Chapter 97 – Battle of the Dragons’ Lair
97
Equus
The Dragon Lands
Dragons’ Lair
5:31 p.m.
The first thing they could do was freeze. While trapped at gunpoint, spearpoint, any point, all the Black Order could do as an initial response was freeze where they were. The Guardians of the Galaxy made their slow, cautious approach, Star-Lord leading his team consisting of Drax, Nebula, Rocket, and Groot towards Proxima Midnight and Corvus Glaive. His eyes widened when he spotted the unicorn behind them. A prisoner perhaps. Quill made his movements extra careful, his heartbeat rapidly increasing.
The agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. were right behind them. Every last one of them walked with their assault rifles leading, Daisy Johnson actually approaching with her left arm extended, palm outstretched, and ready to blow any of the aliens before her straight to kingdom come. Her eyes fell on Proxima Midnight. The alien woman stared back, snarling as she met the eyes of Quake. She was joined by Mack, Yo-Yo, Hunter, Morse, and Deathlok, every last one of them intending to end the Children of Thanos right then and there. Then they saw the unicorn…
They gasped.
An army of griffons surrounded the air, ground, and practically every direction, thus trapping the Black Order within their circle. They hovered or stomped slowly towards the aliens, spears extended and intending only to harm as much damage to their invaders as possible. When they witnessed the Prince of the Crystal Empire amongst them, Shining Armor, they hesitated. Just for a second.
That was all the Black Order needed.
Ebony Maw ripped his hands straight into the air, bringing forth a tower of dirt and rock that completely showered over them and created an impenetrable wall between the Black Order and their ambushers. Quill shielded his eyes from the flying dirt and sand, Rocket not so fortunate and trying desperately to rub his eyes clean, cursing off every swear word in the dictionary. Bringing forth his mask, the red eyes ignited and witnessed the tower of dirt blocking them. Then Star-Lord saw the axe fly through it. He ducked.
Everyone else wasn’t so lucky. The axe head struck Drax square in the chest, knocking back the Destroyer and causing him to crash into the crowd of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents like they were bowling pins. Groot fell onto his back alongside Nebula, Rocket already low to the ground and gazing with burning eyes to the chain right over his head. The chain firmly attached to the axe was ferociously yanked backwards, flipping Daisy right off her feet and knocking into Deathlok’s backside. Morse, Hunter, Mack, and Yo-Yo were the only ones who recovered, Yo-Yo reappearing in a flash and the three other agents firing relentlessly into the tower of dirt. Mack cocked his Shotgun-Axe and unloaded everything he had into it, hoping he struck something on the other side.
Once the tower dissipated, the chain returned and the axe reattached itself to Cull Obsidian’s hammer. He brought forth his retractable shield and blocked their onslaught of bullets, the remainder of the Black Order behind his burly figure. As the gunfire ended, that was their cue. Midnight leapt from behind her brother’s backside alongside Corvus Glaive. They engaged the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., tearing easily through the faceless soldiers in black and meeting the likes of Quake, Mack, Yo-Yo, Hunter, Morse, and Deathlok up close and personal.
Glaive roared as he drove his weapon straight for Mack’s heart, the agent quickly raising his Shotgun-Axe and blocking the strike. Yo-Yo responded by slamming her own shoulder into Glaive’s side at supersonic speeds, knocking the Black Order member to the dirt alongside his glaive. Midnight swung madly with her spear towards Bobbi Morse’s head, but she ducked, weaved, and slashed at the alien’s open rib cage and kneecaps with her twin batons. Proxima responded in kind, gripping a handful of Morse’s long, blonde hair and slamming her back-first into the rocks. She raised her spear, intending to fully crush Morse’s windpipe with the three-pointed end. Lance Hunter’s onslaught of bullets stopped her from doing just that. Raising her armor-plated forearm, it was all Midnight could do as Hunter roared at her to get away from his wife, approaching her quickly and unloading his entire magazine onto her. She lifted her spear and rested it on her free arm, firing a pulsating blast that struck Lance dead in the chest. He was launched backwards, arms and legs flailing even as he came to a crash upon the dirt.
Deathlok responded to his fellow agent’s plight. He fired a single rocket from his wrist and struck Midnight on her open side, driving her forward onto the dirt near her husband.
Growling to see his siblings bested, Cull Obsidian roared and charged ahead, axe leading with every ferocious stomp forward. Drax slid out of his eyesight, tripping up the bumbling beast and allowing Groot to step up in front of him. The adolescent gave his own war cry, a high-pitched scream escaping him as he fired two vines straight from his palms directly into Obsidian’s chest. He launched the strongest member of the Black Order several yards backwards, beyond the corpse of the Leviathan and vanishing with his roars becoming all but a distant cry.
He grit his teeth at that. Folding his arms across his chest. Ebony Maw rose forth from the earth and brought with him several jagged shards of Chitauri armor lying upon the rocks. He charged forward with the shards joining him, but was promptly halted when Star-Lord leapt upwards and rammed his gun into Maw’s chin. It didn’t end there, Quill firing relentlessly from his twin Quad Blasters onto the grounded child of Thanos. Seething at that, Ebony Maw ripped several chunks of rock from the earth and threw them at Peter, knocking him backwards.
With that distance created, he hovered once more high above the ground and flew away, screaming, “Brother, sister, retreat!”
Corvus and Proxima instantly followed on his word, yanking their weapons from the dirt and leaping over tattered starships and chariots into a swift, dead sprint towards escape. Even Shining Armor followed, vanishing in a flash before any of them could react in time. Quill watched them run from where he lay, sighing through his mask. Another part of the plan ending in failure. He just prayed Gamora and Mantis turned those tides from their positions.
Within the heart of the Dragons’ Lair, the catastrophic battle for the fate of the universe raged on. The Mad Titan Thanos engaged with every Avenger, every Defender, and every species of Equus that dared to turn their weapons his way, dared to charge him and try to overcome him. Every time they would fall, harder and harder upon the ground but getting back up regardless of their injuries. They knew so much hung in the balance if they didn’t. Just like the plan. If anything went south, they stuck with someone and did everything in their power to bring the Titan to his knees.
Every last one of them was having great difficulty with that last part.
Especially Gamora. When she confronted him, she was surprised to see so much pain in his eyes. She could have even sworn she saw tears shimmering under the glare of the sun. But it was hard to tell, and she never cared to dig deeper, only seeing a target and fully willing to bring him down. No matter what it cost her. She swung and slashed at the man who murdered her father—then claimed to be her own father—with every form of life within her spirit. Every strike was a scream of pain that escaped the Guardian. And every block was pressure pressed further into Thanos’ heart, daring him to give in against his daughter. He couldn’t.
Not even for her. He caught Godslayer and snapped it in half, using the Space Stone to launch Gamora further away and trap her tightly against the earth. She thrashed and screamed against the force she couldn’t fight against, but it was pointless. Thanos ensured the bonds wouldn’t hurt her.
It was all he could before he was attacked yet again.
As for the six, young, weakened heroes lying scattered upon the rock and soil, they were not able to witness such catastrophe fall down around them. The smoke blinded the battlefield, the fires from the Hippogriff naval ships blotting the skies and only managing glimpses of the sun to shine through before darkness filled the land. Again and again, a constant and confusing cycle of night and day overcoming the battlegrounds. As for those six, young, weakened heroes… only one was able to rise first of all. She rubbed her forehead with a violet hoof, adjusting the tiara on her head.
And Twilight Sparkle nearly fell back down when the flash of bright rose appeared directly in front of her. When that flash subsided, Twilight rubbed her eyes to clear out the black spots dotting her vision. The moment she lowered her foreleg was the moment her breath was taken away from her, her heart stopped, and her mind nearly blanked.
“Shining…?” Twilight gasped, taking a soft step forward and narrowing her eyes. There he stood, the mere image of him shrouded in the smoke-filled air. Her eyes widened, a breathless cry leaving her as a large smile percolated across her lips. “Shining Armor! You’re alive!”
The smoke began to fade, unveiling that form, showcasing none other than Shining Armor standing before her. Twilight couldn’t have been more relieved, now having true confirmation that her brother had survived the assault on the Crystal Empire. And better yet, he was there! Come to help in their dire time of need! Only… he didn’t look… entirely there. Twilight noticed it instantly, her smile slowly… painfully… falling apart.
And it was all because of the bright blue glow in his eyes.
She slowly shot out her hoof. “Shining… are you okay? What’s wrong with your—?”
His gaze narrowed into a frown, his hoof quickly swiping forward and smacking hers completely aside. Bringing her foreleg back to her side, Twilight backpedaled and kept a safe six-foot distance between herself and her brother. She didn’t want to, but after seeing that look in his eyes, the near-dead expression on his face, Twilight quickly realized that her assumptions were correct. Shining Armor wasn’t there, at least not entirely.
“Shining!” Twilight cried out, dodging his swipes and punches by millimeters. “Shining, stop!”
But he didn’t. He proceeded forward and never halted in his actions to harming Twilight, putting an end to anything that stood in the path of the Great Titan. Twilight had seen that determination only once before, the shimmer in his eyes joining it and leading Shining Armor through the heinous actions he committed. It brought forth pains from the past, but something Twilight knew how to heal. Something she knew how to fix.
Kicking off the earth, Twilight shot out her wings and proceeded to dodge Shining’s magical beams escaping from his horn. If there was one thing Shining excelled at more than her, it was his military training. Meaning his shots were as accurate as much as he physically tried. While being under the control of the Mad Titan, his will was not his own. He was but a puppet to Thanos and used to the full extent of his power. The magic singed Twilight’s wing and hind leg, but no other damage than that. Twilight grit her teeth and fought through the burning pain, all the while building the spell deep within her horn.
Shining fired continuously into the air, trying to knock Twilight right out of it. She flew about and dodged his strikes, still containing that spell, still doing everything in her power to keep it under control just long enough. Just long enough… until she was finally ready. And when she was, she flew forward, dodged Shining’s spell, and unleashed that magic in a singular strike directly into his skull.
Right into his horn. His head. His mind.
Shining Armor’s eyes widened to the point of bulging out of his skull, the magic dying alongside Twilight’s flight, the Alicorn skidding to a halt mere feet in front of him. As her hooves dug into the rock and dirt, Twilight raised her head and kept her horn beaming, just in case there was still a little bit more of the mind control still stuck inside of him.
She found that sense of ease once again as Shining stumbled about, rubbed his forehead, and blinked his eyes open. Several times. Looking about the wasteland and eventually turning that pair of soft cerulean eyes onto his little sister. He blinked again, breathed, and narrowed those eyes.
“T… Twily…?”
That was all the assurance Twilight needed for her to hug him. Her face almost shattered, broken tears escaping her scrunched eyelids as she leapt forward and wrapped her forelegs tight around her brother’s neck, squeezing him with as much love as she could offer. Though slightly taken aback, Shining eventually laid his hoof on her backside, patting her softly and listening to her pained whimpers.
“I knew it. Even somepony as stubborn as you can’t die that easily. Cadance is gonna be so relieved,” Twilight cried on his shoulder.
His eyes shot open at that, a relieved breath escaping him. He couldn’t remember much. It was as if he was trapped inside a horrible dream, watching events unfold but refusing to believe they were real. Like he was held against his will as someone else took command. A part of him, perhaps the darkest part… finally allowed to take control. But that didn’t matter anymore. Twilight brought him back to his senses. She always was a quick thinker. And now, he just received confirmation of his wife’s safety. It was subtle, but it was there. It was all he needed to hug her back fully.
“She’s safe…” Shining breathed.
“Flurry Heart, too,” Twilight explained, breaking away from Shining but remaining in front of him, her tears joining his arising ones. She held that strong grin his way, that assuring one, and nodded. “They got all the Crystal Ponies to the Castle of the Two Sisters.”
Shining wanted to laugh. He wanted to jump for joy and cry even harder than he already was, shed a little bit more liquid pride than he was used to. But he couldn’t. The horrific roar filling the Dragons’ Lair brought both siblings’ attention to the far east of the battlefield. They turned in unison, accordingly to the war cry to see Thanos’ wave of destruction decimate swarm after swarm of the One United Species Army. In the middle of it all, the Mad Titan stood with his back facing them, firing conjoined blasts from the Infinity Stones upon his adversaries. Never once turning around.
Never once knowing what was standing less than a mile behind him.
Maybe Shining did remember something. He remembered that grin on the Titan’s face being the last true thing he saw before he was caught under his influence. Shining narrowed his eyes into a fearsome glare. He couldn’t wait to wipe that grin away. “Guess that leaves just one last problem to deal with,” Shining Armor growled. He turned slightly to his right, smirking. “You ready for this, Twily?”
Twilight twisted her gaze slightly to her left, smirking. “Right behind you, BBBFF.”
So forth they charged, leaping and flying over the tattered remains of a Chitauri army, never once slowing down knowing the other was right by their side, chugging along towards the inevitable battle that neither knew if they would make it out. All they knew was that they had each other, they fought together. That’s what they used.
Both brother and sister fired a beam of a magic from their horns, the conjoined meeting and striking the Titan square in the back. Thanos hunched forward, grunting rather heavily upon that hit. Turning towards it, ready to face whoever dared to rival him, Thanos was genuinely welcoming to the fact that it was Twilight Sparkle of all equines to face him yet again. A confrontation he would rather face compared to the others. However, galloping alongside her flight pattern, unleashing spell after spell onto him, was the unicorn he so rescued from the Crystal Empire. Freed from his salvation. Ripped back into the horrors of reality of which Thanos pulled him from.
And there they stood against him. Against his destiny. Growling at that, baring his teeth, Thanos shot out his gauntlet and fired a blast from the Power Stone onto them. Shining Armor slid beneath the wave of violet, Twilight dodging at the last second and firing an ice-colored spell right for the Infinity Gauntlet. Thanos grunted as the spell connected, his eyes landing onto his left palm and gazing to the shard of ice encompassing his entire gauntlet. He was distracted for too long, barely lifting his eyes to meet Twilight’s Sparkle’s hind leg swinging forward and striking him across the cheekbone.
Shining Armor leapt forward, his horn brighter than the sun as he fired a singular beam of raw magic for Thanos’ left arm. He expected to catch Thanos off guard, by surprise, but was surprised himself to see the Titan react so quickly. With almost unnatural speed, he clutched Shining Armor in his right palm, slamming the unicorn directly into the earth and causing him to lose his breath instantly upon impact. Raising his left arm, Thanos yelled viciously and rammed the ice-covered gauntlet right where Shining’s head was.
The ice shattered, the rock beneath it cracked, but Shining was gone. Vanished in a flash of purple. Once Thanos lifted his gauntlet free from the earth and ice, he listened carefully and turned accordingly to the following flash of light, both Twilight and her older brother standing at attention. Directly behind him.
They both readied themselves for another round, but Thanos had other plans. He clenched his gauntlet and brought forth the power of the Reality Stones, weighty pillars of rock rising forth from the earth and knocking both ponies right off their hooves. They landed on their backsides at a safe distance between each other, only able to watch as the rocks fell on top of them and kept them plastered against the ground. Thanos ripped his gauntlet away, the red light fading as he gazed humorlessly upon Twilight and Shining. He was growing rather tired of them. Well-spent. He would have smiled had it been any other circumstance.
His attention was immediately shifted elsewhere, to the rousing cry of the Queen of the Hippogriffs. Turning immediately, Thanos was instantly bombarded by three of the such, Queen Novo with her lackeys Sky Beak and Skyranger. The two Hippogriffs swarmed him from all sides, one transforming into a horrific creature Thanos seemed to recall being a mixture of an insect and a bear. The Hippogriff-turned-Bugbear roared in his face, tackling the Mad Titan and rivaling him in size. But not nearly in strength. Thanos held his ground, his feet pressed heavily and deep in the shattered rock and dirt beneath him. He held strong, grinding his teeth together as the Bugbear growled, chomped and slashed at every exposed piece of the Titan it could get.
Thanos bellowed as the creature slashed at his face with its claws, driving his Infinity Gauntlet into its exposed rib cage and firing a blast from the Space Stone into it. The Bugbear cried as it flew backwards, impacting Stratus Skyranger and bringing both Hippogriffs crashing through a rock. Sky Beak transformed back into his Hippogriff self, trying to get back up but only failing time and time again. Only able to lay and watch as his queen engaged the Dark Lord by herself.
He failed to notice the light of the sun shine down from above his head, but when he finally did… a smile filled his beak once again.
Queen Novo was relentless with her assault, driving and slashing, stabbing and swinging her spear towards the one responsible for the invasion of her home, the destruction of her world, and the loss of the so many Hippogriff lives. So many lives in general. To prevent even more innocents from facing his depravity, she fought her heart out and ensured the Titan knew that she was there. She was willing to give it all. She was not backing down. Thanos hardly cared either way, raising his gauntlet to block the downward strike from her spear. As the sharpened metal collided against the hardened steel of the Infinity Gauntlet, the two momentarily caught each other’s glares.
Then Thanos snapped her spear in half with his right arm, rammed his forearm directly into her, and watched the Hippogriff queen fly backwards and tumble across the earth from the force of the hit. It was all he could see before she vanished from sight, before Thanos was blinded under the glare of the sun. Raising his hands in a feeble attempt to stop the light, Thanos narrowed his stance and glared right into it. Watched as the fires faded away from the white, elegant wings, the light of the afternoon sun burning right behind the golden armor and the pure magnificence of Princess Celestia.
She lowered her head, her eyes as white as the face of the sun encompassing the sky directly behind her. In her expression, there was only malice, a stern face forged to the point of absolute destruction, unyielding determination, and the will… to see it all through. The light faded and Thanos was finally able to open his eyes fully, gazing onto the same princess he had struck so many days ago. She lived after all.
Survived with a fiery vengeance trailing her.
The Princess of the Sun stared only to the Titan, eyes ablaze with a burning whiteness, her wings no longer flapping but protruded outwards and beyond the reach of the sun. She hovered in that position of dominance and fire, the sun somehow growing brighter, becoming larger, infusing her with the power she so desired. Despite the star belonging not to her, it still fell to her will. The light and strength of the alien star filled Princess Celestia and she used that. She used every last bit of it to fire a stream of light directly from her horn and onto the Mad Titan. The light was so ferocious, so fiery and untamed that it scorched the lands between them, incinerating rocks into dust, turning the air into fire, and striking Thanos with the power of the sun itself.
He raised his gauntlet at the last moment, all five Stones igniting as the blast hit him. Thanos closed his eyes so the brightness would not blind him. The effect of the attack and the severity of his situation escalated to unbearable levels. The heat was intense, even worse than when the dragon army attacked and doused him in flame. It grew so bad that the attire on his body began to burn, his skin pushed to the extent of its resistance. It burned. It burned worse than any pain he knew. Physical, at the very least. Knowing he couldn’t hold it forever, Thanos lifted his gauntlet higher, the blast connecting with the golden glove and the five Stones.
And Thanos stopped. He was being forcefully pushed back from the power of Princess Celestia and that of which she unleashed upon him, but no more. The five Infinity Stones ignited and held strong against the power of a star. Thanos used that. He rose back up, cautiously approached the flaming Alicorn with teeth as tight as he could possibly manage, and returned the fire. The power was unleashed from his gauntlet, all five firing forth and blasting through Celestia’s strength, her magic, and tearing through everything that remained. The Alicorn held for as long as she could, the light fading from her eyes the moment the powers of the universe tore through her strength. Ending it there.
Thanos watched as the blast struck Celestia and sent her flying clear across the warzone, even her screams becoming a distant memory to him. Another life bested… another three that took her place.
Dragon Lord Ember, King Thorax, and Pharynx charged Thanos as one, the two changelings transforming into a maulwurf and a flying insectoid monster respectively. The mole-like creature of which Thorax became screeched out as it smacked its claws against Thanos’ body, sending the Mad Titan crashing against a rock structure with a painful grunt escaping him. Pharynx, in his massive, flying, spider-like form, screeched and pounced upon the Titan, grabbing his shoulder between his jaws and tossing Thanos directly into the air. Right where Ember wanted him. With that ferocious cry leaving her, Ember drove the power of her scepter right into the Titan’s body, sending him flying back down into the earth. All three charged at once, Ember with her Bloodstone Scepter leading, Thorax clawing at the ground to sever the distance between him and the Titan, and Pharynx screeching with his pincers raised and ready to impale as he pounced once again.
Thanos stopped their advance with a raise of his left arm, a clench of his fist, and a shock wave from the Power Stone. All three were blown aside as the power of the universe washed over them in an explosive wave, practically melting Ember’s golden armor and singing Pharynx’s insectoid skin, forcing him to change back into his changeling form. Thorax’s maulwurf hide resisted for only so long before he too was forced to change back, he and his brother blown aside and crashing into the deceased Leviathans or against pillars of stone. Ember struck the earth back-first, grunting and crying as she bounced and skidded to a painful halt near the corpses of various Chitauri foot soldiers. Her Bloodstone Scepter bounced alongside her, rolling to a stop mere yards ahead of her.
And for the first time, she didn’t get back up to retrieve it. She lied there, groaning in pain, one eye open and one elbow pressed to the earth in a desperate attempt to rise. It ended shortly, Ember crumbling in defeat.
Thanos rose from the dirt and clenched his gauntlet once more, intent on seeing the Dragon Lord becoming nothing but a pile of flaking ash before him. However, he found himself losing all sense of sound and sight as a piercing wave crashed behind him, the sound so intense that it stung his eardrums to the very molecule. Thanos roared in agony, clutching his head and shielding his ears from the onslaught he was trapped in.
From behind the Mad Titan, Daisy Johnson held out both of her fists, the gauntlets around her arms quaking and unleashing that power upon the Titan. Further and further he fell, crying as loud as he possibly could as the sound and energy assaulted every part of his body and mind. Daisy, on the other end, flinched and gasped in growing exasperation. A trickle of blood flowed from her left nostril as she kept up the waves of energy from her fists, but even she knew she couldn’t hold it forever. She watched, at long last, as the God of Mischief arrived in a flushing wave of green that he used to camouflage with in plain sight.
Daisy allowed herself a short moment of relief, glad to see that Loki hadn’t left her to face Thanos alone. Just like they planned. How unlike him.
Loki charged forth with a blade shimmering into reality within his left palm, the God of Mischief screaming with every step he took, every boot planted firmly and fiercely upon the rocks beneath him as he drove forward, launched his blade to Thanos’ throat, and expected to see the battle finally end his favor. As it always should have been from the start. As a means of payback for what the Mad Titan did to his people.
That growing optimism that filled both Loki and Daisy quickly turned into dread when Thanos rapidly raised his gauntlet, the Space Stone flaring to life as it captured Loki’s blade and forearm mere inches from his throat. Despite the constant flow of energy from Daisy’s fists crashing against the Mad Titan, he still held strong, slowly turning his clenched facial features down to the God of Mischief. Loki shivered under his grip, trying to keep a brave face but failing.
And falling. Thanos ripped his blade away and kicked Loki square in the chest, sending him crashing through a pillar of gemstone. He remained unmoving after that. Gaining that much-needed momentum, Thanos reared back and unleashed a wave of the Space Stone that blew aside Quake’s attack. But she was persistent, strong, raced forward despite the blood flowing from her nose, despite the migraine forming in her skull, and engaged the Titan. Her punches and kicks were met with heavy blocks from Thanos, her feeble fighting skills no match against the Titanian.
It especially didn’t help when he caught her punch with the Infinity Gauntlet. It was at that did Daisy catch her breath, shivering gasps escaping her agape jaws as the blood fell down her upper lip. Thanos frowned at her, holding no admiration for her foolishness. Instead, he bent the young woman’s right wrist within his gauntlet, earning a painful cry from Johnson and nearly making her crumble right then and there. But she held strong, stood her ground, and glared at Thanos every second she was given. Another thing to admire of the Inhuman.
It was all Thanos could offer before he reared his right fist back and punched her across the face. The punch was so devastating that Daisy actually bounced against the gravel and dirt she impacted, her head hitting first of all and instant darkness taking her. Johnson’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, silent breaths escaping her lips as her mind faded.
Before he knew it, another came.
They just kept coming.
Thor flew downwards and unleashed a helping of lighting from his right fist and struck the Titan where he stood, immobilizing him for the time being. Then to his right, even Thor was slightly surprised to see the unicorn gallop forth and fire a volley of lightning from her shattered horn onto Thanos. The Titan screamed as each bolt struck him, pushing him further away and down to one knee. Both were breathing rather heavily, their gazes eventually finding one another.
Thor saw the scar on her right eye, beneath her broken horn. Tempest saw the scar beneath his eyepatch, both warriors finding some alien sense of ease as they met each other without a word. Not even a grunt. They just both turned back to the Mad Titan as he began to stand, unleashed that lightning crackling inside of them, and cried out as that power flowed forth and struck Thanos once more. Thor’s remaining eye shimmered a bright blue. Both of Tempest’s glowed the same.
And Thanos bested them all the same.
A singular blast from the Power Stone, one for each of them. The first hit Thor, the second struck Tempest’s shield she concocted, but knocked her back with the same amount of force that Thor endured. When Thanos rose again, he was once more met with an opposing force, but one… that came not with an attack. At least not at first.
“Thanos!”
He turned to the thunderous voice, almost as powerful as the trembling waves that Thanos suffered not too long ago. When he fully turned around and met the owner of the voice, he was almost taken aback by what he witnessed. A man descended from the clouds of smoke and fire, a dancing cloak waving in the winds behind him. The sun glowed off of his grandeur, his feet finally touching upon the earth and the man steadily, bravely approaching the Mad Titan. He wore a black and gray suit that seemed molded with his skin, three distinct red orbs decorated across his chest. His tan skin wrinkled when he smirked the Titan’s way, a graying goatee and slicked back hair hardly affected by the increasing winds. It only took a moment for Thanos to realize that the winds weren’t natural. They swirled around him, circled around the man who came from the sky.
And all he did was stare at Thanos.
Until finally Thanos asked, “And who might you be?”
Glenn Talbot’s smirk faded away, a burning rage ignited within his eyes. In that fire, the Titan was consumed. It was all he saw. All he wanted right then and there. And he was going to have it. “Graviton,” he replied, lifting his palms skywards. Thanos watched with mild amusement as he began to rise from the earth, shards of rock floating as he did, captured under his influence. “You’ve invaded my world, threatened my species with war and the universe with decimation… and thought you could get away with it.”
Thanos smiled humorously. “Thought?”
Graviton was not amused. His glare only furthered, his rage only brightened, and he centered it all on one being. Every last bit of that power. “It’s time you experienced the full power of Gravitonium.”
Every last bit of his power.
It was as if the world was ripped at its seams beneath him, trapped under his veil of influence. The earth cracked, opened, unveiled its deposits and filled the atmosphere with fragments, stones, pillars, boulders, entire shards of landmass that rose forth from the ground. Hovered dangerously above and centered solely on the Mad Titan. Jagged canyons were birthed forth, landscapes scattered about the battleground falling, descending deep into the darkness and fire that filled the world beneath the Dragons’ Lair. All of it rose up, touched the sky, and hovered alongside Graviton, numbering in the hundreds of thousands.
All with just a flick of his pointing finger.
What followed came from a twitch in his smile.
Every last piece of earth that was ripped from the ground was thrown with the speed of shooting stars. They were hurled past Graviton and not one piece touched him. Not even a pebble. It rained fire and rock as every last shard of it came hurtling down to the lone Titan. Graviton watched, smiling the entire time, as it all fell down.
A smile that never lasted when Thanos raised his Infinity Gauntlet and brought forth the power of the Space Stone.
With just a simple clench of his fist, the bright blue Stone sucked in every fragment, every rock, every piece of jagged landmass and disintegrated it to its tiniest particle. They fell within the influence of the Infinity Stone, a horrifying dark portal swirling to life upon the face of the gauntlet. Tightening his jaw, Thanos reared back and threw the growing black hole right for Graviton. With eyes widening, Talbot shot out his hands, the power of the Gravitonium catching the black hole before it could grow any nearer to him. It was caught within his invisible grasp, growing bigger, fiercer, absorbing the earth, the air, and even the light. Glenn clenched his jaws and slammed his palms together, crushing the black hole and killing it right then and there.
As the darkness faded, what was left was a Titan leaping through the air and ramming his gauntlet into Talbot’s chest. The force of all five Stones sent Graviton spiraling backwards, with speeds that could have broken the sound barrier. The impact of the Gauntlet to Graviton’s chest certainly did, and when he made impact against the hull of a fallen Chitauri Command Center, nearly everything that remained of it practically crumbled inwards. Before Talbot could even shake his head to regain his senses, there he was, stepping through the vicious black and blue portal and meeting Graviton face to face once more. No smile.
Glenn responded in kind. He met Thanos’ earth-shattering roar as he drove himself—headfirst—into the beam of the Power Stone. And he broke through it. Glenn Talbot flew through the Power Stone’s energy and tackled Thanos right in the chest. The two beings fumbled about through the air and against the earth, each one wrestling the other for dominance, for that single opening that neither would offer. It ended shortly, Thanos ripping his cloak free from his body when he slammed Talbot and dragged him across the earth. His feet touched ground, continuously dragging Talbot until his cloak came free, the battered man tumbling while Thanos stood tall above him.
But that didn’t last. Talbot hovered right back up where his feet were barely touching the ground. He puffed out his chest, clenched his fists, and narrowed his glare on the Titan before him. Then they struck yet again, meeting each other with fists and power beyond comprehension. The world of Equus trembled under each punch, massive cracks and devastating earthquakes filling the land whenever their fists landed, whenever that power was unleashed. Graviton reared back with his left fist, Thanos doing the same, and both of them striking one another across the face. Thanos' punch was devastating enough, but it was the added energy of all five Infinity Stone that brought Talbot to his knees. Made him gasp for air. Made him fall…
On his knees, trying to quickly rise, Glenn was shortly interrupted by the Titan, Thanos punching him yet again with every Stone bright and alive upon his gauntlet. Graviton was forced—back first—into the awaiting earth, numerous, vein-like cracks surrounding him upon impact. He tried to breathe, but couldn’t even take in that breath as the Titan stood over him, repeatedly smashing that Gauntlet into him over and over and over again. Every single time, the five Stones would fuel his punches. Every single time, the earth would crack further. Every single time, the power of the universe exploded outwards and unleashed that chaos upon the Dragons’ Lair, birthing lightning right out of the earth, sending various earthquakes across the globe, and crumbling entire nations as an afterthought.
Until Thanos finally pulled away, stepped out of the massive crater of which fell under his creation. Finally sent one last glance to the so-called “Graviton” before his attention was diverted elsewhere, onto the raging Hulk tackling him from the side.
And within that crater, Glenn Talbot laid hardly breathing, hardly moving, hardly understanding what just happened or how he could fail so easily. He knew soon enough, that even with the power of a morsel of Gravitonium… it wasn’t enough to stop Thanos. He needed more.
He needed to be stronger.
The Hulk roared out, slamming his fists and forearms and anything he could utilize against the Mad Titan, as even Thanos was unable to block the oncoming strikes that rattled his bones and perturbed his mind. He was gaining impressive headway as well, driving Thanos’ backside into a pillar of rock and further pressing him into it, keeping him immobilized.
But to his shock, to his surprise, to his horror that boiled down deep inside of him—a place not even the Hulk knew—Thanos pried at his arms… and slowly pushed him away. His strength was not powered by the Stones, every last one of them dim upon the Gauntlet. The Hulk witnessed that and held an expression of pure, shaken alarm. Then he was beaten senseless.
Thanos applied vicious, precise, and devastating blows onto the Incredible Hulk. Strong, certainly, but more exact if anything, striking pressure points the Hulk didn’t even know existed. And when he backed off to clutch those wounds, that was when Thanos fully unloaded on him. Every blow was lethal, able to cripple any average mortal by just one hit. The Hulk merely buckled under the strikes, caught under Thanos’ will and abused like his plaything. Thanos finished the short confrontation by driving Hulk’s face into his kneecap, a sickening crunch following the impact before Thanos lifted the great beast high above his head… then proceeded to slam him down upon the earth.
There, the Incredible Hulk lay, battered and beaten and fading in his own blood.
Thanos sneered at the pathetic display before him. He expected a challenge from someone so powerful, but was merely gifted a pawn. Just like all the others. And like all the others, he raised his gauntlet to him, intent on finishing off the worthless excuse of a life laying before him. He would have had the Hellfire Chain not struck and wrapped wickedly around his gauntlet.
Furrowing his brow at that, Thanos was instantly yanked to his left, the Infinity Gauntlet pried at by an opposing force that shocked even the Great Titan. Standing several yards away, the Ghost Rider growled as it gripped the Hellfire Chain with both hands, a stream of fire escaping its jaws and nostrils at the sight of the Titan’s eyes meeting its own. Before Thanos could properly react, the Rider proceeded to pull him towards its gaze, wrapping one piece of the chain tighter and tighter around its own arm.
Severing that distance. Bringing Thanos closer to the eyes of Ghost Rider.
The fires burned bright against the Infinity Gauntlet, the Hellfire Chain managing to burn the metal to a red-hot state. Witnessing such, Thanos’ jaw fell, his teeth barred and feral as he clawed at the chain with his bare hand. He roared as the fires singed his palm, Thanos gazing to his right hand and seeing the horrific burn that was left for him. The fires of more than a dozen dragons could not hurt him. The strength of the sun itself could not burn him. Yet this fire—this unholy fire that burned against the chain managed to singe his skin.
It was no ordinary fire. Thanos could already guarantee the fire melting in the Rider’s eyes wasn’t ordinary either. He pulled back, kept his grip on the Gauntlet and did everything his strength could manage to hold back against the Spirit of Vengeance. He could not close his left fist. The Stones could not help him. Even his strength began to falter as he slowly, inch by inch, was pulled towards the Ghost Rider.
Towards the awaiting Penance Stare that burned in its hellish eyes.
Continuously fighting against it, Thanos was running out of ideas when he felt the blast strike his backside. He turned his head slightly right, managing to spot Peter Quill lead Rocket and Drax to a full-on assault while Thanos was immobilized. Joining the Guardians were Spider-Man, Twilight Sparkle, her five closest friends, Sunset Shimmer, Starlight Glimmer, and Spike. Another shot from Quill’s Quad Blaster, striking Thanos across the face. Baring his teeth, Thanos planted his feet upon the earth, and the Ghost Rider hesitated. It froze as even its strength was halted. The Rider then felt itself being yanked forward, Thanos whipping the Rider towards his oppressors from behind.
He screamed every second as the Hellfire Chain unraveled from his gauntlet, thus allowing him to fire a wave from the Power Stone onto his attackers. The wave washed over and knocked everyone back, Ghost Rider impacting the Guardians and mares and flinging through the air before they all came to a painful and pitiful crash several yards away. Thanos was just about ready to clench his gauntlet once more, and once more was interrupted by the explosions. At least that part was new.
Flying down from above, Tony Stark discharged a plethora of incendiary rockets from his shoulders, the explosions encompassing Thanos within a wall of fire. As he soared past, Stark took one last look backwards to witness that fire vanish before his eyes. All of it suddenly absorbed by the Space Stone, unleashed again as Thanos shot out his clenched gauntlet right for the Iron Man. That tower of fire struck Stark and knocked him completely off-course, Tony grunting as the fire launched him into the remains of a Chitauri Command Center. He blew right through it, the explosion that followed destroying what remained of the mighty warship standing upright upon the world.
Another kick on his cheek earned a hearty grunt from the Titan, Thanos’ eyes latching to the rainbow Pegasus regaining her flight pattern and swooping in for another hit. Thanos shot his gauntlet out to her, but fell to his knee when Steve Rogers slid forward and drove his boot into the back of his leg. Earning his interest, Steve slammed his fist across the Mad Titan’s temple, staggering him for a moment. A moment was all he needed.
Twilight and Thor flew down from above and gave it all they have. They struck the earth upon a mound of rock, elevated higher than where Thanos knelt. Every power from the heavens flowed into the God of Thunder’s fists and fired downwards upon the Titan. Every last shred of magical prowess that Twilight Sparkle was and knew filled her horn and her eyes ignited into a brilliant whiteness. She gave it all she had, screaming as that stream of magic left her horn and struck Thanos right into his back.
Thanos screamed in return.
He rose up and roared through every second of the excruciating pain washing over his body. And even then, he didn’t fall. He clenched his gauntlet, triggered the bright violet of the Power Stone and swiped his entire left arm clear across his line of sight. The gust of energy followed and ripped apart the earth.
It tore Steve right off his feet and caused him to impact the rock beneath him.
It pulled Rainbow Dash right out of the air and flung her viciously to the ground.
It tore apart the mound of rock Twilight and Thor stood upon and captured them.
Ripped right through them.
Twilight felt the energy of the Power Stone flow right through her veins, concealed her cries and washed over her in a blanket of pure, wrathful energy. Unending. Relentless. No end to its strength and no clear end to the pain. When Twilight and Thor fell alongside their friends, their Avengers, they touched the earth and felt an unknown darkness cover them. They fell, motionless, impacting the world as if they had died right there. The darkness clouded Twilight’s vision, the Alicorn’s breaths being all she heard before that too began to grow numb against her ears.
All she could do, all she could witness was the battle continue without them. Reach its peak… and fall from there.
Thanos wiped out several armies, from changelings, griffons, Hippogriffs, dragons, and so forth. Like they were nothing. She watched him grab Tony by his throat as Stark desperately tried to drive his nanotech blade into the Titan’s chest. Instead, he experienced Thanos’ fist fly across his face, Stark hitting the ground and unmoving after that, the lights of his mask’s eyes flickering on and off. Bodies rained down from the sky. The earth bled and burned and cried. Chaos was all that remained.
Chaos and Thanos. And…
Twilight lifted her head off the dirt, her jaw refusing to shut, lungs refusing to breathe when she witnessed Nebula and Gamora charging Thanos. It wasn’t their act of bravery that earned Twilight’s fading eyesight. For the first time… she saw something she never expected from the Mad Titan… something that burned in her memory even as her vision faded into blackness.
Fear. Clear on his facial features. Then Twilight gave in to the dark and passed out.
But it was never because of them together that Thanos experienced that wretched feeling. It was for her. His daughter… and the horrible choice that haunted him still as they struck and broke his heart.
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They are doing their best to stop him but they don't stand a chance. He is too powerful...
Everyone is fighting with everything they've got, their will to survive, to save the universe, driving them. But no matter how much they give, they just can't seem to overpower Thanos' will to succeed, to fulfil his destiny.
Four chapters remaining! The end is looming ever closer.
All they’re doing is delaying the inevitable.
The Snap is coming.....
I am curious about which of the ponies will vanish if he "snaps"...
I really thought the penance stare would work. I mean it worked on Galactus.
I dub this chapter: Giant Purple Man Screams and Clenches As He Fists Mass Group
9572063
I think Rainbow and Twilight will remain, since they're the ones with the most drama and the ones who are in desperate need to work things out
They all keep getting back up not daring to give up while they still have the will to fight despite the odds against them. But Thanos keeps bringing them all back down, every single one of them becoming irritating nuisances getting in the way of his destiny. Even Graviton was just a joke to Thanos as even the amount of Gravitonium Talbot absorbed wasn't enough to overpower the Mad Titan and the Infinity Stones. And if Ghost Rider had pulled Thanos just close enough to use the Penance Stare, they might have just won there. But no, Thanos would not even allow the Spirit of Vengeance to deny him his destiny.
With everyone else down and out, only Gamora and Nebula are left standing. The two adoptive sisters fighting side by side against their 'father'. But I fear neither of them will realise what Thanos has to do to get the Soul Stone until it is too late.
XD, do we both have four chapters left?
So much for beating Thanos eh pal.
Well Ghost Rider’s penance stare almost killed Galactus and he’s stronger than Thanos so he’s probably the one with the best chance of killing him.
I'm never losing hope until the end that some sort of Miracle may happen
When the dust has settled and Thanos has accomplished what he set out to do, expect Twilight to have a mental breakdown that will make Lesson Zero look perfectly normal.
Everyone (in universe) is thinking they can win, but honesty? The whole thing was sealed after the fight in the badlands, if most of the marvel heroes that aren't the fugitive avengers and black panther couldn't kill Thanos back then, plus he also has every stone minus the soul stone, everyone is just fucked.
9572059
The Decimation.
That is one, relentless hunk of space meat if you ask me. Gotta say, Nutsack Chin is really very gripful of his high ground I give him that.
Ah jeez
This guy...
YYYYEEESSSSSS
WE GOT THAT PART!!!!!
Damn colossal ending to this chapter
We're getting much closer to part one's end.
Too bad we can't just throw Flurry Heart at Thanos.
Celestia: THIS IS FOR MY SISTER YOU BASTARD!
Hey, look! Loki finally did something in this story!
Oh come on! It worked on Galactus, but it doesn't work on Prune Face?!
9573272
I would have been funny if Black Widow told the girls how to undo the mind control first by explaining the technical mumbo jumbo, their confused look, and then the simple explanation of hitting him really hard on the head.
9572406
It' won't....Thanos in the comics had gazed into the eyes of the Ghost rider, and experience all the pain and suffering and horror he inflicted thru out his entire life.
Every scream, every, plead, every bit of mercy he denied and hopelessness and lost he inflicted.........He smiled.
9573694
Ah, did not know that.
9572414
And what we can expect if Thanos "snaps" and Flurry Heart vanishes...
https://derpicdn.net/img/2013/6/2/339064/full.png
Why don't they just have ant-man shrink craw inside Thanos' butthole and expand killing him instantly?
9571988 No one's too powerful...
9572002 Technically three chapters. 98, 99, and 100. So... even closer.
9572065 Ghost Rider never got the chance to use it on Thanos.
9572073 That's the name of a porno just waiting to happen.
9572090 Two sisters, side by side, one last stand. Here we go...
9572195 Technically I have three chapters left. 98, 99, and 100. Better hurry.
9572406 He very well may have.
9572411 I admire your optimism.
9572414 Everything's fine.
9572415 Guess we'll see, won't we?
9572862 It IS an important character moment for Bruce Banner.
9573272 Ghost Rider never got the opportunity to use the Penance Stare on Thanos.
9573804 Because that's a stupid fan theory that should have never got the traction it did.
9573839
that was the idea
Who else is here from pewdiepies subreddit lol
9573877
lol me, pewdiepie bronies for eveeeeer!!!!
9573877
not a brony, but I just made an account to comment on this comment, I wonder If pewds will review this.
9573839
absolutely no sense of humor smh
c'mon even the Russo brothers found it funny ( ͡ᵔ ͜ʖ ͡ᵔ )
9574420 I have a sense of humor, and actually found the theory to be pretty funny at one point, albeit more ridiculous if anything. It became annoying when people were legitimately wanting this to happen in the film (I have SEEN comments where people wanted it). Yeah, it's funny. But it's also gross, stupid, and will never happen.
9574571
What's with all these PewDiePie people anyway?
9573839
Thanks.
9574618
Who knows.
9574618 If I see anymore Pewdiepie comments, they're getting deleted.
9574916
They should be. They're pests.
9574755
The Endgame is the miracle.
9575292
Ya think that's funny? No, I don't give a f**k about Felix, but I despise his devotees, they're very annoying. It's all because of that Most Subscribed Channel war bulls**t they force everyone in and some nothing-to-do-with-your-lives Bollywood sound company. And who the hell cares about that subreddit?
9574980
Maybe.
9575392
We'll see what the author will write.
being new to this story I kind of liked it, but I just figured out that the author and everybody in the comments section are huge pricks.
apparently freedom of speech is a lie and you're attacking another fandom for no reason.
yup sorry im good,have a dislike, goodbye. The military was better than this shit.
9575557
indeed.
9575605 Oh, that's cute. Maybe next time you and your friends don't spam comments over a topic that has nothing to do with the story.
Just like in the movie Thanos used his second greatest weapons on the Hulk, De Hands