Rhodes blasts a beam of energy at Ebony, but he easily dodges. The alien uses his telekinesis powers to lift up a piece of the floor and send it flying at the human. Rhodes rolls to the right, but then quickly turns and blasts the piece of floor to pieces, since it was going to land on Tony.

Pieces of rubble rain down on Tony's head, bringing him back to consciousness. Tony props himself with his elbows and turns himself onto his back. He sees his friend Rhodey fighting with Ebony, and many questions form in his mind.

Deciding not to dwell on how the alien is alive, Tony tries to think of a way to escape. He manages to crawl over to the debris that's blocking him from the door to the hallway. Tony tries to find anything that could help him, and he notices two wires sticking out of the ground.

Acting fast, Tony pulls the wires out and wraps them around the arc reactor in his chest. Now he just needs a magnet. Luckily, they are trapped in Tony's room, and he has a lot of magnets lying around.

Tony sneakily crawls over to his desk and grabs a metallic magnet that fell onto the floor. He wraps the other end of the wires around the magnet, and uses his arc reactor to give it a boost of energy. Tony shakily stands up just as his friend is thrown down right in front of him.

"You'll join us one way or another, both of you!" Ebony folds his hands and glares at Tony. Rhodes groans but doesn't get up, which tells Tony he won't be getting any help from him.

"You talk too much." Tony quickly grabs the wires and rips them off his chest. He throws them at Ebony, the magnet still wrapped around the wire. Ebony catches the magnet, but the energy is too strong. It pins his hand to the metal wall behind him.

Tony dashes over to his friend and thankfully feels a heartbeat. He takes his Iron Man hand off Rhodes, now that it's damaged and mostly useless. Ebony wraps his fingers around the magnet keeping him in place and says, "I can control inorganic matter, you fool!"

Using his powers, Ebony throws the magnet back to Tony and it hits him right in the chest. The glass protecting his arc reactor smashes, and he falls right next to his best friend.

Knocking and yelling can be heard from the other side of the rubble, but no one can get through. They would destroy the debris that's keeping the Avengers from their two teammates, but they don't want to risk hurting Tony or Rhodes, or having the ceiling completely collapse on them. One of the members of the group thinks fast and runs into another room where hopefully she can get in from the balcony area.

Ebony lifts up the floor to carry Tony and Rhodes over to his ship. He pays no mind to the flickering light in Tony's chest, not really caring if he dies. However, before he can leave the room, a golden boomerang smacks him in the face. Ebony drops his hostages and clenches his fists, looking for his attacker.

A girl that he's never seen drops down onto the balcony. She doesn't fit the description of any of the Avengers he has never faced either, which makes him think this girl is new to the team.

"Out of my way. You are just postponing the inevitable, child." Ebony uses his powers to make many of Tony's mechanical tools float next to him threateningly.

Leah cringes at being called a child and spins her silver boomerang between her fingers. "Ugh and I thought the Skrulls were ugly. What even are you?"

"Superior to you!" Ebony shoots the dangerous building tools at Leah. Her eyes widen and she jumps backward off the balcony. Ebony floats down after her.

Doctor Strange helps Lauren stumble through the halls until they get outside Tony's room. Together they use their Sling Rings to open a portal to the inside of the room, and everyone follows them.

"I don't see the intruder, and the scans aren't showing anything either." Natasha holds out a thin rectangular device and finds no sign of the threat.

"I sense... an anomaly. Someone is alive who shouldn't be. It's as if they came back from the dead." Lauren starts getting a queasy feeling as she forms a theory on who this mysterious intruder is.

"Stark!" T'Challa kneels down next to the billionaire's body and wipes away the broken glass from his chest carefully. "His chest unit is damaged! We must get him aid."

Steve Rogers picks Tony up. The movement makes the light in Tony's chest flicker quickly before going out completely. "T'Challa, bring Rhodes to the medical center. Bruce and Vision, come with us. The rest of you, find the person who did this!"

Steve, Vision, Bruce, and T'Challa carry Tony and Rhodes to the infirmary while the rest look around for clues. Carol looks out the balcony and asks, "Where'd that girl Leah go?"

The new Avengers compound is in a more remote area than the first tower. The first Avengers tower was located in the middle of New York, which wasn't a very good idea as a lot of things tend to get destroyed near the Avengers. Now a pretty big field surrounds their home. Luscious green grass and a forest line a mile out. No buildings for a good twenty miles. Only the landscape is in danger here.

Ebony finds this fact difficult to work with. Back in the battle of New York, he was able to use many debris of streets and buildings as his own personal weapons. Now though, there is only this building and a garage filled with cars. The poor vehicles are the victims of this fight.

Leah has to dodge and fight her way through about fifteen wrecked cars being thrown her way. She tried to summon her golden boomerang back, but it must be under a lot of rubble because it hasn't returned to her. Instead, she has to use her silver weapon to knock the metal out of the way.

"You are but an insect! Get out of my way!" Ebony lifts up a broken car door with his powers and shaves it down into many thin needles. He shoots his new weapons at Leah.

The girl's eyes widen and she looks around for any escape route. Finding none, she falls to her knees and shields her face with her arms in an attempt to protect it. Instead of feeling thirty needles pierce her body, Leah can't feel anything. After a long moment, she looks upward and finds the needles dangerously close to her just hovering there.

Ebony makes a path for him to walk through the deadly dome of sharp objects and he approaches the kneeling girl. "I happen to be very close to Galactus, the one you're after."

"How do you know that I'm-" Leah quickly stands up, but she's cut off by Ebony.

"I know you wish to bring his demise. I warn you, child, that facing him alone will only be your doom. But, if you serve me, then I can fulfill your wish, and you can have revenge." Ebony puts one hand on Leah's shoulder while the other pats her head.

Leah's eyes glaze over and she suddenly forgets everything. Why was she fighting? Who is this person who is speaking to her? Where is she? Can she trust this alien in front of her?

Luckily she doesn't have to make a decision. Carol Danvers flies out of the compound, a seething Lauren on her tail. The two blondes rush over to Leah and Ebony. Lauren jumps up and kicks Ebony in the face while Carol blasts him with her energy fists when he lands.

"That was for trying to get the Time Stone from Stephen and me." Lauren clenches her fists, trying to keep herself from destroying the alien here and now.

Carol puts a hand in Leah's shoulder, bringing her back to reality. "You were amazing to face him on your own. You'll be alright."

The rest of the Avengers who aren't helping Tony and Rhodes get outside and stand in their defensive stances. Ebony chuckles and stands up. "You're too late. He will consume your world! For he is the great Galactus!"

"Thank you, Ebony, but that will be enough. Return to your post." The Avengers all take a step back as they stare at the speaker in shock. Never would they think that he would come to them again. Right in front of the tree line, Thanos stands. His Gauntlet is still broken, but he can use the Infinity Stones individually. Ebony smirks and retreats, probably going back to his "post".

"Avengers, I bet you are all wondering why I'm here." Thanos gets no response, but he already knows the answer. "My mission had two goals, and you ruined the first. I put the world in a better state, and you ruined that. However, my contingency plan can never fail. Galactus will make sure the world stays in balance."

"You awakened Galactus?!" Hawkeye notches and arrow and aims right for Thanos' heart.

The Mad Titan chuckles and flexes the broken Infinity Gauntlet. "Very clever. Galactus will consume half of the universe, and then I will have the power to put him back into his eternal slumber."

That's absolutely crazy!" The Wasp has a bit of laughter in her voice, as if she can't believe what she's hearing. "It will solve nothing!"

"It's not like any of you know! You'll all see once he comes, you'll understand then. The universe is better off this way." Thanos holds the Gauntlet out in front of him, determined to rid the world of Avengers so that no one stands in his way.

A blast of purple flames from the Power Stone shoot out at the Avengers and Thanos readies the Soul Stone to trap them all. Before the fire can reach them, someone lands in front of them and catches the flames, absorbing them into their hands.

"You!" Wanda and Lauren say at the same time.

The flames die down and the mystery person turns to the team. "My apologies, but there is no time to explain. He will be here any moment now."

"Wait, you're the one who sent the message?" Gamora holds her hand out as a symbol for him to wait.

"Yes. I am known as the Silver Surfer and I am here to help you." The Silver Surfer drops his gaze as he continues. "I am risking my entire planet by betraying Galactus. So, we must defeat him. Whatever it takes."