Satoru strolled across the hangar. He looked on ahead where a group of people was blocking his way.
Nick Fury stood at the center, looking every bit the man who was used to being in charge, even if he didn't have a badge to prove it anymore.
Beside him was Maria Hill, Steve, and Thor.
"You took your sweet time waking up," Nick said, his single eye tracking Satoru's casual gait. "I was starting to think you'd decided to sleep through the cleanup. I've got a certain world council screaming in my ear about a missing city, and the guy who did it was taking a nap."
Satoru let out a lazy yawn, stretching his arms behind his head. "Well, vanishing a city is surprisingly tiring. You should try it sometime, employer."
"I would love to, but I can't really do what you can," Nick said with mirth.
Satoru smiled then he began looking around. "Where's Stark? I figured he would be the first one here."
"Tony's on the bridge," Steve answered, his voice weary but steady. "He's trying to help Hill's team recalibrate the long-range scanners. Apparently, the gaping hole you left behind in the atmosphere is making the satellites dizzy."
Satoru chuckled, shoving his hands back into his pockets. "He can scan all he wants; he won't find anything. For the gaping hole, you can leave it behind since it'll patch itself up, just give it time." He turned his attention back to Nick. "If you hadn't sent an SOS to us, you'd currently be looking at a very dusty planet, it's either that, or, a hole in the sky. You guys wouldn't have even made it past the front door in Norway."
Nick didn't flinch, though Thor's jaw tightened. "I'm aware of the debt, Gojo. I don't make a habit of calling in favors I can't pay back. But we've got a slight issue with inventory."
He gestured vaguely toward the teenager's pocket. "Rogers told me you're keeping a souvenir."
"It's better with me," Satoru said. "Safer, too."
"Hm," Nick hummed, he deliberated for a few seconds of heavy silence. Then, he gave a single blunt nod. "Then, keep it."
Satoru's eyebrows shot up, caught off guard for a second. "Huh? Really? Just like that? I had a whole list of insults ready for why you shouldn't have it. You're ruining my flow, Nick."
"I'm a realist, Gojo," Nick said, stepping closer. "Right now, I don't have a vault, I don't have a SHIELD, and I definitely don't have anyone with a power like yours, or maybe I do, but she's not presently here…"
Satoru stared in intrigue, wondering who he was referring to, but didn't interrupt as Nick continued.
"...If someone comes looking for that stone. I'd rather they have to go through you to get it."
"Nick, you can't be serious," Steve started, his voice full of disbelief.
"I'm dead serious, Cap," Nick countered without looking away from Satoru. "The kid wants the damned stone? Fine. Let's see how he likes having it."
Satoru's surprise vanished, replaced by an amused grin. "Careful, Nick. You almost sound like you're betting on me. That's a dangerous game to play."
"I'm not betting on you, kid," Fury grumbled, already turning to walk toward the bridge. "I'm betting on your ego. It's the most secure lock I've ever seen after talking to you and seeing what you can do."
As Fury, Steve, and Hill began to head toward the bridge, Thor remained.
Satoru tilted his head, the crimson bands over his eyes catching the hangar's fluorescent light. He waited for the God of Thunder to begin his lecture, a warning or some sort about the 'responsibility' he now carried. When nothing came after some time, he finally raised a brow.
"What do you want, Thor?" Satoru asked. "If you're waiting for me to hand it over because you're the 'rightful guardian' or whatever, you're going to be standing there for a very long time."
Thor didn't reach for Mjolnir. Instead, he looked at Satoru with a gaze that held a new level of recognition and respect.
"I do not seek the stone, Gojo," Thor rumbled with his low voice. "Fury is a wise man in his own fashion. If it is to you where the stone rests, then so be it."
He paused, then continued. "If you ever find this world too small for your curiosity, or if you simply wish to see how you fare against the feasts of my people, call my name. You would find Asgard a fitting stage for your talents."
Satoru's grin widened after hearing that. "Sure. I would love to visit your place, I haven't tasted Asgardian sweets before."
"You'd find Idunn's apples quite pleasant," Thor chuckled. He then turned around and walked away. "Until then, guard the stone well. I suspect the universe will not be quiet for long."
Satoru watched him go for a moment, then reached into his pocket and felt the Mind Stone.
"Asgard, huh?" Satoru muttered to himself, turning toward a direction. "Maybe after I find some decent mochi."
'Is it a sin for a sweet tooth like me that even after years of living in this new world, I still haven't gotten the chance to eat a decent mochi?' Satoru seriously thought. 'Maybe it is. I should first try that cronut though before finding one.'
Satoru didn't head for the cafeteria or the bridge. He walked toward the massive open hangar doors, where the high-altitude wind whipped his white hair around the edges of his blindfold.
"Sir?" a marshaller called out as Satoru stepped dangerously close to the edge of the landing platform. "You can't be out here without a tether, we're at thirty thousand feet!"
Satoru didn't even look back. He just raised a hand in a lazy wave.
"Don't worry, I'm a professional," he chirped.
With a single step, he walked off the edge of the Helicarrier.
The marshaller screamed and rushed to the railing, but Satoru wasn't falling. He was simply standing on the air, his boots anchored to a space that didn't exist for anyone else. He looked back at the massive flying ship one last time.
He had saved the world, finished what the Ancient One asked of him, and effectively taken one of the universe's most prized possessions. All in a day's work.
"But, I still haven't seen what the Ancient One implied when she said I might find what I seek by helping the Avengers…" Satoru muttered to himself as he strolled on the air and touched some clouds, continuing his previous thoughts. "...Did I just get fooled?"
Satoru paused for a moment, considering the possibility of it. There's a chance he might've.
Then, after a moment of thinking he decided to go to the nearest sanctum. But, before that…
Satoru shoved a hand in one of his pockets and dug for something. He took out a neat card where an address was written on its face.
Snap!
He snapped his fingers and the card vanished into somewhere only he knew.
"New York it is," Satoru muttered to himself. "...Let's get that cronut first then Sanctum, sounds like a plan, me."
He soared through the open sky, letting the biting wind of the Atlantic whip against his face. He decided to not use his Sling Ring to go to the New York Sanctum. He wanted to enjoy the quiet for a while, just him and the fresh air.
Moving like a black and white streak against the blue, he headed toward the horizon, leaving the chaos of Sokovia far behind.
…
[ New York Sanctum ]
Wong was in the library, carefully reorganizing a shelf of fragile scrolls, when the heavy oak doors kicked open. He didn't even look up. He knew that specific, obnoxious rhythm of footsteps anywhere.
"Well, look who decided to finally show up," Wong said flatly.
"I had a thing in Sokovia," Satoru said, collapsing into a plush velvet chair and throwing his legs over the armrest. He fished a cronut he just bought from a paperbag on his other hand and took a bite. "Met a guy with an eye patch. He's a pretty wicked individual. 0 out of 10, would not recommend the conversation."
Wong finally turned around, his eyes narrowing as they landed on Satoru's pocket. He could feel it, a heavy and ancient weight that shouldn't be casually stored in one's pocket in a residential neighborhood of New York. It felt familiar, but… unfamiliar at the same time, he couldn't quite put a finger into it.
"Satoru," Wong said, his voice dropping an octave. "What is in your pocket?"
Satoru pulled out the Mind Stone and tossed it into the air. He caught it with a grin that was way too bright.
"A souvenir," Satoru said, winking behind his bandages. "Don't tell the Ancient One. I want it to be a surprise."
"She already knows," a calm, melodic voice drifted from the balcony above.
Satoru froze, the stone mid-air. He caught it and slowly looked up to see the Ancient One standing there, her hands tucked into her sleeves, watching him with an expression that was impossible to read.
"Well," Satoru sighed. "That was a fast 'surprise'."
…
[Author's Notes]: Daily chapter drop (One each): Monday → Sunday.
Powerstone Goal (When including the DCD and this goal is met, there'll be two chapters released when Sunday arrives): 1,000 Powerstones
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