Who cut off Thanos's head?
Who is Thanos?
What the hell is this?
After the corresponding question appeared on the big screen, Doctor Strange became even more confused. When the quiz system announced the start of a new round of questions, he thought it would be something else.
But in the end, it was just this?
It was simply inexplicable.
"Doctor Strange?"
Immediately after, Stephen's gaze couldn't help but fall on the last option, "I'm also an option? Why am I called Doctor Strange?"
"Cut off Thanos's head? That's utter nonsense!"
Star-Lord immediately let out a scoff.
He had been with Yondu and the Ravagers, constantly wandering various planets across the galaxy for many years, so Thanos's name was practically a household name to him.
That was a cosmic overlord, a figure who struck fear across countless planets. What kind of person could cut off the head of such a tyrant?
It was absolutely absurd.
"Doctor Strange, and this..." Captain America's gaze fell on Stephen and Star-Lord.
"Peter Quill!" Star-Lord immediately announced his name, "But I also have a more famous name, and I'd prefer if you called me that: the legendary outlaw, Star-Lord."
"I remember now," Tony Stark interjected from the side. He turned and stared at Star-Lord, saying, "This guy appeared in Endgame, but he only showed up once, like a background extra, so... it just came back to me."
Hearing Tony Stark's words, everyone present felt a little more familiar with Star-Lord and a little less wary.
Well, so this was a future teammate.
But this teammate, how did he look so unreliable?
"Endgame? What's that? What are you all talking about?" Star-Lord was completely bewildered. "So why did you bring me here?"
"Mr. Star-Lord, please don't be impatient. Mr. Steve is about to explain it to us, isn't he?" Stephen said to Star-Lord.
Only then did Star-Lord stop his rambling and turn his gaze to Captain America, awaiting his answer.
"Gentlemen, your presence in this mysterious space is not due to anything we've done. Like us, you've both been chosen by the quiz system."
Under their gazes, Captain America briefly introduced the quiz system to them.
"Mr. Steve, are you sure you're not joking with me?" Stephen didn't believe it at all. He eyed Captain America with extreme suspicion.
Even Star-Lord, despite having witnessed all sorts of incredible things across the galaxy, almost burst out laughing upon hearing about this quiz system.
How could such a quiz system possibly exist in the world?
"Dude, do I look like an idiot or a retard?" Star-Lord shrugged, letting out a laugh, and said to Stephen beside him, "They're trying to fob me off with such a ridiculous excuse."
"To be honest, yes." Stephen scrutinized Star-Lord from head to toe, nodding in deep agreement.
This guy looked intellectually challenged, and when he spoke, he exuded a strong goofy vibe. Although Stephen was a scientist and didn't usually judge people by their appearance, this time, he genuinely felt that this guy was absolutely an imbecile.
"Dude, what are you talking about?" Star-Lord's face immediately fell.
"No offense, I'm just expressing how I feel, and it's not like I volunteered to say it; you asked me, right?" Stephen spread his hands.
"Doctor Strange, Mr. Star-Lord, don't jump to conclusions just yet. You'll understand later," Black Widow said in a low voice from the side.
"Mr. Star-Lord," Captain America continued, his voice serious, as he stared at Star-Lord and asked, "You seem to know Thanos."
"Man, are you guys from some cave? Who in the universe doesn't know the Mad Titan Thanos?" Star-Lord shook his head repeatedly. "That guy's a lunatic. Wait a minute, why are you asking this? And this question... Who cut off Thanos's head? Are you Thanos's enemies? What planet is this?"
"Midgard!" Thor answered Star-Lord from the side. "The realm of Odin, the All-Father, also known as Earth."
"Earth?" Star-Lord paused, trying to recall what planet this was.
However, he couldn't remember at all.
"Odin?" Stephen's gaze fell on Thor. "Your attire does resemble Thor, the god of thunder from mythology."
"It is indeed I," Thor smiled.
Stephen: "..."
Could this be some chuunibyou-afflicted individual?
"Doctor Strange, Mr. Star-Lord, any questions we have can be discussed in detail after the quiz. But for now, let's begin the quiz."
Captain America interjected, reminding everyone.
Tony Stark, Thor, Black Widow, and the others no longer paid attention to Stephen and Star-Lord, but instead focused their attention on the big screen.
"I'm not interested in playing your quiz game," Star-Lord shook his head, looking like he wouldn't play with "idiots," and turned to leave.
The result, of course, was without question; after some attempts, the guy realized he couldn't leave this place at all.
He could only return, crestfallen.
Stephen silently shook his head, becoming even more certain that Star-Lord wasn't very bright.
One moment he was performing surgery on someone, the next he inexplicably appeared here. Such a method was bizarre and unsolvable; how could he simply leave?
Even if he wanted to leave, he probably had to follow the other party's demands and complete this inexplicable quiz game.
Although Stephen wasn't sure how Star-Lord got here, seeing the gun in his hand and the dust all over him, he seemed to have been fighting someone.
He figured his situation was probably similar to his own.
Couldn't this person figure out that he couldn't leave at all?
Did he have to hit a brick wall first?
"This question is a bit strange," Thor said first, staring at the big screen. "Wasn't Thanos killed by Stark's snap? How could someone cut off his head again?"
"Even if it's Thanos, he should be dead if his head is cut off, right? So this question is telling us... Thanos was killed twice?"
This indeed contradicted the information everyone currently knew.
"These should be two different Thanoses," Tony Stark said to everyone after a brief deliberation.
"We've already seen two Captain Americas, two Tony Starks, so two Thanoses appearing isn't too strange, right?"
Black Widow also shrugged.
Everyone temporarily agreed on this point.
Whether it was time travel or parallel world travel, in short, no matter the method, the situation of killing Thanos twice existed.
"The question says someone cut off Thanos's head, which means the weapon used by the person in the options is a sharp object," Captain America continued his analysis. "And my weapon is a shield."
The implication was that Captain America could be ruled out.
"My weapon is a hammer!" Thor interjected from the side. "Doctor Strange is a sorcerer; he uses magic! Tony Stark uses an armored suit!"
"None of the four people in the options use sharp objects as weapons."
"No, Thor," Tony Stark shook his head. "In Endgame, your weapon wasn't a hammer anymore, but an axe. As for Rogers..."
At this point, Tony Stark looked at Captain America, "Since you can lift Thor's hammer, it's not impossible for you to lift Thor's axe either."
"Don't say you're more accustomed to using a shield. In Endgame, you used that hammer combo so fluidly; who would believe you hadn't practiced it in private?"
"If a more convenient weapon appears, it's entirely possible for you to use it."
"My future armor is nano-armor. It can form a shield, it can form a large fist, and forming a sharp blade is certainly no problem."
"We don't know much about Doctor Strange. It wouldn't be strange for him to use some weapons, right?"
"Stark is right," Black Widow nodded from the side. "Simply from the possibility of cutting off Thanos's head, all the people in the options have this possibility."
At first glance, none of the four options could be immediately ruled out.
"Everyone, may I offer my opinion?" Stephen tentatively suggested from the side.
He had made up his mind: since he was here, he would make the best of it. Since he was temporarily trapped in this quiz system and couldn't leave, he might as well try participating in the quiz.
If he didn't complete the quiz game, Stephen feared he wouldn't be able to leave.
Moreover, Stephen himself was actually very curious about this quiz system, and he wanted to know what would happen if he participated.
"Of course, please speak freely!" Captain America immediately said to Stephen.
"Although I've never killed anyone, I've seen movies and news. The question says someone cut off Thanos's head, which isn't a common method."
Under everyone's gaze, Stephen spoke eloquently, explaining his understanding, "I wonder if this reflects something, for example, that one of the people in the options has a grudge against Thanos?"
"Stephen hit the nail on the head," Tony Stark immediately agreed. "Even when dealing with enemies, most people rarely use such a brutal method as beheading."
"I think the reason someone would cut off Thanos's head is either because of the practical circumstances at the time, regardless of grievances, or, as the doctor said, the person who did it has a deep-seated hatred for Thanos."
"Sounds reasonable," Thor nodded in strong agreement from the side. "But the scenario Stark mentioned, based on practical circumstances, is something we can't analyze at all."
After all, the question didn't reveal any details about that great battle, so everyone could only imagine it out of thin air, which naturally made it impossible to figure out.
"It seems we can only analyze it from the perspective of personal vendettas for now," Black Widow shrugged.
"First, Thor. He witnessed Loki being killed, he witnessed Heimdall being killed, and an entire spaceship was destroyed by Thanos. All the Asgardian people on that ship died at Thanos's hands."
"From this perspective, I think Thor fits the requirements the most."
"Although we don't know if the other people in the options had any grievances with Thanos, I don't think it would exceed Thor's, would it?"
At least at first glance, this seemed to be the case, as too many people connected to Thor had been killed by Thanos.
"Let's look at the others," Captain America said again. For caution's sake, the others still needed to be analyzed. "For me, the most important people are only Bucky and Peggy, but I don't know if they will be killed by Thanos in the future."
"The only person I care about most is Pepper," Tony Stark added.
"Me? This Doctor Strange should be me, right?" Stephen glanced at everyone, and after receiving confirmation, he fell into thought.
"I currently have a female colleague with whom I have an ambiguous relationship. I believe we have mutual feelings, but I don't know if that counts... Well, that doesn't count."
The question was temporarily at a stalemate here.
Because both Captain America and Tony Stark had people who were very important to them, if those important people died at Thanos's hands, they would naturally have a deep-seated hatred for Thanos.
Because of this hatred, beheading Thanos would also be logical.
But the key problem now was that no one knew whether these crucial people to them would be killed by Thanos in the future.
Everyone present began to ponder.
"Everyone, I have some thoughts," Tony Stark said a moment later, raising his head and looking at everyone with sparkling eyes.
"Although we don't currently know why there would be two Thanoses, I think the most likely reason should be time travel."
Everyone present exchanged glances, generally agreeing with this.
Although the situation of two Thanoses appearing was not theoretically unique, no matter which one it was, it seemed incredibly unbelievable and practically impossible.
However, time travel, in particular, was something everyone already knew had actually happened!
So the most natural guess was that time travel led to the appearance of two Thanoses.
While it couldn't be guaranteed 100%, this possibility certainly seemed the greatest at the moment.
"Stark, continue," Captain America urged Tony Stark, staring at him.
"We don't know which of these two times Thanos was killed happened first and which happened later, but one thing we can be sure of is that no matter which happened first, time travel must have been to the past."
This was beyond doubt. Thanos was already dead. If they traveled to the future, there would be no Thanos, so how could they kill him again?
Without a doubt, it was naturally a journey to the past.
....
Eager for more chapters, check patreon.com/Zeaser