THOR (2012): You'll be fine, Stark. Stay with us! I'll try something, okay? I have no idea if it's gonna work.
[Thor 2012 uses the Mjolnir as the defibrillator on Tony Stark 2012]
THOR (2012): YES!
TONY STARK (2012): That worked a treat. That was so crazy!
THOR (2012): I had no idea if that was gonna work.
TONY STARK (2012): The case?
THOR (2012): The case. It's, uhh... Where's the case? Where's Loki? Loki!
SCOTT LANG: That wasn't supposed to happen, was it?
TONY STARK: Oh, we blew it.
THOR (2012): Loki!?
[Cut to a walkway several floors up. Steve is having trouble on his communicator.]
STEVE ROGERS: Tony, what's going on? Tell me you found that cube. [He looks up and groans.] Oh, you gotta be shitting me.
[In front of him, Steve sees his 2012 self looking back]
STEVE ROGERS (2012): I have eyes on Loki. 14th floor.
STEVE ROGERS: [Puts the case down] I'm not Loki. And I don't wanna hurt you.
[2012 Steve engages and the two Captain Americas begin to duel.]
STEVE ROGERS (2012): I can do this all day.
STEVE ROGERS: [Standing up] Yeah, I know. I know.
[Both Rogers' frisbee their shields at one another, clang away as they brawl, inadvertently kicking away the case containing the scepter that falls down a few levels. 2012 Steve gets the upper hand on Future Steve's as they fall down to the same level as the scepter. Future Steve's locket of Peggy falls out, and Steve (2012) notices it.]
STEVE ROGERS (2012): Where did you get this?
[Steve (2012) has future Steve in a chokehold]
STEVE ROGERS: Bucky... is... alive!
STEVE ROGERS (2012): What?
[Future Steve takes the chance to sucker punch his counterpart, grab the scepter and knock Steve (2012) out, gets up and stares at him]
STEVE ROGERS: That is America's ass.
[Scene cuts back to Bruce and The Ancient One (2012). As Hulk is lying down on a beach chair who looks like he's sleeping with a hat on, Bruce Banner tries reasoning with the Ancient One to let him have the Time Stone.]
BRUCE BANNER: Please, please!
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): I'm sorry, I can't help you, Bruce. If I give up the Time Stone to help your Reality, I'm dooming my own.
BRUCE BANNER: With all due respect, I'm not sure the science really supports that.
[The Ancient One creates a projection with a long ray that simulates the flow of time.]
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): The Infinity Stones create what you experience as the flow of time. Remove one stone and that flow splits. [She flicks the Time Stone projection away and Shows a black stream indicating a point of divergence] Now, this may benefit your reality, but my new one...not so much. In this new branched Reality, without our chief weapon against the forces of darkness, our world will be overrun. Millions will suffer. So, tell me, Doctor, can your science prevent all that?
BRUCE BANNER: No, but we can erase it. Because once we are done with the stones, we can return each one to its own timeline at the moment it was taken. So, chronologically, [Holds the Time Stone projection] in that reality, [puts it back to its spot] it never left.
[Bruce's astral form takes the projection of the removed Time Stone, replaces it back amongst the other five, and the doomed alternate dimension fades away, illustrating his point.]
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): [still not convinced.] But you are leaving out the most important part. In order to return the stones, you have to survive.
BRUCE BANNER: We will. I will. I promise.
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): I can't risk this Reality on a promise. It is the duty of the Sorcerer Supreme to protect the Time Stone.
BRUCE BANNER: Then, why the hell did Strange give it away?
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): [Surprised] What did you say?
BRUCE BANNER: Strange, he gave it away. He gave it to Thanos.
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): Willingly?
BRUCE BANNER: Yes!
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): ...Why?
BRUCE BANNER: I have no idea. Maybe he made a mistake.
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): Or I did. [She returns to Banner's control of his Hulk body and opens the Eye of Agamotto, revealing the Time Stone] Strange is meant to be the best of us.
BRUCE BANNER: So he must have done it for a reason.
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): I fear you might be right. [gives him the Time Stone]
BRUCE BANNER: Thank you.
THE ANCIENT ONE (2012): I'm counting on you, Bruce. We all are.
[Cut to Thanos (2014), Nebula (2014), Gamora (2014), and Ebony Maw (2014) on the Sanctuary II.]
THANOS (2014): [To Ebony Maw] Run diagnostics. Show me her memory file.
EBONY MAW (2014): Sire, the file appears entangled. It was a memory, but not hers. There's another consciousness sharing her network...another Nebula.
THANOS (2014): Impossible.
EBONY MAW (2014): This duplicate carries a time stamp... from nine years in the future.
THANOS (2014): Where is this other Nebula?
EBONY MAW (2014): In our solar system. On Morag.
THANOS (2014): Can you access her?
EBONY MAW (2014): Yes. The two are linked.
THANOS (2014): Search the duplicate's memories for Infinity Stones.
[Memory of the meeting with all the Avengers starts playing]
BRUCE BANNER (2023): And these stones have been in a lot of different places throughout history.
TONY STARK (2023): Our history. So, not a lot of convenient spots to just drop in.
CLINT BARTON (2023): Which means we have to pick our targets.
TONY STARK (2023): Correct.
[End memory.]
YOU ARE READING
Avengers Endgame
FanfictionAdrift in space with no food or water, Tony Stark sends a message to Pepper Potts as his oxygen supply starts to dwindle. Meanwhile, the remaining Avengers and Heroics -- Thor, Black Widow, Captain America, and Bruce Banner -- must figure out a way...
