Chapter 1
It was a beautiful morning. Tony was jogging with his would-be Pepper in the central Park.
Tony caught up to Pepper and said.
"Slow down. I'm totally not kidding."
"No, I'm not"
"Your rambling" Pepper said chuckling
"Lost me."
"Look, you know how you're having a dream, and in the dream you gotta pee?"
"Yeah." Pepper said
"Okay, then you're like, my God, there's no bathroom, what am I gonna do? Oh! Someone's watching!
Right. And then you wake up, and in real life you actually have to pee."
"Yes"
"Yeah"
"Everybody has that."
"Right. That's the point I'm trying to make. Last night, I dreamt, we had a kid. So real. We named him after
your eccentric uncle."
"What was his name? Porsey"
"Morgan."
"Right."
"So you woke up, and we were..."
"Expecting"
"Yeah"
"Yes?"
"No"
"I had a dream about it. It was so real"
"If you wanted to have a kid... You wouldn't have done that." Pepper said tapping his arc reactor.
"I'm glad you brought this up cause it's nothing, just a housing unit for nano-parts."
"It's not helping your case. OK?"
"It's an attachment. It's not a... "
"You don't need that."
"I know. I had the surgery. I'm just trying to protect us."
"The future, as is, and that's it. Just in case there's a monster in the closet. Just letting you know."
"Shirts"
"You know me so well. You finish all my sentences."
"You should have shirts in your closet."
"Yeah. You know what there should be?"
"No more surprises. We'll have a nice dinner tonight. We should have no more surprises. Ever. I should promise you."
"Yeah"
"I will."
Tony leaned in to kiss Pepper. He had promised—no more surprises, no more superhero work. He wanted a family, a child with Pepper—that's all he desired.
But was it true? Could he really be complete without Iron Man? Was it worth sacrificing his identity for the sake of a family?
Tony's thoughts were interrupted by a baritone voice.
"Tony Stark, I'm Dr. Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me."
Tony pulled away from Pepper and turned to see a golden portal opening. And a very handsome man entered through it.
"Oh. Congratulations on the wedding, by the way." He said looking at Pepper.
I"'m sorry. You giving out tickets or something?" Tony asked surprised
"We need your help. Look, it's not overselling it to say that the fate of the Universe is at stake." The man said
"And who's "we"?" Tony asked
"Hey, Tony" Bruce said coming out.
"Bruce!" Tony
Bruce came and hugged him.
"You okay?" Tony asked worried.
"From the dawn of the Universe, there was nothing.
Then, boom! The Big Bang sends six elemental crystals, hurdling across the virgin Universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence."
"Space. Reality. Power. Soul. Mind. And Time."
"Tell me his name again." Tony said
"Thanos. He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets. He takes what he wants. He wipes out half the population. He sent Loki. The attack on New York. That's him."
"What's our time line?" Tony asked
"No telling." Bruce said
"He has the Power and Space Stones, that only makes him the strongest creature in the whole Universe. If he gets his hands, on all six Stones, Tony..." Bruce continued.
"He can destroy life on a scale of hitherto hundredth of." The wizard said.
"Did you seriously just say "hitherto hundredth of"?" Tony asked leaning to the cauldron.
"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" The man said.
"Is that what that is? Tony said
His cloak slapped Tony's ass.
How dare he? Tony turned squinting at the man.
"I'm going to allow that. If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?" Tony said.
"No can do. We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives."
The man said looking to Tony's eyes directly with his blue-green eyes.
"And I swore off dairy, but Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me, so..." Tony said.
"Stark Raving Hazelnuts." Stephen said.
"It's not bad." Tony said.
"A bit chalky." Stephen said smirking
Tony squinted at that.
"A Hunka-Hulka Burning Fudge" is our favorite." The other sorcerer, Wong said
"That's a thing?" Bruce asked frowning.
"Whatever. Point is, things change." Tony said.
"Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change." Stephen said.
"This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos." Stephen said
"And still conversely, it may also be his best chance against us!" Tony said back.
"Only if we don't do our jobs." Stephen came back.
"What is your job exactly, besides making balloon animals?" Tony scoffed.
Yes, sarcasm and mocking were his way of defeating others. But Tony was wrong. The man wasn’t fazed by his comment.
"Protecting your reality, douche bag." The man said with his stupidly attractive smirk.
Tony was equally impressed and riled up with his answer. The duo ended up in a staring contest.
"Okay guys, can we quick cable this discussion right now?" Bruce said interrupting them.
"The fact is we have the stone. We know where it is. Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone. And we have to find him now." Bruce said.
"Yeah, that's the thing." Tony said
"What do you mean?" Bruce asked.
"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline." Tony said.
"What? Tony, you lost another super bot?" Bruce asked.
"I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving."
"Who could find Vision, then?" Bruce asked.
"Probably Steve Rogers."
"Oh, great." Stephen said
"Maybe. But..." Tony said.
"Call him." Bruce said.
"It's not that easy. God, we haven't caught up in a spell, have we? The Avengers broke up. We're toast." Tony said in frustration
"Broke up? Like a band? Like The Beatles?" Bruce asked.
"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms."
"Tony, listen to me. Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not." Bruce said.
Then they heard a booming sound and distress.
"Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?" Tony asked.
"Not at the moment, no." Stephen said.
The outside was in distress. People were running away from something.
"You okay?" Tony asked helping a woman.
"Help him. Wong, Doc." Tony said looking at a wrecked car.
"Got it." Bruce said.
"Friday, what am I looking at?" Tony asked.
"Not sure. I'm working on it." Friday informed.
"You better not put that Time Stone in your back pocket, Doc!" Tony said
"I might wanna use it." Stephen said making a shield with his hands.
"Friday, evac anyone south of 43rd Street, notify first responders." Tony said.
"Will do." Friday said.
The spaceship was about to crash into Earth. Stephen created a shield and stopped the ship mid-air.
Now Tony was impressed. He looked at him, and Stephen actually winked at him.
Tony felt his cheeks grow hotter. He couldn't blush in the middle of a battlefield.
Two aliens stepped out of the ship.
"Hear me, and rejoice! You are about to die at the hands of the Children of Thanos. Be thankful, that your meaningless lives are now contributing to... " The alien said.
"I'm sorry, Earth is closed today. You better pack it up and get outta here." Tony said.
"Stone keeper... Does this chattering animal speak for you?" The alien asked
.
"Certainly not. I speak for myself." Stephen said ready to fight.
"You're trespassing in this city and on this planet." Stephen said.
"You need to get lost, Squidward! " Tony said
"They exhaust me. Bring me the Stone." The alien said.
"Hey, do you want a piece?" Tony asked Bruce
"No, not really. But when do I ever get what I want." Bruce said
"Been a while. Good to have you, buddy." Tony said
"I just... I need to concentrate for a second." Bruce said
"Come on, come on, Max. Where's your guy?" Tony asked
"I don't know. We're certainly having a thing." Bruce said
"There's no time for a thing. That's the thing right there. Let's go." Tony said.
One of the alien was running towards them.
"Dude, you're embarrassing me in front of the wizards." Tony said.
"I can't... He won't... " Bruce said.
"It's okay. Stand down. Can I leave you with him? Thank you." Tony asked Wong.
"I have him." Wong said.
Tony walked towards the alien tapping his arc reactor.
The suit started to cover him up. He attacked the running alien.
"Where'd that come from?" Bruce asked surprised.
It's time to show off, especially in front of the wizard," Tony turned to them and said.
"It's nano-tech. You like it? A little... " Tony started. But the alien attacked him
"Dr. Banner, if the rest of your green friend won't be joining us..." Stephen said and opened a portal to Bruce fall.
"You gotta get that stone outta here, now." Tony said.
"It stays with me." Stephen said stubbornly.
"Exactly. Bye!" Tony said flying off.
Stephen was trying to fight the alien. But it overpowered him easily and trapped him.
"Your powers are quaint. You must be popular with children."
"It's a simple spell but quite unbreakable." Stephen said groaning
"Then I'll take it off your corpse." It said.
"You wouldn't. Removing a dead man's spell... Troublesome." Stephen groaned.
"You'll only wish you were dead." The alien said and trapped him and took him with him.
"Kid, that's the wizard. Get on it." Tony said
"On it!" Peter followed them.
"Mr. Stark? I'm being beamed up." Peter said
"Hang on, kid" Tony said
The other alien was trying to attack Tony. But Wong helped him.
"Wong, you're invited to my wedding." Tony said.
"Give me a little juice, Friday." Tony said following the spaceship
"Unlock 17-A."
"Kid, you gotta let go. I'm gonna catch you." Tony said.
"But you said save the wizard!" Peter said.
"I can't breathe!"
"You're too high up. You're running out of air."
"That makes sense."
Tony send a new suit to Peter.
"Mr. Stark, it smells like a new car in here." Peter said
"Happy trails, kid. Friday, send him home." Tony said.
"Oh, come on!" A parachute formed his back and he started to fall.
Tony entered the ship.
"Boss, incoming call from Miss Potts." Friday said.
"Tony? Oh, my God. Are you all right? What's going on?" Pepper's voice was heard.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just think we might have to push our 8:30 res." Tony said.
"Why?"
"Just 'cause I'll probably not make it back for awhile."
'Tell me you're not on that ship."
"Yeah."
"God, no. Please tell me you're not on that ship."
"Honey, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know how to say this. Pep... "
"Come back here, Tony. I swear to God... Come back here right now!...Come back! " Peppers' voice was desperate
"Boss, we're losing her. I'm going, too... " Friday's distorted voice was heard.
"In all the time I have served Thanos... I have never failed him. If I were to reach our rendezvous on Titan, with the Time Stone still attached to your vaguely irritating person... There would be judgment." The alien said. It was torturing Stephen with millions of needles.
"Give me... the Stone." It said
Stephen was screaming in pain.
Tony was watching them. The cloak tapped his back.
"Wow. You are a seriously loyal piece of hardware." Tony said.
"Speaking of loyalty... " Peter's voice was heard.
Tony turned surprised and worried.
"I know what you're gonna say to me." Peter said.
"You should not be here." Tony said.
"I was gonna go home."
"I don't wanna hear it!"
"But it was such a long way down and I just thought about... "
"And now I gotta hear it."
"And this suit is, ridiculously intuitive, by the way. So, if anything, its kind of your fault that I'm here." Peter rambled.
"What did you just say?" Tony asked offended.
"I take that back. And now I'm here in space."
"Yeah. Right where I didn't want you to be. This isn't Coney Island, or some field trip. This is a one-way ticket. Do you hear me? Don't pretend you thought this through."
"I did think this through. You can't be a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man if there's no neighborhood.
Okay, that didn't make sense but you know what I'm trying to say."
Tony shook his head defeated with this boy.
"Come on. We got a situation. See him down there? He's in trouble. What's your plan? Go." Tony said pointing to Stephen.
"Okay, okay. OK, you ever see this really old movie Aliens?" Peter asked.
"Painful, aren't they? They were originally designed for microsurgery. And any one of them..." Ebony Maw said torturing Stephen.
But he was interrupted by Tony's firing.
"I could end your friend's life in an instant." It said.
"I gotta tell you, he's not really my friend. Saving his life is more of a professional courtesy. " Tony said.
"You've saved nothing. Your powers are inconsequential compared to mine." The alien said.
"Yeah, but the kid's seen more movies." Tony said and shoot to the wall of the ship.
Ebony Maw were flew to the space. Stephen was also going out. But Peter hold him. Tony welded the hole in the spaceship.
"We gotta turn this ship around." Stephen said standing up.
"Yeah. Now he wants to run" Tony said scoffing
"Great, I want to protect the stone." Stephen said
"And I want you to thank me now. Go ahead, I'm listening." Tony said.
"For what? Nearly blasting me to space?" Stephen scoffed
"Who just saved your magical ass? Me." Tony said.
"I seriously don't know how you fit your head into that helmet." Stephen said scoffing.
"Admit it. You should've ducked out when I told you to. I tried to bench you, you refused." Tony snapped.
"Unlike everyone else in your life, I don't work for you." Stephen said.
"And due to that fact, we're now in a flying doughnut, billions of miles from Earth, with no back-up." Tony spat out.
"I'm back-up!" Peter said.
"No. You're a stowaway. The adults are talking." Tony said.
"I'm confused as to the relationship here, I mean, what is he? Your ward?" Stephen asked.
"No. I'm Peter, by the way." Peter said.
"Doctor Strange." Stephen said.
"Oh, we're using our made-up names. I'm Spider-Man, then." Peter said.
Stephen rolled his eyes.
"The ship is self-correcting its course. Thing's on autopilot." Tony said.
"Can we control it? Fly us home?" Stephen asked walking towards him.
But Tony didn't reply.
"Stark?"
"Yeah?"
"Can you get us home?" Stephen repeated
"Yeah. Heard you. I'm not so sure we should. " Tony said.
"Under no circumstances can we bring the Time Stone to Thanos. I don't think you quite understand what's at stake here." Stephen said.
"No. It's you who doesn't understand that Thanos has been inside my head for six years since he sent an army to New York, and now he's back! And I don't know what to do. So I'm not so sure if it's a better plan to fight him on our turf or his. But you saw. What they did, what they can do. At least, let's hope he's not expecting it. So I say we take the fight to him, Doctor.
Do you concur?"
Tony asked standing face to face with the doctor. They were only inches away. Tony could see those beautiful blues clearer than before. But it's not the time to admire the wizard's beautiful eyes.
"All right, Stark. We go to him. But you have to understand... If it comes to saving you, the kid, or the Time Stone... I will not hesitate to let either of you die. I can't. Because the universe depends on it. " Stephen said.
"Nice. Good. Moral compass.
All right, kid...
You're an Avenger now." Tony said tapping Peter's shoulders.