So, here we are in Infinity War, the halfway point of the story basically. Hope you guys enjoy the first chapter of it.
The movie text belongs to Aragorn II Elessar, which I use with his permission. Thank you my friend.
Watson Smith: Far from Home is a horrible movie that treats Peter and Tony horribly, makes the Skrull twist from Captain Marvel even worse, and treats the MCU as a whole with the respect of a piece of gum you pick off your shoe. I'm not doing it and that's final.
Agent N: There are some things I don't like about the Russos handling of Marvel characters, but how they handle Black Widow is not one of them. Thank you, it's nice to meet you as well.
Guest 1: I'm pretty sure Tony meant by that that he hand Howard did not part the way they did.
Guest 2: Yep. Spectacular Spider-Man was the best Spider-Man carton ever. Before the dark times, before Disney.
After breakfast, Barton and Lila did dishes. Clint watched the scene, a hint of nostalgia on his face as he saw Barton and Lila bantered back and forth while everyone else waited.
"Is this a regular thing?" Tony asked Parker as they watched in amusement.
"Yep. You should hear the mission briefings when Barton consults, it's like a sarcasm rally," Parker chuckled.
"It's worse at the holidays."
At the sound of the voice, everyone turned to the doorway and stared in shock. Standing in the doorway was Wanda…yet not Wanda. Her hair had been dyed red and cut down to her shoulders for one. Her face was several years older as well, her face having lost some of the youthfulness it currently possessed. Her eyes seemed…more mature and filled with sorrow as she gazed at them, a wistfulness on her face.
"Wanda?" Clint said as he looked from the Wanda in doorway to the one net to him staring dumbstruck at her doppelganger.
"Hey," Future Wanda sad, smiling at him.
"About time you got here," Barton tossed over his shoulder as he dried his hands on a dish towel. "I was worried you wouldn't make it in time."
"Things ran late at home," Future Wanda said vaguely and he nodded in understanding.
"So, you're this time's Wanda?" Steve asked and she nodded.
"Yes," Future Wanda said and Steve was surprised to see resentment in her eyes as she stared at him before she quickly masked it.
"I called her last night, I wanted her to be here for the rest of the recordings," Barton said, shooting Future Wanda a look that was a mix between a warning and concern.
She returned t with a look that said 'I can handle it'. Natasha and Clint watched this and exchanged a look, each wondering when he and Wanda learned how to have a silent conversation.
"Well, now that you're here, we need four more seats," Lila said quickly as she walked over and grabbed future Wanda by the arm, dragging her towards the viewing room.
"Is this as weird for you as it is for us?" Sam asked as he looked over at the shell shocked Wanda.
"Probably weirder," Wanda muttered.
"Well, I guess we should all head for the viewing room," Parker said.
"It seems the suitable thing to do," Vision agreed.
Everyone stood up and began to follow Lila and the other Wanda. However, as everyone else left, Steve lingered and stopped Barton.
"Your Wanda, she doesn't like me," Steve said and Barton winced.
"You picked up on that huh?" Barton asked and Steve nodded. "It's not that she doesn't like you. She…she has some resentment built up against you."
"Why?" Steve wanted to know, wondering what he could have done to make Wanda resent him so much.
"You'll see at the end of the recordings. But, to make a long story short, she feels like you abandoned her," Barton explained and Steve absorbed this for a few moments.
"Did I?" Steve finally asked.
"Yes," Barton admitted.
Steve frowned, not pleased by this news. Seeing this, Barton placed a hand on Steve's shoulder.
"She'll forgive you Cap. You weren't the only one who abandoned her," Barton said with a haunted look in his eyes that made Steve curious.
They followed everyone else to the viewing room. They entered in time to see the past Avengers staring as Future Wanda seemed to conjure a couch and chair out of thin air and set them down next to the couch Steve, Nat, Sam and Scott had sat on yesterday.
"Since when could you do that?" Natasha asked as she looked back and forth between the two Wandas, the past version staring at her future self stunned.
"Since shortly after Thanos. Trust me, you don't want this power, not the way I got it," Future Wanda said, looking at her past self with a haunted look in her eyes.
"So…what do we call you?" Rhodey asked after a few moments of tense silence.
"Call me Scarlet," she said with a slight smile.
Everyone nodded; still trying to process there was another Wanda there with them. They retook their seats as Scarlet, Barton, and Lila sat on the couch and Parker took the chair. Barton picked up the remote and started the next recording.
Voices were heard calling out, saying the Asgardian refugee vessel called the Statesman was under assault. They requested aid from any vessel in range. They were 22 jump points ahead of Asgard and their crew was made up of Asgardian families with very few soldiers.
"Thanos," Thor snarled enraged, his hands emitting small sparks.
"Thor, calm down," Steve told him.
"Thanos-" Thor started angrily.
"Is still two years away from attacking your people," Barton interjected. "And if we send you back, hopefully he never will."
"Calm down my friend," T'Challa said as he placed a hand on Thor's shoulder.
After a moment, Thor let out a breath, the electricity around his hands vanishing. Barton waited a moment before resuming the recording.
The black screen faded to show the Statesman as the Sanctuary II fired blue bolts at it.
Thor clenched his fists tightly, glaring at the screen. However, thankfully, he managed to keep control of his emotions.
In the burning wreckage of the Statesman, a wounded Heimdall lay on the ground as someone walked around, passing several dead Asgardians.
Thor had a wounded look on his face as he stared in horror at the lifeless bodies of his people. It was an image that would forever be burned into his brain, an image he vowed he would never allow to become a reality. Likewise, his friends all stared, horrified by the scene.
The figure walked around and said, "Hear me and rejoice. You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No. It is salvation."
"Salvation? He calls this salvation?" Rhodey asked angrily as they all glared at the screen.
"He's been brainwashed by Thanos, they all were. Thanos takes them from their planet after he wipes out half the population and 'adopts' them, indoctrinates them to his way of thinking," Barton said in disgust.
"Everything we hear about him makes Thanos sound even worse," Scott said and Barton let out a bark of a laugh.
"Trust me, you haven't seen anything yet," Barton said grimly.
"Universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile. For even in death, you have become Children of Thanos." The figure finished as his face was revealed. It was Ebony Maw.
"Squidwards's ugly step brother?" Tony joked in an attempt to lighten the mood.
It didn't work.
Loki was revealed to be standing there in fear. Proxima Midnight had her spear on him while Corvus Glaive and Cull Obsidian stood there too.
"Loki doesn't look good," Natasha noted.
"Thanos charged him with getting the Tesseract and bringing it to him when he came to earth all those years ago. He failed. Thanos doesn't like being disappointed," Lila explained and Thor paled.
Then a huge armored figure was shown looking the other way.
Everyone stilled as they finally got their first look at the purple skinned being.
"That's him, isn't it?" Tony asked and the future viewers nodded grimly.
"Thanos," Parker said darkly.
"The mad Titan. The greatest enemy you will ever face," Scarlet said in a matching tone as chills went down the spines of those from the past.
"I know what it's like to lose," Thanos said as he turned around to look at a wounded figure at his feet. "To feel so desperately that you're right... yet to fail, nonetheless."
"Holy crap, it's Thor!" Peter exclaimed shocked as they all realized who the wounded figure was.
"You look even worse than Loki," Clint noted uneasily as Thor looked shocked at his physical state.
Thanos lifted Thor up and walked towards Loki, "It's frightening. Turns the legs to jelly. But I ask you, to what end? Dread it; run from it... destiny arrives all the same. And now, it's here. Or should I say... I am." And then he revealed the Infinity Gauntlet in his left hand, the Power Stone glowing in its slot.
"What's that?" Steve asked as they all eyed the stone, having a feeling they already knew.
"The Power Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones," Barton said grimly.
"It had been left under the protection of The Nova Corps, an intergalactic police force. Thanos slaughtered every last one of them a week before this," Scarlet explained and the past viewers paled.
Thor groaned how Thanos talked a lot as Thanos asked Loki for the Tesseract or he'd kill Thor, saying he would have a preference. Loki coldly told him to kill away.
"Are you kidding?! After all the two of you just went through, he would still let Thanos kill you?!" Sam exclaimed as the past viewers glared at the screen, disgusted.
"My brother is many things, but he is not stupid. I assume he knew of Thanos' plan?" Thor asked as he looked over at Barton.
"If he didn't, he had a pretty good idea," Barton said and Thor nodded.
"My brother probably did not want Thanos to have the Tesseract," Thor noted.
Thanos moved the Power Stone to Thor's head and it glowed, striking energy into his head as he screamed in pain.
Thor winced as everyone else watched, horrified to see their friend be tortured.
Loki was unable to watch and shouted at Thanos to stop, which he did.
"Guess he couldn't do it," Clint muttered feeling something close to respect and empathy blossom in his chest.
Thor said they didn't have the Tesseract as it had been destroyed on Asgard. Loki then guiltily lifted his hand and the Tesseract appeared in it as Thor groaned how Loki was the worst.
"He took it. Of course he did," Thor said torn between exasperation and anger.
"Even if the Tesseract would have been destroyed, what's inside wouldn't have been," Scarlet said as they looked over at her. "Best case scenario, it ends up on some planet near Asgard and Thanos gets it anyway. At least this way, you were warned."
"I assure you brother….the sun will shine on us again," Loki assured Thor as he moved to Thanos. "Your optimism is misplaced, Asgardian," Thanos told him as he chuckled. "Well, for one thing, I'm not Asgardian," Loki said as he stopped near Thanos. "And for another... we have a Hulk." Then Hulk leapt out with a roar and tackled Thanos away as Loki dropped the Tesseract and pushed Thor out of the way.
"He used my line!" Tony shouted.
"That's what you're focusing on?" Rhodey asked incredulously.
None of them noticed the future Avengers were still tense, knowing what was about to happen.
Hulk bellowed angrily in challenge. Hulk punched Thanos, sending him back before punching him two more times and then elbowed him twice on the shoulders before slamming him into the wall. He then held Thanos in a chokehold.
"He's doing it," Peter breathed as they all watched, tense, none of them daring to hope.
Cull Obsidian moved to help Thanos but Ebony Maw raised his hand, "Let him have his fun."
"Fun?" Rhodey asked as they all stared in shock.
"Thanos is toying with Hulk," Steve almost growled at the realization. "This is just a game to him."
Thanos grabbed Hulk's hands and slowly pushed them back before striking his shoulder, staggering him back.
"Son of a bitch," Tony said shocked as they all stared in horror.
"He's even stronger than Hulk," Thor said as a pit of dread formed in his stomach.
Thanos blocked Hulk's punch and struck him, staggering him again. He then dodged another and punched his back, throwing him off. Thanos kept blocking Hulk's punches and punched him back several times, smashing him into a pillar. He then kneed Hulk's face before lifting him up and throwing him down.
"He-He just beat Hulk back like he was nothing!" Clint exclaimed in stunned disbelief.
"Son of a bitch," Tony repeated in a whisper.
"If he can do that to Hulk without even trying, how can we stop him?" Sam asked as the air seemed to become heavier, no one seeming to have an answer.
"Like Cap said a long time ago, together," Barton said as they looked over at him. "We beat him because we stood together when it mattered most. You wanna beat him, you need to put aside your differences and work together. Otherwise, this whole thing has been a waste of time."
As Hulk lay, Thor struck Thanos' helmet with a pipe but he was barely affected while the pipe shattered. Thor made to strike again but was kicked away. Ebony Maw telekinetically trapped Thor with several pieces of broken metal.
"Shit," Clint said as Thor groaned.
Heimdall then looked at Thor and as his eyes changed color he said, "Allfathers... let the dark magic flow through me one last... time." The Bifrost appeared and lifted Hulk up, transporting him away somewhere else.
"That's how we were warned. Heimdall sent the Hulk back to earth," Vision realized and the future Avengers nodded.
"Thank you Heimdall," Thor said, not noticing the grim looks on the future Avengers' faces.
Thanos then moved menacingly towards Heimdall.
"No no no no," Thor said, paling as they all realized what was about to happen.
Thanos glared at Heimdall and took Corvus Glaive's glaive. Heimdall looked sadly at Thor whose eye widened in fear. "That was a mistake," Thanos said and stabbed Heimdall with the glaive, killing him brutally. "NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Thor screamed in agony.
"NOOOOOOOO!" Thor wailed in pain.
Thor put his head into his hands, his shoulders heaving as he sobbed. Everyone looked at Thor sadly, understanding how he felt. After a moment, T'Challa placed a hand on his shoulder.
"This past cannot be changed…but our future still can be. Our future is not yet written in stone," T'Challa said gently.
After a moment, Thor pulled himself together, nodding at T'Challa as he sat up, although he did not seem entirely convinced.
"You're going to die, for that!" Thor yelled in grief but Ebony Maw gagged him with a piece of metal and shushed him.
Thor growled, glaring at the screen. Everyone eyed him wearily, worried he would strike the TV again but, thankfully, Thor was able to control his emotions this time.
Corvus took back his glaive as Ebony May picked up the Tesseract and bowed before Thanos, "My humble personage... bows before your grandeur, Thanos took off his helmet, revealing his bald head, and also took off his armor, revealing his huge black vest. "No other being has ever had the might... nay, the nobility... to wield not one, but two Infinity Stones," Thanos took the Tesseract from Maw who said, "The universe lies within your grasp." Thanos then shattered the Tesseract in his hands, revealing the Space Stone.
"The Space Stone," Scarlet muttered as they all stared at it.
Thanos blew away the glass and slowly fit the Space Stone to the Infinity Gauntlet. There was a blue flash of light as power ran through him.
"And now he has two of them," Wanda said looking pale.
Thanos told his children there were two more Infinity Stones on Earth and to find them and bring then to Titan.
"I know one is The Mind Stone, but what's the other?" Natasha asked as they all looked confused.
"You'll see," Lila said vaguely.
"He will come for me now," Vision realized as they all started.
"We'll protect you," Steve said and Scarlet winced.
They bowed and said they wouldn't fail him. Loki then arrived and said they might need a guide for Earth. He had some experience in that area. Thanos asked if he considered failure experience and he said he considered experience as experience.
"Are you kidding me? After what he just saw Thanos do, he's going to go back to working with him?!" Clint exploded as they all glared at the screen.
"Loki," Thor said hurt, none of them noticing the grim expressions on the future Avengers' faces.
"Almighty Thanos... I, Loki, prince of Asgard..." Loki looked at Thor and said. "Odinson..." Loki continued, "The rightful king of Jotunheim... God of mischief... " A dagger materialized in Loki's hand suddenly, hidden from all while Thor watched in concern.
"He's gonna make a move on Thanos," Natasha realized as everyone looked shocked.
"Well now I've seen everything," Clint muttered.
Loki continued, "Do hereby pledge to you... my undying fidelity." He kneeled and bowed before Thanos, taking a deep breath. Then, moving at quick speed with his Asgardian reflexes, he lunged with his dagger, only for Thanos to press his fist as the Space Stone glowed and the blue energy stopped Loki's hand.
"No," Thor said paling as he worried for his brother.
"Just a couple inches short, damn it," Tony swore as they all watched, tensed.
"Undying?" Thanos mocked before grabbing Loki's weapon hand and making him drop the dagger, "You should choose your words more carefully." He lifted Loki by the throat, slowly choking him as Thor watched.
"No!" Thor shouted, hating that he could not do anything but watch.
Everyone was silent, stunned. Even Clint took no joy in seeing this.
"You... will never be... a God!" Loki wheezed out as his skin color returned to blue. Thanos squeezed his neck and a crack was heard as Loki went limp, his eyes wide and mouth open, blood running down his nose and mouth. "NO!" Thor screamed but the gag muffled him.
Lightning shot out of Thor as Scarlet used her powers to contain it and Wanda quickly used her powers to get T'Challa away from Thor.
"Thor, calm down," Steve said as he walked up to Thor.
"My brother was just killed!" Thor snarled his eyes bright with rage and grief.
"I know, I understand," Steve said, remembering seeing Bucky falling, seemingly killed before his eyes. "But your Loki is still alive and well. We can go back and save him."
For a few moments, it was silent. Then, Thor nodded and the electricity around his body vanished.
"I am sorry my friends," Thor said after a moment.
"It's okay man, we get it," Sam said.
"We are all only human, for lack of a better word," T'Challa said, remembering his own reaction to his father's death. "It is nothing to be ashamed of."
Thor nodded gratefully before Steve and T'Challa retook their seats and Barton restarted the recording.
Thanos dropped a dead Loki in front of Thor who stared heartbroken. "No resurrections this time," Thanos said.
Thor growled, glaring hatefully at Thanos. He would kill him, Thor vowed viciously in his head.
Thanos activated the Power Stone and the ship started breaking apart as purple flames, explosions and energy covered it. Thanos then activated the Space Stone and a portal appeared behind them as he walked into it with the Black Order, transporting them away instantly.
"Wait, he can open portals?" Tony asked shocked.
"He can with the Space Stone," Parker said.
The metal restraints broke as Thor crawled towards Loki, not caring about the ship being destroyed around him. "No…Loki…" He said in grief as he put a hand on Loki's chest and bowed down, sobbing. The Statesman exploded in a purple energy of fire.
Thor watched the scene, too numb to care that he had seemingly died. The others were not so indifferent.
"Thor…" Steve trailed off as they all looked at Thor shocked and sad, but he didn't react.
"He survived. With the help of some…new friends," Barton assured them.
Far away, The Bifrost energy passed the sun and the moon and shot towards the Earth, reaching right above New York.
"Heimdall sent Hulk back to earth," Thor realized.
"He's the one who warned you," Natasha realized and Scarlet nodded.
In the New York Sanctum, Strange asked Wong if he really didn't have any money and he said attachment to the physical was detachment from the spiritual.
"It's Strange," Steve noted.
"But who's the guy with him?" Clint wondered.
"Wong. He's a Sorcerer, just like Strange," Lila explained.
Strange joked how they will make a metaphysical Ham on Rye when Wong said he had 200. Strange asked if it was dollars but Wong said it was rupees, which was a buck and a half.
Everyone chuckled, the banter between Strange and Wong providing some much needed levity after what they had just witnessed.
The two walked down the stairs as Wong said he would like a Tuna Melt. Then the roof crashed as the Bifrost energy shattered the stairs behind them. They turned as Strange called the Cloak of Levitation while his uniform appeared and Wong summoned Tao Mandalas. The two peered into the hole as Hulk was seen reverting back to Banner. "Thanos is coming. He's coming…." Bruce breathed out in terror. "Who?" Strange asked, to confirm what he had heard.
"And that's how we found out," Scarlet explained.
"Heimdall scarified himself to warn us. We can't let him die in vain," Steve said with a glance at Thor. "Him or Loki."
"They won't," Thor promised with a growl as the recording continued.