Thanos roared, veins glowing with the five-Stone fury. He slammed his foot down, and reality bent.
Spikes of crimson crystal shot out of the ground, tearing the earth asunder. The Power Stone pulsed with each breath he took, enhancing his strength far beyond anything seen before. With a sudden twist of his wrist, he warped the air with the Space Stone, teleporting behind Max in a blur of speed, gauntlet already swinging.
CRACK!
The gauntlet connected—but instead of staggering, Max simply turned his head. The shadow colossus behind him absorbed the blow, its flaming crown flaring brighter.
"Good," Max said, without even turning. "You're trying now."
With a flick of his hand, time stilled.
The Time Stone glowed in Max's palm—not on the Gauntlet. In a blink, he was gone, and then—
WHAM!
Max reappeared above Thanos, heel crashing into the Titan's neck. Thanos tumbled through the air, slamming into a shattered Leviathan skeleton, rubble collapsing atop him.
The Avengers, watching from the cliffs nearby, stood frozen.
"Did he just—freeze time?" Banner muttered.
"And teleport," Clint added, stunned. "At the same time."
"This… this is insane," Thor said softly, eyes wide. "He's not just fighting Thanos. He's toying with him."
Max didn't stop.
He raised both hands, and the shadow colossus behind him mirrored the motion. Spears of darkness erupted from the air, homing in on Thanos. The Titan, blood dripping from his lips, snarled and activated the Mind Stone. A pulse exploded outward, shattering a dozen of the spears.
Then he gripped the Power Stone's core with his other hand and slammed the Gauntlet into the ground.
A shockwave erupted like a planetary quake.
Max was forced back—even the colossus flinched. Thanos rose from the rubble, breathing heavily, his armor hanging in broken chunks.
"Enough of this!" he shouted, raising the Gauntlet to the sky.
A pillar of light surged upward, touching the heavens. The sky warped as the Soul Stone awakened fully, attempting to rip Max's essence from his body.
For a moment—just a breath—Max trembled. Shadows tore off his skin, his aura wavering.
"NOW!" Thanos roared, pouring everything he had into one massive beam of Infinity energy, laced with power from five Stones, all channeled into a final strike.
The sky turned white.
The battlefield was devoured by radiance.
Silence.
Smoke drifted. Craters spread for miles. The dust began to settle…
Then—a laugh.
Low. Cold. Echoing.
A black boot crushed a still-glowing ember. And then Max emerged—cloak torn, half his face scorched—but grinning.
"You're strong," Max said, voice rough, body burned. "But still…"
He extended his hand—and the Time Stone reformed, orbiting around his palm like a moon.
"…you're no final boss."
From the shadows, the colossus returned, this time twice as tall, its eyes glowing red as collapsed timelines spun around it.
Thanos' eyes widened in shock.
"You know," Max said calmly, stepping forward through the smoke, "all this time, I've only been using twenty percent of my power."
He raised his hand, shadows swirling like galaxies in reverse. The flames of dying stars flickered in his palm, and his Night Monarch aura wrapped around him like a divine cloak.
"I, the Night Monarch, hold power over thousands of universes. Your precious Infinity Stones?" He gestured dismissively. "They only work in one universe. It's no surprise I'm stronger."
Around his fingers curled anti-light, streams of compressed time, and whispers of erased realities. It was a symphony of destruction… and he hadn't even started.
"This…" Max smiled as the Shadow Colossus behind him loomed higher, "...was just a warm-up."
Tony blinked. "He's joking, right?"
Thor shook his head slowly, eyes still locked on Max. "I don't know… but I feel it. His power—it's… beyond even the Stones. It's ancient. Vast."
He lowered Stormbreaker. "We aren't needed."
Tony looked at him, surprised. "You're giving up?"
"No," Thor said, sitting beside the wreckage of the battlefield. "I'm standing aside."
Tony exhaled and dropped down next to him. Captain America joined, silently watching Max with narrowed eyes.
The remaining Avengers slowly emerged from what was left of the ruins—Scarlet Witch, Rocket, Okoye, even Valkyrie and Wong—all drawn by the blinding aura and the reality-defying combat.
And there, at the center, was Thanos.
The Mad Titan, once godlike, now bloodied and bruised. His Infinity Gauntlet—missing the Time Stone—glowed dimly. His armor was cracked. His once-mighty army lay strewn across the battlefield, broken or petrified by Max's overwhelming will.
And still, Max walked toward him. Calm. Confident.
"Who is he?" Nebula whispered, eyes wide.
The past version of Nebula turned, her voice quiet. "Not even I know. But one thing's certain…"
She watched as Thanos, armed with five Infinity Stones, was still being beaten down like a common grunt.
"He's the only being I've ever seen who can beat my father… even when he holds the Gauntlet."
In the distance, Thanos growled, staggering back up, spitting blood.
"You… are no god…"
Max tilted his head. "Oh no. I'm far worse."
Behind him, the Shadow Colossus merged into his body again. Max's eyes became galaxies, swirling with timelines and voidfire.
He raised a hand. Time stopped—except for Thanos and Max.
The world went silent.
"You could've created something, Thanos. But instead…" Max's voice echoed across dimensions, "...you chose erasure. So I give you a fitting end."
Thanos lunged with all his remaining might, fueled by the Power Stone.
Max didn't move.
A pulse of compressed time erased the punch from history.
Then, Max struck—once.
A single blow.
It didn't just hit Thanos.
It unwrote him.
The Titan staggered, his Gauntlet crumbling, the Stones falling one by one, flickering like dying stars. Then—
CRACK.
The Shadow Colossus slammed its fist down from the heavens.
Thanos shattered.
Not just his body—his very presence. Time forgot him. Space erased him. Reality was rewritte that he was never born.
Max exhaled softly and looked at the sky.
"And thus… fight is concluded, well it was somewhat good."
Past Nebula looked at the ashes of Thanos and other army that are now turning into Ashes, and then looked at herself as he found she is turning into ash too.
Present day Nebula looked at her and sighed as she just turned her head while Clint supported her.
***
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