"Shit. Shit!"
Half an hour earlier, Tony Stark had genuinely believed the two of them had already left the universe behind.
The theory of time travel through the Quantum Realm had finally been proven viable, but there was still one impossible obstacle he hadn't solved yet: actually entering the Quantum Realm in the first place. That had been the wall stopping everything.
And since Locke and the others had proposed the method so casually, they obviously already possessed the means to access it.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Tony Stark snapped, irritation bleeding into his voice. "You're seriously in the mood to play games right now?"
"Why wouldn't we be?"
Locke leaned back lazily, his expression calm enough to make Stark even more irritated. "We came here to travel. Finding you was Tony's idea, not mine. He's my friend, so I agreed to help." His eyes narrowed slightly. "You should understand something clearly. We're not obligated to save your universe, and you're not my friend."
Even if Tony Stark and the Tony standing beside him shared the same face, the same voice, and the same genius-level ego, they were still completely different people.
The Tony Locke knew was his friend.
This version wasn't.
"Okay, okay, let's not make this weird," Tony hurriedly cut in, raising both hands. "We should focus on the whole time-travel thing instead."
More than anyone else, he understood his own personality. If someone had spoken to him like that, he normally would've exploded on the spot.
But the shocking part was that Tony Stark didn't get angry.
Instead, the exhausted man stood there silently for several seconds before lowering his head slightly.
"You're right," he said quietly. "I apologize for my attitude earlier. And… I'm asking for your help. Please help us save this universe."
Tony blinked in surprise.
Then he remembered what Locke had told him earlier.
This Tony Stark wasn't him.
Different experiences created different people. The road a person walked shaped every choice afterward.
And after everything this universe had suffered…
Tony suddenly realized that if he'd gone through the same nightmare, he probably would've made the exact same choices too.
"That's more like it," Locke said with a faint smile.
He crossed his arms casually before continuing, "You already proved that time travel through the Quantum Realm is theoretically possible. So the only thing left is figuring out how to enter it, right?"
Tony Stark nodded immediately.
"Wait, you solved it already?" Tony stared at him in disbelief. "How?"
"It's simple," Tony Stark answered automatically, immediately slipping into scientist mode. "Reverse the particle polarity inside a Möbius inversion ring, then use quantum fluctuation instability to fracture the Planck-scale threshold. Once the cascade effect triggers, it destabilizes localized temporal positioning—"
Tony frowned and fell into deep thought.
"Pym Particles," Locke said flatly.
Tony Stark's eyes lit up instantly.
Of course.
Pym Particles.
Objects could be enlarged or shrunk infinitely using them, including living organisms. If something shrank past the atomic level into a subatomic state, it could naturally enter the Quantum Realm.
That completed the missing link.
Time travel was now fully possible.
But the excitement on Tony Stark's face faded almost immediately.
"There's still a problem," he said quietly. "Dr. Pym is dead. Scott Lang disappeared too. They both died after Thanos snapped his fingers."
"Who told you Scott Lang is dead?" Locke interrupted casually.
Tony Stark froze.
"…What?"
"Scott survived," Locke explained. "When Thanos snapped his fingers, Hank Pym was conducting a Quantum Realm experiment. Scott had already entered the Quantum Realm before the Snap happened."
Locke's tone remained calm, but everyone listening unconsciously focused harder on every word.
"Hank Pym, Janet, and Hope all turned to dust. Scott got stranded inside the Quantum Realm because nobody was left outside to bring him back."
Tony Stark's eyes widened slightly.
"You're saying he's been trapped there for five years?"
"Five hours, technically."
Locke shrugged.
"Time flows differently inside the Quantum Realm. To him, barely any time passed at all. All we need to do is locate Pym's experimental van, press the activation switch, and Scott will come back out."
"And the Pym Particles come with him," Tony added immediately as realization hit.
"Exactly."
Tony Stark stared at Locke for several seconds.
"How do you even know all this?" he finally asked. "Your universe shouldn't have gone through the Snap."
Before Locke could answer, Tony grinned and hooked a thumb toward him.
"You seriously underestimate him," he said proudly. "Locke's basically the strongest Asgardian in our universe. You think that title is just for decoration? The guy can practically see the future."
Tony Stark looked at Locke again, but this time he didn't ask any further questions.
Whether Locke was telling the truth or not would be easy to verify.
If they found Pym's old quantum van, everything would be proven immediately.
"Give me two days," Tony Stark said at last. "I'll locate the equipment and gather the others."
"The others?" Tony asked. "You mean the Avengers?"
He looked genuinely surprised.
"So this version of me actually joined Fury's little superhero club?"
In Locke's universe, Nick Fury had desperately tried building the Avengers initiative too.
Unfortunately, Locke had zero interest in cooperating.
And since Tony usually followed Locke's lead on most things, he never joined either. Thor practically treated Locke like family, Banner stayed mostly uninvolved, and without those key members, Fury's dream team never truly came together.
After enough failed attempts, Nick Fury eventually stopped pushing the idea entirely.
"Absolutely not," Tony said immediately. "And honestly, don't you think 'Avengers' sounds kind of dumb? 'Preventers' would've been way better."
Tony Stark's expression dimmed slightly.
He remembered saying almost the exact same thing years ago.
Back before Thanos.
Back before half the universe disappeared.
"In two days," Tony Stark said quietly, "the Avengers Headquarters may not exist in your universe. But I'm guessing you can still find it."
"We can," Locke answered simply.
Two days later, at Avengers Headquarters, the surviving heroes of this shattered universe finally gathered together.
The massive facility felt quieter than it should've.
Emptier.
Like the building itself was grieving.
Locke and Tony followed Tony Stark into the main meeting room, where the remaining Avengers were already waiting.
Steve Rogers.
Natasha Romanoff.
Clint Barton.
Nebula.
Scott Lang.
Rocket Raccoon.
Rhodey.
Bruce Banner in his merged Hulk form.
And Thor.
The moment Locke saw him, his eyes narrowed slightly.
This Thor looked terrible.
Not physically weak, but spiritually broken. His beard was unkempt, his eyes dull, and his body had clearly gone soft after years of depression and alcohol.
It was hard to connect this man with the God of Thunder.
Steve stepped forward first.
Even after everything, the captain still carried himself with calm dignity.
He extended a hand toward Tony.
"Thank you," Steve said sincerely. "For bringing hope back to this universe. Tony… and your friends from another world."
Tony glanced at the outstretched hand.
Then he frowned slightly and made no move to shake it.
"I'm sorry," he said calmly. "But I don't know you."
....
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