2022.
The Avengers' time-travel experiment went very smoothly.
Doctor Strange, Bruce Banner the Hulk, Thanos, and Captain America Steve Rogers went as the first group to the 2012 Battle of New York.
Because based on their assessment, their greatest threat, Uehara Naraku, was still just an ordinary person, and no one would be able to stop them from stealing the Infinity Stones from that battle.
The result…
This whole group got their asses kicked by Uehara Naraku.
"Uehara Naraku is a liar!"
After Steve Rogers came back, the first thing he did was immediately tell everyone the truth: "Uehara Naraku's power has always been strong! He was never some ordinary guy!"
"That's right…"
Dr. Bruce Banner was also covered in injuries, and explained in a deep voice, "We always thought Uehara became a superhuman because he absorbed the Tesseract's energy… No, he's always had extraordinary power. The Battle of New York incident was just his disguise!"
"..."
Everyone couldn't help but look at each other.
Nick Fury involuntarily frowned and said quietly, "Looks like we'll have to avoid any appearance of Uehara Naraku in our next move…"
"And he's always been the leader of Akatsuki…"
Steve Rogers immediately brought up another troublesome issue: "Which means every action Akatsuki has taken has been under his command!"
"…This guy…"
Nick Fury was a little speechless.
Everyone present felt even more speechless.
Because every single one of them had dealt with Uehara Naraku, and they all knew that it was precisely because Uehara Naraku was flying the flag of "Akatsuki intern" that he could enjoy so many conveniences on Earth… Otherwise Uehara Naraku couldn't possibly have gone straight to being Director of S.H.I.E.L.D. with a Level 7 Agent identity.
That bastard…
He really knew how to play them, huh?
Everyone there had thought what Uehara Naraku had done was already bad enough, but after this first round of time travel they realized they might still have underestimated how despicable and cunning Uehara Naraku really was…
Uehara Naraku…
Is he really the leader of Akatsuki?
Only Tony Stark fell into deep thought.
His father Howard Stark had a good relationship with Akatsuki; he didn't even trust S.H.I.E.L.D., and entrusted his last letter to Akatsuki for safekeeping…
Tony Stark remembered that when Uehara Naraku was still the S.H.I.E.L.D. agent assigned to monitor him, he had tried his hardest to hide everything about Akatsuki from Uehara…
Then when Akatsuki arrived on Earth…
Tony Stark remembered how he had tried every way he could to defend Akatsuki and speak up for them in front of Uehara Naraku and the others; back then, no one believed more firmly in Akatsuki's righteousness than Tony…
He even vaguely remembered that he'd once shamelessly introduced Akatsuki to Uehara Naraku, going on and on…
This is social death of the highest order, right?
Now that he thought back on all those stupid things, Tony Stark felt like he practically wanted to kill himself on the spot… What the hell was that bastard Uehara Naraku thinking back then?
Wait…
His father Howard Stark's letter?
Tony Stark's mood suddenly darkened. That letter of Howard's, which had once heavily influenced how he saw Akatsuki—was it really left to him by his father?
The answer to that…
Maybe he could only find out himself.
"We go to 1970."
Tony Stark thought of a particular era. He didn't care whether Akatsuki was active then or not, and said in a low voice, "The Tesseract… the Space Stone has to be in that era… I want to see how much crap Uehara Naraku pulled back then!"
"What if Uehara Naraku shows up in that era?"
Natasha Romanoff quickly threw out a problem: "Based on what we know now, he's been the leader of Akatsuki for a long time, which also means we can't pin down his exact age or when exactly he first appeared on Earth…"
"Uehara Naraku's good at hiding and deceiving."
Tony Stark immediately gave his answer: "If Uehara Naraku really did appear in that era, what identity would he take? We've got enough Pym Particles; besides stealing the Stones, we can also check whether that guy has any more schemes…"
A flash of inspiration seemed to streak through Tony Stark's mind. He suddenly said, "Wait… why didn't Uehara Naraku get rid of you and us other rebels… He has the power, but he didn't kill us or lock us up…"
Thanos thought for less than a second, then gave his conclusion in a deep voice: "No matter what schemes he has, we still only have this one plan."
Right now…
They didn't have any other options.
Nick Fury snuck a glance at Thanos. As he spoke, he reached for his pager: "Then let's first discuss who exactly is going after the Stones…"
To be honest, Nick Fury didn't trust Thanos.
And now they knew Uehara Naraku had always been the leader of Akatsuki, which meant their previous plan—using Akatsuki to dismantle Uehara Naraku's rule—wasn't going to work. Might as well just call Captain Marvel back…
And while they were at it…
They could keep an eye on Thanos.
The members in the first wave of time travel got beaten up by Uehara Naraku, but they still brought back the first Time Gem from the past, which showed that the plan was working.
Once they got all six Infinity Stones in their hands…
Nick Fury suspected this guy Thanos might have something else in mind. Calling Carol Danvers back at this point should count as a kind of insurance.
It turned out Nick Fury hadn't been wrong.
Even if Thanos was now working together with the Avengers, it didn't mean he'd abandoned his own ideal.
Because almost everyone present had come into contact with at least one of the Infinity Stones, they quickly pieced together every timeline where the Stones had appeared.
First.
Avoid clashing with Uehara Naraku from any past timeline.
Second.
Avoid any actions that might disrupt the timeline.
And finally.
Come back alive.
However, anything gained ultimately demands a price.
Aside from the other Stones being brought back safely, the team sent to retrieve the Soul Stone still paid for it with a life—Natasha Romanoff ended up sacrificing herself.
The fact that this happened…
left the Avengers utterly grief‑stricken.
"We should talk about how we're going to deal with Uehara Naraku…"
Thanos didn't particularly care about Natasha Romanoff's sacrifice; he went on quietly, "This is a price I'd already spoken of long ago… Though perhaps it isn't beyond saving, because Uehara Naraku once brought back my daughter after she sacrificed herself."
Thanos's gaze fell on the six Infinity Stones. "If it's the power of the Stones… maybe… it should be possible."
"Then let's discuss it first…"
Nick Fury studied everyone present, his eyes locking onto Thanos's empty Infinity Gauntlet. "We have to decide who's going to wield these Stones… We don't seem to have many options. Only Mr. Thanos and Dr. Bruce Banner are really suitable, right?"
Since they already had the Infinity Gauntlet…
they didn't need to build another one.
It's just… handing all the Infinity Stones to Thanos, the former Cosmic Dominator—it didn't feel all that reassuring. Rumor had it this guy's goal was to erase half of all life in the universe…
"Other than me, no one can draw out their full power."
Thanos looked around at everyone present, took a step forward, and said, "No one in the universe understands how to wield the Stones' power better than I do…"
"Then please, Mr. Thanos, tell us what you'd do!"
Nick Fury stared at Thanos and spoke softly, "If Mr. Thanos was holding these Stones, how would you neutralize Uehara Naraku?"
"With a snap."
Thanos raised his hand and snapped his fingers, saying in a low voice, "There is no existence that the combined power of all six Stones cannot erase…"
After he finished, Thanos's eyes swept across the room. He saw the pager in Nick Fury's hand and knew it was the device used to call Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers.
That was going to be trouble…
Right at that moment, Loki suddenly chimed in, "Even with all six Stones, taking care of anyone is as easy as a finger snap… but Uehara Naraku also has six Infinity Stones on him, so there's no guarantee that would be a hundred‑percent success."
"…Then what do we do?"
Thanos turned his gaze to Loki.
"Then we can only go all‑in…"
Loki let out a quiet chuckle, looked at Thanos, and said, "If the first plan can't take down Uehara Naraku, then we let our strongest fighter carry all the Stones to confront him, and use every last ability of the Stones to fight Uehara Naraku to the death…"
"But…"
"I suggest we just pick someone at random to be the first one to try snapping."
"Using the Stones' power will burn through a lot of life force… If the first person fails, then the second one has to make sure they're in perfect condition when they take the Stones to face Uehara Naraku."
"..."
Everyone present looked at one another.
Even Thanos couldn't help glancing sideways at Loki; he had to admit that what Loki was suggesting worked out nicely in Loki's favor—it might let him get his hands on all the Infinity Stones without lifting a finger…
Who was going to be the first sacrifice?
"Let me do it…"
Dr. Bruce Banner raised his hand and stepped forward. He walked up to Thanos and held out his hand for the Infinity Gauntlet. "I know there's no way I could ever be a match for Uehara… So let me be the first sacrifice!"
"Bruce!"
"Bruce!"
"Bruce!"
"..."
The group of Avengers couldn't help staring at Bruce Banner.
They had just lost Bruce Banner's lover, Natasha Romanoff, and now they were going to lose Bruce Banner himself?
Bruce Banner shook his head, eyes falling on Thanos's Infinity Gauntlet. "Besides me, there isn't a better candidate. No one understands the gamma radiation of the Infinity Stones better than I do. Maybe this is fate. I don't want to make Natasha's sacrifice meaningless—I want to uncover their secret…"
"..."
Everyone fell silent despite themselves.
"Let's get ready…"
Bruce Banner reached for the Infinity Gauntlet, carefully slid it onto his arm, and murmured, "Hand me the Stones, everyone… This is finally going to come to an end."