The Battle of Earth is over and Thanos and his armies are defeated. Now, in the midst of returning the Infinity Stones to their rightful place in time, Steve Rogers sets down on the planet Vormir, where he will face his greatest challenge yet.
A violent storm was brewing on Vormir. Though Captain Steve Rogers flew high above the tumultuous swirl of black and deep purple skies in a low-planetary orbit, he knew he must brave the tempest to return what had been taken from there not long ago.
With his Quinjet idling, floating in orbit around the ominous planet, he reached for the briefcase that once housed an abundance of power beyond his understanding: the Infinity Stones.
Now, it only held one.
He unbuckled the electronic clasps and the case hissed open for the last time. A deep-orange gem hovered from its resting place and gleamed with fire like a distant sun. He engaged his quantum suit, something he marveled at each time as the nano-tech enveloped his body.
He smirked and shook his head. "Stark Tech."
With his now gloved hand, he reached down and grabbed the stone from the air, looked at its treacherous beauty a moment longer, and then tucked it into a special pocket on his suit.
He gazed out the cockpit again at the strange place-so far from home. So different from Earth. On this strange planet, the fast-approaching storm looked like some kind of primordial beast of cloud and malice, engulfing and consuming all in its transtemporal path.
A wave of anxiety rose in him. "Whatever it takes."
He fired up the jet's thrusters and maneuvered the yoke downward without hesitation. The jet plunged into the storm and into darkness. Turbulence hit almost immediately, jostling the Quinjet with a force that took him back. Memories of that historic day inside the Valkyrie bomber, en route to destroy the country he loved. The battle with Red Skull won, but the war for the lives of the American people continued.
He grasped the yoke of the Quinjet tightly, just as he had that Hydra bomber so many years ago. It too shook and shuddered as he put the behemoth down into the arctic ice.
Seventy years, he thought. Peggy. His eyes flashed to the aging compass fixed to the console with her picture inside. An all-too-familiar wave of grief and longing for his lost love nagged at him, as it had from the very day he came back to the world.
After many minutes of nothing but darkness, disrupted by short bursts of light-pink lightning, the clouds began to dissipate. He was through. The murky thunderclouds gave way to cotton candy skies of soft pink and lavender, something in stark contrast with the dark terrain, almost black in color. The Quinjet set down next to a small pool of water-one of many that dotted the landscape.
Steve exited the craft and stepped onto the soft sands of Vormir. He knelt to take a handful and let it flow through his fingers. Never before had he felt a substance so light. The particles that left his hand flowed in the breeze as if they were weightless, like volcanic ash. Standing, he brushed his hands together and moved on toward the body of water. Again, he wished to study the oddness of the planet's natural resources, but the reflection in the water reminded him of why he was there. It mirrored a highland peak in the distance.
He lifted his head and took in the sight of the real thing. The mount jutted from the flats like a splinter of rock that had pierced the surface of the planet. Steve had to shield his eyes, as it was backdropped by an eclipsed sun-an orb of indigo, ringed by a blazing fire of starstuff. He squinted to make out the structure of twin spires atop the summit of the mountain.
He climbed.
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