A red-silver blur raced through the skies of the United States of America, invisible to the naked eye below as the clouds below him kept him from view.
Rays of sunlight reflected off the Iron Man Mark XLVII armour as it flew through the air, Tony's HUD helping him keep track of his flight path while he frowned.
'How did he survive?' the hero couldn't understand just how the speedster had survived the wounds Ultron dealt to him. He had seen the body and the holes made by the miniguns of the Quinjet.
He had seen the cold body, so how in the hell did he survive?
'Could it have been another illusion by Wanda? No, she was grieving too much for that to be fake,' Shaking his head, he focused on the flight, diving down a bit when he began to approach his destination.
His sensors scanned the homestead in the distance, but his eyes widened as the world distorted and he found himself flying straight up into the air.
Or, he would have had it not been for the tight grip Vision had on his ankle, Tony's eyes looking down to see Pietro smiling and waving.
Deactivating the thrusters to his suit, he landed with a soft grunt, and the suit opened up, Tony stepping out with a frown and a stare aimed at a smirking Hawkeye.
"Tony."
"Clint, you know that I'm a busy guy, right? You know, with making sure Ross stays clueless about their whereabouts and you not still being a hero in secret."
"I know."
"Oh, you do. Then, would you mind explaining why there's a living ghost standing right behind me? Last I checked, the dead don't just decide to return back to the world of the living."
" Because I'm not the Pietro you know," the speedster chimed in, making Tony turn with a raised eyebrow as Pietro smirked. "I'm from an alternate timeline."
"Is he pulling my leg? Are you pulling my leg? Is this some kind of elaborate joke with Wanda's magic to get back at me for the whole Berlin mess? 'Cause I apologized for that, right? I-I apologized for that."
"It's not an illusion, Stark. It's real," Wanda spoke and Tony turned as Pietro raised a hand and tapped his chest.
"There. Real enough?"
"No, but I'm just going to pretend this is some weird dream," he muttered in response, rubbing the bridge of his nose as the speedster chuckled. "F.R.I.D.A.Y?"
"Scans show a 99.6% biometric match, boss, though his cellular vibration is off the charts."
"Estimation?"
"Roughly equivalent to a Tsar Bomb," was his A.I.'s response and Tony hid his shock well as he just stared at the speedster.
"What the hell happened to you?"
"I blame Ultron, Thanos and Kang, honestly, but I'll tell you more on that later. Firstly, do you have a way to contact Steve 'cause I wanted everyone here for something dreadfully important?"
"Cap and I aren't exactly on...speaking terms."
"The others have told me, but here's the issue. The thing you've been preparing for since the invasion in New York is going to happen very soon and no one is going to survive if you don't listen to me."
"What thing since the invasion?" Hawkeye asked with a frown, but Tony just stayed silent as he stared at Pietro with a frown.
"How certain are you?"
"Because it happened to my world. Now, can you contact Cap or not?"
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"That will be £10,20," A blonde woman smiled as she paid with her card, putting away her wallet and walking towards where her partner was waiting.
"You sure we should be using cards?" Steve whispered as they left the cafe, to which Natasha rolled her eyes as she turned it around and showed off the name 'Lana Fox'. "I retract my statement, then."
"This isn't my first time on the run, Steve. I know how to keep our digital footprint clean," she replied with a faint smirk, the two joining the many that made use of the bustling streets of Westminster Abbey.
Steve just smiled as he looked forward, the two enjoying the crisp air of London before Natasha's hands drifted towards her jacket pocket at a faint buzz.
"Not mine," she spoke as she looked to Steve, who held an old Motorola flip-phone in hand with a frown. "Tony."
"That or someone that found the phone," he replied, stopping on the pavement with Natasha stopping beside him.
"Not going to answer?"
"What would he want? I thought he'd still be mad at me for...everything," Natasha just sighed as she saw his conflicted expression, her gaze scanning the crowd to make sure it wasn't a trap.
"There's no use thinking about it. Just answer," Steve glanced at her and back at the phone, taking a deep breath before flipping it open.
"Tony."
"Oh, good. You picked up," came the voice of one of his former best friends, but he frowned as he noticed the exhausted and anxious tone of the man's voice. "Hey, look. I know we've had our difference with the Accords, Berlin and the whole your old friend being the murderer of my parents, but let's put that aside because there's an issue."
"Is it Ross?"
"Oh no. Ross wishes he was this much on my mind. Listen, where are you now?"
"Uh, near the Cellarium Cafe and Terrace," he replied, ignoring Natasha's pointed stare as he heard Tony speak in the background.
"Cool. Now, you're gonna feel a slight discomfort," Steve blinked as he found himself standing just a few feet away from Tony and Clint, noticing Vision and Wanda in the background.
Their surroundings had changed as well, the bustling streets of Westminster Abbey replaced by the Barton Homestead and the forests surrounding it.
His head turned to his left where Natasha stood, her eyes just as wide as his before he heard a throat clearing.
"Hello," the familiar voice drew his attention and his shock increased, staring at the not-so-dead form of Pietro Maximoff, who winked.
"Cool. Everybody's here. Now, wait here," Pietro's form vanished and reappeared next to Wanda with silver-blue sparks dancing across his skin, but Steve's eyes focused on the form of T'Challa and two younger, dark-skinned women next to him.
One was bald and dressed in red tribal garb, a spear in hand that immediately pointed at them. The other was a young woman with short hair that was cropped at the sides and dressed in a vibrant, white dress with purple highlights and a white lab coat over it.
T'Challa's guarded expression slowly waned as he recognized the people in front of him, the shock of him being dragged from his council without a single ounce of resistance fading away.
"Captain?"
"Your Highness," Steve greeted, T'CHalla raising a hand to let Okoye lower her spear while Shuri scanned the group in front of her with a look of awe and caution.
"Any explanation as to why I was dragged from my council?" the King asked, glancing over at where everyone was looking to see a silver-haired man with a smirk.
"Apologies for that, your Highness, but I had something I needed to say to the strongest on the planet and I needed to do it quickly."
"And what of the other heroes that aren't here?" Tony asked with a raised eyebrow, to which Pietro just shrugged.
"You all can relay that to them. Now, let's start with the most important bit of information. I...am from another timeline."
"Seriously?" was Shuri's response, looking doubtful as Pietro shrugged.
"Considering I should be dead in this timeline, yeah. Now, no more interruptions because there's a whole lot more where that came from."
"Then, start with the beginning," Steve spoke and Pietro smirked as he felt the man's commanding presence come forth.
'There's the Captain America I admired.'
"Let's start with the Mad Titan Thanos and his want to use the Infinity Stones to erase half of all life across the universe."
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"-and because of that, he's going to be coming here in three weeks for the rest of the stones. So, we need to prepare immediately," Pietro finished his story, watching as everyone that stood in front of the Barton Homestead stared at him.
"...Is he being serious?"
"Tony, I just had to fight a robot like Vision that absorbed kinetic energy and used it to grow stronger and bigger because it wanted to 'remove him from the timeline'. As far as I'm concerned, he's Jesus and his word is the Bible."
"Firstly, Vision's a synthetic humanoid, not a robot. Secondly, that would be blasphemy for most people and thirdly, you really believe him?" Hawkeye just gave a grave nod in response, making Tony sigh as he turned to Steve. "What do you think?"
"You want to know what I think?"
"Hey, we've put everything behind and you're the war expert here," Tony replied, making Steve smile before it faded to a serious expression as he looked to the waiting Pietro.
"Can you swear to all of us right here that what you said is the truth?"
"Well, no. I withheld some personal information and the fact that I saw the timeline of your world up to the point of when Thanos snapped his fingers and erased half of all life while I was in the Quantum Realm."
"I'm sorry. You saw what?"
"I thought I was having one big lucid dream until I woke up after the battle with Kang, so sorry if I forgot to add that."
"Well, then what did you see?"
"Uh, every fight and struggle you've had up until this point. For example, uh, Natasha," Pietro began as he pointed to the Black Widow, whose eyes widened at the next words from my mouth. "Before you became part of the Red Room, you and your younger 'sister' Yelena lived with your 'mother' Melina Vostokoff and your 'father' Alexei Shostakov in Ohio, which was actually-"
"You say another word and I'm emptying an entire mag in you," Natasha cut him off and the cold tone in her voice made Clint frown as Pietro smiled.
"Sorry for bringing up your past, but you're the most secretive out of the group and I wanted to show you guys that I know a lot."
"Okay, do me next," Hawkeye spoke and Pietro blinked at the request before giving an apologetic smile.
"Honestly, all I paid attention to you about was when you and your mother went to that fare in 1984 and you began to realize that you had a knack for marksmanship," Hawkeye continued standing with his arms crossed, staring at Pietro before nodding as he looked to the others.
"I've never told anyone that other than Laura and Nat here. He's legit."
"Good. So, what's the timeline again?"
"In three weeks, though my presence here may have thrown a wrench straight into the timeline and cause disturbances so it might happen sooner than we think," Pietro replied, drawing a frown from Tony as he palmed his face with a groan.
"Great. Well, it's a good thing my nightmare's about to come to an end whether we win or lose. Alright!" He clapped his hands, drawing everyone's attention with a sigh. "Cap, what's the play?"
"We're going to need you back on the Compound. Get Rhodey up to speed and if Ross tries to interfere, go around him."
"Go around the Secretary of State? Sounds fun."
"I don't think it will be. You said that this Thanos is going to come for the stone, yes?" Steve asked, nodding as Pietro gave a firm nod. Okay, does anyone here know of a way to get it out of Vision's head without killing him?"
"Well, I could do that too."
"Perhaps, we can be of assistance on that regard, or should I say, Shuri?" T'Challa proposed, ignoring his sister's groan as Steve smiled.
"Thank you, your Highness."
"I'll be there too. I may be the only one able to contain the feedback of the stone should the extraction go wrong."
"Good. Now, what stones are on this planet according to your knowledge, Pietro?"
"The Time Stone, but that's in the hands of the Sorcerer Supreme, leader of the Master of the Mystic Arts and I know where their main base in New York is."
"Good. Natasha and I'll go with you," Steve spoke and Pietro gave a thumbs-up, hiding his relief as everyone looked determined.
'Well, at least now I don't have to fight the world-ending event on my own.'
"Well, we have a plan. Let's execute it."
"Great. Then, let's get everyone to their destinations."
"Pardon?" In the blink of an eye, Hawkeye blinked as he and Pietro were the only two remaining in front of his house, the speedster himself staring at the archer with a smirk.
"So, you want to join in on this or stay with your family?"
"Think you guys can handle it on your own?"
"I think I can fight for the both of us. They'll never see it coming," Pietro spoke before he blipped out of his sight, making Clint chuckle as he shook his head and turned to where Laura was standing on the porch.
"He's really fast, isn't he?"
"Oh, I think he's still just messing around."
"Great. Want chicken for dinner?"
"Fried?"
"Always."
"I love you," Laura giggled as she turned and walked into the house, Clint pausing for a moment outside before he smiled and followed after her.
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In the Sanctum Santorum, Stephen Strange floated in his room with his eyes closed, legs crossed and hands in a Lotus mudra as he took shallow breaths.
His eyes darted to and fro underneath his eyelids as a dim glow emanated from his conjoined hands, the man transitioning his hand shape onto a diamond shape before pulling them apart.
The moment he did, his eyes snapped open and the locket around his neck snapped shut, sealing the Time Stone back in its place as Stephen took shallow breaths.
"It's altering. It's changing so much," he murmured, standing up as the door opened and Wong entered with a frown.
"What's the matter? Your energies are out of sync."
"Wong, we're going to the Avengers Compound."
"I thought you hated Stark?"
"I do, but this is far too important. The universe is at risk here," Wong just frowned as Stephen walked past, mulling over his words before giving a nod.
"Understood."
A/N: And we have a plan made up for the next battle! Will that be enough or will the Mad Titan still be victorious?
Next chapter: Preparations.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!!