Chapter 5
Chapter 5
In a laboratory in the Avengers' compound, Scott had parked his van. He opened the back doors, unveiling the Quantum Tunnel. Professor Hulk stood in front of several panels, with Natasha at his side. Ant-Man was wearing a gray jumpsuit for the Quantum Realm trip.
Kara and Steve joined them.
"Breakers are set," announced the kryptonian.
"Emergency generators are on stand-by," Steve added.
"Good," Bruce said cheerfully, "Cause if we blow the grid, I don't wanna lose tiny here in the 1950's."
"Excuse me ?"exclaimed Scott, anxious.
"He's kidding," retorted Nat, taking it lightly.
"Very funny," Ant-Man replied, not amused.
Professor Hulk suddenly seemed embarrassed, and hastened to answer:
"It was bad joke."
Scott nodded, not convinced.
"You were kidding, right?" Kara reprimanded him in a low voice.
"Look, Kara, I know you've seen time travel to another Earth, but here we've never tested it. Either it's all a joke, or none of it is. (Then, he waved to Scott with a smile of encouragement.) We're good! Get your helmet on, Scott. I'm gonna send you back a week, let you walk around for an hour, then bring you back in 10 seconds. Makes sense?"
"Perfectly not confusing," Ant-Man replied after putting on the helmet.
"Good luck Scott," Steve encouraged as if he was greeting a proud soldier.
"Everything is going to be fine, Scott, we're here if there's a problem", added Kara.
"I do, Captain America, Kara…"
Then, he disappeared narrowing in the Quantum Tunnel of the van. Focused on his control panels, Bruce tapped his keyboard keys.
"On the count of three. 3… 2… 1… "
Then there was a return. But it was not Scott. Instead, it was a teenager wearing the combination of the Quantum Realm. Kara looked stunned.
"Uh, guys?"exclaimed the confused and disoriented teenager."This is doesn't feel right?"
"Bruce, what's going on?"Kara asked, shocked.
"What is this?" Steve added, taken aback.
But Professor Hulk was as confused as everyone else. He pressed several keys. Then the teenager disappeared… then an old man wearing the same suit appeared before them. The old man rubbed his back, moaning.
Bruce scrambled for the keys.
"Can you bring Scott back?"Kara asked, starting to panic.
"I'm working on it," Bruce replied.
Then the old man disappeared. When Scott reappeared, it was in the form of a baby floating in the suit.
"Oh Rao!"Kara exclaimed in amazement.
"It's a baby !"Steve stayed serious.
"It's Scott," Bruce said, as if it were natural.
"As a baby," repeated Captain America, a little annoyed.
"He'll grow," said Professor Hulk.
"Bruce, it's not funny, bring Scott back!"Kara retorted curtly.
"Kill the power, kill the power!"
Natasha hurried to the generators. She lowered the lever, and finally, Scott came back to them. He was himself, much to Kara's relief. Ant-Man seemed disoriented.
"Scott, are you okay?"asked the kryptonian anxiously.
"Someone peed my pants," he replied simply.
"Thanks to Rao," Kara said, relieved.
"But I don't know if it was "baby"me or me "old"me," continued Scott. "Or ... just me "me"."
Bruce raised his hands upward in a theatrical way.
"Travel time," he announced.
But nobody shared his enthusiasm. Steve and Kara shook their heads and walked away.
"What?"exclaimed the green colossus, "I see this as an absolute win."
"Scott was rejuvenated, then old and younger," Kara grumbled, peeved out of the lab. "It's just great!"
Steve and Kara went outside. Kryptonian was shot. If no one could make the travel time work properly, how would they be able to find the Infinity Stones in the past?
As she thought about her thoughts, a deafening noise broke the silence in the distance. Looking up, she saw an Audi R8 rush towards the entrance of the compound. The car stopped right in front of Steve. The window of the front door lowered and both could see Tony Stark watching them.
Seeing their heads annoyed, the billionaire get in their problem.
"Let me guess. He turned into a baby."
"Among other things, yes," Steve answered calmly."What are you doing here ?"
Ignoring Steve's question, Tony got out of his car and began to speak as if he were talking to a scientist.
"That's the EPR paradox. Instead of pushing Lang through time, you might've wound up pushing time through Lang. It's tricky. Dangerous. Somebody shoulda cautioned you against it."
"You did it," Steve nodded.
"Ah, did I," said Tony, pretending to be surprised. "Thank God, I'm here."
"Tony, what are you doing here?" Kara asked, puzzled.
The billionaire showed them a device that was stuck to his hand.
"A fully functioning Time-Space GPS. I want to make a difference, like you, Supergirl."
Eyes wide of surprise, Kara looked at Tony. Since she knew him, she'd never heard him call her Supergirl. Even though she had given up the name, she was touched by Tony's gesture.
Then he turned to Steve.
"I just want peace," he announced. "Turns out, resentment is corrosive, and I hate it."
"Me too," said the super-soldier.
Then he addressed Kara and Steve:
"You're right, we got a shot at getting these Stones, but I gotta tell you my priorities: Bring back what we lost? I hope, yes. Keep what I got? I have to, at all costs. And... maybe not die trying will be nice."
"Sounds like a deal," Steve said, holding out his hand.
Tony hugged her. Then he went to the trunk of his car, under the puzzled looks of the Kryptonian and the super-soldier. He opened and pulled out under a pile of rags, the shield of Captain America. Kara was amazed. It was the first time she saw it in real life. Steve had thrown it after he and Stark had had their differences following the dramas that the Accords of Sokovia had caused.
Steve hesitated to take it, but the billionaire insisted he take it back. He ends up placing his arm in the shield.
"Thank you Tony," he replied.
Kara left them alone alone, while she saw the Benatar land in the courtyard of the Avengers compound. She flew to the yard, and came to greet Nebula and Rocket coming down the ramp.
Scott, who was sitting on a bench eating a taco, seemed stunned by the view of the spacecraft.
"That's awesome," he exclaimed when Nebula came towards him.
Kara came to them.
"Scott, this is Nebula and Rocket. Rocket, Nebula, this is Scott Lang," she introduced them, as if they were all friends.
The bluish woman glanced at Scott, before turning to his headset:
"Rhodey, careful on re-entry. There's a idiot in the landing zone."
Kara grimaced as she spoke to Ant-Man:
"She isn't very sociable with everyone."
As Scott came to his senses, War Machine landed without warning just in front of him and Kara, knocking the entire taco down.
"Oh God!"exclaimed Scott.
"Hey Rhodey," Kara said, cheerful.
"What's up, regular sized man," said Iron Man's friend to Scott. (Then he turned to Kryptonian.) "Hey Kara."
And he went away. Professor Hulk came over to them, and handed one of his tacos to Scott, before boarding the Benatar.
Kara flew into the sky and flew over the green Norway countryside. Bruce and Rocket, who had landed the spacecraft in the area, were crossing the countryside in a utility car. They passed a sign labelled Welcome to New Asgard, please drive slowly. They stopped in a small town on a harbor. Bruce and Rocket got out of the car. Kara joined them, landing on the ground next to them. She looked at the Asgardians around her, living like humans on the harbor. Hard to believe that these people came from an old destroyed world. Kara had a lot of pain and pity for them, considering what they had gone through. First, the loss of Asgard, then Thanos… The Kryptonian, having witnessed the end of Asgard, was angry at having almost abandoned them after the defeat against Thanos.
"Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and whatnot."commented the raccoon aloud, looking around him.
"Rocket!" Kara exclaimed reproachfully.
"Have a little compassion, pal," Bruce reprimanded him. "First they've lost Asgard, then half the people. They're probably just happy to have a home."
"Poor people!" exclaimed the kryptonian, shot.
"You shouldn't have come," said a familiar voice.
Kara and Bruce saw Valkyrie, a former Asgardian warrior, become a mere fisherwoman. Kara had met her during the end of Asgard. And the warrior wasn't really enthusiastic to see them again.
"Hi Valkyrie!" the kryptonian threw her, giving her a friendly smile.
"Hi Blondie, it was a long time," replied the old warrior.
"Yeah, it's been a while. I'm very happy to see you."
"Valkyrie," Bruce said with a smile on his face."Great to see you, Angry Girl."
The warrior noticed Bruce's change of appearance and replied:
"I think I liked you better either of the other ways."
"This is Rocket," said the Green Giant, showing her the raccoon talking.
"How you doin'?" said the latter.
Valkyrie gave a brief look at Rocket, before turning to Bruce and Kara.
"He won't to see both of you."
"I guess Thor's not doing well," said Kryptonian.
"You've no idea, Blondie," Valkyrie explained. "We only see him once a month, when he comes for… (She showed them a huge pile of beer casks and other beers on the sidewalk.)… supplies."
Kara and Bruce winced.
"So he's not really well," Kara said.
"It's that bad," grins Bruce.
"Yeah," replied the old Asgardian warrior.
She pointed to the house where the Thunder God lodged, then Kara, Bruce, and Rocket headed for his home. Rocket knocked on the door. No answer.
"Thor! Thor!" called the kryptonian.
Still no answer. Rocket finally opened the door, and all three entered the house. On entering, all three smelled nauseating. Hard to believe that their friend Thor could live in such a dirty and dismal place.
"What's this stench?"cried Kara, pinching her nose.
"Something died in here," Rocket added.
"Hello? Thor?" Bruce called.
"Are you sure we weren't mistaken for a house?"asked Kryptonian, who had difficulty conceiving the fact that Thor could live in such a miserable hovel.
Then she recognized Thor's voice in a dismal room:
"Are you here about the cable? The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago, and the sports were all kind of fuzzy."
Kara saw her friend, and had a huge shock. Her jaw dropped. The man she saw in front of her no longer resembled the one she had met five years ago. He was shirtless and very unrecognizable. His long blond hair had pushed back, and he has definitely put on more than a couple of pounds since she saw him last. How could a God have become so?
Rao, tell me I'm not seeing this! We were completely mistaken house?!
Thor picked up a beer on a table and turned to the new arrivals. He seemed happy at their sight.
"My friends ! Oh My God! Hulk! Kara!"
Happy, he took Bruce and Kara in his arms. The kryptonian smiled at her, embarrassed and bewildered at what had become of her Asgardian friend.
"Hi Thor," she replied, shocked.
"It's nice to see you again," Thor said happily.
Then he caught sight of Rocket, and began to cuddle him, as if he were a small pet.
"Come here, you little rascal!"
"No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary," Rocket mumbled disengaging himself from his embrace.
"Hulk, Kara, you know my friends, Miek, Korg! Right?"
Kara then noticed the two aliens she had encountered during the battle of Asgard, Miek and Korg, sitting on a couch, playing a video game. The latter gave them courtesy greetings.
"Hi guys!" Korg wrapped them in a nice summer shirt.
Kara and Bruce greeted them jovially.
"Hello boys," the Kryptonian replied.
"Hey long time no see," answered Bruce.
Then, Korg spoke to them, without moving from the sofa.
"Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously.(And he resumed his Fortnite game, and he pointed to the screen.) Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again."
"Noobmaster," Thor exclaimed, as if he had a formidable enemy in front of him.
"Yeah, Noobmaster69."
The Asgardian went to his friend, took his headphones and spoke in the microphone in a threatening voice:
"Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I'm gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms then shove them up your butt! Oh, that's right. Yes, now go cry to your father, you little weasel!"
And he returned the headphones to Korg, who thanked him.
"Let me know if he bothers you again, okay," said Thor to his friend.
"Thank you very much. I will."
Popeyed, Kara looked at Thor. She couldn't believe what she was seeing. She no longer recognized the powerful God who had come to her Earth five years ago.
Then, Thor turned to Kara, Bruce, and Rocket again:
"What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things."
He used his Stormbreaker ax to open his beer and hastened to drink it.
"No thanks, we didn't come to drunk," retorted the kryptonian wanting to remain serious.
Hulk gently put his hand on Thor's shoulder, talking to him as a friend:
"You all right?"
"Yes, I'm fine! Why?" asked the Thunder God, still smiling."Don't I look all right?"
"Not really, no," Kara grimaced."I wouldn't want to be rude, but you don't look like the God I met years ago.
"You look like melted ice cream," Rocket added.
Thor just laughed, before continuing:
"So, what's up?"
"Thor, you can try to be serious, please," Kara insisted. "We need your help. There might be a chance we could fix everything."
But Thor didn't seem to care about what the Kryptonian told him:
"What, like the cable? (He roasts like an alcoholic.) Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks."
"Like Thanos," Kara and Bruce replied in chorus.
Thor stopped laughing and smiling like an idiot. He slowly put a hand on Hulk's shoulder and glared at his friends.
"Don't say that name!" he thundered.
Korg finally got up from the couch, took off his headphones and looked anxious.
"Um, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here." he murmured seriously.
Bruce gently put his hand on Thor's.
"Please take your hand off me. (And gently, he pushed her away.) Now, I know that... guy might scare you."
Thor resumed his alcoholic laugh.
"Why would I be? Why would, why would I be scared of that guy? I'm the one who killed that guy, remember?"
"I remember everything like it was yesterday," Kara snapped.
"Anyone else here killed that guy? Nope. Didn't think so. Korg, why don't you, tell everybody who chopped Thanos' big head off."
"Stormbreaker?" replied the stone alien, confused.
"Now, who's swingin' Stormbreaker?"replied the Thundering God, drinking his beer.
"Thor, look," Kara interjected gently. "You suffer, and I get it. You lost Asgard, and then half of your people. And I know first-hand that it's to lose one's world of origin. I remember how much you felt guilty when we lost five years ago. I suffered too, during those years. I lost all those my loved ones, I lost my identity, I lost my home… Now, I've nothing. I suffered as much as you. But there, we find out something that could change this world. And we want you to join us."
"I get it. You're in a rough spot, okay?" Bruce added. "You wanna know who helped me out of it?"
"I don't know," Thor replied, still drinking his beer. "Natasha?"
"It was you," said the green giant. "You helped me.
"And you can still help a lot of people if you joiny us," added Kara.
Thor stared out the window, sitting on an armchair, still sipping his beer.
"Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was ones that are left, anyway."
"Exactly, we can bring them back," Kryptonian insisted. "Asgard may never become the people he once was, but you can give him a future. A better life than this one. You've a responsibility to these people. You've to assume. It's your duty, Thor."
"Please shut up, Kara," said the Asgardian, opening a pack of m & ms. "I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and and saved. But I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?" (He addressed his two alien roommates.)
"Nah, all good here, mate!" Korg hastily replied.
"So, whatever it is that you're offering," said Thor again, "We're not into it, don't care, couldn't care less. Goodbye. "
"We need you, pal," replied Hulk.
But the Asgardian continued to shake his head, negatively.
"There's beer on the ship," Rocket added, arms crossed.
"What kind?" said the Asgardian, turning towards him.
Seeing Thor get drunk without listening to them, began to annoy Kara. Quick as lightning, she tore the beer out of Thor's hand and threw it against a wall with her super-strength, breaking it into pieces.
"That's enough now," she stammered angrily, looking at him with a threatening look."Thor Odinson and God of Thunder, you will listen to me. You want to get drunk and pity yourself like a poor kid? That's your problem. I don't care about your moods. You'll move your ass of this moldy chair, wash you because you stink beer, then you'll get dressed, take your ax and you'll follow us, whether you like it or not. Or else, I burn down this shabby shack with all your beers!"
Thor got up from his chair and glared at Kryptonian.
"Are you threatening me, Krypton's daughter? I can tear off your head with Stormbreaker!"
"Go ahead, try," Kara shot her with a defiant smile, clenching her fists."I would be curious to see what will happen! Are you still the God of Thunder or the God of Alcoholics and Depressives? Me, at least, I'm not fat!"
Everyone around them looked at them anxiously as Kara and Thor stared at each other, glaring at each other. Kara wasn't scared to face the Asgardian in hand-to-hand combat at all. She was determined to fight him.
Then, the Asgardian ends up capitulating.
"It's okay, I'm come."
And he went away.
"You have five minutes, hurry up!" she threw him.
Korg looked at Kara, as if he was afraid she was attacking him.
"Should ... we have to come with you, too?" he asked.
"No, you can stay," said Kryptonian dryly. "Stay here playing your stupid games."
And then she looked down at Rocket, who felt tiny in front of an angry kryptonian.
"And you, I forbid you to serve him beer in your ship, or I swear I burn your tail with my heat vision, got it?" she replied in a harsh voice.
"Yeah, Kryptonian," said Rocket, frightened, lowering himself before Kara.