The Beginning of the End (Elanor)

Chapter 1

"Elanor Rogers!"

Jarred suddenly from my sleep, my heart lept from my chest as I had an extremely physical spasm, jumping and flailing so violently that I was thrown from the bed still wrapped in a burrito of covers.

"JESUS!" I screamed as I flew through the air, landing- thankfully- on my front.

"Reindeer Junior, what're you doing at Spider-Bite's house?"

My fear and adrenaline was quickly replaced by annoyance as I used my arms to boost myself up, some of my curly, black hair falling in front of my crystalline eyes. I jutted a hip out and huffed as I faced an open, glowing hole to Central Park. A man I didn't recognize stood before me, likely the one that woke me up, with Uncle Tony and Aunt Pepper peering over either of his shoulders.

"I told you we were marathoning all of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies, and if we ran too late, I was gonna stay over. Can someone please explain who the hell Chell over here is and why you all are in Peter's bedroom?"

"Chell?" Uncle Tony asked.

"Chell- like from Portal?" I received only blank stares. "Puzzle solving series? 'The cake is a lie?'" The response didn't change. "Whatever. Please explain."

"My name is Doctor Stephen Strange." My eyes wandered back to the man who had clearly opened the portal. I knew that name, very well.

"It's an honor to finally meet you, Doctor Strange." I reached forward to shake his hand. "We trained under the same master- the Ancient One." He smiled.

"She talked about you. She was very fond of you, before..." He trailed off, but I had already heard the news.

"I was sad to hear of her passing. She taught me that this-" I gently lifted up the stone on my necklace to present it out to the others, "-is part of my powers, and how to control what I had." I leaned down to pick up Peter's blankets and comforter. "Of course, now I know that it's actually half of the Reality Stone," I shrugged. There was silence for a moment.

"I'm sorry-what?" Realizing what I had just done, I slowly turned around to face the others, a sheepish smile crossing my face.

"Oh, yeah... Uncle Tony, I have an Infinity Stone," I whined. A new look crossed his face, one that looked like a disappointed parent.

"Elanor Margaret Rogers..."

"What? That's not exactly something I could bring up in conversation at the dinner table. All you and Aunt Pepper want to talk about is your damn engagement."

"...destroy it. Get rid of it, I don't care how. It just needs to be disposed of." I stopped in my tracks and slowly turned to face Uncle Tony. That wasn't quite the response I was expecting, but the urgency in his tone worried me.

That 'greater evil' my dad talked about... Is it coming for us?

"Why...?" I asked slowly.

"That's why we came to get you," Doctor Strange explained. "I need you and Tony to follow me." I looked down at my attire before looking back up at the three, unamused.

"Dude, I'm still in my pajamas."

"Those are not your pajamas," Uncle Tony corrected.

"Fine, then. Peter's pajamas, just pajamas- whatever! That's really not important!" I used the power from my piece of the Reality Stone to essentially paint some clothes on me, before stepping through the portal. I turned back to see another portal opened behind Doctor Strange, revealing a building with a broken staircase. "What's the sitch'?" I asked, trying to be causal.

"We need your help," Doctor Strange filled me in. "It is not overselling it to say the fate of the universe is at stake."

"And who's 'we?'" I looked at Uncle Tony in confusion.

"It's not you two?"

A figure stepped out from behind Doctor Strange, one so familiar that had changed since the last time I had seen him. There were more wrinkles on his tanned skin, and his hair was almost entirely grey, fear prominent behind his eyes. I didn't even want an explanation as to why he was dressed so sharply, I was just relieved to see that he was here and alive.

"Hey, Tony... Elanor." I couldn't fight the smile spreading on my face.

"Bruce."

"Pepper."

"Hi." He stepped closer, and looked over Uncle Tony for a moment before reaching forward to hug him.

"You okay?"

"No... no." Worry started to spread in my stomach, causing it to knot itself as Tony and I stepped through, following Bruce and Doctor Strange. Just as my feet touched the hardwood, my phone began to ring. Awkwardly, I looked around before answering.

"Hey..." I trailed off, meeting several confused and slightly disappointed eyes.

"Hey, I just wanted to make sure you were awake."

"Yeah, yeah, I actually already left. Listen, I'm kinda in the middle of something, here. Can I call you back?"

"Oh, like some Avengers thing?" he asked enthusiastically.

"Yup. So, please, I have to go. I'll just call you when I'm done with everything, because I have a meeting later."

"Okay, I'll let you go. I'll probably just text you when I get to the museum."

"Excellent. I'll talk to you later, babe."

"Bye!" Everyone was looking at me expectantly.

"What? We can move on now," I urged.

Slowly, my eyes wandered around, and I realized just exactly where I was.

"Whoa... this is one of the Sanctums, isn't it?" Doctor Strange nodded. "Oh, man. When I studied with the Ancient One, I heard about these from..." I trailed off as a portly, bald man stepped forward. "Wong!"

He snapped his head around in surprise, squinting at me for a few moments before realizing who I was.

"Is that our little Elanor?" he asked, seemingly shocked I was here.

"Not so little anymore," I laughed. "I'm a legal adult now."

"The sole reason I wake up with cold sweats in the middle of the night," Uncle Tony joked as he sat down on the plush couch.

"Oh, shut up." I turned my attention back to Bruce, Doctor Strange, and Wong, with an expectant smile. "So, why are we here?"