Universal Chaos

Chapter 16

"What kind of power source are we talking about here. Just how powerful?"
Tony used air quotes when referencing power and Sutton huffed at his continued hostility towards the Doctor.

"If anyone has power sources, it's Stark," said Nat.

The Doctor paced a few times, clearly pondering, as he processed their attempts to be helpful.

"If it's anything like the little thing she's wearing, it won't be enough." He gestured to Sutton and her fingers glossed over her glowing reactor.

Clint noted her movements and cocked his head.

"What about, like, five hundred of those things? He's got 'em pouring out of his ears."

The Doctor shook his head.

"No, no, no. It's got to be big. Ultra-big. My TARDIS can heal, but something's got to help her reach! I need something that can open a pathway out to all the tears."

The answer flickered in Sutton's mind quickly. A source of power that could reach through space?

"Oh great." She grumbled. She rubbed lightly at her face and looked up. "The Tesseract? It's an Infinity Stone, so it's basically one of the most powerful forces in this universe. And it's the Space Stone. Reaching anywhere in the universe is it's job."

The Doctor perked up gleefully.

"Wonderful! Sounds perfect. Where is it?"
There were a few groans and murmurs, plus a questioning 'Tesseract?' from Sam.

"Asgard," Steve said. "So not on this planet."
To Sutton's bewilderment, the Doctor frowned and hummed as if that were a complication. She scoffed and threw out her hands.

"You have a TARDIS. A ship that travels through space!"
The group turned their gazes from her back to the alien in question. He gestured helplessly.

"Well I can't exactly actively use it. I told you, the walls are weak and I don't belong here. If I try to do too much, it may bring everything crashing down even quicker. Quicker? More quickly?"

"Are things really that bad," asked Sam. "Besides a few quakes, things have seemed to calm down."

He may've had a point. After the moments where Khan had been, assumingly, trying to break through their universal barriers, Sutton hadn't noticed many signs that total annihilation was looming over them. The Doctor sighed.

"It wouldn't be things that your human eyes would notice at first. No offense. There'd be tears. Pockets of other universes that are pressing through, almost merging. But just because your universe is collapsing doesn't mean you'll notice it right away. All universes are massive and you aren't exactly the center of it, are you? There's lots of places the destruction can start."

"Uh," said Clint, "I caught, like, maybe half of that." He gestured to his hearing aids. "Has anyone ever told you that you talk too fast?"

Sutton paled at the mention of the tears. That wasn't just from Khan? She'd seen those. Plenty so far. Probably all that was preventing her from seeing more was Tony's suit.

"You mentioned that," said Steve as he turned to face her. Tony nodded in agreement at the statement, looking ever more severe. Sutton swallowed.

"Well, there's one mystery solved. Woo."

A phone chimed and everyone, sans the Doctor, reached for their pockets at once whether they actually had a phone or not. It was Tony's and his grip on the device tightened as he read over the screen.

"Mars," he said. His voice was almost choked. "The anomaly has been detected near Mars now. NASA is on high alert with something that can travel that fast." His jaw ticked as he shoved his phone back into his pocket.