Twilight_Scribe
patreon
Chapter 264: Thanos: Avengers, I’m Coming for You!
🕑 Added 2025-08-15 16:01:03 +0000 UTC
Hearing that Alex had arrived through “legitimate means,” Doctor Strange didn’t press further—but the faint crease between his brows deepened. The dim light of the room caught the lines of strain on his face, shadows sharpening the edges of his expression.
Thanos’ snap, the silent deaths of half the universe, the Avengers’ crushing defeat in the Infinity War…
All of it had been part of the one future where they prevailed, the single thread of victory woven out of more than 14 million possible timelines he had peered into.
But in that vision—Alex had not existed.
His presence was a disruption. A ripple in carefully charted waters. A variable that had never been accounted for.
And according to the future Strange had witnessed, after Bruce Banner reversed the snap, Thanos from the past would tear his way into their time.
That final clash had been the true endgame—the desperate last stand that ended in the Titan’s downfall.
Yet here and now… that moment had not come.
Strange’s mind raced, the weight of uncertainty pressing in.
Logically, Thanos failing to appear should have been a blessing. No invasion meant no battle, no deaths.
But to Strange, it was anything but comforting. It meant the narrative had slipped from the rails he knew. The dangerous comfort of foresight was gone, replaced by a widening void of unpredictability.
And the longer he thought about it, the more his unease curdled into a quiet, urgent dread.
“Everyone, I need to go.”
His tone left no room for questions. Without another word, Strange’s fingers carved a sharp, deliberate motion through the air, a portal blooming in a swirl of golden sparks. The scent of ozone tinged the room as he stepped through, vanishing toward the ancient stone halls of Kamar-Taj.
He needed to consult the Time Stone again, to search for any remaining fragments of the future he thought he understood.
“What a rude guy,” Alex scoffed under his breath.
Then—
BOOM!
A thunderous sonic burst split the air, rattling the walls. The floor vibrated underfoot as Alex launched skyward, cutting through the clouds in a blur. The force of his departure whipped at the Avengers’ hair and sent stray papers swirling across the room.
The others: “…”
Who, exactly, was the rude one again?!
---
2016
Thanos’ Secret Base
Far from Earth, in the cold expanse of space, a laboratory thrummed with alien energy. Gleaming walls of black alloy pulsed faintly with power, casting eerie reflections across the rows of arcane machinery. Strange devices—part organic, part mechanical—clicked and whirred in rhythm, like a living heart.
At the center of it all, an alien researcher hunched over a workbench, his long, multi-jointed fingers dancing over glowing controls. Before him rested a quantum suit and a compact time-travel wrist device, their sleek surfaces etched with unfamiliar runes of technology.
If Tony Stark or Steve Rogers had been there, they would have recognized them in an instant—
The Avengers’ time-travel gear.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
After long hours of precise adjustments, the device emitted a sharp chime. A three-dimensional holographic interface shimmered into being above the table, its cascading data streams bathing the lab in shifting light.
“Yes!”
“I’ve done it!”
The alien scientist—Urba—lifted his head, eyes glittering with triumph. His voice echoed off the metal walls, brittle with excitement.
“Are you sure it works?”
The skeptical voice belonged to Gamora, her stance relaxed yet watchful as she leaned against the far wall, arms crossed over her chest. Her gaze cut into him like a blade, weighing his confidence against her instincts.
“It does. Take me to the master!”
Urba’s excitement was palpable; his movements quickened, almost clumsy in his eagerness.
Gamora’s lips thinned, but she turned without another word, leading him down the long, torchlit hall toward the throne room.
“My lord!”
Urba dropped to one knee before Thanos, head bowed low.
“Father, Urba claims he’s cracked the time machine’s code,” Gamora said flatly, though the faintest edge of tension threaded her voice.
On his throne of dark metal, Thanos leaned forward, his massive hands resting on the armrests. His eyes glowed faintly, catching the light as they fixed on Urba.
Two years ago, he had planted a mole—Nebula—among the Avengers who had slain him in the future.
The plan had been simple in its cruelty: she would betray them from within, open the door for him to invade their time, crush their resistance, and claim the Infinity Stones they had so carefully gathered.
But the plan had failed.
Two years had passed with no signal from Nebula.
Only one explanation remained—she had been exposed.
He had believed in her obedience, trusted her to follow his will. But clearly, the Avengers of that future were not the simple prey he had once thought. They were cunning. Unpredictable.
Even so, Thanos had not abandoned his goal.
He had summoned the brightest minds in the galaxy, dragging them from every corner of known space, to work on reverse-engineering the stolen time-travel schematics buried in Nebula’s recovered data.
And now, after two long years of relentless effort, victory was within reach.
“Urba, was it?”
Thanos’ voice rolled like distant thunder.
“Yes, my lord. By analyzing the control module, I’ve fully deciphered the time machine’s programming. I can now modify its functions—”
“I don’t care about the details.”
The Titan’s interruption cut cleanly through Urba’s words.
“Just tell me—can I travel to the future?”
“Theoretically… yes.”
Urba hesitated. Even a genius knew better than to speak carelessly under that gaze.
“Theoretically?!”
The single word cracked the air like a whip. Urba flinched.
“M-My lord, the time machine’s mainframe is the core of the system. We don’t have it.”
He rushed to explain before the Titan’s patience frayed further.
“While I can alter the programming, I can’t command the mainframe directly. But—there is a way!”
Urba’s voice gained urgency.
“If the Avengers activate their time machine again, I can use our control module to hijack the mainframe’s signal and pull you through to their time!”
Thanos’ glare softened—slightly.
“So… if they use the machine, I can go?”
“Yes, my lord!” Urba affirmed, his head bobbing quickly.
“Master, they will use it again.”
Ebony Maw glided forward from the shadows, his voice smooth, confident.
“They took the Stones from the past. They’ll return them. That was always their plan.”
The future Nebula’s memories had revealed their intentions in full.
“Then I’ll be waiting, Avengers.”
Thanos’ lips curled into a slow, predatory smirk. His eyes burned—not just with anticipation, but with the grim satisfaction of a predator certain the prey would return to the trap.
