fiction | Part of the journey is the end

Book 3 - Far From Home | 1. The plan

In Ixtenco, Mexico, a car drove up to a destroyed village, and Maria Hill and Nick Fury got out.

"Shit, what happened here?" Sam asked.

Peter shifted uncomfortably. "Do you think that it's aliens again?"

Everyone's eyes widened.

Rhodey groaned. "I thought we were done with this shit."

"Nick, this was a tragedy, but it's not why we're here. What, are we fighting the weather now?" Hill said.

Everyone froze.

"Wait, what?" said Rhodey. "Fighting the weather?"

"The weather?" said Bucky. "So, it's just a natural disaster."

"Thank god," Peter sighed in relief, and then a panicked look crossed his face. "Not that a natural disaster is a good thing!"

"We get it, kid," said Rhodey. "You're just happy that it isn't some weird shit."

"Locals say the cyclone had a face," Fury replied.

"A face?" everyone exclaimed, astonished.

Rhodey groaned. "Never mind, I take that back. This is some weird shit."

Hill was saying that people say things when they're under stress, and it isn't the start of a new world threat when a green cloud of smoke appeared in front of them. Fury and Hill pulled out their guns, looking towards a strangely dressed man wearing a fishbowl.

"Who the hell is this guy?" said Clint. "Why does he have a fishbowl on his head?"

Tony froze. "I know him."

"What?" everyone said.

Tony nodded. "His name is Quentin Beck. He used to work for Stark Industries, but he was unstable, so I fired him." He turned to Peter and said, "If you ever see this man, don't talk to him."

Peter nodded with wide eyes.

Beck asked Hill and Fury who they were, and then the Earth Elemental came out from the ground.

Everyone's jaws dropped at the sight of the Earth Elemental.

"What the fuck?" yelled Clint.

"What the hell is that?" cried Wanda.

"You don't want any part of this," Beck said before shooting green blasts from his hands.

Tony blinked in surprise. "He did not have that when I last saw him."

"When did you last see him?" Steve asked. "We should know if we have another enhanced."

"Two years ago."

Sam and Rhodey groaned. "I'm so over this," Sam muttered.

Bucky raised an eyebrow at the sight of Beck shooting green blasts from his hands and asked Strange, "Isn't that similar to your sorcerer thing?"

Strange looked at Beck closely and then shook his head. "No. That's nothing like what we do."

"Great, so now we have an unstable man shooting green energy from his hands," Tony said, so done with everything.

'I Will Always Love You' played as a poorly edited video was shown in tribute of the fallen Avengers - Tony Stark.

Everyone stiffened at the reminder of Tony's death while Tony was slightly pale.

Steve Rogers.

"Wait, what?" said Steve, bewildered. "I'm not dead."

"Well, we can't exactly tell the public that you went back in time, and now you're an old man, can we?" said Natasha.