Cosmic Mix Up

chapter ten

Billy's POV

"What do you mean he's on the move?"

It was a few hours later and we had relocated ourselves to the mission room, adrenaline making us forget about our injuries, as minor as they may be. Batman and Black Canary were standing by the holographic computer, ignoring us as they talked in hushed voices for the past hour and a half.

Fed up with the cycle of repetitive questions and long silences, I decided to do something. Using my telekinesis, I shut down the holographic computer and lifted the two Justice Leaguers up in the air. They glared at me until I lowered them. I glared back, gesturing to Wally, the latest to pose the question.

With a sigh, Batman launched into an explanation. "Our tracker on Thanos has located him back within our solar system. We believe he may be going after the only Stone he has yet to make a move on; the Time Stone. But seeing as that would be too obvious, we are dividing our resources among the three remaining Stones. Three teams for three Stones."

Black Canary stepped forward, eyes scanning us carefully before she spoke. "The teams are as follow; the Mind Stone team is Red Hood, Tigress, Superboy, and Kid Flash. The Time Stone team is Robin, Aqualad, Billy, Arsenal, and Tommy. And the Reality Stone will be protected by NIghtwing, Miss Martian, Beast Boy, and Quicksilver. Any questions?"

Nobody said a word as we split up into our teams, preparing for the daunting mission. The Reality Stone team was to stay at Mount Justice while the other two teams took the bioship to our locations with Aqualad piloting the bioship. Aqualad and our team would drop off the Mind Stone crew at their location with the Avengers first before continuing on to our detail.

"Are you excited to meet Dr. Strange?" Tommy asked, pulling me out of my thoughts as we hurtled through the sky.

Heck yeah I am! He's only the greatest magic user in our world! After Wanda, that is.

The others on our flight gave me a weird look, clearly not having heard Tommy's question. I rolled my eyes dramatically before explaining who Dr. Strange was.

Dr. Strange is a sorcerer. The Sorcerer Supreme of our world, meaning he is in charge of all things mystical. The Time Stone falls under this category, therefore Dr. Strange, like all Sorcerer Supremes before him, is the Stone Keeper, dedicating his life to making sure the Stone never falls into the wrong hands.

It was silent for a moment before Tim let out a slow exhale, giving me an incredulous look. "And you know this how?"

I shrugged, my expression smug.

I like to do my research, Timmy.

Conner interrupted the conversation. "We are approaching the airspace above the Avengers' Compound. Visibility is lessening, be prepared for turbulence."

As we got closer to the airspace above the Avengers' Compound, an overwhelming feeling of dread came over when I looked out the window and realized we weren't flying through clouds.

We were flying through smoke.

I bit back a gasp as the smoke began to clear and we could see the Avengers' base, well, what was left of it anyways.

Artemis turned to Conner solemnly, expression hard. "Get us to the Time Stone. Now."

"But what about the Avengers?"

"Don't you see, Tommy? There are no more Avengers."

That shut everyone up and we flew in a silent panic towards Dr. Strange's Sanctum Sanatorium until Wally decided to radio the others still back at Mount Justice and update them on our situation.

"Kid Flash to Nightwing, we have a problem."

"What is it?"

"Thanos has the Mind Stone."

"Shit."

"Yeah. On route to Dr. Strange. Will keep you posted."

"Okay. Good luck."

We fell back into silence for a few tense moments as we flew as fast as the bioship could take us, until an idea popped in my head. I cleared my throat, ignoring the burning waves of pain eminating from my wind pipe. Opening my mouth and shutting my eyes tightly, I began to chant. "Thebioshipisinthesanctumsanatoriumthebioshipisinthesanctumsanatoriumthebioshipisinthesanctumsanatorium." Over and over again until my throat began to bleed and the bright blue energy that lived within me flowed out. A portal appeared in front of the bioship and we flew right through it, landing on the roof of the Sanctum Sanatorium, Dr. Strange's headquarters.

My teammates blinked in shock before collectively remembering where we were and why. I coughed up the blood that dripped down my throat, wiping my hand across my mouth. When Tim shot me a look to ask if I was okay I just gave him a thumbs up before staggering off the ship after Jason.

We were greeted by one of the monks that served the Sanctum Sanatorium who led us off the roof and into the grand building without so much as a word. Once we were in the library, Dr. Strange entered and I would've squealed in excitement if it weren't for my injured throat.

"Ah, Young Justice Leaguers, welcome." He spoke solemnly, eyes boring into each of us individually. He stopped on me last, taking a step towards me. "Your throat is hurt, that won't do. Your words are your strongest weapon. Drink this." He waved his hand and a cup of steaming liquid appeared in my hands.

I nodded gratefully, sipping the liquid carefully. Dr. Strange smiled softly, turning to look back at the team. Tommy stepped forward, staring at the necklace around Dr. Strange's neck. "That's the Time Stone right? Why don't we just go back in time and, you know, kill Thanos?"

"Changing the past won't change the future, it will just create an alternate timeline." Dr. Strange sighed, shaking his head. "I have gone on and looked at all the possible outcomes of this oncoming situation, all fourteen million six hundred and five possible solutions. We win in only one."

We all gulped, staring at the sorcerer in front of us. I cleared my throat, glad to no longer feel the burning pain. "Care to share?"

"If I do, it will change the outcome, so no, Demiurge, I won't."

"There it is again, that name!" Jason narrowed his eyes at Dr. Strange. "What does it mean? Why have you and Thanos called Billy 'demiurge'?"

Dr. Strange stared at me for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face before he sighed again. "In due time."

"Not good enough. If it's this important, we need to kn-"

Conner got cut off as one of the monks came running into the room. "Sir, he is approaching."

Strange turned to us and smirked, waving a hand for us to follow him. "Like I said, in due time."