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177 Strange Corruption
🕑 Added 2025-08-24 08:33:20 +0000 UTCTitan.
The shattered moon was enduring a destruction even greater than its final doomsday.
Visible sound waves tore through the battlefield, annihilating everything in their path. The ground quaked, starships disintegrated midair, and the already-ruined structures of Titan crumbled to dust.
Yet the massive figure standing at the center of Black Bolt’s sonic storm remained nearly unharmed.
Thanos.
Clad in alloyed armor, gripping his twin-bladed sword of destruction, the Mad Titan swung with brutal force. His strike crashed into Captain Marvel, whose body blazed with golden energy.
With a sudden leap, Thanos slammed his fist through the energy barrier conjured by Mister Fantastic—then lunged toward Professor X, determined to silence the telepath who dared to invade his mind.
Black Bolt faltered, unable to continue unleashing his destructive voice without risking his allies.
But then—behind him—Captain Carter charged, wreathed in flames, her vibranium shield blazing as she collided with Thanos.
The result was inevitable. Carter was swatted away like a rag doll.
But she had bought them precious seconds.
A glowing sling ring portal opened beneath Professor X, dropping him to safety. He reappeared beside Mister Fantastic a hundred meters away.
That was the signal.
The trap activated.
From the ruined ground, twelve metallic spheres erupted, lightning crackling across their surfaces.
Energy surged between them, linking together into a containment grid—a thousandfold gravitational field.
Invisible force slammed into Thanos, driving his colossal body into the earth, burying him deep in Titan’s rubble.
High above, Carol Danvers unleashed her fury.
Her eyes burned with blinding energy as she ascended into Binary Mode.
A living star, she plummeted like a golden blade from the heavens, closing the distance in an instant—striking Thanos dead-on.
BOOM.
The ground convulsed violently. Shockwaves exploded outward, hurling stone and twisted metal like shrapnel.
Protective barriers shimmered into existence, shielding the others from the devastation.
Watching the impact, Carter’s face lit with hope. She shouted into the comms:
“Success, Reed! Quickly—warn Strange! Tell him to stop using the Darkhold. We might not need it after all!”
It was all part of the plan. Their mission wasn’t to defeat Thanos outright, but to buy Strange time to harness the Darkhold’s terrible power.
Because once Strange wielded it, Thanos had to die swiftly. Otherwise, the corruption of the Darkhold would consume him entirely.
But if Thanos was already dead—then Strange’s sacrifice would no longer be necessary.
A heavy, grim voice replied through the comms:
“Be careful… Thanos isn’t dead. Charles is still fighting him.”
Mister Fantastic’s words froze Carter’s blood.
Impossible. How could Carol’s Binary Strike fail to kill him?
Then—
An enraged roar split the battlefield.
Professor X cried out, his psychic projection shattered. His body convulsed, blood streaming from his nose and mouth.
The air went still.
Blue light erupted in Thanos’ hand—then collapsed inward with terrifying speed, compressing into a singularity.
A black hole.
The Space Stone pulsed within his grasp.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel was ensnared, her body locked in place by tendrils of dark crimson energy.
Thanos’ eyes narrowed, his voice low and cruel:
“You love crashing into me so much… Let’s see how hard that head of yours really is.”
He pressed the black hole toward Carol’s face.
But her body suddenly dissipated into smoke—an astral decoy.
With a bang, she rematerialized dozens of meters away, slamming into the ground.
Thanos didn’t bother chasing her.
His gaze lifted instead—toward the skies.
At some point, a man in a red cape, a blue uniform, and with a cold, dark power gleaming in his eyes appeared.
He fixed his gaze on the battlefield and spoke in a chilling voice:
“Sorcerer Supreme, you finally show yourself. Hand over the Time Stone, and perhaps I’ll spare your life… while still killing half of all life.”
Doctor Strange took a deep breath, steadying his mind against the crushing pressure.
Then, raising his hands wreathed in dark magic, he gave a faint, almost mocking smile.
“I risked my life for this power—not to hand over the Time Stone.
If all you have is the strength of the Infinity Stones, I suggest you surrender. Perhaps then, I’ll show mercy… and imprison you beneath Kamar-Taj.”
Thanos snorted, unwilling to waste words on what he saw as a dead man walking.
He gripped his double-edged blade of destruction, dragging it from the ground, and prepared to strike.
But before he could advance, Strange formed a seal with his hands.
A vast, dark magic circle unfurled beneath Thanos’ feet.
The ground turned black, slick like oil, as countless pale arms burst forth from the abyss, clawing and climbing up his body.
Thanos growled, and the crimson glow of the Reality Stone flared on the Gauntlet—trying to erase the spell.
But then his expression faltered.
It failed.
Some other force—equal to that of the Infinity Stones—was resisting him.
Without hesitation, Thanos shifted tactics. The Power Stone and the Space Stone blazed together, purple and blue energies surging violently.
Ignoring the strain of wielding multiple Stones at once, he slammed his fist downward.
The impact shattered the ground—and space itself—ripping the black magic apart.
But suddenly, a colossal hand covered in eldritch runes burst from the void, seizing Thanos in its grip.
Strange clenched his fist.
The spectral giant’s palm tightened in sync, and with a terrible creak, Thanos’ golden armor buckled and twisted under the crushing force.
The Reality Stone flared once more. This time, Thanos transmuted his own body into liquid, slipping between the cracks of the giant hand before reforming on the ground below.
At the same time, fragments of Titan’s shattered moons and satellites, still orbiting above, were summoned by the Space Stone. They plummeted as burning meteors, raining destruction upon Strange.
Explosions thundered. Space warped and tore. Black magic collided with cosmic energy.
Titan had become a warzone of gods.
The other members of the Illuminati could no longer even enter the fray—barely surviving by relying on Mister Fantastic’s teleportation generator to blink them away from the crossfire.
BOOM!
The earth convulsed violently again as Thanos was hurled into a deep crater by another surge of sorcery.
His armor cracked. The broken half of his own blade was embedded in his chest, blood pouring down his torso.
For the first time, the Mad Titan faltered.
Grievously wounded, his will to fight began to waver.
Snarling, he reached for the Space Stone, intent on escaping before he was finished.
But then—
The air lit up with shifting black runes, glowing like molten iron. Space itself solidified, harder than any alloy.
Even the Infinity Stones could not force it open.
“You’ve lost,” Strange rasped. His face twitched unnaturally, cracks spreading across his skin before he forced them back down. He inhaled slowly, preparing the killing blow.
But just as he moved in, the black runes shattered all at once—like fragile glass breaking.
Thanos’ eyes lit with sudden hope.
He didn’t understand what had happened, but it didn’t matter. Now was his chance.
He activated the Space Stone, ripping open a glowing vortex.
But before he could leap through—
A shadow stepped out from the portal.
A figure.
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