𝐀𝐕𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐑 - MCU

V. THE MAD TITAN

V. THE MAD TITAN
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Fear. Anger. Apprehension. Terror. Fury. All of them hit Luna in the span of a second, coursing through her blood, inhabiting every inch of her body at the sight of Him. The Mad Titan. Thanos. He stood large and purple and alien, but strangely human in a way that was uncomfortable. He had on barely any armor, he didn't need to.

His left hand, larger than Luna's head, was covered in a golden gauntlet. The stones gleamed in their places. Red, orange, blue and purple. A purple familiar to Luna. The color that made Raava so uncomfortable, making her thrash inside of her Avatar.

There were two still missing. One belonged to Dr. Strange, the other to the Vision. That was a good sign, Luna decided. That meant that the war on Earth had not yet been lost. If they stopped Thanos right here and now, they would win and trillions of lives would be saved.

The portal behind Thanos closed with a twist of his massive hand. His robust head tilted upward, to gaze on the broken ruins of his children's ship.

Dr. Strange shared one last look with the mismatched team. "Oh, yeah," he said. "You're much more of a Thanos."

Luna cringed behind the rock that Dr. Strange was lounging on as she heard Thanos' loud footstep coming closer. Quill, Mantis and Drax had spread out further and Tony and Peter had taken the high ground. It was Dr. Strange and the Avatar who were right in front of the Titan, one hidden and one in plain sight.

"I take it the Maw is dead," Thanos spoke, his deep voice echoing through the wasteland. "This day extracts a heavy toll. Still," he continued. "He accomplished his mission."

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

Again, the vibrations from Thanos' footsteps coursed through Luna's body and when she closed her eyes, she could almost see him standing there. Silently, she willed Raava to settle down.

"And where do you think he brought you?" Thanos asked.

"Let me guess," Dr. Strange began. "Your home?"

At this, a sad chuckle came from the Titan. "It was," he said.

With a clenching of his fist and a flash of red light, the environment changed. The grass grew green, the ancient ruins flew back into the sky and the pollution was sucked out of the air, making place for blue skies and white clouds. Where they stood, used to be a bustling metropolis, the home of a civilization.

"Titan was like most planets," he explained. "Too many mouths, not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide..."

"But random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman."

Luna's jaw clenched, her hand shook in their fists. It took all she had not to say something, do something, anything. This man, this monster, killed Loki and Heimdall. He was going to kill Vision, and Wanda, lovely Wanda, would rather die than let that happen. And Luna would rather die than let that happen. She refrained, the power building in her ebbing away, but not too far. She would need it soon enough.

"And what I predicted came to pass," Thanos said, and with a red flash the beautiful metropolis disappeared to let reality take its place.

"Congratulations," Dr. Strange returned. "You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor."

"Who wants to murder trillions."

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers. They would all cease to exist. I call that... mercy."

"And then what?" Dr. Strange stood from his rock.

"I'd finally rest and watch the sun rise on a grateful universe," Thanos said calmly, his voice softer than anyone could have predicted. "The hardest choices require the strongest wills."