A group of aging superheroes continued to battle against the evil villains who had ruled Earth for decades.
In the final moments of the video, Linen, wearing the Judge's mask, descended from the sky as if frozen in the last few seconds of time itself.
With overwhelming force, he slaughtered all the villains and monsters surrounding the old heroes.
Unfortunately, by the time the video's progress bar reached the end, the Avengers still hadn't seen the true mastermind behind everything.
As for why Linen wore a mask—
Well, the reason was simple.
This was fifty years in the future, and Linen had no idea what he would look like by then.
Perhaps he had already become… immortal.
That was why he only appeared in the final moments—and why he concealed his face.
As for why the mastermind never appeared at all, the explanation was even simpler.
Linen didn't know who the "master" mentioned by Matt Murdock and the hell-dimension creature actually was.
Once the video ended, the lights in the viewing hall turned back on.
Yet no one stood up to leave.
"Now we know that Dark Stephen Strange is also just a pawn," Natasha said, looking around the room.
"And in the final part of the video, when Linen appeared to help Steve and the others, he mentioned that Dark Stephen Strange came to our universe before the Battle of New York."
She paused.
"So I suspect… Dark Stephen Strange may already be in our universe."
Steve Rogers, who had remained silent until now, nodded slowly.
"I agree."
"It's very possible that a corrupted version of Stephen Strange is secretly planning something—and we're the target."
Thor clenched his fists.
"Compared to that, I'm more concerned about my sister, Hela. Why did I never know she existed?"
He stood up abruptly.
"I need to return to Asgard immediately—and find out why Surtur was capable of destroying it."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
In the blink of an eye, Thor vanished from the theater.
Tony Stark leaned back in his chair and clicked his tongue.
"Tsk… our universe really is a disaster zone."
"Maybe I should seriously think about putting a suit of armor around the entire planet."
"Tony—" Steve began.
But Tony raised a hand to interrupt him.
"Remember the argument we had in that previous video?" Tony pointed at the screen.
"That was the fuse."
"Wasn't that argument because you created Ultron?" Wanda asked quietly.
"I remember you saying you built Ultron to give Earth a layer of armor."
Tony shrugged.
"True."
"But compared to that fight, I'm more curious about the agreement that caused the Avengers to split."
"Oh—and Bucky Barnes. The Winter Soldier."
Tony glanced at Steve.
"I still remember that scene where you and Bucky teamed up to beat the hell out of me."
"Tony… that was—"
"Don't explain," Tony said, standing up and stretching.
"I forgive you on behalf of my future self. You know why."
"But if I ever run into the Winter Soldier…"
"I might not want to kill him like I originally did."
"But I do want to beat him up."
"Don't worry," Tony added lightly.
"I'll be very… gentle."
Steve could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
Howard and Maria Stark were alive—on the Moon—which eased Steve's guilt considerably.
But Bucky's whereabouts were still unknown.
In theory, Alexander Pierce had already been replaced by Skrulls under Nick Fury's control.
Steve should have been able to use "Pierce" to secretly locate Bucky.
Yet something had gone wrong.
The last base that had brainwashed Bucky had been completely wiped out.
Every Hydra guard was dead. Every super soldier was killed.
And Bucky was gone.
Even S.H.I.E.L.D.'s satellites couldn't find a trace of him.
Steve could only hope that Bucky was still alive.
As long as he was alive, there was hope.
When Steve had nothing, he still had Bucky.
Now that Bucky had nothing, Steve would never abandon him.
"I'll go look for Dark Stephen Strange."
Nick Fury stood up, his expression grave.
"We already know who our future enemies are."
"But the mastermind behind Dark Strange destroyed our universe in the original timeline."
"So we don't have time to waste."
"If we don't want to become that ruined future, we must prepare now."
"Maybe once we find Dark Stephen Strange, we can follow the clues back to the real mastermind."
After some final discussion, everyone began to leave the theater.
"Hey, kid. You alright?"
Just before leaving, Rocket Raccoon noticed Peter Parker standing there, lost in thought.
"I'm fine," Peter said after a brief pause, waving his hands.
"Really."
"That's good," Rocket said gruffly.
"This is just the future. Knowing it means it can be changed."
Hearing this, Andrew Garfield's version of Peter Parker thanked him sincerely.
In Peter's mind, Rocket had always been a sharp-tongued, sarcastic troublemaker.
He hadn't expected comfort—let alone kindness.
"Don't look at me like that," Rocket muttered.
"I lost my family once. So I get how you feel."
"Or maybe I should say—you just saw a painful future."
"There's still hope for you."
"But I really lost mine."
"If only I'd had this spoiler system earlier…" Rocket sighed.
Seeing Rocket's sadness, Peter squatted down and gently patted his shoulder.
Then Rocket suddenly brightened.
"But hey, at least the second-generation Groot grows up in the future. That's something."
"Oh, right—kid, what's that thing on your wrist?"
Peter immediately explained how the web-shooters worked.
"How much?"
"…Sorry. Not for sale."
"Oh. Then I'll order one."
"That's fine," Peter laughed.
"I'll make one for you when I get back."
Rocket's eyes widened.
"Huh? Kid, you're a good person."
He patted Peter's arm and walked out of the theater.
—
At the same time, in Queens.
"Achoo!"
Ten-year-old Peter Parker sneezed while doing his homework and rubbed his nose.
For some reason, he suddenly felt like something was missing from his wrist.
Ding…
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