Gunpowder and Satin ; BW

5.4

THIRD PERSON POV

Titan

"Oh, yeah, you're much more of a "Thanos." Dr. Strange said, watching the purple giant stalk over towards the remains of Ebony Maws ship.

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

"You may regret that. He brought you face-to-face with the Master of the Mystic Arts." Magic erupting from his scarred fingers.

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

"Let me guess. Your home?" Strange said in a rather sour tone.

Thanos smiled as if he was reminiscing the memories he had on this planet, "It was. And it was beautiful."

Thanos curls his gauntleted fist and activates 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." Thanos said with a heavy tone.

"Genocide!" Strange scoffed.

"But at random, dispassionate, fair to rich and poor alike. They called me a madman. And what I predicted came to pass." Thanos relaxed his fist and the vision faded, revealing the worn down planet.

Strange slowly clapped his hands, sarcasticness lacing his tone, "Congratulations. You're a prophet."

"I'm a survivor!" Thanos spat.

"Who wants to murder trillions." Strange rolled his eyes.

"With all six stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that... mercy." Thanos clenched his jaw.

"And then what?"

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

"I think... you'll find... our will... equal to yours." Doctor Strange summoned more magic and stood in a fighting pose.

"Ours?"

Wakanda

The tides of battle cause Thor, using Stormbreaker to great effect, and Captain America together. They take a breather.

"New haircut?" Steve panted.

Thor grinned, "Notice you've copied my beard."
Captain America nods, wearily gesturing at his own face with a shield-covered hand. Groot skewers three Outriders with his right arm.

"By the way, this is a friend of mine. Tree." Thor gestures towards Groot with Stormbreaker.

"I am GROOT!"

"I... I am Steve Rogers."

Wanda looks down on the battlefield, and sees movement through the blazing forest between the troopships and the dome. When the disturbance reaches the edge of the trees, it turns into vast moving mounds of earth that easily bypass the force field and emerge -- Threshers, sets of massive, motorized spiked wheels, intended for nothing more than shredding everything in their paths.

"Fall back! Fall back now!" T'Challa screamed.
Wanda watches as at least one set of Threshers separates into individual wheels and starts veering all over the battlefield, and then looks anxiously back at Vision.