Prologue
Avengers: Reforged Prologue
Earth- 199 621, 2018
Infinity War and Endgame spoilers ahead
Invaded Statesman
Thor, Loki and the dying Heimdall lay amongst the dead and dying Aesir bodies as Thanos and his four Children stood over them, Ebony Maw reciting a preaching speech that sounded well-rehearsed and practised to perfection. Thanos was standing near a large window looking over the destroyed Aesir refugee ship with well-disguised pride hidden under a grim scowl, Thor lying in defeat at his feet.
The monster leaned down and grabbed Thor's collar before turning to Loki. He began speaking as Ebony Maw finished. "I know what it's like to lose," He ominously began, dragging Thor across the floor. His titanic footsteps shook the very ship with his unprecedented prodigious power.
"To feel so desperately that you're right... yet to fail nonetheless. It's frightening, turns the legs to jelly," Loki knew that not only was the fearsome Titan speaking of his own personal failures but also Loki’s own back in New York six years ago. It made Loki's blood run cold as Thanos tightened his grip on Thor.
"But I ask you, to what end?" He asked powerfully, looking Loki directly in the eyes. The God of Mischief knew he stood no chance in fight nor escape. He couldn't leave Thor as he was, but he definitely could not overpower Thanos. He allowed him to continue, as it was his only card that didn't translate into suicide. "Dread it. Run from it. Destiny arrives all the same, and now it's here. Or should I say…"
The giant sneered as he tilted the left side of his body towards his Black Order and raised the same fist. His hand was covered with a shiny, golden metal glove. It was finely crafted and shaped with ornate Aesir patterns, but the most eye-catching features were the six smooth, round convex points at the bottom of each finger, one on a thick, multi-layered thumb-guard and the largest one in the center of the back of the palm, with wing-like decorations spreading from the large socket. The weapon was called 'The Infinity Gauntlet'. It was the only known vessel capable of safely wielding the six omnipotent Infinity Stones, forged from the nigh-indestructible metal Uru from the Aesir forge of Nidavellier.
In fact, the socket of the index finger in the Gauntlet was already loaded with the destructive, violet Power Stone. As Thanos curled his fist in, the Stone began humming and glowing with ominous, droning and foreboding tension. As the Stone's essence emanated, Thanos smiled and finished with,
"I am."
Thor coughed up a small amount of blood, before snarkily but weakly spitting, "You talk too much," Loki smiled slightly at Thor's comment as he ran as tongue along the back of the teeth. Thanos lifted Thor to his knees before bringing the Power Stone to his temple.
"The Tesseract, or your brother's head. I assume you have a preference?" He asked cleverly. Loki smirked before responding, "Oh, I do. Kill away!" He spat callously. Thanos' face flashed with surprise at the god's bitter command but he followed through with his promise. He put the Stone to Thor's head promisingly and vehemently tightened his fist. Like a closed circuit the Stone’s power began to flow as Thor shouted in pain, glowing purple veins surging through his head. Loki quickly began losing his cool composure as his brother roared, which was quickly halted when Loki desperately yet commandingly shouted, "All right, stop!"
As Thor recovered his breath, he hoarsely commented to Thanos, "We don't have the Tesseract, it was destroyed on Asgard!" Loki looked to Thor guiltily before looking to the floor and raising his right hand. In his up-facing palm, the Tesseract slowly began appearing. As it did, Thor sighed, "You really are the worst, brother,"
Loki began moving towards Thanos as if he were to gift him the Tesseract. As he stepped under the careful eye of the Titan as well as all four of the Black Order he assured Thor, "I assure you brother, the sun will shine on us again,"
Thanos chuckled darkly before callously commenting, "Your faith is misplaced, Asgardian," Loki stopped and smiled before replying, "For one thing… It's pronounced 'Aesir', and for another…" He smiled darkly, as did Thor.
"We have a Hulk." Thanos recoiled somewhat from surprise when The Incredible Hulk charged at him and threw the monster into a wall before roaring deafeningly. Thor shakily sat up with his brother's help as Hulk beat on Thanos. Loki then whispered, “I’m going to distract them all, that’s when you escape-”
"No, we can't leave Hulk," Loki gave him an odd look, before his look shifted to understanding. His brother had connected with the beast back on Sakaar, and Loki realized that since 2012 he had developed not only a very slight fondness for Hulk, he had obtained a very significant sense of admiration for him. The Hulk had also saved all their lives from Hela's brutal wolf, Fenris, and for that Loki owed the monster a heavy debt.
The two brothers watched as Hulk pinned Thanos to a wall after he got a few good hits in. The Mad Titan sneered before grabbing Hulk's arms and prying them off his shoulders, though with much resistance. He punched Hulk in the jaw with a mighty crack, before punching the monster twice in the abdomen in quick succession. He uppercut him before he grabbed the back of Hulk’s jade neck and cracked his knee into the Hulk’s jaw. Hulk attempted to counterattack but Thanos dodged and punched him in the side.
Thanos then grabbed the Hulk’s arm and picked him up with a mighty roar. Finally, he slammed the beast into the metal floor, embedding him a few inches down. Hulk twitched feebly but was out cold. Thor and Loki looked on in sheer disbelief as Thanos stood above what they once believed was an invincible, undefeatable, godlike being, and that being- the Hulk, an adversary who had beaten everything easily; Loki, Ultron, Thor himself- was struck down and knocked out in less than twenty-five seconds.
From Heimdall’s place, they heard him whisper, “Allfathers… Let the dark magic, flow through me… One last… time…” In response to Hulk's loss. A few seconds afterward, a slight rumble began to affect the Statesman . Suddenly, the rainbow light of the Bifrost began rushing through the ship. The light rushed towards the fainted Hulk. Loki, however, joined him with Thor in tow. Ebony Maw used his powers and grabbed Thor from Loki's grasp. The force of the stop made the Tesseract clatter from Loki's other hand.
"Thor-" Loki's cry was cut off as he was taken by the beam before it faded. Thor was suddenly pulled to his knees and wrapped in metal wreckage and was forced to watch helplessly as Thanos approached Heimdall.
"That was a mistake," He commented darkly before he took a glaive from one of his other Children. He lifted the weapon- blade pointed to Heimdall- almost tauntingly, before forcing the weapon down and stabbing Bifrost Guardian in the heart remorselessly. He smiled, and in a sickening show of power, he twisted the weapon in Heimdall's heart before ripping the glaive out. He handed it back to his Child, Thor shouting in desperate rebuttal and sadness as Heimdall died.
"You're going to die... For that!" The God promised despondently. Thanos scoffed through his nose in response as Ebony Maw moved more metal rubble over Thor's mouth and shushed him with a finger. The Tesseract began floating until it reached the palm of Thanos' most loyal Child. Thanos returned to Ebony Maw as the flat-faced being fell to a knee and held up the Tesseract he had reobtained.
"My humble personage… bows before you grandeur. No other being has had the might- nay, the nobility- to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones. The universe lies within your grasp," As he spoke, Thanos removed his gigantic armour. First, he dropped his huge helmet, then he shrugged off his heavy shoulder guards, and then his massive arm plates until only the Gauntlet was left. He then carefully grasped the Tesseract. He held it as if admiring the glowing blue cube before crushing it easily. A small ripple of energy shot out as the cube disintegrated. What was left was dust and fractals around a blue, glowing stone. The Titan blew away the particles and fingered away the shards of glass before carefully placing the Space Stone within the middle finger socket of The Infinity Gauntlet. He sighed deeply as the power entered him, his admittedly incredible muscles tensing with strength. Now, his glove glowed with a purple and blue hue as the monster closed his fist. Now four spots remained for the other stones, but Thor knew that the Avengers on Earth could at least defend their two if Thanos got hold of the others.
"There are two more stones on Earth, my children. Find them and bring them to me on Titan," He commanded. The four beings bowed before Thanos as Proxima Midnight- a horrifying female alien with twisted black horns and mask-like scales on her face- replied humbly with a monotonous, droning voice,
"We will not fail you, Father," Thanos sneered to the immobile God Of Thunder before he promised,
"I will find your brother, and he will pay for his failure," With that, Thanos sent tsunamis of purple flame through what remained of the Statesman as he closed his fist. The scent of flaming flesh singed the air and brutally seared Thor's nose as Thanos activated the Space Stone, opening a black portal rimmed by blue, sparking clouds. The wormhole enveloped the five beings before closing quickly as explosions tinted violet ripped through the ship. Silently, Thor promised revenge on the purple-skinned murderer.
Sanctum Sanctorum
Doctor Stephen Strange walked through the Sanctum Sanctorum in unusually casual clothes- a grey hoodie, jeans and running shoes- alongside the red-cloaked Wong. He was about to leave for some food for the both of them.
"Seriously? You don't have any money?" He asked in mild shock. Wong stepped down the steps alongside the Sorcerer Supreme. "Attachment to the material is detachment from the spiritual," He replied mystically, which Strange scoffed at before replying, "I'll tell the guys at the deli. Maybe they'll make you a metaphysical ham-on-rye," He joked. Wong gasped quietly, "Oh, wait wait wait. I think I have two hundred," He corrected, reaching into a pouch on his black leather belt.
"Dollars?" Strange asked wryly. "Rupees," Wong replied. "Which is?" Strange asked quickly. It took Wong a quick moment, but he replied, "Uh, buck and a half," Strange sighed before asking, "What do you want?" Wong rubbed his hands together as he reached the bottom of the stairs. "Well, I wouldn't say no to a tuna melt-" His sentence was cut off by a large object crashing through the glass dome of the Sanctum. Strange's loyal cloak quickly swirled to his back as his everyday clothes mystically formed into his sorcerer garb. Both wizards ignited orange spinning shields, ready to attack whatever just crashed through their ceiling and destroyed their staircase.
As they peered into the hole, they spotted the Hulk- who was midway through transforming into Bruce Banner- and Loki Odinson both whispering,
"Thanos is coming,"
"Who?" Strange asked in confusion.
"Thanos." Loki replied as he looked to Strange, fear set in his eyes.
Wakanda
As the Titan entered from the blue and black portal he first saw Bruce Banner leap at him in the one-armed Hulkbuster. He simply raised his fist and activated the Space Stone. He then willed it to spread out his molecules so Banner passed right through the Titan. Thanos kept him in his ghost-like state until he was embedded within the stone wall behind the fading portal.
Thanos turned back to see Bucky Barnes, Falcon and War Machine shooting at him. The bullets only hopelessly bounced off of his clothes and skin with small ripples. He closed his fist with a shake of his head, closing the circuits of the Reality and Space Stones. The Falcon's wings were wrapped into themselves in red ribbons, turning to flimsy, thin rubber. He fell out of the sky as Rhodey's suit was throttled by blue waves. Sparks were thrown from the grey armour before his damaged exoskeleton was loosely tossed onto a rotten fallen log, crumbling like burnt paper.
Bucky dashed at the Mad Titan firing his machine gun in fury. Thanos scoffed as he threw a heavy wave of energy at the super-human with the Power Stone, throwing him to the ground. He buried Natasha under mossy rocks and trapped Groot under another. Rocket foolishly attempted to tackle him for revenge but was punched to the ground with Thanos' bare right hand. Steve Rogers slid under his fist and the black, diamond-shaped Wakandan shield attached to his right hand retracted into itself as he punched the Titan's gut. The surface was tough and unflinching, almost like punching a brick wall with blankets over it. It was resistant, but not painfully so. Steve then followed his first strike with a shield-handed left uppercut. Thanos recoiled from the hit, but only slightly. The purple giant attempted to counter-attack with an unpowered Gauntlet punch, only for Steve to catch it and hold it open.
Thanos stared in plain and honest disbelief and shock, legitimately impressed as a human held the Gauntlet steady. The Captain roared as he held the glove back, his arms bulging with strength and shivering with pressure. The moment was brutally cut short as Thanos punched Rogers out cold with a right-handed strike. He looked up to see Okoye, Black Panther, Shuri and Loki storming him
As Wanda Maximoff watched her team- her family, the only family she had ever known since Pietro had died three years ago- get pitifully ripped apart by this monster, she felt Vision's hand return to her arm in desperation. She turned back quickly, tears beginning to sting the corners of her eyes and blur the bottom of her eyesight as Vision's blue-steel mechanical eyes looked into her own wide, brown, wet orbs. He slowly raised her right hand to the amber gem in his forehead while he whispered,
"Wanda, it's time," She shook her head as larger tears built up in her eyes, threatening to fall upon her beautiful pale face. She shook her head vehemently, her lips quivering and despondently attempting to contain her cries, failing depressingly quickly as her breathy, quiet sobs slowly left her luscious pink soft lips. Vision nodded noiselessly as Wanda's scarlet energy moved from her shaking fingertips. The energy trickled along before it delicately caressed and embraced Vision's Stone, causing him to sigh contentedly yet with surprise in such a manner it was almost esoteric for only Wanda's own ears. She began crying more throatily when she brought her left hand up, now two beams of her red mental projections wrapping the Mind Stone and tossing soft crimson blades from the two main beams.
When Thanos threw Wakanda's King into a boulder and punched Loki into a tree with much more force than was necessary to incapacitate him, Wanda turned back to see him now approaching her slowly. She put all of her desperate energy into Vision, his breath increasing in frequency as the essence of his lover embraced the deepest elements of his artificial existence. Thanos had now gotten too close for her liking.
She began forcefully reutilizing the energy of her left hand towards him as he created a protective shield from the Power and Space Stones. He was pushed back from the unrelenting force of Wanda's flaming effort, but as he pushed against her scarlet beams he began to advance slowly, much to her panic. She turned back to her android lover, her tears now viciously running down her face as Wanda painfully put all of her power into breaking his mind. Seeing Vision sit in such complacency and tranquillity as he was being destroyed made Wanda want to stop the universe and bring them both back to their hotel in Edinburgh, climb back into bed and stray into a shared dream of peace and unpreturbitity, where they would live together somewhere deep within a mountain cabin and have only each other to supplant themselves.
But it then that Wanda was brought back to the painful, heartbreaking reality that was forcing her to end the man she loved by a lowly whimper. Over the hum of her power, the bleak crackling of the Stones and her own depressing sobbing Vision whispered,
"I love you, Wanda…" That was all the push that Wanda needed to cause the Stone to crack bluntly. It cracked again and again before golden shards flew out of the robot's forehead and an explosion enveloped his body. It sent Wanda back several meters, severing her resistance against the monster Thanos. She ended up at his feet, crying wholeheartedly. Thanos slowly reached down and kneeled in front of Wanda, putting his right hand gently onto her head and stroking her chestnut hair lightly. She looked up in venomous hatred. He grimaced at her expression before standing again. He raised the Gauntlet and closed his fist slowly. The Time Stone resting on a thumb plate began glowing as emerald-green latticework glowed around the glove. He turned his arm, and the explosion that had ruptured from the android began reversing. Wanda watched in sheer and utter defeat as her lover reformed.
Thanos wasted no time grabbing Vision by the neck with his left hand and ruthlessly ripping out the Stone with his bare right. The body in Thanos' giant hand went colourless and limp before he tossed it carelessly to the witch behind him. He carefully placed the amber gem within the largest socket of his Gauntlet. With that, he had obtained them all- Power, Space, Reality, Soul, Time and Mind. The power caused Thanos the thrust his chest to the sky as he roared. Electricity of all six colours surged up his arm, burning his flesh ever so lightly. Slowly, the sparks dissipated until he was left to admire his work. That was...
Until a gigantic thunderbolt hit him and sent him skidding back. Thor emerged from the source, his eyes glowing vindictively as he threw his beautiful axe towards his adversary. Thanos powerfully aimed the Gauntlet towards the twirling weapon, but the powerful beam only created a rainbow flare as Stormbreaker soared towards him. The weapon became closer and closer without slowing down. It nearly made contact with the Gauntlet before-
Crack.
Thanos fell to a knee with a brief, white flash of light as Thor’s new weapon stuck out of his heart. Thor landed in front of the handle as Loki came up beside him, bloody and bruised. Thor pushed the blade further into Thanos’ chest and Loki vengefully plunged a thin, small, silver, ornate dagger into Thanos’ large, veiny neck, being sure to avoid anything critical to ensure the monster suffered, even when he was so close.
“I told you, you would die for that,” Thor whispered venomously, twisting Stormbreaker from within the wound. Thanos cried out and toppled weakly. After a moment of ragged breathing, he rested his right hand on Thor's chest and whispered threateningly,
“You shou… You should have…” The two Aesir brothers laughed as the Titan struggled to speak. They looked him in the eyes callously when he managed to look up in anger. As Loki twisted his small dagger in its wound he brutally gripped Thanos' thick jaw in his thin hand and brought the monster's ear to his mouth as he vehemently whispered, "You will never be… A God," He released Thanos' head, allowing Thor to stare into Thano's eyes with a fiery hatred.
“You should have…" Thanos continued to struggle until his brow slowly furrowed, his nose wrinkled and his entire face contorted in rage and determination.
"You should have gone for the head.” Thor and Loki’s faces morphed in confusion until Thanos raised his gauntlet slowly, his fingers ready to snap. Thor reached out and yelled “NO!” As Thanos slammed his middle finger across his thumb and into his palm within a blink. A white flash emerged from the six orbs, blanketing Wakanda briefly in crystalline silence.
"What'd you do?" Thor shouted when the light lifted, the Gauntlet smoking and melted, the Stones dully sitting in their destroyed sockets. As Thanos looked to his scarred arm confusedly Thor yelled again, “What’d you do!” Thanos shook his head slightly before bringing up his fist and pulling himself back through a black-cloud-rimmed blue portal and disappeared. Loki’s small dagger and Thor’s weapon clattered to the ground, the blades wet with Thanos’ fresh red-violet blood. Loki swallowed before staggering.
Loki coughed lightly. “Brother?” Thor looked to Loki before he toppled into his arms. Loki stuttered with fear as his fingers began to evaporate in grey dust. Loki looked to his stronger brother in fear. “Thor, what’s happening? Thor, help me…” Loki was grabbing desperately at Thor’s arms. “Thor, please… I’m sorry… For everything...” His speech was slowly cut off as the rest of him evaporated into dust with a lime green puff of light. Thor stayed on his knees and stared at his clean hands where Loki had just been.
“Loki?” Thor whispered pitifully, on the verge of tears. A single tear fell from his uncovered eye, and his lip quivered as he shakily picked up took hold of Loki’s light, silver dagger from the ragged ground. He looked at it and cherished the small weapon as he tightened his grip, completely unaware of the small amount of blood leaking from his hand.
“Loki… I love you."
San Francisco
Eddie Brock was reading a small magazine with his alien symbiote pet friend Venom materialized over his shoulder in a snake-like manner. Venom suddenly perked up, catching Eddie’s attention.
“You okay, Vee?” He asked as Venom began looking around anxiously. Venom shook his head no, before looking Eddie in the eyes. His usually smart and happy white eyes were sad, desperate and scared. All of a sudden, Venom slowly evaporated into colourless dust without so much as a word. Eddie jumped back in surprise before laughing heartily yet somewhat anxiously after a moment. “Okay, y’got me Vee. Funny,” Venom wasn’t really the type to pull such a vicious joke- especially after the scare they had a few months ago with Riot- another symbiote who wanted to destroy Earth.
Venom didn’t rematerialize or respond inside Eddie’s head at all. In fact, Eddie began to feel empty, like if Venom had left. He laughed shakily, before standing to see if Venom had left onto the couch. The couch was Venom-less, only the imprint of his own body left.
“Venom?” Eddie called out, now searching for his friend, desperately trying to find any trace of the alien.
"Venom!"
Five
Years
Later...
Gamma Lab
Bruce Banner stood in a white and chrome gamma lab behind a thick sheet of plastic glass. Several scientists stood on the other side operating complicated machinery and sensitive equipment, panels glowing with buttons and coated with knobs, levers and switches. Bruce smiled from within the contained room before channeling his own internal Tony Stark.
"You all signed the waiver, right?" His quip received no accolades nor even a pity chuckle. However, one of the scientists- an older man with a thin, knowing face and grey hair that was resting naturally slicked back from years of permanence approached the glass. On the top of his head was darker more bountiful grey hair but on the sides of his head the shade fell more within a silver range. His face was guarded by bronze-coloured wire sunglasses with dark lenses straight from the mid-seventies and a white mustache clinging upon his upper lip. He spoke, his aged voice scratched with elded experience and knowing wisdom yet still warmed with kindness and care.
"Okay Bruce, just sit back in the chair and let us take care of the rest," The man smiled warmly and nodded, as did Bruce. He took a mouthguard from a nearby table and bit down on it. He settled into the gigantic chair, not unlike a dentist's. One of the scientists exited their secure room and entered Banner's, doing up several thick metal straps. Two across each arm, each leg, three thick ones around his torso and one around his neck. A large machine descended onto his head as the scientist left the room. Two rounded arms clamped down onto either side of his head from the machine above. He sighed deeply as two large boxes descended and threaded through the large holes in the side of the clamps. Green lights lit from a small point, directed parallel to each other. They were aimed almost directly in the center of where his brain rested.
Another scientist spoke up as the two boxes whirred in a high tone, reminding the contained Banner exactly of Iron Man's repulsors. "Alright, initiating Gamma Pulse Phase Three, Test thirteen. Gamma Pulse energy signature has been raised over oh-point-three-percent since test twelve. Taking place at…" The doctor pulled out a gold-coloured pocket-watch attached to a silver chain. He looked at the watch before stating, "Thirteen-forty-five. Initiate gamma-based hypothalamus stimulation state one on my mark. Five, four, three, two…" He hit a small button on the desk below him alongside all the other scientists in unison as he finished,
"Mark." A high-pitched pop was heard as pure gamma energy was sent from one box, through Bruce's brain and straight through to the other. Banner's hands began to feel sweaty and fidgety ever so slightly. A woman spoke up from behind their clear protection.
"CRH, ACTH and cortisol levels spiking," The head scientist smiled before repeating, "Re-engage gamma-based hypothalamus stimulation state two on my mark. Three, two… Mark." They all pressed a button above the ones they pressed during state one. Another, rougher pop echoed as the same energy boomeranged back to the first box. Banner glued his eyes shut in response, but gave the doctors a sign he was alright. Now his body was working overtime, ready to fight or flight to the highest degree Banner had felt on his own since the accident.
"Doctor, another spike. More than double the last," Finally, the head doctor flipped up a plastic case and gently flicked a red switch. The whir from earlier returned as he announced, "Re-engage gamma-based hypothalamus stimulation, final state. Three… Two… Mark." All the scientists pressed green buttons simultaneously. The pop- now sounding more like a gunshot- echoed a final time. Bruce recoiled from the shock he felt as the woman announced the new levels, or...
"Doctor, levels are unchanging. No change from state two," Lack thereof. The lead scientist peered over to her screen and indeed, the levels remained unchanged. He looked back to Bruce only to see him unconscious within the seat.
"Doctor Banner?" Banner didn't give a signal, nor move nor did he even blink. "Banner?" He asked again. No response. "Something's wrong."
---
Bruce shot awake, straight as a board. He was not within the gamma lab, he was in a dark void. He was dressed the same as he had been- a white tank top and black shorts and there were red marks across his body from the restraints, yet the heavy chair, the clamps, the boxes and the scientists had all disappeared and dissipated into the shadows of his current confinement. He turned and looked around, spying nothing but more inky dark. That was, until his eyes fell onto a massive hunched figure. The mass was bent over something, its back facing Banner. Bruce only came up to the middle of its huge shoulders.
It was then that the realization struck him. The giant figure in the void was… The Hulk. He was hunched over, holding his head, almost like he had a migraine. As Banner approached, Hulk growled lowly,
"Leave me alone." It wasn't towards him, it was more like what Hulk said when he was warding off one of Wanda's accidental mind tricks. Banner reached out towards his alter ego Bruce whispered, "Hulk?" The Big Guy's head snapped to the voice, and slowly he began turning and rising. As he rose to his full height, Banner began to see the Hulk better. He looked… Tired, stressed, like he hadn't slept in days. He looked weak and frail, despite his muscular frame.
"Hulk, are you… What's wrong with you?" Hulk reached out to Banner wordlessly, his fingers outstretched towards him. Banner raised his hand parallel, reaching out towards the gigantic green fingers. Just as their fingertips were about to make contact, a sudden green panel rippled from their contact. Both Bruce and Hulk shrunk away from the shield, more in surprise than in actual pain. "What the hell…" Banner ran his hand along the pane of green which threw off ripples, almost like a wave of emerald water.
"Shield…" Hulk growled. "It's a shield," Bruce recoiled even more at that. Hulk- the Avenger who was all brawn, no brains- had just put together a coherent sentence. "It's not mine. Is this you, Banner?" Bruce was left speechless. Hulk stared at him, waiting for his response. After a slow, confused moment or two he roared shortly which brought Banner out of his shock real quick. He shook his head and, in a state of sheer disbelief asked Hulk,
"Um, since when can you…", Banner trailed off as his mind put it together. Their minds were bridging, and they were becoming more alike. The wall still barriered them, preventing them from truly sharing a mind. "Okay. If we're bridging ourselves, we gotta take down this barrier…" Hulk nodded absentmindedly from the other side.
It was then that Bruce remembered everything that had happened over the last twelve years. General Ross, the experiments, Betty, Blonsky, New York, the Chitauri, Ultron, Sakaar, Thanos. The whole time Hulk existed, he was hated. Not only by the US government but by all of humanity, and especially by Bruce himself. He felt the sudden news to apologize, feeling responsible for Hulk's bitter hate for everything.
"Hulk… I'm sorry. About everything. About hating you, not trusting you… You're a part of me, and I've been trying to… Kill you. I'm sorry, Hulk," Hulk looked up from the barrier with a look of modest yet honest surprise. He looked down as he considered Banner's words truthfully. He growled in acceptance before he looked back up.
"Hulk sorry too, Banner. For not communicating, for making things worse. Hulk sorry," Bruce smiled in response at Hulk's apology. He nodded as he looked to his alter ego and smiled. Hulk returned the gesture but slowly looked to the shield angrily. He limply hit the barrier sending flutters across the green surface. Hulk growled angrily as he wound up a harder punch. Larger waves cycled through the barrier, but it still resisted.
Now Hulk was angry. He stepped back before roaring and charging the barrier. As the beast hit it, Banner backed to the side. However, despite Hulk's power, the shield resisted. It flung him back, but he managed to land on his feet. He growled deeply in ruthless animosity, but Banner stopped him before he charged again.
"Wait, wait, I think I got something. This barrier is super resistant to your punches, but what about sonic waves?" Hulk looked to Banner in consideration, then looked down at his hands. He looked up and smiled evilly. Banner stood back from the endless barrier. Hulk took a steady stance with his thick legs as far apart as his humongous shoulders. He bent at the knees and bent forwards. He brought his arms out to his sides before cruelly slamming his open palms together.
The sonic eruption was harsher than any other his "super-clap" had generated in the past. The sound echoes throughout the odd zone the two beings found themselves within. The barrier began shaking as Hulk's sonic reverberations shook it. It began shaking too harshly when it suddenly shattered into dust. Banner used his body to protect his face from the floating fractals carried quickly through the air and clapped his hands to his ears to defend from the vicious, ruthless sound echoing throughout the endless inky void of the pair's minds. As the shards and dust settled and disappeared Hulk approached Banner. It wasn't at all dissimilar to twelve years ago when Emil Blonsky so arrogantly stood in front of the green mountain and challenged him with, "Is that all you got?"
Except this time, Hulk offered his gigantic hand to Banner. He took it and shook, his strength barely moving one of the green fingers. Hulk smiled before a glowing green orb descended from above. Both parties backed away before Hulk's reflexes spasmed back into existence and he grabbed it. Everything Bruce saw went white.
---
"Sir! All levels spiking! Oh my god, these should be impossible!" The statistics were literally off the chart and rising as the doctors worked. They all looked back to Bruce, who was fighting hard against the metal straps. His eyes were glowing- literally glowing - lime green. He spat out the mouthguard as his body suddenly began violently morphing. His legs were stretching out and growing longer as were his arms. His once small shoulders were growing and inflating, and the doctor's entire body began taking on an olive tint.
"Shit!" One of the doctors shouted as he lifted a plastic box attached to hinges. Under it was a red-and-yellow emergency button. He slammed it down and an alarm began sounding, as well as every speaker in the lab blasting, "Emergency. Evacuate immediately," Again and again on a loop. Banner roared in the midst of his transformation. The muscles of his arms were bulging against the restraints before snapping, spewing sharp metal fragments away as his right arm broke through. He used his weight to break out his left and the movement caused the leg restraints to break at the same time.
Hulk roared in anger as he tried to pull his neck away, breaking another bar as well as breaking the two boxes and their clamps. In rage Hulk tore open the straps over his torso, standing from the seat. His body wasn’t yet at full size, he was being restrained by… something. Hulk tried harder to emerge from Banner, and as he put more and more effort into emerging he felt his own consciousness press against another. It wasn’t Banner’s- it wasn’t even human. As he continued pressing, Hulk felt the resistance shift somewhat. He forced the other mind more, before suddenly the block left. Hulk quickly emerged with a fragmented roar, growing large fast. A physical mass flew from Hulk’s chest and slammed into the glass of the facility before collapsing to the floor. Hulk approached it with a growl before the mass suddenly moved and held up a hand.
“Wait, wait!” Loki laid on the floor before the Hulk, a look of weak desperation in his usually sly and powerful eyes. Hulk looked to the God in confusion. He looked to his muscular chest before returning his gaze to Loki. The God of Mischief understood the rather silent question, "When I died five years ago, I used the last of my energy to implant myself into you, Hulk. I hope you don't mind," Hulk looked to Loki curiously, studying his face. He was unhealthily pale, dark bags hanging under his eyes. He was shuddering with weakness and his eyes showed fear. Fear of Hulk was a part of it, but it was mostly fear of Thanos Hulk could tell.
"Thanos is dead, Loki," The God sighed in relief as his arm fell to his side, unable to be supported. He then settled into his place weakly, attempting to catch his fleeting breath. Hulk nodded slowly and turned to the other side of the room. He looked up into one of the fluorescent lights before he slowly crouched down and launched himself through the roof.
Hulk landed on top of the building, staring at the giant moon above him. He brought his fists out and bent back, his face to the skies. He released a godlike roar, his unearthly power shaking the very planet below him. As his tremendous sound rang throughout the galaxy, every threat, Hell, every world now knew...
The Incredible Hulk was back.
---
As Scott Lang wheeled his wagon of sparse belongings from the storage cell through the emptied street, the quiet strangled him with worry. Suddenly, a redheaded teenager passed him on a dusty bicycle.
"Hey kid, what the Hell happened here?" Scott asked slowly. The boy stopped and looked back to him in somber silence. His face dropped, but he said nothing as he turned back and continued. Scott was left alone with his wagon as the silence fell again. He continued on for perhaps another five minutes before he approached a clearing he could have sworn wasn't there when he had last traversed this street. There were tens, possibly hundreds of finely cut beige stone pillars rising from neat concrete walkways which also contained sparse benches of the same grey colour.
A few people were milling about slowly and silently, reading the pillars. Scott slowly made his way to the first pillar, reading with engraving with a raised eyebrow. It read 'THE VANISHED', with several names, seemingly randomly listed neatly three-by. He recognized none of the names but began to rushedly read through them, desperately searching for his daughter's name. The rest of the world evaporated as he ran through the names. He vaguely recalled pushing a couple out of the way as he scoured the pillars. He came to a stop as he read four names, none of which read 'CASSANDRA LANG', thankfully. However, he was just as devastated as he read, in order, 'HANK PYM', 'JANET VAN DYNE', 'HOPE VAN DYNE', and…
"What?" He asked no one in particular as he read… 'SCOTT LANG'? What exactly were these memorials for? Were these people dead- Was Hope Van Dyne dead? No, no she couldn't be. She had been alive not five hours ago. What was happening? Scott realized it would take all day to find Cassie's name- if it was here at all- and he quickly took off towards his house faster than he ever had before.
As he left, a very few people had gathered around a man who was hitting one of the pillars with a hammer and metal tent stake. It wasn't an uncommon thing for someone to add another name to the memorials, judging from how many etched names were set in the stone. Still, the few gathered as the depressed man worked. He was somewhat short- not too short, but still a little, perhaps five-foot-nine- and had a rough unshaven beard that had obviously been growing over the past five years with little interference. His clothes were old and dirty, obviously from the man's depression. He etched the name slowly, oblivious to the people watching him. The tool clinked harshly yet calmly as miniscule chips of beige rock clattered against the cement. The man was finishing his job, fixing up some of the rougher edges.
He took the stake away from the sharp, jagged indentations and blew all the particulates out of the deep marks. His lip quivered as he read over his work, but he quickly put his tools into the conjoined pocket of his sweater and walked away, sniffing back tears with deep breaths. The few people who had watched him work looked to the name he had left, reading the etched- rather odd- name.
'VENOM BROCK'
---
As Scott approached his house, he subconsciously noticed the surprising amount of upkeep, which told him that it was being lived in. He ran up the steps and tried the handle. The door was locked, so he reached for his keys. They jingled as he jammed them into the lock. They didn't fit, which surprised him greatly. He knocked on the door, wondering who lived in his house. It clearly had been longer than five hours.
Someone spoke from inside, which he deciphered as 'Coming!' A young teenage girl answered the door. She had a purple long-sleeve shirt, light jeans and a soft, gentle face that reminded him of Hope. But, her eyes looked like…
"Peanut?" Scott asked. His voice was hardly above a whisper. The girl's face dropped as she recognized Scott as well as the nickname. She began crying as she asked,
"Daddy?!" She threw her arms around Scott's neck and hugged him tightly. She was sobbing with joy as Scott stood in stunned silence. His daughter was very much alive, yet she was now a teenager- a mid-teen by his estimate. Scott separated from Cassie and looked at her teenaged face.
“You’re- you’re so big!” Cassie laughed quietly before she reembraced her father.
Avengers Facility
What remained of the Avengers- Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff, Clint Barton, Thor Odinson, James Rhodes, Scott Lang, Rocket Raccoon and Nebula- now stood atop a hyper-advanced quantum tunnel, with Loki Odinson stood nearby and a human Bruce Banner working the portal controls. All those that were going Quantum wore matching suits, white and red plastic with varying helmets. Rhodey and Tony's suits were somewhat different from the rest, as their suits were modified to be almost identical to their usual suits- Rhodey’s was bulkier and equipped with heavy weaponry and an Iron-Man helmet, as was Tony’s but without the visible artillery. They both had white-glowing arc reactors embedded in the chests of the suits. The others’ helmets were recreations of Scott’s Ant-Man helmet with the difference of one giant red visor instead of two red eyepieces. Scott wore a design of his usual helmet, however, it was recoloured to match the Quantum suits.
“See you in a minute,” Natasha whispered to Bruce, who quickly jogged onto the platform after setting up the portal. Thor and Loki nodded to each other solemnly and Steve looked at a worn, fading red five-point metal star in his hand. A second later, they all disappeared, leaving Loki alone in the facility. Visions were overtaken by a swirling blue wormhole as the remaining Avengers travelled through time and space. They all parted ways in three groups as branches came up- Tony, Steve and Scott in one towards 2012 Manhattan Island, New York for the Space, Time and Mind Stones. Thor and Rocket headed into a second path as they raced to Asgard, 2013 for the Reality Stone- or the Aether as it was as the time they were headed. Rhodey, Nebula, Natasha and Clint kept on the main path as they traveled to 2014 Vormir in search of the Soul Stone and 2014 Morag for the Power Stone. When they reached the end of their path, Clint enlarged the miniature spaceship within his hand, and suddenly the four were seated in it.
---
Natasha carefully landed the ship onto the sandy surface of Vormir. In the vast distance, jagged mountains pierced the purple and red sky, reflected perfectly in the countless, perfectly still pools of water. The land was dark, the planet's sun blotted out in an eternal eclipse. Nearby where they landed, there was a slow-incline mountain with rough-carved steps leading up to two tall pillars scraping the sky.
"Wow… Under different circumstances, this place would be awesome," Natasha smiled at his comment despite the immense dread that she knew hung over both their shoulders. They began up the long, foreboding walk of the mountain. It was twenty or twenty-five minutes before they reached the top. Despite both of their records, the height was brutal and both were slightly out of breath.
"Bet the raccoon didn't have to climb a mountain," Natasha sighed as she attempted to regain the breath she had lost. Her red-to-blonde hair fell over her shoulder, strands of her flaming gold hair sprouting loose from her braid. Clint laughed dryly at her remark before correcting her with,
"Y'know, technically I don't think he's a raccoon," Romanoff sighed heavily at his correction. She looked up to him before replying, "Whatever, he eats garbage," Clint laughed at her comment dryly before a hooded figure appeared before them. His cloak was material until it flowed to the rocky ground, evaporating to thick shadows as it brushed the dirt. The smoke swirled as the figure turned to meet the two. His face was skeletal, with two sharp ridged holes in place of a nose. However, his face was a faded red instead of the yellowed-white of usual bone. They both stared in shock, however, the figure did not react.
"Welcome. Natasha, daughter of Ivan. Clint, son of Edith." The voice echoed seemingly from all around them yet only inside their heads. It was soft, raspy, almost like he was ancient. Natasha was taken aback from the spirit's knowledge, asking him,
"Who are you?" The question was simple, yet the figure scoffed and looked down in contemplation, it seemed. The words seemed to be hard to find as the ghost looked to Natasha again. "Consider me a… Guide. To you, and all those who seek the Soul Stone," He replied finally. Natasha released a breath of relief when she realized they could have some knowledge and help of where this ever-elusive Stone laid.
"Oh thank god, you can show us where the Stone is and we'll be on our way," She replied, at which the spirit scoffed with a knowing, dreadful smile that seemed more like an expectant sigh. He turned and slowly began leading them to a sheer cliff, a half-circle carved into the flat edge that dropped from the ridge.
"If only it were that simple," He peered over the cliff's edge down to a large circular stone. Just barely, the two could see faded orange speckles on the grey stone, purple in the ever-present eclipse's dull, purple cast. "What you seek lies before you… As does what you fear," He warned forebodingly.
Natasha followed the Red Skull's gaze to the bottom of the sheer cliff, summarizing his ghostly vague hint with, "Yeah, the stone's down there," The phantom laughed breathily at her simple colloquialization. He turned back to Clint before his gaze became intensely grappled with the ground.
"For one of you. For the other…" He trailed off before rerailing his sentence on a different track. "In order to take the Stone, you must lose that which you love. An everlasting exchange…" He trailed off again as his eyes returned to Natasha's warningly. He swallowed his silence as he finished with,
"A soul… For a soul."
As the realization hit both of them, Natasha backed up onto a broken pillar, sitting down as Clint slowly began pacing in morbid contemplation. She placed her hands over her mouth in a bleak attempt to gain the reigns to her stoicism, but over the last five years of depression, Natasha's feelings became harder and harder to contain. She contemplated this disdained dilemma for five minutes before she subconsciously sniffled heavily, attracting Clint's attention.
"You okay? I mean, Jesus, maybe he's making this shit up-" He began before he was hoarsely cut off by Romanoff. "No, he's not." Clint looked away in anger before he callously retorted, "Why, cause he knows your daddy's name?" His anger was prevalent and clear but Natasha remained unfazed.
"I didn't. You know that. I mean, think about it, Clint. Thanos left here with the stone, but without his daughter. It can't be a coincidence," Clint nodded desperately at her unsurprising revelation but it still stung nonetheless. He looked at fiery-headed spy as she stood. "Whatever it takes," She reminded him.
"Whatever it takes," He tearfully agreed. Natasha swallowed her fear before she ignited her brutally irritating ability of convincing. "If we don't get that Stone, billions of people stay dead," He nodded, adding on with, "Then I guess we both know who it's gotta be," She concluded with a quiet, "I guess we do."
Clint took Natasha's small hands in his as he looked at her sadly. She was crying silently, small tears falling down her gentle, broken face. It had been almost seventeen years ago when he had directly disobeyed Nick Fury and spared Natasha's life, and now he knew he would perform the debt and spare her one last time. As his plan worked its way through his mind he whispered,
"I'm sorry," With Natasha's guard down, Clint quickly whipped out a shock arrow- the same one he used to incapacitate Wanda damn well near ten years ago. Four arms extended from the head of the arrow and stuck themselves to Natasha's neck, adhering to her flawless flesh like a second skin. Her nervous system began short-circuiting as she collapsed to her knees. Her body was twitching as the mechanical electricity kept her in place. Clint kneeled down before Natasha and grimaced as her eyes went wide in realization, almost begging him to release her.
"We've become different people, Nat. You know what I've become. I know you're gonna say that you don't judge people by their worst mistakes but…" He looked away sadly, gasping back a sob before returning his gaze. "Maybe you should. Tell my family I love them," Natasha shook her head no, just barely fighting back the shock of the arrow. He laughed at her stubborn nature, even at a time like this.
"You're a real pain in my ass, y' know that?" He leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on Natasha's paralyzed lips before rising. Natasha followed his eyes as he slowly walked towards the sheer fall. He stood broodingly at the edge and looked back to his friend who still shook in immobility. He turned back to the edge as he placed a foot into the air. Barton spread out his arms as his body tilted forward and fell down the void.
As Natasha watched Clint fall, she felt her body react but her mind remain where it was. She felt her arm reach up and snap the arrow, her body rush to the edge and see Clint hanging onto the wall of the cliff with a smart-ass grin, then she felt herself wake up in her bed in the Avengers Facility. She felt her head turn to look around and see Bruce Banner asleep beside her, silently promising her that everything was alright. Promising that there was no Thanos, no immediate threats, that everyone was still alive and happy. She finally felt her body lay back down into the warm bed, slowly falling asleep to dream of what her redeemed life would hold for her.
But it was then that she felt her mind ruthlessly and remorselessly rip her body back, still twitching from Clint’s arrow. The Red Skull kneeled next to her and removed the arrow from her neck. Immediately, she dashed over to the edge and peered over slowly, almost scared of what she would see. But nothing, nothing could have prepared her for what she saw in the pit of the fall.
Clint Barton’s dead body lay still and unmoving, gracefully sprawled over the ancient stone. A sudden boom deafened out Natasha’s desperate cries. Her vision slowly went black, before she awoke in a low puddle near the Benetar, though somehow she was completely dry. There was something warm in her left hand. She opened it slowly as an orange glow shone from between her thin fingers.
A small, orange rock, no bigger than her knuckle, shone from her palm. Romanoff felt more tears well in her face as she realized what it had cost. She looked away and sealed it into her palm, unable to even look upon the rock without seeing Clint’s face within it. She stood from the puddle and slowly returned to the spaceship. When she sat in the front seat, she laid back and felt like she hadn’t rested in her entire life. She breathed out shakily as she put the stone in one of her pockets carelessly.
The Time-Space device on her wrist began flashing, telling her she was about to return to her time. She sighed slowly, before taking hold of the controls of her ship and began to soar off the surface of the cursed eclipsed planet.
---
Tony, Steve, Scott, Bruce, Natasha, Thor, Rocket and Rhodey landed roughly on the platform of the Quantum tunnel. Loki quickly dashed up the stairs to his brother. Thor was buried under Rocket Raccoon, who was holding the device they had snatched the Aether with, filled with a slow-moving red sludge. Thor had a handle under his arm, decorated with ornate, shaped rings of metal leading down from the huge boxy head of the weapon. At the base of the hilt was a metal cap with a leather strap through.
"Thor is that… Mjolnir," Loki commented as Thor revealed his magic hammer from the past with a smile. "I'm still worthy, brother," Loki smiled at Thor's enthusiasm. The other Avengers began rising, with Tony up first to help Steve up. Scott looked at the Tesseract in Stark's hand as he stood up with a look of entrapment.
"That box is so cool," He smiled. Stark gave him a brisk, fake smile as Rocket clambered off of the standing God of Thunder. Natasha stayed on the floor of the portal, sobbing silently. Bruce knelt down next to her, staying silent as he realized why she was crying. He embraced her shuddering form and she placed her head into his neck. They stayed there for what felt like an eternity. In the meantime, Rhodey had stood up and was now searching for Clint. From his vantage over Natasha's shoulder, Bruce could see Rhodey's face. Rhodey looked to Bruce and raised a hand as if to ask the Avenger where her friend was.
Bruce quickly shook his head no, telling him to back down. Rhodey's face fell with realization and his head went with it. Tony, Steve, Scott, Thor and Rocket slowly got the message from the silence and the absence of Barton that he had not made it. They all stood in quiet, only Natasha's occasional sob breaking the eerie stillness.
They had all of the Stones, but what did it cost for them?
More than they know...
To Be Continued...