Endgame!

At the bow of Sanctuary II, on its highest observation deck, a towering platform like a throne, a massive figure slowly rose.

He wore golden armor. His skin was a deep purple, and his chin was ridged like folded stone.

Merely standing there, he seemed the embodiment of every struggle, every slaughter, and every end in the universe.

The Mad Titan, Thanos.

He wore the Infinity Gauntlet, an artifact forged for him by the dwarf king of Nidavellir, capable of bearing the power at the universe's source.

A blue gem on the gauntlet glowed with a deep light.

The Space Stone.

His gaze pierced tens of thousands of kilometers and Earth's atmosphere, settling precisely on the figure confronting him above New York.

Link looked back at him calmly.

The gazes of the universe's two greatest Stone hunters, two would-be masters bent on reshaping its order, finally met in person.

No energies collided. No earth-shaking omen appeared.

Yet in that instant, every being on Earth with supernatural senses felt a shudder from the depths of their soul.

Doctor Strange felt as though he were caught between two colliding stars. Even staying aloft became a struggle.

Wanda's Chaos Magic spilled uncontrollably around her, as if it feared something.

Even Harley Quinn, behind Link, lost her playful grin. She instinctively gripped the hem of his coat.

"Mortal..."

Amplified by the Space Stone, Thanos's voice rang across the globe. Deep, commanding, and utterly devoid of emotion, it sounded like the proclamation of an immutable cosmic law.

"You have collected too many toys that do not belong to you."

His eyes passed over the five brilliant Stones on Link's gauntlet, and a barely perceptible longing flashed through them.

"Hand them over."

"I can grant this universe a merciful, painless Purification."

"Half of all life will