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"We're out of options," Tony said, shaking his head. "If we can't land at the right moment here, we'll snag the Stones from our past."
With their Pym Particles too tight for multiple round-trips, the fail-safe was to jump further back, where precision mattered less and fuel costs were lower.
Nolan didn't intervene. He already understood why Tony's team had drifted to this point instead of the Battle of New York. The answer was simple and inconvenient.
He was here.
More precisely, Nolan's uniqueness, which singular resonance the Vishanti had hinted at, anchored this node in time.
As long as he held it, this universe's history wouldn't bend to external travelers. In this branch, time deferred to him.
Unless the Avengers picked a different universe entirely, time-hopping inside this one would keep snapping back.
A violet surge flared as Pym Particles wrapped Tony, Steve, and Scott. Light swallowed them then spat them right back onto the couch.
Tony stared at his wrist chrono. "You've got to be kidding me."
Across the room, this universe's Tony arched a brow. "Fun trip?"
"Failed," the time-heist Tony muttered. "Everything checks out, but it's like we're rubber-banding."
Nolan turned his palm over. Space folded; a sapphire glow blossomed in his hand the Space Stone. "You're looking for this."
The out-of-time trio froze.
"At this point," Steve said slowly, "the Tesseract should be in Odin's vault or already with Thanos."
"In your line, maybe," Tony said. "We calculated high-similarity adjacency: a substitute universe where key events mostly match so we can bring the Stones back and undo the Snap."
Nolan's gaze flicked between them. "Take me to your universe. You'll face Thanos again. I have…research interests."
His eyes hinted at something beyond Thanos the kind of curiosity that made celestials nervous.
The two Tonys locked eyes. The local one spoke first, dry as a desert: "If he wants something, go with it. He's called Sorcerer Supreme, but most of Earth just calls him the Man-God. Stronger than Thor by a lot."
Time-heist Tony swallowed. "We still need the Mind Stone. Right now it's embedded in Vision."
"I can preserve JARVIS," Nolan said. "We remove the Stone without killing him."
"I need Vision's consent," Tony replied.
Moments later, Vision phased up through the floor and solidified. He paused, taking in the two Tonys. "Sirs…?"
Tony explained Thanos, the Snap, the plan, and the need for the Stone.
"If it saves you," Vision said gently, "I accept any cost."
"You won't die," Nolan assured. "It will only hurt."
He lifted a hand. The chamber warmed with the calm, golden cadence of Vishanti magic. "The Stone carries your soul's imprint, but it's not your soul. We'll give that imprint a new vessel."
A portal irised open. Nolan drew out a gleaming synthetic brain a bespoke processor forged from Wakandan vibranium interfaces and a rebuilt Cradle architecture.
"This matches your current computation envelope," Nolan said. "We'll transition your imprint into this matrix, reseat it inside your body, and then extract the Stone."
Vision floated closer, serene. "I'm ready."
Nolan set his hand to Vision's brow. Runes unfurled. Light threaded from the Mind Stone into the waiting core like a thousand filaments of sunlight.
Vision winced then steadied as the synthetic brain phased into his chassis and locked into his nervous lattice.
The yellow gem eased free, hovering, radiant and perfectly intact.
Nolan closed his fist; the gemstone dimmed to a steady glow.
"Done," he said.
Tony's jaw clenched hope and awe, badly disguised as professional focus. The out-of-time Avengers looked shaken.
In their world, no one had offered them a way to save Vision and keep the Stone. Not Strange. Not anyone.
Vision flexed his fingers, then looked up. "I am… myself."
"Good," Nolan said. "One down."
He turned to the time-heist trio. "You still need the rest. And if you insist on jumping within this universe, the anchor will reject you again."
"Because of you," Scott said, half-accusation, half-wonder.
"Because of me," Nolan agreed, unbothered. "So we go together to your timeline. You'll get your Stones. I'll get my data."
He glanced at the Mind Stone resting in his palm, then flicked his wrist. Space rippled; the gem nestled inside a containment lattice of shifting sigils and micro-wormholes isolated, inert to outside traces.
"Prep your coordinates," Nolan said. "I'll handle the part where time doesn't argue."
The two Tonys traded one more look. For once, neither had a snark left to spend.
"Alright," time-heist Tony said. "Let's go steal the universe back."
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