Thanos knew quite a bit about Robb Westeros. After all, having used the Mind Stone to control Thor, he had extracted substantial information about Earth and, more importantly, Robb.
Thanos had long set his sights on Earth due to the Infinity Stones scattered there. But Earth wasn't just any planet. Even when armed with the Mind Stone and the Infinity Gauntlet, Thanos had hesitated. The presence of Asgard's Allfather Odin and the Sorcerer Supreme, the Ancient One, meant his victory wasn't guaranteed.
Controlling the will of a sorcerer as powerful as the Ancient One seemed unlikely, especially when she held the Time Stone and could wield it with expert precision. This uncertainty had kept Thanos from taking direct action.
Even after Odin's decline and the Ancient One's departure, Thanos opted for caution. He sent emissaries to probe Earth's defenses, only to suffer significant losses. The defeat during the Battle of New York had cost him not just two of his Black Order but also a critical blow to his Chitauri forces.
The Chitauri, while a bioengineered army, paled in comparison to Darkseid's Parademons in both scale and resilience. The defeat at New York had left the Chitauri crippled, as creating such soldiers required significant resources.
This failure had forced Thanos to bide his time, seeking other Infinity Stones and artifacts to enhance his power before attempting another assault on Earth. For this reason, he had refrained from returning to his homeworld, Titan, as its location was well-known among various galactic civilizations.
Thanos had also anticipated that someone like Robb, with his immense strength, wouldn't remain confined to Earth. He suspected Robb would eventually venture into the cosmos. What Thanos hadn't expected was for Robb to track him down so quickly, leaving the Titan momentarily caught off guard.
"Was it Supergiant who betrayed me?" Thanos asked coldly, regaining his composure.
"Not at all," Robb replied with a casual shrug. "She remained loyal, refusing to reveal your location or even enable navigation to find you. She resisted to the very end."
Robb saw no need to sully Supergiant's loyalty. Regardless of her motives, her final stand had been one of defiance, deserving respect.
"She was a good child," Thanos said softly, his tone tinged with regret. "A martyr for a better future. So, it was you who controlled her communications with us? And Thor? He remains under the Mind Stone's influence, does he not?"
"Thor is alive," Robb said, his tone steady. "But I've restrained him physically, not mentally."
Robb wasn't in a rush to strike. He had seen many antagonists—some purely evil, others bent on revenge, and a few who followed logic alien to most. Thanos clearly belonged to the latter group.
"You're stronger than Thor's memories suggested," Thanos remarked, his gaze intense. "They say you're a warrior. Would you mind if I armed myself?"
"Go ahead," Robb replied, gesturing for him to proceed. "But while you're at it, enlighten me. Why exactly do you believe halving the universe's population is the solution?"
Thanos walked to his double-edged blade, his movements deliberate. "The conclusion stems from my homeworld's fate," he began, his voice calm.
"My planet exhausted its resources without restraint, leading to extinction. The same fate has befallen countless civilizations, including Krypton, your Superman's homeworld."
Thanos continued, his conviction radiating like a faint glow. "Unchecked growth and consumption will push the universe beyond its limits. Without intervention, life itself, along with the universe, will cease to exist."
"And slaughtering half the population will prevent that?" Robb asked, his tone laced with irony. "Killing half of the universe's inhabitants won't stop growth. Civilizations will recover. Would you repeat your culling then? And your conclusions—are they truly representative of all planets? Or just the result of your limited experiences?"
Thanos, unfazed, replied, "You underestimate the strain advanced civilizations place on their worlds. All progress comes at a cost. No civilization can create resources from nothing. Without change, the end is inevitable."
"And without civilizations, the end isn't inevitable?" Robb countered, shaking his head. "Your plan is nothing more than paranoid speculation. The universe is vast beyond comprehension. Who's to say it won't end from some other unforeseen catastrophe long before your imagined resource exhaustion occurs?"
Robb pressed on. "And let's not forget the Infinity Stones. You could use their power to create resources instead of committing genocide. Why choose destruction over creation?"
Thanos was silent for a moment before replying, "If the universe's resources became limitless, civilizations would expand unchecked, either ascending beyond the constraints of a single universe or waging war to seize resources from others. Such abundance would only bring chaos."
Robb smirked, shaking his head. "So, nothing works except your grand genocide? You don't even have a plan for what to do after populations rebound. Admit it—this resource argument is just a convenient excuse."
"Shing!" Before Thanos could respond, a blade suddenly slashed toward Robb. It wasn't Thanos but Corvus Glaive, suppressing his fear to launch a surprise attack.
Clang! The blade struck Robb's neck but failed to pierce his skin, leaving not even a scratch. Robb's body was impervious, stronger than ever.
"Foolish," Robb muttered, turning to face Corvus. With a single punch, he sent the attacker hurtling through the ship's hull into the vacuum of space, where the environment quickly began to ravage Corvus' body.
Yet, to Robb's surprise, Corvus didn't die. The ship's retrieval systems brought him back aboard, where his injuries began to heal rapidly, aided by his weapon's mysterious energy.
"Interesting," Robb remarked, his gaze shifting to Corvus' glaive. The weapon seemed to channel energy into its wielder, sustaining him even after severe damage.
Buzz! As Robb examined the glaive, the Mind Stone on Thanos' gauntlet glowed, its power surging toward Robb in a surprise psychic assault.
For a moment, Robb's consciousness flickered, but he quickly shook off the attack, isolating the Mind Stone's influence.
Seizing the opportunity, Thanos, Corvus, and Proxima Midnight attacked in unison. Corvus aimed for one eye, Proxima for the other, while Thanos swung his blade toward Robb's neck.
Boom! None of their attacks connected. A fiery aura enveloped Robb, deflecting the strikes. He retaliated with devastating punches, sending Corvus and Proxima back into space while kicking Thanos across the ship.
Thanos landed hard, his armor shattered, his expression grim.
He had always known Robb's power exceeded his own, but witnessing it firsthand was sobering. What unsettled him even more was that Robb hadn't even transformed yet. His power was far from its peak.
Thanos could see it clearly—this was only the beginning.
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