Lucas didn't care about the timeline shifts.
Even if this was the "Hawkeye Kills Thor" branch, he was safe. His power was absolute.
"The real power players aren't Loki or his Chitauri army," Lucas mused, floating in his apartment. "It's the Ancient One and Odin. Those are the Grandmasters."
"In front of them, armies are irrelevant. Quantity has no meaning against that level of Quality."
"Asgard under Odin? A superpower that terrifies the galaxy. Asgard without Odin? A sitting duck for Thanos."
"If I reach Silver Age Superman levels... or Golden Age... I could blow away an army like birthday candles."
"So," Lucas stretched, "as long as the Ancient One (03?) and Odin are still kicking, Earth is safe. The timeline might wobble, but it won't break."
Suddenly, the diary interface shimmered. A new icon appeared.
[System Update: Video Log Feature Unlocked.]
[Upload video content directly from memory. No editing software required.]
[Reward for First Upload: 1x Silver Tier Draw.]
"Silver Tier?" Lucas sat up straight. "Now we're talking."
Until now, the daily sign-in gave him "Bronze Tier" rewards. Mostly useless junk. A lifetime supply of ketchup. A slightly faster internet connection. The occasional cash drop.
The "Man of Steel" template was a lucky crit on a beginner roll. But to get the good stuff—Heat Vision upgrades, Bio-Field expansion, Kryptonian tech—he needed better rolls.
"Bronze is once a week. Silver is every three days with video uploads," Lucas calculated. "That doubles my growth rate."
"You should have led with that, System!" Lucas grinned. "I'm not doing this for the 'Likes'. I'm doing it for the loot."
He focused his mind, selecting a memory. The "What If...?" episode where Hawkeye shoots Thor.
"Upload," Lucas commanded.
Stark Mansion.
Tony and Fury were glued to the hologram.
"Wait," Tony squinted. "Is that a video player?"
"It seems the diary has upgraded," Fury noted, his eye twitching. "Great. Now we get home movies of our impending doom."
The video began to play. It was grainy, like a dream sequence, but clear enough.
A rainy night in New Mexico. A S.H.I.E.L.D. compound.
A blonde man, muddy and desperate, fighting through guards.
He reaches for the hammer.
He fails. He screams in anguish.
And then... thwip.
An arrow flies from a tower. It strikes the blonde man in the chest. He falls. Dead.
The camera pans up to the tower. To a man with a bow. Looking horrified.
"I didn't mean to loose it!" the archer in the video shouted. "My hand slipped!"
The video ended.
The room was silent.
"That was Barton," Fury whispered. "That was Clint."
"And that was Thor," Tony added, pointing at the dead god in the mud.
"So," Tony turned to Fury, his face pale. "In one timeline, your boy Legolas kills a God."
"Not just beats him," Tony emphasized. "Kills him. With a stick and a string."
"Even I'm just 'comparable to gods'," Tony muttered, referencing the diary's earlier praise. "But Hawkeye? He's a God-Slayer?"
"Do you guys have special arrows?" Tony asked, eyeing Fury suspiciously. "Nuke-tipped? Adamantium? Magic?"
"No," Fury said, his voice shaking slightly. "Standard issue carbon fiber. Explosive tips, maybe. But nothing that should kill an Asgardian."
"Unless..." Fury realized. "Unless Thor was mortal at that moment."
"Stripped of his power," Fury concluded. "Just a man. A strong man, but a man."
"If Barton kills him," Fury stood up, pacing frantically. "It's war. Asgard doesn't care about 'accidents'. They care about blood."
"Get me Barton," Fury yelled at his phone. "NOW! Tell him to drop the bow! Tell him to use a taser! Tell him to use harsh language! Just don't shoot!"
"And Tony," Fury turned back. "If this video is accurate... Thor is depowered. He's vulnerable."
"Which means," Tony finished, "we don't need to fight a God. We need to protect a hobo."