As the snap of the Infinity Gauntlet echoed, the entire universe convulsed. Sean, having transcended time and space, stepped free of the material world and walked along the river of spacetime itself.
Waves churned beneath his feet, fleeting images flashing past like glimpses of light. Each droplet of water in that great river contained tiny fragments of the past or the future.
Together, they formed a vast, endless torrent that had neither beginning nor end. If the universe truly possessed such a thing as 'fate', this was where it resided.
Infinite visions spun into being and dissolved in the same breath. The kaleidoscope of time and space unfurled before Sean's eyes; sometimes nebulas spiraling in the void, sometimes the dead stillness of absolute darkness.
"Thanos..." Sean traced the past into the future, searching for the Mad Titan's trail.
He had long since begun gathering intelligence on the Black Order, tasking the information brokers of Knowhere to dig up any leads. Yet the renowned war fleet had vanished as though it had simply evaporated from existence.
The only certainty was that Thanos himself had appeared on Sakaar once, then disappeared without a trace. Sean had questioned the Grandmaster personally regarding this, but even under the threat of the Infinity Gauntlet, that Elder had offered nothing of value.
It wasn't until Sean obtained the final gem did the Infinity Gauntlet grant him the power to cross the endless river of time, to push through layer after layer of dimensional oceans, until he finally came to a halt at a point somewhere in the future.
This was the destination, and the conclusion...
A cerulean glow spread and expanded, and Sean slowly stepped through. What welcomed him was a place thick with the stench of annihilation. It was as though the entire universe were weeping, its voice a faint cry of distress and agony.
"Thanos... what have you done?" Even his usually calm heart was shaken, as though a tremor ran through him.
Before him stretched a graveyard of shattered vessels. Broken components drifted through the void like an endless cosmic mausoleum.
"The Sovereign." Sean recognized the golden fleet of the Sovereign, the same force that had once hunted the Guardians of the Galaxy, only to be wiped out in an instant by Ego, Peter Quill's father.
The Time Stone blazed with emerald light. Using the present moment as an anchor, it rewound the flow of time, projecting the recent past before Sean.
There loomed Sanctuary II, a great black beast of a ship, hanging in the darkness. The Sovereign's golden fleet had it surrounded. Countless floating turrets fired in unison, like an exploding supernova unleashing cataclysmic force.
However, in the span of a single heartbeat, that supernova extinguished. Beside the stone throne of Sanctuary II, a scarred man reached out a hand and simply... flicked. The molecular structure of matter collapsed, its stable sequences unraveled and scattered.
The golden fleet crumbled like castles built from sand, annihilated and disintegrated by a single wave...
"The Molecule Man, Owen Reece... how in the hell did Thanos get his hands on him?" Sean dismissed the projected image.
The Space Stone flickered, and he appeared directly above the Sovereign's homeworld.
This was a civilization that worshipped gold above all else, seeing it as the perfect symbol. Their entire world, from the facades of buildings to the interiors, from the weapons wielded by their soldiers to the hulls of their ships... everything was draped in gold. Even their own skin bore a golden sheen.
The Sovereign had long since abandoned traditional reproduction. Their young were conceived through genetic systems, nurtured in artificial cocoons.
They fervently believed that the secret of evolution lay hidden in the genetic code. If they could unlock it, they would open the gate to godhood.
Through their ever-advancing genetic technology, the Sovereign had risen to a high civilization, second only to the Three Empires. However, they were deeply xenophobic and supremely arrogant, the polar opposite of the open and free planet Xandar.
Sean sought out their High Priestess, Ayesha. He had dealt with her several times before; there was some small measure of acquaintance.
"Ayesha, when did the Sovereign provoke Thanos?" He materialized abruptly in the High Priestess's private chambers, his unexpected question startling the disheveled Ayesha.
She reflexively reached to call her guards, only to realize that the attendants around her had not moved. It was as though they could not even see the intruder.
"Sean Cyphers... the Sentinel from Earth?" Ayesha forced down her panic and recognized the visitor.
Then, unexpectedly, a look of relief washed across her cold features. She remembered the rumor. Thanos had been defeated by this man once before. The Black Order had been driven back from Earth in disgrace.
"Thanos has gone mad!" Ayesha's eyes flickered with terror.
She was still reeling from the destruction of the golden fleet, grief-stricken beyond measure. Several of the Sovereign's planets had been attacked, their losses catastrophic.
Every single Sovereign birth required an immense investment of resources. Such losses were simply unsustainable.
Ayesha looked at Sean, her unexpected guest, and poured out the story, "About two weeks ago, Thanos and the Black Order appeared without warning in the Kree Empire. They annihilated the entire Kree fleet and destroyed dozens of planets in a single stroke. Then the Mad Titan went to Xandar and slaughtered the entire Nova Corps, committing the same atrocities there. Next came the Shi'ar Empire, the Skrull Empire... even the Elders of the Universe. Thanos spared none of them."
The High Priestess spoke with helpless resignation.
Cowed by Thanos's monstrous crimes, the surviving powers had been forced to set aside their differences and form an alliance against the Black Order.
"The Sovereign assembled its golden fleet, hoping to destroy the Black Order... but we failed. Thanos has a terrifying being at his side. Owen Reece, the Molecule Man. No one can defeat him!" Ayesha glanced at the the Infinity Gauntlet inlaid with six gems on Sean's hand. Her voice took on a pleading tone, "If you do not stop Thanos, the entire universe will become a dead zone!"
Sean frowned slightly. For reasons unknown, the Molecule Man had become a weapon in Thanos's hands, enabling the Mad Titan's slaughter across the stars.
Even traversing time and space, pushing through dimensions, Sean could not guess what Thanos was truly after.
The Mad Titan had once sought to use the ultimate power of the Infinity Gauntlet to exterminate half of all life in the universe, all to restore balance to creation.
However, after his crushing defeat in the race for the stones, Thanos had been forced to retreat from the game, stripped of any chance to compete.
So what cards did the Mad Titan still hold?
"Your work here is... interesting," Sean said, changing the subject lightly.
In one corner of Ayesha's chamber stood a tall artificial cocoon. Energy conduits snaked into it, and a golden glow emanated from its apex, as though nurturing a new life. A faint, hidden pulse emanated from within.
"This is the perfect embodiment of Sovereign genetic technology," Ayesha declared with pride, "The ultimate being on the path to evolution. My child... Adam."
She had used the Sovereign's finest genetic material to create a supreme lifeform, an entity of boundless potential.
Sean's gaze lingered for a moment. This was the future Adam Warlock, still a developing embryo.
He could sense immense power coiled within that tiny shell, but it was missing something... The spark of a soul.
Without that, Adam Warlock would never awaken.
"He will shine brightly one day," Sean said calmly.
A cerulean glow rippled through the air, tearing open a rift. He had gathered enough information from Ayesha. Now it was time to confront Thanos and the supposedly invincible Molecule Man.
As for the Three Empires and the Nova Corps, which were all reduced to ashes... after Sean killed Thanos and rewrote the ending of this timeline, everything would be restored...
~~~
~Titan~
This was a barren world riddled with craters and ruin, debris and dust clouds blotting the sky. Gravitational anomalies of all sizes littered the landscape.
Sean stepped out of the rift. A colossal warship hung in the sky above him; Thanos's flagship, the Sanctuary II...
As Sean set foot on Titan, the lower hatch of Sanctuary II groaned open. The Black Order's four generals descended with the Mad Titan himself, riding beams of light down to the ground.
"It took me quite some time to find you..." Sean said, "Who would have thought the great Warlord of the universe would turn out to be a skulking rat?"
"You have accomplished what I spent my life pursuing," Thanos rumbled, "Collecting all six stones, forging the Infinity Gauntlet. That was supposed to be my task. To cull half of all life and restore balance to the scales."
Compared to the cosmic conqueror who had once descended on Asgard atop a floating throne, the Thanos before Sean seemed weaker, his strength diminished.
A hideous wound ran from his shoulder down across his torso, a scar carved by the Void Sentinel when he had dragged Thanos into a planet's core and detonated it.
That terrible injury had left Thanos teetering on the edge of death. He had barely survived.
"You should have killed me back then." Thanos grinned at Sean.
His massive purple frame, once radiating brutal power, now seemed drained, as though he were clinging to life by a thread.
"It's not too late now," Sean said, stepping forward.
The most loyal of Thanos's followers, Ebony Maw, stepped out from the others. He pressed his hands together, and his telekinetic force lashed out like razor wind.
The debris floating in the air coalesced into razor-sharp spears, hurtling toward Sean in a howling wave.
"Trash like you isn't even worth my attention." Sean sneered.
He turned his gaze toward the telekinetic alien.
The moment their eyes met, Ebony Maw let out a blood-curdling shriek, intense agony detonating inside his skull. After a few ragged breaths, his hideous head burst apart like a melon struck by a bullet.
The Black Order had lost one member, but Thanos showed no emotion. His purple face remained perfectly calm.
The remaining three generals drew their weapons, fanatic fervor blazing in their eyes, "Great Titan, today we give our lives for you."
They were ready to die for their master.
Sean felt a strange sensation creep over him... as though he were the final villain. It appeared as though Thanos and his followers were throwing everything they had against an unstoppable enemy.
"My pace will not slow because of your devotion. So... face death with a smile."
The ground shook as the massive and muscular Cull Obsidian charged forward with a colossal axe raised high, intent on taking Sean's head.
"Body density three to five times that of a normal organism, skin virtually indestructible, resistant to most radiation and damage..." Sean clicked his tongue.
A wave of crimson energy poured from the Reality Stone. The charging Cull Obsidian instantly crumbled into a heap of gravel.
Sean's gaze turned to Corvus Glaive and Proxima Midnight. A flash of violet energy, like a meteor tearing through the earth, blasted the pair of lovers into dust.
From beginning to end, Sean did not hesitate.
"Your turn, Thanos." He gripped the Infinity Gauntlet, his gaze calm as he regarded the unmoving purple figure, "Any last words? Or perhaps... you'd like to explain your grand plan? The Celestials, the Molecule Man, the slaughter of the Three Empires... I'm curious about all of it."