.
All six Infinity Stones blazed to life. Their combined power screamed through reality as space warped and light bent around him. The air howled. A wave of raw cosmic force tore across the battlefield, aimed directly at Celestia.
The blast struck her square in the chest.
She didn't flinch.
She simply looked at it.
Then she moved her hand.
Not fast. Not dramatic. Just a small, deliberate turn of her wrist.
Time stopped.
The shockwave froze mid-rupture. Fire hung in the air like sculpted glass. Dust, debris, and shattered stone were suspended exactly where they had been moments from impact.
Thanos stood locked in place, the Gauntlet blazing silently. His expression was frozen halfway between triumph and confusion.
The battlefield was utterly still.
Yet everyone was aware.
Steve couldn't move, but he could think.
Tony's HUD was frozen, warnings screaming soundlessly as his mind raced.
Thor felt Mjolnir locked in his grip, unresponsive, inert.
All of them watched.
Celestia calmly pulled the massive syringe free from Hulk's arm. Inside, glowing green blood swirled slowly.
"One pint," she murmured, inspecting it. "Perfect."
She stood, turning away from the frozen Hulk.
With a small gesture, a rolling metal shelf appeared beside her, as though it had always been there. A bucket materialized on the lower tier, already filled with ice that steamed faintly in the heat of the battlefield.
She placed the syringe inside, nestling it carefully.
Another gesture.
A parchment scroll unfurled in front of her, impossibly long, hovering in midair. Its surface was covered in names. Ingredients. Entities.
Celestia summoned a feather. Ink pooled at its tip.
She scanned the list, then drew a clean line through one item.
✔ Hulk (Gamma Variant)
She exhaled. Her shoulders sagged just slightly.
"Alright," she murmured, more to herself than anyone else. "Another one down."
Her gaze drifted lower on the scroll. Dozens of entries were already crossed off. Many more remained untouched.
"…More to go."
For the first time since she'd appeared, her voice carried something heavier than focus.
Tired.
"I long for the day this will end."
The battlefield, frozen and vast and terrible, offered no response.
Celestia continued down the parchment, eyes narrowing as she read.
Then she stopped.
Her brow furrowed.
"What is… Thanos?"
She blinked once, then slowly turned around.
All eyes were on her.
Celestia tilted her head, genuinely puzzled.
"…Anyone?" she asked lightly, glancing around the motionless Avengers. "Does anyone know what a Thanos is?"
No one could answer.
Time held its breath.
Celestia sighed.
"…Right. Of course not."
And somewhere deep in the stillness of stopped reality, something ancient and inevitable shifted.
Time remained frozen.
Only eyes could move.
Celestia turned slowly, boots crunching against suspended rubble as she studied the battlefield like a museum exhibit paused mid-disaster. Her gaze eventually settled on Thanos.
He was locked mid-motion, Gauntlet raised, power screaming silently through the Stones.
She squinted at him.
"…Huh."
Celestia walked toward him, unhurried, weaving through hanging debris and immobile bodies. Avengers and enemies alike could do nothing but follow her with their eyes as she stopped directly in front of the Mad Titan.
Face to face.
She leaned in slightly, studying him with open disdain.
"Hm," she said at last. "You are… unpleasant to look at."
Her lip curled.
"This is not my design, Frailey."
The air beside her shimmered.
An entity emerged, humanoid and luminous, floating inches above the ground. Its features were smooth, deliberate, eyes glowing with quiet intelligence. It hovered at her side like an archivist awaiting instruction.
Frailey inclined its head.
"Indeed, Highness," it replied evenly. "This configuration does not match any recorded designs attributed to you."
Celestia folded her arms. "Exactly. So whose idea was this?"
She gestured vaguely at Thanos, then pointed past him.
"Him," she said, indicating Tony Stark, frozen mid-step. "That one I recognize. Same structure. Same logic. That's my fingerprint."
Her gaze slid back to Thanos, unimpressed.
"But this?" She shook her head. "No. Absolutely not."
Frailey's eyes flickered, streams of data cascading across their surface.
"I will initiate a comprehensive system trace," Frailey said.
"As you should," Celestia replied flatly.
She inhaled.
Then exhaled.
And time flowed again.
The world crashed back into motion.
Bodies slammed down. Debris thundered into the ground. Fighters stumbled as gravity and momentum returned all at once, confusion rippling across the battlefield.
Thanos reacted instantly. His hand shot toward Celestia's throat.
He never touched her.
Celestia turned her eyes on him.
Thanos' arm trembled. His legs gave way. Stone shattered beneath his knees as an unseen force drove him down.
Celestia's voice cut through the chaos, sharp and absolute.
"No one touches me."
Every Avenger felt it.
A chill down the spine.
A weight in the chest.
Celestia turned her head slightly, then paused.
She looked left.
Her gaze traveled upward.
"…That's odd," she muttered, spotting Giant Ant-Man towering nearby.
Before she could continue, boots clanked against stone.
Tony Stark stepped forward carefully, visor retracting halfway.
"Okay," he said, hands raised just enough to be diplomatic. "Let's start simple. Who are you?"
A golden spark flared as Doctor Strange appeared beside him, eyes narrowed.
"And are you," Strange asked cautiously, "a wizard?"
Celestia blinked.
"No."
She winced slightly. "Also, I did ask first."
She turned, scanning the battlefield again.
"What is Thanos?"
Every finger pointed.
Steve. Tony. Thor. Wanda. Peter. Even a few enemies, instinctively.
All of them pointed at the kneeling Titan.
Celestia startled.
"Oh."
She looked back down at him, reassessing.
"…Oh dear," she said thoughtfully. "This is Thanos?"
She tilted her head, then shrugged.
"Hm. I've seen worse."
Thanos' jaw clenched.
For the first time in his life, he felt small.
Celestia's gaze drifted, slow and deliberate, until it settled on the Gauntlet.
"…Infinity Stones," she murmured.
She stepped closer, ignoring the way every Avenger tensed. With two fingers, she plucked the violet stone free as if it were nothing more than a loose screw.
"Hm."
She turned it between her fingers, examining it like a flawed prototype.
"Is this," she asked calmly, "the reason for this war?"
Tony swallowed. "Y-Yeah."
Steve stepped closer, shield still raised but forgotten. No one else spoke.
Tony tried again, voice tight. "I'll ask one more time. Who are you?"
Celestia didn't look at him.
She stared at the stone.
"I thought you would be more advanced than this," she said quietly. "But this?"
She lifted the stone slightly.
"This caused the deaths of thousands?"
Her fingers closed.
The violet Infinity Stone shattered.
Not cracked.
Not fractured.
Crushed.
Energy screamed for half a second, then vanished. Purple light winked out as if it had never existed.
Silence slammed down.
Thor froze. Strange's breath caught. Wanda felt something fundamental tear in the air.
Thanos stared at the empty socket in his Gauntlet, disbelief hollowing his face.
Celestia let the dust fall from her fingers.
"Petty," she said.
"Immature."
"…Disappointing."
She turned away as if the matter were settled.
"Now," she added, clapping once, refocusing, "back to business. I believe I need a—"
No one moved.
No one breathed.
Fear rippled through heroes and enemies alike.
Thanos finally spoke, his voice rough and diminished.
"…Who are you?"
Celestia paused.
She glanced at him, then sighed, as if remembering an inconvenience.
"Oh. Right."
A new syringe formed in her hand, larger, darker, humming faintly.
Thanos tried to rise.
He couldn't.
Celestia knelt, unbothered, and pressed the needle into his arm. Power surged into the chamber, purple blood glowing unnaturally as it filled.
"One pint," she said absently. "Consistency matters."
She stood and placed the syringe into ice on the rolling shelf, same routine, same care.
Tony stared at the fragments on the ground.
"You just," he whispered, "destroyed an Infinity Stone."
Celestia looked at him at last.
"Yes."
A beat.
"…Was I not supposed to?"
Celestia clasped her hands together, satisfied.
"Alright, gentlemen," she said pleasantly. "Thank you for your cooperation."
She lifted one finger.
A portal opened.
Clean. Silent. Nothing like Strange's. No sparks. No visible strain. Just a calm tear in reality itself.
Celestia stepped through.
"Uh, guys?" Peter blurted.
Captain America was already moving.
Tony followed without thinking. Strange stepped through on instinct. Clint, Wanda, Ant-Man, Thor, Hulk, one by one, all of them crossed the threshold.
The portal snapped shut behind them.