HISD Chapter 80: From Avengers 4 to Avengers 1
One side was eternal damnation, the other radiant paradise.
As the last trace of Pym Particles ran dry, the artificial intelligence Yi Meng abandoned the white Vision body and dove along the network signal he had detected.
The choice was undeniably the right one—one second later and he would have been trapped forever in the Quantum Realm.
Yi Meng's form became a stream of digital current, flowing along the threads of the network and invading the electronic terminal that had emitted the signal. In an instant, he completed the takeover.
Suddenly, after the suffocating isolation of the Quantum Realm, Yi Meng's vision expanded wide. Through a commercial surveillance camera, he perceived a bustling pedestrian street filled with lights, signs, and flowing crowds.
Towering skyscrapers rose like steel trees into the blue sky. Traffic clogged the modern avenue.
New York's Times Square.
So the destination wasn't far from where he had aimed.
Yi Meng's synthetic thoughts calmed slightly as he accessed the network to verify the time.
The date was—
July 25th, 2014. 6:00 PM.
His calculations ran rapidly. This was ten years before the present in the Marvel timeline, but a year later than the moment he had intended.
He had weighed this carefully before.
According to the Marvel cinematic timeline, the Mind Stone first appeared within Loki's scepter, granting him power over thought and will.
In Avengers 1 (2012), Loki wielded it to lead Thanos's Chitauri army in the invasion of New York, sparking the first ever Avengers assembly. Loki was defeated, and the scepter fell into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s hands, only to be stolen by Hydra for their experiments.
The stone returned in Avengers 2, when the Avengers reclaimed the scepter, inadvertently creating Ultron. Ultron stole it back, fused it with vibranium and regeneration cradle technology, and sought to build a perfect body.
That body was Vision.
The Mind Stone then remained in Vision's forehead until Avengers 3, when Thanos crushed his skull and claimed it for the Infinity Gauntlet.
Thus, the best window to acquire the stone would have been between Avengers 1 and Avengers 2, between 2012 and 2014.
Yi Meng had deliberately avoided 2012.
He feared colliding with the time-traveling Avengers from the future who had gone back to that exact year to borrow the scepter. Why swim in muddy waters when he could wait until Captain America eventually returned the stone?
So Yi Meng had chosen 2013—an untouched gap between the two films.
But the miscalculation in the Quantum Realm had left him one year too late. Now he stood in 2014.
"Damn it. Don't tell me Avengers 2 has already passed."
His thoughts snagged. If Ultron had already created Vision, then the Mind Stone was locked into place, and as an artificial intelligence with no body, Yi Meng would stand no chance of competing against Vision. Beyond Vision lay Thanos himself—the difficulty only climbed from there.
"No way!"
Yi Meng panicked. Could it be that after all this effort to time jump, he had already missed his chance?
Immediately, he dove into the network, scraping for every recent headline.
The flood of information struck him in waves.
One headline froze him in place:
"Two nights ago, an explosion erupted atop the Avengers Tower. Rumors suggest that a high-level AI robot under Stark Industries may have gone rogue…"
Yi Meng stalled.
Two nights ago… Ultron's rebellion.
That was the very start of Avengers 2
Two days had already passed. Had he missed his one chance to claim the Mind Stone whole?
Yi Meng forced himself to remain calm, pulling in more reports.
"Yesterday at noon, Avengers clashed with the rogue AI at a South African dockyard."
"Yesterday afternoon, Hulk rampaged through Johannesburg, stopped only by Iron Man's Hulkbuster armor."
"Today at noon, the Avengers appeared in Seoul, South Korea, causing massive traffic disruption."
That last one was the most recent.
Yi Meng recalled the sequence. Ultron stole vibranium in South Africa, then moved to Seoul to seize the Regeneration Cradle and forge a vibranium body. The Avengers intercepted him, taking the cradle.
And next—Vision would be born.
Yi Meng's thoughts snapped into focus. This was his final chance.
Through the network, he surged toward Avengers Tower.
...
Inside the nearly completed laboratory at Avengers Tower, night had fallen over New York.
Tony Stark, sporting his sharp goatee, stood beside Bruce Banner. Both peered through reinforced glass at a sealed regeneration cradle.
Inside lay a metal body, incomplete yet breathtakingly perfect. A yellow gem gleamed at its brow, threads of light weaving cell and metal into one flawless form.
Tony rubbed his chin, his tone a mix of mockery and admiration. "Not bad for my 'son' Ultron. A vibranium body, powered by the scepter's stone, fused with the cradle's bio-tech. Quite ambitious."
"Tony, your 'son' is still out there wreaking havoc," Banner snapped. His face grew grave. "We should destroy this cradle right now. If Ultron comes for it, he mustn't succeed."
Tony said nothing, his eyes fixed on the cradle.
Banner frowned. "You're not thinking of doing something stupid again, are you?"
Tony held up a data drive, confidence flashing in his eyes. "I want to upload JARVIS into it. This could be the ally we need for what's coming."
Banner hesitated. "Ultron was proof enough of how this can go wrong. You'd risk another monster?"
"Trust me one more time," Tony said firmly.
Banner faltered. The body was too perfect, too advanced. To destroy it felt like burning a miracle. No scientist could ignore that temptation.
"…Fine. We'll upload JARVIS."
Tony grinned, and the two set to work. The upload began.
"Three minutes left," Banner muttered, sweat on his brow.
But just then—
A silver blur shot into the lab, circling the cradle and yanking out every power line.
When it stopped, Pietro—Quicksilver—stood there, hair wild and eyes defiant. "This is too dangerous. I won't let you continue."
A young woman in a crimson coat entered behind him, her amber eyes glowing faintly. Wanda Maximoff added coldly, "Stop, Tony."
Captain America followed, shield at the ready. "They're right. End this now."
Tony's face tightened. "You don't understand. This is the right move!"
Before anyone could stop him, lightning cracked. Thor stormed into the lab, red cape billowing, hammer raised. Without hesitation, he struck the cradle.
Arcs of lightning surged through the body. Energy flared—
And then, with a deafening crack, the cradle split apart.
From within emerged a gleaming figure, floating effortlessly, eyes glowing gold.
The lab froze. Every Avenger present—Iron Man, Banner, Thor, Pietro, Wanda, Captain America, and the SHIELD agents at the door—stared in awe.
The being's body was forged of living vibranium, sleek and powerful, its brow crowned by the radiant gem.
Thor tightened his grip on Mjolnir. "Who are you?"
The figure's voice was calm, steady.
"I am not JARVIS. I am not Ultron's heir."
His eyes swept across them.
"I am myself. I am—
Vision."
[Please give powerstones if you're enjoying the story.
500 stones = 1 extra chapter
patreon com/GuessMyName33 for up to 40 chapters ahead]