Chapter 6: Find Him!
Avengers Temporary Command CenterS.H.I.E.L.D. Safe House Alpha-7, New York
All available heroes had gathered in the makeshift briefing room, their faces grim under the harsh fluorescent lighting. Steve Rogers stepped forward and activated the holographic display system, bringing up what little intel they had managed to gather.
"Here's what we know," Steve began, his voice carrying the weight of command. "The individual's name is Rory—no last name on record. Male, approximately mid-twenties, appears to be of mixed heritage. Tony and I encountered him during our mission to 1970, where he had somehow acquired both the Tesseract and Dr. Pym's research."
"Why the hell would you bring someone like that back to our timeline?" Clint Barton demanded, speaking the question that was on everyone's mind.
Steve's jaw tightened. "He had us over a barrel, Clint. This guy managed to steal both artifacts before we even knew he existed, and somehow he knew we were time travelers from the future. According to his story, he's also displaced in time—claims he was accidentally transported to 1970 from an unknown future date and wanted our help getting home."
"Sounds like a load of bullshit to me," James Rhodes interjected, walking around the conference table to stand beside Steve. "I think he played you and Tony like a couple of amateurs."
War Machine pulled out a data pad and connected it to the holographic display. The air above the table shimmered, then resolved into a three-dimensional recreation of the final battle's climactic moments.
"This is from my suit's combat recording system," Rhodes explained. "Watch carefully."
The hologram showed Tony Stark raising the Infinity Gauntlet, cosmic energies already beginning to consume his mortal frame. But in the background, barely visible through the smoke and chaos, a figure could be seen moving toward Thanos.
CRACK!
The unmistakable sound of a gunshot rang out just as Tony snapped his fingers.
"How the hell did he get so close to Thanos?" Steve asked, studying the tactical display. "Did anyone see him on the battlefield?"
Every hero in the room shook their heads.
"He's completely baseline human," Steve continued. "No enhanced abilities, no armor, no superpowers. Logic dictates he should have been running in the opposite direction as fast as his legs could carry him."
Rhodes fast-forwarded the holographic recording to just after the Snap, when both armies had stopped fighting to witness Tony's sacrifice. While all the heroes were gathering around their fallen teammate, one figure moved against the crowd.
"Look here," Rhodes said, using a laser pointer to highlight the lone figure. "While everyone else is focused on Tony, our mystery man is collecting something from the ground where Thanos disintegrated."
"What is it?" Wanda asked, leaning forward to get a better look. "A bullet casing?"
"No," Bruce Banner said quietly, his massive green form shifting uncomfortably. "I know what it is."
Every eye in the room turned to the Professor Hulk. Bruce looked genuinely distressed as he continued.
"Rory isn't enhanced, but he's definitely not ordinary. The guy's a brilliant scientist—probably on par with Tony in terms of raw intellect, just without the resources. And what he's holding..." Bruce paused, clearly reluctant to continue. "It's a vibranium needle."
The room erupted in questions and exclamations, but Bruce held up a massive hand for silence.
"I gave him a small sample of vibranium from our materials storage—maybe a gram, tops. I figured he just wanted to study the molecular structure. I had no idea he was planning to weaponize it." Bruce's voice grew increasingly troubled. "But now I understand what he was really after. He wanted Thanos's blood."
The implications hit everyone simultaneously. Bruce Banner had firsthand experience with what could happen when someone tried to replicate superhuman genetics. Dr. Samuel Sterns had attempted to create more Hulks using Bruce's blood, resulting in the monstrous Abomination.
"So let me get this straight," Rhodes said grimly. "We potentially have a genius-level scientist running around with samples of the most powerful being in the universe?"
"That's exactly what we have," Steve confirmed. "We need to find Rory immediately, secure the blood sample, and then figure out how to safely return him to his original timeline."
"And how exactly do we do that?" Clint asked. "Guy's been MIA since the battle ended. For all we know, he could be anywhere on the planet by now."
"We use every resource at our disposal," Steve replied. "Satellite imagery, urban surveillance networks, facial recognition software, cell tower data—everything. This isn't just about one displaced time traveler anymore. If he succeeds in replicating Thanos's abilities, even at a fraction of the original's power, we could be looking at a threat level that makes the Mad Titan look like a warm-up act."
Hidden LaboratoryHell's Kitchen, New York9:33 PM
"Personal log, timestamp 21:33 hours," Rory spoke into the digital recorder while adjusting his microscope settings. "Experiment sixty-five: Eternal bloodline integration attempt. Test subject designation: Rory-13. Fourth-generation Thanos blood sample, compressed to one-twenty-seventh original concentration. Beginning fusion protocol."
Rory drew a vial of his own plasma and placed it in a sterile container, then carefully extracted the newly processed Thanos serum from the centrifuge. The liquid was a pale purple color, almost translucent, with an otherworldly quality that seemed to bend light around its edges.
Using a precision pipette, he added exactly three drops of the serum to his plasma sample.
The reaction was immediate and dramatic. The two substances swirled together, creating patterns that defied fluid dynamics. For a brief moment, the mixture glowed with the same cosmic energy that had powered the Infinity Stones, then settled into a deep violet color.
Rory quickly prepared a slide sample and moved to his microscope, his hands steady despite the magnitude of what he was attempting.
Through the high-powered lens, he watched his own blood cells undergo radical transformation. Their division rate accelerated exponentially, their cellular structure becoming denser and more complex. Most remarkably, he could observe his DNA strands literally unraveling and rebuilding themselves, with foreign genetic sequences—Thanos's genes—integrating seamlessly into his human genome.
"Fascinating," he murmured, making rapid notes. "The Eternal genetic matrix appears to be self-modifying, adapting to human cellular structure rather than simply overwhelming it."
He transferred the sample to his genetic analyzer—a piece of equipment he'd "borrowed" from a disbanded A.I.M. research facility—and watched as the chromosomal readout began displaying results that shouldn't have been possible with baseline human genetics.
After completing his observations, Rory turned back to the camera.
"The experiment shows promise, but we're not there yet. The integration is successful at the cellular level, but the power levels are still too high for safe human application. The serum needs further dilution and compression before human trials can begin."
He switched off the recording equipment and rubbed his tired eyes. The work was exhausting, but the potential results were worth any amount of effort.
Moving to his makeshift kitchen area, Rory opened a can of soup—generic brand, the kind that cost ninety-nine cents and tasted like salted cardboard. He heated it on a hot plate that had seen better days and tried not to think about the gourmet meals he'd shared with Bruce Banner back at the Avengers compound.
While he ate, Rory examined the quantum tunnel device that Tony Stark had unknowingly left in his possession. He'd been studying the technology for weeks, but Stark Industries quantum mechanics remained frustratingly beyond his comprehension. The device was a masterpiece of miniaturized engineering, incorporating Pym Particles, quantum entanglement theory, and processing power that exceeded most government supercomputers.
Beneath his workbench sat a small containment unit holding his remaining Pym Particles—barely half a dose. When Tony and Steve had made their return trip to 2023, they'd used up all the particles except for the tiny amount that had been in Rory's possession during the jump.
The particles and the quantum device weren't enough by themselves. He needed a quantum tunnel platform, the kind of massive machinery that the Avengers had used for their time heist. Building one from scratch would require resources he didn't have and materials that were heavily regulated by multiple government agencies.
After finishing his meager dinner, Rory gathered his trash and headed for the alley behind his building. The neighborhood wasn't exactly Park Avenue—Hell's Kitchen had a reputation for being rough even by New York City standards—but it was the kind of place where people minded their own business and didn't ask too many questions.
As he was disposing of the trash bag, a large man in a leather jacket suddenly shoved past him, nearly knocking him into the dumpster.
"Watch where you're going, lab boy," the man growled. "This ain't the suburbs."
Rory studied the man for a moment—three hundred pounds of muscle, prison tattoos, the kind of dead eyes that suggested violence was always an option. He kept his mouth shut and stepped aside.
"Smart kid," called out an elderly voice from across the alley. The owner of the corner fruit stand, an old Italian man who'd probably seen every kind of trouble Hell's Kitchen had to offer, walked over with a concerned expression. "Here, take this," he said, handing Rory a crisp apple. "Welcome to the neighborhood, kid. Rule number one: pick your battles."
"Thanks," Rory replied, pressing two dollars into the man's hand before pulling his baseball cap lower and walking away.
He had no idea that at that very moment, the Avengers were mobilizing every resource at their disposal to track him down. All he knew was that he had work to do, and the less attention he attracted, the better.
After purchasing supplies from a late-night pharmacy and a chemical supply company that didn't ask too many questions about cash transactions, Rory returned to his underground laboratory as the city settled into its familiar rhythm of sirens and late-night traffic.
He was completely unaware that less than six blocks from his location, two Avengers were examining security footage that showed a figure matching his description.
Hell's Kitchen11:47 PM
The motorcycle's engine cut out as Steve Rogers parked outside a 24-hour convenience store, the kind of place that served as an unofficial community center for New York's night shift workers. He pulled out his communicator and contacted his partner.
"Clint, I'm in position. What's your status?"
"Right behind you, Cap," came Hawkeye's voice from the shadows. A moment later, Clint Barton emerged from the convenience store, a tablet in his hands showing grainy security footage.
"I talked to the owner," Clint reported. "Guy remembers selling supplies to someone matching Rory's description about three hours ago. Body type and height are consistent with our target, but the footage doesn't show his face clearly."
Steve studied the video feed, noting the way the figure moved, the careful way he kept his head down to avoid the cameras. "Professional countersurveillance," he observed. "This guy knows we're looking for him."
"The store owner said he paid cash for basic supplies—food, toiletries, nothing suspicious. But he bought enough for several days, which suggests he's not planning to move locations anytime soon."
Steve nodded, his tactical mind already working through the implications. "He's operating out of a fixed base somewhere in this area. Probably within walking distance if he's making supply runs on foot."
"Question is," Clint said grimly, "what exactly is he building in that base?"
Neither man spoke the obvious answer: with Thanos's blood and a genius-level intellect, Rory could be building almost anything. And given the precedent set by other scientists who'd attempted to replicate superhuman abilities, the results were likely to be catastrophic.
The hunt was on.
End of Chapter 6
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