Looking at the unconscious Hulk lying on the floor, Fang Yuan was stunned.
Of course this wasn't his Hulk; his Hulk was at Stark Tower celebrating with Tony and the rest.
This was the timeline's Dr. Green, Banner.
Dr. Green came from 2023 and was here to borrow the Time Stone from the Ancient One.
Fang Yuan had never imagined that the Marvel Universe he lived in was the very one the Avengers visited in Avengers 4 to collect the stones!
'But I've already transcended time,' Fang Yuan said. 'How could they still travel to the past?'
'I never foresaw this future, so I don't know their purpose. Strictly speaking, you're the one outside of time, not this World.'
the Ancient One explained.
'If you're not surprised, it means they're not an unplanned intrusion. You could say… it's a parallel Universe.'
Hearing the Ancient One, Fang Yuan instantly understood.
In Marvel, every different choice the Avengers make spawns a parallel World. If his guess was right, then the Avengers' arrival was simply part of this World's script.
Fang Yuan's eyes lit up. 'In that case…'
The Ancient One nodded. 'I've cast a spell on the visitors; to them, no time is passing.'
The Sorcerer Supreme had studied the Time Stone for centuries—of course she could freeze time.
It was just that the Ancient One had long outgrown showing off, and she respected the Infinity Stones so much she avoided using them unless absolutely necessary.
'Release them from stasis first; let them say hello to their eleven-years-younger selves.' As he spoke, Fang Yuan's mind raced for a plan.
The 2023 Avengers came from the Avengers 4 battlefield—could he fleece them for a little profit?
Ahem, wrong word.
'Fleecing' sounded awful, as if he were some demon king.
It was clearly a toll.
Visitors to his turf had to pay something, right?
He might not be a demon king, but he was the Black King; guests had to offer tribute.
And if they didn't, they could forget about taking any Infinity Stones.
While Fang Yuan was calculating the price, Hulk still hadn't woken up. But at Stark Tower, three figures stepped out of the Mirror Dimension.
'That's weird,'
said a visibly older Tony Stark, gray streaking his temples.
'Weird how?'
a tiny black dot on his shoulder asked.
Ant-Man Scott.
The one who'd started the Avengers 4 mission.
By hiding in the Quantum Realm during the Snap, he'd inspired the Avengers' time-heist.
'That glass wall,' Stark frowned. 'When Loki tossed me off the building, I remember smashing it.'
'Maybe we arrived too early?'
'Don't overthink it—mission first.'
Scott didn't care; he just wanted the Infinity Stones so he could go back and save his girlfriend's family.
'Right.'
Stark nodded. They were using Pym Particles—two vials each, one round trip only.
If they failed to get the stones here, there wouldn't be a second chance.
'We'll hold the lobby. You shrink into my old Arc Reactor, cause a temporary short, create chaos, and let the disguised me grab the briefcase with the Tesseract.'
Stair by stair, Stark outlined the plan.
'You're brutal to yourself,' Scott grinned. 'Wasn't the reactor keeping you alive at this point?'
'Just a little arrhythmia,' Stark replied.
Scott shook his head on Stark's shoulder. 'Just?'
'Hey, did we check the view outside?' Scott asked suddenly.
Old Tony answered, 'No, we landed straight inside Stark Tower…'
'Wait—something's off.' Stark caught on. 'Then how did we know the glass wall wasn't broken?'
They reached the ground floor and looked outside at New York.
Skyscrapers still stood; there was no sign of any battle.
'What…the hell?' Ant-Man was stunned.
'Steve, abort! Something's wrong with this World… damn, comms are down.'
Stark tried to contact Captain America, but couldn't.
High above, an elevator in Stark Tower descended.
'They threw a party and didn't invite us,' Rumlow sighed.
Sitwell chuckled. 'If you were super-human, maybe. But you're not.'
He patted the case in his hand. 'So you're stuck with me recovering Loki's scepter.'
Ding!
The elevator stopped at the 75th floor, doors sliding open to reveal someone unexpected.
'Captain?' Sitwell was startled—shouldn't Captain America be upstairs celebrating?
They had clearly seen Steve upstairs toasting with Tony, and the Captain wasn't wearing this outfit.
In this World, Vought Corporation had already designed a brand-new uniform for Captain America—keeping the old elements but sleeker and less theatrical.
The one in front of them was dressed in a style from how many years ago?
Something's wrong!
Sitwell and Rumlow exchanged glances, instantly on guard; Rumlow's arm dropped, already brushing the gun grip.
But they didn't act rashly—after all, Captain America is enhanced, so outrunning an elevator is nothing.
Captain America sensed the odd vibe too, yet he found it perfectly normal.
He'd lived through this exact scene once before.
Every person in this elevator was HYDRA!
Coming back from the future had its perks—knowing secrets that were still secrets now.
'I just took a call from the Secretary-General; the Loki Scepter is under my charge now,' Captain said without batting an eye.
'What?' Sitwell was even more stunned.
'I've received intel that someone's coming to steal the wand,' Captain explained.
Now Rumlow was suspicious too and flat-out refused: 'Sorry, Captain, we can't hand it over.'
'Don't worry—trust me.'
Captain finally decided to play his trump card. He leaned to Sitwell's ear and softly spoke the legendary line—
'Hail HYDRA!'
'!'
'!!'
Sitwell and Rumlow stared at each other in shock.
With a confident look, Captain reached for the case in Sitwell's hand—his plan was foolproof.
Sure enough, Sitwell and the others were dumbfounded.
'Captain America is actually HYDRA—'
'Get him!'
Before his fingers touched the case, someone grabbed him from behind, and Rumlow whipped out his baton, slamming it into Captain.
HYDRA?
Don't you know we're the Illuminati now?
The great leader Sebastian said anyone still calling themselves HYDRA is a heretic!
Captain was completely bewildered.
What's going on? This isn't the script!
Hearing 'HYDRA' just makes them beat me harder?
Thud, clang, crash, rumble!
Amid the scuffle, the elevator reached the first floor. When the doors opened, Captain and Rumlow were choking each other.
Captain was anxious—by rights they shouldn't interact too much with people from this time. He glanced outside—and that glance spelled trouble.
He saw a squad of armed men, which didn't surprise him; the people beside them did.
There were Nick Fury, Alexander Pierce, Phil Coulson, Bruce Banner, Hulk… wait!
'Hulk?'
Captain was amazed—how were Banner and Hulk in the same frame?
If this Hulk weren't baring his teeth at him, Captain would've thought it was Dr. Green from his own team.
And Phil Coulson?
Captain remembered him vividly—his little fan who'd died by Loki's hand before getting an autograph on his collectible cards.
'What's happening?' Captain's resistance faltered.
'Stand down, Captain!' A familiar voice rang out—it was the Iron Man from his own Universe.
Stark frowned deeply. 'We're in the wrong Universe!'
'Zzzzt!'
A sparking Portal opened. Fang Yuan used Telepathy to make everyone instantly forget what had just happened. They walked past Stark and Captain as if they weren't there; Rumlow's group left with the Mind Stone Scepter, while Fury and the others took the elevator upstairs for the victory party—music and dancing on.
Normally Tony wouldn't welcome Fury and Pierce to his tower, but the World Security Council had performed well in the recent battle, so for once Tony agreed with Howard's suggestion to bring them along.
As for Coulson, he was Tony's favorite S.H.I.E.L.D. Agent.
Who could hate the adorable Coulson?
Besides them, Fang Yuan even blocked the footage from Jarvis's databank.
Letting people of this Universe meet future characters too early would hinder his future schemes.
Better that only he knew the plot.
'I'm certain you two will come with me,' Fang Yuan told the future Iron Man and Captain.
On the other side of the Portal stood the newly awakened Dr. Green Banner—
Uh, in soul form.
Banner had tried to reason with the Ancient One; turns out her reasoning was stronger—one slap knocked his soul right out.
Though Tony didn't know Fang Yuan, he recognized Kamar-Taj's signature sparking Portal and the eye of agamotto hanging around the bald woman's neck—once worn by Strange.
He instantly realized this was this Universe's Sorcerer Supreme.
So Stark nodded. 'Of course.'
You will get 90 chapter ahead for this fanfiction.
patreon.com /AZofficial