"Well, look who decided to finally show up." Star-Lord says, as Tony Stark approaches. "You deciding to help, or trying to look cool in front of your girlfriend?"
"Yeah cool it, Charlie's Angel. I'm just here to compare notes." Tony Stark responds. "What have you found?"
"Charlie's Angels?" Star-Lord asks. "People still watch that? That show's old even for me."
"There was a reboot." Tony starts to defend his comment before realizing it's off the subject. "Anyway, Teddy Ruxpin here tells me you've managed to track two stones. Do you happen to have an exact location?"
"Teddy Ruxpin?" Star-Lord starts to laugh before looking at Rocket. Rocket frowns and flashes her teeth. Star-Lord looks back up at Tony with a serious face. "That's not funny! She's my friend."
"What's Teddy Ruxpin?" Rocket asks Star-Lord. "Is that that stupid bear you're always going on about?"
"No..." Star-Lord lies. "Maybe." She can't resist smirking lightly before changing the subject. "Anyway yeah, we've found two stones. How about you?"
"Yeah, uh... We found two also." Tony lies.
"Yes!" Star-Lord says, clapping her hands together once. "That makes four!" She turns back toward Tony excited. "So, which ones?"
"I uh..." Tony hesitates. "I think thee uhm, power stone and thee uh..."
"The reality stone?" Rocket asks.
"Yeah, that one!" Tony continues to lie.
"Crap!" Star-Lord says. "That's the same ones we found!"
"It would seem so." Tony keeps adding more to the lie. "But I suspect your guys have a better clue in regards to exactly where they are. My guys have just a general..." Tony makes a broad gesture implying the whole city. "We have a general idea of where they might be."
"So you didn't find them?" Rocket asks.
"No... Yes!" Tony protests. "We just know they're in the city somewhere."
"I could have told you that!" Star-Lord contradicts. "Where else would they be?"
"All over the planet, or off world!" Tony replies.
"Not if they've started distributing them to the new keepers." Star-Lord responds. "And they're all here, in the Capital of Xandar."
"Shit!" Tony says without thinking. "That means we're running out of time."
"Possibly." Star-Lord responds. "But since generally everyone is still on or near the planet, chances are they're still deciding who to distribute to."
"That's true." Tony Stark snaps back, happily. "And we still haven't gotten an answer for Earth's petition!"
"See!" Star-Lord responds.
"OK," Tony Stark says, suddenly thinking fast, "I figure if we can get close enough to at least one of the stones, I can try to get a reading on its energy, and we can use the information to track the others down."
"Reading on the energy?" Star-Lord asks. "Is that what you've been doing? Trying to sense them."
"Yes, it's the quickest way, considering their power." Tony says.
"With what? That thing?" Rocket asks, pointing at the device Tony has been carrying.
"Yeah, this thing." Tony replies, holding up the device.
"Is that a dragon radar?" a random voice asks.
Tony Stark jumps and turns toward the voice. "Jesus kid! You're like a chihuahua sometimes."
"I'm sorry Mr. Stark." Peter Parker responds.
"What's a dragon radar?" Rocket asks.
"Does it track dragons?" Mantis asks, also seeming to appear out of nowhere.
"Where did you come from?" Tony asks, baffled by another person sneaking up on him.
"Gathering clues." Mantis offers, as an answer. "Hi Peter." Mantis says, randomly hugging Peter Parker's arm. Mantis is wearing rather tight swim shorts and has no shirt on. Peter Parker seems a little bothered at having her arm pressed against Matis' bare green male chest. He tries to place his head on Peter Parker's shoulder, but he's actually taller than her now. It comes off looking very strange.
Peter is a little confused but decides to try explaining a dragon radar. "So, there's this show on earth with seven magic balls, and they can grant any wish. And on this show they have this thing that helps them track the balls all over the planet. When they find all seven of them, they're granted a wish."
"They have something like that on Earth?" Rocket asks.
"No, they don't have those on Earth." Tony says losing a little patience. "The kid watches a lot of TV."
"No, I don't." Peter Parker protests.
"I liked your show." Mantis tells Peter.
"Mantis! Stop hitting on the kid." Peter Quill interrupts. "She's too young for you."
"I'm not hitting on the kid." Mantis pouts. "She's very cute!"
"That's flirting!" Rocket snaps. "Do I have to spray you again?" She asks.
"No!" Mantis lets go of Peter Parker's arm sadly.
"Can we get back to the point?" Tony asks in annoyance. They all hesitantly turn back toward Tony. "Anyway. Yes, it's like the kid said. This thing can track the stones, but we need an accurate energy reading."
"Weren't most of the stones on Earth for several years?" Star-Lord asks. "Shouldn't you already have records of their energy signature?"
"We do," Tony answers, "but there's a problem." Rather than explain it to them, Tony turns on the device.
Unlike a dragon radar, the device projects a hologram of the surrounding area. The hologram continues to grow until it fully displays the city they're in. Tony presses a button to stop it.
"Whoa, Cool." Peter Parker responds.
Star-Lord and Rocket stare at the map for a moment, noticing most of the buildings are glowing. "What are we looking at?" Star-Lord asks.
"That," Tony says pointing at streams of light that seem to be coursing through a building, "is infinity stone energy. Along with that, and that." Tony points to several different color streams. "This whole planet seems to be covered in Infinity Stone energy." Tony taps the radar and it zooms out to show exactly what he was talking about. The planet looks like it's covered in cities at night. "Why is that?"
Star-Lord shrugs her shoulders in confusion. "I don't know."
"It makes sense, though." Rocket responds. "What did you think they were doing with the infinity stones this entire time?" Everyone turns their attention to Rocket. She feels surprised that no one had thought of it. "All these psychos want the stones for war, but what happens after the war is won?"
Tony looks away as he takes a moment to think. "They wouldn't need the stone anymore... At least not for fighting."
"Exactly!" Rocket responds. "After that, what do you do with a magical stone with unlimited energy?"
"You harness it!" Tony responds.
"That's right." Rocket tells him. "And with that much energy, you can stockpile for centuries. You'd never have to build another arch reactor again for the rest of your life, let alone for your grandkids." Rocket points at the device on Tony Stark's chest.
Tony Stark looks at the arc reactor and remembers how he built one specifically to power Vision.
"That's right." Rocket continues on. "You thought I didn't recognize what you've got, very poorly hidden there..." Rocket smiles smugly. "You wouldn't happen to have another one of those, would you?" she asks.
"With that much power, you could support an infinite sized army." Tony says, lost in thought and not noticing Rocket's question.
"Like Thanos!" Peter Parker interjects. "That's how he powered all those weapons and ships."
"Bingo, Kid." Rocket tells her.
It suddenly occurs to Tony Stark that Thanos originally possessed the mind stone. "It all makes sense..." Tony says mostly to himself. "But how do we track the source, if it's the same energy."
"You can't." Peter Parker says. Tony looks up confused. "Not with the stone's in their weakened state."
"Talk to me, Kid. What do you mean?" Tony asks.
"That's what Dr. Banner and I have been working on." Peter tells them. "The stones are too weak to distinguish from just about anything on this planet, so we've been trying to track their by-product instead."
"By-product?" Rocket asks. "What by-product."
"Dr. Banner said that when the mind stone was in Loki's scepter, the power was redirected and controlled, but when directly interacted with, the stone released large amounts of dangerous radiation."
"Dangerous radiation?" Star-Lord asks.
"Gamma radiation!" Tony Stark says as the revelation hits him.
"That's right!" Rocket says. "I learned about that as a kid! Power cores were created to convert gamma radiation to something much safer."
"So if we fine tune your Dragon Radar, to gamma radiation, we might be able to find the stones?" Peter Parker says happily.
"Great!" Star-Lord says sarcastically. "Where're we going to find gamma radiation? That stuff's illegal because it severely warps your DNA."
Tony is already ignoring Star-Lord and looking past Peter Parker and Mantis, directly at Hulk who is enjoying a drink while pretending not to watch them from the Tiki-Hut.
"That son of a bitch! I could kiss her!" Tony says, before trekking back toward Bruce.
"Wait, where are you going?" Star-Lord asks.
*** Moments later ***
"Dr. Banner." Tony calls out to Bruce.
"Tony, hi." The Hulk says in his deep silky voice. His hair appears very glossy and is covered in sand particles. He smiles shyly and Tony Stark feels a little bothered at seeing the Hulk so vulnerable.
"Hi Boss." Happy slurs as he stumbles lightly in the sand.
"How's it going, Happy?" Tony asks. "Why are you wearing a suit to the beach?"
"I didn't think to bring any winter wear." Happy responds drunkenly.
Tony looks at the others as they gather around, noticing they're all wearing clothes they had to have purchased on the planet.
"Dr. Banner, can we talk?" Tony asks. "I may have a favor to ask."
"Anything for you Tony." The Hulk responds.
Tony feels like normally this would sound disturbing, but the Hulks new voice is very romantically sensual. The Hulks face flushes a darker green as he realizes his choice of words were somewhat embarrassing.
Tony is starting to feel very awkward and tries to break the tension. "Can you just... come down here?" He asks.
"Sure Tony." Bruce replies as she begins to shrink down to her female form. Her new swimsuit seems to shrink with her, although not as tight. The top becomes loose fit and droops down to her waist, while the shorts only stay tight around her hips and the entire outfit takes on the appearance of a sun dress. Bruce intentionally sways back and forth proud to be showing off her new outfit.
"Aww... I liked her in the Hulk form." Natasha says as he and Clint come rushing up to them.
"Hello." Mantis says with a wave. "I like both Bruce AND the Hulk! How about you, Captain?" He asks, turning to Star-Lord.
Star-Lord just shakes her head and ignores the question.
"She's blushing." Mantis says toward Natasha and Clint. "That means she likes them too."
"No I don't!" Star-Lord says a little too femininely. Everyone looks at her with skepticism.
"See," Mantis continues, "She does."
Star-Lord turns away looking flush.
"Hey, it's okay." Clint says toward Star-Lord. "Nobody's going to judge you. Just look at her." He points to Bruce. "She's absolutely adorable, and I have to say, her Hulk form is definitely something else." He nods as he says this. "Like... Wow!"
"Clint..." Bruce says shyly.
"That's a surprise, coming from you." Natasha tells Clint.
"No, I mean it." Clint says. "Even his... her voice. It's like silk and chocolate making love to smooth jazz. If I were a woman, I'd want to have his babies."
"OK! That's enough of that!" Tony exclaims. Bruce is blushing openly now and covering her face.
"Bruce, come here." Tony circles around Bruce and starts leading her away from the others. Unfortunately they begin to follow. "Can we talk in private?" Tony says, turning back.
"No can do, Metal-Man." Rocket responds. "We already know what you're going to ask."
"Fine." Tony says, annoyed. "Bruce," Tony turns back toward her, "Peter tells me we can probably track the stones with gamma radiation."
"Yeah." Bruce responds, still feeling shy. "It's a by-product of them being used directly."
"Yes, I remember that." Tony replies. He places his hands on Bruce's shoulders, and this seems to make her blush again. "Bruce, I know I don't have any right to ask you this, but can you help me calibrate my sensors to pick up gamma..."
"Yes!" Bruce says, looking up toward Tony. "I'll help you, Tony."
They stare into each other's eyes for a long moment before Tony speaks. "Are you sure about this?" He asks her.
She looks like she might tear up, but she holds her emotions in. "Yes Tony... I thought about what you said... and if it makes you h..." she pauses, "If it helps a friend. I'll do it."
Tony feels guilty for understanding exactly how Bruce feels. For the first time since this all began, he's starting to question his own motives. He looks up toward the others and spots Captain America watching from her chair in the distance. "Yes." Tony responds before turning back toward Bruce. "It'll make me happy."
Bruce looks down, hiding her slight disappointment in Tony's choice of words. "What do you need to do?" she asks.
"Hopefully, just scan you." Tony responds. "Just hold still." Tony steps back and starts his device. He touches a few spots on the hologram and it scans the area. He begins to turn a small projected dial until Bruce looks like she is glowing. Tony fiddles with the knob a little more causing Bruce to glow brighter and shift in colors.
"What is he doing?" Rocket whispers toward Peter Parker.
"He's scanning Bruce for gamma radiation." Peter Parker responds.
"Oh..." Rocket responds back. "Why?"
"Because that's how Bruce got her powers." Peter tells Rocket. "She was exposed to very high levels of gamma radiation."
"What?" Star-Lord asks, in concern.
"And she lived?!" Rocket asks with equal amounts of concern.
Peter looks down at Rocket and nods in response.
"Should we be standing this close to her?" Rocket asks. Star-Lord is moving away also.
"I'm sure it's safe." Peter tells Rocket, which doesn't seem to help.
"Are you absolutely sure?" Star-Lord asks aloud. "Because Mantis has been all over her!"
"Will you idiots shut up!" Tony snaps. "She's not dangerous! The radiation is contained within her body." Tony's scan seems to finish as he says this.
"Are you sure?" Rocket asks anyway. Tony just frowns and ignores her.
"Thanks, Tony." Bruce says looking back up.
"No, thank you." Tony responds. Now let's see if this works.
Tony turns away and projects the map of the city in front of everyone. It is still lit up, but he uses the same dial from earlier to adjust the colors. After a while the city takes a dark gray like color and Tony fiddles with the dial a little more. Soon four random glowing dots appear on the map. "It worked!" Tony says in disbelief.
"It did?" Star-Lord asks, as her and Rocket move closer.
"Wait a minute." Rocket says. "I only see four of them."
"That might just mean the others are further out." Tony answers. "Let's hope they're still on the planet." Tony prepares to zoom out, but is distracted by Peter Parker's next question.
"Why is that one moving?" She says, pointing at the one nearest her.
"Someone must have it already." Tony responds. "We have to find out where they're going and stop them before they go offworld."
"Can you guess where they're heading?" Star-Lord asks.
"Hmmm..." Tony exclaims. "Judging by their height and trajectory, it looks like they're heading..." Tony looks upward.
"What is it, Tony?" Natasha asks.
"They're heading here." Tony replies, just as a round and vibrant red, black, and yellow spaceship flies overhead." They all jump at the surprise as it floats further down the beach.
"Oh no!" Bruce exclaims. "I think I know that ship!"
"You do?" Tony asks, surprised.
"I think I do too." Star-Lord answers.
"It's heading for Thor and the others." Bruce says. "Come on. He may need our help. I'll explain along the way."
*** Down the beach ***
Sand is flying everywhere as Thor, Valkyrie, Groot, Nebula, and Drax try to make sense of the sudden flurry.
"What's going on?" Thor shouts, unable to see.
Valkyrie is trying desperately to cover his drink. He manages to see just a little through the sand, as the Commodore lands several meters away. "Oh shit!" He says. "Is that who I think it is?"
"They're ruining our game." Drax grumbles as she dusts off her exposed breasts.
"Thor!" Bruce shouts as she and everyone else comes rushing forward. "That's the Grandmaster's ship."
"The Grandmaster?" Thor asks. "You think he's... I mean she's still chasing us?"
"I don't know." Bruce responds as she starts to grow into her Hulk form. "But Tony says there's an infinity stone on that ship."
"An infinity stone?" Thor asks, just as the ship's bay door begins to open with a hiss.
"Someone you know?" Nebula asks, as he approaches Valkyrie.
"Something like that." Valkyrie responds. "Kind of like an old boss."
When the ship is finally open there is someone standing in the exit, but not who they expected. The person starts to slowly walk out with a cocky grin on his face. Thor and Valkyrie look at each other in confusion. They don't recognize the strange man approaching them. His hair is slicked back and his complexion is very pale. His appearance is thrown off by the fact that he is wearing tight shiny and revealing leather, with a silk cape trailing behind him.
"I know you!" Rocket says aloud as he finally catches up to all the others. "You're that creepy pervert with the hots for Thor here!"
The man looks at Rocket and gives him a disgusted look. "As if!" He replies. "I'll have you know, I find him as repulsive to look at as I do you."
Rocket frowns and begins to growl.
"You on the other hand." The man says as he looks the Hulk up and down for a few seconds before smirking again. Bruce can't help but feel confused.
"I'm sorry..." Thor says, also confused. "Can we help you?"
"Gods!" The man exclaims while rolling his eyes. "I've come to strike a deal."
The man leans back as he runs his hands over his hair. Long black spider-like antlers seem to sprout from his head in every direction creating a crown that casts a sinister shadow in the sand. The man lowers his gaze and smirks toward Thor with eyes surrounded by too much eye shadow.
"My dear Brother." Hela says.
"Shit!" Thor replies.