Locke barely spared a glance for the charging Thor and Iron Man. Their desperate attack meant nothing to him now. With a calm expression, he tightened his grip around the Tyrant Blade and stepped forward.
This time, he unleashed the full force of the Power of Destruction through his body. Violent energy exploded from his muscles, pushing his speed to a level bordering on light itself. Before Thor or Iron Man could even process what was happening, Locke had already crossed the battlefield.
One thrust.
One slash.
Both heroes died instantly.
Thor's body crashed across the shattered battlefield while Iron Man's armor split apart in a shower of sparks and blood. The Avengers' so-called Big Three had been erased in less than a second.
Locke stepped onto the broken stone platform where their corpses lay scattered. He glanced at the bodies briefly before lifting his head again, silently waiting.
He knew this wasn't over yet.
Sure enough, golden portals soon began opening across the battlefield one after another. The ruined world lit up with countless circular gateways as reinforcements finally arrived.
Doctor Strange stepped out first, followed closely by Spider-Man. Doom emerged with cold eyes hidden behind his metal mask while Mantis cautiously followed behind him. Pepper Potts flew in wearing her armor, and behind her came Black Panther, Wanda, Star-Lord, Falcon, Wasp, Winter Soldier, Nebula, Hawkeye, and countless others.
Ant-Man enlarged himself into a towering giant the moment he appeared, shaking the ground beneath his feet. Hulk arrived as well, his damaged right arm hanging limply at his side.
Behind the superheroes stood wave after wave of Wakandan soldiers and Kamar-Taj sorcerers. The battlefield instantly filled with thousands of fighters.
Locke looked at the army gathering before him and smiled faintly. There was no fear in his eyes. If anything, he looked mildly entertained.
"Anyone looking to die," he said casually, "come at me together. I still need to get back home and finish training after this."
Doctor Strange froze when he noticed the corpses on the ground. His face immediately lost all color.
"What happened?" he muttered in disbelief. "Why is this happening?"
Everything had gone wrong.
In every future he'd viewed, Captain America and Thor were still alive at this point. The battle was supposed to continue long enough for their plan to work. But reality had completely derailed from the future he'd seen.
Pepper Potts flew down beside Tony's body and collapsed to her knees. Her trembling hands reached toward the broken armor as tears streamed down her face.
"Tony... Tony..."
Her voice cracked apart completely.
"Why did this happen...?"
The surrounding heroes stared at the bodies in shock before rage finally erupted throughout the battlefield.
"Kill Thanos!"
"Avenge them!"
"For Wakanda!"
"Charge!"
Locke's smile widened slightly.
It had been a long time since he'd enjoyed a slaughter this much.
Killing wasn't his passion, but after spending years fighting endless wars and carrying the pressure of cosmic power, this kind of release felt refreshing. There was something satisfying about overwhelming enemies so completely that despair replaced resistance.
Then the massacre began.
Against the movie-version Avengers, Locke was essentially a walking catastrophe. The difference in power wasn't something numbers could overcome.
Every swing of the Tyrant Blade carved through entire groups of enemies. Bodies exploded apart beneath the force of his attacks while the ground itself cracked under the pressure of his movements.
Doom charged first, cloaked in energy and magic. He leaped toward Locke with both hands raised, preparing a devastating attack.
Locke cut him in half before the spell could even activate.
Spider-Man fired webs frantically toward him, trying to restrain his movements. Locke grabbed the webbing midair, yanked Spider-Man toward him, and smashed him into a bloody pulp with a single punch.
Star-Lord unloaded both pistols wildly while shouting in fury. Locke swung his blade once, turning both guns and Star-Lord himself into shattered fragments.
Falcon dove from the sky at full speed, his wings extending into razor-sharp blades aimed directly at Locke's throat. Locke caught him effortlessly by the neck and twisted.
A loud crack echoed through the battlefield.
Falcon's body dropped lifelessly to the ground.
The giant-sized Ant-Man roared as he lifted one enormous foot, attempting to crush Locke beneath it. Locke's blade flashed upward once.
The giant body split apart instantly.
No hero could survive even a single exchange.
Blood rapidly stained the ruined battlefield red, spreading across the gray earth like a twisted painting. Severed limbs, broken armor, and shattered weapons covered the ground everywhere.
Behind the carnage lay endless death.
And behind the death came despair.
Pepper Potts finally stood again, grief twisting completely into hatred. Her chest reactor glowed brightly before firing a massive energy beam straight toward Locke.
Locke didn't even bother dodging.
He hurled the Tyrant Blade forward instead.
The weapon spun violently through the battlefield like a black hurricane. Pepper Potts was sliced apart instantly along with dozens of Wakandan warriors standing near her. Blood and metal fragments scattered across the air together before the blade curved back into Locke's hand.
In the rear of the battlefield, Doctor Strange's expression became increasingly pale.
Everything was out of control.
This wasn't a battle anymore. It was extermination.
He quickly retreated several steps before finding Hawkeye protecting the Infinity Gauntlet behind the lines.
"This version of Thanos is too powerful," Strange said grimly. "We can't beat him directly. The only option left is using the Gauntlet against him."
Hawkeye looked toward the battlefield where heroes were dying every second. His face tightened with fear and despair.
"Fine," he muttered. "But who's going to snap?"
At that moment, Hulk slowly walked over.
His crippled right arm hung uselessly beside him while sorrow filled his face.
"This is my responsibility," Hulk said quietly. "Let me do it."
Ever since learning about Black Widow's death, something inside him had broken. No matter what others thought of Natasha, he genuinely loved her. He never cared about her past or the rumors surrounding her relationships.
Concepts like purity or chastity had never mattered to him.
Doctor Strange immediately shook his head.
"You can't," he said firmly. "Your arm's already destroyed. There's no way you survive another snap."
Hulk fell silent.
Hawkeye watched the battlefield again. More heroes were dying by the second. Locke was unstoppable.
Finally, Hawkeye gritted his teeth and thrust his right hand into the Infinity Gauntlet.
The nanotech instantly reshaped itself to fit him.
A second later, the Infinity Stones activated.
Blinding light erupted from the gems while violent currents of energy surged across Hawkeye's body. Electricity tore through his arm and chest as the Gauntlet began destroying him from the inside out.
"AHHH!"
His scream echoed across the battlefield.
But Hulk's eyes widened in disbelief.
He understood better than anyone how terrifying the Infinity Stones were. Gamma radiation gave him an unusually high resistance to their energy, yet even he had collapsed in agony when using the Gauntlet before.
So why was Hawkeye surviving?
A normal human should have died instantly.
The damage Hawkeye was suffering wasn't even one percent of what Hulk himself had endured.
If Hulk knew that, in another version of reality, ordinary humans like Iron Man could also wield the Infinity Gauntlet long enough to snap their fingers, he might have understood the truth.
But right now, he only watched in stunned silence as Hawkeye slowly raised his trembling hand.
His thumb and middle finger moved together.
Then Locke suddenly appeared above him.
No one even saw him move.
A terrifying punch crashed downward instantly, exploding Hawkeye into a mass of blood and shattered bone. The battlefield froze for a split second as Locke calmly bent down and picked up the Infinity Gauntlet from the remains.
His psychic senses had detected Hawkeye and the Gauntlet long ago. Locke simply hadn't cared enough to interrupt the battle earlier.
But letting someone actually snap their fingers against him?
That crossed the line.
Doctor Strange and Hulk stared in horror as Locke equipped the second Infinity Gauntlet. The nanotech expanded automatically until it fit his massive hand.
For a brief moment, he stood there wearing an Infinity Gauntlet on each hand.
Then Locke raised his right arm, preparing to snap.
Suddenly, blue smoke burst from the nanotech Gauntlet. Sparks erupted everywhere as the system malfunctioned and shut itself down. The Infinity Stones dimmed immediately.
The surviving Avengers finally breathed in relief.
They quickly realized what had happened. Tony Stark's nanotech system must have recognized Locke as an unauthorized user and triggered a self-destruct sequence.
Only Locke understood the real reason.
Those idiots simply couldn't tolerate him snapping his fingers.
Still, he wasn't upset.
After all, he didn't need two Gauntlets.
Without hesitation, he removed the four Infinity Stones from the damaged left-hand Gauntlet and replaced them with the six stones originally mounted on the right one.
.....
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