Avengers: Infinity Quest

It was almost eight months since the death of Thanos. Avengers had gathered to their old headquarters. Tony, Natasha, Steve and Bruce, who seemed to be staying permanently in his Hulk body, had managed to get Thor, Carol, Rhodey, Nebula and Rocket to come listen their latest discovery. Scott was also there, being introduced for the first time for most of the group.

They explained in short terms of what they had learned from Scott and Wong. Tony and Bruce had since managed to build a device, using their own technology, Dr. Pym’s quantum tech and a few little things they had learned from Wakanda. The device was designed to trace the energy signature of the infinity stones.

“So, you’re saying that you can bring back the stones after all?” Rhodey asked.

“Well, it’s not quite that simple.” Banner answered.

“For what I learned from Wong about the stones, each of their essence is unique. So, we can’t just make a universal stone tracer. Each of them has to be traced separately.” Tony said.

“Not to mention that once you found them, there is the small matter of getting them back in the form we can use them in. Given any thought about that yet?” Rocket cut in.

“Yes, Captain Ruxpin. Thank you for reminding us.” Tony answered. “This is not all figure out plan yet. But we can keep looking into the further problems while we start looking for the stones themselves.”

“I know this sounds took promising to be true. And frankly, it’s completely possible that we end up not only disappointed but crashing and burning even worse than before.” Steve spoke. “But I believe that it is worth the risk. That we can’t just quit on those who we have lost. I say we try this, but if there is anyone who thinks that we must not, I’m ready to hear those arguments.”

Everybody stayed quiet. All of their faces showed determination. They had been given a second chance and none of them was about let it go waste. Steve turned to look Tony and Bruce.

“How do we proceed?”

“Well, first. We need to find something that has been in direct contact with the old stones. Something where we might get an energy trace.” Bruce said.

“Jane Foster.”

Everybody turned to look at Thor. The god thunder looked truly wore down. He had a sullen expression, heavy bags under his eyes and his hair and beard had started to grow out messy.

“Your ex-girlfriend?” Tony asked back.

Thor rose to his feeds.

“During my fight with dark elves a few years back, Jane Foster was temporary bonded with Aether, the liquid form of the reality stone. She is the only being currently alive that is known to wield it’s power.”

Tony and Bruce exchanged looks. This sounded more than promising.

“Well then, let’s hope Dr. Foster survived the snap.”

It turned out that both Jane Foster and Erik Selvig had survived but their former intern Darcy Lewis had vanished. Foster and Selvig had set up a laboratory in Maine. Thor, Tony, Bruce and Scott showed up to meet them. Thor had taken a little convincing to come, since after what he considered his greatest failure, he didn’t want to show up in front of those who had once trusted him the most. Now they were however all in the lab, explaining their situation to the two scientists.

“Incredible.” Dr. Selvig commented. “A subatomic micro-verse. Hank truly achieved something too incredible for science fiction.”

“Wait. You knew Hank Pym?” Scott asked.

“Yes. We studied together at one point. Back when Thor and Mjolnir first fell to Earth, I realized who SHIELD was because of what Hank had told me about them.”

“Okay, back to business. Dr. Foster, will you help us?”

“For what you have told, I assume you have some sort of scanning equipment, which will indicate if my body still contains traces of the reality stone. Can it be done here?”

“No, actually Dr. Foster…” Bruce began to explain. “This might be a time-consuming process that can’t be done all at once. We were hoping you and Dr. Selvig might relocate to the Avengers compound temporarily. Your expertise might be needed other ways too.”

“We would of course provide which ever lab equipment you require for your own research. And you can bring your materials from here too.” Tony continued.

Jane and Erik exchanged looks.

“Seeing the situation, we obviously agree. Besides the faculties you can provide will probably be an upgrade from this place.” Dr. Selvig spoke.

“But if we’re going to bring our own materials, there is something we have show you first.” Jane said.

“Thor.” Thor’s eyes went to Jane as she called his name. “You might want to have a look at this. It does kind of concerns you.”

They followed Jane to the lab’s test side. There in glass cabinet was displayed shattered pieces of a large metal hammer.

“Mjolnir?” Thor recognized the remaining of his old weapon.

“We discovered it in cliff-side on Norway. Our equipment had noticed an odd energy spike there and when we got there, only thing remaining was these pieces on the ground.” Dr. Selvig explained.

“The really interesting thing happened after we’ve had them in the lab for a while.” Jane clicked a screen and a video recording of the same lab started playing.

On the video you could hear voice of Foster and Selvig yelling, as pieces of Mjolnir were floating on the air with streaks of electricity sparking between pieces. Thor looked at video astonished.

“That happened not long after we collected the pieces.” Jane explained. “You have any idea what could’ve caused that?”

Thor took a breath. “Ragnarök. During the destruction of Asgard I learned to fully embrace and wield my power. My connection of Mjolnir must’ve still existed enough to cause a reverb.”

“Wait. Asgard has been destroyed?” Jane interrupted.

“Yes. I will tell about it to you later.”

“We should get going and you two should get packing.” Tony said. “We’ll send people and planes to help.”

“You know, Thor.” Erik Selvig addressed the god. “You want to have the pieces of the hammer? I mean they are technically yours and if they can still be some use…”

“No!”

Thor didn’t offer further explanation to his quick response. Instead he turned and walked out. On his way Tony could hear him mumble something about not needing the hammer anymore.

“Besides the Mjolnir is only for those worthy.”

*********************************************************Sanctum Sanctorum****************************************************************

Wong inspected the Book of Cagliostro in front to him. The time stone in the Eye of Agamotto had been in possession of Kamar-Taj for centuries, but Stephen Strange had been one the few people in history able use it’s power. While Strange had been naturally incredibly gifted in mystic arts, there had to be away to emulate his way of performing them now.

Wong looked at the pages that had once been missing form the book. Pages that Stephen Strange had returned with the time stone. He had to think like Strange. The man who had without a sight of fear rolled time both forward and backward against the laws of nature. The man who had defeated the greatest mystic threats of history by taking a piece of time and bringing it to a place beyond time itself.

Beyond time.

Wong looked at the ritual on the book in front of him. He recalled what he had thought earlier on Stephen Strange’s methods.

What if…

******************************************************A year and a half after the snap.****************************************

Steve and Rhodey stood on a quinjet, watching the African landscape fold below them. Their attempt to find the remaining essence of infinity stones had hit more roadblocks than they wanted to admit. But Tony and Bruce had still remained optimistic. Tony had since pointed out that if they wanted to utilize all resource, reaching out to Wakanda should be priority. While Tony was no shy about his own genius, he was not too proud to recognize that Wakanda held some of the world’s most advanced and unique technology.

Rhodey and Steve had been to Wakanda before, so they had now volunteered to make the visit. Usually Tony would’ve jumped the gun to get firsthand glimpse to Wakanda’s vibranium technology, but he was now far more pre-occupied back at home. Pepper had given birth to their child. A beautiful daughter named Morgan Stark. Tony had since taken decided to take a part time paternity leave and made a home for his family into a lakeside cabin.

As they landed on Wakandan capital, a delegation lead by the Queen Mother Ramonda was waiting to greet them. They escorted to meet the council of chiefs to explain their business. Their story of what had happened after the snap, death of Thanos, destruction of stones and return of Scott Land with a spark of hope, was met with mix reaction from the chiefs. Some expressed optimism while others seemed skeptical. Steve understood them. Over year after the tragedy two foreigners show up with stories of miracle solution that seems too good to be true. Chief M’Baku, who acted as a spoke person for the council, rose to stand and spoke.

“You come here telling beautiful stories. But I haven’t yet heard why are here in Wakanda at all. What do you want from us?”

“We were hoping to get your help.” Rhodey answered. “Wakanda has maybe the most advanced resources in the planet. If there is a chance, you could help us achieve it.”

This cost some visible uneasiness among chiefs. There it was. The attempt to get Wakanda to share its knowledge with the outside world. This was still a controversial topic among the tribes.

The oldest chief in the room turned to look at Steve and Rhodey.

“Tell us about these mystic stones. They sound like something only gods could have. Our religion holds high regard for one’s soul. What does this soul stone do then?”

“Each stone controls a different aspect of the reality itself.” Steve answered. “For what we have learned from ancient texts, the soul stone either contains or is pathway to a something called the soul realm. A metaphysical place were only our souls can enter.”

Now this got a reaction from Wakandans. M’Baku and queen Ramonda exchanged looks while the council members also glanced one another. Their reaction didn’t go unnoticed by the two avengers either.

“This means something to you?”

Queen Mother Ramonda was the one to answer.

“We have something like that as a part of Wakanda’s culture. Something each ruler must face in order to take throne.”

Steve and Rhodey were a bit confused by this but still, it seemed like the common ground might’ve been found.

“Is that perhaps something you can help us with?”

“We need to think this first.” M’Baku spoke. “You have come here to ask help and acted with respect. Now please, wait for us to think everything that has been said today. The meeting is adjourned.”

Everyone started to leave the room by this. Only the Queen Mother and M’Baku remained after everyone else had cleared out. Ramonda turned to look at M’Baku.

“Do you think these people could actually be on to something?”

“It seems possible.” M’Baku answered. “Certainly, a worth of an effort to try.”

“Does that mean that you are finally willing to do it? Submit to the king’s ritual.”

M’Baku looked the queen straight into the eyes.

“These people, whether actually likely so succeed or not, come here with an honest attempt to bring back everything that was lost. Our people and our true king. If I am to be a ruler dedicated to my people, as a good king should be, it is my duty to try to fix the great tragedy that occurred. And if I am an honorable man, like I have tried to be, it is my duty to try to bring back the man I see as my true and rightful king. For not doing it would truly make me a usurper.”

M’Baku stood up. “Prepare the ritual. Whether or not these outsiders’ plans work or not, Wakanda shall have a king again.”

***********************************************Former SHIELD base. A month later.*************************************************

Natasha staired at the reports in front of her. There had been new reports on violent attacks against criminal organizations. She recognized the patterns. There was no doubt who was behind these attacks.

Why, Clint? Why go to this path? You still had friends left in the world. People who care about you, whom you use to care about too.

The recent case report came from south of the border. Clint was going global on his murder spree. Natasha knew that she had to follow him. She knew what Clint was capable of. She also knew Clint’s mind. For him to be doing something like this without even trying to cover his tracks, that meant he thought there was nothing for him left to lose. Nothing to lose, nothing to fear for.

Anyone with that mind set was dangerous, and given Clint's background as a soldier and assassin, he had to be stopped while there was still a change to bring him back from the darkness.