"…Alright," Thor said. "Let's get the damn team back together."
"Well, everyone is at the base," Steve said. "I came to get you—you were the only one missing."
Thor looked at him and nodded. "Oh."
****
The hum of the Quinjet echoed as it touched down at the Avengers facility. Steve stepped out first, followed by Thor—who still carried the weight of grief in his posture, but at least he was there. As they walked in, familiar faces greeted them.
Tony and Bruce were huddled over a cluster of screens, holographic projections of timelines and quantum schematics floating in the air.
"Look who finally showed up," Tony muttered with a smirk, giving Thor a quick glance. "Nice haircut."
Thor raised a brow but didn't reply, his eyes scanning the base until they settled on the table piled with food. "Do we still have beer?"
Before anyone could answer, a strange hum filled the air outside. Max turned his head toward the sound as a sleek ship descended onto the base's landing pad.
Out stepped Nebula, her cybernetic eyes glowing faintly as she took in the scene. She looked thinner, harsher—like someone who had seen even more horror since the Snap.
Nebula's gaze swept across the gathered team. Off to the side, she noticed two people sitting together, sharing tacos—Thor had just joined them, beer in hand.
"Who are those two?" she asked, nodding toward them.
Bruce glanced over and replied, "One is Ant-Man. The other… is someone who, theoretically, could destroy the entire universe with a Snap."
Nebula raised an eyebrow. "So one's as small as an ant… and the other is as powerful as my father?"
Tony turned to Bruce, clearly skeptical. "You're serious?"
"I mean it," Bruce said. "One's Ant-Man. The other is Max—some kind of cosmic-level figure."
Tony looked over at Max, narrowing his eyes. "You're telling me that quiet-looking kid is as powerful as Thanos?"
Bruce exhaled and nodded. "More or less."
Natasha nodded as well. "He's stronger than Thanos. Thanos needed the Infinity Stones. Max doesn't."
Tony blinked, turning toward Max again. "Tell me he's lying."
Steve stepped up beside Bruce, arms folded. "I don't know all the details… but I've seen a glimpse. And yeah—Thanos wouldn't stand a chance."
"And I ignored him the first time we met?" Tony asked, glancing toward Max.
The others looked at each other before Bruce shrugged. "Don't worry. The only things that really matter to him are sex and food."
Tony smirked. "Oh, my type of guy," he said with a dry chuckle.
He gave Max another glance, watching the mysterious figure casually enjoying a taco like the fate of the universe wasn't resting on his shoulders. With a sigh, Tony turned back toward the lab setup.
"I'll talk to him later," he muttered, already switching mental gears as he got back to work.
The atmosphere in the Avengers compound was growing denser—not with tension, but with purpose.
Steve stood over the central table where Bruce and Tony had begun to assemble diagrams, formulas, and holographic models of the Quantum Tunnel.
"Alright," Steve said, voice steady, "now that we're all here, it's time to go over the plan."
Natasha leaned against a wall, arms crossed, eyes sharp. Clint stood beside her, quiet, his expression unreadable. Thor, now changed into more comfortable armor, was munching on a second helping of tacos, clearly still dealing with emotions in his own way. Rocket perched on a stool, tail flicking restlessly, while Nebula stood beside him, arms behind her back, rigid and alert.
Max sat on a chair nearby, legs crossed, sipping a soda through a straw with casual detachment. But his eyes missed nothing.
Scott clapped his hands together. "So, time travel. We do it, grab the stones from the past, snap everyone back, and boom! Happy ending?"
"Easier said than done," Tony muttered. "We're talking multiple teams, coordinated jumps, and no second chances. We mess up even one of them, and we either get stuck in another time or break the universe."
Bruce added, "There's also the issue of branching timelines. We'll need to return the stones to the exact moments we took them from, or we risk creating fractured realities."
"Yeah, yeah," Rocket waved his paw. "Just tell me when and where I'm supposed to go."
Natasha stepped forward, her voice calm. "Then let's divide into teams and figure out where and when we'll find each stone."
"Do you want to come?" she then asked Max.
He simply shook his head. "Not unless you want the timeline to implode. I'm better off watching your backs from here."
The others exchanged glances, then turned back to the task at hand.
"Okay then," Tony said, stepping up to the board. "We've got six Infinity Stones to grab."
He began writing them down:
Space Stone
Mind Stone
Reality Stone
Time Stone
Power Stone
Soul Stone
"Now, since we only have a limited supply of Pym Particles, that means one trip there, one trip back. No do-overs. So we need to hit timelines where we can collect the most stones at once."
Bruce stepped forward, tapping the board thoughtfully. "We know that in 2012, during the Chitauri invasion, three stones were in New York—the Space, Mind, and Time Stones."
"Bingo," Tony said. "That's one team."
"Where's the Reality Stone again?" Scott asked, scratching his head.
"Asgard," Thor muttered, already regretting saying it. "My girlfriend… it was inside her."
An awkward silence passed.
"Right," Tony said, clearing his throat. "That's another team."
Rocket added, "The Power Stone was on Morag, with Quill doing his idiot dance."
"And the Soul Stone…" Natasha said quietly, voice tightening.
Everyone fell silent again.
And then Nebula spoke, her voice low and steady. "It's on Vormir. That's where Thanos killed my sister."
A heavy silence settled over the room… until one voice cut through it.
"'Sacrifice' is the right word for it, actually," Max said casually, arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.
Everyone turned to look at him.
"What do you mean?" Tony asked, narrowing his eyes.
Max met his gaze, unfazed. "Among all the Infinity Stones, the Soul Stone is… different. It demands a soul to be given in order for it to reveal itself. It doesn't just sit in a vault or float in space. Until a soul is traded for it, the stone remains hidden—sealed in the shadow of that cursed planet Vormir."
Nebula nodded slowly. "That's exactly what happened. Thanos… threw Gamora off the cliff."
Scott grimaced. "So… someone has to die? That's the rule?"
"It's not just death," Max said. "It's a sacrifice. You have to give up what you love most."
***
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