Edge of Glory
Cut to Thanos's mothership, Sactuary II, which dwarfs the massive ring-ships the Black Order have been using. Gamora sits near the throne deep inside the ship. Thanos walks up, bringing a cup of food and holds it out to her.
"I thought you might be hungry." Thanos says gently.
Gamora takes it, then hurls it across the room where it bangs against Thanos's throne with a loud clack. "I always hated that chair." She says with a grimace.
Thanos smiles, "So I've been told. Even so. I'd hoped you'd sit on it one day."
"I hated this room. This ship. I hated my life." She recalls, looking back at her past.
Thanos' smiles widens, "You told me that too." He mounts two of the four steps to his throne, turns, and sits on the second from the top. "Every day. For almost twenty years."
"I was a child when you took me." Gamora growls.
Thanos' smile falls, "I saved you." He snaps.
Gamora rolls her eyes and scoffs, "No. No. We were happy on my home planet."
"Going to bed hungry, scrounging for scraps. Your planet was on the brink of collapse. I'm the one who stopped that. Do you know what's happened since then? The children born have known nothing but full bellies and clear skies. It's a paradise." Thanos recalls of the planet he believes he saved.
"Because you murdered half the planet."
"A small price to pay for salvation."
Gamora rolls her eyes, "You're insane."
"Little one, it's a simple calculus. This universe is finite, its resources finite. If life is left unchecked, life will cease to exist. It needs correction." He explains.
"You don't know that!" She yells.
Thanos scowls as his egotistical narcissism prevents him from fully listening to her, "I'm the only one who knows that. At least, I'm the only one with the will to act on it." he stands again and walks back to Gamora. "For a time you had that same will as you fought by my side. Daughter."
"I'm not your daughter. Everything I hate about myself, you taught me." She snaps.
"And in doing so, made you the fiercest woman in the galaxy. That's why I trusted you to find the Soul Stone."
Gamora's heart stops for a moment before straightening up, "I'm sorry I disappointed you."
"I am disappointed. But not because you didn't find it." He leans down to put their heads at a level, whispering fiercely. "But because you did. And you lied."
Thanos and Gamora stand outside a large solid door that slides open vertically as they approach, then pause as a set of inner doors made of interlacing metal slide away. Inside, we see Nebula face-on, suspended horizontally in the air in the middle of the room, her breath shuddering in pain.
"Nebula." Gamora gasps as she hurries to to Nebula's left side, and we now see that she has been partially disassembled, her components stretched apart -- a cybernetic version of the medieval torture rack.
"Don't do this." Gamora says, tears forming in her eyes.
"Some time ago, your sister snuck aboard this ship to kill me." Thanos says. you deserve it and so does she. petition to let nebula kill thanos
"Please don't do this." Gamora pleads.
He ignores Gamora's pleas, "And very nearly succeeded. So I brought her here. To talk." Thanos curls his gauntleted fist, activating both the Power and Space Stones, scowling -- causing Nebula's already extended pieces to stretch further outward. She begins to scream.
Gamora cringes and immediately shouts, "Stop. Stop it." She puts her hands on the gauntlet, pulling it down, "I swear to you on my life. I never found the Soul Stone." She hopes no one can tell how bad she's lying.
Thanos signals a nearby servant who taps on a control pad. We hear Nebula's voice say, "Accessing memory files" and a sort of hologram of Gamora's face shudders to life.
"You know what he's about to do. He's finally ready, and he's going for the stones. All of them." A holographic Nebula informs.
The holographic Gamora shakes her head, "He can never get them all."
"He will!" Nebula insists.
"He can't, Nebula. Because I found the map to the Soul Stone and I burnt it to ash. I burnt it."
The memory ends.
Thanos ,to Gamora, walking around behind her, "You're strong. Me. You're generous. Me. But I never taught you to lie. That's why you're so bad at it." His voice is dripping with disgust. "Where is the Soul Stone?" He growls and then raises his gauntlet next to Gamora's face. Nebula shakes her head, expression terrified, to encourage her sister's silence but when Gamora does not answer, Thanos clenches the gauntlet again, brow furrowed at his adopted daughter as the Power and Space Stoes are reactivated. Gamora grimaces in shared pain at her sister's screams, growing louder as Thanos increases the pressure.
"Vormir!" She shouts, in pain. Thanos unclenches his hand, and Nebula gasps in air as her parts snap back almost into place. Gamora goes to her and caresses her face. "The Stone is on Vormir." She whimpers.
Thanos, finally satisfied, he grins. "Show me."
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Cut to the pod taking Thor, Rocket and Groot to Nidavellir.
"I am Groot." Groot complains, irritable.
Rocket rolls his eyes and snaps, "Tinkle in the cup. We're not looking. What's there to see? What's a twig? Everybody's seen a twig."
Groot, still irritably, complains. "I am Groot."
Thor, while looking out the rear portholes, "Tree, pour what's in the cup out in space, and go in the cup again." He says, nonchalant about the fact he can understand.
Rocket looks up at him in shock, "You speak Groot?"
"Yes, they taught it on Asgard. It was an elective." Thor says, as if it's no big deal.
"I am Groot." Groot says, impatiently.
"You'll know when we're there. Nivadellir's forge harnesses the power of a blazing neutron star." He smils and then continues, nostalgically, "It's the birth place of my hammer. It's truly awesome." Thor informs, at first happily reminiscing but then turns sad.
Rocket turns to see Thor sitting sadly beside the window, and sighs. Rocket then says to himself, "Okay, time to be the captain." He walks to a console near by Thor, presses two buttons, activating autopilot. "So, dead brother, huh? Yeah, that can be annoying." He tries.
Thor shrugs, trying to appear nonchalant and strong, "Well, he's been dead before, but this time I think it really might be true."
"And you said your sister and your dad?" Rocket asks.
Thor shrugs, "Both dead."
"Still got a mom, though?" Rocket flinches.
"Killed by a dark elf."
"A best friend?"
"Stabbed through the heart."
"Are you sure you're up to this particular murder mission?" Rocket questions, shocked by how much loss Thor has gone through.
Thor, smiling widely, but also trying to convince himself. "Absolutely. Rage, vengeance, anger, loss, regret...They're all tremendous motivators. They really clear the mind. So I'm good to go."
"Yeah, but this Thanos we're talking about...He's the toughest there is."
Thor smiles confidently, "Well, he's never fought me."
Rocket looks confused for a moment, "... Yeah, he has!"
"He's never fought me twice. And I'm getting a new hammer, don't forget."
"Better be some hammer." Rocket says.
"You know, I'm 1,500 years old. I've killed twice as many enemies as that, and every one would have rather killed me, but none succeeded. I'm only alive because fate wants me alive. Thanos is the latest in a long line of bastards and he will be the latest to feel my vengeance. Fate wills it so."
"And what if you're wrong?"
Thor, yet again, tries to appear indifferent, "If I'm wrong then... what more could I lose?" Thor sniffs and hastily wipes below his eye. He stands and seats himself at the front of the pod, beside Groot.
Rocket then says, under his breath, "I could lose a lot. Me personally. I could lose a lot." Rocket takes an eyeball from somewhere on his person. "Okay. If fate does want you to kill that crapsack... You're gonna need more than one stupid eyeball." He gives Thor the eyeball.
"What's this?" Thor questions.
"What's it look like? Some jerk lost a bet with me on on Contraxia." Rocket shrugs, no big deal.
"He gave you his eye?" Thor questions.
Rocket smirks "He gave me 100 credits. I snuck in later that night and stole his eye." He recounts.
Thor smiles, "Thank you, sweet rabbit." Thor proceeds to put the eyeball in his socket.
"Hmm. Huh? Oh. I would've washed that. The only way I could sneak it off Contraxia was up my..." Rocket is rushes to say but is interrupted by beeping, "Hey, we're here!"
Thor, smacking his palm against the side of his head to get the eye calibrated. "I don't think this thing works. Everything seems dark."
Rocket peers out the pod's window, "It ain't the eye."
Nidavellir is dark and motionless as the three rings around it.
"Something's wrong. The star's gone out. And the rings are frozen." Thor states, concerned.
The pod flies through massive machinery, cold and inert. Screen title: NIDAVELLIR
The pod sets down; Thor, Rocket and Groot disembark and start walking through a seemingly abandoned and cluttered space. Groot is still playing his game.
"I hope these dwarves are better at forging than they are cleaning. Maybe they realized they live in a junk pile in the middle of space." Rocket jokes.
"This forge hasn't gone dark in centuries..." Thor trails off, concerned and confused.
Rocket pauses, looking at a pedestal, "You said Thanos had a gauntlet, right?"
"Yes. Why?" Thor says, still looking around.
"Look anything like that?" Rocket points, in fact, it looks exactly like that.
"I am Groot." Groot says, uneasy. poor baby
Thor urgently yells and tries to push Groot and Rocket back, "Go back to the pod."
Suddenly a massive figure storms towards them, flinging Thor away with one swing of his arm, and kicking Rocket and Groot against a wall of equipment.
"Eitri, wait! Stop!" Thor yells.
Eitri looks down at him in surprise, "Thor?"
"What happened here?" Thor asks.
Eitri suddenly becomes angry, "You were supposed to protect us. Asgard was supposed to protect us!" Eitri yells.
"Asgard is destroyed." Thor scrambles to his feet and points. Eitri stop his attack on Thor. He now believes Thanos had destroyed Asgard and leaving him in a similar survivor role like Eitri himself. "Eitri, the glove. What did you do?"
Eitri walks brokenly across the space to sit heavily, leaning against an ore skip. Rocket and Groot get to their feet, the sapling checking his game. "300 dwarves lived on this ring. I thought if I did what he asked, they'd be safe. I made what he wanted. A device capable of harnessing the power of the stones. Then he killed everyone anyway. All except me. "Your life is yours." he said. "But your hands are mine alone." He holds up his immobile metal fists, encased in hardened molten metal.
Thor is quick to interrupt and comforts, "Eitri, this isn't about your hands. Every weapon you've designed, every axe, hammer, sword...It's all inside your head. Now I know all hope feels lost. Trust me, I know. But together, you and I, we can kill Thanos."
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Cut to Nebula suspended in the interrogation room seen earlier, while a technician puts her back together. Nebula ejects her eyepiece and snaps the neck of the tech when he comes close enough to replace it. She walks to a console, straightening her left arm, dragging her still-dislocated right foot behind her, and inputs a code. "Mantis, listen very carefully. I need you to meet me on Titan."
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Cut to Peter Parker, Tyler O'Brien, Tony Stark, and Doctor Strange aboard the ship approaching the surface of Titan
Tyler turns to Tony, "Hey, what's going on?"
"I think we're here." Strange answers.
"I don't think this rig has a self-park function." Tony urgently turns towards the teens, "Get your hand into this steering gimbal. Close those around it. You understand?"
Peter nods, "Yep, got it."
"This was meant for one big guy, so we gotta to move at the same time." Tony instructs, trying not to sound nervous.
"Okay. Okay. Ready." The teens say.
The ringship is heading straight for the center of what looks like one of a colossal game of jacks
"We might wanna turn. Turn! Turn! Turn!" Tyler yells.
Iron Man armors up as the ringship clips the "jack" obliquely, but still losing a good third of its hull in the collision. Spider-Man and FireStorm throw up their helmets at the same time. Strange steps between them and creates the Shield of the Seraphim around them all, anticipating a rough landing. The ship, now reduced to about 45%, plows through the dirt and stops, leaning slightly to one side. Screen title: TITAN.
Strange helps Tony, now de-helmeted, to his feet; they're both panting a little from the exertion of arrival.
Tony, to Strange, "You alright?" He pants. "That was close. I owe you one."
Spider-Man descends from above in classically spider-like fashion.
"Let me just say, if aliens wind up implanting eggs in my chest or something, and I end up eating you, I'm sorry." Peter says, truly concerned that this might be a real issue. Tyler scoffs and rolls her eyes.
Tony, while pointing at Peter. "I don't wanna hear another single pop culture out of you for the rest of the trip. You understand?" He reprimands the kid. Tyler snickers lightly.
Peter tries to throw his hands up in surrender. "I'm trying to say that... something is coming."
A grenade rolls into view, and Peter, Tyler, Strange and Tony get thrown well back when it fires its energy pulse. Star-Lord, Drax, and Mantis appear in the doorway.
"THANOS!!!!" Drax yells fiercely as he flings a blade at Doctor Strange, who neatly deflects it with a mystical shield, and in return sends the Cloak of Levitation at Drax's face, half-smothering him and throwing him to the floor. Star-Lord and Iron Man have a brief dogfight until a magnetic disc pins Iron Man face-first to a structure.
Parker, crawling backwards frantically from an anxious-looking Mantis, "AH! Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! PLEASE DON'T PUT YOUR EGGS IN ME!"
Tyler rolls her eyes slightly before sending a nonfatal fire ball at the Empath, sending her flying back.
Star-Lord flies at both Tyler and Parker feet-first, kicking both teens away.
"Stay down, clown!" Quill yells.
Star-Lord can't quite counter spider reflexes at first; he fires at Spider-Man, who extends his spider legs and leaps away, but an electric-like cord wraps around Spidey and his six new legs when he tries to attack, sending him rolling across the deck. Tyler counter attacks with another fireball, only to be tied up as well.
"Die, blanket of death!" Drax yells, struggling with the Cloak of Levitation.
Iron Man pulls free of the magnet; the Cloak pulls free of Drax as soon as Iron Man has a bead on his opponent and a foot on his torso. Star-Lord has Spider-Man in a head-lock, gun pointed at the smaller man's head. Doctor Strange has a mystical shield of golden energy up, and stands ready at the third point of the triangle. Mantis has struggled to her feet behind Star-Lord, still smoking slightly from the fire ball.
"Alright, everybody, stay where you are... Chill the F out." Quill powers off his helmet, "I'm gonna ask you this one time. Where's Gamora?"
Tony, also dehelmeting. "Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?"
"I'll do you one better! Why is Gamora?!" Drax iconically says.
"Tell me where the girl is, or I swear to you, I'm gonna French fry this little freak." Quill says, carelessly pointing his blaster towards the spider teen. Tyler makes a noice that suspiciously sounds like a growl, her hands begin glowing with fire,
Tony shakes his head Tyler's direction, relief and surprise flood through him as she instantly cools down. He then snaps back to Quill, "Let's do it! You shoot my guy, I blast him. Let's go!" Tony extends his nanotech cannon, looking uncannily like an electric shark about to eat Drax's face.
"Do it, Quill! I can take it." Drax says, bravely and stupidly.
"No he can't take it!" Mantis yells in support.
Strange, completely deadpan, says. "She's right. You can't."
"Oh yeah? You don't wanna tell me where she is? That's fine. I'll kill all three of you and beat it out of Thanos myself." Quill snaps in concern boyfriend, and then turns to Spidey, "Starting with you."
Strange snaps up, "Wait, what. Thanos?" He, trying to inject clarity and sanity into the situation, continues. "All right, let me ask you this one time: What master do you serve?"
Quill rolls his eyes, "What master do I serve? What am I supposed to say? "Jesus"?"
Tyler's eyes go wide, she's getting it, "You're from Earth?"
Peter Quill rolls his eyes again, "I'm not from Earth. I'm from Missouri."
Tony rolls his eyes this time, "Yeah, that's on EARTH, dip-shit." Peter's eyes go wide at the curse. "What are you hassling us for?"
Peter Parker, sounding oddly and slightly crushed, "So, you're not with Thanos?"
Peter Quill, indignantly, "WITH Thanos?! No, I'm here to kill Thanos! He took my girl. Wait... who are you?"
Parker, de-helmets, "We're the Avengers, man."
Peter Quill pauses and sags a bit in relief, "Oh."
"You're the ones Thor told us about!" Mantis gasps.
Tony perks up at the mention of his teammate, thankful he's alive. "You know Thor!?"
Peter Quill nods and nonchalantly, shrugs, "Yeah. Tall guy, not that good-looking, needed saving." Parker grows more and more confused and offended in Thor's honor.
"... Where is he now?" Strange asks.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Cut to Nivadellir where Eitri is showing Thor, Rocket, and Groot the mold for Stormbreaker.
"This is plan? We're gonna hit him with a brick?" Rocket incredulously asks.
Eitri nods, not catching the disbelief, "It's a mold. A king's weapon. Meant to be the greatest in Asgard. In theory, it could even summon the Bifrost."
"Did it have a name?" Thor asks before Rocket could potentially say something offensive.
"Stormbreaker." Eitri answers.
"That's a bit much." Rocket states.
"So how do we make it?" Thor asks.
Eitri points to the star, "You'll have to restart the forge. Awaken the heart of a dying star."
Thor considers for a moment and then, with a look of determination, he says, "Rabbit, fire up the pod."
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Cut to Titan where the Avengers and the Guardians are starting to work together. Quill is measuring the planet's tilt.
"The heck happened to this planet? It's eight degrees off its axis. Gravitational pull is all over the place." Quill remarks, slightly astonished by the odd report.
As he speaks about the gravitational pull, in the background, Mantis is jumping joyfully in a low gravity spot.
"Yeah, we got one advantage. He's coming to us. We'll use it. All right, I have a plan. Or at least the beginnings of one. It's pretty simple. We draw him in, pin him down, get what we need. Definitely don't wanna dance with this guy. We just want the gauntlet." Tony plans.
Drax yawns as Tony speaks.
Tony looks over at the Guardian, offended, and snaps, "Are you yawning? In the middle of this, while I'm breaking it down? Huh? Did you hear what I said?"
"I stopped listening after you said, "We need a plan."" Drax remarks.
Tony rolls his eyes and looks over to Quill, "Okay, Mr. Clean is on his own page."
"See, "not winging it" isn't really what they do." Quill remarks.
"Uh, what exactly is it that they do?" Tyler asks, gesturing towards the Guardians.
Mantis looks about as fierce as a newborn kitten as she says, "Kick names, take ass."
"Yeah, that's right" Drax agrees quietly as he settles into a stance facing the Avengers.
Tony Stark pauses with an expression of deep hopelessness and exasperation, "Alright, just get over here, please. Mr. Lord, can you get your folks to circle up?"
Peter Quill scoffs, "'Mr. Lord.' Star-Lord is fine." He then motions for Drax and Mantis to come over, the two approach.
"We gotta coalesce. 'Cause if all we come at him with is a plucky attitude." Tony says.
"Dude, don't call us plucky. We don't know what it means. Alright, we're optimistic, yes. I like your plan. Except it sucks, so let me do the plan, and that way it might be really good." Quill says. Parker and Tyler follow the conversation back and forth like a squash rally.
"Tell him about the dance-off to save the universe." Drax says.
Tony gives the group a confused look, "What dance-off?"
"It's not a... it's not... it's nothing." Peter Quill stammers.
Tyler lights up slightly, "Like in Footloose, the movie?"
Peter Quill suddenly becomes very excited, "Exactly like Footloose. Is it still the greatest movie in history?"
"It never was." Peter states.
Quill gives him a sad and offended look.
"Don't encourage this, alright?" Tony tells the kids.
"Okay." Peter and Tyler back off.
"We're getting no help from Flash Gordon here." Tony snaps at Quill.
"Flash Gordon? By the way, that's a compliment. Don't forget, I'm half human." Quill points at Stark, Tyler, and Parker. "So that 50% of me that's stupid? That's 100% you."
"Your math is blowing my mind." Tony smartly responds.
"Excuse me, but... does your friend often do that?" Mantis interrupts, pointing to Strange.
Tony looks over at Strange, frustrated with another interruption until he sees Strange is sitting cross-legged, floating slightly above the ground, his hands poised in a mystic gesture with the Time Stone glowing brightly in the Eye of Agamotto setting. Green vapor-like energy flows from the stone, and more intricate magical energy patterns circle Strange's forearms. The Cloak of Levitation flows behind him as if the Stone is creating a strong breeze. His eyes are closed, and his head is jerking rapidly from side to side, the motion blurring, but resembling looking for something.
"Strange! We alright?" Tony loudly yells, Strange snaps out of his trance and falls forward, letting out a cry, they all rush to catch him, "You're back. You're alright." Tony tries to comfort.
"Hey, what was that?" Tyler asks, freaking out slightly.
Strange, panting like a dog, says, "I went forward in time to view alternate futures. To see all the possible outcomes of the coming conflict."
Quill looks at him in confusion, "How many did you see?"
"14,000,605." Strange states.
"How many did we win?" Tony questions and Strange snaps his head over to just him.
Strange hesitates, staring just at Tony, "One."
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Cut to Thanos and Gamora appearing on sand dunes alternating with shallow pools around the base of a mountain. The sun is in full eclipse, lending eerie lighting to the scene. Thanos and Gamora have arrived on VORMIR.
"The stone had better be up there...For your sister's sake." Thanos hisses as Gamora turns to Glare up at him.
The walk up the mountain seems to be long, but not difficult. Paths worn by centuries or more of feet lead up to the summit, where Thanos and Gamora encounter a floating hooded figure.
"Welcome, Thanos, son of A'lars. Gamora, daughter of Thanos." The hooded figure says.
Thanos looks up at the figure in confusion, "You know us?"
"It is my curse to know all who journey here." The figure vaguely says.
"Where's the Soul Stone?" Thanos questions.
"You should know... it extracts a terrible price."
Thanos stiffens and gravely states, "I am prepared."
"We all think that at first." The figure touches down and glides out of the shadows, revealing the face of who we know to be Johann "The Red Skull" Schmidt from Captain America: The First Avenger. "We are all wrong.
The Stonekeeper guides them to a temple-like structure at the summit.
"How is it you know this place so well?" Thanos questions, suspicious.
"A lifetime ago, I, too, sought the stones. I even held one in my hand. But it cast me out, banished me here. Guiding others to a treasure I cannot possess." Red Skull states.
They stop on a semicircular engraving overlooking a sheer drop. It decends in three shallow steps to a final half-circle cutout, the whole bisected by a deep cut that runs between the two spires behind them. Far, far below is a full circle with similar engraved decoration.
"What you seek lies before you. As does what you fear."
"What's this?" Thanos questions.
"The price. Soul hold a special place among the Infinity Stones. You might say it has a certain wisdom."
'Tell me what it needs.' Thanos demands.
"To ensure that whoever possesses it... Understands its power... The stone demands a sacrifice."
"Of what?" Thanos asks, willing to do anything to achieve his destiny.
"In order to take the stone you must lose that which you love. A soul...For a soul." Red Skull informs.
Gamora begins to laugh at the irony of the situation.
"All my life, I dreamed of a day...A moment when you would get what you deserved. And I was always so disappointed. But now...You kill and torture...And you call it mercy. The universe has judged you. You asked it for a prize, and it told you no. You failed. And do you wanna know why? Because you love nothing. No one." She hisses with a bitter smile.
Thanos then turns to face Gamora with tears in his eyes.
Gamora scoffs, "Really? Tears?"
Red Skull shakes his head, "They're not for him."
Gamora looks at the Red Skull, and as her bitter smile fades, realizes what is about to happen, as do we...
"No. This isn't love." Gamora whispers, rightly so.
Thanos, thoroughly convicted, "I ignored my destiny once. I cannot do that again. Even for you." Gamora stares down unseeing for a moment, then up at the resolution on his face. She grabs the red-jewelled dagger from his belt with lightning reflexes, triggers the blades and stabs herself in the stomach... except it's only bubbles. "I'm sorry, little one." And he grabs Gamora by the arm and walks inexorably to the precipice.
"NO!" She shouts as she tries in vain to break from his grasp, much like she tried to pull free from the Child of Thanos so many years ago, but, pain showing clearly on his face, he throws her over the edge, and watches sorrowfully as she falls to her death. Light pulses overhead as the sacrifice is correctly accomplished.
Thanos finds himself lying in one of the shallow pools back at the base of the mountain. He opens his hand and sees that he now has the orange Soul Stone.