Bound By Purpose

We Are Out of Time

"We have incoming guys." Quill says from behind his helmet. Gazing up I can see a large ship entering the atmosphere. 

"Know what you're doing?" Tony asks. 

I nod, "Hit 'em from a distance, don't stop until you get it under control." I turn back slightly, "Watch the kid." I say with a light laugh.

He caresses my cheek, "That's my girl." We lock arms and wish each other good luck before our helmets each encase us. Parker meets up with me and we leap up on some ruins near the Milano. I sit with my legs dangling Peter crouches at my side. I watch as the team takes their places in and around the ruins of the planet. Strange keeps his spot on what must've been plaza steps.

I come to find that Thanos is not the doomsday figure I had seen in my visions and nightmares. He was big yes, but he carries himself as a fatherly figure, a man who has seen the universe. 

"Oh, yeah, you're much more of a "Thanos"." Strange's voice echoes through the barren landscape.

Thanos speaks next and it's much less dominant than I had anticipated. "I take it that Maw is dead." He says. He removes his helmet before he continues, "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?" Thanos says with a smirk. Quill moves a little closer alerting me to the subtle movements of the group as a whole. Parker makes a move to go forward but I put a hand out to him before he can jump down. We continue to look on.

"Let me guess. Your home?" Strange says looking around. I hadn't put this fact together until now. Suddenly Thanos' mission makes sense to me.

Thanos' smirk turns into a reminiscent smile. "It was. And it was beautiful." Thanos curls his gauntleted fist and activates a stone. A beautiful mirage engulfs the ruins around us, showing us Titan before it was destroyed. The lawns are green and healthy, the buildings are spectacular, ponds are full, and citizens roam freely. "Titan was like most planets. Too many mouths, and not enough to go around. And when we faced extinction, I offered a solution."

"Genocide." Strange states.

"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." He views himself as misunderstood genius. Something Hitler had also believed himself to be. Thanos relaxes his fist; the stone stops glowing and the illusion fades back into the true state of Titan.

Strange scoffs lightly, "Congratulations. You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor." He answers.

"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." I tense up, the goal clear now could not happen.

Strange stands slowly sizing his competitor. "And then what?"

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

Strange shakes his arms and then summons a spell. "I think... you'll find... our will... equal to yours." He stands back and light illuminates from him. Parker nudges me with his elbow and then descends down in stealth.

"Ours?" Thanos asks looking up as Tony is descending, wreckage in hand. He overpowers him quick enough that Thanos can't react. He seems to be crushed by it. I hover lightly from my perch and stay at a distance.