— — — — — —
The battle was worthy of being called Infinity War.
Wave after wave of Thanos's endless army swarmed forward. Like they were endless.
And even though Tony and the others carved through them like reapers, the pressure only kept mounting.
At the same time, the Wakanda battlefield was being broadcast live across the globe—something Renzo had ordered Red Queen to arrange.
He wanted humanity to see for themselves just how brutal an alien invasion really was. To shake them awake. To prepare them for the day Earth would step beyond its cradle and into the stars.
...
"Holy crap, look at all those aliens! Can we even win this?"
"Where is this happening?"
"Looks like… Africa?"
"Damn! I can see their fleet in the sky from my city! Are we screwed?"
"Chill, guys! We've still got the Avengers, don't we?"
"Yeah, but can they win?"
"Why don't we just nuke them?"
"Are you an idiot? You wanna nuke the Avengers too? What are you, one of those clowns from the New York incident who tried the same thing back then?"
"Exactly! You think aliens that can cross the stars don't have nukes—or worse? We should be glad they're fighting with foot soldiers instead of just glassing the planet."
"I swear these things look like they were grown in a lab. Totally brainless cannon fodder!"
"No kidding!"
...
All across the world, people were glued to the live feed, unable to stop talking once they realized they could send comments across the screen.
Governments weren't idle either. Leaders from every nation watched closely, quietly mobilizing their forces. If Wakanda and the Avengers couldn't hold the line, they were ready to intervene.
This wasn't Wakanda's war alone. It wasn't the Avengers' war alone. This was Earth's war.
For once, humanity began to rally together.
---
"Tony! Don't fly too far in—there's too many of them!" Black Widow shouted while firing, her earpiece crackling with urgency.
"Yeah, yeah, I got it!" Tony replied, blasting another cluster of enemies apart with the weapons on his suit.
But no matter how many he dropped, the enemy didn't thin out. If anything, they just kept coming.
He finally understood—they were worthless cannon fodder. But leaving them alive wasn't an option. To normal people, to entire armies, these things were pure disaster.
"Cap, behind you!" Hawkeye loosed an arrow, skewering a beast lunging for Steve's head.
"Appreciate it!" Steve called back before swinging his shield and smashing straight into another pack of enemies.
Half an hour of nonstop fighting left even Captain America winded—something that almost never happened. The enemy's sheer numbers were overwhelming.
"This isn't working!" he growled, crushing a monster's skull and glancing toward Wakanda's defensive line. Soldiers were already falling, the barrier trembling under the unending tide.
"Renzo! We need help—we can't hold much longer!" Steve shouted up toward the figure floating above.
"Understood," Renzo said with a nod.
He rose higher into the air, then drew in a deep breath.
"Frost Breath!"
A bone-chilling gale erupted from his lungs, sweeping past every Earth warrior without touching them. In just a few heartbeats, hundreds of thousands of alien beasts were frozen solid where they stood.
Crack! Boom!
Before Renzo could make another move, thunder exploded across the sky.
The Avengers froze and looked up.
From one of the enemy ships, Thor leapt down like a thunderbolt himself, Stormbreaker gripped in both hands. Wrapped in a storm of lightning, he swung the axe down with all his might, cleaving straight into the middle of the horde.
Rippp!
Electric fury ripped outward like a chain reaction, spreading across the battlefield. Within seconds, everything within several hundred meters was fried to blackened husks.
"Thor?"
"About damn time you showed up!"
Steve, Tony, and the others lit up with relief at the sight of their thunder god crashing down.
"Die, you ugly bastards! Rocket's here!"
Rocket Raccoon jumped off Thor's shoulder, guns blazing as he tore into wave after wave of aliens.
Thor charged into the mob, axe flashing, cutting down whole groups at a time. Behind him, Groot and the rest of the Guardians joined the fight.
"Pretty good timing," Renzo said with a faint smile. He soared into the main battlefield, cold air spilling from his lungs. With every breath, monsters froze into glittering statues of ice. A snap of his fingers, and they shattered into fragments.
"Holy crap… who is this guy? He's wrecking them like it's nothing. Stronger than Thor, even? Don't tell me he's another god," Rocket muttered, watching in disbelief.
He'd never imagined Earth had a powerhouse like this.
"I am Groot," the tree-being said softly, glancing nervously at Renzo. His heavy wooden feet shuffled backward despite himself.
He'd seen enough to know Renzo wouldn't hurt allies, but as a living tree, that terrifying cold sent a primal shiver through him.
"Relax, Groot! He's with us!" Rocket said, half amused.
"I am Groot," Groot replied again, meaning he understood—but that didn't stop the fear in his eyes.
"Hah! You're hopeless," Rocket chuckled.
Thor, meanwhile, glanced at Renzo and couldn't help but grit his teeth. "Damn it… Renzo is as insane as ever. No—he's even stronger now. I should've dragged him to Asgard when I had the chance! Maybe then… Asgard wouldn't have fallen. Maybe Loki…"
His voice trailed off. The thought of his destroyed home, of the half of his people slaughtered, of Loki's neck crushed in Thanos's grip, dragged his spirit down.
But regret was useless now. All he could do was fight forward.
Shaking off the weight, Thor raised Stormbreaker and waded back into the horde, killing without pause.
With Renzo and Thor both on the field, the tide finally began to turn. The enemy ranks thinned.
Especially Renzo—every sweep of his power annihilated tens of thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands at once. In just over an hour, the cannon-fodder army had been completely wiped out.
Even the massive war machines—giant rolling disks bristling with alien weapons—were frozen solid by Renzo and then tucked away into his collection.
"Another trophy. Nice."
---
Just as the last echoes of battle began to fade, a space portal ripped open in the middle of the battlefield.
From it stepped Thanos, clad in golden armor.
He scanned the scene, then let a faint smile tug at his lips—whether in admiration or mockery, no one could tell.
"Oh? All gone already? Not bad," he said, his deep voice dripping with casual menace. "But I think this farce has gone on long enough."
His eyes gleamed. "Hand over the Mind Stone and the Time Stone. Do that, and I'll let you keep breathing. Whether you survive afterward… well, that's up to fate. What do you say?"
His confidence was absolute.
On his right hand gleamed a golden gauntlet, its back already studded with four Infinity Stones—Power, Reality, Space, and... Soul.
.
.
.