The sensation of being pulled into a vacuum ceased. The image of shock on Steve's face, of Wanda and Peter trying to pull him back, disappeared. Someone was holding him. He reacted without thinking, throwing off his abductor, not looking to see if he had caused any injury. Something that felt like a hand grabbed his arm and he shook it loose, using all his strength. All around him were voices, intelligible gibberish. He was out in the open, in a weird half-lit place. Someone else touched him. He pressed the indented place on the palm of his metal hand and let loose a shock, not caring who it affected. He knelt down and prepared to use his taser in a continuous round.
A loud whooshing sound rang in his ears. Something froze him in the kneeling position. He struggled to move his arms, but they remained stuck by his side. Panic swept over him but he discovered he could adjust his head and look around. He was under some kind of open structure. There was a roof, thick beams but no walls. Plants and trees surrounded it, familiar looking but their leaves were red. He could breathe, see and hear. A circle of beings, wearing long robes with hoods pulled down over their faces, surrounded him.
"You said he was the weakest one!" a voice said. Something forced Bucky's pounding heart to slow down. He understood their words and the uncertainty in the tone took made his captors seem a little less frightening.
"I also said it was by a minuscule amount! This was a bad idea. We can't keep him like that for long and he'll start up again as soon as it wears off and we must do this all over again. I said we should bring the other one, the one who looked like their leader. Are you all right?"
"Yes. That arm is a weapon, but it caused no lasting injury. I wouldn't recommend messing with it. It's attached to him somehow, a most remarkable instrument."
Bucky's heart slowed down every more. He stared hard at his captors, forcing himself to not react to what he heard. Whatever they were, they weren't all-knowing and their reactions to him were almost comical. There were seven standing close to him. Away beyond them, another one stood in the distance almost hidden by the trees, slowly moving closer.
He assessed the situation and considered his next move. He was outnumbered and they clearly possessed an advantage over him. Playing dumb was one way to go, and if this thing that was holding him wore off, fighting them again was an option, but to what end? Should he pretend he couldn't understand them? His mind and body revolted at the idea of being frozen in place again. He was alone and friendless in a strange place. He chose to cooperate.
"I can understand you," he said. Their conversation ceased.
"How is that possible?" A deep voice spoke.
"Do you doubt my abilities?" a higher sounding voice responded.
"No, just at the speed with which you achieved it." The deep voice again. "But good. This will save time." This hooded figures approached Bucky. "We apologize for bringing you here in this manner. We can release you, but only if you give your word you will not attack us. If you do, things will not go well for you. We can do much worse."
"I agree," Bucky said. Whatever was holding him in place dissolved. The ability to move again was welcome, so he stood up. There was that part of him wanted to make demands and start asking questions but this was not the time nor the place. He was at their mercy. "I am sorry for my response. It's my training. I hope I caused no permanent injuries."
"You did not. And I am sorry for describing you as weak. What is your name?"
"My name is James." He didn't know why he said that. Maybe because Bucky was reserved for his friends.
"James, we are going to reveal our true selves to you. It might be disorientating."
Bucky nodded, and the hoods came down. They were humanoid with elongated faces and their skin was in various shades of pink. Some had what looked like long hair, some were bald and others it was cut in between. Bucky considered all the things he had seen at the battle of Wakanda, which seemed so long ago now. Their appearance was tame in comparison. The hood stayed on the person in the back, who was still drifting closer to the group.
"It's nothing I can't get used to," he said. It was the truth.
"Good. We are the Ritika and this is our world." The person with the deep voice now had a face to it. He, Bucky assumed it was a he, was bald. "A day ago we noticed a disturbance in our system. Something from outside breaking through. That does not happen here. We can create what we call the eyes of time, where we can see, for brief periods, other places. We saw you and your people, in what looked to be a laboratory. It was assumed we were being invaded. Together, combined, with ancient knowledge, we brought you here. We want information."
"Are you wizards?" Bucky asked without thinking. Magic. I knew it!
"We don't call ourselves that. We are not worthy. Why are you here?" The bald one's voice took on a determined tone. "And where were you? The place was unfamiliar to us. We did not wish to risk traveling there ourselves, too many unknowns, so we chose to bring one of you here. I repeat, why have you come here?"
Bucky wasn't sure how to begin or which tactic to use. He knew nothing about these people. They could be reading his mind for all he knew. There were all kinds of ways to approach this but for now, he chose the simplest option. Answer their direct questions.
"This was not an invasion. We were, brought here against our will. I can tell you what I know, but that may not be enough. I'm a just a soldier."
"Begin," The deep-voiced bald one stood back, and the others followed suit. He must be their leader. The one in the back stopped, still keeping the hood on.
"How far back do I go?" The question was rhetorical. "I wasn't there for most of this. I am only repeating what was told to me." He recounted, as he remembered, the story of Thanos and his plan to bring order to the Universe but as soon as he got to the snap, the bald one held up his hand.
"We experienced this here," he said. "Sudden disappearances and reappearances of certain people...are you saying, these people who reappeared were not the people we knew?"
"That's how it was explained to me. The ones who returned were different. I know this probably created chaos in your world for a while. I'm sorry." Bucky said. So they weren't beyond Thanos' reach.
"So that explains that…" his captor's voice went low and he stared out into the distance. "Quite arrogant of you."
"That was my reaction, at first but in the end, it's worked out for us."
"But did you consider that perhaps things might not work out so well for others?"
"It wasn't me...I'm just a…"
"I know. You're just a soldier. "So far, your story seems...credible."
Did it? It sounded insane to me when I first heard it. The idea that he accepted this bit of information could mean the unusual was usual here. "The coming together, It was the work of Wong, a sorcerer on our world. He merged two realities. Don't ask me questions about it because it's beyond me and the people who planned it were from the other side. They call it the Blending."
"A sorcerer?" The bald one asked. "A sorcerer? There are sorcerers on your world?" A murmur rose up from the group behind him."Fascinating." He raised his hand, and the whispers ceased. Are Sorcerers are a known thing here? Are they the same kind of Sorcerers as Wong?
"Yes. I don't know anything about them. I told you, I'm just a soldier." Now that he had adopted that facade he might as well keep it up. "The reason we're here..." Bucky started with Peter's impulsive jump through the portal.
"He is young, hardly more than a boy. We felt responsible for him and followed him. That's when we found they had taken our other friends, and that's where we met Regina."
"Regina. That is not a name we are familiar with."
"That's the name she gave. It means Queen. Her husband was a guy named Regulus, Prince, son of the king. She called him her Consort. She said their scientists were close to stopping a plague but half of them disappeared. We thought it was because of the snap but for whatever reason...the merging didn't happen here. She wanted us to bring them back and…"
"Did I hear you correctly? A Queen, her Consort, and a plague?"
"I'm just repeating what she told me."
"Did she look like us?"
"No. She looked like us actually but told us was an illusion. She spoke to us through some kind of translation implant. She sent two of us, the two scientists back to gather information, the hard science behind the Blending. Once we did that, she said we could go home, but since you pulled me away who knows if that will happen."
The other robed figures murmured among themselves again. Bucky caught snippets of their conversation. "I sense no deception in him. How could he know this?"
"How is this possible?"
"It's the stuff of legends and myth."
"We are the stuff of legends and myth, and yet here we are."
"We must confer. Do not do anything...foolish." The bald one turned his back on him to talk with the others. The moved in close into a tight circle, temporarily ignoring him. Bucky strained to listen but only got snippets of gibberish. They must have turned off their translation method but something startled him. He heard a voice, not in his head but close by. He kept his eyes straight ahead, focused on the group.
"James is your name, but not the one you use with your friends. I don't know you well, but Steve Rogers regarded you with great affection, and as he was my friend and comrade, I will help you." He realized this person knew of his acute hearing. Turning his head, he saw the other robed and hooded figure, standing behind a large sustaining beam, out of sight of the group but close enough to where Bucky could see. The stranger lifted the hood just enough so Bucky could look into the blue eyes and handsome face of Thor, the God of Thunder. He winked at him and replaced the hood. Bucky said nothing, turning his face to the crowd. He couldn't allow his relief to show.
After a few moments, the group returned to him. One with long hair walked up close to him, studying him closely. It reminded him of his days in the Consortium. Every time he was rented out to kill, the client would do this, walk around eyeing him like he was a piece of merchandise.
"I think he knows more than he's saying," this was the person with the higher pitched voice who was able to translate languages.
"Can you read minds?" He asked bluntly. They reacted to the idea of sorcerers and the Blending so calmly he wouldn't be surprised at what else was possible here. He shouldn't have said that but their approach set off old memories.
"She thinks she can, but the truth is, she can barely read emotions. She keeps dabbling in things beyond her reach," one of the others said and there was a collective chuckle through the group. Her face became pinker, probably a version of a flush. They grew silent as their leader came forward to stand in front of Bucky.
"This story you tell is most remarkable, but I have something to tell you in return. A plague-infected our system, it ran its course. We are descendants of survivors who passed on that immunity to us. We had a Queen, with a Prince Consort as you described, but they disappeared, we thought taken by the Plague. Most of your story seems plausible except all of this happened several generations ago. Several hundred years in fact. You have been interacting with a ghost."