Chapter 465: Peter vs. Silas
"Alright," Steve said, watching Thor for a moment.
"Hey man, I think I just saw a block of cheese talking," Rhodey remarked, eyeing Thor's rotund physique.
Everyone couldn't help but roll their eyes. Now wasn't the time to tease Thor, though he certainly did look the part.
"That leaves the Soul Stone and the Power Stone," Steve noted. None of the current Avengers had ever personally handled either of those two stones.
Nebula, who had been silent until now, finally spoke up. "The Soul Stone is on Vormir. The Power Stone is on Xandar."
The Avengers nodded. Steve stepped forward. "Then we go to these places, get the stones, and bring everyone back."
"We need a plan now—a squad breakdown," Peter interjected.
"New York... I'm a bit more familiar with Earth. Going off-planet might be a bit risky for me," Steve admitted.
Peter agreed. "I'll also head to the Battle of New York timeline."
"Then count me in. We might have to snatch the Time Stone from the Ancient One, and 'Sorcerer Supreme' sounds like someone pretty formidable," Professor Hulk said with a gentle smile. To him, it didn't seem like he was actually worried about the Ancient One at all.
Ultimately, the Avengers divided their tasks and formed three teams.
Peter, Steve, Professor Hulk, and Scott formed the first team, heading to the Battle of New York to retrieve three Infinity Stones.
Rhodey and Nebula formed the second team, heading to Vormir for the Power Stone. Originally, it was meant to be Natasha and Nebula, but Nebula mentioned that the Soul Stone was best pursued by two very close friends to make obtaining it easier.
The final team consisted of Thor and Rocket. Rocket's primary mission was to keep an eye on Thor and prevent him from doing anything reckless.
"Six stones, three teams, one shot!" As Steve stood up, every Avenger rose with him. Their eyes were filled with confidence and determination.
Fully suited in their white temporal suits, the Avengers gathered beneath the massive time machine and looked at one another.
"Time travel is about to happen, everyone," Scott said, looking around.
"Of course. We're ready. See you in a minute," Natasha said with a light smile.
Steve extended his fist. "Remember, everyone: we succeed. No matter the cost."
"Hey, your belly is squishing me," Rocket complained, squeezing past Thor. He was caught between Thor's stomach and Rhodey.
Thor pulled his stomach in sheepishly. "Sorry. I've been eating a bit much lately. But don't worry, I won't fail this mission."
"Let's begin, then," Peter said, unable to wait any longer. The time machine above began to whirl, locking in the coordinates and times for each of them.
Everyone closed their eyes to calm themselves. Suddenly, a beam of light shot down, and everyone vanished from the base.
The Quantum Realm
They all held hands until the teams began to split off. Finally, only the four bound for New York remained.
Boom!
Peter's group successfully arrived during the Battle of New York. Their temporal suits automatically retracted into their chest pieces—a feature of the nano-technology.
"Alright, everyone. Let's split up. Peter, Scott, and I will get the Space and Mind Stones. The Time Stone is up to you, Doc," Steve said, looking at Professor Hulk.
Professor Hulk smiled and gave an 'OK' sign. "Don't worry. It's just a smash-and-grab, right?"
Seeing Hulk's confidence, Steve smiled back and led Peter and Scott toward Stark Tower.
Roar!
Nearby, a frenzied 2012 Hulk smashed a car into pieces before leaping away with a roar.
"Good thing he moved fast," Professor Hulk muttered, feeling embarrassed by his past self. He covered his face briefly, then leapt toward the side of a building, scaling it toward the New York Sanctum.
Stark Tower
Peter and his team successfully infiltrated Stark Tower. Once inside:
"In theory, who has the stones right now?" Steve asked, trying desperately to recall the details of the battle.
Peter had already remembered. "Based on how things went, Silas should have the Mind Scepter, and the Tesseract is right above us..."
"Looks like we arrived a bit early," Steve said, rubbing his forehead.
"No choice then. We go in hard," Peter said, leading Steve and Scott as they climbed toward the roof.
The Roof
"This is going to be a monumental revolution!" Dr. Selvig shouted, his hair whipping in the wind. His face was full of fanatical glee.
"Only if you live to see it," Silas said, crouching on the edge of the roof. He twirled the Mind Scepter playfully, looking at Selvig.
Seeing Silas suddenly appear, Selvig pulled a handgun from his pocket, aiming the black muzzle at Silas. "You don't understand anything—"
"Hulk!" Before Selvig could finish, the 2012 Hulk leaped up, grabbed him by the waist, and tossed him aside.
Hulk then focused his attention on Silas. He needed to pay this guy back for their last encounter.
"We're not enemies, Hulk. You know that, right?" Silas didn't want to fight the big guy—wasn't it better to save energy for the real threats?
Unfortunately, Hulk was locked on. He ripped a metal pipe from the roof. "Hulk... knows you."
"Uh-oh," Silas muttered, sensing trouble.
"Roar!" Sure enough, Hulk swung the pipe with massive force. Silas dodged easily with his enhanced reflexes and gave Hulk a mocking gesture before jumping off the roof.
Hulk wasn't about to let the insult slide and jumped after him—but he was destined to miss. Silas hadn't actually jumped; he was hanging upside down from the edge of the roof.
"Bye-bye~" Silas flipped back onto the roof. Looking at the Tesseract emitting energy, he smiled.
"Come out," Silas said, glancing to his left.
"Silas!" Peter emerged from hiding, bringing Steve with him. Scott remained hidden in Peter's suit.
"Peter?" Silas was confused. Why was Peter here? Shouldn't he be downstairs with Steve clearing enemies? How did they get up here so fast?
Peter stared at the Silas he had missed so dearly, but he suppressed his excitement. "There are too many enemies downstairs. We need your help."
"Too many enemies?" Silas narrowed his eyes. He had countless Shadow Ninjas downstairs; why hadn't a single one notified him?
"Wait! Don't close the wormhole yet! There's a nuke heading this way!" Tony Stark dropped from the sky to warn Silas.
"Cap? Underoos? Why are you guys up here?" Tony asked, his brow furrowed. Hadn't he just seen them on the street?
Peter realized they were likely exposed. His fingers twitched slightly against his leg. Scott understood the signal, hopped off Peter, and crawled into Tony's Arc Reactor.
Neither Silas nor Tony noticed. However, Silas was now on high alert. "Peter?" he asked tentatively.
"What is it?" Two voices answered at once—one over the comms and one right in front of them.
"Who are you people?!" Silas aimed the Mind Scepter at the Peter in front of him.
Tony realized something was wrong as well. He raised his hand to use his repulsors, but the connection to his Arc Reactor suddenly cut out!
"Argh!" Tony cried out in pain and collapsed, twitching on the floor.
"Stark!" While checking on Tony, Silas kept his eyes fixed on the intruders.
"Do it!" Peter realized the act was over. He lunged forward and threw a punch at Silas.
Silas barely blocked with the scepter, but the strength behind Peter's punch was terrifying. Silas was sent flying back, slamming into a wall. The impact stung his hands, causing him to reflexively drop the scepter.
With a quick kick, Peter caught the scepter and jammed it into the machine holding the Tesseract.
"Dammit!"
Full Story Finished in Patreon
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!