Prologue

Thanos and a character I made up called Darius. Got to set the stage first right? Note: I tried to base this somewhat on the marvel comics, but I took some liberties.

Darius was late. The overlord did not look kindly on lateness, but the news he carried was worth more riches than the whole outer edge of the galaxy possessed and he hoped that would be enough to appease his wrath.A clattering sound echoed above him. He looked up, and then dove sideways with a yelp. A bounder the size of his head crashed down where he'd been moments earlier. He stared at the rock, breathing heavily, before searching for the place from which it had come. A tall, narrow black spire loomed over him. It looked like it had once been made of the gleaming black rock the mortals called Obsidian, but dust and decay had withered it down to nothing more than a charred, crumbling gray heap. A similar setting lay around him, stretching as far as the eye could see. Wilting spires reaching desperately for the sky, or else broken and twisted into crooked, unnatural shapes that seemed too sneered ominously amid their defeat. And all around lay the disintegrating, charred rock like ash after a fire. It was as if the entire planet had once been a massive, magnificent, steepled church; but it's glory had been sapped like the rain of the desert, it's cruel beauty contorted and perverted into a deformed, rasping skeleton clinging to its former embodiment. The dark life, dark energy that had once thrived here was now nothing more than a memory lingering in the shadows. But then there were the mountains. Large, ominous, powerful despite the beauty they had been stripped. This world's one last act of defiance, standing tall despite the destruction.

It was common knowledge that no life remained, that none had since the dark days. But Darius felt as though an entire nation were watching him, perhaps the tortured souls of those who had departed. He shook his head. No, this was no time for madness. He was here to claim his reward and get out, unless the overlord had another task for him. He had reached the base of the largest steeple, a mountain once known as Ongire, or death. It was not surprising that his master would reside here, all things considered. He gazed up, and spotted a cave about a hundred yards ahead of him. Praying that that was his destination, for he wished not to remain on this rock a moment longer than he had too, he started climbing up. The pebbles slid precariously under his feet and the wind picked up, its low rumble becoming like distant thunder, threatening of a greater storm to come. He reached the caves entrance. He stepped inside, squinting through the darkness that lay before him.

"Darius."

He gulped. "Master."

"The Day is almost done; the sun has reached the far western sky. I'd expected you before it reached high noon."

Darius wasn't sure how he knew that, since he could see no visible sun despite the lingering daylight. "M-My lord I promise you must hear what news I bring you."

"Very well, speak."

"Your promise?" He said, his voice higher than usual.

"When you deliver as you have promised, I will determine the value of your information. Now speak, or I will rip the words from your mouth and take your tongue with them."

"M�"my lord it is as you expected. She has taken the power of the gems and spread them out throughout the eternal stones, fourteen of them, though fifteen if you included the Gauntlet."

"Fifteen." The titan rumbled, "always fifteen."

" We are unsure exactly how she spread them, but we believe there to be three for the power gem, three for the space gem, two for the time gem, two for the mind gem, one for the reality gem, and one for the soul gem."

"And must they be�"reunited�"in order to have their full capabilities?"

"Yes, but any sorcerer could perform the spell to do so."

"And you have discovered their location?"

"We�"we're still searching, but we know that each of the six original protectors retained one, and seven remain within the nine realms, but as for the others, we know the location of only two."

"And I suppose one is Hosni's?"

"Yes." For the first time this evening, Darius allowed himself a small smile. "And she remains unaware of his betrayal."

The titan chuckled. "She has always been blind to those whom she professes to trust."

"He has promised that he will turn over his stone as soon as the others are collected."

"Why not hand it over to us now?"

"He believes that it would alert her to his�"change of colors�"as he said."

The Titan let his gaze drift down to his hand, "perhaps Hosni is not as much of a fool as I once believed."

"Hosni also retains a close alliance with Kufara, who has revealed that he also received one. Hosni believes he can get Kufara to reveal its location, and then it's only a matter of time before he will be able to obtain it."

"And the other gems?"

Darius faltered. "I…I�""

"How will you obtain them?"

Darius inclined his head, bowing slightly, while his legs trembled. "We are searching diligently, my Lord."

Thanos snorted, his red eyes blazing as he turned away from his servant.

"My lord, we know of�"one other."

Thanos turned, his gaze settling back on Darius. Darius tried to stop the tremors that were threatening to spread to the rest of his body, and his jaw twitched. It seemed he had reached the part he was most reluctant to divulge, but there was nothing else to be under the Titan's decimating stare.

"The soul gem, it remains with…her."

For a moment, Thanos was silent. Then he laughed, a low, thundering laugh that filled the entire cave with their booming tone.

"By the end, even the guardian will find her strength is nowhere powerful enough to stop me."

"And of…" Darius began, but the word caught his throat…"What of the prophecy?"

Thanos's laughter died and his gaze returned to Darius, His red eyes darkened until they resembled blood. His chest expanded, and every inch of skin seem to tighten as if pulled by an invisible chord. "The prophecy means nothing. It is empty words, spoken by a few desperate for even a flickering candle in the impenetrable darkness."

"But...but my lord…"

"Don't tell me you fear the Rabbi-lira?" Thanos chuckled again as he gazed down at the cowering Darius.

"I, I didn't…but her name has spread through the universe like fire, as well as the feats she has accomplished…"

"Those stories are exaggerations of the same who uphold that pathetic prophecy, and whatever she had done she remains a mortal, and a human female at that." he spat. "We have nothing to fear of the little wanderer, Darius, but I will see that her bones become the décor of my throne if it will finally quench these revolting rumors."

"I�"you are right my lord." Darius said, bowing again.

Thanos snorted again, turning away. "Very well Darius you have done…sufficient."

"My reward?" Darius's voice perked.

"Not yet, I have another task for you." Darius's shoulders slumped. "Yes, my lord?"

"The Asgardian prisoner." He said, "I have unfinished business with him, bring me Loki, and if you are late again I will cut out your entrails and feed them to my warriors."

Darius couldn't hold back the trembling now, but he managed to give his master another bow before turning around to begin his trek down the mountain.

Author's Note

I know I said there would be crossovers, but I'm stealing Doctor's who idea of parallel universes and making them all exist in different universes that will somehow be connected. The next chapter will focus on the OC's. Sorry, that was kind of random info for you.

Reviews

[once upon a time]

There are a lot of typos you might want to fix. Also it might be overly descriptive. It seemed like there were a lot of words but not much happening. Sometimes it could just get kind of confusing. I do think you have a good idea here. It takes a lot of imagination to write fan fiction. To take the original story and create a completely new story out of it.