Bruce had thrown his whole mind into the device he was trying to finish.Everything else was pushed to the back of his mind—this mattered most.
Captain America watched him, lips pressed together, unsure how to help.For the first time, he felt useless.Seventy years in the ice had left him with far too many gaps.
The only one who could even hold a halfway-decent conversation with Bruce was Sam Wilson, the Falcon, yet even Sam stared at the contraption in utter confusion.
"Any idea what he's building?" Steve finally caught Sam as he stepped away from Bruce. The helpless feeling was unbearable.
"I'm not sure, but it looks like a kind of—"
"English I can understand, please," Steve cut him off before the jargon started.
"Put simply, it's a treadmill. Something along those lines," Sam said after thinking it over, choosing an object Steve might recognize.
"A treadmill?" Steve blinked. In a moment like this, what good was a treadmill?
Sam had his own guesses, but they were too wild to voice.Instead, he turned back to his tasks—their leader was working; he couldn't slack off.Even if the ending proved grim, they at least had to stop another universe from being destroyed. That was their bottom line.
Steve mulled over Sam's words and walked to Bruce's side.
"We—" he began, but Bruce cut him off.
"We've discussed this already." Bruce paused, meeting Steve's eyes. "No one can win. All we can do is try not to lose."
"Is there really no hope at all?" Steve still couldn't accept it.A soldier knew: no matter how hopeless a battle looked, there was always a pivot point.
"I'm trying to make hope," Bruce said—the only answer he could give.If he succeeded, everything could be reversed.If he failed, the consequences would be unimaginable.No one wanted that outcome—not even a bat with a self-destructive streak.
Steve fell silent and simply patted Bruce's shoulder.
"What do we need to do?" he asked, eager to be useful.
"Stay sharp and be ready to buy time," Bruce replied without looking up."My device will be ready in about thirty hours. We lost nearly eight searching for parts, so it'll finish two hours after the collision starts. The collision lasts eight hours. As long as none of their people reach us during that window, we're safe.
"Your job is to delay them—keep them from destroying the other universe outright."
Steve nodded, glancing at his comrades.They'd need more allies—old friends, S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, anyone—because all of them might turn into enemies under Reed's command. Everything had to be prepared.
"You won't mind if I call in a few more people, will you?" he asked.Bruce said nothing, fully absorbed in his work. The Batcave was already exposed—full exposure no longer mattered.
Without an answer, Steve moved into action. Years as a superhero told him exactly who might still stand with him.
Whew… He exhaled; the pressure was crushing.Bruce's device would miss the start of the collision by two hours—and that didn't even include the time Bruce needed to initiate his plan. Everything was an unknown, hinging on their ability to stall Reed.
Twenty-eight hours left—hopefully enough.Steve began assigning tasks; they needed more people, more strength.
Inside Bruce's mindscape prison, Barry Allen spoke: "You could finish this in three seconds, you know."He wasn't wrong—if Bruce tapped the Speed Force, time wouldn't be the problem.
But Bruce refused. He needed more than speed; he needed caution and precision.The Cosmic Treadmill could not tolerate a single flaw.In matters like this, he trusted only himself—as an ordinary man.
His hands were rock steady, every component sliding perfectly into place.
Meanwhile, aboard Alpha-One, S.H.I.E.L.D. had tracked Steve's team the moment they reappeared.
"Shouldn't we stop them?" Monica asked, worried.If Steve actually succeeded, the planet's chances of survival would plummet.
Nick Fury looked to Reed.Letting Steve hunt for parts had been the "everyone wins" approach—though Fury still thought annihilating the other universe was simpler and surer.But some would never agree to that.
And now Steve's moves clearly prepared for a direct showdown.They'd probably realized it was the only way out.
"They place themselves—and what can only be described as their damned morality—above all living beings," Reed said as he looked at the now-separated group on the screen, including Captain America. "The truth is, whether it's their morality or our lives, both are insignificant, minuscule, and ultimately meaningless."
"I can do what they cannot," Reed added, shifting his gaze away, no longer following Captain America and the others.
It was meaningless.
There was only one inevitable outcome—victory would be theirs.
And all Captain America and the others could do was watch it unfold.
"They're heroes. I'm not. That's why I can do what they can't."
With that, Reed turned and left the command room, leaving only a single parting sentence:
"If you're looking for me, I'll be waiting in the city."
Upon seeing Reed leave, Stark hurriedly followed him.
He still had things to say to Reed.
Watching Reed depart, Monica turned to Nick Fury beside her. "Do you really trust him?"
"Do we have any other choice?" Nick Fury replied with a sigh.
They truly had no other way to resolve the situation.
Whether it was the impending cosmic collision or the potential civil unrest to follow, they had only one path forward.
The path Reed had shown them.
Elsewhere, Stark had caught up to Reed. The two said nothing as they made their way into the city. It wasn't until they arrived that Reed finally spoke:
"Come in."
Without a word, Stark followed Reed into the city. He had always been curious about it, but now that he was inside, curiosity was the last thing on his mind.
The Sword of Darkmolith still hung ominously overhead, ready to fall at any moment.
"There really isn't any other way?" Stark asked as he followed Reed into his lab. "What if we tried to recreate the Infinity Stones?"
Reed paused at the question, then burst into laughter.
"The Infinity Stones are not like the Cosmic Cube. We can't remake them. Once they're gone, they're gone. There's nothing we can do." He shrugged, then instructed the city to pull up the data he had previously recorded. "Here—this is everything I tried to input about the Stones. Take a look. If you can recreate them, I'll admit you're the smartest person on this planet."
Stark listened and turned his full attention to the data now being displayed by the city.
Reed didn't rush him, instead focusing on his own work nearby.
Though he'd never been entirely convinced by Stark, he still trusted that Stark would see the reality for what it was.
Stark began using his armor's interface to connect with Anthony and run calculations.
But even after throwing all available resources at the problem, the results were still disappointing.
More than disappointing—utterly hopeless.
"There's no way, is there?" Reed finally spoke, pausing his own work and looking at Stark.
"The Infinity Stones aren't something we can duplicate. They're fundamentally different from the Cosmic Cube," he continued, as the city brought up all past calculation data.
"And even the Cube—I've done the simulations."
He pointed at the data now being displayed.
"All of it proves one thing: trying to use other sources of power to fix this is impossible."
The data wasn't just theoretical—it included simulations already in progress.
Yet even with all its capabilities, the city couldn't complete the simulations.
It was the most advanced and powerful computing system humanity had ever created—and even it couldn't do it.
"So, there's only one way left, isn't there?" Stark stopped his futile calculations.
He buried what little hope remained in his heart.
There was no point anymore.
The only path to victory was the one Reed had laid out.
Destroy others to save themselves.
"I'm heading back," Stark said, turning to leave.
Reed didn't stop him—he needed Stark to deliver this message to the others.
"What if Batman succeeds?" Stark asked as he was about to leave.
Reed didn't respond—he only remained silent.
Stark didn't expect an answer.
"It's impossible," Reed finally murmured after Stark had fully gone.
Time was running out for those who understood what was happening—it felt like it was slipping away faster than ever.
And what they could do was painfully limited.
Still, Captain America and his team had managed to bring some people to their side and were preparing for what came next.
In the Batcave's central control room, a countdown was underway, along with monitoring of potential collision points.
As soon as a collision occurred, Captain America's team would receive all relevant information instantly.
DING!!!
The alarm blared—everyone immediately snapped to attention.
The alarm only meant one thing: a collision had occurred.
"Location?" Captain America asked Jessica, who was seated at the control station.
"New Jersey. An abandoned military base."
Jessica's gaze then shifted to Captain America.
That base—was where Captain America was born.
Or rather, where the very idea of Captain America had been created.
He glanced at the screen but said nothing.
This kind of thing no longer surprised him. As someone who no longer belonged to this era, he had long accepted that everything familiar was slipping away.
Brothers, friends, everything.
It was always like this.
Now, it was just the potential erasure of a place tied to his past.
Captain America looked at Bruce, who was busy at work, then turned to the others who were ready to go.
"Move out."
Meanwhile, S.H.I.E.L.D. had already launched their operation as well.
(End of Chapter)
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