Chapter 3
Gamora was the first to lower her knife. Loki wasn't so quick to let his guard down. Although even he had to admit, this 'Vision' did not seem to be much of a threat.
"Gamora." she introduced herself. "This is Loki."
Vision nodded at her, and then at Loki. Again, he seemed completely unconcerned by the fact that his knives were still out.
"Gamora and Loki." he said, "I am happy to meet you both."
Gamora stepped forward, her eyebrow raised, "You don't look very happy."
"Yes well... I am dead." Vision said, matter of factly, "It's not a happy thought."
The other two couldn't help but agree.
"So Thanos killed you too, huh." Gamora said going back to her sofa.
"He did," Vision nodded, "Well, he did the second time. It was much more painful than the first, I must admit. Which is strange, considering I didn't think I could feel pain. Not the physical sort, at least."
Loki and Gamora shared a glance over the strange man. ... Being... Whatever he was.
"Pardon my intrusion," Loki spoke up, still not having put away his knives, "But what are you, exactly?"
Vision looked down as he thought about it, "Rhodes calls me a robot," he said, "But I do not think he is correct. I'm certainly not human. Nor a god." his head tilted slightly to the side. He let out a small smile, "Wanda often calls me an angel." he said softly. He looked like he was about to continue, but whatever words he had to say afterwards stayed stuck in his throat. They were all once again enveloped in silence.
A look was shading over Vision's face. Defeat? Sadness? Grief?
Loki didn't know. He never much cared for the feelings of others. The fact that he was even pondering it now was strange as it is, and not for the first time, he wondered if death was making him soft.
He decided not to think on it too much. Whatever it was this Vision was feeling, it was making him look just pathetic enough for Loki to no longer see him as a threat, so he withdrew his knives, and sat back down.
Vision did not move or speak for another while, and Loki sighed. He shook his head at himself, and with a wave of his hand, he conjured up a chair, giving the red being a silent invitation to sit down.
Not that an invitation was necessary since Loki didn't own this... whatever this was.
How did they still not know what this was?
At the same time as Loki, Vision looked around at their surroundings, turning in a full circle, "Is this heaven?" he asked suddenly.
Loki couldn't help but let out a dark chuckle. he had heard of the human version of Valhalla, and he was quite positive that this was not it.
Gamora smiled at the thought. She too had heard about Heaven. Peter had mentioned it a few times. Nothing but happiness. All the time. It sounded wonderful.
"If this is heaven, I would feel cheated," she said, "And besides, with all the things I've done, I never thought that's were I'd end up after death."
"I'd have to agree with the green lady," Loki nodded, "Looks like you're the only Angle among us, son of Thor."
His tone had a mocking edge to it, but if Vision noticed, he didn't say.
"Oh no, I'm not really an Angel." he said, feeling the need to explain, "Wanda only said it as a term of endearment."
Loki blinked at him a few times. He fought back a sigh. How was he supposed to insult someone that didn't understand sarcasm?
At his side, Gamora couldn't help but smile, suddenly reminded of Drax, and subsequently, the rest of the Guardians. And of Peter... She shook the thought out of her head and concentrated on the conversation at hand.
"And there is no need to call me the son of Thor," Vision continued, "as I said, the idea of Thor being my father is nothing but mere speculation."
An idea suddenly occurred to Gamora, "Hang on, Loki, you are Thor's brother. And if Thor being Vision's father were to be something more than mere speculation, wouldn't that make you Vision's uncle?"
Loki's eyes widened, and Vision merely tilted his head, thinking about it. Loki looked from his furrowed eyebrows to Gamora's.
"No!" he said immediately, "I am not his uncle."
Gamora's smirked, going back to playing with her blade, "i kinda think you are."
Loki wanted to protest some more, but he knew that that would do him no good at the moment. So he turned his irritation back to the robot looking intently at him.
He huffed, "I went through all the trouble of making you a chair," he glared, "Are you going to sit down, or do you plan on just floating about for the rest of eternity?"
Vision blinked at that statement, and then he looked down. He was surprised when he saw that his feet were not touching to floor.
"I'm floating." he said, mostly to himself, "How odd."
Gamora raised an eyebrow at him, "Is that not something you do?"
"Oh, I float all the time," Vision clarified, "The ability to levitate above the ground is one of the various powers I possess. However..." he paused, "I assumed that with the Stone gone, my powers would be gone with it."
Gamora's fingers stopped, and her eyes flicked up.
"The Stone?" she asked.
"Yes," Vision nodded, "The stone."
He finally, lowered himself to the ground, and then sat down in the chair Loki had kindly provided. When it didn't seem like he was about to elaborate, Gamora sat up straight.
"What 'Stone', Vision."
He tilted his head at her, "They call it the Mind Stone," he said,and pointed to his forehead. For the first time, Gamora noticed that the gray spot on it was rather... a notch, one that looked like it was emptier than it was supposed to be, "The infinity Stone that Thanos ripped from my head."
Now, both Gamora and Loki were sitting straight up, looking at Vision with wide eyes. Vision only stared back.
"He has another Stone." Loki said lowly, "He... he has another Stone."
"Yes." Vision said forlornly.
"I thought the Avengers were supposed to defend the remaining stones," Gamora said through gritted teeth. She whipped to Loki, "You told me that the Avengers would defend them."
"The Avengers did." Vision told her. "We did everything we could. I did everything I could to protect the Stone in my possession." he looked down, taking a breath, "Even going as far as destroying it. I broke my Wanda's heart when I... when I had to beg her to kill me to keep Thanos from obtaining this Stone."
"And your Wanda failed." Loki snarled.
"She did not." Vision's eyes snapped to Loki's his expression showing the closest thing to anger since they had seen him, "She did not fail. She destroyed the stone. Destroying me along with it, and causing herself great pain in the process."
"Then how did Thanos get the Stone if it was destroyed?" Gamora tried her hardest not to shout, but her fear and frustration was beginning to show. And by Visions next statement, her fear proved justified.
"Thanos turned back time." he said. '"He brought me back to life and ripped the stone from my head."
Gamora was shaking her head as he said it, "That's impossible. That's... that's not possible. He can't just turn back time."
"He can." Loki spoke lowly, "He can if he had the Time Stone."
She was still shaking her head, "No. No, that's not possible. No. No."
"Gamora-"
"If he has the Mind Stone and the Time Stone that means... that means he's got them all. He's got them all and now..."
She sank back into the sofa, shaking her head, unable to continue.
"Now... what?" Vision asked her, "What will he do?"
Before Gamora could even attempt to answer, there was a sudden sound. And it didn't come from the three of them.
All heads snapped to the side where suddenly, as if out of nowhere, there lay a man.
He scrambled to his feet, pushing himself up, with an arm made of metal, head snapping around all the while, looking for something. Looking for someone.
He gasped at the emptiness.
"Steve?"