Fwoosh!
Time travel complete.
Rory blinked, then froze.
He was suddenly surrounded by a full circle of Earth's mightiest heroes.
Tony Stark waved casually. "Hey, kid. Miss us?"
"…What the hell?! How is this even, ? I set the time to, "
Tony grinned. "Let me guess. You're wondering how you still ended up in our timeline even though you programmed a different one?"
Rory nodded, dazed and confused but dying to know.
Tony patted the wristband. "Oh, you set the coordinates just fine. But you forgot one thing… I designed that wristband. I can override its programming remotely, whenever I want."
"…Okay. Fine. You're not a complete idiot. A little old maybe, but still clever enough."
Pfft!
A nearby raccoon chuckled. "This kid's got jokes. I like him."
Towering Hulk, greasy-haired and pot-bellied Thor, Colonel James Rhodes in his War Machine armor, everyone had their eyes on the newcomer.
Tony walked over and smoothly took the remaining Pym Particles from Rory. "Alright. Let's park this conversation for now. He stays in the base. We've got bigger things to worry about, like saving half the universe. Hey, where's Natasha?"
Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, spoke up with a heavy voice. "She… she's not coming back."
Rory, though technically free to move around, found he couldn't leave the Avengers compound.
Everyone was grieving Natasha's sacrifice.
And with all eyes on the looming final mission, no one was paying much attention to him, which suited Rory just fine.
"FRIDAY, what's the kid up to?"
Tony, deep in his lab crafting the Nano Gauntlet, suddenly remembered Rory and asked offhandedly.
"He's not doing anything suspicious, boss," the AI replied.
"Show me."
Tony peeled off his gloves and turned toward the holographic feed. Onscreen, Rory was just wandering around the base aimlessly.
Until he walked into the kitchen.
"Hey, Dr. Banner," Rory greeted casually. "You making tacos?"
"Of course," Banner said with a grin. "Want one?"
This wasn't the angry green Hulk, this was Professor Hulk. More sweater vest, less rage monster.
Banner handed Rory a taco, but he quickly waved it off. "I'm not used to this stuff. Mind if I make something more… me? Where do you keep the ingredients?"
"Cold storage's in the back. You'll find everything you need."
Half an hour later, Rory emerged with a full meal: stir-fried tomatoes and eggs, garlic broccoli, braised beef brisket, and a steaming plate of hand-pulled noodles in a rich egg sauce.
The colors, the aroma, it instantly made Banner lose interest in his tacos.
"Want a bite?" Rory asked with a smirk.
"Can I?" Banner said sheepishly.
"Sure. Just don't inhale it all at once, big guy."
Back in the lab, Tony's stomach growled at the sight of the dishes on the hologram.
Gritting his teeth, he shut the feed and forced himself back to work.
A few days later, the Nano Gauntlet was complete.
Six glowing Infinity Stones shimmered, embedded in the metal glove, beautiful, deadly, and ready.
The heroes buzzed with anticipation.
Rory, on the other hand?
He quietly dipped.
No way he was sticking around for what was about to happen. This whole building was about to get leveled.
As he slipped out of the lab, he bumped into someone else sneaking away, Nebula.
Rory gave her an awkward wave. "Bathroom. Emergency. Bad tacos."
Nebula gave him a look like she was staring at a soon-to-be corpse.
"May Buddha have mercy…" Rory muttered and bolted for the trees outside the compound.
Inside...
"The glove's ready. But who's gonna snap it?"
"I will!" Thor declared, stepping forward without hesitation.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Hold on a sec," Tony and Steve said in unison, blocking him.
"Look, I'm the strongest Avenger. This responsibility is mine."
"You might be right," said Steve. "But this isn't about strength."
"What do you think is flowing through my veins?!"
"Cheese whiz," Rhodey muttered dryly.
Thor ignored him. "Lightning. It's lightning!"
"Lightning won't save you," Banner interrupted, stepping forward. "We all saw what that snap did to Thanos. You wouldn't survive it."
"And you would?"
"Not sure," Banner admitted. "But the energy's mostly gamma radiation. Feels like… it was made for me."
Meanwhile, Rory was still sprinting through the woods. Not far enough, he thought.
He looked back, Avengers HQ had entered full lockdown mode, with blast shutters sealing every entrance.
"It's starting…"
BOOOOM!!!
The sound shook the earth. The Sanctuary II had arrived.
Rory's jaw dropped.
Seeing it on-screen was one thing, standing beneath it in real life was another. It was… overwhelming. The kind of ship that blocked out the sun.
Missiles rained from the sky.
Fwoosh! Fwoosh! Fwoosh!
BOOM!!! BOOM!!!
The whole base was bombarded. Trees bent. Shockwaves rolled through the earth. Rory was flung backward by the sheer force of the blast.
When he came to, Avengers HQ was rubble.
The sky had turned black with ash and dust.
He pushed himself up. Then, CRACK! A bolt of lightning hit nearby.
From a massive crater, the sound of battle echoed upward.
Rory crept to the edge and peeked over.
Captain America was sent flying by a brutal swing from Thanos. The man looked like hell, barely any better than Rory himself.
"Holy crap… it's already started?!"
Towering spires launched from the Sanctuary II, embedding into the ground like stakes.
And from them, hordes of Outriders poured forth.
A glowing beam projected downward, revealing the Black Order standing at the head of the army.
Steve gritted his teeth and stood tall, despite the bruises, the blood, the exhaustion.
The whole world was collapsing, but he refused to yield.
"…Tch. If Thanos didn't monologue so much, maybe he'd actually win," Rory muttered.
Make no mistake, Thanos was strong. An Eternal by blood, he was holding his own against the combined might of the Avengers.
If not for Tony's final snap, there was no guarantee any of them would have survived.
And then,
They came.
Glowing portals lit up behind Steve.
Reinforcements were arriving.
From Wakanda. From Kamar-Taj. From the Ravagers. From the remaining Asgardians on Earth.
Soldiers. Mages. Starships. Heroes.
Giant-Man erupted from underground, carrying Banner and Rocket with him.
Cries of hope thundered through the battlefield.
Even Rory, hiding in the trees, felt a surge of adrenaline. He almost wanted to charge in and fight alongside them.
"Avengers…!!! Assemble!"
With that iconic call, the final battle began.
/////////////////////////
Support me by adding this fic into your library!
200 P.S = 1 Extra Chapter