The silence in the bedroom was unsettling. The metal beds, lined up in precise rows, offered little comfort after the chaos of the first game. You collapsed onto one of the mattresses, exhausted, your breathing still uneven. The memory of the dry sound of gunfire haunted you.

As you massaged your temples, someone occupied the bunk across from you. You didn't look up, too focused on calming your nerves, until you heard a familiar, sarcastic laugh, filled with that carefree tone you had always hated.

"Well, this is quite the romantic reunion, don't you think?"

You raised your head. There he was, Thanos, sitting on the bed with one leg crossed over the other, his purple hair as messy as ever, as if he had just stepped out of a storm. His eyes sparkled with a teasing glint, and the lopsided smile you knew so well was there, intact.

"This can't be," you murmured.

"Wow, hello to you too, girl."

The last time you had seen him, things had ended badly, very badly. And now, after years of trying to bury him in your memory, he appeared here, in this place, in this nightmare.

"What the hell are you doing here?" you asked, trying to keep your voice low.

"The same as you, I guess," he replied, leaning back against the wall with a relaxed attitude that didn’t fit the circumstances.