Tears of the Fallen

13

TITAN

Thanos arrived, finding only fresh debris from Maw's ship.

Doctor Strange, sitting on what might have once been plaza steps, said, "Oh, yeah... you're much more of a "Thanos.""

"I take it, the Maw is dead," Thanos complimented. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still, he accomplished his mission."

"You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts."

"And where do you think he brought you?" Star-Lord crouched behind wreckage with his weapon ready, behind Thanos and to his left, Spider-Man peeked from above and behind Doctor Strange.

"Let me guess," Doctor Strange said. "Your home?"

Thanos smiled reminiscently and replied, "It was. And it was beautiful." He curled his Gauntleted fist and activated the Reality Stone to show Strange Titan before it was destroyed -- green lawns, intact buildings, water-filled ponds, strolling citizens, the jack-like structures hovering and connected to the ground-based buildings with beams of energy. "Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, and not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide."

"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." He relaxed his fist; the Stone stopped glowing and the illusion faded back into the true state of Titan.

Doctor Strange replied sarcastically, "Congratulations. You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

"With all six Stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist; I call that... mercy."

Doctor Strange stood. "And then what?"

"I finally rest... and watch the sun rises on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills."

Doctor Strange summoned his Mandalas, entering a fighting pose. "I think you'll find out will... equal... to yours."

"Ours?" He looked up to see a chunk of wreckage descending rapidly on him, too rapidly to react -- and powered by Iron Man. He was subsequently crushed by it.

Tony flew in and said, "Piece of cake, Quill."

Quill triggered his mask and followed before saying, "Yeah, if your goal was to piss him off!"

The wreckage on top of Thanos erupted in purple, as he bellowed in rage. He turned the hovering fragments into a flock of bats with the Reality Stone and swarmed Iron Man with them, driving him back through the ruins.

Spider-Man webbed his eyes, and swung in to kick him in the face at the same time that Drax leapt from cover, blades in both hands, to knee-slide behind Thanos and tried for a tendon slid across the back of the Titan's knee.

Doctor Strange jumped through a portal and summoned a sword of golden energy, dueling with Thanos while Drax attacked similarly on his other side. Thanos punched Drax through a ruined wall, then shattered the blade with one hand and tore the web from his eyes. He advanced on Doctor Strange and kicked at him, but Doctor Strange's shield absorbed the damage -- the Cloak lifted him free of the ground.

Star-Lord had been making his way back on the ground and shot Thanos from behind. Thanos used the Power Stone to shoot balls of energy at Star-Lord who leapt towards Thanos using magical platforms thrown in his path by Doctor Strange, the last one placed above Thanos' head so Star-Lord could flip over him and slap a mine on Thanos' back. Star-Lord stuck his landing, he disengaged his helmet, flipped Thanos a bird and fell backwards into a portal.