Chapter 8
Chapter 8
All the superheroes were gathered around a table surrounded by holograms designating the Infinity Stones. Tony, Steve and Bruce paced, while Kara, Oliver, Diggle, Rhodes, Nat, Scott and Rocket were seated.
All planned their mission.
"So the "how" works." explained Steve. "Now we gotta figure out the when and the where. Almost all of us has had an encounter with at least one of the six Infinity Stones."
"Well I'd substitute the word encounter for damn well near been killed by one of the six infinity stones."Tony added.
"I haven't," Scott retorted. "I don't even know what the hell you're all talking about."
"We have to find in the past the six Infinity Stones that are certainly scattered across the Universe," Kara added.
"Your Universe, guys," Oliver said. "Kara, John and I are not from this Earth, so it's up to you to think where to find them."
"Regardless," Bruce explained quietly."We only have enough Pym Particles for one round trip each, and these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history."
"Our history," Tony corrected. "So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in."
"Which means we have to pick our targets." Clint added, standing against a wall.
"Correct," said the billionaire.
"We should focus on those we don't know," Diggle added.
"I agree," Steve nodded. "Let's start with the Aether. Thor, what do you know?"
Everyone looked at the God of Thunder who sat on a chair with dark glasses and stood still, without answering. He was almost said to be sleeping.
"Is he asleep?"exclaimed Natasha.
"No, I'm pretty sure he's dead," Rhodey replied.
"Seriously?" exclaimed Kara, beside herself.
She got up and walked to Thor, using his super-breath to knock him down, waking the Asgardian.
"Come on, wakey, wakey! Rise and shine, sleepyheads!"
Thor, half conscious, got up painfully.
"What's the matter?" replied he.
"Aether! The Reality Stone! What do you know?" exclaimed Kara, beside herself.
Thor walked to the hologram showing the Stone of Reality. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes, he seemed completely lost.
"Where to start? Umm… The Aether, first, is not a Stone, someone called it a Stone before. It's more of a… and angry sludge thing, so… someones gonna need to amend that. Here's an interesting story though, many years ago… My grandfather had to hide the stones from the Dark Elves… (He wiggles his fingers to imitate a frightening ghost to the dismay of all.) Scary beings. So Jane, (The hologram showed the image of a woman named Jane Foster.) Oh, there she is. That's Jane… She's… an old flame of mine… She… she stuck her hand inside a rock this one time… and then the Aether stuck itself inside her… And, she became very, very sick. So I had to take her to Asgard, which is where I'm from. And we had to try and fix her. We were dating at the time, you see. I got to introduce her to my Mother… who's dead, (He suddenly looked sad) and oh you know, Jane and I aren't even dating anymore, these things happen though you know, nothing last forever, (Tony tried to push him gently, but Thor stayed where he was.) the only thing permanent in life is impermanence."
Kara joined Thor, talking to him like a child:
"Right, Thor, we got this. It's okay, you can go back to sleep, honey. I'll wake you up when we need you. Okay?"
"Fine", said the Asgardian, all happy.
Exasperated, Kara joined Oliver and Diggle who watched Thor, staring in amazement.
"This dude* is really a God?" retorted Oliver, stunned.
"Was a God," said the excited Kryptonian.
"What happened to him?" asked the archer from Earth – 1.
"He suffered like all of us."
"I should have taken him with us to Star City," Diggle replied.
Later, the Avengers ate at the table, while Rocket paced the table in front of everyone, talking to them about the Power Stone.
"Quill said he stole the Power Stone from Morag.
"Is that a person?" asked Bruce.
"Morag's a planet," said the raccoon as if surrounded by idiots."Quill was a person."
"Like Peter Quill and Star-Lord," said Oliver, who had not forgotten the Guardian of the Galaxy he met during the battle with Thanos.
"Correct, at least someone smart here," Rocket replied.
"A planet? Like in outer space?" exclaimed Scott.
Rocket began talking to Ant-Man, as if he were talking to a puppy, stroking his hair:
"Oh, look. It's like a little puppy, all happy and everything. Do you wanna go to space? You wanna go to space, puppy? I'll get you to space."
"Rocket, that's enough," Kara replied firmly.
"This guy… Lang is really not a genius," Oliver grumbled.
And even later, Nebula told them about the Soul Stone.
"Thanos found the Soul Stone on Vormir."
"What is Vormir?" Nat asked, taking notes.
"A dominion of death," Nebula replied darkly. "At the very center of Celestial existence. It's where… Thanos murdered my sister."
There was a great silence. Nat picked up her notes, while Scott tried to break that uncomfortable moment.
"No it."
"So we have three Stones within our reach. We're missing three more, "Diggle replied.
"We miss the Time Stone," Oliver said.
"The Mind Stone and Space Stone, which is also called Tesseract," added Kara.
"No need to go into space to find those Stones," Oliver said.
"An easy mission for the Avengers," said John.
Shortly after, Tony, Bruce and Nat were pondering where to find the missing Stones lying on a table.
"That Time Stone guy…" Natasha said.
"Doctor Strange?" Bruce asked.
"What kind of doctor was he?"
"Neurostuff meets rabbit from a hat." Tony said, remembering the magician of the mystic arts.
"Nice place in the village, though," Professor Hulk added, wiping his glasses.
"Yeah, Sullivan Street?" Tony asked.
"No, Bleecker Street," said the green giant.
"He lived in New York?" exclaimed Black Widow."Guys, if you pick the right year, there are three Stones in New York."
Tony and Bruce looked at Natasha and came to the same conclusion. 2012 was the year when New York had suffered a terrible alien attack, forcing the Avengers to reveal themselves to the world.
In 2012, there were three Infinity Stones in New York: the Space Stone, (being the Tesseract), the Mind Stone (at that time part of Loki's Scepter) and the Time Stone.
So everyone had planned the plan. The hologram now revealed the Stones of Infinity, distributed in all eras. 2012: The Space, Spirit and Time Stone, 2013 : The Reality Stone and 2014: The Power and Soul Stone.
"All right," Captain America announced."We have a plan. Six Stones. Three teams. One shot."
Kara nodded.
"And this is gonna work, Cap."
Later, Kara returned to her room. She took a suitcase from under her shelf, undid the clasps, and opened the briefcase.
With emotion and wonder, she find out her old Supergirl suit, which she'd not worn for five years. Since she came to live on the Avengers' Earth. Now that today, they had a new chance to change the Universe, it was time for Supergirl to come back.
She removed the clip from her hair, letting it fall on her shoulders. Then took her outfit in her hands, and a flash, she changed at full speed. Wearing her cape, her skirt and her red boots, Kara took a few steps with her Supergirl costume in front of a mirror. She looked at the Kryptonian symbol on the blue of her outfit. The coat of arms of his family that represented hope. And there, a hope had just appeared.
She was surprised that her suit was still fine, despite being in a suitcase for five years. Supergirl was back, and Kryptonian was going to do everything to make it last.
She looked at the photo of her and Alex, then the mask of Flash on a base. She remained pensive for a moment, and spoke to them as if they were there:
"We'll bring you back! I promise you! And if we fail again… then it will be really the last time I wear this suit."
"This suit fits you really well," said a voice behind her.
Supergirl turned around and saw Nat in front of her room.
"We're ready to go. It's nice to see this outfit again. It's time for Supergirl to come back."
"I hope so, Nat. I hope we will bring everyone back to normal life."
"Whatever Universe you come from, you are, and you will always be Supergirl for me," Nat replied with a smile on his face." You are a hero. You are someone better. For five years, despite the state of our world, I've been trying to stay better. Whatever the outcome of our plan, always keep that hope in you, Kara. You're someone extraordinary. Don't let Thanos destroy that."
Supergirl smiled and put a hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"Thank you for being a friend to me, and even more. I know you're not Alex but… for me, you're like a new sister, Nat. You're better, and you will always be better."
"You too, Supergirl," Nat replied with a smile.
Finally, superheroes now wore combinations to go to the Quantum Realm. Even Rocket and Professor Hulk had combinations to their sizes. Supergirl and Oliver looked at the "A" on their combinations. They didn't consider themselves Avengers, but none of them cared.
Determined, Supergirl walked past Steve and Tony. All were on their way to the platform that led to the portal of the Quantum Realm. John Diggle had stayed behind. He had fought well enough on Star City. For him, it was time for Oliver Queen to return to Green Arrow.
Once everyone gathered on the platform, they all extended their arms to each other.
Steve made his speech to the whole team:
"Five years ago, we lost. All of us. We lost friends…We lost family… We lost a part of ourselves. Today, we have a chance to take it all back. You know your teams, you know your missions. Get the stones, get them back. One round trip each. No mistakes. No do-overs. Most of us are going somewhere we know. But it doesn't mean we should know what to expect. Be careful. Look out for each other. This is the fight of our lives. And we're gonna win. Whatever it takes."
"Whatever it takes," Supergirl said, shaking her head determinedly.
"Very nice speech, Captain," Oliver said, shaking his head.
"Good luck," Captain America finished shaking his head.
"He's pretty good at that," Rocket commented.
"Right," Scott said, excited.
"All right. You heard the man. Stroke those keys, jolly green." Tony instructed Professor Hulk.
Bruce made some adjustments, and joined the group.
"Tractors engaged," he announced.
Clint looked at the miniature form of Benatar.
"You promise to bring that back in one piece, right?" Rocket said to the Avenger archer.
"Yeah, okay. I'll do my best."
"As promises go, that was pretty lame."
Outside the platform, John gave them a determined nod.
"Good luck."
Then the fateful hour arrived…
"See you in a minute," Nat said with enthusiasm.
The platform began to open. Visor helmets sprang up on every combination of heroes. Then, all narrowed and entered the Quantum Realm. They traveled together in the microscopic universe, then separated in different places at a different time in the past. Supergirl stayed close to Captain America, Iron Man, Ant-Man and Professor Hulk, while Oliver stayed close to Nebula, War Machine, Hawkeye and Black Widow.