CHAPTER 9:FIGHT.
The portal Doctor Strange conjured glowed ominously, a swirling vortex of energy connecting Doom's castle to the familiar grounds of Earth. The Avengers, battered and weary, wasted no time. Steve Rogers was the first to leap through, followed closely by Natasha, Clint, and Thor. As they emerged on the other side, back on Earth, they quickly formed a defensive stance, ensuring they weren't followed by any of Doom's remaining forces.
Thanos, the last to step through, paused momentarily, his expression inscrutable as he glanced back at the chaos still unfolding within Doom's fortress. "It's not over yet," he rumbled, his voice filled with a grim certainty. He knew his children were still inside, fighting for dominance against the remnants of Doom's forces.
As the portal sealed shut, cutting off their view of the battle, the Avengers exchanged worried glances. They had just escaped the jaws of death, but their relief was tempered by the knowledge that the fight was far from over.
The castle corridors echoed with the sounds of battle—metal clashing against metal, the crackle of energy weapons, and the shouts of Thanos' children as they waged war against the endless tide of Doom's bots. The Mad Titan's progeny were fierce warriors, each possessing a unique strength that made them nearly unstoppable in battle. Ebony Maw, with his telekinetic powers, elegantly manipulated the battlefield, sending debris and shattered bots crashing into each other. Proxima Midnight's spear sliced through steel like it was butter, her movements a blur as she dispatched bot after bot with ruthless efficiency.
Corvus Glaive, armed with his indestructible glaive, fought alongside his wife, Proxima. His strikes were precise, each one designed to dismantle his mechanical foes in the most efficient way possible. "Doom's toys are no match for us," he sneered, his eyes gleaming with battle lust as he tore through another bot.
Black Dwarf, the giant of the group, swung his massive axe, cleaving through the bots with sheer brute force. His laughter echoed through the corridors as he reveled in the destruction. "Let them come!" he roared, his deep voice shaking the very walls of the castle. "I'll tear them apart with my bare hands!"
As the fight raged on, Ebony Maw's sharp mind began to sense something was amiss. Despite their strength, the bots were too easily overwhelmed, as though they were being drawn into a trap. He glanced around, noticing how the bots were maneuvering them deeper into the heart of the castle.
"We're being herded," he said, his voice calm yet urgent. Proxima Midnight, always quick to understand her brother's implications, nodded in agreement. "Doom is playing us. We need to take control of this situation."
"Then let's turn this trap on its head," Corvus Glaive growled, his grip tightening on his weapon. He directed his gaze at Black Dwarf, who was still enthusiastically smashing bots into pieces. "Black Dwarf, stop fooling around and focus! We need to regroup."
Reluctantly, Black Dwarf stopped his rampage and retreated to his siblings. "Fine, fine," he grumbled. "But these bots are just toys. Why should we be worried?"
Before anyone could answer, the bots they had just dismantled began emitting a high-pitched ringing sound, their broken bodies shaking violently. Ebony Maw's eyes widened in realization. "Everyone, fall back!" he commanded, his usually calm voice tinged with urgency.
But it was too late. The bots exploded in a chain reaction, filling the air with a deafening roar. The weaker of Thanos' children, those who had been closest to the blast, were vaporized instantly, their forms disintegrating in the intense heat and force of the explosion. The stronger ones, those who managed to shield themselves, were thrown back, their bodies battered and burned.
As the smoke cleared, the surviving children looked on in horror. The scattered remains of the bots were moving, drawn together by some unseen force. Before their very eyes, the fragments began to fuse, merging into a colossal, hulking form. The newly-formed giant bot towered over them, its eyes glowing with a malevolent red light.
"That's…impossible," Proxima Midnight muttered, her voice shaking with disbelief. The bot was unlike anything they had faced before, its very presence exuding an aura of overwhelming power.
Black Dwarf, never one to shy away from a challenge, charged at the bot with a roar, his axe raised high. "Let's see how strong you really are!" he bellowed as he brought his weapon down with all his might. But the giant bot was faster than its size suggested. It caught Black Dwarf's axe with one massive hand and, with a sickening crunch, snapped it in two. The force of the counterattack sent Black Dwarf crashing into a wall, dazed and bleeding.
"You're going to pay for that!" Corvus Glaive shouted, his voice full of fury. He rushed forward, his glaive glowing with a deadly energy, and struck at the bot's legs, aiming to cripple it. But the bot's metal was impenetrable, and his attack only left a small dent. In retaliation, the bot swung one of its massive arms at him, the force of the blow sending Corvus flying across the room, his glaive clattering to the ground.
"Stay back!" Ebony Maw commanded, his mind racing as he used his telekinesis to hurl massive chunks of the castle's walls at the bot, trying to destabilize it. But the bot shrugged off the attacks as if they were mere pebbles. It retaliated with a blast of energy from its chest, the beam so powerful that it vaporized everything in its path. Ebony Maw barely had time to erect a shield, the impact sending him skidding across the ground, his mind reeling from the effort.
The bot turned its attention to Proxima Midnight, its red eyes narrowing as it charged at her with terrifying speed. Proxima dodged the initial attack, her spear glowing as she struck back, aiming for the bot's joints. But the bot was relentless, each of its attacks shaking the very foundations of Doom's castle. The fortress, already weakened by the earlier battles, began to crumble under the strain.
"We need to take out its control system!" Corvus shouted over the din of battle, his voice strained. "It's the only way to stop it!"
"Then let's make it quick," Proxima replied, determination hardening her features. Together, the siblings coordinated their assault, striking at the bot's core with all their remaining strength. The bot fought back with terrifying ferocity, its massive fists slamming into the ground and sending shockwaves through the castle. Each strike threatened to bring the entire structure down on top of them.
Outside, Doom's castle was a scene of chaos. The remnants of Thanos' armada hovered above, their cannons firing down at the fortress in an attempt to provide support. But the massive bot, sensing the threat, turned its attention to the sky. With a single, powerful leap, it launched itself into the air, its massive fists crashing down onto one of the battleships. The ship's hull buckled under the force, its engines sputtering as the bot tore it apart piece by piece.
Inside the ship, Thanos' remaining children scrambled to defend their vessel. "It's tearing us apart!" one of them shouted, panic clear in his voice. "We can't hold out much longer!"
"We need to buy the others time," another replied, their resolve hardening. "Focus all firepower on that thing!"
The ship's cannons roared to life, unleashing a torrent of energy blasts at the bot. But the creature was relentless, its body absorbing the blows as it continued its rampage. It ripped through the ship's defenses with terrifying ease, tearing off pieces of the hull and hurling them back at the fleet. Explosions rocked the air, and pieces of the once-mighty vessel began to rain down upon the battlefield below.
Back on the ground, Proxima and Corvus fought with renewed desperation. "We need to stop that thing before it destroys everything!" Proxima shouted, her voice tinged with frustration. She and Corvus doubled their efforts, focusing their attacks on the bot's chestplate, where they suspected the control system was housed.
Finally, with a combined effort, they ripped open the chestplate, exposing the glowing control unit. With a final, desperate lunge, Corvus drove his glaive into the unit, tearing it free.
The bot's eyes flickered, and with a massive groan, it collapsed to the ground, the force of its fall shaking the entire castle. The surviving children of Thanos let out a collective sigh of relief, their bodies trembling with exhaustion.
"We did it," Proxima Midnight gasped, her voice tinged with disbelief and triumph.
But their victory was short-lived. The bot's remains began to shake violently, the pieces glowing with a sickly red light. Ebony Maw's eyes widened in horror as he realized what was happening. "It's going to—"
The bot exploded with the force of a small nuke, the blast obliterating the castle and everything within it. The shockwave ripped through the structure, tearing it apart stone by stone. The surviving children of Thanos had no time to react, their triumphant cries turning to screams as they were consumed by the explosion.
Outside, the armada hovering above was caught in the explosion's shockwave. The blast sent ships spiraling out of control, crashing into each other or plummeting to the ground in flames. The once-mighty fleet was reduced to burning wreckage, scattered across