The battle on Xandar had reached a stalemate.
The cannon beam fired by Tony Stark tore through the air like a violently ripping streak of light, shooting toward Thanos.
Boom—
Thanos raised a hand and wielded the Power Stone's strength against Tony Stark's incoming beam. The Power Stone flashed purple upon the Infinity Gauntlet as a powerful repulsive particle beam erupted from the Infinity Stone. Thanos punched it out, smashing head-on into Tony Stark's cannon beam and forcing it back.
"JARVIS, thirty percent energy!" Tony Stark's heart tightened as he hurriedly ordered JARVIS to divert more power.
But in terms of energy, the Power Stone possessed nearly limitless power. As the two beams collided, Thanos's repulsive particle beam instantly scattered Tony Stark's cannon beam and reached him.
At that critical moment, Stephen Strange rotated one hand.
Sparks spun before Tony Stark, expanding into a portal directly in front of him. At the same time, the portal's exit appeared behind Thanos.
"Hmph!" The repulsive particle beam Thanos had fired went directly through the portal and emerged behind him. He took the full force of his own attack, staggering into a half-kneel and nearly falling.
"A Kamar-Taj sorcerer? What is Ancient One to you?" Thanos straightened up. His towering, muscular body had endured that blast of his own repulsive particle beam, immediately halting the many Avengers who had intended to press their advantage.
Thanos knew that the Time Stone was at Kamar-Taj.
Kamar-Taj possessed the ability to manipulate time, and the Eye of Agamotto contained the Time Stone.
Ancient One was famous even among the demon gods, so the Time Stone should have been in her hands.
Yet on Earth, Kamar-Taj's Sorcerer Supreme had changed, and Ancient One had even been driven out of Kamar-Taj. The mystery was impossible to unravel.
Since