Xandar's continental plates cracked apart, lava erupting without cease. The stench of sulfur and molten rock grew so intense it blanketed the entire planet. Every structure on the surface had been destroyed and submerged beneath seas of lava. The earth sank, and the sky collapsed.
Thanos's fleet escorted the ship he had boarded out of Xandar's atmosphere and toward the mothership.
Thanos stood in the cabin with his hands behind his back, looking down through the transparent superconductive glass at Xandar and the people who had defied him.
A Rainbow Bridge shot down from the heavens onto Xandar, striking the group facing Thanos. It enveloped them and vanished from Xandar.
Thanos looked down at the Rainbow Bridge without expression.
"Should we take them down one by one?" Ebony Maw asked as he approached Thanos from behind and bowed slightly.
Ebony Maw could tell that Thanos regarded them with some importance.
Though Thanos had merely been testing the Power Stone when he first obtained it, the fact that this group had withstood its power and nearly stripped the Infinity Gauntlet from his hand was enough to surprise and concern him.
They could not be underestimated.
Earth might have been a remote little planet, but it kept producing unparalleled talents. First there had been Ancient One, who had nearly swept through the realm of demon gods and made the dimensional demon gods gnash their teeth in hatred. Then came He-El, who defeated Odin and filled the Nine Realms with dread. Even these Avengers members, taken together, were not much weaker than the Black Order.
"No need. The Avengers' commander did not make a move. He alone is the obstacle," Thanos said in a deep voice as he watched the Rainbow Bridge carry the Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy away from Xandar.