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As much as she wanted the Power Stone back, she knew the truth: the Nova Corps didn't have the strength to protect it. Better to leave it with the Cabbage Witch standing before her, this woman whose true power no one could measure, than to let it fall back into the hands of Ronan or Thanos.
Hermione smiled faintly. "Don't worry. I'll keep it safe."
Then the sky changed.
A pressure descended from above, the kind that hit the chest before the mind could name it. Everyone looked up at once.
A black warship was slowly dropping through the atmosphere, even larger than the Dark Aster, shaped like a massive double-bladed sword. It radiated something suffocating just by existing.
"That's... Thanos's Sanctuary II!" Nova Prime's voice was barely steady.
Everyone present knew the name. The most terrifying tyrant in the universe. A madman who had slaughtered his way across countless worlds. Compared to Ronan, Thanos's name carried a different kind of weight entirely, heavier, older, and far more final.
Despair settled over the plaza like a second sky.
Against Ronan without the Power Stone, they'd still had a fighting chance. Against Thanos, especially now, after everything they'd just survived, they had nothing.
A blue light descended.
From it emerged a purple-skinned giant in golden armor, powerfully built, carrying a massive double-bladed sword. Three figures followed at his back.
Ebony Maw. Corvus Glaive. Proxima Midnight.
Thanos's gaze swept across the battlefield, over the Nova soldiers, over the survivors, the way a man looks at insects. Then it settled on Hermione, floating in midair with the Orb in hand.
"Holder of the Infinity Stones." His voice was low and magnetic, carrying no emotional fluctuation at all. "The Cabbage Witch. You already hold quite enough."
His face was expressionless. But the invisible pressure radiating off him was something else entirely, far worse than Ronan had been moments ago, screaming and raging with the Power Stone clutched in his fist. This was different. This was an absolute confidence and crushing weight born from a higher plane of existence, forged through countless acts of slaughter and conquest, and left to settle over decades until it needed no display at all.
Hermione raised an eyebrow. The corner of her mouth curved. "Oh? And what should I do about that — give it to you?"
Thanos looked at her calmly. Her teasing didn't move him at all. "You don't have to."
That answer caught her slightly off guard.
"However," he continued, "gathering so many Infinity Stones in one place is far too dangerous. You shouldn't hold this many. You could hand it over to the Nova Corps."
Hermione thought: So you can snatch it from them later, right?
She understood exactly what he was doing.
Thanos had been scheming after the Infinity Stones for years. He knew better than anyone how difficult, and how dangerous, collecting all six would be. The universe wasn't without forces that could challenge him, and if any single person held too many Stones, the other top-tier powers would inevitably notice. They'd organize. They'd resist.
Even in the original timeline, he'd relied on a lightning-fast blitz to assemble all six at once, precisely so no one had time to react.
He clearly didn't want Hermione, this unpredictable variable, to prematurely ignite a universe-wide war over the Stones before he was ready. Too many variables would unravel a plan he'd been quietly building for years.
Far better to let the Stones stay scattered among different "worthy" holders for now. Wait for the right moment, after Odin and the Ancient One were both gone, then strike with overwhelming force and take them one by one.
So his words weren't entirely a bluff. They were strategy. He needed stability, at least until the board was set.
"And if I refuse?" Hermione tilted her head, watching him with genuine curiosity. "Will you fight me the way Ronan did?"
Thanos slowly shook his head. "No. I will persuade you."
"Oh?" Hermione's interest sharpened. "How?"
"But first," Thanos said, shifting his gaze downward to the ground, "I need to handle some family business."
Gamora stood below, face pale, expression complicated, eyes unreadable.
Thanos walked toward her without acknowledging the Nova soldiers tensed on all sides. The invisible pressure around him did the work. Everyone in his path stepped aside without deciding to.
He stopped in front of her.
"Daughter," he said, his tone flat and absolute. "Come home."
Gamora's body went rigid. Her lips pressed together. She didn't speak.
Thanos's gaze moved, over Quill, who had instinctively stepped in front of Gamora, his jaw tight; over Rocket, Drax, Groot.
"Otherwise," Thanos said, his voice unchanged, "I will kill them."
Simple. Direct. And utterly cold.
Gamora closed her eyes. Pain and despair flickered across her face, just for a moment.
She knew he meant it. He always meant it.
She drew a slow breath. When her eyes opened again, the light in them was gone.
"What about Nebula?"
"Her?" Something almost imperceptibly colder entered Thanos's tone. "She disappeared after Ronan obtained the Stone. She's likely defected. Don't concern yourself — I'll bring her back."
Gamora said nothing more. She lowered her head in silence.
Submission.
"Good." Thanos gave a single nod, then looked back up at Hermione. "This is not the place for a real conversation."
"Titan," he said. "I'll be waiting."
He turned and walked away.
"Let her go!" Quill finally broke, roaring as he lunged forward.
Ebony Maw glanced at him. One cold look, and an invisible force locked Quill in place, held him completely still.
Can't beat the Cabbage Witch, can't handle you?
"No — Gamora!" Quill could only watch. Gamora was escorted by Ebony Maw and the others, following Thanos toward the blue teleportation beam. The light flared once.
Then they were gone.
Silence fell over the plaza like a body hitting the ground. The survivors stood among the wreckage. And Quill stood among them, furious, desperate, helpless.
Hermione floated in midair with her arms folded, turning something over in her mind.
Interesting.
Thanos knew she'd sent Loki to steal the Scepter. He knew she'd wiped out the Chitauri army he'd dispatched to Earth. He'd just watched her take the Power Stone right in front of him. And yet, no hostility. None.
If that had been done to her, she wouldn't have stopped until she'd made the other person suffer a hundred times over.
So. The universe's director of population control had something else in mind.
Well then. No harm in finding out what.
She had made up her mind and was turning to leave.
"Wait!" Quill sprinted to a point directly beneath her and looked up, his expression raw with desperation. "Take me with you. Take me to save Gamora!"
"Quill! Don't bother the Witch!" Yondu came running, grabbed Quill by the arm, yanked him back, and hissed a sharp warning under his breath.
Hermione glanced down at Quill. Her expression was perfectly flat.
"Why would I bring you?"
➤ Next: Thanos Likes Green but Not Blue?
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