Chapter 372: Battlefield
26th April 2015, Wakanda
(Tony Stark POV)
So, that's what she wanted. She needed Thanos to be on the ground for some reason, and he wouldn't do that as long as the force field was up. And now, the Mad Titan's forces were stuck between an almost impenetrable forcefield and an army of powerful warriors that had stood the test of time for thousands of years, and without any air support since the ships were destroyed.
The only issue is that Thanos was supposedly powerful enough to be a threat on his own, especially if the power of the Infinity Stones were as strong as they should be. Maximoff seemed to answer his unasked question immediately and spoke up, "Fire the Etherion Cannon."
A portal shimmered above Thanos and a giant beam of energy fell down on him. All of this happened in less than twenty seconds in total. Seriously, it was a pretty good plan. He only hoped that the Etherion cannon would be enough to defeat the monstrous being in front of them.
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(Wanda Maximoff POV)
As Wanda watched the giant beam of energy land on Thanos, she had to admit that things were going well. Too well, really. It was surprising that a commander as experienced, and as feared as the Mad Titan fell to her trap so very easily. Well, firstly, he only came in a single battleship instead of the armada that Wanda knew he had at his disposal. The man was a galactic warlord for god's sake.
Well, the only reason that hadn't happened was because of Jasmine's foresight. Seriously, that woman thought of everything. Thanos didn't come to Earth to conquer a planet, mostly because of how underdeveloped it was.
There was a reason why Jasmine didn't involve herself in the technological sector, and focused on the media, and that was the fact that humanity would develop too quickly. Stark and Richards did the same because they knew that the imbalance could cause a lot of casualties in the long run, but the biggest reason why Jasmine never jumped on the bandwagon was the fact that she needed Earth to look weak for this exact purpose.
She needed Earth to look unthreatening, a backwards planet, instead of the hub of mystical energy, the source of Elder gods, and a Celestial experiment. Thanos was always going to attack, she knew that, since the Time Stone had to remain on Earth to protect the universe from dimensional threats, but what did matter was whether Thanos was going to attack with his full might, or if he decided not to mobilize his entire army to conquer a useless rock.
Jasmine's control over the media almost made mutants look harmless, and the lack of recent news made it look like a dwindling species. Any invader monitoring the planet would tap into the media sector to look for active threats. The magical world, Genosha's might, Wakanda's technology, were hidden from the world. And even during Loki's invasion, it was Jasmine that was visibly doing the most damage and she was considered to be dead to the rest of the world. Hell, even if Entropy had told Thanos about her existence, he must have told him that the cosmic entity would handle her and the most powerful beings on the planet himself.
As far as he knew, Earth had nothing that could overwhelm the energy shielding on Thanos' main ship so easily. The smaller ones sure, but since Stark and Richards didn't design weapons and actively stopped Victor Von Doom from building weapons of mass destruction in Latveria, there wasn't time to build any.
And so, barely more than a fraction of Thanos' might attacked Wakanda. He only gathered his lieutenants to fight wielders of the Infinity Stones, and that was it. Yet, here he was, stranded on a planet after Black Bolt reduced his battleship to ash with his sonic attack and Carol Danvers destroyed the remaining ships. Asgard's army was immediately teleported around whatever remained of the alien troops, and was slowly whittling it away without any trouble.
Black Bolt was the hidden weapon in her arsenal. He was a mutant capable of producing sonic attacks of immense power with just his voice. He had already almost destroyed a mountain when he accidentally talked. Emma Frost had theorized that he could crack the moon in half if he screamed. Honestly, energy shielding just didn't work because the attack was that intense. Using him as a sneak attack was a masterstroke, but they needed Thanos to get off of it, first. They needed to destroy his armies before he started using the Stones, since that would get too messy. And they were successful.
Earth had won the fight, but only if Thanos perished would it be a complete victory as he would return for the Stone once more, this time with a far bigger army, since the element of surprise would be gone. His Black Order, his infamous lieutenants that he considered to be his children, were dead.
So far, neither Wanda nor the Mad Titan had used their Infinity Stones. The Scarlet Witch knew deep in her heart that the moment she used the Stones or showed an active threat, the Mad Titan would start using his, and well, the number of casualties would be too high. And yet, now, the only way for Thanos to leave the planet was using the Space Stone, the Infinity Stone that she was currently wearing on her neck. Win or lose, if Thanos wanted to complete his life's goal, he would have to get that necklace off her neck, something that she wouldn't allow to happen.
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And so, there they were. Thanos' army was shattered, he was stranded, and all that remained was defeating the Mad Titan, himself. She hoped that the Etherion Cannon would be enough, but she didn't hold out much hope. She already had the rough outline of a plan to deal with Thanos, but it wasn't really a guarantee of a victory.
Wanda's suspicions were proven to be correct when the energy of the Etherion Cannon started to warp into a red mist. It was the Aether, the Reality Stone, to be exact. Thanos had started to use his Infinity Stones, and that meant that he saw no way to succeed without using them. The final battle was approaching.
Slowly, the energy of the cannon morphed into a ball that the Mad Titan grabbed and pushed towards the ground causing a giant ripple. It was a reality attack, Wanda could recognize it, as it turned the ground into something that could move like a wave. Well, if he wanted to manipulate reality, who was she to deny him the challenge of fighting someone like her.
Wanda held up her hand and some red orbs appeared, she channeled the energy of the Power Stone within her to power the spell, and the ground suddenly righted itself into the flat surface it used to be.
Thanos looked baffled for a second until Wanda started to slowly move forwards, with her red leather cloak slowly moving behind her. The Ancient One walked behind her, giving the younger girl her support, "We are both Stone Keepers. I will fight beside you in the battle to come."
Wanda nodded and stood in front of Thanos, who stared blankly at her, "You are the Stone Keepers. Only an Infinity Stone could stop the attack of another Stone."
Wanda nodded, "We are the Stone Keepers. Yet, you do not look worried."
"Why would I look worried? While this day has expressed a heavy toll, you are exactly what I was looking for. In the end, my Black Order, destroyed as it may be, achieved their purpose. They brought you to me."
"You may regret that," Wanda responded, "You stand alone, with no army, and no allies. Your conquest of this planet is over, surely you see that."
"This was never about conquest, child. I have to admit that I was taken by surprise. This will serve as a good lesson for me to not to underestimate my opponents. But no, this battle was always about balance."
"And how is massacring Trillions any form balance?"
"With all six Stones, I could simply snap my fingers, and they would all cease to exist. I call that...Mercy," he responded.
The Ancient One was the one to speak this time, "And then what?"
"I finally rest...And watch the sun rise on a grateful universe. The hardest choices require the strongest wills, and I am going to test yours," Thanos said.
It didn't take long for Wanda to notice that the Mind Stone on Thanos' golden gauntlet was glowing. Wanda felt a feint pressure on her mind. It was subtle, but seemed to be generalized to all the defenders of humanity, not just her, so she was able to block it using Jasmine's training. The Scarlet Witch was under no illusion that she would have been able to block it if it was a focused attack on only her.
The Ancient One seemed to have resisted to attack as well, probably using an obscure spell that she had learned in her long life.
Instead of retaliating immediately, Wanda sent a large telepathic signal to Emma Frost, 'Emma, he's using a telepathic attack, shield them all.'
"I am sorry, Thanos, but my will is my own," Wanda replied.
"It may be, but is it the same for your allies," he responded with his eyes slightly widened in surprise.
'It's too strong, Wanda!' she heard Frost respond.
'Put them to sleep, then. Thanos was always going to be my opponent.'
'Sure, but that Stone is very strong. I don't know how long I can keep them that way.' Emma responded.
Immediately, all of the residents of Wakanda slumped down to sleep, and Wanda smirked at her opponent.
"They don't have to be strong, Thanos. I can be strong for them. But why involve them? It was always going to be a fight between Stone Wielders. A battle for the Infinity Stones does not require the presence of lesser beings after all," Wanda responded.
She could tell, then, that she had him. Gamora had told them everything she knew about her father, and it gave Wanda a clear advantage since she knew her enemy so well. The truth was that for all his crimes, to his mind, Thanos was doing it all for a good purpose. In a sick way, he admired the resilience of Earth's defenders against his might. He thinks that he is going to succeed because it is his destiny, but losing all those brave souls that actually managed to defeat him is not a good thing. After all, it was enough that half of them would probably die when he completes his mission.
His pride would push him to accept the offer, but his rational mind would argue against it. It was a moment of indecision, and that was all they needed. With a quick nod, the Ancient One seemed to understand what she was getting at, and in a fraction of a second, the world shattered into reflective shards behind him, Thanos seemed to sense it and readjusted reality using his Infinity Stone.
Thanos started to use the Soul Stone, and Wanda started to feel weaker and weaker, like something was leaving her. It was like she was suffocating, even if there was air around. The Ancient One seemed to be having the same issue, but she touched Wanda, and the Scarlet Witch felt the world slow down.
Ah, time dilatation using the Time Stone. Wanda was still in agony, but she used the Space Stone to create a portal that surrounded the three of them, as well as a burst of Gravity to push Thanos away.
The attack seemed to disorient him, since Wanda started to regain her clarity. She slowly stood up, being helped by the Ancient One, who seemed to have recovered spontaneously.
She prepared to be ready to fight Thanos, but he was too busy staring around him, "You brought me to Titan. You brought me to my home."
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