Fuck. That.
Heat spreads throughout all my limbs as my lips peel back as I snarl at the King of Asgard.
"Now listen here you little-"
That's as far as I get. Not because I'm stopped by Odin, but because my attention is suddenly grabbed by Heimdall. The Watcher had been standing impassively to the side throughout all of the proceedings, wordlessly looking on, but now he suddenly moved with speed.
Apparently, this was so out of character and place for him that even Odin looked on in confusion as his guardian moved to stand behind my group, swirling eyes focused intently on the far double doors of the Hall.
"Heimdall? What is it, what do you see?" Odin asks, coming to his feet, his voice stern as he shifts his grip of Gugnir.
The ring of metal calls out throughout the cavernous space as Heimdall unsheathes his golden sword, dropping into a low stance, eyes remaining locked on the doors, his expression utterly focused and (to my growing dread) somewhat frightened.
The man's actions are a signal to every guard in the Hall to fall into a combat stance as well, shields raised and spears lowered and my companions as well as the Avengers are quick to follow suit.
"A great evil is approaching." Heimdall calls out lowly, but in the baited silence of the Hall he's clearly heard.
The silence drags on as the tension rackets up, before muffled sounds finally approach us: confused and terrified wails. Before Odin can call out any orders, the double doors are slammed open with unnatural force and speed and… there's nothing there.
I can spot the two guards we passed on the way inside, looking back in shock towards the hall, clearly taken completely by surprise. A few guards who had had been positioned closer to the front of the hall make to move towards the now opened entrance as the others make their way forwards to investigate, but Heimdall spots something that only he can See.
"No! Stay back!" he calls out desperately to the confusion of the assembled Eihenjar.
To their credit, the guards don't question Heimdall's warning, trusting Asgard's Warden to See what they cannot. Immediately, they fall back in a defensive formation, eyes flitting about from underneath their helmet as they move back towards the Royal Couple as one. Even so, they cannot hide their nervousness as something clearly is advancing down the Hall, a sense of unease screaming at their every sense, warning them of a danger poised right up against their skin.
I know they're feeling this... because I can feel it as well. It's a sensation that goes deeper than the metaphysical, a yawning abyss hungrily breathing down my neck.
I imagine standing in the presence of a Dementor would be somewhat similar, though this feels like it's a hundred times worse.
Without a word, my armor and weapons flash into existence around me, which is a sign to my group to arm for battle as well. Sam's suit snaps into existence around him in much the same way as mine had, his mechanical arms already extended and ready to strike. Tony and Pepper run over to their suitcases, each one grabbing a sleek container and letting a lighter Iron Man (or in Pepper's case, Rescue) armor form around them in much the same way as Tony had done during the Whiplash fight in Monaco. Harper pulls his gun (though that's rather like calling a F1 car a go kart) the massive iron humming with a keening noise as light slowly pulses down the length of the barrel.
As we stand arrayed there, armored up and weapons at the ready, I can't help but think we look... silly, rather than imposing, thanks to the fact that none of us are aiming at the same spot. We're trying to roughly follow where Heimdall's looking, which isn't exactly easy as he's standing with his back towards us and none of us can actually see the threat approaching.
Even Sam with his advanced suit of sensor arrays and impossible knowledge, and the Ancient One with her monitoring spells and her impossible knowledge can only see a vague disturbance about ten meters in front of Heimdall which is steadily closing in on the steadfast Watcher.
Heimdall apparently can see it, or at least see more than the rest of us, as suddenly moves to the left, his sword Hofund extended towards the hidden threat, clearly moving to block its path.
"Intruder. Whoever, or whatever you may be... know that you stand in the Hall of Odin, son of Bor, son of Buri, King of Asgard and Protector of the Nine Realms. Reveal yourself, or leave, but you will not set one step further." Asgard's Gatekeeper calls out in a strong voice, filled with determination and utter conviction.
Unfortunately, it seems the unknown threat isn't all too impressed with Asgard's Watcher, clearly moving to walk around Heimdall, judging by the warrior's sudden leap to the left. The bizarre looking dodging to side to side (considering that as far as we can see, it's just Heimdall running up and down) continues for a few moments, before the ebony skinned warrior skids to a halt.
Once again, Hofund is extended towards the danger (and with a sinking feeling, I realize that Heimdall, tall as he is, is pointing his sword upwards) and once again Asgard's Gatekeeper snarls out his challenge, the words echoing through the hall.
"You shall not set one step further."
For a long moment, Heimdall remains locked in place and somehow I can feel that the intruder is considering his options. It doesn't take long to figure out what it eventually settles on, as Heimdall is suddenly forced to move.
Clearly, the threat has chosen to go on the offensive instead.
Still, Heimdall is one of Asgard's greatest warriors for a reason. Without fear or hesitation, he moves to engage a foe that only he can See, and probably not even that clearly. That still doesn't stop him, his motions fluid and without wasted energy, Hofund gleaming almost a pure white in the sunlight now pouring into Valaskjálf through the opened doors. After a few intense moments, Heimdall dodges an invisible strike, throwing himself into a desperate roll forwards, (presumably) taking him behind his enemy, before coming up as he brings his greatsword around in a backspin, cutting into… something.
I still can't see what kind of creature he's fighting, but the thin, small arc of blood is unmistakable as it splatters across the tiled floors and with a grim look I sink into a deeper stance, feet braced against the tiling underneath me, ready to explode into movement, drawing on more of the Mind Stone's power to fortify my thoughts against the screaming protests of my body.
Whatever it is, it bleeds. Which means that I can kill it.
However, just because it was cut doesn't mean it was out of the fight, as Heimdall's entire body suddenly jerks to a standstill. As he slowly moves upwards, standing on the tips of his toes, it becomes immediately clear that his enemy has managed to grab a hold of him. Within in that same moment however, before any of us have even had a chance to call out to him or come to his aid, Heimdall's eyes widen in shock… before they roll back into his head and he sinks to his knees, crumbling to the floor.
Dead, though with no visible wounds. As though the light of his life was just... snuffed out.
"NO!" Thor's voice calls out throughout the Hall and a massive bolt of lightning impacts where the invisible creature likely was standing when it killed Heimdall.
It's impossible to tell whether or not that did anything, though since I didn't see any blood or smell any cooked flesh, I'm betting it didn't. I turn to glance at the Ancient One, nodding as we both think of spells to use that hinder invisibility, or strip it entirely, but it seems we needn't have bothered.
Heimdall may have died after only drawing a bit of blood from our sudden assailant, but apparently his valiant fight and sacrifice bought the Queen enough time to cast a large area of effect spell. I'm not certain which spell she used exactly (knowing her it's one she created herself), but I can see how various runes along the floor, pillar and ceiling light up, before there's a soft golden glow suffusing everything in sight as a ripple effect travels through the air, not to dissimilar form whenever a Sorcerer accesses the Mirror Dimension.
The moment my mind makes that comparison, understanding of what's going on floods my mind. It's not invisibility at all: someone is in a separate dimension to ours, striking at us through the veil between them at will. Depending on how far away the dimensions are removed from each other, such a thing can take immense power and is therefore done the easiest from the Astral Plane, where souls reside (which is how haunted houses work).
Whoever is Astral Projecting into Valaskjálf itself can hide no longer however, as the Queen's spell forces their projection into our own dimension. It doesn't take away their apparent power of killing with but a touch, but it should give us a decent fighting chance now, so I lower Harpe as I tense my muscles, prepared to launch myself at the figure that's struggling against the golden glow that binds it.
Slowly, the magical energy fades, showing a tall figure, heavily muscled, in clearly alien garb… with… purple skin.
I almost drop Harpe as the intruder slowly raises himself to his full height, a familiar face with an unmistakably grooved chin looking back at us with an unbreakable conviction and unending determination.
And, planted square in the middle of his forehead, shines the baleful orange light of the Soul Stone.
"Thanos…" I whisper under my breath, my eyes as wide as they'll go and my heat hammering away about a hundred times a second.
As I whisper the name, recognition floods the others and reactions range from outright dread to mere confusion, correlating to just how much people know about one of the most feared beings in the universe.
The alien warlord straightens from his hunched over position, clearly affected by Frigga's spell. Briefly, he looks uncomfortable, almost verging on pained, clenching and unclenching his hands a few times, as he takes audible, deep breaths. Considering that no ships should be even remotely in the vicinity of Asgard (or Heimdall would've reacted sooner) and can't have suddenly jumped in since the nearest Jump Gate is several solar systems away, I get a sinking suspicion that Thanos is Astral Projecting all the way from his Sanctuary.
The power required to do something like that... it's simply unheard of. It should be outright impossible. No wonder he looks somewhat strained from Frigga's spell affecting him: she basically yanked on his very soul. Still, the Mad Titan shakes off what should've by all accounts have left him comatose, merely glancing around at the brightly blazing runework, before looking past me and towards the Queen, respect clear in his orange-hued eyes.
"Well done." he rumbles in a deep voice, before purposefully striding forward again.
Before he can take more than two steps though, the assembled Eihenjar finally come out of their stupor and with roars of rage and grief for their fallen comrade, charge forwards, metal-clad boots slamming against the decorated floor, spears held low and pointed unerringly towards the Titan's body.
"No don't! Stay back!" I find myself calling out, but it's too late as the guards' Asgardian biology makes them deceptively fast and within seconds the vanguard is upon him.
Even as he's still reeling from the aftereffects of Frigga's spell, Thanos shows his infamous determination as he grits his teeth, the orange glow of the Soul Stone suddenly blazing in intensity as the color seeps more noticeably into his eyes. With a grunt, he raises his arms high, fingers splayed wide, before bringing them down in a brutal chopping motion... and all around him, the charging Eihenjar are suddenly forced to their knees.
Many seem to be struggling to breathe, hunched over as if an impossible weight is suddenly resting on their very lungs, eyes wide and panicked. Thanos himself doesn't seem unaffected himself either, stumbling for just the briefest of moments, his breath coming harder than before as the edges of his form... blur. As if he's, just for a fraction of a second, less here.
Thanos himself seems to notice it as well, and without hesitation he steps closer towards the nearest downed guard, one massive hand moving out to grab the man's head, his Astral Form allowing him a speed that's almost impossible to follow with the naked eye.
"Halt!"
Unless you're Jim Harper, a veteran of countless years and in beyond peak-human physical condition and with an itchy trigger finger to boot. Before the word has even fully left his lips, Jim has already squeezed of three shots of his massive handcannon, a combined project of Radcliffe's Kree technology and Randolph's Asgardian smithing, with occasional input from Sterns himself.
During a round of testing, I've seen a single explosive shot, appearing more as a ray of furious, screaming light, tear through an armored vehicle, leaving a glowing, melted hole in its wake and taking out a decent chunk of the reinforced duracrete on the other end of the shooting range.
Against Thanos... it does nothing, merely passing through harmlessly, only a visible rippling in the Titan's form evidence that the hit even registered at all, the hypersonic, superheated slug travelling the length of the hall and harmlessly sailing outwards over the Asgardian houses in the distance.
Briefly there's a lull in the tension following the deafening thunder from Harper's gun discharging, the stoic man himself merely raising an eyebrow in surprise as he looks at the astral titan.
"Huh. That usually works."
"A good attempt." Thanos rumbles, before his hand shoots out and grabs the neck of the downed guard at his feet.
The baneful glare of the Soul Stone becomes unbearable to look at, a sense of wrongness brushing up against my very being as most of us take an involuntary step back, Odin being the only exception, the aged King rushing down the steps towards his throne, teeth bared in a snarl that shows his history as the leader of the Berserkers, rage blooming in his eye as he's forced to watch what Thanos does next, too far away to stop it.
Writhing in the Titan's unbreakable grip, the unfortunate guard can only get out a choked gasp before he just... withers. His very life is sapped from him, his muscles slinking as his skin wrinkles, fades and retracts. It takes only a second, yet it feels as if we're rooted to the spot for an eternity as Thanos callously lets the now mummified guard fall to the ground.
The dry 'crack' it makes as the dried corpse hits the stones is sickening to the stomach, Thanos himself standing noticeable taller than before and more... solid.
"But, it's not enough." Thanos concludes, his eyes now dropping to meet mine.
And recognition blooms in his.
Fuck.
"Thanos! What is the meaning of this!" Odin thunders and now he's truly pissed off, his knuckles white around Gungnir's staff, his teeth bared and his voice echoing throughout the Hall.
The ground underneath his feet is shaking as the air wavers and it becomes difficult to stand too close to the irate King of the Asgardians.
"Be at ease, King Odin. I have no quarrel with you or yours. I had hoped to avoid confrontation altogether, take only that for which I've come for, that which is rightfully mine. That which I need to fulfill my destiny. To fulfill all our destinies. It seems, however, that this is not to be." the Titan easily responds, appearing completely unaffected by Odin's nearly visible corona of power as he once again looks back at me, making it clear just what he considers to be 'his'.
"At ease?! You slaughtered my people! You will answer for this!" Odin roars as he moves forward, Gugnir humming with power as the King fearlessly strides towards the hulking Titan.
"In time, we all must answer for what we have done, for good or ill. You, or I, are no different. However, I have come to speak with McCole, not you. Thankfully, his unique soul makes this a lot easier." Thanos says in an unhurried tone, seemingly completely unconcerned with the irate Odin standing mere meters away from him.
Before I can question what 'this' can possibly be, Thanos turns towards me, lashing out with a hand as if he's grasping for something, faster than the eye can see, the light from the Soul Stone becoming an unbearable flash…
The sense of wrongness increases a thousandfold and it feels as if countless meathooks have lodged themselves in my flesh, burrowing down into the deepest reaches of what I am. The ground falls away as I'm simultaneously both dragged and pulled at the same time in seemingly all directions at once, all of them leading away from where I was and to... I can't tell. It's a titanic struggle to just keep standing as I thrash as widely as I can, each movement sending a thousand lances of agony through my body, but once again the Mind Stone allows me to continue acting unencumbered.
I feel a willpower, ancient and seemingly endless pushing against mine, conviction against desperation. A roar in the far distance, yet coming from all around me, resounds in my ears, sounding suspiciously as Thanos. But then the final tether snaps, the anchor that was the space and time of my physical body in actual reality falling away from underneath me and a deep orange vortex seemingly swallows me whole, the only thing I can see is a purple face with a ridged chin, expression strained to the limit.
And then we're somewhere completely different. My feet are standing in shallow water and a reddish glowing mist surrounds us both, stretching infinitely in all directions. As I glance around in shock, I spot a Gate far behind me and immediately know where I am.
The small Zehoberei child standing underneath its middle arch is a large clue.
"The Soulworld." I breathe in shock, before looking down at myself in confusion at the sound of my own voice, far too light than what I've become used to.
Looking over myself, I see that I've taken the same form that I had all those years ago when I first appeared in Bast's domain before my Trial of the Body and the Mind. My normal, human body, the one I possessed in my original life, but deeper, with odd angles that stretch out into a faraway infinity.
A body that now just looks wrong to me.
"You know… seeing you like this… feeling your soul… I can understand why the Stone dislikes you."
Thanos' deep voice snaps me out of my thoughts and with a sinking realization which nearly paralyzes me I realize I'm locked in a sub dimension without my physical enhancements and only my weird-ass multiverse-hopping soul as protection, which likely won't do jack shit against someone wielding the power of the Soul Stone. My own Infinity Stones still sit in my armor, which now fits awkwardly around my much smaller frame, but their scintillating glow has disappeared, leaving them looking like ordinary gemstones embedded in the metal and their powers feel muted, suppressed somehow.
This is, after all, the Soul Stone's domain and its wielder is currently standing not even a dozen meters away from me.
Fuck.
Looking the Titan over, he simultaneously looks like shit and a lot better than in Odin's Hall. Gone is his slightly translucent appearance, gone are the soft non-edges of his body. He's here completely, fully solid and in the heart of his greatest source of power. But he doesn't look healthy. Whatever he did to pull us both into the Soul Stone's pocket dimension, it must have been an immense strain on his own soul, not helped by the fact that his essence was galaxies away from his physical body when he kidnapped me.
Even with an infinite powersupply juicing up your soul, it doesn't change the nature of said soul, and right now it should be pushed to its very limits. If he continues pushing like this, he's going to burn it up and there's no coming back from destroying your own essence like that. Not that Thanos seems to care, even if it's unlikely that he's unaware of the toll his attack has taken on him, the omnipresent energy of the Soul Stone in this place almost visibly pulling into him, the ripples in the water moving towards him instead of away from him.
Where upon our arrival he had appeared hunched over with a drawn expression and deep bags under his eyes, he's now slowly rising to his full height, his breaths returning to a steady and deep rhythm. Having regained his balance, Thanos looks towards me with a determined expression, before his eyes slide past my form, seemingly only now noticing the massive gate in the distance... and the little girl that's standing underneath it.
His entire body freezes, his eyes fixated on the distant child as his composure breaks, grief and melancholy clear to see as he merely stands there in utter silence. For a moment, neither one of us speaks, but while I'm fairly certain time flows differently here than in the outside world, I'm still filled with a sense of urgency. This entire place feels... hostile to me and I don't wanna spend any more time in here with Thanos' manifestation of his soul and willpower than absolutely necessary. While he may want to linger here for however long he wishes to grieve his lost ones, I still have people that are counting on me to get out of here and save the universe.
No biggie.
"You wanted to talk to me? Then say your piece. Perhaps all this can be resolved without further bloodshed? Some sort of deal we can make?" I call out, desperate to figure out if there's any way out of here, or perhaps expose a chink in his armor or figure out why the fuck he has got the Soul Stone already, he should still be sitting on his ass for five more years, fuck this is bad, this is really bad, this is so fucking bad-
"It is ironic, that you chose his name. I assume you know what happened to him? The real Hyperion?" Thanos muses, slowly shaking off his melancholy thoughts, dragging his gaze away from the faraway Gate as he turns to looks towards me, drawing me from my steadily panicking thoughts.
Gathering my courage, I raise my head and attempt to stare down the source of almost every nightmare I've suffered for the last twenty years of my new life. I nearly falter when those tainted eyes lock onto mine, but then I think back to Jess, to Helios, Eos and Selene, who are in danger as long as this madman remains alive. I think back to the vow I've made to Jess and I feel myself subconsciously squaring my shoulders and balling my fists.
Thanos dies.
"Same thing that happened to all other Titans. You killed him." I shoot back, having gotten this information from my deal with Dormammu.
"Hmm. True enough, in a sense. But do you understand why? Why I had to do it?"
"Because you're mad."
"I imagine that most of those who seek the truth when others are content in being coddled by lies are called mad." Thanos easily waves my accusation away, before continuing, his voice a steady, low cadence.
"The same was true for me and my people. I loved them. All of them, with all of their greatness and imperfection. We were a great people, inhabiting a precious world. But as we rose to ever greater heights of civilization, the cost to sustain, to grow it, kept increasing. A cost that was being paid by our planet, by the weak and disadvantaged in our society. A cost that they were steadily becoming unable to continue to pay. A solution had to be found, everyone agreed on that. Our leaders, our common folk, oh how we cried out for our planet, for our people. 'Yes', we said, 'let's do something'!" Thanos' voice rises as he talks, his eyes focused on something far away, before they slowly turn towards me, though I still notice when they briefly flicker towards the spectral child looking on with accusing eyes.
"They talked. And they talked. And they did… nothing. They chose to do nothing. Because, all the while that they were throwing around ideas and campaigns, to reduce consumption, to manage waste, they all saw that there was only one solution that would actually work. That was the truth, but they were too weak, too afraid or both to accept it. But not me. Because I cared so much about our people, I was willing to accept that truth. To carry it out."
"Genocide." I mutter back, getting a slow nod in return.
"A harsh word, for a harsh truth. But it was the truth. It was the only solution that would lead to a fair judgement. Random. Dispassionate. Uncaring for who could or couldn't afford the cost that our society kept demanding of us. Instead, it would offer a clean slate to all survivors. A balance restored. But, when I revealed it to them… I was branded a terrorist, the plan failed and before my eyes, even as our farmland burnt and our buildings crumbled, my people turned on each other, until I was the only one remaining. Standing in a field of corpses."
Glancing towards me, Thanos lets out a bitter chuckle.
"Hyperion… the real Hyperion, a great magic user and the "brightest" of our age… he had been part of a group of our people that had set out amongst the stars. All of you were so very young back then. Even mighty Asgard had yet to fully come into its own. Desperate, left alone on a dead planet amongst the bones of my own kind, I found a still working signaling relay and recalled them home. So much life had been lost, because people chose lies over truth, talk over action, but perhaps with Hyperion's group, we could rebuild. It would be hard, but we could have a new beginning. Instead…"
"They blamed you." I say, disturbed by the other Titan's story and his clear grief, as if he truly believed in what he was saying and in his own justifications.
"Indeed. Madman, they called me. Murderer. They would not listen to my pleas, to my explanations. I begged them to stay, to remain with me and rebuild our great people, restore our beautiful home. They… refused. They had been revered as gods on other planets and had gotten arrogant. They chose to return to these primitive worlds, these people so much weaker than themselves, and take them for their own. Rebuilding our society on other planets, raising our civilization up off the backs of our lesser. They were going to make the same mistakes, again! I… could not let that happen. I stopped them. Tried to keep them from leaving, but they fought back. I was stronger however, I have always been so much stronger than the others and they... did not survive. Even of Hyperion, mighty and skilled as he was, only a faded echo remained."
He glances at me again, hands clasped in the small as he lectures us, regret mingled with a melancholy sort of amusement briefly visible on his face before it's replaced again by a stoic expression of determination.
"They had given me an idea, however. A renewed sense of purpose. It was too late for my kind… but these other peoples, these young and inexperienced cultures… perhaps they could still be saved. Kept from making the same mistakes that had destroyed Titan. My words were rejected, of course, but I couldn't bear to see them end in ruins like my own people had, and so I ensured balance by force. I saved countless civilizations, even as I became feared and vilified throughout the universe. But, I'm okay with that. I'm willing to take on the universe's hatred, if it means that balance is ensured. That life itself is safeguarded, that it is given a chance to prosper, before it chokes itself out."
I could barely believe what I was hearing. The man slaughtered millions, possibly billions and still saw himself as a martyr. My horror grows as I stare at the other Titan and for the first time truly realize just how… wrong, how twisted and broken his mind is.
My thoughts were apparently easy to read from my expression (or he learned of them through the power of the Soul Stone which would be far more worrying), since he sadly shook his head.
"I had thought that you would understand now, McCole. Every life I have taken, I haven't taken for my amusement. For sport, or some sick pleasure. Everything that I have sacrificed... everything that I have made others sacrifice... it was all for the sole purpose of protecting more lives. I did not think that this would be such a difficult idea for you to grasp, as you've had the same mentality for so long. The scale which I operate on is simply larger."
"We are not the same-!" I begin, but am almost immediately cut off by Thanos' rumbling words.
"All life is equal. Therefore, as many lives must be preserved, regardless of the cost to other life as long as that cost doesn't supersede the lives saved. That's how you've operated so far, isn't it? When you first started your journey in this world, how much were you willing to sacrifice, in order to stop me? How many people were you willing to kill if it meant that I couldn't gather all the Stones? A hundred? A thousand? An entire planet worth, or ten planets? Twenty? All of it an acceptable cost, because you'd save the lives of millions of planets, of trillions of lives. Half of all life in the galaxy. As long as you killed less than half of all life in the galaxy, you thought the cost would be acceptable, because more life would be saved than lost."
Thanos' words hammer home, each word rumbling through the dead silent void as I try to refute him, to throw his own words back into his face and yet... I can't. He's right in his judgement of me, even now, and judging by the grim half-smile he sends me, he knows it too. Seeing me struggle for words, he leans in somewhat closer to me, water rippling around our feet as he fixes me with a burning stare.
"Which is exactly the same as I'm doing. I'm going to kill half of all life, so that the other half may continue to survive. What I'm going to do will save uncountable lives because the alternative is the death of everyone!"
"That's not how it works, you dumbass!"
There's a shocked silence at my outburst, which surprised even me and it takes all my willpower to not clasp a hand in front of my mouth. Thankfully, Thanos seems more surprised than offended (though to be fair he's probably been called a lot worse in his life and justifiably so), merely raising an eyebrow as he crosses his thick arms over his massive chest.
"Even your own people have come to this conclusion, McCole, at separate times and through different means. I know of your history, of your scientists, including something called the 'Malthusian ceiling'."
"That has been disproven many times over!"
"Has it? Has it truly or are you merely choosing to ignore the symptoms that are beginning to show through the cracks in your society? I have seen it happen, McCole. An increase in population always leads to an increase in consumption. Farmland, minerals, energy, the more people there are, the more they take from their planet, draining it dry. Scarcity is the only end result, no matter how long or how cleverly you manage to postpone it. You cannot run from it, cannot hide from it, it is the end result of unchecked growth and it will come for you. You think you can outsmart it, push it back, because your lives are so short that you cannot see the end result. See just how little your efforts have amounted to. All you can comprehend is but a fraction of the complete road to destruction your people are set upon. But not me. I have seen it all, McCole. The beginning... the end... and I know every pitfall of civilization, have seen it happened a hundred times before and prevented it a thousand times over! With scarcity comes poverty and suffering and before you've even noticed the change, before you've come to understand, to accept what's happened, your people, your precious civilization… it will turn on itself like rats for a scrap of food. Tell me, McCole, how could I stand by and let that happen again. How could you?" Thanos refutes, his voice cold and filled with terrible certainty.
"But it can be avoided! More resources can be found or extracted! There's so much in the universe that's untapped, we can-"
"Spread like locusts? There is much still left out there, I agree. The universe is a place of vastness beyond reckoning. But those resources don't multiply. They can only lessen as they are used in greater and greater numbers, never to recover. They don't grow and develop and breed and the more you take from these sources, the more people you create and the faster your population grows. Looking to technology for more resources doesn't postpone or negate your end. You merely enlarge the cycle you're already stuck in."
"But not with the Infinity Stones! If you truly want to save life instead of destroy it, you could travel to worlds that are failing to grow properly and help them! You could grant them limitless resources that match their needs, give them knowledge and technology that they lack so that they can live in balance with their world!"
"You still blind yourself to the truth! Resources always lead to unsustainable growth. What use is it then to give them limitless resources! What use is it if I have to travel the breath of the universe as some sort of holy man, stopping at every planet on my way, solving their problems for them? By the time I've reached one end of a galaxy, I'll turn around and see that all these problems have surfaced once more and in greater numbers! If I have to hold every civilization's hand, have to provide them with the means to their expansion and the solution to their every problem… they can never learn. Never grow. What you suggest would be the end of all progress in the universe, and only hasten the death of us all. This is something I learned long ago. Going from planet to planet... solving these problems case by case... it is an impossible task. Only by enforcing balance, instantly on a universal scale can this cycle be broken. Only by using the Infinity Stones can catastrophe be avoided, and destiny fulfilled."
"But if you cut all life in the galaxy in half, you won't have made more resources available to the remaining populations! Half of all livestock gone means people would still have the same relative amounts of food left! How does that help?!"
"Their lessened numbers and the pain of loss would force them to come together. To find a new way, a better way. To build a future different from their past, free from their endless cycle."
"How can you know?! What of galaxies who have never even heard of the Infinity Stones?! What of planets that haven't reached interstellar travel, who've never even heard of you? What do you think will happen to those worlds when suddenly, without explanation, half of their people are suddenly gone? What of the populations that haven't even industrialized yet, who number only in the low thousands? They wouldn't know that you want them to find a new balance, they'd probably panic, they might go to war with the people that are left because that's the only answer they can think of!"
My voice echoes hollowly in the not-space of the Soulworld, the only reaction of the world to us is the increased rippling at our feet. Thanos is silent for a few long moments, looking down at my much smaller form with an inscrutable expression. Slowly, his eyes track from me towards the little girl staring at us from so far away, before he looks back to me again.
"Even though you carry more Infinity Stones than any being before you since the departure of the Celestials, you still underestimate what they can do. What they are capable of, if they wish. They have a will of their own, McCole. Once I snap my fingers, every firmament of existence, Time and Space, Mind and Power, Reality and the Soul of the universe itself, will move to enact my will. Do you think that they are limited to but a single moment? That I snap my fingers and that that would be the end of it? Why would you reduce such an act to something so… simple? Every life taken, every life lost in the aftermath, all of it will contribute to my ultimate goal: half of all life. No more, no less. Those that need culling will be culled, those that have yet to grow will be allowed to do so."
"Bullshit." I say, because honestly, at this point, what else is there left to say?
For several unbearably long moments, we simply stare at one another, locked into a conquest of will. Eventually, it's Thanos who gives me a nod.
"Very well then. I see I cannot sway you to see reason. To cast off the comfortable lies you've been fed and accept the truth, painful though it may be. Regrettable, but I can respect someone who remains true to his beliefs. However, you asked me if we could perhaps strike a deal, prevent more bloodshed between us. And indeed there is: give me the Infinity Stones and I swear to you that during the fulfillment of my destiny, you and your family shall be spared."
My eyes widen in shock as I feel lightheaded at the offer. Perhaps it's the nature of this place and Thanos' connection to it, or perhaps it's simply because I've known him, seen him before, but I can somehow tell that the offer is genuine.
The Infinity Stones… in exchange for the safety of my family.
"That is why you fight, is it not? Why you oppose me, so desperately. You fear, not what I will do to the universe, but what I will do to you. To your family. Your wife. Your children. Your fear of death, your near hatred of it, is what has put you on a direct course against me for all of your life. But it need not be so. I can save you from it. My victory is inevitable, McCole. But your death does not need to be a part of that. I swear that you'll live, if you give me the Stones."
"Doesn't… doesn't that invalidate what you just said? Random, dispassionate justice? If you're going to pick and choose who lives and dies… what's to stop you from saving yourself, or your own people… where will you draw the line? How can I trust you to do something you're completely opposed to doing?"
"It's true. My plan will only be successful if there's no choice in who lives and dies. No favoritism. This includes myself. This includes those who work for me. All of us are willing to die, if it means the other half of life gets to live. But as I have been trying to tell you, what all of this was for, was to convince you that I value all life. That I wish to save as many as I can. To have you fight against me, your Infinity Stones against mine, your forces against mine… it would lead to a conflict of a massively destructive scale. It would only serve to bring further death and ruin into this world and I would avoid that. Additionally, I recognize your strength. Out of everyone who was faced me during my long life, out of every opponent that has stood against me... I recognize you as the strongest. If you are to involve yourself in the fight against me, then there's a chance that I could lose which would doom all life in the Galaxy. I refuse to let that happen."
Conviction blazes from his every word as he stalks closer to me, extending one massive hand out towards me, his expression grave.
"So yes, I will sacrifice my principles on this matter. I will exempt you from the Stones' judgement. Your Infinity Stones, in exchange for the very thing you've desperately sought since awakening in this universe: your survival. What say you?"
What do I say to that? If I'm being painfully honest? If he had come to me with that offer ten years ago, I would've taken it in a heartbeat. Before my quest for omnipotence had kicked off, hell, even during the earlier years, if that was all that it took to get what I wanted, I'd have shook his hand without hesitation or guilt and with a massive grin of sheer relief on my face. Before I started to make friends in this universe, before I began to see them as real, living, thinking, feeling people.
Before I fell in love.
Before I had a family.
I stare at the Titan's hand and instead of seeing my own salvation, I merely see three little lights, floating gently in the back of my mind. I see my newborn son, little Helios swaddled up in a blanket and looking so tiny in my arms as he stares up at me with curious golden eyes.
I remember my first words to him.
I remember the vow I made to his mother, when we first learned of her pregnancy.
Thanos. Dies.
I slap the Titan's hand away, staring up at him in defiance and he glances in surprise from his hand back to me, as if he can't understand why I'd throw away the only thing I've ever wanted out of life. While he was right and there are many parallels between the two of us, I can't help but feel bolstered, lighter, happier somehow when I realize the true difference between us. The thing that will always separate us and keep me from turning into the very thing I've spent my life fighting against.
Because I will never have to face one of my kids underneath that arch.
"Very well." Thanos says in a low voice, as if he's truly saddened by my answer and then his hand pools with orange light and he strikes out against me and
Oh God, w ha t is h appe ning to me? I… I have never e xperienced something li ke this. There's pain, b u t there's so mething mo re tha n that. Pain that se ems to be ti ed into m existence some h ow . It transcends an yth ing I've ev er felt before, to the point it b es diffi cult to re mem b er if I ever have felt something diff erent before. Have I? I'm not sure? All I can think abo ut, all that I can express and c ompr eh end is this unim aginable pain. It consumes more than just m y th oug hts or f ee lin gs, i ins to enc ompass all that I am, ev ery thi ng that makes me, me, to the point that I'm having trouble remembering who me is. There is sh outing, sreaming, I can't understand, is it mine? The floor trembles, or am I the one shaking un controllably? Is it both? Reality se ems to peel away, my thoughts blurring into words on paper, actions become reduced merely to fingers flying over a keyboar d, where have all the dimensions gone, why is everything so flat and colourless what happened to the world bring it back
A deep gasp resounds in my ears and as the pain suddenly disappears as if it were never there to begin with, clarity returns to my thoughts and I realize that I'm the one desperately choking for air. It feels as if someone just tried to tear my fucking soul in half! Taking a deep, pained breath which results in a coughing fit, I work myself to my knees, resting on trembling arms as I slowly look across from me.
Thanos… looks as disoriented as I am, blood leaking from his nose and eyes as he's sunken to one knee, blinking rapidly in confusion, before his bloodshot eyes land on my own.
"What… are you." He rasps with deep breaths, before looking at his own hands, a deeply disturbed expression on his face.
"What… are we?"
I couldn't have answered even if I wanted to, my body still desperate for air, and lacking the strength to work myself up to my feet, though honestly, right now I'm about as defenseless curled up in a ball as I am standing on my feet.
Though, I suppose there's a certain dignity to dying on your feet at least, I lucidly muse to myself, desperate to get my legs working again. It seems, however, that the Titan is made of sterner stuff as he's already (shakily) walking towards me, still blinking rapidly and with that confused and perturbed look on his face. As he moves shakily on his large feet, the energies of the Soulworld are pulled in with more force towards him, just to keep him going, but as I speculated before, Thanos' own soul is about at the limit of the amount of power it can take.
Sweat is pouring down the Titan's face as muscle spasms wrack his body and I have the vindictive realization that what's happening to Thanos' very soul is somewhat similar to what's happening to my own body, though sadly he's not as far gone as I am. Additionally, while it's a comforting thing to know that Thanos can't just juice himself up to godlike level without making his own metaphysical essence go 'boom!', right now that information isn't really useful to me, as the Titan grits his teeth and powers through what must be unimaginable amounts of pain in order to finish the job and smite me on the spot.
"No… no matter. I don't understand what you are… what you just did to me… what you showed me… but you have chosen your fate. And I... I won't be denied mine." He rasps, coming to a halt in front of me.
There's no great speech. No 'I have you now Hyperion! Face my wrath, muhahaha!', which, considering I'm in a superhero universe, is oddly disappointing to me. There's nothing. Just the Titan raising both his hands high above him, the Soul Stone glaring brightly, almost angrily in his forehead, burns extending around the flesh in which it is nestled.
Orange light once again pools into his hands and with a sense of finality I just know that I'm going to die here. I won't survive… whatever he did to my very soul for a second time in such short succession, before it has had a chance to settle back down into my corporeal form. I am… not okay with that, but in a surprising way. I'd always imagined that, if I were to fall against Thanos, I'd be raging or (in my more honest moments) weeping or something.
Instead, I merely feel… sorry. Not for myself. But towards my family.
'I tried… and I failed you… I… I wish…'
I don't even get to finish the thought. With a grunt of effort, Thanos brings both his hands down towards me, energy flying in long burning streamers off his flesh, his fingers splaying out in a claw-like grasp-
"No!"
A shout, the familiar twist of magical energy and before I can even comprehend what's going on, a thick burning rope of magic furiously wraps itself around Thanos' thick throat, pulling the Titan away from me and making his attack go wide, completely missing me, the soulfire extinguished now that he has lost his focus.
As the Titan struggles, I blearily look past his broad frame to spot Frigga standing a dozen meters away, a thick, brightly burning lasso held firmly in her hands, the end of which is wrapped tightly around the Titan's neck, a dimensional portal standing behind her.
How the hell she managed to follow us into the Soul Stone's personal dimension I have no idea, though I imagine she likely homed in on my unique soul signature, which must have been all over the place during Thanos' attack on it.
Still weakened and disoriented, the Mad Titan fails to properly stand against the Vanir Queen as she gives a mighty heave on the lasso, sweat dripping from her forehead and the magical construct digging angry wounds in her flesh as she gives it her all.
And her all seems to be sufficient, at least for a moment, as the Thanos is literally dragged a couple of steps away from me, before his mind has caught on to what's happening.
"No!" he growls out, soulfire once again blooming in his palms as he resist the frantic pulling on his neck, eyes solely focused on me, determined to end me here and now, before I've had a chance to recuperate, to grow stronger.
Before he can step closer though, I can feel a slim, strong hand clamp down on my shoulder, a familiar presence standing over me.
"We got you Michael. We got you." The Ancient One murmurs in my ear.
"Bodhmall, he's tearing free!" Frigga calls out, straining against the impossible might of the Titan, who's slowly but steadily regaining his strength as his wits return to him.
Before I can question the odd (yet vaguely familiar) name, the Ancient One acts, hauling me to my feet with one deceptively strong arm, and describing a wide circle with the other, leaving a trailing glow in her wake. Thanos has now grabbed the magical band around his neck (somehow seemingly grasping the magic itself), even as he slowly walks towards us, one inexorable stride after the other, physically dragging Frigga behind him, but then the Ancient One (or Bodhmall, apparently) finishes the framework of her spell and with a frown and grunt, she strikes outwards with that same arm, punching the centre of the magical circle.
And what comes out the opposite end can only be described as a miniature hurricane, immense gale level forces, strong enough to tear at our clothes even as the attack is aimed away from us, shooting out at immense speeds and impacting Thanos thick legs with an audible clap of thunder which leaves a ringing in my ear.
For one long moment, it seems as if the Titan will be able to maintain his balance, straining and roaring in defiance at the display of magical power arrayed against him. But then Bodhmall's frown deepens as she bares her teeth, pushing her arm further into the circle's center with a pained grunt and the gale forces pick up even further in intensity. The lair of water that covers everything is blasted back in a wide spray, showing that the floor is made up of dried, cracked brown stone as Thanos is blasted with the full force of a typhoon.
And then he slips.
The winds knock his legs out from underneath him and the mighty Titan goes down. The moment he crashes to the ground, Frigga turns on her heel and jumps through the portal behind her, the lasso rapidly shortening in length, reeling Thanos in as if he were an overgrown fish, literally tearing him off the ground and through the air.
Right as he's about to be bodily dragged out of the soulworld, the roaring Titan shoots out his arms, his enormous frame allowing his hands to catch onto the edges of Frigga's portal. Instead of having his appendages sliced off a la Cull Obsidian, once more an orange glow suffuses the flesh of his hands and he manages to grip the shear in space-time itself, straining against the desperate pull on his neck, his raging eyes never leaving my own.
Until the Ancient One describes another magical array with her free arm, seemingly struggling against the weight of the soulworld itself to cast the spell, before a lightning bolt flies from her index and middle finger, striking the Titan square in the chest with tremendous force and a deafening thunderclap, finally sending the Titan out of the Soul Stone's pocket-dimension with a fading scream of rage.
"Come Michael, we must hurry. We will have need of your strength." Bodhmall whispers, slightly out of breath as she drags me towards the portal at speed.
We immediately dive through (or rather, the Ancient One does, at this point I'm still very much out of it and mostly just along for the ride), but before we cross the threshold, I glance over my shoulder at the tiny girl standing so far away, who silently watched the whole confrontation between me and Thanos go down.
Like her father, Gamora's eyes never leave my own as the portal closes behind us and we're back in Valaskjálf as if nothing even happened, if it weren't for my heavy breathing and the fact that Frigga just whipped Thanos through the air and slammed him down into the floor in front of us, throwing up dust and stone and making the thick pillars tremble.
Damn. That's one badass lady.
Still, the mighty feat greatly drained her, as she sinks to her knees with a tired gasp, sweat dripping off her face and her entire body shaking. Both of her sons are immediately crouched at either side of her (and I notice that Loki shares her same exhausted look and clearly is running low on magical energy as well) as Odin stands at her side, grim eye focused on the floored form of Thanos.
Who's steadily working himself to his feet, a grimace on his face as he glares at us, the Soul Stone shining brightly in his forehead.
By now, he's managed to wrest his fingers in-between his throat and the burning rope and he takes a deep, slightly raspy breath, fixing the exhausted Frigga with a long look.
"Truly… you are deserving of the title, Wisest of the Nine Realms, to breach my dimension so swiftly. But… you made a mistake in bringing me back to your world. Now, I shall be the one to bring about your foretold Ragnarök." He growls out, which was apparently the wrong thing to say, as with a deep breath and a mighty yell, Frigga gathers the remains of her power and surges to her feet, once more reeling Thanos in with such force that he's lifted off his feet.
He's rapidly flying on a collision course towards her which can only end badly, the Titan clearly looking to take advantage of the rapidly closing distance to rain down death and destruction upon the assembled group, hunger in his eyes and the power of the Soul Stone filling his hands. Despite my own misgivings (and the fact I can feel my soul still reeling from Thanos' earlier attack) I make to jump between them, before I'm beaten to the punch. With a speed that belies his ancient age, Odin strides forward with quick, sure steps, slamming Gungnir forwards, a kaleidoscope of glaring, invisible colors swirling from its gleaming tip as power shines from the ancient warrior's remaining eye. The famed spear of Dvalin strikes true and embeds itself deeply into Thanos' chest, bursting out through the Titan's back in a spray of darkened blood, bringing him to a sudden halt.
Holding the Mad Titan up on his spear, Odin snarls at Thanos, his one eye blazing with rage and power.
"You will not lay a finger on her, or anyone else in Asgard! You will bring no further death to my people, Thanos!"
Fun Fact: Thanos creator Jim Starlin has stated that he was inspired by Darkseid for the Mad Titan's design. Around this time he also conceived the backstory for Drax the Destroyer (it's... a lot weirder than the backstory they gave him in the MCU, though the core themes remain the same), most notably how it ties in to Thanos' species, the Eternals who had started a colony on the Moon Titan (hence Thanos' title as the Mad Titan). Thanos was one of the last children born in the colony, but upon birth it was discovered that he was malformed as he suffered from the Deviant Syndrome (which is why he's big and purple with the distinctive chin). While Eternals are cosmically fueled humans, the Deviants are the other side of the same coin, with physical mutations from generation to generation to the point mother and child rarely even look alike. These two offshoots of humanity are part of a far larger experiment by the Celestials that I'm not gonna get into right now.
Besides, most of this is moot anyways as the MCU!Thanos has a severely trimmed down origin story of his own.