Chapter 346: Round Two Begins — and an Uninvited Guest Arrives
Every A-Force member except Natasha stared at this man who'd just stepped in front of them, genuinely curious who exactly he was.
Thanos's gaze, meanwhile, stayed locked entirely on Ethan.
The two of them advanced toward each other slowly, each step landing with a weight that seemed to press down on the very air around them.
They stopped less than a meter apart, eyes locked. For one long moment, everything else on the battlefield seemed to simply vanish — just the two of them, standing alone.
The roar of battle that had filled the field a moment ago cut off entirely, replaced by an eerie, total silence.
Every eye on the field turned toward Thanos and Ethan — two figures standing motionless like carved statues, the sole focus of everyone present.
"Thanos is mine. This is a fight between men — no place for a bunch of women in it. Go handle your own mission," Ethan said first, turning briefly toward the A-Force members standing nearby.
The comment didn't exactly thrill them — a few brows furrowed at that. But they knew when to pick their battles, and this clearly wasn't the moment for internal squabbling. Whoever this man was, he was very obviously on their side.
Honestly, none of them were entirely sure they could beat Thanos anyway — being relieved of that particular fight came as something of a quiet relief.
Still, they were burning with curiosity — whose soldier was this guy, exactly, brash enough to challenge Thanos one-on-one? And more tellingly — Thanos actually looked like he was taking this seriously.
Thanos, meanwhile, looked Ethan up and down once more, his tone deadly serious. "Who exactly are you? Why are you so determined to stop me? None of this concerns you at all!"
"You already knew, didn't you? I thought I made myself pretty clear back there."
"My name is Ethan. Just an ordinary man from Hell's Kitchen."
"I came to this universe purely to borrow a few Infinity Stones. And, well... take the opportunity to see exactly what you're made of."
"Besides — you're not exactly from this world either, are you? Why take it so seriously? How about we both just walk away instead?" Ethan pulled a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a long drag, and exhaled a slow cloud of white smoke.
The exchange rang out across the battlefield, and the newly-arrived Avengers finally learned exactly who this man was — the one who'd crushed an entire warship bare-handed and was now going toe-to-toe with Thanos himself.
The revelation sent a ripple of shock through the assembled group, faces twisting with confusion and disbelief.
An ordinary man from a parallel universe's "Hell's Kitchen"???
Knowing Ethan came from another universe didn't clear anything up — if anything, it just raised more questions.
"What the hell is 'Hell's Kitchen'?"
"That's their idea of 'ordinary'? Are you telling me literally anyone from that other universe could go toe-to-toe with Thanos?"
"Hell's Kitchen isn't even a real place on Earth — maybe it's an actual kitchen down in Hell itself."
"Wait, so this universe actually has a Hell? Then how come none of us ended up there or Heaven during the whole snap thing?"
"No way. There's no way this 'Ethan' guy is an ordinary anything. There's no way an entire universe full of people could casually punch out Thanos!"
A lot of eyes turned toward Doctor Strange, hoping he might have some explanation — after all, if anyone understood the concept of parallel universes, it had to be him.
A handful of people already in the know — Tony, Banner — knew the truth but had no intention of volunteering an explanation.
Sure, Hell's Kitchen didn't have an entire population capable of trading blows with Thanos, but its collective strength genuinely did outclass this ragtag Avengers roster by a wide margin.
Doctor Strange, for his part, was every bit as confused as everyone else. Things had already spun far beyond his control — he had no idea why people from other parallel universes had shown up at all, and he'd certainly never heard of any "Hell's Kitchen."
Sure, other universes did have their own versions of Hell's Kitchen — but the ones he knew of were nothing more than gang-ridden slums full of ordinary people. Even their strongest fighters were still just mortal — a blind vigilante and a kid in spider pajamas, tops.
There was no version of that place where anyone could go toe-to-toe with Thanos. Absurd.
Whoever this "Ethan" was, he clearly wasn't that Hell's Kitchen.
Of course, Doctor Strange couldn't very well admit he had no idea what was going on. He put on his best knowing smile, projecting an air of "of course I already saw this coming."
At the center of the battlefield, Thanos scoffed openly at Ethan's words.
He looked Ethan over and suddenly burst into booming laughter, the sound rolling across the field like thunder.
The laughter dripped with mockery and contempt, as though he found Ethan's arrogance genuinely amusing.
"Interesting. Seems like today, in this universe, one of us two outsiders is going to die here."
The words carried a cold, absolute finality.
Ethan didn't so much as flinch. "And what makes you so sure it won't be you?" His voice stayed calm, but carried a steel-edged confidence underneath.
Right then, Thanos's expression turned deadly serious. His muscles tensed, coiled with power that seemed limitless.
A terrifying aura burst outward from him, sweeping across the battlefield like a storm rising out of darkness — a force that seemed capable of devouring the entire universe whole, chilling everyone who felt it.
"Then let's find out whether you actually have that kind of strength!" Thanos roared, and charged Ethan like a tiger unleashed.
His speed was staggering, cutting across the battlefield like a bolt of lightning, almost too fast to track.
Ethan showed no fear whatsoever. He took one last drag off his cigarette and flicked the butt casually toward Thanos.
The cigarette butt arced through the air in a lazy, elegant curve and landed precisely at Thanos's feet.
"Seen enough already? Let's move on to round two, then."
The next instant, Ethan's demeanor shifted entirely — dead serious now, matching Thanos's own full commitment. A powerful aura radiated off him, and for the first time, he drew his weapon: the Sword of Victory.
As Gram materialized in his hand, Ethan's whole body began radiating a golden light.
The next instant, he vanished from where he stood — and reappeared directly behind Thanos, Gram already swinging toward him.
Thanos let out a cold grunt and, with an agility utterly at odds with his massive frame, spun on his heel and blocked the strike with both hands.
The two central figures of the battle launched into a full-force exchange.
Gold and violet blurred through the air, colliding again and again, each impact detonating with a thunderous crash.
The very air seemed to tremble under the weight of their power.
As the two men's fight escalated, the armies on either side surged back into motion.
The battlefield, briefly stilled, erupted again into chaos — A-Force and the alien horde crashing into each other like two colliding tides.
Weapons swung, war cries rang out, and smoke and fire once again choked the battlefield.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel had nearly succeeded in delivering the Gauntlet to the brown van — but just as victory seemed within reach, disaster struck.
A figure appeared in the sky like a phantom, moving with such speed it was almost impossible to track.
In an instant, it knocked Captain Marvel clean out of the air, and a figure the Avengers all recognized with dread stepped into view.
He wore armor near-identical to Thanos's own, his eyes burning with the same hunger for power.
Slowly, he raised his hand — the Infinity Gauntlet now settled firmly on it.
"So this is the Infinity Gauntlet." His voice came out low, thick with excitement and anticipation.
Captain Marvel struggled back to her feet, staring at this figure so eerily similar to Thanos, disbelief written across her face.
"Who," she demanded, brow furrowed, "are you?" Her voice carried across the battlefield, drawing every eye toward the newcomer.
The Avengers froze mid-motion, all attention snapping to this mysterious new arrival.
"Thanos. Or, in terms you'd understand — a Thanos from a parallel universe."
☆☆☆
-> 20 Advanced chapters Now Available on Patreon!!
-> https://www.pat-reon.co-m/c/Inkshaper
(Just remove the hyphen (-) to access patreon normally)
If you like this novel please consider leaving a review that's help the story a lot Thank you