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A sharp kick to her side launches Malka awake, her hand already grabbing for the foot to pull herself up and attack. A bright light shines in her eye as a voice yells, "No, no, no! Mal! Just me!"
She stares at Tony and Steve wide-eyed and lets her hands drop. "The hell happened?" She growls as she looks around at the destroyed compound. Pressing her finger to the earpiece in her ear, she hears nothing but static.
"You mess with time, it tends to mess back," Tony replies. "You've gotta see this."
He motions for both Malka and Steve to follow through the rubble. They find Thor standing at the edge overlooking what used to be a very well-kept field, now just craters. Malka's heart skips a beat when she sees Thanos sitting in the center, his blade stuck in the ground with a helmet hanging on it. "Has he done anything?" She asks.
"Absolutely nothing," Thor says, shaking his head.
"Where are the stones?" Steve asks.
"Somewhere under all this," Tony replies. "All I know is he doesn't have 'em."
"So we keep it that way."
Malka glances between them. "You three know this is a trap, right?"
"Yeah," Tony shrugs. "I don't much care."
"Good," Thor nods. "Just as long as we're in agreement." Thunder rumbles overhead, lightning sparking in the grey clouds. Thor holds out his hands and his hammer as well as his battle-ax slam into his palms. "Let's kill him properly this time."
Despite the throbbing in her head and the blood, she can already feel dripping down the back of her neck, she presses forward with her team as they approach Thanos. Her garrote crackles at her side, swaying with each step.
"You could not live with your own failure." She forgot how much she hated that voice. "Where did that bring you? Back to me." The four of them split: Thor goes to the right, Tony to the left, Steve down the middle. Malka follows Tony, though at a quicker pace so she can get around Thanos and get to his exposed back. "I thought by eliminating half of life, the other half would thrive, but you've shown me that's impossible. As long as there are those who remember what was, there will be those unable to accept what can be. They will resist."
"Yep," Tony says. "We're all kinds of stubborn."
"I'm thankful." Thanos picks up his head. "Because now, I know what I must do." He reaches for his helmet as he stands. "I will shred this universe down to its last atom." He stares into her eye as he places his helmet atop his purple head. "And then, with the stones you've collected for me, create a new one, teeming with life that knows not what it has lost, but only what it has been given. A grateful universe."
