Even though Locke had resurrected Howard and Maria Stark in their universe, Tony still couldn't completely forgive Steve Rogers for stopping him from taking revenge back then.
And beyond that, the truth was simple.
In their universe, Tony and Steve had never been especially close to begin with.
Without the Avengers ever truly forming, they'd only fought side by side a handful of times. There was mutual respect, sure, but nothing close to the brotherhood shared by Tony Stark and Captain America in this broken universe.
So when Tony looked at Steve now, there was no warmth in his eyes.
Only distance.
Steve clearly noticed the rejection in Tony's tone. The awkward smile on his face stiffened slightly before he slowly lowered his hand again.
But he didn't get angry.
If anything, he looked apologetic.
As long as Bucky Barnes wasn't involved, Steve Rogers was almost impossibly decent. His character, his morality, the way he treated people—few could ever truly criticize him.
Unfortunately, Bucky had always been the exception.
"Can we save the thank-you speeches for later?" Clint Barton suddenly asked.
His voice trembled slightly as he spoke.
"I just want to know if this is real. What you said… can it actually work?"
Natasha had already explained everything to him before bringing him here, but Clint still looked terrified.
Not of failure.
Of hope.
Because once someone lost everything, false hope became crueler than despair itself.
If this plan failed after giving him even a glimpse of his family again, Clint knew it would destroy whatever little remained inside him.
Tony Stark took a slow breath before nodding firmly.
"It'll work, Clint. Trust me," he said seriously. "As insane as it sounds, the theory is solid. We just need a few experiments to stabilize the process."
"I'll do it."
Clint answered instantly, without even a second of hesitation.
He didn't care about the risks.
If there was even the smallest chance of seeing his wife and children again, he would walk straight into hell for it.
"Alright."
Tony Stark accepted immediately.
"Uh… can I say something?"
Rocket Raccoon suddenly raised a paw from the side.
Tony blinked and finally seemed to properly notice him for the first time.
"You've got a talking raccoon in your universe?" he asked with genuine fascination. "That's incredible. Anyway, go ahead."
Rocket's entire face twisted with irritation.
"For the last damn time, I'm not a raccoon! I'm Rocket Raccoon! There's only one of me in the universe!"
Tony looked completely unconvinced.
"…What's the difference?"
Rocket stared at him for several long seconds before deciding the conversation wasn't worth the energy.
Then he turned toward everyone else instead.
"What I'm saying is this," Rocket said. "Since these guys came from another universe, that means their universe has Infinity Stones too, right?"
The room suddenly went quiet.
Rocket spread his hands dramatically.
"So why are we making this ridiculously complicated? Why bother with time travel at all? Just borrow the Infinity Stones from their universe and use those."
Silence.
Complete silence.
Then everyone slowly realized something horrifying.
Rocket was absolutely right.
Tony Stark's expression became particularly painful.
He had spent two sleepless days obsessing over quantum mechanics, temporal displacement, and impossible calculations…
Only for a genetically modified space raccoon to casually point out the obvious solution in ten seconds.
For a moment, he genuinely questioned his own intelligence.
Soon, every pair of eyes in the room turned toward Locke and Tony.
After all, they were the only connection to another universe.
Locke smiled faintly under everyone's eager stares.
"That method does sound easier," he admitted calmly. "No need for time travel. No need to risk altering timelines."
As he spoke, golden light rippled across the air in front of him.
The Tesseract.
Loki's scepter.
The Aether.
Three artifacts floated silently before everyone's eyes.
Inside them, the Space Stone, Mind Stone, and Reality Stone radiated terrifying cosmic power.
The entire room froze.
Even Thor unconsciously sat up straighter.
Then, before anyone could react further, the three artifacts vanished back into Locke's golden dimensional storage space.
"I currently possess three Infinity Stones," Locke continued casually. "But among the six, one is… special."
He slowly raised a finger.
"The Soul Stone."
The atmosphere instantly became heavier.
"The method to obtain it is different from the others," Locke said. "To claim the Soul Stone, you must exchange soul for soul."
His gaze swept across the room.
"You sacrifice the person you love most."
"That's impossible!"
Nebula abruptly stood up, her mechanical body trembling slightly.
"Thanos didn't love anyone!" she snapped immediately. "And he still got the Soul Stone!"
Locke looked at her calmly.
"Who told you Thanos didn't love anyone?"
Nebula froze.
"Do you know how Gamora died?" Locke asked quietly.
Nebula's expression stiffened.
To be honest, her life had always been tragic.
Thanos adopted both Gamora and Nebula as children, forcing them to fight each other constantly. Every time Nebula lost, Thanos replaced part of her body with machinery as punishment.
And she always lost.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Until most of her body stopped being organic at all.
But Locke didn't believe Nebula was truly incapable of winning even once.
In his eyes, Nebula had never been treated as a daughter.
She was a tool.
A stepping stone used to shape Gamora into the perfect child.
Thanos gave Gamora affection, attention, and twisted paternal love.
Nebula received none of it.
Whether she suffered, broke, or died meant nothing to him.
So hearing Locke's words now, Nebula's entire expression turned blank.
"No…" she whispered shakily. "No… that's impossible…"
She couldn't accept it.
Couldn't accept that the monster who destroyed her life had actually been capable of loving someone.
Steve frowned deeply.
"Is there really no other way to obtain the Soul Stone?"
His voice carried obvious tension.
He couldn't accept the idea of trading someone's life away.
"No," Locke answered simply.
That single word shattered Steve's last hope.
"I'll go."
Natasha Romanoff suddenly stood up.
The room turned toward her instantly.
"I'll retrieve the Soul Stone," she said calmly.
"I'm going too," Clint said at the exact same time.
Natasha looked at him quietly but didn't refuse.
Because she understood immediately.
To Clint, she was family.
Not romance.
Something deeper.
And if she died… Clint would absolutely be able to obtain the Soul Stone.
The room fell silent again.
Nobody knew what to say.
Thor had already lost everyone he loved.
Steve carried nothing but ghosts.
Bruce stood quietly with his arms folded, unable to speak.
Tony Stark opened his mouth several times, wanting to volunteer in their place, but the words refused to come out.
He wasn't afraid to die.
But he couldn't make Pepper watch him choose death after finally getting a second chance at life.
Then Locke suddenly spoke again.
"There's something I don't understand."
Everyone looked toward him.
"If there's a better solution where nobody has to die…" Locke said slowly, "why are all of you choosing the worst possible option?"
To be honest, Locke didn't particularly care whether Natasha Romanoff from this universe sacrificed herself or not.
The Natasha he truly considered a friend was the one from his own universe.