Journey Back To You // Spider-Man [Book 3]

three {Arya's POV}

"At the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then... the Big Bang sent six elemental crystals hurtling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence. Space. Soul. Power. Reality. Mind. And Time," Wong, Stephen Strange's fellow sorcerer, explained as we all stood around him in the Sanctum Sanctorum on Bleecker Street. 

He was moving his hands through the air to let holograms - I assumed they were holograms, but I was pretty sure they were magic - float around the room. I looked at them in awe and a slight sense of confusion. As he named the aspects of existence, the coloured rocks all glowed. Only, one was missing. As he said Time, he motioned to the gold pendant around Strange's neck. 

Strange moved his hands in a pattern and the pendant opened to reveal a green gem that glowed brightly. 

"Tell me his name again," Tony said. 

"Thanos," Stange answered and a chill ran down my spine. 

"He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets, takes whatever he wants. He wants to wipe out half of the universe. He sent Loki, the attack on New York. That was him!" Bruce explained. 

"Oh my God," I breathed. 

Tony had started pacing around the room but froze. "This is it..." he spoke softly. "What's our timeline?" 

"No telling. He already has the Power and Space Stones. That already makes him the strongest being in the universe. If he gets his hands on all six, Tony..." Bruce answered. 

"He could destroy life on a scale of hitherto undreamt of," Strange continued. Tony leaned on a large vase and stretched his legs. 

"Did you seriously just say 'hitherto undreamt of'?" he snickered. 

"Are you seriously leaning on the Cauldron of the Cosmos?" Strange asked. His cape smacked Tony's hand off of the cauldron and my jaw dropped. 

"Whoa, your cape is alive?" I gasped. 

"It's not a cape, it's the Cloak of Levitation," Strange corrected me without even looking in my direction as he kept a firm stare on Tony. I walked up to the cape and poked it. It did nothing. 

Tony stared back at Strange. "I'm going to allow that," he stated. "If Thanos needs all six, why don't we just stick this one down the garbage disposal?" He pointed at the green gem in Strange's necklace. 

"No, can't do," Strange said. 

"Why not?" I asked. 

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone with our lives," Wong answered, stepping closer to me and staring me down with a cold glare. I took a small step back. 

"And I swore off dairy, but then Ben & Jerry's named an ice cream flavour after me," Tony said. 

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts," Strange stated. 

"Not bad," Tony said. 

"It's a bit chalky," Strange said. 

"And it gives you gas," I added. "A Hunka Hulka Burning Fudge is amazing, though." 

"That's a thing?" Bruce marvelled and I nodded. 

"Whatever. The point is, things change," Tony intervened. 

"The oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change. This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos," Strange continued. 

"Yeah, so conversely, it may also be his best chance against us," Tony said. 

"Well, if we don't do our jobs-" Strange started but Tony cut him off.

"What is your job actually? Besides making balloon animals," he challenged.

Strange narrowed his eyes at him. "Protecting your reality, douchebag." 

I sighed. "Okay, can we please stop comparing our egos and focus on the real problem? We have this Stone and we know where it is." I pointed at the Time Stone. 

Bruce stepped forward. "Vision is out there somewhere with the Mind Stone and we have to find him now," he added. 

"Yeah, that's the thing..." Tony started. 

"What do you mean?" 

"Two weeks ago, Vision turned off his transponder. He's offline." 

"What? Tony, you lost another super bot?" Bruce exasperatedly asked. 

"Another?" I asked. 

"I didn't lose him. It's more than that. He's evolving," Tony spoke. 

"Well, who could find Vision?" I asked. 

A silence fell and I heard Tony mutter, "Shit," before he answered my question. "Probably Steve Rogers." 

I sighed and lowered my head. 

"Then call him," Bruce stated. 

"It's not that easy," Tony replied. Bruce looked utterly confused. "We haven't caught up in a spell, have we? The Avengers broke up. We're toast." 

"Broke up? Like a band? Like the Beatles?" Bruce asked. 

"Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms." I could hear the sincere pain in Tony's voice and I averted my eyes. The Avengers had been my family and the fact that that family no longer existed hurt me more than I wanted to admit. Suddenly, I realised I had never told Tony about my encounter with Steve at the fair last year.

"Tony, listen to me. Thor is gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not," Bruce said in a soft voice. Tony glanced at me and I nodded reassuringly. He sighed before he turned away from us. He fished a flip phone from his pocket and hovered his thumb over the green button.

I perked up at the sound of the wind howling outside. I frowned and turned to Strange. A singular strand of his hair was moving. "Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?" I asked slowly. 

He shook his head. "Not at the moment, no." 

The howling of the wind intensified and we all slowly turned to the door. People came running by and the screams sounded in the distance. An uneasy feeling settled in the bottom of my stomach. 

Tony was the first to move and he ripped open the door. Outside, people were running all in the same direction, car horns were blaring loudly, and a strong wind blew past us. We moved outside and went in the opposite direction in which the crowd was running. 

A few people bumped into me but I forced myself to ignore the fear that was coursing through my veins as I followed my father down the street. A woman tripped and fell but he was quick to help her back to her feet. He fished his glasses from his pocket and put them on. "FRIDAY, what am I looking at?" he asked his A.I.

"Strange, you might wanna stuff that Stone in your back pocket," I muttered. 

He pounded his fists against each other and two bright, yellow mandelas appeared. "We might wanna use it," he said. 

Tony peered around the corner and I moved to do the same but he quickly pushed me back as a red banner came flying by. 

We turned the corner once it was clear and I felt like my soul was leaving my body. In the middle of the street, a giant, round spaceship hovered a few feet above the streets of New York.

"Oh, God..."