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Chapter 337: The Dawn of Gathering the Infinity Stones
🕑 Added 2025-09-21 16:50:48 +0000 UTC
Even before, the key members of Thanos’s forces were hardly a match for the X-Men. Now that their supreme commander himself had fallen, their morale collapsed like a dam giving way under floodwaters. The aura of invincibility surrounding Thanos had been shattered, and without it, his army’s will to resist crumbled.
The battlefield, once boiling with frenzied resistance, quickly turned into a slaughterhouse. The soldiers fought more out of instinct than strategy, swinging weapons with desperation rather than coordination. Their combat effectiveness plummeted, leaving them like prey scrambling before a pack of predators.
One after another, they fell beneath the combined might of the X-Men. Bolts of lightning carved through their ranks, vines crushed and strangled, optic blasts incinerated, and blue flames consumed. It was not a battle so much as the final sweep of an unstoppable tide.
The outcome held no suspense whatsoever.
Victory belonged wholly and decisively to the X-Men.
Apart from the vast army of conscripts controlled en masse by Charles Xavier and Emma Frost—kept restrained rather than unleashed—the entirety of Thanos’s inner circle had been wiped out. His lieutenants, his generals, his so-called Black Order, all erased by Alex and his team.
It was worth noting, however, that two figures were absent from this grim tally: Thanos’s daughters, Gamora and Nebula. Neither had been present at their father’s stronghold during the confrontation. In the chaos of fate, their absence could be considered fortunate—or perhaps ominous, depending on how one looked at it.
Whoosh!
Just as Cyclops, Scott Summers, blasted the last of the Black Order’s warriors into nothingness, a streak of golden light tore across the heavens. The brilliance was like a comet, fierce and resplendent, before slowing to reveal a figure descending in regal poise.
Captain Marvel.
She touched down with effortless grace, the golden energy still flickering around her shoulders like a mantle of fire. Her eyes scanned the carnage—the countless corpses strewn across the battlefield, the shattered remnants of Thanos’s once-terrifying army. She gave a low whistle, then shrugged with a half-smile.
“Looks like I’m a step too late again.”
“No, Danvers,” Erik replied with a dry chuckle, brushing a gauntleted hand against his metal-bent armor. “You’re right on time—just in time to help clean up the mess.”
“I’d rather not,” she said, tone deliberately casual, though her eyes betrayed respect for the devastation she was witnessing. She turned her gaze toward Alex, who stood amidst the X-Men like a sun at the center of a constellation. “Congratulations, Alex. You’re now the most powerful being in the universe. And the X-Men? The strongest force it has ever seen.”
It sounded almost like flattery, the sort of lip service exchanged after a victory. Yet in truth, it wasn’t far from reality.
Alex, once a man who had clawed his way step by step through impossibilities, now stood unrivaled. Under his leadership, just over a dozen mutants had annihilated the core of Thanos’s empire—beings feared across galaxies. Together, they had toppled a tyrant whom countless civilizations had deemed untouchable. If word of this victory spread, the ripple of shock would reverberate through every corner of the cosmos.
But Alex merely inclined his head, his voice steady and faintly cool. “There’s nothing to congratulate. Thanos wasn’t a challenge anymore.”
There was no arrogance in his tone, only fact. At his current level of strength, foes like Thanos had ceased to be obstacles. They were milestones already passed, shadows of a weaker age. His eyes did not linger on the fallen titan; they looked forward, past this battle, toward horizons yet unreached.
“Alright,” Alex said, his voice carrying quiet authority that stilled the aftermath. “Let’s head back.”
The X-Men regrouped around him without hesitation. He raised a hand, and with a ripple of command, their warship stirred to life.
Xiu!
The massive vessel lifted from the ground, engines glowing, before streaking skyward. In a matter of breaths, it vanished into the endless tapestry of space, leaving the broken battlefield and the remnants of Thanos’s army far behind.
Yes—Alex had deliberately spared them.
With their overlord dead and their generals destroyed, the countless foot soldiers of Thanos’s army were reduced to little more than frightened conscripts. They numbered over a million, yet without leadership, they were aimless. Alex was ruthless toward his true enemies, but not so monstrous as to indulge in pointless slaughter. To him, these soldiers were ants—ants that no longer mattered. Their existence posed no true threat, and exterminating them would have been nothing but cruelty and wasted time.
Thus ended the saga of Thanos.
…
Upon their return to Krakoa, the mutant nation welcomed its heroes with thunderous celebration. A grand banquet was held beneath the shining towers and lush biomes of their living island. The atmosphere blazed with joy—mutants raising their glasses, laughter echoing, music swelling into the night. Victory had been secured, and for a rare moment, they could breathe freely without the weight of looming catastrophe.
But dawn brought with it purpose.
The following morning, Alex gathered the X-Men once more. The hall quieted as he stood at the center, his expression solemn.
“Everyone,” he began, voice steady and commanding, “for some time now, I have been planning to leave Earth.”
The words rippled through the assembly. Surprise flashed in their eyes; the announcement was sudden, almost jarring after a night of revelry. Yet none doubted him. They knew Alex well enough to understand—if he had made this decision, there was gravity behind it.
“Alex,” Raven asked quickly, her voice carrying the calm edge of an administrator. “Where are you going? Is it something urgent?”
Charles’s brow furrowed in thought before he spoke. “The Infinity Stones, isn’t it?”
“Exactly.” Alex gave a single nod, his eyes glinting. “It’s time I begin the search.”
Collecting the Infinity Stones had always been his top priority, a silent drumbeat beneath his every action. Before now, timing and circumstance had held him back. But things had changed. Loki’s Mind Stone rested securely in his possession. Odin had pledged strategic cooperation, opening the path to Asgard and the Nine Realms. The conditions were finally aligned.
There was no longer reason to delay.
His gaze hardened. “My next destination is the Nine Realms. The Reality Stone waits there.”
According to the original timeline Alex knew, the Nine Realms would align three years later, when Jane Foster would stumble upon the Aether—host vessel of the Reality Stone. But that was the story as it was meant to unfold, not necessarily the story that would unfold now. Alex’s rebirth had already warped the flow of fate. Who could say whether Jane Foster would still discover the Aether as before?
No. When it came to the Infinity Stones, sooner was always better. Delay was risk.
“Do you have a lead?” Erik asked, his sharp eyes studying Alex.
“The Reality Stone rests somewhere among the Nine Realms,” Alex replied with calm certainty. “Nine planets. Search them, and it will be found.”
He made it sound simple. But everyone present understood the enormity of the task. To scour even a single world for such a relic was daunting; to scour nine was like chasing a ghost across a cosmic ocean. Yet no one dared voice doubt.
“What can we do to help?” Hank asked, leaning forward, concern plain in his tone.
“You won’t need to,” Alex answered. “I’ll seek Odin’s aid. Asgard’s resources will accelerate the search.”
The logic was sound, and the team accepted it. With Asgard in play, their role would be minimal.
Just then, Captain Marvel raised her voice, her confident grin breaking the tension. “Speaking of Stones, I have good news of my own. I’ve found a lead on the Orb. With a bit more time, I’m sure I can track it down.”
“Danvers,” Alex said, and for the first time since returning, his voice warmed. “I’m counting on you.”
“I won’t let you down,” she replied, her tone steady as steel. “I promised I’d help you find it. I intend to keep that promise.”
