"If I took you there, what would you do?" Malekith said slowly.
Thanos looked at him, and the light in his amber eyes flickered.
"I would take the Reality Stone, then I would leave."
"That's all?"
"That's all."
Malekith fell silent again.
His mind raced, calculating the consequences of every possible choice.
Resist, die, his people die, and Thanos would still take the Reality Stone.
Cooperate, perhaps live, perhaps his people would live.
Though the Reality Stone would be lost, he could survive and find another opportunity in the future.
Between survival and death, he chose survival.
"I'll take you to it," Malekith said.
Thanos gave a slight nod, a gesture of acknowledgment.
There was no gratitude, no appreciation—only confirmation that he had made the correct choice.
"You and your people will live and serve me."
Malekith's eyes widened for a moment.
"You said you would leave."
"I will. You and your Dark Elves will leave with me.
Work for me, fight for me, conquer for me.
Your technology, your stealth techniques, your ability to survive in darkness are more valuable to me than the Reality Stone.
I will take the Stone, but afterward, I will need an army capable of operating in the shadows of the universe. Your army."
Malekith's lips trembled.
Something burned in his black eyes: fury, humiliation.
The unforgettable fury of being treated as a tool.
But his lips spoke no words of refusal, because reason told him that the price of refusal was the lives of himself and his people.
"If I refuse?" Malekith asked again.
Thanos looked at him without answering.
He merely raised his left hand, and the Power Stone on his gauntlet lit up.
Purple light poured from the Stone, gathering in his palm into a small, spinning sphere of energy.
The