A voice's Delight

The semi-ethereal figure floated above the lifeless forms of the once-mighty titan and Lee, a sense of triumph in his gloomy eyes. "It'll take a while to refine that strange man's body, but the kid's will be faster," he mused as he started to approach the corpses. He was planning to refine their bodies so that they could adapt to his own soul.

As his fingers neared the titan's skull, he felt a sudden, excruciating pain in his abdomen. Glancing down, his eyes widened in disbelief—Thanos' hand had punched clean through him. "Wha—"

Before he could understand what was happening, the titan's other hand followed, sinking into the same, gaping wound. Then, in a heartbeat, the figure turned ethereal, instantly withdrawing from the titan's lethal grasp and stumbling back, his face twisted in confusion and disbelief.

"Impossible, how are you still moving? I clearly absorbed your soul!"

The titan, who had been lifeless on the ground just moments ago, was now standing. His eyes snapped open, and the ethereal figure felt a chill he hadn't felt in years—fear.

The titan's eyes were no longer bluish but glowed with a demonic, crimson hue. He first looked at his huge purple hands, slowly clenching them and opening them. Then his eyes moved to his feet, lifting them off the ground and letting them fall back. The ethereal figure couldn't take it anymore.

Answer me! Who are you?!"

"Me?" A slow, crazed grin began to stretch across the titan's face. "I'm just a voice."

In a blink, the titan vanished. The next moment, a devastating punch landed on the ethereal figure's face, sending him spiraling backward.

"So that's how it feels to have a body, heh?" The 'titan' said, his demeanor completely transformed. From a calm, calculated presence, he had morphed into an entity of unhinged chaos and brute power. His fists were a symphony of destruction, their impacts creating shockwaves that ripped through the air and shattered the ground below. The ethereal figure was getting battered, struggling to keep up.

As the ethereal figure managed to become incorporeal once more, negating the impact, he mentally calculated his reserves. "I don't have enough energy yet to unleash another soul-breaking wave. I need more time."

"So you can only be intangible for short periods? Haha!" The titan laughed as he unleashed a barrage of fists, ripping through the air and decimating the very earth beneath them. Every time the figure's phasing ended, the 'titan' exploited the momentary vulnerability to unleash hell.

"S-Sir, why don't-"

"I've never punched a ghost before. I gotta thank you for that!" The titan's grin widened as his hook was dodged by the ethereal being.

Yet the small hill behind him was destroyed with just the aftereffects of the punch. This gave the ethereal being man great chills once again.

The 'titan' didn't relent. A flurry of kicks and punches followed, each aimed not just to injure but to annihilate. The very air seemed to tremble in the face of the titan's unleashed power. Trees uprooted, and boulders disintegrated. The ground itself seemed to cry out in agony as the ethereal figure bobbed and weaved, narrowly avoiding destruction each time.

It was then that the desperation of his situation prompted him to consider an alternative. "Wait! Wait!" he cried, hoping the relentless onslaught would pause long enough for negotiation.

"Why don't we make a deal?" the figure stuttered, phasing in and out to avoid the continued onslaught. It was a gamble, but he was out of options. The impending doom hung thick in the air, and he prayed the titan would consider his proposition.

"What deal?" 'Thanos'' voice was demonic, even as his fists kept flying.

"I know of a way to escape this rift. The only exit is through random openings. Even a Stage 7 wouldn't be able to escape this dimension otherwise." the figure offered, almost desperately.

"And you can bring me there?"

"Of course, I can."

"Ah, good. Your corpse holds good intel, then."

Before the ethereal figure could register what he'd heard, the titan unleashed a final attack. A fist ablaze with golden, dragon-shaped energy smashed into the figure, obliterating him from the neck down in a shower of gore and otherworldly fluids. The head remained, a look of pure shock frozen onto its face.

"Let's see, how did Kai do it again? Ah, yes," the 'titan' mused as he focused on the head. Minutes later, he chuckled. "Alright, good intel extracted. Time to loot the body."

Spotting a blood-colored ring lying amid the debris, he picked it up and felt an odd connection—as if part of him had been sealed inside it. Manipulating it with Qi, he released two souls. One floated toward Lee's distant body, the other into his own.

Then one last time, he breathed, enjoying the feeling of his lungs filling in and out.

"Being alive feels great. Hope you keep your promise, Kai"

He lay back on the ground, eyes closed, and moments later, reopened them. Gone were the demonic red pupils. They were now replaced by the familiar calm, calculated azure eyes.