The dawn sky was clear when the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship pierced the veil of clouds that encircled the Earth. As the ship exited the planetary atmosphere, retro-rockets fired to align the vehicle for its injection into the void of space. Flames erupting from the engines changed from orange to blue. Its tail repositioned, the spaceship began the voyage to the garden planet.

To Thanos.

On the flight deck, Bruce, Natasha, Steve, Thor, Rhodey, and Nebula sat buckled into their seats. Carol and Rocket occupied the command chairs, and were co-piloting the craft.

“Okay,” Rocket initiated his new crew, sounding like a school teacher. “Who here hasn't been to space?”

Steve, Rhodey, and Natasha raised their hands.

“Why?” Rhodey asked, suddenly unsure of what was about to happen.

Carol laughed in anticipation.

“You better not throw up on my ship,” Rocket warned, as he lowered his hands to adjust the ship's controls.

Nebula eyed a console and noted, “Approaching jump in three ...”

Instinctively, Steve grabbed the armrests on his chair, digging in his fingers.

“... two ...”

Banner looked outside, as Rhodey and Natasha exchanged nervous glances. This was out of their world—literally.

“... one.”

Bracing himself, Steve was suddenly forced back in his chair by the pressure and motion. The Guardians of the Galaxy's ship was now hurtling toward the jump point, a gateway in space that allowed for faster travel across the galaxy. Through the cockpit, Steve could see a hexagonal shape appear in the distance, and the spaceship flew right on through.

* * *

No sooner had they entered the jump point, then the spaceship exited another hexagonal jump point. The engines cut out promptly, and the ship was now drifting in space.

Natasha had no concept of exactly how long the trip had taken. An hour? Minutes? A few seconds? It was entirely disorienting. One look around the flight deck, and she could tell that some of her colleagues were experiencing the same strange feeling.

Looking out the cockpit, Natasha could see they were near the garden planet. Rocket activated several smaller engines that placed the ship into a high orbit above the world. There was the noise of gears grinding as the craft's bay doors opened beneath the ship.

That was Carol's cue to exit the ship, and start her mission. As she flew outside, Natasha marveled at the fact that Carol could survive in space without so much as a spacesuit. Exactly what kind of powers did she possess? Carol soared alongside the ship, a glowing object, then nosed upward, coming into view through the cockpit.

“I'll head down for recon,” Carol confirmed over her comms link. The voice echoed through the flight deck.

The next few minutes were tense, to say the least. An attack could come any second from any direction if Thanos knew they were there. And no one knew what form that might take, given his power. Natasha was looking at a tablet screen, monitoring Carol's progress. She appeared on the screen as a dot of light, that quickly circled the garden planet with mind-boggling speed.

Her eyes drifted over to Steve, and saw that he was looking down as well. But he didn't have a tablet. Instead, there was something small, shiny. It looked like a compass. Inside, there was a picture of a woman.

Steve quickly closed the compass.

“This is gonna work, Steve,” Natasha said quietly in reassurance—both for herself and for him.

“I know it will. 'Cause I don't know what I'm gonna do if it doesn't,” he replied. They both contemplated in silence.

A moment later, Carol had finished her recon of the garden planet, and was visible once more through the cockpit window.

“No satellites,” she informed them over the speakers. “No ships. No armies. No ground defenses of any kind. It's just him.”

“And that's enough,” Nebula swore. She knew better than any of them just how deadly her father could be.

* * *

The garden was lush this time of year. Green mountains framed the plot of land that Thanos had chosen to farm. Waterfalls dotted the landscape. The aura was one of absolute peace and tranquility.

At the end of a field, Thanos had hung his massive scarred armor on a post. It looked for all the world like a scarecrow—granted, the most intimidating scarecrow one had ever seen. Thanos plodded through the field, carrying a bag in his right hand. On his left, he wore the Infinity Gauntlet. His gait was slow, almost awkward. It seemed like he was so much older than his years.

Stopping by a bush, he set his bag down, then reached over to pick a fruit from its branches. He looked at it closely—a fine specimen. Dropping the fruit into the bag, Thanos then picked it up in his right hand, and walked to a small dwelling at the opposite end of the field.

As he entered the modest hut, Thanos looked at the fire burning in the pit in the middle of the room. He was hungry, and had harvested plenty for a fine meal. He glanced up at the ceiling, and noticed light coming in through the thatched roof. Walking over to a counter, he took out some of the fruit from his harvest. With a knife, he cut the food up, and then put it into a pot filled with cold water. Then he took some seasoning from a dish on the counter, and added it to the water.

Hefting the pot from the counter, Thanos carried it across the small room in his right hand, and over to the fire pit. Setting it down, Thanos then took a seat next to the fire to warm himself. He could feel the heat on his face—it felt good, and he felt alive. After he had used the Infinity Gauntlet, he wondered if he could still feel anything. His face and neck, and his left side had been burned terribly. The power of the Infinity Stones was too much for any one being to hope to fully control, even one as strong as he was. Thanos had gambled that he and he alone could wield their power and live.

He survived, true. But there was a cost.

There was always a cost.

Before he could reflect any further on his fate, Thanos was caught by a blast of pure photon energy that ripped through the meager walls of his dwelling. The blast pained him, and Thanos lifted his arm in an effort to shield himself with the Infinity Gauntlet.

It did him little good.

The photon blast stopped, and suddenly, a glowing figure flew through the hole in Thanos' dwelling. The woman's eyes were shining, and she gazed at Thanos with anger. Thanos had managed to get himself up on one knee, right when the woman came for him. She pushed Thanos down to the floor, then hit the ground herself, rolled, and got up. The glow around her body diminished.

Then she ran for Thanos, grabbing his neck with her hands, and jumped into the air, pulling herself onto his back. Her hands never lost their grip, and she wrapped her leg around his upper left arm for good measure. Thanos reached up with his good hand, clawing at his tormentor. But the woman was relentless. Her boot found its way to Thanos' left wrist, and was pushing the Infinity Gauntlet over the fire pit. She yanked back on Thanos' head, and his hand hovered over the fire.

All at once, an armored being burst into the home, reached through the fire, and clutched at the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos thought he recognized the suit—it looked like something worn by Tony Stark, whom he had battled on Titan only weeks previously.

Using the distraction by the armored human, the woman pushed Thanos' left arm down with her boot once more. The armored being held Thanos' wrist fast. Then another armored man crashed through the thatched roof, and landed next to Thanos. He grabbed the Mad Titan's right arm.

Thanos was essentially helpless. It was not a feeling to which he was accustomed. And yet, he did not seem to fight back with full force.

Then the wall beyond exploded, and Thanos saw someone whom he definitely recognized. It was Thor, the Asgardian whose ship he had destroyed, and half his subjects along with it. He was wielding the hammer that had nearly ended Thanos' life back in Wakanda, the one that the Asgardian had jammed into his chest.

“You should have gone for the head,” Thanos had told Thor, just before he used the Time Stone to rewind events so Thor's attack had never happened.

Before Thanos knew what was happening, Thor had swung his weapon, and for a moment he saw white.

Then there was pain.

Looking down at the ground, Thanos saw the Infinity Gauntlet.

His left arm was still inside it.

Thanos screamed.

* * *

Steve and Natasha raced inside the dwelling, along with Rocket. The Guardian of the Galaxy crouched down next to the Infinity Gauntlet, and rolled it over. There were six receptacles on the gauntlet, in which the Infinity Stones themselves were to be set.

Except there was one problem.

The Infinity Stones were gone.

“Oh, no,” Rocket muttered.

Steve looked at the gauntlet, and saw the complication in their plan.

“Where are they?” he demanded of Thanos, who was held in place by Rhodey, Carol, and Bruce, inside the Hulkbuster armor.

Thanos grunted in reply.

Photon energy surged around Carol, as she tightened her grip around Thanos' thick neck. “Answer the question,” she charged him.

Thanos gasped for breath, then told her, “The universe required correction. After that, the Stones served no purpose beyond temptation.”

“You murdered trillions!” Bruce erupted. How could this monster be so calm in the face of his actions?

“You should be grateful,” Thanos responded, convinced of his righteousness.

Natasha took a step forward to look Thanos in the eye. “Where are the Stones?”

“Gone,” Thanos uttered. “Reduced to atoms.”

Bruce was seething now. “You used them two days ago!” he yelled. They couldn't have missed the Stones by such a short amount of time—the thought was horrifying.

Struggling for breath, Thanos explained. “I used the Stones to destroy the Stones. It nearly killed me. But the work is done. It always will be. I am inevitable.” And he was content, even in his pain.

Rhodey continued to grip Thanos' right arm with his War Machine armor. “We have to tear this place apart,” Rhodey suggested. “He has to be lying!”

Nebula, who had entered the dwelling almost unnoticed, suddenly spoke. “My father is many things,” she stated calmly. “A liar is not one of them.”

“Ahhh,” Thanos acknowledged. “Thank you, daughter. Perhaps I treated you too harshly.”

Nebula's eyes narrowed. Now? she thought. Now he sees her ?

Thor stepped forward silently, weapon in hand.

Thanos never saw Stormbreaker coming.

* * *

The attack was swift, the stroke clean, the blow killing instantly.

Stormbreaker hit Thanos' neck, slicing right on through. The head then hit the floor of the dwelling, and rolled. The headless body of Thanos, the Mad Titan, then collapsed in a heap on the floor. It was over.

Nebula stared at the body. It was something that she had long wished for, but never quite thought she would see. She had told her sister, Gamora, of her desire to kill Thanos herself. And there were moments where she meant it. And others where she didn't.

“I don't know if that's possible,” Gamora had told her.

Now, in the harsh light of day, that's exactly, precisely what had occurred. And she didn't quite know how to feel.

Nebula felt something warm on her cheek, and she reached a hand up to touch it. But it wasn't a tear.

Blood.

Thanos' blood.

“What?” Bruce asked, shocked, from inside the Hulkbuster armor.

“What did you do?” Rocket questioned the Asgardian, torn between frustration and approval.

“I went for the head,” Thor replied. Then he left the dwelling, never to return.

Steve Rogers looked down at Thanos, as Nebula knelt down beside her father. She reached out with a hand, and closed his eyes. xNQb5dCzEYfY/b5pjqkq+ILZf79ZkbYX5tXXgkgvNKrH7D2ki1j1mpfgZA55TbiQ