Black Widow stood guard beside Loki, along with the other Avengers, glaring at the thin Asgardian with barely restrained rage. She was tired, sore, and barely keeping on her feet as it was, her concern over Hawkeye being captured and mind-controlled leaving her with little sleep the days prior. Throw in an alien invasion over the city of New York and some rather close brushes with death and she was honestly really damn tired.
No one would be able to tell from how she held herself though. Strong and rigid and unbreaking like she was trained to be. Her teammates could count on her. She had to be solid for them, she owed it to them. She owed it to Barton, who had spared her life instead of ending her.
She absolutely could let her guard down and connect with people and be emotional. But she couldn't be weak, ever. Nothing should take her off-guard and catch her by surprise. She was strong. She had to be.
And then the elevator doors opened, and she felt her façade break for a moment, eyebrows pulling together as she tilted her head slightly in confusion, staring at the scene in front of her. Barton, her fellow super spy, was riding on the back of a large white wolf like one would a horse.
That one moment sent the situation spiralling, and she did her best to ignore the ongoings, keeping the sceptre aimed at Loki. The archer dismounted the wolf, and she gave a nod to Clint as he came to stand beside her. The two spies looked at each other and nodded, telling each other that yes, they were okay, in not so many words.
Thor, meanwhile, was very much interested in the white fluffy canine that padded over to him and Tony.
"What's up with furball, Fury give us a puppy to play family?" Tony glanced down at the wolf, "I'm not cleaning up after it."
The white wolf glanced over at the billionaire, narrowing its eyes for a moment, and then turned back to Thor, giving a soft huff and short bark toward the God of Thunder. He looked like he was listening as the wolf 'spoke', before letting out a snort.
"You're quite right, he does resemble a large mango!" Thor laughed, planting a hand on the canine's head.
Natasha glanced to the side, watching as Tony spluttered, offended, and insisted Thor "…quit messing with me, you aren't Dr. Dolittle, and that dog did not call me an oversized fruit!"
She sighed. What had her life come to? Flying billionaires, gods from another plane of reality, and super soldiers from World War II. Aliens were added to that list today. She was starting to get worried about what tomorrow would bring at this rate.
Natasha and Clint continued to watch the scene before them quietly and in great confusion, wondering why Loki was glaring in confusion and anger at the white wolf, why Thor was suddenly on a knee and bowing toward the wolf and then having the wolf bow back. All hell broke loose as the canine tackled Thor to the floor and started bathing his face in doggy kisses which he tried to fend off, his booming laughter filling the room.
Things only got weirder when the elevator doors opened a second time, Agent Phil Coulson stepping into the room. It wasn't Coulson that made it weird, but it was at that moment Hulk decided to lumber forward, stepping around Thor and plucked the large wolf off of the God of Thunder.
The large green rage machine and the big canine oddity stared at one another for a moment, before the wolf leaned forward and gave a soft "wuff," planting a lick right on the nose of the Hulk.
"Good doggy," the Hulk responded, setting the 200 pound canine down like a child would a Chihuahua, and gave it several 'soft' pats, still driving the wolf's paws into the floor and having to brace itself against the affections.
Natasha and Clint turned their attention back toward Coulson, who walked around everything with barely a second glance, looking as if this was just another Friday, which for him may very well be true. He looked as if he had experienced weirder pretty normally as Nick Fury's right-hand man.
"Thor, big guy, you cannot honestly tell me that the big furball there is some sort of divine being in control of the burning ball of gas in the sky," Tony insisted, following the God of Thunder as he approached Loki. "How would you even know that?"
"That is Amaterasu, Goddess of the Sun, and you would do well to show her some respect," Thor spoke firmly, casting a glance over his shoulder to address the billionaire. "…and I know because she told me," he stated as if it were the most normal thing in the world to talk to a dog.
Tony stumbled over his own feet as he heard that response, tripping down two stairs and balancing himself out, opening his mouth to protest.
"You should be dead. I killed you on that airship. All for that stupid mortal," Loki ground out, gesturing to Phil Coulson. "I ran you through the heart with my sceptre and you didn't stay down-"
"You talk too much," Coulson spoke, interrupting Loki by slapping a muzzle on his face, the metal contraption wrapping around the trickster god's head. Natasha couldn't help but smirk at the sight, and Clint snorted as the Hulk walked past Loki, giving him a swat on the back of the head. "Do you have the Tesseract?" Coulson asked, glancing at Natasha while helping Thor secure the thick metal handcuffs on Loki's wrists.
"I'll go grab it. C'mon Barton," with those words, Natasha stepped out of the room and onto the balcony. Clint grabbed the case that Coulson offered him and followed behind Black Widow.
"Woof!"
Clint jumped as the large canine raced passed him and onto the balcony, coming to a slow walk beside Natasha, who merely glanced down at the big dog, and then looked away, continuing her walk completely unphased. She reached the ladder leading up to the roof of the building and started climbing, not even pausing as she watched the wolf crouch and leap upward, her paws being planted on the side of the building, before leaping across a wide gap, bounding off of another solid portion of the Stark Tower, and then pushing upward, landing on the next level and being completely unphased by the rather long fall she had jumped over.
"Woah, easy, Wolfy!" Clint shouted up from under her, just as she pulled herself up onto the next level. The trio made it up the other level just as easily, with the wolf merely launching herself up to the next section, and then the next, coming to a stop right at the top. She sat beside the high-tech contraption and wagged happily, her tongue lolling out as she waited for the two spies to reach the top.
"Barton?" Natasha called as she reached the top, standing a few feet away from the large dog.
"Yeah, Nat?" Clint replied, heaving himself up and tossing the case to her, which she caught and popped open. Inside were a pair of metal handle-like pieces that could be removed to grab the cube and set it in the carrying case.
"If we keep her, I get to take her for girls' night," She answered, holding up the handles and approaching the Tesseract.
Clint let out a laugh and came to stand a few feet to the side of Natasha as she reached into the contraption and grabbed the Cube with the handles, the object humming with power. She pulled it back carefully, making sure to avoid touching it against anything as she moved it to the case she had set down on the ground. Locking the handles into place, she let them go and let out a sigh, sitting back and staring at the blue, alien object.
"For such a pretty box, this thing is a pain in the ass." She spoke, reaching for the lid to close the container, glancing back at Barton and shaking her head.
"Yeah, at least it— Wolfy no!" Clint shouted.
Natasha saw it a moment too late, turning her head back, only to see the large wolf inches away from the cube, moving closer and closer. She tried to pull the container back but it was too late for that, the massive canine leaning forward, her tongue sprawling out of her mouth as she licked the side of the cube.
And… Nothing happened.
Clint breathed out—
And then choked on his breath as the wolf and the Tesseract both vanished in a flash of blue. He couldn't even recover from his surprise before a confused bark sounded out from somewhere, the sound carrying for a moment, before the wolf reappeared in front of them, several feet to the left.
Then she was gone again, reappearing in the sky to their right. And then the balcony. Then in front of the windows, and above the pair on the roof. The canine's teleporting picked up speed, faster and faster, blipping around the area with just fractions of a second existing in one spot, before vanishing again.
Tony spat out the drink he was taking, coughing up his rather pricey rum as the canine appeared in front of him for less than a tenth of a second and then vanished again, reappearing outside in mid-air. The wolf blipped from place to place randomly, a confused and concerned bark carrying from multiple directions as she phased in and out of reality at a blinding speed, almost appearing in three places at once before vanishing. Her concerned bark cut out and carried on a moment later, before cutting out again, the sound dragging on as she appeared outside, inside, on the roof, in the sky, on top of the building, below the balcony, on top of Tony's bar, the wolf's cry dragging on.
As suddenly as it started, it was over. The large wolf reappeared on the balcony and gave a pitched whine, staggering side to side and dizzy as she's ever been. She flopped to the floor of the balcony a moment later, tongue lulled out and tinged a funny looking blue, while her head shifted side to side, the wolf trying to regain her bearings.
Thor was the first one out, followed by Natasha jumping from the roof, running over to the cube to pick it up and secure it in the case, and closing the container with a loud click. Steve was out a moment later, as was Clint, landing on the balcony and walking toward the canine on the floor.
"I told you not to," he spoke, hands on his hips like a disappointed parent. The great white wolf merely shook her head, getting to her feet and letting out an energetic bark. Her golden eyes seemed to lock onto something just out of sight, before she looked at the assembled group, took a small shuffle backward…
And leapt off the balcony. Backflip and all, plunging straight down to the street below, tail flailing behind her as a fading "Awoooo…" echoed up to their ears. Thor panicked and swung his hammer, preparing to leap over to catch the canine, before being stopped by a hand on his shoulder from Clint.
"Don't. It's just… Something she does." He sighed. True enough, Steve, Natasha, Clint, and Thor looked over the edge of the balcony, watching the large white canine land in the middle of the street, startling some people passing by into dropping their phones. Thor chuckled as they watched the wolf walk forward, working into a lope, a run, and then a sprint, the canine racing away in a blur of white.
Thor glanced to his side at the stunned faces of Natasha and Steve, and the oddly resigned face of Barton, before letting out a chortle, gradually turning into hysterical laughter as he held his hammer, stumbling back into the Stark Tower with one hand on his stomach, cackling the whole way, his laughter booming out.
Natasha, meanwhile, just wondered what the hell kind of situation she had signed up for.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
The great white wolf huffed as she sat for a moment, recovering, before returning her attention to the battle-worn city. She had been helping as much as she could since she had left the group at the top of the tower. Her tongue still tingled a little.
The wolf had devised a system to help with the recovery of the city. She used her Celestial Brush to repair damaged buildings and heal minor gashes and injuries on people until she was completely out of magic, leaving her drained. She then switched out to digging out rubble with her paws and jaws, tossing hunks of concrete into the open street as she sifted through the rubble.
She stepped through the street, having just finished repairing some portions of another building, the citizens gasping or murmuring in awe of the feat before she took off toward an area where people were sifting through large chunks of rubble. She gave a friendly little bark as she approached, as not to scare them, and immediately slipped between the people, heading toward a pile that volunteers had already sorted through for a while, not having found anyone. The wolf delicately moved around and onto the pile, gripping a concrete chunk with her teeth and wrenching her head to the side, shattering the broken material on the road.
Having opened up a small hole into the pile of rubble against the base of a skyscraper, she stuck her nose into the hole and inhaled deeply, working through the mix of scents. It was dusty, smelling of construction material and metal like most of the city did at the moment. She huffed, sniffing again, working through the smells, and finding something… salty. Something else not quite metallic but smelled like copper. She pulled her nose away and tilted her head, ear against the hole as she listened, ignoring the sounds of the city.
"H-hello? Someone please—" A gasp and then a sniffle. "I'm stuck! I can't—" a choked sob cut off the voice of the woman. There was a gasp of pain and the sound of more struggling under the rubble, before an exhausted wail of desperation sounded out, unable to be heard by any but the wolf.
The wolf stuck her nose back into the little gap in the rubble and gave a bark, alerting the woman to her presence. The canine grabbed another piece of concrete and rebar, pulling it away slowly, making sure everything was stable and then tossing it off to the side.
"Hello?! Y-yes, I'm down here! Please!" The woman shouted, before being cut off by another terrified sob, trying to raise her voice.
The white wolf turned and bounded off towards one of the nearest people she could find, startling the person as she gripped the man's pants with her teeth and tugged lightly. He stumbled slightly in surprise and before he could swat at the canine or shoo her away, the wolf gestured with her head and barked, before running back to the pile and started digging at it, shifting more rubble aside.
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"Hey, I think there's someone down there!" The man announced, drawing several more people close. The wolf and the group worked together, delicately shifting through the rubble, gradually working piece by piece off the pile, until eventually-
"Yes, I'm here! I'm down here! Please—" The woman was cut off and raised a hand to her face, blocking off the sunlight that poured in through the hole as she was uncovered, several feet down. The wolf gave an excited bark and gingerly wedged her way into the hole, shifting through the rubble, until she came to a small opening where the woman lay trapped, a thick chunk of stone pinning her leg. Unfortunately that stone was also balancing several other large pieces of rubble, so removing it could cause the pile to collapse.
"Help me, please…" The woman sniffed, her face caked in dust and with tear streaks and blood on her face.
The wolf huffed as she crouched and observed the situation, moving to press a shoulder against the concrete slab and pushed with a slow and steady force. The chunk of rubble did move slightly, but so did the ones around them, dust showering the pair and threatening to bury them alive once more.
The wolf's golden eyes flickered around, before coming to a decision. She flexed her will on reality, drawing upon her powers as she used her brush to slice deep cuts into the rubble around the entrance, widening it slightly. Huffing with effort, she dug her claws into the ground and used her powers once again, but this time slashing the rock she was braced against, shattering part of the rubble pinning the woman's leg down, enough for her to draw herself back a little.
Now came the difficult part. She focused and felt magic running through her, her perception of time speeding up and boosting her strength and speed. With her magic quickly draining, she resumed time and lunged forward, catching the woman's shirt and shoulder in her jaws as she launched herself upward and out, contorting herself to push through the widened gap in the rubble, the whole of her actions occurring in less than a second.
The pair erupted out of the hole in the rubble with a shower of concrete dust and a scream of surprise and pain from the woman in the wolf's grip. The wolf landed on the road on all fours, setting the woman down, with a huff of effort, her head swimming from the use of almost all her magic in a single moment. She shook her head and nosed at the woman, giving her a lick on the cheek, and then moving down to sniff at her crushed leg. People quickly crowded around the pair, someone handing the woman some water and a blanket to lay her down onto.
The wolf sat patiently, waiting for her magic to recuperate while a paramedic approached to begin looking over the woman, asking her questions, inspecting her, looking at her leg, and bandaging any open wounds as well as they could with the materials they had on hand.
After waiting for a moment, the wolf nosed passed the paramedic, giving a little "whuff" as she moved in, flexing her will on reality once more, her magic just barely recovered enough to do this.
The woman gasped and felt a shudder of disgust washing through her as her bones shifted and her leg twitched, bones leaping back into place and major gashes healing over in an instant. The paramedic only watched in awe and moved a hand down to gingerly inspect the scuffed-up leg, pressing lightly to feel that the bones had been completely repaired and the skin that healed over was healthy.
The paramedic, woman, and the civilians turned to face the wolf, only to find her already several feet back, giving them a glance over her shoulder and a happy little "bark" before loping away, moving herself to start sifting through the next pile of debris.
Of course, all of this was caught by an "influencer" currently live-streaming the aftermath of the invasion, phone up and recording people in various situations of pain, misery, and despair, being completely unhelpful to society as a whole. This person just so happened to get an angle of the wolf nosing at the woman's leg, and then the paramedic's reaction, before the group shifted just enough for the woman's leg to be in view of the camera. When viewed with the rest of the video, and the state of the woman immediately after the rescue, there wouldn't be any questions to whoever viewed the video.
There was something not quite normal with that wolf. Anyone that watched the video would know that soon enough.
…
Several hours had passed with this pattern keeping up for the white wolf, repairing buildings, healing wounds, and sifting through the destruction as thoroughly as she could, digging out more people or dragging children out through small spaces that the humans couldn't fit themselves through properly.
She was exhausted. Sure, the humans had been grateful, the kind ones that didn't shy away from her giving her some food and water, anything they could get a hold of that they had been reassured was "dog friendly". She ate it all happily, feeling more recovered as time went on, and happily accepted any pets and pats and scritches that were sent her way in between her time recovering before heading off again.
Surprisingly, the city was not nearly as damaged as she had thought. Sure there was still shattered glass and broken doors and chunks of building scattered across the ground, but… Not many people had died. At all. It was a surprisingly low number, all things considered, and the number of people that had to be taken to the hospital hadn't topped the triple digits. Sure, she had helped, but she was certain she hadn't helped that much.
Through her time helping though, she could occasionally see little flashes of blue glowing out of an alleyway, or a flicker of white flying overhead or around a corner, never there long enough for her to get a good look at whatever it was that seemed to be making its rounds about the city as she was.
She shook herself off, her white coat as clean and brilliant as ever, those red lines displaying her divinity only visible to those attuned to the spiritual, as per usual. Glancing over herself, she then looked up at the sky, noticing the late time, and then focused, feeling that familiar tug of energy on her magic and spiritual being she had felt earlier.
It was time to figure out what that familiar sensation was. Why it seemed like the magic felt vaguely familiar, and why the feeling of demonic cold came from the same place. She eyed an individual in robes that seemed to slip by people unnoticed, though they stood out sorely. The human smelled like magic, and the familiar scent of dark magic lingered on their being, but they weren't the source. Rather, they just happened to be near the source from time to time.
The white wolf watched from across the street as the human entered the odd building and closed the door behind themselves. She shook herself off once more, preparing herself as she trotted toward the old-looking building, the feeling of the street shifting as she approached the door and sat in front of it, barking at it to gain attention from the people inside.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
"This is a great opportunity for us." A man spoke, looking up from his tablet and to his scientific partner in front of him, the woman holding a hand over her mouth as she looked at the destruction and chaos caused by the alien invasion in New York City.
"What… What do you mean?" She asked, tearing her eyes away from the screen and newsfeed going over the events of the day. She looked back to her partner, who looked relaxed, a soft grin on his face as he stood up, eyes flashing a light orange for a moment as he raised his hand and rested it on the woman's shoulder.
"Just think of it. The world is in shock. We just found out that we are not alone. We were invaded, almost overrun! Forget the bombings for a moment," the man leaned in, wrapping his arm around the woman and pulling her to look at the tablet screen.
Newsfeeds rolled by, questions upon questions about the safety and security of the world being asked over and over again. People wondered who these 'heroes' that saved them were. Why wasn't the army able to prevent this? Why hadn't the government evacuated the area as soon as something was known? How did this happen?
"The people need security, Maya. They need something to latch onto, something that can take their old normal and secure ideas and make them better! If we play this right… Government funding. A limitless supply of people to fine-tune our formula. Ignorance to additional problems that come up, because we would be supplying them with something worth the trouble to cover incidents up!" The man laughed softly, stepping away from Maya and throwing his hands out to the side, smiling with brilliant white teeth as he gestured to the building surrounding them.
"You're not suggesting we go public right now, are you? It's still highly unstable, and with the last four-"
"Details, details. Let me handle the talking. I need you to fix the little… reactions some have to the injection. We're almost there." He interrupted the woman, flashing her a pretty smile.
The two turned their attention back to the screen they had been watching, a newscaster narrating over a viral news clip that had been circulating the last few hours. The pair watched as the video zoomed in and paused, what looked like a massive white wolf launching out of a pile of rubble with a woman in its grip. A red circle appeared around the woman's leg, highlighting the mangled state, the gashes, and the bone sticking out of her skin. The video skipped forward, the wolf touched the woman's leg with it's nose. It was hard to see through the crowd, but then a gasp and a slight shift allowed the camera to catch something else.
The video paused once more, the reporter pointing out the clearly healed leg. No bleached bone piercing her skin, no gashes pouring blood down her leg and onto the concrete. Just some minor scrapes and some fresh skin, along with the blood that had previously covered her.
She was healed.
"This… is interesting. This might be the key, Maya. If that dog did that… Our problems will be solved. Healing at an incredible rate! Look! Fresh, new skin, no scarring!" The man hummed and paced back and forth, eyes locked onto the screen.
"Killian, you aren't suggesting…" Maya Hansen spoke, shaking her head. "We're almost there, we don't need to-"
"But we will be there, with this!" Aldrich Killian pointed to the screen, to the canine on the paused video. "Besides, if we don't learn anything from the mutt, we could just… give it a shot. So soon after the attack? The public adoration for these 'Avengers' will shrivel up and die before they can get a foothold. We can capitalize on this."
"Killian…" Maya spoke, conflicted.
"Trust me," Killian spoke, turning himself to face the open window, gazing out into the sky, eyes lingering on the smoke in the distance, remnants of the invasion hours prior. "With the government in our palm, A.I.M. will be free to research anything we want. Anything, Maya!" He paused to turn to look at her, his eyes flashing a bright orange, and glowing, heat rolling off of his skin as he stepped closer to her. "We will be known alongside the miracle of Insulin and the Super Soldier Serum. With this… Extremis will be perfect."
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
The sound of electricity sparking and plasma screaming through the air echoed around the large workshop, the open expanse filled to the brim with high-tech machinery, odd symbols, and technology that would put even Tony Stark to shame.
The sound of energy slowly wound down, the whine of the air as it was turned to plasma quieting down. A metallic hand lowered, fingers closing as the figure stepped closer to the workbench, eyeing his prototype with an intense gaze. He looked at it and snapped his fingers, an orange glow warming up in the center of the object, before it lifted into the air, spinning lazily about, humming with low power as it defied the laws of gravity.
He reached to his left, plucking a leaf off of a plant with shimmering blue veins covering the plant. The vegetation shuddered at the pull, a powerful spark of electricity lancing off the leaf and against the mask of the individual who showed no reaction. He set the quivering leaf on the desk and guided the floating sphere above it.
A bright orange beam shot downward, scanning over the leaf and focusing on the oozing end of the stem sparking with energy. The machine hummed louder and spun faster, the leaf sparking harder and fluttering. Slowly the green at the base started to grow back, starting at the stem and then working its way up, forming the tip of a small branch which started to spread out into multiple leaves.
The plant under the orange beam stopped sparking and slowly came to a rest, the blue veins going dull and the green quickly fading, the healing plant crumbling to ash a moment later.
"Not good enough." The voice spoke, raising his hand and opening his palm toward the machine. A powerful blast of energy and a concussive force rocketed away from his hand and shredded the metallic prototype into a pile of scrap, the remains smoking and hissing on the workbench.
He turned his gaze away from the smouldering wreckage of the object, glancing over at the hologram suspended in the center of the room, information littering the surface. He snapped his fingers and the visuals changed, a complicated math formula several hundred lines long scrolling itself through the room.
"Asgardian Magic… pathetic. Chaos Magic would suit this far better. Those 'gods' barely scratched the surface of what this could do. Healing wounds by shoving the cellular regeneration forward through time is child's play. Making new cells though… the creation of matter through the magic of the universe is a far superior pursuit."
The man chuckled and pulled the wreckage of the prototype toward him, magic making the metallic sphere peel itself open. He plucked out a small core from the object, dropping the rest of the metal as he brought his free hand down to brush his finger against the core, the orange light shifting reddish, more violent, cracking against the container.
"Yes, that's more like it. Asgardians, too complacent," the voice spoke again under the metal mask. He set the core down at a table and flicked his wrist at the hologram, brushing it off to the side, replacing the formula with several dozen news reports and video angles of the blue portal in the sky, and of the aliens pouring out of it. "If that had happened here, I could have wiped them out myself." He sneered at the 'heroes' on the videos, turning away to return to his workbench.
"They barely won. I need to speed up my plans if Humanity is being attacked already. I think I need to pay a witch a little visit," he spoke, his eyes glinting behind the metal mask. He walked across the room again, each step echoing with the sound of metal against stone. He raised a hand, metal arm reflecting the various glows of magic and technology at his command.
"I will be Humanity's saviour. Victor Von Doom will become a God."
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Thanos sat on his throne, quiet, staring out into the stars. He had expected this outcome, in all honesty. The Jotun boy, Loki, was too full of himself. Too confident, arrogant, and eager to take risks that didn't need to be taken. It would have been nice to conquer Earth now and get his hands on the Space and Time stones. Those two objects in his possession would already make his mission much faster, able to cross the universe in an instant. Able to undo unfavourable situations before they happened.
No matter, he was patient. He had waited this long, he could wait longer. He would allow those 'Avengers' to enjoy their victory for the time being. A titan such as him had far greater things to worry about than some weak species on some backwater planet defeating the lowest rung of his army. Their time would come, as did everyone's.
The Mad Titan stood up, his gaze still out among the stars, observing the quiet emptiness, enjoying the thought of all the lives and beings that would be saved by his actions. The fact that he would likely impress Death enough to converse with him directly was just an added bonus.
He turned and made his way down the stone stairs, his footsteps carrying a weight with them, his lesser general flinching at the sound of his approach. Thanos was disappointed, but not surprised. The former Human, Herr Kleiser, was terrified of him. As he should be.
"The Other… That's what your soldiers call you, is it not?" Thanos spoke quietly, but his voice carried far, able to be heard quite clearly. The giant came to a stop staring down at the kneeling form of the Chitauri leader, the one he entrusted to lead the invasion on Earth. "A name to invoke a sense of mystery. To confuse and cause fear to the enemy."
"Yes, my lord," the Other hissed, the smaller form looking at the ground. Thanos clicked his tongue and dropped to a knee, reaching forward with one hand and cupping the chin of his general, using just a forefinger and a thumb to squeeze lightly and tilt his head up, forcing The Other to look directly at the Mad Titan.
"I suppose it's no mystery what will happen to you if you fail me again, is it?" Thanos continued quietly, looking directly at the general in his grasp. He could feel the creature shaking but was impressed that he continued on despite Thanos being so near.
"No, it is not, m-my lord."
"You didn't happen to lose the battle just to… save your former world? Out of some source of pity or empathy? Weakness such as that has a way of squeezing your heart and soul, making you doubt your course. My course," the Titan grew a little louder, his two fingers squeezing the jaw of The Other tightly, feeling the bones shifting and creaking under his fingers while his General let out a quiet wail between closed lips.
"I w-would never! I will follow you to- ah, the-the end of the universe." He hissed out, though whether through pain or fear, Thanos could not tell.
"Do not fail me again," Thanos spoke, shoving the former human back with a light push, sending the being sprawling across the stone floating over the empty void of space. The Other rolled to a stop, one arm and his head hanging over the edge of the platform. "You will assume direct command of your army. Do not push the task onto someone unfit to lead."
"Yes, thank you, my lord," The Other spoke, pushing himself away from the infinite abyss and to his knees, bowing to Thanos.
"Spend your time gathering your armies and rebuilding your troops," the Titan spoke, turning himself to gaze out into the stars once more. "We are heading to Nidavellir. Any planet between here and the Forge will be culled. We will save this universe. I'll be able to see her."
The Titan turned, facing his general once more, a grin crossing his face, clenching one hand at his side. The stars behind him almost seemed to darken in response to the bright gleam in his eyes, a fierceness that even the universe could feel.
"Nothing will stop me."