Thanos sat alone in his vast throne room, the shadows of the universe stretching across the cold walls. The silence was oppressive, broken only by the occasional creak of the station's machinery, a stark contrast to the burning thoughts that churned in his mind.
Javier Sánchez. The name reverberated in his consciousness like a storm. His words had struck with an unnerving weight, and his presence... his presence had lingered long after he left. Thanos had encountered many beings in his time—warriors, conquerors, gods—but none had spoken to him with such directness, such audacity.
But it wasn't just the confrontation that gnawed at Thanos. It was the memory, the burning recollection of something much darker—a memory from long ago, one that Javier's golden raven had awakened.
---
Thanos leaned back in his throne, his eyes gazing into the deep expanse of space, his mind pulling him back to the time before he had taken control of the Black Order, before he had gathered the might of the universe under his thumb.
Back then, when the universe was still in a state of fragile chaos, Thanos had crossed paths with a force he could neither fully comprehend nor control.
It was a time when the metallic entities—machines of unimaginable power—had descended upon countless worlds. These mechanical creatures, unlike any Thanos had ever seen, were capable of eradicating entire civilizations without so much as a thought. They were programmed for one purpose: destruction.
The metallic creatures had razed planets to the ground, leaving nothing but scorched ruins. Thanos had watched as entire solar systems were wiped out, helpless to stop the tide of annihilation that rolled across the galaxy. He had never encountered anything like them before—these machines were unstoppable, their technology far beyond anything he had ever seen.
And yet, amid the chaos, a raven had appeared. A golden raven.
It had been a creature out of legend, something so pure, so perfect, it defied the laws of nature. Its feathers glowed with an ethereal light, casting an otherworldly shadow over the destruction. Thanos remembered it flying above the ruins, perched on the wreckage of fallen civilizations, its eyes gleaming with a knowing malice. The raven had not only survived the destruction brought by the metallic machines but had also seemed to guide them—to direct their chaos.
Thanos had been both in awe and enraged. The destruction that had spread across the universe under the guidance of those machines was beyond even his wildest ambitions. And the golden raven had been a witness, a symbol, an agent of that chaos.
He knew then that the raven and its creator were tied to the heart of this madness. A man named Javier Sánchez. Thanos could feel the connection, a pull that transcended time and space. This man, with his strange abilities and his creation of the metallic entities, had influenced the very course of the universe.
And now, after all these years, that same man had appeared again. The same man who had once caused the metallic destruction. The same man who now stood before him without fear. Javier Sánchez, with his golden raven, had returned to challenge the Mad Titan.
---
Thanos's hand clenched into a fist, his mind racing. The fear of failure, the fear of an enemy he could not understand, had never gnawed at him like this before. Javier was no ordinary mortal. He was a symbol of everything Thanos had fought against—chaos, rebellion, and the unknown.
Thanos had always believed that fear was the greatest tool in his arsenal. It had kept the universe in check, bending civilizations and empires to his will. But Javier was different. The man's unyielding confidence, his refusal to bow to the Mad Titan, made Thanos question everything.
Was Javier the key to something greater? Something beyond Thanos's understanding?
---
The room seemed to close in on Thanos as he tried to quell the storm inside his mind. His thoughts turned to the destruction he had witnessed all those years ago—the golden raven and the metallic machines wreaking havoc across the universe, leaving nothing but ash and ruins in their wake. He could feel the weight of that memory—the memory of power unchecked, of a force so immense it could not be controlled, only observed.
Perhaps Javier had never truly left the universe. Perhaps the golden raven had been his herald all along, guiding the destruction from the shadows, preparing for the day it would return. And now, that day had come.
Thanos rose from his throne, his mind focused, his will ironclad. He would not let this man—this force of nature—disrupt his plans. Javier Sánchez had returned, but Thanos had already set in motion the universe's greatest plan. The Infinity Stones, the greatest weapons of power, would soon be within his grasp.
And yet... the raven's eyes haunted him.
---
In the distance, on a planet far from Thanos's reach, the golden raven flew high above, its wings cutting through the void of space. Javier's voice echoed in the emptiness, speaking to no one in particular, but to all who would listen.
"They don't understand... they never did."
The raven cawed softly, its eyes gleaming with the same unearthly light that had guided it through the ages. It was a reminder that, for all Thanos's might, there were forces beyond even his comprehension. Forces that had shaped the universe long before he had ever set foot in its grand design.
And as the raven circled above, the shadow of Javier Sánchez grew ever closer to the universe's greatest villain, bringing with it the echoes of a destruction long remembered.
End of Chapter 58.