Lin Xiao released Su Ying from the embrace, but he kept hold of her hand. His gaze passed over her shoulder toward the base, where a medical team was lifting Bruce Banner onto a stretcher. His charred right arm and the still-glowing Infinity Gauntlet were painfully stark in the sunlight. Tony approached, his armor's faceplate flipping open. There was no joy in his face, only deep exhaustion and worry.
"We need to talk," Tony said, glancing at Lin Xiao and Su Ying's joined hands. "About the gauntlet, the stones, and... what we do next."
In the distance, Doctor Strange and Wong stood beside the fading trace of a portal, speaking quietly. T'Challa directed Wakandan soldiers as they cleared the battlefield, though his gaze kept drifting toward the base. Wind swept through the ruins, carrying ash and dust. It also brought a faint unease. As the cheers of victory died away, a heavier silence about the future settled over the battlefield.
Just then, a low, almost bestial growl came from the center of the battlefield.
Every eye turned toward it.
Thanos stood amid the subsiding currents of energy.
His massive body was slightly hunched. Scorch marks and gashes covered his purple skin, and blood seeped from dozens of wounds, glinting dark violet in the sunlight. His breathing was heavy and slow. Every inhale came with a rasp from his damaged lungs; every exhale sent out a blood-scented plume of white mist.
But he was still standing.
He looked down at his left hand.
The Infinity Gauntlet on his left hand—the one he had brought from the 2014 Timeline, set with four stones—was undergoing a strange change.
The Power Stone's purple glow faded first. The stone that had once been able to crush planets with ease now looked like ordinary amethyst, its