Thanos walked up from the riverbed and back onto the ground, the East River closing behind him.
Within seconds of his departure, the river water filled the space he had parted, letting out a tremendous roar.
Mud and water stains clung to his golden armor, but they quickly dried beneath the glow of six colors.
He walked through the Manhattan district, now reduced to ruins.
Past piles of rubble that had been skyscrapers just minutes ago.
Past crowds scattering in panic.
He did not look at them.
He reached the center of Manhattan, a place that had once been Times Square.
Now, Times Square no longer existed.
The surrounding buildings had been shattered by the shockwave from Android 18's first attack.
The ground had been scorched glassy by energy beams, and the air was thick with dust and the smell of burning.
The once-dazzling giant screens had become shards of glittering glass scattered across the ground.
Those screens that had once played Coca-Cola advertisements and Broadway musical previews.
Now, only sporadic currents flickered through broken wires, making faint hissing sounds like sighs.
Thanos stood in the heart of the ruins, looking over the place that had once represented the pinnacle of human civilization.
There was no pride in his six-colored vortex eyes, no mockery, only a solemnity akin to a religious ritual.
He had not come to ridicule humanity, to display his power, or to conquer.
He had come to fulfill his mission.
"Universe!" he spoke, his voice not loud, yet the entire city heard it.
Like the echo of distant thunder, like tremors rising from deep within the earth.
"The universe was born from balance. Stars burn in the balance between gravity and nuclear fusion.
Planets orbit in the balance between centripetal and centrifugal force, and life continues in