On day 220 in orbit around Uruma Minor in the Kree Empire, Thanos educates Annihilus on the planet-consuming process used by Galactus. He also tells the leader of the Annihilation Invasion that after the destruction of a planet, the energies are being redirected to storage containers inside Thanos's ship. Only the smallest trickle of energy is sent to Galactus to keep him alive in order to consume other worlds.

Annihilus is angry that not all of the energy is being saved for his use and demands that Galactus's energy stream be cut off. Thanos explains that Galactus's survival is necessary so that more energy can be collected. Annihilus reluctantly agrees. After Annihilus leaves, Thanos is left to speak with Drax's daughter, Moondragon. Moondragon informs Thanos that Annihilus thinks of him as nothing more than a lackey. The mad Titan proclaims that he cares little of his ally's opinion. Moondragon continues to argue with him until Thanos releases an energy charge into her right arm. The energy dissolves her skin and reveals the mind-controlling parasitic bugs which have been placed in her body. The sadistic alien instructs the insectoids to tend to Moondragon's wounds and Thanos also tells his prisoner that he expects her telepathic powers to be useful soon.

Meanwhile, back in orbit around Earth's moon in the Milky Way Galaxy, Nova prepares to embark on his mission to kill Annihilus. While taking a few moments to watch his homeworld, Nova is approached by his friend and aide, Peter Quill. Peter questions his friend's decision to fight the enemy alone and asks Nova to recruit Earth's super-heroes to help. Rich angrily responds that the super-powered beings are acting nothing like heroes due to the events of Civil War. Rich even goes so far as to say that they have forgotten what it means to be a hero and states that he became Nova because of them and will stay Nova in spite of them! Peter tells his friend that he'll get his stuff and they'll fight Annihilus together.

Back on an Annihilation Wave ship, Drax fights through a number of the Annihilation Wave's insect drones. He encounters Eradica, another of Annihilus's queens, and kills her by thrusting his knives through her skull. With their queen's death, the rest of the insect drones lose all will and direction and scatter away. Drax takes a monitor's cable and hooks it into Eradica's mind. By recalibrating the machinery, Drax is able to scan the queen's memories to learn the location of Thanos. Meanwhile, on Thanos's ship, Moondragon is being questioned by her captor. Thanos demands to know what Moondragon has learned from scanning Annihilus's mind. She explains that the leader of the Annihilation Wave doesn't have thought patterns like normal beings. However, based on what she was able to decipher, Thanos and everyone else has been deceived by Annihilus. Thanos tells Moondragon to share her thoughts with him.

As their minds link, Thanos discovers that Annihilus's reason for invading the positive universe. The being from the Negative Zone intends to destroy both the positive universe along with his own negative universe in order to eradicate all life in both! Annihilus believes that cosmic energy is the factor which sustains life and sees Galactus as the key to his plan. Using Galactus's ability to harness cosmic energy, he has manipulated Thanos into converting the planet destroyer into a cosmic bomb capable of annihilating both universes! Thanos is furious at being used. As they walk through the ship on their way to free Galactus, Moondragon asks Thanos why he agreed to help Annihilus in the first place. He states that he was simply curious to see how events would turn out.

Elsewhere, back at the Xandar Cluster in the Andromeda Galaxy, Nova, Peter, Phyla and Cammi prepare for their final battle with Annihilus. Gamora teleports the group down to the surface of the ruins and Cammi asks how are they supposed to get to Annihilus from their current location. Rich reveals that the United Front has had access to limited range phase tubes but the success rate of the technology is only 60%. Nova activates the phase tube and the group phases out but Cammi is left behind for her own safety!

Back on Thanos's ship, Moondragon, Thanos and his tiny companion, Skreet, battle their way to the chamber holding Galactus. As they near his location, the mind-controlling parasites activate inside Moondragon and she is forced to fight Thanos with her mental force blasts! Thanos grabs her and shocks her with an energy wave. The result of his blast destroys the bugs inside Moondragon and she vomits their remains out of her body. With her mind restored, Thanos informs Moondragon that Galactus's bonds have a fail-safe option that is tied to the Titan's power signature. Thanos instructs Drax's daughter to prepare the teleporter for their departure as he doesn't want to be around when Galactus is released.

Nearby, Drax has found his way to Thanos's ship and battles his way inside to face his enemy. Thanos tells Moondragon to delay Drax until he can free Galactus. However, Drax knocks his daughter aside and lunges at Thanos. He finds a force field is preventing him from reaching his goal and Drax begins ripping through it! As Thanos desperately attempts to release Galactus, he is shocked to see Death watching him with a small smile on her face. Thanos understands her message just as Drax breaks through the force field and rips his foe's heart out through his chest!

As Thanos falls, Moondragon realizes that two universes are now doomed by Thanos's failure.