"Then die."
Thanos tore Nebula's mechanical arm and half her torso free with one brutal motion, flinging her broken body aside as if she were nothing more than scrap. Most of her vital systems were artificial. With them gone, she wouldn't last ten minutes.
Lying there, half her body ruined, Nebula looked up at him and smiled.
"I'll watch you die first."
The fear she had carried for years was gone. The moment she realized Thanos wasn't invincible, something inside her finally loosened. She had endured so many torturous modifications that death itself no longer frightened her.
Rowan stepped forward, his voice calm.
"She's right. You won't outlive her."
Thanos turned, eyes blazing.
"Then let's see who falls first!"
With a roar, his muscles swelled and he charged like a living weapon. Even unarmed, Thanos believed himself unstoppable.
Rowan raised one hand.
"Fairy Law."
A pillar of blinding white light descended from the sky, engulfing Thanos completely. At the same instant, the Tyrant Blade streaked through the light under Rowan's control, carrying crushing force.
When the glow faded, the Mad Titan's body remained standing for a heartbeat.
Then his head slid from his shoulders and fell.
Rowan caught the returning blade.
"Cleanup complete."
Silence followed.
Moments later, the Ravager base ship descended, and Peter, Rocket, and the others rushed onto the battlefield.
"Nebula!" Gamora dropped to her knees, cradling her sister gently. Her voice softened in a way it rarely did.
Nebula smiled faintly.
"I never wanted to beat you. I just wanted… a sister. Thanos is dead. I hope you can finally live happily."
"She'll survive," Gamora said sharply, turning to Rocket. "You're the best mechanic I know. Fix her."
Rocket examined the damage and shook his head.
"Not here. No tools, no parts. And she's out of time."
"I've got it," Rowan said, approaching.
He lifted a hand.
"Reparo."
Light washed over Nebula's shattered body. Metal knit together. Circuits reformed. In seconds, her mechanical half was restored to its original state.
Repair magic couldn't heal flesh. But for machines, it was perfection.
The group stared.
"The universe really is ridiculous," Rocket muttered.
That was when a blue figure dropped from the sky.
A war hammer came down toward Rowan's skull with lethal precision.
Ronan the Accuser.
He had remained hidden the entire battle, cloaked by his Universal Weapon, watching, analyzing. Rowan fought in human form without trading blows directly. That meant a fragile body. A single ambush, a single strike, and victory would be his.
Two Infinity Stones would make up for any loss.
Or so he thought.
At the last instant, Rowan turned. The Tyrant Blade rose and caught the hammer cleanly.
"Ronan," Rowan said lightly, "did you really think I didn't know you were up there?"
Throughout the fight, Rowan's mental senses had never left Ronan. Escape had never been an option.
Ronan's eyes widened.
"He blocked it… with his body?"
Rowan's right arm swelled, strength surging.
"Get lost."
One swing.
The Tyrant Blade shattered Ronan's hammer in half and continued through, severing both his arms in a single motion.
"I'm a well-rounded mage," Rowan said coolly. "Close combat isn't off-limits."
Ronan screamed, staggered, and ran.
He didn't get far.
A massive figure tackled him to the ground, knives flashing.
"You killed my wife. You killed my daughter," the man snarled. "I'm taking your head."
Drax drove both blades into Ronan's eyes.
The Accuser's screams echoed briefly, then stopped, drowned beneath relentless strikes.
The battlefield finally fell silent.