A HUSH FELL OVER THE STARS. Below them, the planet lay in silence — not the stillness of peace, but the quiet that comes after a scream. Lush, tropical trees tangled over one another like a forgotten jungle reclaiming its ruins. Sunlight pierced through the mist in gold-speckled beams, but the beauty felt hollow. Unnatural. Like the world was trying to pretend something terrible hadn't happened here.

In the center of this uncanny paradise stood a broken farmhouse. A lonely shed slouched against itself, its roof patched with rusted metal. In front of it, an eerie scarecrow stood buried in the soil — not made of straw and burlap, but of Thanos' own armor. A haunting, twisted monument to something already dead.

A figure limped through the crops nearby.

Thanos.

He moved slowly — each step dragging like stone, as though his body no longer obeyed him. His massive left arm hung lifelessly at his side, the charred Infinity Gauntlet fused to his skin like molten iron. Blisters marred half his purple face; one eye nearly swollen shut. He looked nothing like the monster who'd snapped the universe in half.

He looked... tired. Broken. Hollow.

And then — the sky cracked open like thunder.

Carol Danvers shot through the roof like a blazing meteor, her golden aura lighting up the cabin like a sunrise gone to war. The impact knocked Thanos off his feet, collapsing him into dust and wood splinters. Before he could stand, her hand was at his throat, glowing, fierce.

Bruce, in the Hulkbuster armor, exploded from underground in a cloud of dirt and fury, slamming down to restrain the arm that wore the gauntlet. Thor descended a heartbeat later, his cape whipping behind him like the wings of a wrathful god.

With a roar, Thor swung Stormbreaker — and in one brutal motion, cleaved through Thanos' arm.

The gauntlet hit the floor with a heavy clang.

Then came Rhodey, jetting down from above with Rocket at his side, both of them aiming weapons at Thanos' head. And behind them, emerging through the ruined doorway — Steve, clad in his darker stealth suit, his jaw clenched. Natasha followed, every step deliberate, her eyes locked onto the man who had taken everything from them.

Rocket was already at the gauntlet, flipping it over with a boot.

Empty.

No stones.

No power.

Just cold, black metal.

A silence fell.

"Where are they?" Steve asked, his voice low and sharp as a blade.

Carol tightened her grip around Thanos' neck. Her voice burned. "Answer the question!"

Thanos wheezed. There was no fear in his voice — only finality. "The universe required correction. After that... the stones served no purpose, beyond temptation."

Bruce's voice thundered inside the suit. "You murdered trillions!" He threw Thanos down like trash.

Thanos coughed, blood at his lips. "You should be grateful."

Bruce hit him again.

Natasha stepped forward, barely keeping her composure. Her voice was soft. Broken. "Where are the stones?"

Thanos turned his ruined face toward her.

"Gone."

A pause.

"Reduced to atoms."

The words hit harder than any weapon.

Natasha flinched — just slightly — but it was enough.
A single tear slipped down her cheek, hot and bitter.
Because she knew... this was the end. The last hope, the last prayer, was dead and gone.

Steve's heart sank. He could feel it all over again — the empty space where Ariel used to be. Her voice, her laughter, the way she used to sing under her breath when she thought no one was listening. All of it — wiped from existence.

Bruce protested.

"You used them two days ago!"

"I used the stones... to destroy the stones," Thanos rasped. "It nearly killed me." He turned his head slowly, his blistered face cracking as he spoke. "But the work is done. It always will be... I am inevitable."

Silence.

The kind that made your ears ring.

"We have to tear this place apart, he-he-he has to be lying," Rhodey said, desperate.

But Nebula shook her head slowly.

"My father is many things," she whispered, "A liar is not one of them."

A beat passed.

"Ah, thank you, daughter," Thanos muttered from the ground. His voice, for the first time, trembled. Nebula looked down uncomfortable. "Perhaps I treated you too harshly—"

He never finished.

In one final motion, Thor's axe arcs through the air and comes down. A sickening thud echoes through the hut as Stormbreaker cleaves through flesh and bone.

Thanos' head was severed clean from his shoulders and tumbled into the dirt with a heavy, lifeless thump.

And just like that—it was over.

The Titan's massive body slumped to the ground with a hollow weight, purple blood pooling slowly beneath him. His expression is frozen in eerie calm, as if even death couldn't surprise him.

Everyone froze.

"What, what did you do?" Rocket murmured, stunned.

Thor's voice was hoarse. "I went for the head."

No one moved.

No one could.

There was no cheering. No vengeance. No justice.

Just the hollow sound of wind rustling the crops outside... and the crushing realization that nothing had changed.

Natasha turned away, covering her mouth. Bruce took a trembling step back. Rocket stood in silence, blinking rapidly, clutching the gauntlet that had once held the fate of the universe.

Steve just stared.

At the body.

At the blood.

And for the first time since the Snap, he truly understood.

They had lost.