Fourteen - Time Messing Back

Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Earth

2023

"Uh, how did you get in here?" Tony asked.

"I opened a portal in the fabric of time, space, and reality," she answered simply.

"Right..."

"Yeah, that's casual," mumbled Rocket.

"Not gonna lie, that's not the craziest thing I've heard today. And you're not the strangest thing I've seen, no offence."

"None taken, Anthony Stark."

"You really don't have to keep calling me that."

"How do we know you're not really working for Thanos?" Steve asked, remaining cautious in her presence.

"I never worked 'for' him, I always worked 'with' him."

"My mistake," Steve sassed back.

"And what makes you think that I would be?"

"You were with him when we encountered you the first time."

She laughed. "He stole my Stones, wiped out half of all life in the universe, killed our daughter... No, I'm not working with him any more."

"If you're the 'Keeper of the Stones', then how did you lose them in the first place?" asked Clint. "Seems to me that those aren't something you want to misplace."

"I didn't misplace them, I ripped them from my very being, breaking our connection. They serve as my life force and without them, I was essentially dead. Thanos collecting them all and bringing all six back together was what awoke me."

"But why did you separate yourself from them in the first place?"

"I needed some control. Thanos wanted to use them to complete his mission, but I wouldn't do so. I knew eventually he would gain control of them, so I acted desperately. I have been preparing for this for centuries. If I could prevent him from gaining the Stones, even if just delay him, I would do it. But destiny had other plans, it would seem, and he found them eventually. The universe works in strange ways."

"Sure does," agreed Tony. "I saw this coming, years ago. Only I didn't really know what it meant then, the full extent of it."

"I know - it was a warning, my warning. Thanos was not the only one inside your head, Stark."

"Was that supposed to be comforting?"

"If you wanted to keep them from Thanos, why not just destroy the Stones?" asked Rocket.

"No!" Her sudden cry startled everyone. "The Infinity Stones are pieces of the fabric that binds the universe and holds it together. What do you think would happen to everyone and everything in the universe were you to destroy them? There would be no time, no space, no reality... Nothing to hold the universe together. Everything would all just cease to exist... Much worse than this already is, I can tell you."

"Okay, yeah, scratch that."

"Hang on a second, you stole the Stones from him that day in the Garden," reminded Thor.

"Yes, I did." She held up her hand, the six Infinity Stones materializing in her palm.

"Oh, so we don't actually need this?" Tony gestured to the brand new gauntlet, which was still sizzling and smoking from Bruce's attempt to use it.

"Yes, this is interesting." She eyed the new gauntlet, complete with its own set of Stones. "You know, I have seen a great deal in my time, but never have I witnessed something such as this: two sets of Infinity Stones, together, side-by-side. How exciting. But again, that won't work. They are too powerful for any of you to wield - even you, Odinson," she quickly added when Thor opened his mouth to speak, mostly likely about lightning again.

"Okay, that's fine, not like we fought and died and worked our asses off over this."

"I'm sorry for what you have lost, I truly am. Trust me, they have cost me as well. Once I separated myself from the Stones, I lost control of them, and they went rogue if you will, travelling across the universe, ending up how you found them. I was no longer in control by that point. But I am now," she was quick to add.

"And is that a good thing?" asked Steve.

"Depends on who you ask. But here and now, we all want the same thing: to undo what Thanos did."

"So you want to help us?"

"Yes, is that so difficult to understand or believe?"

"What I'm having a hard time understanding is why you look like us," piped up Kat, gesturing to herself, Karen, and Sascha. "And at least five other women we know."

"Yeah, this has all been very confusing," agreed Tony. "On so many levels."

"I do not look like you," the woman said in answer to Kat's statement. "You all look like me."


"So you'll help us then?" said Steve, still slightly uncertain about whether or not to trust this woman.

"We can help each other. I hate what he has become. Maybe he always was, and I was just too smitten to see it." A ghost of a smile fell across her lips. "We had a life, but it was not meant to be. And look how much it has crumbled. But, if the wisdom of the Stones have taught me anything over the millennia, is that everything has a purpose, happens for a reason. We don't always know why, and it's not always good, but there's a reason for it, always. And if you mess with that, well, it will mess with you back."

"I still feel like I'm missing some important details here," said Tony.

"We all do," agreed Steve.

"All will become clear," she assured them. "Soon enough."

"So, do you have a name?"

"Yes, in fact, I do. Mostly I go by 'Lady Infinity', but I don't think such titles matter at the moment. So, Adonia. You may call me Adonia."


Sanctuary II, Thanos's Ship - Space

2014

On board Thanos's ship, 2023 Nebula had been taken prisoner, while her 2014 self, still bound and determined to prove herself to her father, had gone and infiltrated the Avengers. Nebula had no way of sending a warning to her friends about what was to come.

The door to the dungeon chamber slid open to reveal Gamora. Nebula looked up at her sister, who she thought she would never see again, and who she had never been so glad to see as she was in that very moment.

Gamora approached, almost cautiously.

"So you're just going to let him do this?" Nebula asked. "You're going to let him destroy everything? And not only are you going to let him, but you're going to help him. You were questioning him and his mission around this point, I know you were. I know because I thought it was weak of you."

"Tell me something: in the future, what happens to us?"

"Us?"

"You and me."

"I try and kill you several times. But, eventually, we become friends, become sisters."

Gamora stared down at her for a moment before turning to leave again.

"Our mother, she's out there. He used the Stones and brought her back," Nebula explained, knowing exactly what would catch Gamora's attention. She was right; her sister paused. "But only after he destroyed half of all life."

"You saw her?"

"Yes. She asked about you."

"How is she?"

"The same as I remember."

"I miss her."

"And she misses you. She's out there, somewhere." There was a rumble from outside the ship. Nebula sighed. "We're here."

"Where?"

"The future."


Avengers Facility, Upstate New York - Earth

2023

Adonia noticed too late, sensed what was about to happen while it was happening - they were not alone.

"GET DOWN!"

BLAST!

The past had come to claim the future - time was messing back.

Duh, duh duh! ;) So many cliffhangers in this movie!

Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed! Only a couple of chapters left! :)