[Avengers Compound. The Lab. One Hour Later.]
Grief is a heavy blanket, but work is the fire that burns it away.
Tony worked feverishly. He didn't speak. He just manipulated the hologram, fusing the Infinity Stones into the nanotech housing of the new gauntlet.
"The glove is ready," Rocket said, tightening the last bolt.
"The structure is sound," Tony muttered. "But the energy output... whoever puts this on, it's going to light them up like a Christmas tree."
"I'll do it," Thor stepped forward. He looked disheveled, his beard matted, his eyes desperate. "Let me do it. Let me do something good. Let me bring her back."
"Thor, you can't," Steve stopped him. "You're in no condition."
"It has to be me," Bruce Banner said. He looked at the gauntlet. "The radiation is mostly Gamma. It's like... I was made for this."
Sebastian stood in the corner, guarding the door. He watched them argue over who would burn themselves to save the universe.
"Sebastian?" Tony looked up.
"Do not ask me to wear it, Sir," Sebastian said quietly. "I am a creature of the void. Those stones are pure creation. If I touch them, we will simply annihilate each other."
"I wasn't asking you to wear it," Tony said. "I was asking you to lock the doors. Whatever happens... F.R.I.D.A.Y., full lockdown."
[The Snap]
Bruce slid his massive green hand into the Iron Gauntlet.
The nanosuit expanded to fit him.
CLANG.
The stones activated.
Bruce screamed. Power surged through his arm, turning his veins black. He dropped to one knee. The compound shook.
"Take it off!" Thor yelled.
"No!" Bruce roared. "I'm okay!"
Sebastian stepped in front of Tony, shielding him with his body as sparks flew from the gauntlet. The energy in the room was blinding—a taste of the raw cosmos that made Sebastian's skin crawl.
Bruce gritted his teeth. He raised his hand.
He snapped his fingers.
FLASH.
A blinding white light consumed the lab.
Then... silence.
Bruce collapsed, the gauntlet falling from his burned arm. Tony sprayed the arm with coolant instantly.
"Did it work?" Steve asked, looking around.
Sebastian walked to the window. He looked outside. The birds were singing.
BZ-BZZT.
Clint Barton's phone, resting on a table, began to buzz. The screen lit up. "Laura".
Clint stared at it. His hand shook as he picked it up.
"Honey?" Clint whispered.
Tony slumped against a desk. "It worked."
[The Traitor]
While the team crowded around Bruce and Clint, Sebastian felt a chill.
It wasn't the cold of space. It was the scent of malice.
He turned toward the Quantum Tunnel control console.
Nebula was standing there. She was typing rapidly.
Sebastian walked toward her. His nostrils flared. He knew Nebula. He had spent 22 days starving in space with her. He knew her scent—oil, metal, and regret.
This Nebula smelled different. She smelled of oil, metal... and fanaticism.
"Miss Nebula," Sebastian said, his voice low and dangerous. "You seem to be adjusting the coordinates."
Nebula froze. She turned slowly. Her eyes were cold.
"I am bringing him home," she said.
Sebastian saw the screen. TARGET: SANCTUARY II. ARRIVAL: NOW.
"You are not her," Sebastian's eyes flashed fuchsia. "You smell of the past."
"Traitor!" Sebastian yelled, his voice booming through the lab. "Get down!"
He didn't run for Tony. He ran for the most important object in the room.
The Gauntlet.
Clint Barton was holding it.
Sebastian sprinted. Nebula slammed her hand on the enter key.
BOOM.
The ceiling ceased to exist.
A missile from the Sanctuary II, hovering in the clouds above, struck the compound dead center.
The blast wave was absolute. The floor disintegrated.
"Clint!" Sebastian roared.
He dove. He tackled Hawkeye just as the concrete beneath them gave way.
Tony, Steve, and Thor were on the upper level. They were blown upward and buried under tons of debris.
Sebastian, Clint, and the Gauntlet fell down.
Down into the dark.
[The Underground Tunnels]
They crashed into the flooded sub-basement. Sebastian took the brunt of the impact, his back slamming into a concrete pillar, shielding Clint.
Debris rained down around them, sealing the exit.
Clint coughed, wet and ragged. He was clutching the Gauntlet to his chest.
"Seb?" Clint clicked his flashlight on. "You alive?"
Sebastian stood up. His suit was torn. He dusted off his shoulder, though he was covered in mud.
"I am functioning," Sebastian reported. He looked up at the caved-in ceiling. "But I believe the Young Master is separated from us."
"Who hit us?" Clint wheezed. "We won. Who hit us?"
Sebastian looked into the dark tunnels stretching ahead. He could hear them. Alien screeches. The chattering of Outriders.
"The past has caught up, Mr. Barton," Sebastian drew a set of silver knives from his ruined suit. "It seems we have guests."
He looked at the Gauntlet in Clint's hand.
"That glove," Sebastian said. "It is the only thing that matters. We must keep it away from them."
"Run?" Clint asked.
"Run," Sebastian agreed.
[The Surface]
Tony Stark woke up.
He was pinned under a steel beam. He pushed it off.
"Cap?" Tony coughed.
Steve Rogers lay nearby, unconscious. Thor was standing on a ridge, looking up at the sky.
Tony followed his gaze.
There, hovering over the ruins of the Avengers compound, was a massive warship.
And sitting on a piece of rubble, waiting for them, was Thanos.
"Seb?" Tony tapped his comms. "F.R.I.D.A.Y.? Anyone?"
Static.
"Just us," Tony realized. He helped Steve up.
"What happened?" Steve groaned.
"He followed us," Tony summoned his helmet. The Mark 85 formed around him. "We messed with time. And time messed back."
"Where are the others?" Thor summoned Stormbreaker. "Where is the stone-glove?"
"Underground," Tony said. "With Clint and the Butler."
"Then we hold the line," Steve tightened his broken shield strap. "We keep him occupied until they get clear."
They walked out to meet the Titan. Three heroes against an army.
But underground, the real race had begun. A demon and an archer, running through the dark, carrying the fate of the universe.
[End of Chapter 48]
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