• Published 26th May 2018
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Infinity Era - JDPrime22



Avengers: Infinity War / Avengers: Endgame crossover. The culmination has arrived. The Mad Titan has waited so long for this moment. Long live the Infinity Era.

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Chapter 121 – That Shield Belongs to You

121

Upstate New York

New Avengers Facility

11:20 a.m.

They answered the call. Every last one of them.

Steve Rogers and Matthew Murdock were not present for the Helicarrier’s entrance. They were witnesses of the time travel tests in the hangar bay alongside Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, Scott Lang, Twilight Sparkle, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Derpy, Maud, Tempest, Sunset, and Starlight. A few guests were able to join them, as well, those familiar faces belonging to none other than Thor Odinson and Clint Barton. Clint’s reunion with the mares he was most acquainted with went as well as expected, tearful hugs from the likes of Twilight and Rarity while Rainbow held it all in. Forced it in like Clint did. His heart fell when he noticed a lack of a certain pink mare amongst the group, already assuming the worst. He was glad Starlight was still there. Still alive. Sunset was really nice to him. They all were. He could assume why.

Clint merely watched the group fumble around with the “time machine” Scott brought with him, arms crossed and tattoo sleeve clear as day as he leaned against the wall. Thor sat in his jacket and sweat pants, a broken and longing look forever filling his facial features as he gazed to his old team tinkering about with the Quantum Tunnel.

The Quantum Tunnel in Scott’s van provided a means for the Avengers to tap into the limitless energy source of the Quantum Realm and harness it under their control. They tried to, at the very least. Failures and complications arose when Scott first and foremost volunteered as the test subject. Then Derpy stepped forth. Banner, with the minimal time he was given to actually study the tunnel, haphazardly organized a small station he used to control the Quantum Tunnel. With everyone and everypony present, they witnessed Scott and Derpy standing side by side near the back of Scott’s van, the Quantum Tunnel alive and vibrant behind them. They stood in safety suits, Derpy’s specially designed and Scott’s hauntingly reminiscent of a certain Hank Pym’s personal attire.

For the ponies, it was their final day on Earth before they promised to return to Equus. Starlight and Twilight were adamant and unmoved by Rainbow, Sunset, or anypony else who wanted to stay a minute longer. Once the sun set on that day, they would go home, back to their lives and their jobs that desperately needed them. Banner made sure to get the test running as quick as possible.

When it finally did, when Steve wished Scott and Derpy good luck and they vanished into the tunnel, it was only a few seconds before both returned. Their suits were visibly baggy, Scott about twenty years younger and Derpy standing as a cross-eyed filly.

Things didn’t get any better from that point on. A couple more malfunctions from Bruce’s end, sending the duo back through time again and again, and they came back as a baby and a foal respectively. Derpy’s straight forward eyes glistened, the baby pony crying loudly while Scott sucked on his suit’s thumb. Tried to and failed, Scott joining the foal in tears. Natasha and Steve ordered Bruce to bring them back to their original ages, Banner trying with all his might to figure out the blasted machine. He ended up punching it, yelling at Sunset to cut the power.

She did, and when they returned both Scott and Derpy were back to the same age, shaken and uncertain… but pleased to be back to what was normal. As normal as it could have been, Scott declaring, “I think I just pissed my own ass.”

Derpy rattled her head, removing her helmet and breathing out, crossed gaze returning and joining her smile. “Whoa… that was a rush. Oh, no, I’m gonna be sick!” Derpy exclaimed, hooves rising to cover her muzzle as she shot off with lightning-like speed to the nearest trash or bathroom. She didn’t make it to either, discharging herself right on the hangar floor with Rarity rushing forward and patting her backside, soothing her with calming words as the unicorn tried to look literally anywhere else.

Scott passed out and fell face-first on the ground, cracking his helmet.

Bruce shot out his hands and declared proudly, “Time travel!”

Twilight, Steve, Natasha, Rainbow, and Tempest all gazed to Banner with deadpan expressions.

“What?” Bruce asked. “Look, we did it. I see this as an absolute win.”

Starlight and Maud rushed over to pick Scott up and check him for injuries. Clint merely shook his head and dropped his gaze from where he stood, Thor sighing sadly and doing the same. Steve was about to persist into Banner’s ramblings when Matthew tapped his shoulder, prompting Rogers out of the hangar bay with the motion of his head. Together, the two of them walked directly through the halls and towards the living room, where Murdock told him he heard a few guests finally making their way to base. Once the Helicarrier made its presence known above the facility, Steve was the second one to know. The Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. contacted him on his personal cell, informing Steve to keep the doors unlocked for them. For all of them.

Steve and Matt met them in the living room. The first inside were the agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Director Mackenzie meeting Steve and Murdock with firm handshakes. Behind him firmly strode the remaining commanding agents in the entire organization. Melinda May shook both Steve and Matt’s hands, a frozen look of hardened steel embedded on her face. Piper and Davis were next, reuniting with the two Avengers properly. Then she stepped forward…

Quake herself—Daisy Johnson—strode forth in a skintight black and purple jumpsuit. Her hair was dyed differently since the last she crossed paths with Steve or any of the Avengers previously. It had been a couple of years after all. Her soft, light brown hair was decorated with purple highlights, long and flowing down her shoulders. The silver gauntlets remained on her forearms, Daisy slipping past Mack and May and stopping just short in front of Steve Rogers and Matthew Murdock.

Her hardened expression broke, that sweet smile returning to her as she stepped forward and met them both with a warm hug each. Steve met her smile alongside Murdock, glad to see a familiar and friendly face in Daisy Johnson. They weren’t alone by any means.

Shuri returned from her duties in Wakanda, a couple of Dora Milaje trailing her before she said it was safe to proceed alone. The warrior women stamped their vibranium spears in the floor twice before spinning around and returning to the exit of the facility, standing guard while Shuri reengaged with some old friends and socialized. She hugged Steve and Daisy, asking how each were doing since the last they conversed. Unfortunately, their short reunion was shorter than expected, the doors once more opening to reveal the next set of Avengers entering the facility.

Captain Marvel led the group of remaining Guardians of the Galaxy. Nebula, Rocket, and Groot trailed slowly behind Danvers, Carol’s blue sash waving behind her as she quickly approached Mack, Steve, and Shuri. The room seemed to emanate from her presence alone, it being so powerful that every eye turned her way, somehow gravitating towards her. Carol offered a quick but strong nod to both the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. and to the Queen of Wakanda, eventually turning her eyes to the lead Avenger in her presence.

“Captain,” Carol greeted formally, holding out her gloved-palm for Rogers to accept.

“Captain,” Steve responded, meeting her palm with a strong handshake.

James Rhodes landed just outside in his Mark VI War Machine armor, pushing through the front doors in loud, heavy footsteps towards the growing crowd of familiar faces. His helmet retracted back in his bulking suit, Rhodes smiling and meeting Steve and Matthew’s hands. He made sure to grip them softly, considering the power the War Machine held just in the suit. Breaking off, Rhodes turned to Danvers and nodded her way. Carol smiled to him with her arms crossed, nodding back.

That still wasn’t it. When Steve called everyone, literally everyone responded. It still came as a surprise and an even worse shock for Murdock especially when he heard the familiar heartbeats coming quickly. Then every head turned to the front doors, seeing the black 1969 Dodge Charger make its way towards the facility. The Hell Charger revved its fiery engine, driving up to the front of the facility and parking in the lot near the front doors. When those front doors opened, everyone was taken aback to say the least. They never expected to see Frank Castle or Robbie Reyes that day, responding to Steve’s call and actually willing to join them for what was to come. Yet there they were, the firmly established team of vigilantes stepping inside the New Avengers Facility. That was what everyone else was focused on…

Everyone except Matthew.

Because right behind them, a faint but familiar heartbeat caught his senses. Even with the dark shades covering his eyes, Matt flinched. Steve could still see the visible pain shift across Murdock’s features. At first, he didn’t understand why Matt was acting in such a way. Probably because he sensed Castle and was taken by surprise just like everyone else. It went deeper than that.

When she stepped forward… Steve finally realized that.

Both Frank and Robbie stepped aside, unveiling the woman who had been standing behind their tall, protective bodies. They stepped away right in front of Murdock, making sure there was nowhere else she could have looked except dead ahead. She gasped when she saw him, Matt hearing that breath and losing his own. Unable to breathe, perceive, or believe who was standing in front of him, Matt shook his head, a pang of agony flushing through his veins and into his heart. He tried to ignore it, tried to believe otherwise. But she was right there. Flesh and blood, beating heart, and flaming, burning body standing before him.

Elektra Natchios felt the same exact way. “Matthew?” she whispered, so utterly quiet no one heard her.

Matt dropped his cane. He heard her.

And he could finally believe it. “Elektra?” he whispered back.

The distance between the two was cut, Elektra taking those necessary steps that both needed. In just a breathing distance, the two stood, both completely at a loss for words. Shakily, Elektra rose a hand and rested it against Murdock’s cheek. He did the same, his fingers feeling her forehead and pushing her strands of hair aside. He felt her. He heard her. That was more than enough for Murdock to believe again. Elektra gasped out, cried, leapt forward and hugged him with a fierce intensity. She shivered against Murdock’s body, Matthew returning her embrace with just as much strength, his palm wrapping around the back of her head as he held her close. Right next to his beating heart.

Feeling hers.

“I believed I lost you,” Elektra whimpered, tears welling in her eyes as she held Matthew tighter and tighter. She shut her eyes, those droplets escaping and striking Matt’s backside. “I believed for so long…”

Murdock couldn’t even speak. He just held her. Never letting go again. “Me too.”

Steve stepped outside the facility, his own eyes growing misty and needing the fresh air while he left Matthew and Elektra personal time to reunite. He left everyone to do just that, taking the moment of peace to just… acknowledge it all. Their failings and their proceedings. He observed the Hell Charger to his left, the Benatar further off and resting on the lawn. Directly in front of him, Steve could see the Zephyr One resting on the front lawn. High above him, the Helicarrier hovered over the facility, its quad engines somehow nearly silent despite keeping the gargantuan war vessel afloat.

His hands fell deep into his pockets, knowing that despite the old team finally coming together after years of absence and silence… it may have been for nothing. A sleepless night of studying the Quantum Tunnel had led to only failure in trying to understand and harness the power of time travel. Scott made it sound easy, and even Banner did at times, but he could tell neither one of their experts knew a lick about how to control the chaos of the Quantum Realm. It only pained him more to know that Twilight and the others would most likely be leaving later that night if things didn’t proceed quickly, and he couldn’t blame them. They had a country to run. They had ponies back in Equestria who needed them. The time they could give just by being there right then and prior was more than Steve could have asked of them. He was grateful for their help either way, even if they did decide to leave them to their hopeless efforts.

Nothing but hopeless efforts to a hopeless cause.

Steve pondered that, the reverberations growing louder from within him as he finally lifted his head, gazed out across the lawn and onto the speeding Audi e-tron GT.

Curious at that, Steve furrowed his brow and watched the car speed across the road. Once it became clearer, Steve recognized the color and license plate, the car screeching and drifting to the far right as it ended up on the front steps of the New Avengers Facility. Right in front of Steve Rogers. The door opened and Tony Stark stepped out, hovering just outside the open car door.

Stark had a lot of expectations that day, and seeing Steve Rogers alone outside the New Avengers Facility already didn’t spell anything too comforting for him. The look on his face was even more disheartening, but it didn’t deter Tony from being there. He met Rogers’ expression with a strong, helpful smile. It fell quickly after, nothing but a straight, emotionless line filling what remained.

“Thought you already made up your mind?” Steve asked, hands still in his pockets.

“Oh, I did,” Tony mused, fingers tapping on the side of his car door. A moment of awkward silence filled them both, Tony shaking his head and biting his lip. “But… then again… you guys always got me thinking back in the day. Must’ve jogged something since your last visit. Is Twilight still here?”

Steve nodded, earning a sigh of relief from Stark. “They’ll be leaving later tonight.”

Tony’s brow hardened, lips pursing in thought. “Yeeeaaah… about that…”

Curious at Tony’s words, Steve stared at him quizzically. Tony stared back, meeting Steve’s expression with a knowing grin. “I think we all might be staying here longer than we expect to,” he told him, noting how long that curious expression filled Steve’s face. “I’m saying that I figured it out, Rogers. God, do I have to spell it?”

Steve sighed, nodding again. “That would be appreciated.”

Tony stepped fully out of the vehicle, closing the door behind him and holding up his left wrist. Turning from his eyes to his wrist, Steve only further narrowed his eyes when he spotted that strange wrist device attached to his hand. He continued to analyze it even as Stark said, “Little invention of mine. I call it a Time Travel GPS. Working title, but for now it fits.”

“You’re on board?” Rogers asked, turning back to Tony’s eyes.

Tony’s smirk only continued to grow. He turned to his left, muttering, “Almost.”

He followed Stark to the back of the vehicle, watching as Tony opened the trunk and pushed aside the blanket splayed across the trunk’s flooring. What emerged bright and colorful under the near-afternoon sun only caused Steve to sigh, his expression faltering when Tony pulled it for him to fully see.

Steve didn’t need to see the pain of the past at the moment. Even his old shield brought back painful memories.

Tony took the shield right from the facility’s armory after the Second Snap, keeping it for himself after he outed Steve and the rest of the Avengers from his life. Like years before, he still felt like it belonged to the man who actually made the shield, Tony’s own father. However, the way he held it now was a little more… calming. Offering. It was even repaired from what Steve could see, the ancient claw marks removed and glossed over in a shining, shimmering coat. Stark stood awkwardly with it, that same smile still held Steve’s way, even when he didn’t respond in kind.

All he could respond with was a shake of his head, saying, “Tony, I don’t know—”

“Try it on,” Stark persisted.

With as much reluctance as he could offer, Steve reached forward and plucked the shield right from Tony’s arms. It was heavy at first, somewhat awkward from not holding it for several years. But soon, that familiar weight returned to him, the feeling and shape growing accustomed once in the right hands. And when he held it, Steve stared down to it, an ancient and forgotten smile returning to him.

Captain America’s rightful shield returning to him all the same.

“Still fits,” Steve noted with a smile, turning that warmth back up to Stark. “Thank you, Tony.”

“Don’t thank me yet,” Tony told him, pointing beyond. “What’s the situation look like inside?”

Resting his left arm and shield to his side, Steve shook his head. “We’ve been having some trouble… like with baby Scott and Derpy.”

Stark pulled out his briefcase and shut the trunk, nodding just once. “Just point me to it.”

Tony Stark’s reception was met with an overall positive field of view. What wasn’t seen or wasn’t heard never fell upon the group, nor did any pay attention to the negative light. Tony met Rhodes with a strong hug, best friends reunited at long last. They all congregated to the hangar bay with Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Carol Danvers, and Alphonso Mackenzie leading the group of newcomers to the facility. Those previously present harmoniously turned at the same time to see their approach. Clint pushed away from the wall he leaned against, eyes latched onto the man he hadn’t seen in over six years. Thor, as well, turned from his chair and fully opened his eye to see the one and only Tony Stark entering an old and forgotten home of his. Natasha, Bruce, and Scott all focused in congregation alongside the others, Natasha’s warm smile growing across her red lips when she saw that notable smirk grow across Stark’s face. Behind him walked an army.

Meeting the army of equines.

After finally tending to Scott’s health and confirming he was fine, Twilight and Sunset, Starlight and Rainbow, Rarity, Maud, Tempest, and finally Derpy all turned in accordance with the rest of their fellow Avengers. Derpy was still feeling a little green, but even she was able to smile when the likes of Rocket Raccoon, Nebula, and Groot came into the picture. However, her crossed eyes rose up to join the rest of the mares, rising past Groot’s trunk-like legs to gaze onto his face.

The young adult smiled warmly to the mares, Groot offering a gruff and friendly, “I am Groot.”

Five years definitely showed, especially for Groot. For all of them.

For… “Tony…” Twilight muttered, almost breathless with disbelief.

Stark pursed his lips and gripped his briefcase with both hands, nodding once to the Alicorn.

Before a moment of awkward silence could infest them, Steve took a step outward, announcing loud to the congregation, “Make yourselves at home! We’re gonna be here all day, so you might as well get settled in!”

They followed through on that order, the likes of Director Mackenzie taking Daisy, May, Piper, and Davis to settle down and set up their operations near the van. Rocket let Groot to go off and get some food in the kitchen while he and Nebula joined up with Steve and the other Avengers. Reyes gravitated towards the kitchen, as well, while Frank followed closely behind him. The Punisher cast both Murdock and Natchios a waning glance, watching as they both settled themselves privately towards the living room. Probably for the best to get some personal time to ask questions and learn from one another where either had been the past five years. Carol joined Steve and Tony alongside James, forming a growing group of Avengers, Guardians, and equines around the control console for the Quantum Tunnel.

“As for the rest of you,” Tony acknowledged, turning from every Avenger to finally rest his eyes with Banner’s, “... might wanna sit down for this one.”

He held out his briefcase for everyone to notice. They did. They all listened to him, leading Stark to one of the various offices in the hangar bar. They congregated as a massive unit, from the likes of Tony, Steve, Natasha, Bruce, Thor, and Clint to Carol, Rocket, Nebula, Shuri, James, and Scott. With them trotted or flew the mares, Twilight walking alongside Tony with Sunset and Starlight joining her. Maud trotted slowly by Nebula’s side, each one of them casting the other a quick glance, an even quicker smile shared between them. Derpy hovered by Rocket, the raccoon silently greeting her with an upwards nod. Derpy stuck out her tongue and did the same, trying to look cool and utterly failing. Rocket rolled his eyes and focused ahead. Tempest strode alongside Clint and Thor, Rarity by her side and both unicorns gazing with growing uncertainty towards the God of Thunder. There was a dark cloud of unease hovering above him, and it sent shivering chills across either mares’ coats.

And Rainbow Dash…

She hovered right next to a certain Captain America, eyes falling down to his left arm and smiling softly to it. “It’s good to see the shield back where it belongs,” Rainbow commented, rose-rimmed irises rising up and meeting Steve warmly.

Steve smiled back.

They settled themselves in the largest office in the hangar bay, Tony laying his briefcase down on the table and popping it open. Twilight and Sunset propped themselves up by his sides, hooves resting on the table as Tony pulled out a plethora of strange wrist devices. Twilight tilted her head at that, her growing curiosity matched with Sunset’s. She matched perfectly with the rest of the Avengers, Tony holding out his left wrist and declaring, “This… is a Time Travel GPS.”

Everyone fell silent. Carol leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. Rocket hopped up on the nearest table and stood up, meeting Natasha and Scott’s height to his left and right, Natasha barely paying him any heed while Lang just couldn’t look away from the bipedal raccoon crossing his arms. As if the ponies weren’t already the most batshit insane creatures he had seen walking the earth.

Tony continued, making sure everyone could see his wrist. “What it allows us to do is travel to and from certain points in time, wherever we want as long as we adjust the coordinates and year in them. The only thing it’s missing, however… is the means to travel through time. That especially doesn’t help from what Mr. Rogers told me about some… complications.”

Scott crossed his arms and studied his shoes. “May have aged rapidly…”

“I threw up!” Derpy exclaimed, waving her hoof high in the air.

“Lovely,” Tony grunted, dropping his wrist to rest his palms on the table by Sunset and Twilight.

“We have a plan,” Natasha said, bringing the focus of the room on her. She turned all around, trying to meet every eye through every syllable she uttered. “Use the Quantum Realm to find those time vortexes Scott told us about. After that, we find the six Infinity Stones years before Thanos even has a chance to get them. We bring those Stones back to our time, snap our fingers, bring everybody back.”

“Boom,” Rhodes stated aloud. Just then, he furrowed his brow at Natasha’s explanation, turning back to her, Banner, and Stark. “Wait a minute, if we can go back in time, why don’t we just find Thanos when he’s a baby and… well…”

He made the motion with his pointing finger, wrapping an invisible rope around in front of him before tightening both of his fists outwards. It took a second for others to catch on, but when they did a good chunk of the room was practically mortified. Others fell completely on the opposite end, Rocket nodding slowly alongside Nebula.

Rainbow even raised her hoof. “I’m down.”

“No, you’re not!” Twilight shouted, pointing an accusing hoof in Dash’s direction. She turned that same accusation towards Rhodes, disgust in her expression. “James, that is horrible!”

“It’s Thanos!” Rhodes argued.

Banner shot out his green hand, declaring, “You got it all wrong—”

“Honestly…”

Everyone turned accordingly to Starlight Glimmer, the rising heat and tension in the room cooling considerably when Starlight allowed it to be so. She captured her audience and let that silence be that washing flood over them, cooling them to the point where she could get her point across clear and concise. Perhaps a point she should have brought up much, much earlier.

From where she sat in her chair, Starlight shook her head and stared to the floor, recalling her personal experiences with time travel. Every mortifying and wretched nightmare turned into reality for what could have been had Twilight not saved her. She breathed shakily, beginning with a soft, somber tone, “Messing with time… doesn’t really end well for anyone. Time tends to mess back… and Twilight can back me up on this.”

The room took a sudden and complete shift to the front.

“Twilight…” Steve called, his voice distant, eyes longing. Wanting to know.

The Alicorn fidgeted from where she stood. Ever since she discovered that the Avengers wanted to bring everyone back and save the universe with time travel, all she could ever really think about were her own experiences with the phenomena. Heck, she and Starlight practically broke the universe last time they messed with time travel. She held it in for quite some time now, but it was finally time to come clean. Time to reveal the horrifying truth about time travel.

She sighed and hopped away from the desk, slowly trotting over to its side to present herself fully to every eye in the room.

“Years ago, back when Starlight was still… well… evil,” Twilight began, sending a weak and awkward smile to the unicorn. Starlight merely rolled her eyes and smiled back. “She… stole an ancient spell from Star Swirl the Bearded. A time travel spell, modified slightly to her own desire in order for her to change the past on our world so that my friends and I never met. The only problem was… that it was dangerous.”

Starlight took over, saying, “Every time I would alter something slightly in the past, a new, horrific scenario would play out in the future. Whether that be an old villain succeeding in their plans to rule Equestria, the complete destruction of our world and all life, or… sometimes even worse than that… we couldn’t deny that messing with time was the wrong way to solve any problem. Because if we do… it could create even more problems for the future.”

Twilight returned to the spotlight. “We even considered it back on Equus after Thanos destroyed the Infinity Stones, but even then we knew that just one little act can snowball into an apocalyptic future. It especially didn’t help to know that Star Swirl’s spell was lost in time after the whole debacle. Even if we tried to replicate it… there was no telling what we could cause.”

Twilight took a seat right on the floor, her eyes falling to it and joining Starlight’s downtrodden expression. “There was no telling what we could damage,” she finished sadly.

An overwhelming sense of uncertainty and even early defeat filled every Avenger and Guardian, the equines faring no better and letting that darkness consume them. Carol Danvers, especially, knew much of what they were all feeling, having grown quite accustomed to it in recent time. Failure was no stranger to her, and it was an unwelcome one all the same. With that clouding sense of uncertainty laid upon their foundations, one soul found the strength to smile again. To laugh.

They all turned to see Bruce Banner chuckling softly, confusion filling their gazes. Shaking his head, Banner rested his mighty palms on his hips, stating softly, “You know, a lot of people hold the same ideas on what time travel really is. How it works, how the future can be changed by our actions in the past…”

His tongue jutted his lower lips outwards, Banner tracing the inside of his mouth as he lifted his eyes and met Twilight’s. “What if I said we could prevent all of that?” he said with a smile.

No one said anything. No one objected to Bruce or his words. They just listened in, bodies moving closer and breaths held. Twilight quickly stumbled to all four hooves, a gleaming sense of wonder and hope filling her large, violet eyes. With every eye on him, Banner turned his head aside, eyes hidden beneath his glasses gazing onto Stark’s wrist device. “I’ve been doing some side research while we were studying the Quantum Tunnel. Taking a look at those time vortexes Scott mentioned; it turns out they’re real. Each one can lead off into a timeline completely separate to ours, but similar in a sense.”

“What kind of sense?” Carol asked.

Bruce turned to her. What he said took their conjoined breaths away.

“In theory… changing the past doesn’t change the future… it only creates a separate timeline from our own,” Banner explained, meeting Twilight’s eyes once more. “Every horrific scenario of the future you and Starlight witnessed, Twilight, that was a separate timeline. All we need to do is take the Stones from the past and to our present time, bring everyone back, return the Stones to the exact moment they were taken… and everything will turn out fine. Everything will play out like it has, and our future will be saved.”

Everyone and everypony were caught in similar or separate states of awe. They all tried to absorb Banner’s words, breathe them in and believe them, but it still seemed too difficult to do so. It still seemed utterly unbelievable. Even Banner fell into that category, sighing as he took a seat on a scrunched and bending chair. “But, of course… that’s just a theory.”

“I would say that’s a breath of fresh air if you didn’t include that last sentence,” Stark piped up.

Bruce turned his way. “Sorry, Tony.”

Stepping away from behind the desk, Tony closed his briefcase and made his roundabouts throughout the room, cascading across every Avenger, every Guardian, and everypony. “You know, I’ve been worried about this whole ‘time travel thing’,” he uttered mindlessly, just speaking what came up first and foremost. He shook his head. “God, we gotta get a better name for that.”

“Time Heist?” Scott suggested.

“Okay, Scott doesn’t get to name anything from here on out,” Tony replied, a disgruntled frown growing across Lang’s features. Tony ignored him, leaning against an abandoned chair with his hands tightly straining against it. “But… I just never knew for certain if the plan to undo the past would change my life now. If it is just a theory, then maybe we can take my plan close to heart all the same.”

Clint shrugged, the room turning to him when he offered, “It wouldn’t hurt to follow the path Tony laid out. Which would be…?”

“Three years,” Tony said, stepping away from the chair. “Three exact moments in time where we know the Infinity Stones are at. 2012 when the Space, Mind, and Time Stones are in New York. Hopefully the wizard will be a little more understanding of us taking his precious relic. 2013 when Thor mentioned the Aether to us a while back, also known as the Reality Stone. And… um…”

“2014 for the Power Stone,” Nebula suggested, the room shifting her way. “That was when Quill found it on Morag. It was before Ronan or my father knew of its whereabouts.”

“Could that work for the Soul Stone, as well?” Sunset inquired. “It would probably still be in Wakanda, right?”

Shuri nodded. “The Soul Stone should still be concealed under the vibranium meteor by that time. However, reaching it… would be a very difficult endeavor.”

“I think we can manage,” Tony returned, taking that spotlight and basking in it, arms held out and waiting for their vast approval. “So, what do you think?”

The room was quiet, mulling over the plan again and again in their heads. In theory, it could work out. If the tools they were given functioned properly, then they most certainly could travel to the past and obtain the Infinity Stones in each desired location. The complications that surrounded it, however, spelled an even greater means of trouble for the future or themselves. If they failed in the past—and with as much Pym Particles as was on Scott’s person allowed—then there could be no other chances left. That didn’t even amount to the theories of time travel Banner and Twilight suggested. Would the past change the future? Would their actions not even change a thing? It was a gamble, the biggest gamble of their lives. But it was a gamble where they needed to make a decision. Nowhere else in the universe were others trying to change what happened, Carol knew that for a fact. But right there, on the small, insignificant planet Earth… there were those brave individuals willing to take that chance.

Only if they agreed to it.

Unfortunately, not everyone saw it the same way. Someone still had some waning fears of what awaited them, and he made his presence known when he said, “It’s a little more complicated than that.”

The room fell silent and the spotlight turned on Scott Lang.

His skin was pale, arms crossed and hand resting on his chin and over his mouth. The subtle shiver in his limbs could be seen, as well as the shake in his tone could be heard when he spoke, “I’ve been telling you guys for days now, and you’ve even seen what the Quantum Realm does when Derpy and I went through. It’s nearly unstable in how it works. We could go back in time, we could be thrust into alternate realities, different timelines from where we need to go, in another universe entirely. I’ve seen it! We can’t be sure because the Quantum Realm is just that: uncertainty. We could try again and again, but… in the end, I just don’t know what’s gonna happen if we step into the unknown.”

That same, familiar fear filled them once more, Scott once again bringing them back to that horrible reality of messing with forces they did not fully understand. Thor showed it well in the fear laced around his facial features, the shaking breaths leaving the God of Thunder. Even Twilight, Starlight, Sunset, Derpy, and Rarity showed their unease, some mares visibly shivering while others whimpered softly. Almost in a defeated manner. Even Rainbow Dash, Maud, and Tempest Shadow fell because of that, a bead of sweat trailing down Dash’s forehead and a soft gulp on Tempest’s end. Maud exhaled softly through her muzzle, drawn-out and winded.

And there he was once again, able to bring them out of that darkness.

“That’s why we have these,” Stark said, once again lifting his wrist to show the device attached to it. He pointed back to his briefcase. “One for each us, and plenty more where that came from. As long as we can harness the quantum energy, I can get us exactly where we need to go and back.”

Even with unstable assurance, Scott was hardly moved. He couldn’t really take it any other way, knowing that doing something, in the end… was better than doing nothing. He met Tony’s eyes, finally nodding. “I just hope you’re right, Stark.”

Tony dropped his wrist. “Yeah, I hope I am, too. Hopeful we at least get second chance.”

Just then, the light bulb went off in Scott’s brain at those words. His eyes arose, bugged and adrenaline-filled. “A second chance… but what if we had more than that? We’ll need a backup plan just in case,” Scott said with a snap of his fingers. He turned about in a full 360 degrees with Carol staring at him with a hardened, confused brow rising. The mares giggled to his antics. Finally, he found his target, approaching Rhodes quickly.

He asked, “War Machine, you think you can give me a quick ride somewhere?”

James smiled, mask closing over his face and red eyes igniting to life. “Better buckle in, regular-sized man.”

Author's Note:

Let the time travel arguments commence. *grabs popcorn*

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