After Thanos' death, silence fell across the ruined battlefield.
Max stood tall in the center, surrounded by ash and broken metal, his cloak fluttering in the cosmic wind. At his feet, the Infinity Stones glowed faintly—no longer thrumming with defiance, but resting as if even they feared him.
He looked at them one last time… then calmly knelt and picked each one up.
With a wave of his hand, he put them all in the simple case.
Behind him, the Avengers slowly approached, wary, yet curious.
"What are your plans now?" Tony asked, eyeing the cases as Max stood.
He half-expected Max to take the Stones—claim them, maybe even disappear with them.
But instead… Max turned.
He walked up to Tony and extended the sealed case, placing it gently into his arms.
The Avengers blinked in disbelief.
Tony held them tightly. "You're giving them back?"
Max nodded. "I didn't come here to take power, Stark. I came to test it."
There was a pause.
Max looked at the scorched sky, voice cool. "My mission is done. I only came to see if there was anyone left in this timeline who could wield the Stones… someone worth calling a challenge."
He shrugged. "Thanos was that figure, or so I thought. But in the end… a disappointment. Strong, yes. But fragile in vision."
The group remained silent. Even Thor, who had fought gods, seemed unsure what to say.
Max turned away, cracking his neck. "Easy choice. I'm leaving."
He raised his hand—and from thin air, a shifting dimensional gate opened, swirling with paradox light and abyssal gravity.
His body began to ascend, lifted by his Night Monarch energy, the sky around him parting like the surface of a dream.
Tony stepped forward. "Will we… see you again?"
Max looked over his shoulder, smirking.
"Maybe. Depends on if your universe breeds anything fun again."
And with that, he vanished—into the rift beyond time.
The gate sealed behind him.
The battlefield was quiet once more.
Only this time… it was over.
****
"Another great adventure done," Max mumbled as he plopped onto his bed, stretching with a lazy yawn. "Should I spin another Apocalypse Gacha?" he mused, flicking through his system menus. Then he paused, eyes narrowing with a grin. "Oh right—I've collected a bunch of world-traveling tickets lately."
He rarely spun the world Gacha, maybe once a day—though the chaos he caused afterward usually made up for the calm of the spin. Among the loot, the glimmering tickets were his favorite.
"Hm? Oh, I had this one..." Max stopped as he spotted something glowing faintly in his inventory: a Douluo Dalu World Traveling Ticket.
"Eheheh... time to go torment Tang San and embrace all the beauties in Douluo Dalu," he grinned, reaching out to select it.
But just as his fingers brushed the edge of the ticket—a black, bony hand reached out in slow motion, aiming right for it.
Max didn't even flinch.
He immediately knew who it was: his little sister Lumia's Soul Reaper servant. And since it was her? He let it slide.
The reaper snatched the ticket and vanished back into the shadows as a glowing door opened nearby—and Lumia stepped through, arms crossed, looking furious.
"As I suspected. You were going to another world without me," she said, holding the ticket while grinding her teeth like an angry dinosaur.
Max gulped, sweat forming on his brow. "N-Nope! I just got it! I was just about to call you to come with me!"
Lumia narrowed her eyes. "Really?"
"Swear on Thanos."
"Who's Thanos?"
"He's a kind guy who believes in helping people... just with his own kind of balance." Max grinned.
Lumia stared at him curiously for a second, then shrugged. "Alright. So, what kind of world is this?"
Max folded his hands behind his head. "A beautiful one. But soon, it's going to get turned upside down by one guy's arrogance. Sooo... I thought I'd go ruin that future first."
She nodded thoughtfully, then asked, "Should I call Rize, Gwen, and Malaika?"
"Yeah, go ahead."
She pouted. "If you're bringing your girls, I don't want to be the third wheel. Let me bring my boyfriend too."
Max rolled his eyes, but nodded. "Sure, sure. Bring your Spider-boy."
A few minutes later, a portal opened and Peter Parker stepped in, adjusting his jacket awkwardly.
"Long time no see, Peter," Max said with a smirk.
When Lumia had first told Max she was dating someone, he had prepared to obliterate the poor guy. But once he found out it was Peter? He let it go. After all, Max knew what kind of guy he is so he let it slide.
Though if he decided to make Lumia sad, then Marvel will have just one less Spiderman.
As the others arrived, Max welcomed them one by one with a wide grin.
Rize—the seductive vampire with crimson eyes.
Malaika—the dark elf empress, graceful and deadly.
Gwen—the only human among his inner circle, and somehow the scariest when she was mad.
He hugged each of them before stepping back.
"So, where are we going?" Gwen asked as she wrapped her arms around him.
Max tapped the glowing ticket. "I found a great world. Beautiful lands, powerful spirit beasts, ancient secrets... and a so-called 'hero' I can't wait to break."
They all stood together, now gathered in a circle as the world-traveling ticket activated.
"Ready?" Max asked.
The group nodded as one.
Amid the smoky ruins of a small mountain village, fire raged, consuming wooden huts and torch-lit paths. The air was thick with ash and the scent of burning thatch.
But amidst the chaos—six tiny bodies stirred in the debris, barely covered in soot, eyes fluttering open one after another.
A soft golden glow shimmered around them, protecting them from the flames. It was a miracle no one could explain.
One of the children—a boy with sharp eyes and a mischievous smile—sat up first. He looked down at his small hands, clenched them experimentally, and grinned.
***
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