Mastering Illusions

43

"The first ever Infinity Endeavor is about to begin!" the voice of Christine Everheart announces, knocking me out of my shock. "Let the battle for the Champions commence after the countdown!"

Which then starts, the hologram displaying the timer. I scan the area, trying to get a feel for the layout before the countdown ends. The large golden Gauntlet, characteristic of the Contest, lies in the center of the circle of podiums, but instead of being a ship built in imitation of Thanos' gauntlet, it's a replica of the actual thing, with versions of each ingot resting in their proper places, gleaming in the morning sun.

Right, this is the Infinity Endeavor. The supreme celebration of the Balance.

In the opening of the Gauntlet is a pile of weapons of all sorts, and hopefully some other necessary supplies nearby. The land isn't level, rising and dipping as if natural terrain, although we all know this is simply simulating the plains of Wakanda, not the actual thing. All right, so this gives T'Challa and Shuri the initial advantage. There's a gully, and what appears to be a shallow stream, breaking up the field, with a couple marula trees in between the ring of podiums and the Gauntlet. For the moment, none of the rest of it matters – the only thing I'm focused on is making it to the Gauntlet.

The timer is winding down and my muscles tense. This year, I'm fighting for the weapons and whatever supplies are there. We've been training for this moment.

I glance to my right and see the male Vanaheim champion, and a look to my left shows Minn-Erva, who's also preparing to run for the Gauntlet. I can't see Veers from here, but I know she'll also be sprinting as soon as the gong sounds.

Okay, okay, think. This is the Infinity Endeavor. All six Stones are involved – therefore, the powers of this arena could be anything from the past thirty-six Contests. Portals, visions, time loops, waves of destruction, forced choices, and altered reality. Anything is possible here.

But first challenge – weapons, supplies, kill what competition I can. Protect Veers as much as possible.

The gong sounds. I leap off the podium, hitting the ground running as I streak for the Gauntlet. The second I do so, there's a sharp click that reverberates around the arena, startling some birds out of the marala trees, and thin beams of crimson, green, gold, icy blue, pale orange, and purple course down the entire length of the Gauntlet, sparking in the air before a boom shakes the ground.

I stagger and fall, as do most of the other champions I can see. Thick bars of each color shoot out from the Gauntlet, cutting the arena around the large replica into six sections that extend past the circle of podiums. Each wedge of the arena now crackles with energy of one of the six colors.

Shoving myself back up onto my feet, I take off again, ignoring the crisp scarlet waves around me, emanations from the Reality Stone. I see Gamora, yelling at me to take her hand, I see my mother, her eyes dead but her mouth moving in some kind of curse of my soul, I see Odin, turning away from me as he did so many times in my childhood, but I keep forging ahead. They're not real, I keep telling myself. They're not real. Those are just illusions.

They fade away as soon as I reach the Gauntlet.

I'm one of the first here, probably because the others are wary of the stray waves of Infinity Stone power. I know my experience with illusions was the only way I could make it through the Reality remnants, and only then because it wasn't the full force of the Stone's power. Just that little bit has sweat rolling down my spine.

Skirting around the edge of the Gauntlet, I reach the opening and am just grabbing the shaft of a really nice scepter – the same one I used in the opening ceremonies last year, ironically – when I hear a sound. I whirl around, bringing my scepter around, and the tip of it clanks against something hard.