Spider-Man 0X

Ch: 248 [Thanos vs The Ancient One]

The void of silence after Gali's triumph was fleeting. Far across the battlefield, aboard the Sanctuary II, Thanos stood, his imposing figure framed by the colossal window of his flagship's bridge. His eyes narrowed as he regarded the tracker feed displayed on a holographic screen before him.

One by one, the indicators representing the Black Order—the loyal enforcers he had trusted for years—winked out. Ebony Maw. Corvus Glaive. Proxima Midnight. Cull Obsidian. Their life signals vanished into the abyss.

Thanos's expression remained stoic, but a subtle tightening of his jaw betrayed his realization. They were gone.

He turned away from the screen, the weight of their loss settling upon him not as grief, but as irritation. "They were powerful," he murmured to himself, his voice like gravel grinding underfoot. "Yet they underestimated what lay ahead."

His gaze shifted to the Infinity Gauntlet on his hand, the Power, Mind, and Space Stones gleaming ominously in their sockets. He flexed his fingers, the energy of the stones radiating through his arm like liquid fire. "If they cannot complete my mission… I will."

Thanos turned to the nearest Chitauri commander. "Hold the line. Focus fire on the orbital defenses and keep Earth's forces occupied. Do not let them interfere."

"Yes, my lord," the commander replied, bowing low.

Without further words, Thanos raised the gauntlet. The Space Stone flared to life, its blue energy enveloping him in a swirling vortex of light. With a single thought, he tore through the fabric of space, his massive form vanishing from Sanctuary II.

[Kamar-Taj, Earth]

In the heart of Kamar-Taj, the air shimmered as the vortex of the Space Stone tore open, depositing Thanos into the center of the ancient stronghold. The courtyard was quiet, the usual hum of mystical activity replaced by stillness.

Thanos stepped forward, his giant figure casting a long shadow across the intricate patterns etched into the stone floor. He looked around. His sensors showed that the stones were here, but why wasn't it guarded? He wondered. But he could feel the energy rippling around him. This was a place of great power, the nexus of Earth's magical defenses.

As he moved deeper into the courtyard, the air around him grew colder. The energy around became dense. A faint sound, like the rustling of leaves in a windless forest, echoed through the space.

From the shadows of a near archway, a figure emerged. The Ancient One. She was robed in flowing yellow garments and carried an aura of timeless wisdom. Her expression was calm but unreadable as she stepped forward. Her bald head caught the faint light of the setting sun. The golden glow of the Eye of Agamotto rested against her chest.

"Thanos," she said, her voice steady and precise. "I expected you sooner."

The Mad Titan stopped, tilting his head slightly as he regarded her. "You knew I would come?"

The Ancient One nodded. "Of course. You're predictable in your arrogance. But your presence here tells me something… interesting. Your forces are faltering. You've grown impatient."

Thanos's lips curled into a thin smile. "My forces are distractions. My goals are eternal. Your tricks and barriers are delaying the inevitable."

The Ancient One raised an eyebrow, her demeanor serene despite the imposing presence before her. "And what inevitable truth is that?"

"That your world will kneel," Thanos replied, his gauntlet glowing as the Power Stone pulsed with energy. "And your defenses—magic or otherwise—will crumble under my will."

The Ancient One took a slow step forward, her hands clasped loosely in front of her. "You believe power is all that matters. That force alone will bend the universe to your design." She paused, her gaze piercing. "But you misunderstand the nature of true strength."

Thanos's smile faded, replaced by a look of mild irritation. "Spare me your philosophies, sorcerer. I've torn gods from their thrones and ripped worlds asunder. What can you hope to do?"

The Ancient One tilted her head, her expression softening. "Perhaps nothing. Or perhaps, everything."

She extended her hand, and the Sling Ring on her finger flared to life. A circle of golden light formed in front of her, its edges crackling with raw energy. The Ancient One twisted her fingers, and the portal expanded, revealing a vast, shifting realm of kaleidoscopic colors and shapes—the Mirror Dimension.

Thanos took a step forward, unfazed. "A pocket dimension. Clever, but futile. No barrier can contain me."

The Ancient One's lips twitched into a faint smile. "Oh, it's not a barrier."

With a flick of her wrist, the portal snapped shut, only to reopen beneath Thanos's feet. The Mad Titan didn't flinch as he fell through, the golden light swallowing him whole. The Ancient One followed, her yellow robes billowing as she stepped gracefully into the Mirror Dimension.

Thanos landed on a floating shard of fractured stone, the surreal landscape around him shifting and contorting. Towers of crystalline glass twisted into impossible shapes, while rivers of liquid light flowed upward into an endless void. The air was alive with a hum of mystical energy, and the ground beneath his feet shifted with every step.

The Ancient One materialized a few paces away, her feet hovering just above the fractured ground. She regarded Thanos with the calm authority of a teacher addressing a particularly stubborn student.

"In this realm," she said, her voice carrying a slight echo, "your stones are powerful, yes. But the laws of reality are... malleable."

Thanos raised the gauntlet, the Mind Stone glowing as he attempted to seize control of her mind. But the Ancient One moved faster, tracing a sigil in the air. The spell deflected his attack, the golden light dissolving the psychic tendrils before they could reach her.

"Impressive," Thanos admitted. "But this is a waste of time."

He slammed the gauntlet into the ground, releasing a shockwave of purple energy from the Power Stone. The fractured ground around him disintegrated, sending shards of stone hurtling toward the Ancient One. She raised her hands, the air around her rippling as the shards froze mid-flight, then dissolved into nothingness.

The Ancient One's gaze remained steady. "Time," she said, her tone deliberate, "is something you do not fully comprehend."

She extended her hand toward the Eye of Agamotto. The amulet opened, revealing the green glow of the Time Stone within. Its light filled the dimension, weaving through the shifting reality like threads of silk.

Thanos's eyes narrowed as the Ancient One began to manipulate the flow of time itself, the shards of the Mirror Dimension freezing, reversing, and colliding in a dizzying display of temporal mastery.

"Let's see," she said, her voice calm yet resolute, "if you're as inevitable as you believe."

The fractured realm twisted and turned, the once-shifting shards of reality now caught in an endless cycle of destruction and reformation. The Time Stone's emerald glow pulsed rhythmically, echoing through the air as the Ancient One wove intricate patterns of light with her hands. Time bent to her will, creating ripples in the already surreal landscape.

Thanos, standing at the eye of this storm, watched the spectacle with cold calculation. His gauntlet flared to life, the Space Stone and Power Stone radiating energy as he sought to counter the Ancient One's manipulation.

"You toy with forces you barely control," Thanos growled, slamming his fist into the air. The Space Stone opened multiple rifts in the fabric of the Mirror Dimension, pulling fragments of its reality into swirling voids.

The Ancient One's expression remained serene. She moved her hands in fluid, deliberate motions, creating shields of golden light that deflected the rifts' pull. "Control is an illusion, Thanos," she replied. "Even for someone like you."

With a wave of her hand, she directed the flow of time toward Thanos. The very ground beneath him began to age and erode, turning to dust. For a brief moment, the energy in his gauntlet flickered as the ancient enchantments binding it were disrupted by the temporal manipulation.

But Thanos did not falter. He clenched his fist, and the Power Stone erupted in a wave of raw energy, blasting through the decaying ground and dispersing the temporal attack. The shockwave sent ripples across the dimension, shattering nearby floating structures into glittering fragments.

"You delay the inevitable," Thanos said, his voice low and ominous. "You've bought Earth minutes. Perhaps seconds. But nothing more."

The Ancient One hovered higher, her hands moving faster now, her face reflecting a mix of focus and faint amusement. "Oh, I'm not delaying anything. I'm preparing you."

With those words, she gestured sharply, and the fabric of the Mirror Dimension responded. The floating shards of reality coalesced into massive, rotating rings around Thanos. The rings glowed with golden energy, each one etched with ancient runes.

Thanos glanced at the rings as they began to tighten, closing in on him like a celestial trap. He smirked. "You believe a cage will hold me?"

"It's not a cage," the Ancient One replied. "It's a lesson."

She twisted her hands, and the rings began to spin faster. Time itself fractured within the rings, splitting into countless streams that encased Thanos in overlapping versions of himself, each trapped in different moments. In one stream, he was mid-strike, the gauntlet raised. In another, he stood frozen, his expression one of frustration. In yet another, he was locked in combat with his own reflection.

"This is the weight of your ambition," the Ancient One said, her voice calm but carrying an undeniable power. "Infinite timelines collapsing under the burden of your hubris."