Levi ignored the prying gaze.
He walked up to Ebony Maw—who was still muttering "rejoice" like a broken recorder—and placed a hand on his bald head.
A massive surge of psychic power poured in, like a crude scraper rifling through Maw's memories.
A few seconds later, Levi withdrew his hand.
Maw's eyes rolled back as he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious. His mind was now nothing but mush.
"Thanos has the Power Stone. Xandar has been destroyed," Levi said calmly, as if stating something trivial. "His next target is the Reality Stone in the Collector's possession."
Tony and Strange's expressions changed instantly.
They had just witnessed the strength of Thanos's subordinates—and now realized that had only been the appetizer.
"What do we do now?" Steve stepped forward, his face grave, gripping his shield unconsciously. In front of Levi, he had long grown used to feeling more like a soldier than a leader.
"Split into three groups." Levi's gaze swept across everyone present.
"Thor, take your new axe and return to Asgard. Thanos may send someone for the Space Stone. Hela alone might not be enough."
Thor nodded. This suited him perfectly. He glanced at Levi, his expression complicated, then raised Stormbreaker high. A beam of rainbow light descended, engulfing him before he vanished.
"I'll go to Knowhere," Levi continued. "We can't lose the Reality Stone."
"What about me? The Time Stone must never leave Earth!" Strange immediately objected, his Cloak of Levitation fluttering anxiously.
"I know," Levi said, glancing at him. "That's why the rest of you are going to Wakanda. The Mind Stone in Vision's head—and the Time Stone around your neck—are both on Earth. Thanos will come personally. Wakanda is the only place on this planet that can withstand his first assault."
"How do we get there? Fly?" Tony asked, glancing at the wreckage behind him.
"I left you something," Levi said. "Go to the Avengers base. There's a fleet waiting for you. Remember—your job isn't to win. It's to buy time until I return."
He then looked at Wanda.
Her eyes were filled with fear—fear that he would disappear again.
That same small ripple stirred within Levi's frozen heart.
He reached out and ruffled her hair, his tone soft without realizing it. "They need you here. I'll be back soon."
Then he tore open space once more—
And stepped inside.
---
Steve and Tony exchanged a glance, both seeing the same weight in each other's eyes.
The real war… had just begun.
---
A few hours later — Avengers Facility
The atmosphere was suffocating.
Steve stood with Sam and Natasha, watching Tony, Banner, and Strange step off the Quinjet.
It was their first reunion since the Civil War.
No hugs. No greetings.
Steve simply nodded. "Tony."
Tony removed his sunglasses, looking exhausted. "Cap."
The invisible fracture between them hadn't healed. But no one had time to deal with it.
In the underground hangar, they found what Levi had left behind.
Not ships.
An entire army of robots.
Sleek and silver, with smooth designs—nothing like Ultron's grotesque killing machines. Each bore the Stark Industries emblem.
Tony stepped forward, placing a hand on one. He could feel it—the familiar foundation of his own technology… but evolved far beyond him.
"FRIDAY, analyze it."
"Sir, the core AI is derived from early Ultron code, but it has been completely reconstructed and simplified. These units function as pure war machines, operating with a hive-mind system. However, their highest command authority is locked behind a protocol I cannot access."
Tony's mouth twitched.
"That show-off…" he muttered.
---
Wakanda
King T'Challa had mobilized the entire nation.
Warriors of the Border Tribe stood ready behind the عظيمة energy shield, cloaked and armed with sonic spears. The Dora Milaje stood guard beside their king.
In Shuri's lab, Vision lay on an operating table.
Using Wakandan technology, Shuri carefully began separating the Mind Stone from Vision's neural network—an operation requiring atomic-level precision.
It needed time.
And time was the one thing they didn't have.
Suddenly—
Alarms blared across Wakanda.
At the edge of the shield, space distorted. Drop ships slammed into it like falling meteors, exploding into fireballs.
Then came the Outriders.
Endless, four-limbed beasts poured out, swarming the shield like a tidal wave. They clawed and tore at it, searching for any weakness.
"Yibambe!" T'Challa roared.
He ordered a section of the shield opened, allowing some enemies through to relieve pressure.
"Wakanda Forever!"
The warriors charged.
The war had begun.
Steve and T'Challa led the front lines. Banner, inside the Hulkbuster armor, fought clumsily—nearly tripping over himself more than once.
Just as the defenses began to falter—
A sharp whistling sound tore through the sky.
Hundreds of silver robots descended.
Their energy cannons fired precise beams, instantly clearing swathes of Outriders.
They formed a steel wall, harvesting enemy lives with terrifying efficiency.
Levi's contingency.
An unyielding, tireless mechanical army.
The line stabilized—for now.
But everyone knew—
This was only the beginning.
---
The sky shifted again.
Three larger, blade-like drop ships ignored the barrage of fire and slammed into the shield at the same point.
The impact made the shield flicker violently—
Then tear open.
Two shadows shot through the gap at blinding speed.
Their target wasn't the battlefield—
It was the palace.
Shuri's lab.
Steve's pupils shrank.
"Natasha! Sam! Stop them!"
He turned immediately, sprinting after them.
Natasha and Sam moved to intercept—but they were too fast.
One of them was Proxima Midnight, her spear slicing apart two robots in a single arc.
The other—
A man wielding a double-bladed glaive.
Corvus Glaive.
He should have been dead.
Yet here he was—revived, stronger than before.
His weapon ignored physics, phasing through a Dora Milaje spear and piercing straight through her chest.
Steve's shield flew—but was casually deflected.
Natasha's Widow's Bite sparked uselessly against him.
The tide turned instantly.
Just as Corvus was about to breach the lab—
A crimson barrier appeared.
He slammed into it and was thrown back.
Wanda stepped out.
Her eyes burned with scarlet energy.
She raised her hand.
Debris—robot parts, stones, even dirt—rose into the air, forming hundreds of deadly projectiles that rained down upon Corvus and Proxima.
Proxima deflected most of them—but Corvus was forced back under the overwhelming assault.
For a moment—
Wanda alone held back Thanos's two strongest lieutenants.
---
Then—
Everyone felt it.
A chill from the depths of their souls.
The الأرض trembled.
The sky darkened—not from clouds, but from something heavier.
An unseen pressure gripped every heart.
On the battlefield, Banner's Hulkbuster sensors screamed warnings. Every display turned red.
He looked up at the sky.
His voice trembled with fear.
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