In 2023, New York City lay in ruins.
The Avengers had gathered, but the battle was far from over.
Around them, the glowing circular portals still hung in the air. Thanos' Black Order army had just been reduced to dust, yet his massive warship still loomed overhead, blotting out the sun. Dawn had not yet come.
At the center of the battlefield, the Avengers surrounded Tony Stark. Led by Steve Rogers—Captain America—the heroes stood in silence, their faces heavy with grief.
"Tony, don't die… please don't die…"
Pepper Potts knelt in front of her husband. Her eyes were brimming with tears as she held Tony, whose body was failing after wielding the Infinity Gauntlet. Her heart ached at the sight.
"Pep… don't cry." Tony's voice was faint, labored. "I'm Iron Man. I saved the world. Just… just take care of our daughter, Morgan."
With effort, he lifted his trembling hand and brushed her cheek. His face was pale, his body drained.
He was too tired.
The battle with Thanos had already pushed him to his limits. Snapping the Gauntlet had burned away everything he had left. He knew there was no surviving this.
"Ahem… hey, magician… is this it?" Tony coughed, forcing a weak smile as he turned his head toward Doctor Strange. He couldn't forget Strange's words—that there were millions of possible futures, but only one where they won.
"Eye of Agamotto—Time Trace."
Doctor Strange didn't answer. He sat cross-legged on the ground. With a wave of his hand, the Time Stone reappeared, pulled back into his grasp. Its emerald glow spun into motion as he activated its power to peer into the timeline.
"—!"
After only a second, Strange choked and spat blood. His eyes snapped open, wide with shock, his expression grim.
"The timeline has changed."
The words struck the Avengers like a thunderclap. Even the dying Tony forced his eyes open.
"What do you mean?" Rogers demanded, his voice tight with confusion. "You said as long as we return the Stones, the timeline holds. We end it here."
Strange's voice was low and strained. "The past has shifted. A powerful being destroyed the Avengers before they ever reached 2023. In that branch… we all died."
The heroes froze in disbelief.
Bruce Banner frowned. "Wait a second—didn't you say changing the past doesn't change our future? That's what the quantum model shows."
"No," Strange snapped. "The past itself may be fixed, but the Infinity Stones are not. Through the Eye, I saw it—back in 2014, the Mind Stone was seized. Controlled by someone… someone terrifying. The Avengers of that era never survived."
The sorcerer's voice quickened, urgent. "If we don't stop him, in mere seconds the altered past will collapse into our present. And when it does, he'll be here."
Banner's eyes narrowed as the pieces clicked together. "Quantum entanglement… Right. To us it's only five seconds when we travel back, no matter what happens there. But if the past keeps unraveling, then five seconds from now someone worse than Thanos could appear right here."
Even Strange's calm broke—his voice carried a weight he hadn't shown even when bargaining with Dormammu.
Thor hefted Stormbreaker, lightning crackling in his eyes. "Who is it? Who dares change the past?"
Strange's answer fell like a hammer. "Allens. He is the one twisting the timeline."
The name stirred unease. Spider-Man, Black Panther, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, the Guardians, Scarlet Witch—every hero present glanced at one another.
"Dead Star Allens?" someone asked. They remembered Thanos' soldier who bore that name. Dangerous, yes, but not impossible to face.
Strange shook his head. "Not the one we fought. The Allens in 2014 is something else entirely. He absorbed unimaginable power. Enough to destroy the Earth itself."
His gaze hardened. "Through the Eye, I saw Sokovia fall—not lifted into the sky, but shattered. The land split apart, the seas overturned, the world dragged into hell. It was Allens' plan. A doomsday engineered by his hands."
Silence swept across the battlefield. Every Avenger stared at Strange, their sorrow for Tony replaced with dread.
"We have to stop him," Strange said. "We must stop Doomsday before it begins."
Tony gave a faint laugh, though blood stained his lips. "Heh… Banner. Plan B."
Without hesitation, Bruce pulled a slim tablet from his pocket. His massive fingers tapped the screen with speed belying their size. Streams of data shot into the air, vanishing into the quantum field, racing back through time.
Beep. Beep.
And in 2014, while S.H.I.E.L.D. and HYDRA's war had left both factions shattered, the world itself was beginning to shift.
In a hidden underground base in Los Angeles, an old man suddenly stirred. A swirl of particles surrounded him. His eyes snapped open, burning with realization.
"That bastard Allens… he's begun rewriting the future."
He rose slowly, whispering words that carried across time itself.
"Save the girl… save the world."
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