Two Star Systems Beyond the Void
A crimson tempest erupted across the barren surface of a forgotten world, tearing through gray dust and ancient stone as dimensional energies discharged their space cargo. From the swirling vortex of displaced space-time, a small figure tumbled in desperate panic—Gamora's familiar form, though her movements carried an alien urgency that belonged to someone else entirely.
The Reality Stone's power dissipated like morning mist, leaving only the whisper of stellar wind across lifeless plains.
"This distance should suffice," Thanos breathed through his daughter's lips, the words carrying relief tinged with exhaustion. Multiple faster-than-light jumps had pushed even the Reality Stone's capabilities to their limits, but the void's mysterious inhabitants had provided crucial distraction while he orchestrated his escape.
The irony wasn't lost on him—saved by unknown enemies who sought to destroy the very being he once was.
In truth, Thanos suspected his caution bordered on paranoia. Tracking someone via Infinity Stone resonance required either sophisticated technology or mystical abilities far beyond most space civilizations. While the Space Stone could open dimensional pathways, precise location targeting demanded intimate understanding of the target's specific energy signature.
"The encounter was... unexpected," he mused aloud, Gamora's voice carrying his ancient wisdom and bitter experience. "But fortune favored the prepared mind. Now I need only find a suitable location to rebuild my true form."
The Mad Titan's spirit had endured worse setbacks than Vilgax's betrayal and power theft. What initially seemed like catastrophic defeat had ultimately revealed new opportunities for achieving his space purpose.
His daughter Gamora had provided the key—though not through any conscious choice.
Ben Parker's mercy had preserved Thanos's existence. Vilgax's ambition had ignored the spiritual component of his power. Even Gamora's hatred couldn't erase him completely. The Soul Stone had become both prison and sanctuary, allowing his consciousness to persist while his body was destroyed.
But persistence wasn't victory, and observation wasn't control.
The breakthrough had come when Gamora's desperation drove her to attempt something monumentally foolish—using the Reality Stone's power to destroy the Soul Stone itself, hoping to break free from her spiritual passenger's constant whispered torments.
Thanos would have been delighted if she'd succeeded. He already knew the outcome of such reckless stone-on-stone violence.
The collision of space forces had indeed failed to destroy either artifact, but the spiritual backlash had cracked Gamora's soul like flawed crystal. In that moment of vulnerability, Thanos had seized his opportunity—abandoning the Soul Stone's protection to fill the gaps in his daughter's damaged spirit.
Possession was a crude solution, but effective.
Unfortunately, Gamora's physical form imposed severe limitations on his ambitions. Even with two Infinity Stones at his disposal, this borrowed body lacked the strength and constitution necessary for universe-shaping endeavors. The cruel irony of holding infinite power while being unable to properly channel it was not lost on the former space overlord.
"I wonder how Vilgax fares in his own endeavors," Thanos pondered, his tone carrying grudging respect rather than anger. "His betrayal was... predictable."
The shark-like warlord's true nature had been obvious from their first alliance—Vilgax served only his own ambitions, viewing everyone else as tools or obstacles. His eventual treachery surprised no one who understood the fundamental drives of space conquerors.
But betrayal didn't necessarily conflict with Thanos's greater purpose. Vilgax's enhanced rampage would certainly reduce universal populations through warfare and conquest. The methods might lack elegance and the selection process would be far from fair, but death was death regardless of its source.
When Thanos reclaimed his full power, he could always correct any imbalances through more precise intervention.
"I will judge the universe with perfect equity," he declared to the empty sky, his voice carrying the conviction of absolute moral certainty. "All life should be grateful I'm giving them a second chance at sustainable existence."
"No one will thank you for genocide, Thanos."
The Mad Titan spun toward the unexpected voice as reality twisted behind him, clouds of dimensional energy parting to reveal a doorway between spaces. A blonde woman emerged with fluid grace, her expression carrying the calm confidence of someone who held all the advantages in this confrontation.
"You..." Recognition struck like lightning as Thanos identified the figure. "Ben Parker's aid."
Panic flashed through his consciousness as he reflexively attempted escape, the Reality Stone's power wrapping around Gamora's form like liquid fire. But when the crimson energies dissipated, he remained exactly where he'd started—trapped within a sphere of compressed space-time.
"Spatial displacement won't save you," Eunice. informed him with clinical precision. "I've isolated this entire region using the Space Stone's authority. Your Reality Stone can alter local physics, but it cannot breach dimensional barriers I've already established."
"Clever girl," Thanos acknowledged, his initial fear transforming into calculating assessment. "But also foolish."
The absence of Ben Parker from this confrontation changed everything. As long as the King of Sakaar remained elsewhere, Thanos felt confident in his chances. The other Plumbers were competent warriors but lacked the space-scale power necessary to challenge someone of his caliber.
Beta Ray Bill might possess impressive strength, but he was fundamentally another Ronan—a skilled soldier elevated beyond his natural limits. Thor had once been formidable, but Gamora's recent encounter had revealed the Asgardian prince's pathetic decline. If Odin's own son had fallen so far, the rest of the organization couldn't be much better.
This blonde woman probably ranked somewhere between Nebula and Supergiant—dangerous to mortals, perhaps, but hardly a threat to someone wielding multiple Infinity Stones.
"You've done me a tremendous favor," Thanos smiled with predatory satisfaction. "Thank you for delivering additional Stones directly to my hands!"
Even during his reign as universal overlord, he'd never simultaneously controlled three Infinity Stones. The Mind Stone had been lost during the failed Earth invasion, while the Power Stone had proven to be an elaborate fake whose creation method still mystified him.
"Before we begin," he continued with mock courtesy, "I should ask—is the Stone you carry genuine, or another clever deception?"
Eunice.'s smile carried the sweetness of innocent youth as she clenched her hands together, then opened them to reveal... nothing. The Space Stone had vanished as if it had never existed.
"Stop playing games with me, child!"
Fury blazed across Thanos's borrowed features as he drew the Tyrant's Blade and lunged forward with deadly intent. The space weapon sang through the alien atmosphere, its edge carrying enough force to cleave through starship hulls.
The collision rang like a struck bell.
Eunice. hadn't bothered dodging—instead, she'd simply raised her arms to block the attack directly. Thanos's blade struck her forearms and stopped completely, unable to penetrate even her clothing as her slender limbs proved harder than neutronium.
"It seems the former master of the universe finds physical combat challenging after losing his original body," Eunice. observed with clinical interest. "Your current form imposes significant limitations."
Her analysis was accurate and devastating. While Thanos retained his vast experience and tactical knowledge, Gamora's physique couldn't channel the raw power he'd once commanded. A body that was formidable by most space standards felt pathetically weak when judged against his memories of true strength.
The vibranium composing Eunice.'s frame would normally yield to Thanos's full might, but borrowed flesh lacked the enhancement necessary to overcome such advanced materials.
Thanos's surprise quickly crystallized into cold professionalism. Shock was a luxury he couldn't afford—maintaining focus during unexpected developments separated experienced conquerors from dead fools. Victory remained achievable through proper application of his remaining advantages.
"Did you forget about my Stones?" he snarled, his expression twisting with feral intensity.
The Reality Stone's power erupted from Gamora's form like a controlled supernova, crimson energies tearing through the local space-time matrix with enough force to make the planet itself shudder. Molecular bonds dissolved and reformed according to Thanos's will as he reshaped matter into weapons of mass destruction aimed at his overconfident opponent.
The space storm engulfed Eunice.'s position with enough raw power to vaporize continents, yet somehow protected Gamora's body from the energies flowing through it.
"I don't know what manner of construct you are," Thanos declared with savage satisfaction, "but no material substance can withstand an Infinity Stone's direct assault. Your overconfidence will cost you—what?!"
His triumphant words died as impossible blue light pierced the crimson maelstrom like stars emerging at dawn. Eunice. floated serenely within the Reality Stone's chaos, her form wreathed in spatial distortions that rendered her untouchable by the energies raging around her.
"You seem to have forgotten about my Stone," she replied with unchanged calm.
During their initial exchange, she'd used her body's nanotechnology to disassemble and internalize the Space Stone, integrating it directly into her core systems. The perfect fusion of vibranium construction and advanced programming made her an ideal vessel for space artifacts—as long as she avoided activating multiple Stones simultaneously, her frame could channel their power without structural damage.
Now she was employing the Space Stone's authority to isolate herself from the Reality Stone's influence, much as Ben's Big Chill form could phase between dimensions. Eunice. appeared to remain in the same location, but existed in a completely separate dimensional pocket where Thanos's attacks couldn't reach her.
The entire sequence had been calculated and planned with mathematical precision.
As an artificial intelligence equipped with quantum processing capabilities, Eunice. had analyzed every aspect of Thanos's current situation before initiating contact. His available resources, tactical options, psychological weaknesses, and probable responses had all been mapped and countered in advance.
The Mad Titan possessed no path to victory that she hadn't already anticipated and neutralized.
The Space Stone's energy pulsed through the dimensional barrier, redirecting the Reality Stone's assault into empty void where it dissipated harmlessly. Blue light blazed from Eunice.'s optical sensors as she shaped spatial forces into visible manifestations of her will.
Translucent energy spheres materialized around Thanos's position, their surfaces rippling with geometric patterns that hurt to observe directly. The constructs moved with deliberate precision, converging on their target like the closing fists of an invisible giant.
"Impossible..." Thanos struggled against forces that defied physical resistance. "I cannot move..."
"Because I've displaced your limbs into separate dimensional pockets," Eunice. explained while maintaining the energy sphere containing his arms and legs. "Your body appears intact, but exists in spatial discontinuity. Strength cannot overcome geometry when the geometry itself has been rewritten."
Even wielding the Reality Stone's power, Thanos found himself effectively paralyzed by an opponent who had anticipated his every strategy.
"You underestimate me, construct!"
Desperation drove the Mad Titan to attempt something that would have been suicide for any lesser being. Behind Gamora's physical form, a golden shadow began materializing—Thanos's soul, blazing with the Soul Stone's radiance as he forced his spiritual essence to separate from its borrowed host.
The gambit carried enormous risk. Dividing his consciousness between physical and spiritual planes while channeling space forces through both could easily result in complete dissolution. But desperate circumstances demanded desperate measures.
Thanos's soul-form raised spectral arms and unleashed pure spiritual energy toward Eunice.'s position. Unlike physical attacks, assault on the soul-level couldn't be deflected by spatial manipulation—the strike bypassed dimensional barriers entirely to strike at her essential nature.
Eunice. plummeted from the sky as psychic agony overwhelmed her systems, the spatial cage containing Thanos shattering as her concentration broke.
Freedom restored, Thanos immediately reunited his divided consciousness before pressing his tactical advantage. Gamora's hands struck the planet's surface as the Reality Stone's power penetrated deep into the world's molten core, seizing control of geological forces with the casual ease of a master pianist playing a familiar melody.
The ground split apart with seismic violence as columns of superheated magma erupted skyward, their blazing streams twisting through the air like serpents of liquid fire as they converged on Eunice.'s position.
Environmental hazards posed little threat to her vibranium construction—the exotic metal could withstand stellar temperatures under normal circumstances. But the Extremis virus integrated into her systems transformed potential weakness into overwhelming strength. When fully activated, her internal heat generation exceeded the magma's temperature by orders of magnitude.
The molten rock simply vaporized on contact with her superheated form.
What surprised Eunice. was the tactical sophistication her opponent had demonstrated.
"You can actually utilize two Stones simultaneously?" she asked as she emerged from the dissipating vapors, her optical sensors tracking energy signatures that should have been impossible.
The Mind Stone's power flowed through her frame, displacing the Space Stone's influence as she prepared different countermeasures. Golden beams erupted from her hands, carving through the remaining magma with surgical precision while carrying her back into aerial combat positions.
Even with her advanced construction and perfect vibranium composition, Eunice. could only safely channel one Infinity Stone at a time. Yet Thanos somehow managed dual-Stone manipulation despite possessing a far inferior physical form.
"The explanation lies in spiritual division," she concluded after analyzing the energy patterns. "You're not truly activating two Stones as a single entity—you're functioning as two separate beings sharing the same general location."
Her assessment was absolutely correct.
Thanos had achieved the impossible by exploiting the unusual nature of his current existence. The Reality Stone resided in Gamora's body, which he controlled through possession. The Soul Stone remained bound to his actual spiritual essence, allowing him to channel its power independently.
The technique came with a horrific price—his soul felt like it was being torn apart by space forces never meant to flow through spiritual substance. Every second of dual-Stone usage brought agony that would have driven lesser beings to madness.
But Thanos was no lesser being, and the potential rewards justified any amount of suffering.
"As expected of the Mad Titan," Eunice. acknowledged with genuine admiration. "Even when reduced to possessing your own daughter's body, you find ways to exceed normal limitations."
Thanos barely heard the commentary through the waves of soul-deep pain. Recognition blazed in his borrowed eyes as he identified additional Stones in Eunice.'s possession—not just the Space Stone, but the Mind Stone as well.
Two more artifacts to claim. Two more steps toward his space destiny.
Excitement overwhelmed agony as infinite possibilities crystallized in his strategic mind. If he could defeat this construct and claim her Stones, he would control four of the six Infinity Stones simultaneously. More power than any being in universal history had ever wielded.
Thanos the Mad Titan would return as Thanos the God-Emperor.
The construct possessed impressive capabilities—possibly exceeding even Supergiant's varied talents. Under different circumstances, he might have attempted recruitment rather than destruction. But nothing could be allowed to interfere with his proximity to ultimate power.
"Your fate is sealed, artificial being!"
He roared with the fury of a space hurricane as both Stones blazed with synchronized power. The Soul Stone's spiritual energy merged with the Reality Stone's matter manipulation, creating attacks that targeted both physical substance and essential existence simultaneously.
"You have nowhere to flee!"
The merged energies struck with the force of colliding galaxies, crimson waves enhanced by golden radiance as they swept across the battlefield like a tsunami of pure destruction. The assault covered the entire visible sky, transforming into a continental mass of death-dealing energy that crushed downward toward Eunice.'s position.
Against such overwhelming force, any normal being would have been obliterated instantly.
But Eunice. faced the space catastrophe with perfect calm, her expression carrying mysterious confidence that suggested knowledge Thanos lacked.
"I never needed to run," she replied simply, her gaze fixed on some point beyond the visible battlefield.
Snap.
Thanos's body froze mid-attack as if suddenly trapped in temporal stasis. His raised arms locked in place while the massive wave of Reality/Soul energy hung suspended above them like a malevolent aurora, its descent halted by forces that made Infinity Stones seem trivial.
At the same moment, a voice rolled across the desolate planet like thunder given words—familiar, implacable, and carrying power that dwarfed even space artifacts.
"Thanos. Who gave you permission to attack my people?"
The Mad Titan raised his eyes toward the sky with the slow inevitability of someone confirming their worst fears, and saw a face large enough to eclipse moons looking down at him with cold displeasure.
The suspended wave of destruction reversed its flow, streaming upward toward space as if drawn by gravitational forces too vast to comprehend.
"You always manage to surprise me, Ben Parker," Thanos whispered through gritted teeth, his space ambitions crumbling once again before the presence of the one being in the universe he genuinely feared.