Bruce Banner and the others crawled out of the rubble, staring blankly at the flattened battlefield.
It was as if everything that had just happened was an illusion only the smoking craters and shattered ruins proved otherwise.
Then, one by one, orange portals spiraled open across the wasteland.
T'Challa, clad in the Black Panther suit, stepped through first. He leapt down beside Steve Rogers, his mask retracting to reveal his solemn face.
He scanned the empty plain. The last thing he remembered was Strange's urgent summons.
Five years had passed since the battle of Wakanda. Now, Thanos had returned and this time they had a chance to end him for good.
But here… it looked like the fight was already over.
"Uh… mirror dimension," Tony muttered. "He trapped Thanos inside."
"Mirror dimension? Then Strange got here before us?" T'Challa asked. "Can he handle Thanos alone?"
"Not Strange," Tony said, shaking his head.
Just then, Doctor Strange descended with the Cloak of Levitation, confusion etched on his face. "This isn't right… This isn't what I saw with the Time Stone."
He extended his senses and his expression hardened. The raw magical pressure here dwarfed even the Ancient One.
"This is a colossal mirror dimension," Strange whispered. "Who did this?"
"Another Sorcerer Supreme," Tony answered quietly. "From a different universe. His name's Nolan. The moment Thanos arrived, he sealed them all away."
Thor scratched the back of his head. "If he's that strong, why not just finish Thanos outright?"
To Thor, it was simple logic if this Nolan had Strange's title and even greater power, why drag it out?
"Another universe's Sorcerer Supreme…?" Strange froze. Even his teacher couldn't create a mirror dimension on this scale. Who had they just invited into their world?
"So what now?" Rhodey asked, looking around. "We just… wait here?"
The unease spread. Strange raised his hands, weaving sigils. Reality shimmered and suddenly the team could see inside the mirror dimension.
Inside, Nolan loomed like a titan, his body magnified until he towered into the clouds. Against his colossal form, Thanos' warships looked like children's toys.
The giant raised his hand. BOOM.
A single swat crushed ships into fireballs, blooming like fireworks in the sky. The shockwave rippled across the mirrored battlefield, flattening entire battalions of Outriders into nothing but gore.
In the space of heartbeats, Nolan had annihilated what the Avengers would have called an army.
And then he shrank back to human size. In his palm gleamed a frozen block of ice, and inside it… Thanos.
"Done," Nolan said calmly, stepping out of the mirror dimension.
The Avengers were speechless. Even Thor's grin faltered. Nolan flexed his hand his body humming with new strength.
The Titan's Eternal bloodline had already been harvested, augmenting him further.
All eyes turned to Strange.
"You're… from another universe?" Strange's tone was sharp. "Do you realize what crossing dimensions does? The damage it causes to our reality, and to yourself? As Sorcerer Supreme, you—"
"Stop." Nolan cut him off, voice cold.
"If you understand the dangers, then why did you send them into other timelines to steal Infinity Stones? You've already fractured two universes. From the moment you removed those Stones, those timelines were doomed. They'll never know the victory you're enjoying right now."
Banner blurted out: "But… the Ancient One told me it would be fine she said the timelines would heal."
"Because she believed she could contain it," Nolan replied evenly. "But clearly, she can't."
Strange's eyes narrowed. "No their branches collapse back into the prime timeline. That's how it works. No harm done."
Nolan snorted. "That's like a dying man cloning a healthy version of himself, harvesting the clone's organs, and then making another clone to fix the first. Then you tell yourself it's fine, because the original lives on. What about the second clone? What about his pain? You just don't care because he's not you."
The silence was deafening.
Nolan folded his arms. "Every Stone you borrow, every choice you make it all has a cost. Pretend otherwise if you like. But don't lie to yourselves about who pays the bill."
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