Thor had slain Thanos without much fanfare as the purple warlord was pretty much powerless to do anything against him. Not to mention that Draul was there.
The moment Thanos was beheaded, the army immediately lost any semblance of morale and after being given the greenlight, Yelena and Steve had let loose for a bit and just obliterated all of them.
Now they were all gathered at the spot where Thanos was slain, his head and body still separated on the ground after running out of blood, divided into two sides - one being Draul's party while the other being the Avengers.
The reason they were at this standoff was because someone had asked, Raccoon, what the pretty boy wanted with the Infinity gauntlet and Draul had straightforwardly replied that he needed all six stones and not the gauntlet which Raccoon had been quite okay with after Draul gave him the empty gauntlet.
"Do you realize what you're asking? I'm afraid we can't in good conscience give you the Infinity Stones, regardless of the help you gave up. From all we currently know, you after all might not be from this universe." Steve Rogers, the doppelganger, said to Draul who currently was juggling all six stones with one hand, an impressive feat not that any of them were impressed.
Before they could say anything else Draul snapped his fingers and some interesting people started appearing one by one. Tony Stark, Stephen Strange, Peter Parker, Drax, Peter Quill, Nebula, and the girl with the antennas on her head, all popped out of thin air, looking worse for wear.
"Not to sound like a dick but I need the stones. If it's any consolation to you then no one will ever have their hands on an Infinity Stone ever again, at least in your universe so you shouldn't have to worry about another Thanos." Draul said.
Captain America looked like he wanted to say something but looking at the state of the new arrivals stopped him. He had seen the power of their doubles from another universe, even his own, and he knew that they were asking only out of politeness. They fixed Vision and even helped with Thanos' army along with killing the titan. From the few things he'd witnessed in their clash, he knew for a fact that the only people he had who could output such a large scale of destruction was only Wanda and Thor, and yet his double and that of Bucky's had tanked those attacks with their bare bodies.
"Are you sure that no one will come for the stones if we give them to you?"
"Steve!!"
"With all due respect, Captain, the stones should never be in the hands of one man and not just any man, one not from our universe." Strange said as he was finally caught up with what had happened. It was a surprise when he was immediately warped back to Earth when he was supposed to be blipped away for five years before the final battle. And not only that, he found out an alternate version of the Black Widow, Captain America and Bucky Barnes were present along with three other people he had no awareness of.
But one thing he knew was that the Infinity Stones were in no way supposed to be joined together for whatever cause. The situation was even more dire because in not one version of the possible futures he saw did he see this man. Sure he saw a lot of futures where alternate versions of themselves came to help but none of it changed the outcome where they all lost.
The only reason the Time Stone couldn't see a future, and one so apparent that it was almost easy, was if the people, or person in this case, in that timeline was above the Time Stone. But someone above the universal time, while there were more than a few beings, he had no inkling of the one before him and if he were above time, then Thanos was no longer that much of a threat.
"Will you chill out for a second, Strange. It's not as if any of you were going to be holding a stone, at least not this one, after Thanos was done with it. I helped you take care of Thanos, so no need for the five year retirement." Saying that, Draul covered all stones not caring for his audience and with a clench of his fists, destroyed all stones at once which created a boom of air vacuum that spread across the land they were in.
Everyone, especially the Master of the Mystic Arts, had ashen faces as Draul opened his hands and within it was a multicolored swirl of energy like a little galaxy in the middle of his palms. The swirl started diminishing in front of everyone inside Draul's body – his eyes, his heart, his head and into both of his hands.
No one took a step because they knew that if they did then they would be forced to fight the superpowered version of themselves and no one wanted to piss off the companions of the guy that just destroyed all Infinity Stones with his fists and not to talk of the female dark skinned white haired blue eyed version of Thor who helped the God of Thunder in striking down Thanos. And then there were the two superpowered versions of the super soldiers along with the Black Widow and her sister.
"Fuu~ I could get used to that sensation." His eyes opened and within them was an ethereal glow that quickly subsided. But what didn't diminish was the smile plastered on his face.
"From the big ass smile on your face, I'm guessing it worked out fine." Nat said to which Draul nodded.
It truly had worked out like Tiamut had conjectured. From this set of stones, it felt as if a spider web connection to the other Infinity Stones was created. It was a connection that spanned the ever increasing universe to the multiverse.
All he needed to do was tap into the strings that were spun throughout existence, having the strength of multiple universes at his hands. Even now he was actively trying to assimilate the other stones that were near this universe.
Assimilating the stones didn't mean that they would be destroyed in their universe like they were in his home universe and this one. It was more like he was imprinting himself into the relics known as Infinity Stones. It was the making of a singularity, another one, in the Marvel-verse.
"I believe our impromptu vacation here has ended. It's time we take our leave." Draul said as he grew accustomed to the registering of new universes in his senses. It was as if he was undergoing apotheosis again and again all over, losing his sense of time and space in a kaleidoscope of cosmic energies and space-time. It will take a while before he was even anywhere near complete in this never ending assimilation, a whole while.
Despite the fact that none of the Avengers were okay with someone else taking the stones, there was nothing they could do as the man had clearly just disintegrated everything into dust particles and absorbed them. And besides, he had never treated them with hostility since they arrived.
"Wait!" They all turned their attention towards the person who called out – Peter Quill. "You just fused with all six stones, didn't you? That means you can bring back everyone who's died so far, right?" At his words, Thor, T'Challa and Nebula's eyes widened but Thor took the first step forward and grabbed Draul's shoulders.
"Friend, I know not who you are but if you really do possess that power then I beseech you to bring them back. I beg this of you."
"It's the least you could do since you did take the stones." Draul's head whipped to the direction of the Black Widow who just shrugged as if she was stating the obvious.
"And what of you, Thor? The pain of monumental loss gave you the strength you currently wield. Are you sure it won't wither away in the advent of their coming back?" Draul asked. If anyone had ever cared to put up the question, Draul would admit that he never did hate the Asgardians but just found the versions he was dealt with annoying. It was the pain, the hatred, the promise of revenge, and the fear of another failure that gave Thor his current strength so Draul's question was quite valid but..
"It won't. I assure you it won't. With this power at my fingertips, I will protect my people or die trying. If I can't do even that… then what sort of king am I?" Thor's voice got lower towards the end of his sentence as he was reminded yet again of his failure. He lost his mother, he lost his father, he destroyed Asgard because he was too weak to protect it. He also lost his people because he was a failure of a king and now, he lost his only brother. What was the assurance that he could protect them even with his newfound powers?
He had promised he would, but this wasn't the first time he had broken his promise and he was certain it wouldn't be the last. What would his father think of him? Thousands of generations and heritage just to be lost during his time. He truly was the worst.
BOOOM!
Thor's body flew and crashed against the trees that were in his line of flight as he was struck with a blow from Ororo.
"Get up, Odinson. You still draw breath, do you not? Why then do I smell despair rolling off you in abundance? Everyone fails, even Gods do. It's the determination to never fail again that separates the victors from the failures. If your conviction is weak then you are bound to fail again."
Thor's eyes shot open at her words and he couldn't help but laugh out in disappointment, not at anyone but himself. "You are right, Lady Goddess. I will heed your words and wallow no longer for I am Thor Odinson… Allfather. I am Mighty." The sky rumbled with his declaration and his eyes widened as he felt a connection with a place he thought no longer existed.
"I might have been a tad bit too hard on my universe's version of you so this is the most I can do. Asgard still needs its king after all." Draul said while completely ignoring Thor's progressingly red eyes as he turned to Peter Quill.
"Gamora is dead. She was sacrificed so that the Soul Stone could manifest in this reality. I would need to sacrifice another person for the Soul Stone if I wanted her to live." Draul told him the truth. He could understand that her life wasn't the most glamorous but it all boils down to cause and effects. And true to his thoughts, Quill just turned around and walked away. At the end of the day, it had been her decision, she had been resolved to die, not by Thanos' hands, but she had been resolved. It was also her wish for him to honor it.
Yes, Draul could just have rewritten reality and make it so that Thanos sacrificed another family at Vormir, but the effect would catch up with them sooner or later. Time was a very fickle thing.
Thor's people were different but that didn't mean time won't attempt to write the wrongs he corrected. But that wasn't his problem, it was Thor's to deal with.
Seeing everything was taken care of, at least the ones he could which included recreating Asgard and reestablishing its connection to Yggdrassil and also doing the same to the Wakandan fallen, Draul prepared to put an end to this episode of goodness that he had shown.
"Bye Nat! And make sure to upgrade your tastes." Yelena waved at the mildly annoyed Black Widow as the space behind Draul rippled, showing them their way home.
=================
A/N: And that's the end of this mini-arc.
And like that I just destroyed Love and Thunder, Wakanda Forever and any other stupid sequels Marvel thinks of bringing up.
I deserve a pat on the back for a job well done.