Seventeen - 14,000,605
Titan - Space
2018
Fourteen-million, six hundred and five.
Fourteen-million, six hundred and five. Possible outcomes, possible futures. One defining moment. One moment to make or break it all for everyone and everything.
So no pressure. No pressure at all.
"Planning's not really what we do," announced Quill.
"What do you do?" Tony asked.
"Kick names, take ass!" declared Mantis.
While Kat, Stark, Konstantin, and Parker discussed a game plan with their new alien allies, Stephen decided to do something a little more productive. Well, a lot more productive as he saw it, as he hoped. But for that, he needed some peace and quiet.
Going over to a relatively quiet corner - he could still hear the voices of the others carrying across the desolate planet - he closed his eyes and concentrated, as though meditating, which over his years as a Sorcerer he had gotten quite good at. But for this he had to go deeper, concentrate harder.
The voice he had been hearing, more and more lately, and more and more clearly, as though coming from the Time Stone itself, as though it were trying to contact him.
"Doctor Stephen Strange."
"Yes."
"Master of the Mystic Arts, Master of the New York City Sanctum, Sorcerer Supreme in the place of the Ancient One."
The voice was female and one which he did not recognize. "You know me."
"Is that a statement or a question?"
"Well it certainly seems like you know me. Have we met?"
"No, not yet. At least not in person. You could call this a meeting."
"I suppose you could. May I ask who you are?"
"My name is Adonia, although I am known to most as Lady Infinity, from the ancient race of Eternals of the Universe, Keeper of the Infinity Stones."
"I believe I'm seeing a connection here."
"Indeed, Doctor. And there is not only one connection here, but many."
"How do you mean?"
Suddenly, bright light filled his vision, while before it had been all dark, a bright, colourful light. The colours came together to create a figure out of the light.
And then he saw her, and he understood.
Or at least, saw what she meant by other connection.
She looked like Kat, and Stark's girlfriend Kass, and Sigyn and Envie, and other women by the sounds of it. Or rather, he assumed, they looked like her.
"The look-alikes."
"Indeed. Six, one for each of the Stones."
"Go on."
"One for each element."
"But wait, aren't there more than six women?"
"Yes, there are. The six Stones you know - Time, Space, Reality, Mind, Soul, and Power - are the six main elements that make up the universe. Still, there are other elements."
"And so other Stones."
"Yes."
"How many others?"
"I do not know. At least five."
"And do you have control over those Stones as well?"
"Not exactly, not entirely. But, for an example, through the Ego Stone, I was able to give each look-alike woman their own personality and presence. As far as I know, these other Stones were separate, still connected on some level, but separate. You should be conscious of these other Stones, but our focus here and now is the original six."
"So if there are at least five other Stones, does that mean that there are at least five other look-alike women?"
"I would expect so."
Stephen nodded. This was good to know. "And so what part do they play in all this? These look-alikes with connections to each of the Stones?"
"I'm glad you asked. I have been planning this for a very long time. Too long. I suppose, deep down, I always knew it would be inevitable, that it would end this way. It always does."
"What do you mean?"
"Someone becoming too concerned with my power, and wanting it for themselves. But I am the only one who can truly use the Stones to their full and correct potential." She sighed. "I always hoped that Thanos would be different, but that was wishful thinking on my part. Ever since I met him, it has been his mission to balance the whole universe, and with the Stones he could do so easily and instantly with dramatic consequences. I couldn't let that happen, I had to get the Stones away from him. This would only work if the Stones could remain apart. I would remain powerless, but if that meant keeping that power out of Thanos's grasp..."
"So that's how they became spread all across the universe."
"Yes."
"But what of the six women?"
"Even if they, the Stones, were all six separated, even if my power was cut off and I was plunged into an eternal sleep - eternal for only as long as it took to reunite the Stones - maybe, just maybe, I could keep a bit of an eye on things, at least from afar. A personal spy of mine in each element of the universe - my own eyes and ears into what was taking place across the universe and reality. So even when I was not in direct possession of the Stones, I still was strong enough to be conscious to some of what went on."
Stephen nodded - this was all coming together, finally beginning to make some sense.
"Now that Thanos has begun collecting the Stones and bringing them back together, I am awakening. If he manages to bring them all back together, that will mean that I will once again be conscious and alive, but it will also mean that this has failed. And so to win, in the end, we must fail... It has begun, Stephen Strange. This is the beginning of the end, for everything, for us all - I know how we can defeat Thanos."
In a rush, Stephen was suddenly brought back to consciousness, dropping from his levitated-meditative state.
"Stephen!" Kat rushed to his side. He found the others surrounding him as well.
"I went forward in time," he explained, out of breath and shaking. "To see all the outcomes of the coming conflict leading to possible futures."
"How many did you see?" asked Stark.
"Fourteen-million-six-hundred-and-five," he answered.
"How many did we win?" Stark took the plunge, asking the most difficult, important question.
"One."
He didn't tell them that he had conversed with Lady Infinity and that she had told him what he had to do to in order for them to defeat Thanos - some details were best left unrevealed, at least for now. They had to do this carefully, approach this cautiously, for they only had one chance, one chance to get it right on the first try, no going back and trying again. Perhaps he didn't much like what the solution was, but it was a solution, and apparently the only solution.
Her voice rang in his ears, her request clear but difficult. They had to lose now in order to win later.
"I know how we can defeat Thanos..."
My take on when Stephen was fast-forwarding via the Time Stone back in 'Infinity War'. And yes, I am incorporating the other Infinity Stones in this universe as well :)
Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed this chapter ! :) We're nearing the intense ending now, so stay tuned!
