[MC POV]
The tension in the room was visible. Everyone tensed at those words and stared at us with varying expressions.
"If I had to say," I started, putting a finger on my chin, tilting my head a little. "I would say that, I know the general location of all the stones."
"And?" Tony ashered.
"By now, Thanos has the Power Stone and the Mind Stone," Nozomi started explaining.
"And the Reality Stone," Quinn added. "He used it when he took Gamora."
"So now he should be going after the Soul Stone. It is located on a planet called Vormir. To get it, he would have to sacrifice the one thing he loves the most, or in this case, the one person."
The Guardian's breath hitched, understanding the implication.
"He is going to sacrifice Gamora," Mantis concluded in a shaky breath.
Quinn's eyes narrowed before he raised his blasters once more, pointing them at my face. The Avengers got into an attacking position. "You, how do you know all this?"
I looked at the blasters in my face in more amusement than worry. "Well, unlike some people, I don't go into a fight empty-handed. I use my head, collect data, and then attack."
He looked like he wanted to say more, but was stopped by Tony. "Even though you enjoy holding guns in kids' faces, I would restrain myself with them if I were you; they are the ones with the most knowledge against Thanos."
"How do you know they don't work for Thanos?" Quinn asked, not relenting.
"Because we watched them kill Thanos' generals. And don't mistake, I am saving you from them," Tony shot back, causing Quinn to scoff.
"Quinn, we don't have much time. We need to go save Gamora," Drax spoke up. Quinn hesitated for a second longer before lowering his blasters.
"Anything else we should know?" Strange asked, serious.
"Yeah. Whatever you do, you must not give Thanos the stone under any condition," I pointed at the necklace around his neck. He looked confused but still nodded.
"Well, with that, you should probably get going," Nozomi suggested, looking at the Guardians.
They nodded and turned, heading back to their ship. But before they left, Quinn turned back to us. "If I find this information incorrect, I will hunt you down across the entire galaxy myself and shove a bomb up your-"
"Okay, enough out of you," Mantis said, cutting him off and dragging him away.
"I take payment in the form of dinner only," I shouted behind him as he was dragged away.
The hum of the ship filled the space the Guardians left behind.
I watched the stars drift past the viewport as their vessel peeled away, vanishing into the void. One path chasing Thanos. One path is bracing for him.
Tony broke the silence first. "Alright. Space Alien and Emotional Damage Squad are off on a suicide mission. That leaves us."
Peter raised a hand. "Uh—quick question. Vision's the guy with the forehead Wi-Fi, right? The stone is still in his head?"
"Yes," Tony said flatly. "And Thanos will come for it."
"Cool," Peter said. "Just checking how doomed we are."
Nozomi stepped beside me, arms folded. "Wakanda is the safest place to make a stand. Advanced tech, isolation, and people who don't panic easily."
Tony glanced at her. "You say that like you've been there."
She didn't answer.
I pushed off the wall and faced them. "Listen carefully. Vormir is going to decide who Thanos becomes. Wakanda will decide whether he finishes the job."
Strange turned to me again. "You're still holding back."
I shrugged. "You asked for directions, not spoilers."
Tony sighed. "I hate it that you're right."
The ship shifted course, engines flaring as Earth's blue glow grew larger on the main screen.
Peter leaned closer to me, lowering his voice. "So… on a scale from one to 'we're all dust,' how bad is this?"
I looked at him, really looked at him.
"You're going to be scared," I said honestly. "You're going to hurt. And you're still going to stand up."
He swallowed. Then nodded. "Okay. I can do that."
Tony stared forward, jaw set. "We get Vision out. We destroy the stone if we have to."
Strange didn't look convinced—but he didn't argue.
I closed my eyes for a brief second.
Two teams. Two choices. Both are racing toward the same ending.
And somewhere, on a dead planet under a red sky, Thanos was already climbing the mountain.
The jump out of hyperspace rattled the ship just enough to remind us we weren't invincible.
Earth filled the screen, calm and blue—mocking, honestly. Tony was already barking orders at FRIDAY, pulling up Wakanda's defenses, satellite feeds, anything that looked like a weak point Thanos could exploit. Strange stood near the window, cloak drifting slightly as if it could feel what was coming.
Nozomi leaned toward me. "Once we land, things won't slow down."
"They never do," I said. "They just get louder."
Peter shifted in his seat, tapping his fingers against his leg. "So… worst-case scenario, we just pop the stone out, right? Like surgery?"
Tony shot him a look. "Kid, it's more like brain surgery performed by a god with a sword."
"That's… not comforting."
The ship began its descent toward Wakanda, bright blue shields shimmering into view like a warning to the sky itself. Even from here, I could feel it—anticipation, fear, resolve. A battlefield pretending to be a sanctuary.
When the ship finally touched ground and the doors opened, the Wakandan soldiers tensed behind the barrier. I walked out first, and Nozomi walked out behind me, and that was a bad idea, as all their eyes narrowed. I saw Bruce in the Hulkbuster suit, Steve in his new black suit, Bucky, War Machine, and even the Falcon.
I smiled as Tony stepped out behind us. "Quite the reception, honestly, I am flattered."
T'Challa and Steve stepped forward until they were right in front of or behind the barrier.
"Should I assume you are with them?" T'Challa asked him.
"The three in the back I know, the two in front, I don't," Steve responded with narrowed eyes.
"Hey, Steve, it's been a while," Tony greeted casually as if the world was not ending. "I see that you chose a new look. Is that to scare the coming threat?"
"It's been a while. Who are the kids?" Steve ignored the jab and went straight to the point.
Tony looked back at us before answering. "Oh, them. They are our advantage against the incoming Threat."
Steve raised an eyebrow, but Nozomi spoke up before he could. "Captain America, I am Kirigaya Nozomi, and this is my brother, Kirigaya Hiro. We would like to assist in this war against Thanos."
T'Challa—who was still there by the way—and Steve exchanged a look. "I don't know what Tony and the rest see in you, but I am not a fan of letting kids participate in wars. Especially against aliens." Steve replied as the area in front of us opened up.
"Does anything about them scream 'human' to you?" Tony asked, stepping inside first. He then froze mid-step and turned to us. "You're not human, right?"
"We're not human," I replied, amused by his fear of racism. "We're yokias, specifically, Kitsunes."
"Oh, thank God," Tony breathed out as we entered, the barrier closing behind us.
"What did you mean when you said these kids are our advantage?" T'Challa finally spoke up.
"You can talk? I was starting to think you're mute," I said with mock surprise. He shot me a look but chose to ignore me.
"These kids have more information on Thanos than anyone here, and they have the firepower to back it up," Steve backed us up.
T'Challa and Steve looked unconvinced, but didn't push the topic.
The air inside Wakanda felt… heavy. Not humid, not oppressive—just charged. Like the land itself knew what was coming and was bracing for impact.
We were escorted deeper past the barrier, Wakandan soldiers flanking us with disciplined silence—spears, shields, tech that looked ancient and futuristic at the same time. Nozomi leaned closer to me, voice low.
"They don't trust us."
I snorted quietly. "Good. Means they're smart."
Steve walked a few steps ahead, shoulders tense, eyes scanning everything like he was already on the battlefield. Bucky stayed near him, metal arm catching the light. When he glanced back at us, his gaze lingered for a second longer than necessary—assessing, weighing.
"So," Bruce finally broke the silence, "you two just… show up out of nowhere, scare the hell out of Stark, and now you're our 'advantage'?"
"Pretty much," I replied. "We skipped the press tour."
War Machine huffed. "I like him."
Bruce—still stuck in the Hulkbuster—looked down at us, nervous energy practically vibrating through the suit. "Tony says you know how this ends."
I met his eyes through the glass. "I know how it can end."
That didn't seem to comfort him.
Vision stood a little apart from the rest, hand resting unconsciously near the stone in his forehead. Wanda was beside him, protective, tense, like a coiled wire. When our eyes met, she flinched—just a little.
"You afraid of us?" Nozomi asked gently.
Wanda didn't deny it. "You look at us like you already know the pain."
I didn't answer. Some truths weren't meant to be spoken out loud.
Tony clapped his hands together suddenly. "Alright, before this turns into group therapy: Shuri's prepping to try removing the stone. We buy her time. That's the plan."
"And if it fails?" Steve asked.
Tony's jaw tightened. "Then we adapt."
T'Challa finally stopped walking and turned to face us fully. King to warriors. His voice was calm, but there was steel underneath it. "If you fight in Wakanda, you fight to protect its people. Not glory. Not pride."
I met his gaze without hesitation. "Then we're aligned."
For a split second, something like approval flickered in his eyes.
Tony, Shuri, Wanda, and Vision entered the castle to get the operation started. There was a short moment of silence.
Short.
Then—
WEEOOO—WEEOOO—WEEOOO
The sound cut through the air like a blade.
Every Wakandan soldier snapped to attention instantly. Outside, above the forest surrounding Wakanda, a ship was hovering on top. The ship then landed, and the back opened. As soon as the hatch was opened, hundreds, if not thousands, of outriders pored out of the hatch in a frenzied state.
Holographic displays erupted to life around us, showing the Wakandan shield… and what was pressing against it.
An army.
No—worse.
A tide.
Dark shapes slammed against the energy barrier again and again, screeching, clawing, throwing themselves forward with mindless ferocity.
"Outriders," Steve said grimly.
Bruce swallowed. "That's… a lot of them."
Nozomi's aura stirred beside me, just a whisper, barely contained. "They're early."
War Machine looked at the display, face hardening into something sharp and familiar. "Guess Thanos doesn't like waiting."
T'Challa stepped forward, voice carrying. "All units, prepare for engagement."
The ground seemed to hum beneath our feet as Wakanda armed itself.
I exhaled slowly, rolling my shoulders.
"So," I muttered, eyes locked on the writhing mass beyond the shield, "this is where it stops being theory."
Nozomi smiled, sharp and fearless. "About time."
Everyone returned to their original position in a span of seconds. The long-distance fighters were firing at the outriders that managed to make it through Wakanda's defence. Bruce was blasting them with his repulsors, Bucky with his sniper, and War Machine was flying above them using anything and everything he had to reduce their numbers.
In the corner of my eye, I caught the outriders trying to go around the barrier. I turned to T'Challa, who was looking at the tide in front of him with narrowed eyes. "Hey, king. It might be a good idea to keep the things in front of us rather than have them surround us."
He looked at the outriders making their way around the shield. Steve's face tightened, and that's when I noticed the beautiful platinum blonde-haired woman next to him, Natasha. Wasn't her hair red this morning? Before I could ponder on it any longer, Steve spoke up. "We'd better keep them in front of us." He raised his new shields, a sharp part on the top popping out.
T'Challa then crossed his arms over his chest, his mask sliding back in place as he shouted, opening the shield in front of us. "Wakanda Forever!"
With that, both sides charged, except the two of us. We had a different approach. "Hiro, throw me."
"With pleasure."
Both Nozomi and I kicked off the ground at the same time, jumping ten meters high. At the apex of our jump, I used geppo and kicked the empty air. Using the momentum to spin around, I grabbed Nozomi's hand and rotated rapidly before throwing her with the momentum into the middle of the tide. Nozomi's body caused white ripples in the air as her body descended on the outriders like a meter.
KAAABOOOOM!
Nozomi's body crushed into their center, causing a massive explosion and crater. When the dust settled, Nozomi was standing over a dozen outriders' corpses, holding one by the throat as it breathed its last. This caused the other outriders to freeze and glance back. In that second of hesitation, T'Challa jumped into a group of outriders and released a massive amount of kinetic energy, killing most of them in the process. Steve was also already in their midst due to his super-human speed; he was butchering outriders with the sharp part of his shield.
"I guess Tony wasn't exaggerating," Steve commented, still slaughtering the outriders.
"You ain't seen nothing yet," I shouted, excitement lancing my voice as I landed behind him, punching an outrider that had almost bit him, causing a web-like crater in the ground and caving the outrider's head in, crushing its skull. I then raised my hand with a battle-crazed grin. Five silver spears of light formed above my head. With a flick of my wrist, I sent them flying over to Bruce, whose armour was being latched onto by outriders, vapourizing them.
I caught the look that Steve gave me and smirked, knowing what he was thinking.
'Just how strong are these kids?'
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I apologize very much for not uploading chapters for the passed days. I had promised a Christmas special, but I wasn't able to upload the chapter as I was in another place for a while, and a lot of things took place.
I sincerely apologize. I will be posting one chapter each day as it was before, until the 3rd. On the 5th of January, I will have some tests at school, so I have to prepare, and then the schedule will be reviewed, and some changes will be made, as once I am back in school, I won't be able to release a chapter every day.
Leave a review to help me write my book better, and don't forget to drop the power stones.
Peace out.