The stream of data on the screen suddenly stabilized.
Banner stared at the monitor, his fingers frozen above the keyboard. "Wait… the signal's locked. The temporal GPS shows he's reached the target coordinates."
Tony walked over and glanced at the blinking green dot. "What about his vital signs?"
"Normal. Heart rate at 120, blood pressure slightly elevated but within safe limits." Banner pulled up another monitoring window. "Quantum fluctuations are stable. He should be fully materialized."
Steve checked his watch. "It's 3:17 PM now. The target time was 2:17. How long was he in the past?"
"From our perspective? Three minutes," Tony said, eyes still on the screen. "But for him, it could've been seconds—or hours. Time flow at the quantum level isn't stable."
Levi stood beside the platform, sensing the lingering quantum fluctuations in the air. It was a faint vibration, like ripples spreading across still water after a stone had been dropped—yet to fully dissipate. Closing his eyes, he probed the spacetime structure around the platform using the Laws of Space and Time, discovering an incredibly subtle fissure connecting to a point in the past.
"He's coming back," Levi suddenly said, opening his eyes.
The moment he spoke, the air above the platform began to distort. A pale blue light reappeared, rapidly expanding from a single point into a circular ring. At its center, a blurry human silhouette gradually became clear, magnifying from the microscopic scale.
A flash of white—
Scott Lang crashed heavily onto the platform, rolling twice before coming to a stop. He lay there, gasping for breath, his clothes drenched in sweat.
Natasha was the first to rush forward, helping him up. "Are you okay?"
Scott lifted his head, his eyes filled with a mix of fear and excitement. He opened his mouth to speak, but his throat was so dry it felt scorched, producing only a hoarse rasp.
Banner immediately handed him a bottle of water. Scott grabbed it, downed it in one go, then took several deep breaths before finally recovering.
"I did it." His voice still trembled, but a grin spread across his face. "I freaking did it."
Tony stepped onto the platform and crouched in front of him. "Tell us—what did you see?"
Scott pulled out his phone, his fingers still shaking from tension. Unlocking it, he opened the gallery and brought up the most recent photo, handing it to Tony. The picture showed this very meeting room: an empty long table, and a clock on the wall displaying 2:17 PM.
"When I got there, the room was empty," Scott said, trying to steady his voice. "The temporal GPS was precise—margin of error under thirty seconds. I took the photo and hit return immediately. The whole process took less than a minute."
Steve took the phone and examined the photo carefully—the clock, the furniture, the light outside the window. Everything matched exactly what the room had looked like an hour ago. He passed the phone to Natasha, who then handed it to Clint.
Levi watched the fading quantum fluctuations on the platform. The fissure connecting to the past had already closed, but a faint scar remained in the spacetime structure. He could sense that repeated time travel would cause these scars to accumulate, potentially destabilizing spacetime.
But now wasn't the time to worry about that.
Thor rose from his seat, his axe striking the ground with a dull thud. "So it works? We can really go back?"
"Looks like it," Tony said, turning to everyone. "The temporal GPS test passed, and mass production of Pym Particles is complete. Next, we need a detailed operation plan."
Steve walked to the long table, looking at the massive timeline projection on the wall—six points in time, six Infinity Stones, scattered across different moments in the past.
"We need to split into teams," he said steadily. "We have limited manpower and limited time. Each team must know its objective: get in, secure the Stone, and get out immediately. No delays, no exposure, no altering the past."
Natasha stepped forward, her finger tracing the timeline. "New York, 2012. Three Stones. That should be our primary target—we'll need our strongest team there."
"I'll go to New York," Tony said immediately. "That's my home turf. I know every street, every building. And 2012 me had just gone through the Battle of New York—things will be chaotic. Easier to act."
"I'm going too," Steve added. "My past self should still be with S.H.I.E.L.D., handling the aftermath. If we need to interact, I'll know how to deal with it."
Banner raised his hand. "Count me in. That was when I'd just turned back into a human and was still on the run from the military. If we run into the Hulk, I can handle it."
Levi looked at the New York coordinates and shook his head. "Too many people. The three Stones are in different locations—Space Stone at Stark Tower, Mind Stone with Loki's scepter, Time Stone at the Sanctum. You'll need at least two sub-teams."
"Then four people," Natasha said. "Tony, Steve, and Banner go to Stark Tower for the Space and Mind Stones. I'll go to the Sanctum to get the Time Stone from the Ancient One."
Clint leaned back in his chair, arms crossed. "The Ancient One won't be easy to deal with. You sure you can take the Time Stone from the Sorcerer Supreme?"
"I'll convince her," Natasha replied calmly. "She's a sorcerer—she understands the importance of the timeline. If she sees the future, the Snap, she'll give it to me."
Levi thought of the Ancient One—the woman who could peer through the river of time. She might see the future… but she'd also see the risks of time travel, the cost behind every choice.
"What if she refuses?" Thor asked.
Natasha didn't answer. She simply glanced at Levi.
He understood. If persuasion failed, he would step in. With his current power, even the Sorcerer Supreme wouldn't be able to stop him.
"Next Stone," Steve continued. "2013, Asgard. The Reality Stone."
Thor immediately straightened. "That's my home. I'll go."
"Alone?" Carol stepped forward. "Asgard is heavily guarded. How are you going to extract the Aether from Jane Foster without alerting anyone?"
Thor tightened his grip on Stormbreaker, the handle humming faintly. "I have a way."
"You'll need help," Levi said. "The Aether inside Jane is unstable. Forcibly removing it will kill her. You need someone who can extract it without harming her. Don't forget—even I had to wait for the right moment back then."
"Then who goes?" Thor asked, looking at him.
"I will," Levi said calmly. "I have the Law of Reality. I can remove it without hurting her."
Thor stared at him for a few seconds, then nodded. "Fine. We go together."
Steve marked the assignments on the projection. "New York: four people. Asgard: two. That leaves two Stones."
"2014, Morag. The Power Stone," Natasha said. "That planet is abandoned. Only Star-Lord will go there for the Orb. We can take it before he does."
"I'll go," Rhodey spoke up from the corner. He stood. "Rocket and I will handle it. That's enough."
"Rocket?" Scott blinked. "The raccoon?"
"He's in space," Levi said. "Left Earth after the Ultron incident. Probably working as a bounty hunter somewhere. If we need him, we can call him back with Carol's beacon."
Carol nodded. "I know Rocket. He's reliable—and familiar with the Orb. In 2014, he should be competing with Star-Lord for it."
"Then Rhodey and Rocket," Steve marked another team.
"Now… the last Stone."
"Vormir."
"The Soul Stone."
The room fell silent.
Natasha's fingers stopped tapping the table. Clint lowered his head, his expression unreadable.
"I'll go," Natasha said, breaking the silence. "This one's mine."
"No. It should be me." Clint looked up, resolute. "I have a family to bring back. This is my responsibility."
"Exactly why you shouldn't go," Natasha stood. "I have no attachments. No one I need to protect. I'm the best choice."
"That's enough." Levi's voice wasn't loud, but it cut through the room. He stepped forward, looking at the marked point of Vormir.
"I'll go."
Natasha turned to him. "You don't need to sacrifice anyone. You're more important than any of us."
"I know," Levi said calmly. "Which is why I won't sacrifice anyone—including myself."
Tony frowned. "Levi, the Soul Stone requires the sacrifice of someone you love. That's the rule. You can't bypass it."
"That's a rule for ordinary people," Levi said, turning to face them all. "I'm mid-tier Skyfather level now—close to a cosmic overlord. If the Red Skull won't hand it over, I'll take it by force."
Silence fell again.
Steve looked at Levi, recalling their days fighting side by side in World War II. Back then, Levi had just been a soldier with a special ability, reliant on the team to survive. Now, he had reached a level none of them could truly comprehend.
"You're sure?" Steve asked.
"I'm sure." Levi didn't hesitate. "Vormir's mechanism is based on laws—but laws have strengths and weaknesses. I've mastered seven laws, including the Law of Death. If the Red Skull refuses, I'll break the sacrificial mechanism and take the Stone directly."
Thor looked at Levi, a complicated expression in his eyes.
He thought of his father, Odin—the All-Father who ruled the Nine Realms for millennia.
Odin had been Skyfather-level too… but Levi's presence felt deeper, more dangerous.
"And if you fail?" Carol asked.
"Then you follow the original plan and send someone to make the sacrifice," Levi said, glancing at Natasha and Clint. "But before that… let me try."
Natasha studied him for a moment, then finally nodded. "Fine. You go first. But if anything goes wrong, I'll come immediately."
Levi said nothing more. He knew she wouldn't change her mind—she was prepared to die. But he wouldn't let that happen.
Steve stepped forward and finalized the assignments on the projection.
"Summary:
New York Team—Tony, Steve, Banner, Natasha. Objective: Space, Mind, and Time Stones.
Asgard Team—Thor, Levi. Objective: Reality Stone.
Morag Team—Rhodey, Rocket. Objective: Power Stone.
Vormir—Levi. Objective: Soul Stone."
"Wait," Tony interrupted. "Levi's going to two locations? Asgard and Vormir?"
"Time travel isn't limited by physical distance," Levi replied. "I'll go to Asgard with Thor first, secure the Reality Stone, then jump to Vormir immediately. Both missions combined won't take more than an hour."
Banner ran calculations on his tablet. "Theoretically feasible. The temporal GPS supports multiple jump points. As long as there are enough Pym Particles, you can move freely between times and locations."
"What about consumption?" Clint asked. "How much will Levi use alone?"
"Double," Tony answered. "One round trip costs two vials. Two trips—four. We have 600 milliliters total, enough for thirty round trips. Levi using four won't affect the rest."
Carol stepped forward, hands on the table. "One more issue. If something happens to Levi on Vormir, who goes to back him up?"
"I will," Natasha said immediately. "After the New York mission, I'll set Vormir as a backup coordinate. If Levi's vitals show any anomaly, I'll jump there at once."
Levi looked at her, knowing she meant it.
But he didn't need backup.
He had absolute confidence in his strength. No matter how powerful Vormir's mechanism was, it was still only a single-universe-level law construct.
And the seven laws he commanded—combined with the lingering Void power he had taken from the Anti-Monitor—were enough to shake it.
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