fiction | Part of the journey is the end

9. What if... The Watcher broke his oath?

In 2014, the STRIKE team, Black Widow, and Captain Carter were on a Quinjet. Peggy Carter was wearing her version of the stealth suit.

Steve beamed at seeing Captain Carter again and seeing she got a stealth suit too.

"Ugh, it's 2014. That wasn't a good year," said Natasha.

"HYDRA's still up to their bullshit even with all the changes to Captain Carter's universe?" Clint said.

"Of course, HYDRA would still exist," Tony snarled. "Those assholes never go away."

"Even if Zola was captured earlier, he was probably still recruited by SHIELD," said Sam.

"I'm so tired of hearing about Zola," Bucky said.

Peggy briefed the team about the Lemurian Star and how pirates, led by Batroc, took the ship.

Natasha's face soured. "The Lemurian Star mission is where it all started to go wrong."

"In another universe, Peggy's niece killed Batroc," said Bucky.

Sam scowled. "And successfully blamed on the 22-year-old."

"Oh shit, Peggy and Sharon are around the same age in that universe," said Steve. Would Sharon still become the Power Broker?

"I've got the shield. You've got the sword," Peggy told Natasha, who replied, "More like knives, but cute wordplay."

"Huh," said Natasha. "That's what I said before." It would've been nice having another woman on the team before Wanda arrived.

Steve was pleased with seeing Natasha and Peggy working together since they were some of the most important people in his life.

"Kill the engines and find the hostages," Peggy told the team.

"This whole mission was Fury's dirty work," said Steve.

"One of the hostages is Sitwell. They can leave him there," Natasha said.

"Oh shit, I killed Sitwell, didn't I?" Bucky realized.

Sam grimaced. "Yeah..."

"So, any plans for Saturday night?" Natasha asked Peggy.

"It's nice to know that Nat's still trying to set people up," Steve said, exasperated.

Natasha's eyes lit up. "Do you want me to find someone for you?"

"The last person you tried to set me up with ended up becoming the head of an international criminal organization."

"And I thought my very non-existent love life was a mess," Stephen muttered.

"No, don't. Stop right there." "Bernard in Accounting was asking about you."

"Bernard in Accounting? At least, find her a good date," Steve scoffed.

"Nothing good has ever followed the phrase, 'Bernard in Accounting'," Peggy replied.

"Exactly!" Steve exclaimed.

"What if his name was Steve?" "Ouch! Just when we were becoming pals, Widow."

Steve smiled sadly. He wished he could be with Peggy, but that ship had sailed a long time ago. He was so proud of her, though. She had done great things in their universe and was doing great things in another, albeit in a slightly more violent way.

The jet doors opened. Peggy winked at Natasha and jumped out of the jet with no parachute.

"She jumped out with no parachute. All these super soldiers are insane," Sam said flatly.

Steve and Bucky rolled their eyes.

"Based on the stories Jarvis used to tell me, he and Peggy went a little crazy on their adventures," said Tony.

Peggy landed on the ship and took down the pirates with her shield.

Steve didn't think he'd ever get tired of seeing Captain Carter taking down people like they weighed nothing.

"I thought you were more than just a shield," said Batroc.

"Where'd Captain Carter's sword go? That was pretty cool," Scott said, awed.

Peggy put the shield on her back. "I'm a pretty good dancer, too."

Steve smiled sadly.

The two started to fight. "Whoa! Are you seeing that?" Peggy asked, pointing at the Watcher in the sky. "Captain Carter, the soldier lost in time, you have been chosen," he said.

Everyone burst into a wide grin at seeing the Watcher.

"The Watcher's building a team," said Bruce.

"Captain Carter's a good pick," Steve said proudly.

"I hope this works out," said Peter.

"It has to," T'Challa said firmly.

The Ravagers' ships attacked the Dairy Queen where Quill worked and where the Expansion was taking place in Missouri, 2008.

"Are the Ravagers coming to help my variant? I thought he was a goner," Quill said.

"I'm fine as long as we don't see Good Thanos again," Rocket said.

"None of us want to see Good Thanos again," Thor replied.

"What the hell is that?" Rhodey said, pointing at the Expansion.

"The Expansion," Gamora answered. "Ego wanted to conquer and assimilate the universe into new extensions of his consciousness. He wasn't powerful enough to do it alone, which is why he searched for one of his many offspring to see if they made had the Celestial gene. Peter did."

T'Challa raised a brow. "Is that why you thought we might be brothers?" he asked Quill, who turned a funny shade of pink.

"Yeah."

Quill was screaming in pain as Ego took his Celestial powers inside the Dairy Queen. "Oh, come on. Relax, son. It'll all be over in a thousand years or so," Ego said.

All of them winced. "That looks extremely painful," T'Challa said, concerned.

Quill ran a hand down his face. "Worse father ever."

A couple of them thought their own fathers could give Ego a run for his money, but at least their fathers hadn't given their mothers brain cancer.

Star-Lord T'Challa burst in, grabbed Quill, and blew up Ego.

Quill felt a twinge of jealousy at seeing Star-Lord T'Challa save the day. The Guardians were glad Other Quill was okay, even though he was slightly useless.

"At least he's alright," said Gamora.

T'Challa put Quill on the ground and told him to leave the fight to them.

"Man, Other Me is so useless. He can't even shoot a blaster properly," Quill complained.

"Other you may not know how to, but you do. And you've saved the galaxy multiple times," T'Challa said. "You may have taken a different route than my variant, but it's not any less heroic."

Quill's chest warmed and he sighed. "Why do you have to be so king-like and nice all the time?" It would've been easier to dislike Star-Lord T'Challa if he wasn't so good.

T'Challa laughed.

"I got it. Yeah. Hang back with the giant baby-man cape dude," Quill said, pointing to the Watcher.

"Huh, the Watcher does look like a giant baby-man cape dude," said Bruce.

"Star-Lord T'Challa, leader of the Ravagers and lost Prince of Wakanda, you have been chosen."

Quill's eye twitched at hearing T'Challa being called Star-Lord.

T'Challa never thought he would be chosen for a multiversal team, but Star-Lord T'Challa had done a lot of things that he thought he would never do.

Gamora and Tony Stark were at Nidavellir.

Everyone's brows shot up, Quill narrowed his eyes at the two, and Gamora and Tony shared a look of confusion.

"Nidavellir? What are they doing on Nidavellir?" Loki said, interested.

Tony's face soured. "Why am I in space again? The only other time I was in space was with Peter, Stephen, and Nebula, and I don't see them there."

Eitri was making the Infinity Gauntlet. Gamora was in attire resembling Thanos, and Tony was in a Sakaarian Iron Man suit.

There was a beat of silence.

"The Watcher didn't show us this universe," Steve stated.

Nebula scowled. "Why is Other Gamora wearing Thanos' armor?" she asked Gamora, who was just as confused as she was.

"And Tony's wearing a suit made from Sakaarian armor," Bruce pointed out, stunned.

"And you said Sakaar was a dump," Tony complained.

"Eitri's creating the Infinity Gauntlet too," Thor pointed out. "What do Tony and Gamora want with the Infinity Gauntlet?"

"That's a weird universe," Peter commented.

"All of these universes have been weird as hell," said Carol.

Tony talked about putting a suit of armor around the world and galaxy.

All of them groaned loudly while Tony rubbed his temples. He was getting exhausted with all of his variants and if this variant followed the pattern of all of his other ones, he was going to drop dead at any time.

"Don't do that," said Wong. "It's the reason why Infinity Ultron is wreaking havoc across the multiverse."

"You can't tell me there's not another big, bad lurking-in-the-shadows monster under the bed," Tony said.

"There is, but Ultron wasn't the way to go about it," Tony said. He'd learned that much from seeing Infinity Ultron.

"There's an even bigger bad lurking-in-the-shadows monster than Thanos," said Loki.

Gamora saw the Watcher's reflection on Tony's suit. "Tony!" she cried, swinging her sword at the reflection. The sword was Thanos's double-edged sword.

"Other Gamora has Thanos' sword too?!" Nebula exclaimed.

"The sword reminds me of that goddamn Thanoscopter we saw in the Void," said Sam.

"I'm still confused about why Gamora and I are in space together," said Tony.

"Don't ask me, I don't know either," said Gamora.

"Gamora, survivor of Sakaar and destroyer of Thanos..." said the Watcher.

Everyone's brows shot up and Gamora looked highly pleased with herself.

"Damn, Destroyer of Thanos sounds really hot, Gamora," said Quill.

Gamora rolled her eyes fondly. Nebula pouted; she wanted to be the one to destroy Thanos.

"That must be a good universe if Thanos has been killed," said Wanda.

"My favorite alternate universe is Party Thor's," said Thor.

"That's everyone's favorite alternate universe," said Carol.

"And one who's about to kick your moon-shaped, ugly mug," Tony said. "Not you, Stark," said the Watcher.

Tony sighed. "Yeah, I deserve that after Ultron."

"You, Gamora, have been chosen."

"And that's the third member," said Wong.

"Peggy, T'Challa, and Gamora? That's a start of a pretty interesting team," said Steve.

The Dora Milaje, Princess Shuri, and Pepper Potts, who was carrying a large gun, ran through the palace in Wakanda, 2008.

T'Challa's mouth thinned at seeing this universe again. He didn't like it very much.

Tony was taken aback at seeing Pepper with a gigantic gun. She looked great, though. "Are they finally going to take down Killmonger?" he said, hopefully.

"It won't be easy. Killmonger made a mess of the country in our universe," said T'Challa.

"They can expose him like he did with Stane," said Rhodey.

"Killmonger must be tried for murder under Wakandan law. The Americans can have him after we're finished," said Shuri.

"I don't care what happens to Killmonger as long as Rhodey is avenged," said Tony.

Killmonger was inside the throne room, which was destroyed.

Everyone's eyes widened in alarm and T'Challa stiffened. "What has he done?" T'Challa said, horrified.

"Erik Stevens, Killmonger, Tony Stark's former protégé and killer, you have been chosen," said the Watcher.

T'Challa blinked dumbly. The Watcher was recruiting Killmonger, of all people?

There was a pause before they burst into chaos.

"Former protégé? That man was never Other Tony's protégé!" Tony exclaimed. He preferred Peter to Killmonger.

"The Watcher is recruiting Killmonger on his team? Is he joking?!" Peter said, swallowing down his frustration. "He killed Tony!"

"This is a horrible idea! What is the Watcher thinking?" said Carol.

"He literally murdered T'Challa, Rhodey, and Tony within forty-eight hours," Natasha said flatly.

"And the Watcher already recruited T'Challa on the team; that's not going to cause any problems at all," Rhodey said sarcastically.

"Maybe the Watcher has a plan?" Stephen suggested. "He's not stupid, he knows exactly who Killmonger is."

The Dora Milaje, Pepper, and Shuri burst through the doors of the throne room to find no one.

"Because a giant baby man transported him away," Quill summed up.

"Killmonger is going to have one hell of a welcome when he gets back," said Bucky. Personally, he was hoping to see a Dora Milaje beatdown again.

Party Thor was smashing Ultron sentries with Mjolnir in Las Vegas, 2011.

Thor thought that the sentries could be destroyed much faster if Party Thor didn't use Mjolnir and used his lightning instead.

"Party Thor's a little empty in the head, but he's still the God of Thunder. He makes much more sense than Killmonger," said Clint.

Thor complained about how he was going to go on a date.

Thor smiled bitterly. Having his and Jane's date interrupted was terribly on brand for them. If he didn't have any avenging to do, Jane had her science stuff. It was typical that Party Thor's and Jane's first date would start like this right off the bat.

The Watcher tried to tell Thor that he had been chosen, but Thor was too busy fighting Ultron bots to listen.

All of them chuckled, and Loki looked at Party Thor fondly. It was heartwarming to see a version of Thor and himself that were happier and hadn't gone through the things they had. And they still considered themselves to be brothers!

The Watcher grabbed Thor, who looked minuscule, in his palm.

They howled with laughter while Thor shook his head, amused.

Thor screamed in terror until he realized he was in a pub along with Captain Carter, Star-Lord T'Challa, Gamora, and Killmonger.

Thor got flashbacks to when the Grandmaster first greeted him in Sakaar. The Avengers and the Guardians looked at the assembled team with interest.

"That's a pretty solid team, and I'm assuming that Strange Supreme is somewhere there," said Natasha. "Everyone except Killmonger makes sense."

Stephen and Tony were confused at why Zombie-Hunter Peter wasn't there, but Killmonger was.

"I know that pub," Steve said, tilting his head in confusion.

"I know this place," Peggy said, turning to see a picture of Skinny Steve.

Steve smiled softly.

"I still can't get over how tiny he was," said Wanda.

"And that version of Steve decides to fly around in an Iron Man suit powered by a fucking Infinity Stone," Bucky grumbled.

"The pub facade was my idea," said Strange Supreme, standing behind the bar. "I read about it in your biography. I hope you like it."

Steve blinked in surprise. That was strangely sweet. "Did you read my biography too?" he asked Stephen.

"No."

"So, this theatre facade," Bruce gestured to the room, "The Watcher created it like the pub."

"If the Watcher is the reason we're here," said Gamora.

"He probably is."

Thor asked Stephen for a beer, who gave him one.

Thor clapped Stephen on the back, who coughed violently from the force. "Fantastic," Thor beamed.

Peggy, Gamora, and T'Challa asked Stephen who he was and what he wanted with them.

"Stephen isn't the one who brought them there—although, he did help—the Watcher did," said Peter.

The lights flickered and the Watcher appeared.

All of them looked at the Watcher, exasperated.

"That man loves to make dramatic entrances," said Natasha.

"It's you again," Peggy gasped.

"It must've been weird seeing a giant bald man in the sky," said Bucky.

"Not as weird as the zombie apocalypse," said Sam.

"Good point."

"Come on. Get a new trick, man," said T'Challa.

T'Challa was slightly taken aback at hearing himself speak informally.

The Watcher explained that they'd been chosen for a highly dangerous mission.

"Dangerous mission is accurate. They're going to face Infinity Ultron," said Gamora.

"At first, I scoured eternity for one true hero. Then I saw the bigger picture. This mission requires a team. The perfect combination of skills and experience that alone will triumph."

"So, why the hell is Killmonger there?" Tony snapped.

"He's the only one from the team why I don't understand is there," said T'Challa.

Peggy asked if he kidnapped them from across the galaxy so they could save the universe.

"Not just the universe, the entire multiverse," said Bucky.

"And the depressing part is that if they've managed to defeat Infinity Ultron, which is going to be incredibly difficult, there's still a Multiversal War to think about," said Wong.

Scott sighed. "These multiversal threats never end."

"You aren't just our best hope to save one universe. You are my last hope to save all of them. You are the Guardians of the Multiverse," said the Watcher.

The Guardians of the Galaxy looked at the Watcher incredulously.

"They stole half of our name," said Quill.

Rocket scoffed. "And people thought Guardians of the Galaxy was too much. They're named Guardians of the Multiverse!"

"Gamora's a part of both," Nebula added.

"I don't think Other Gamora is a part of the Guardians of the Galaxy," said Gamora.

Thor chugged the rest of his beer. "I know what this is. Loki put you up to this joke. Listen, I do not have time for his pranks today," he said, walking towards the door and ignoring Stephen telling him not to.

Loki and Thor snorted. "I wouldn't create a prank like this, there's nothing funny about it. It's just depressing," said Loki.

"But it's nice to know that you end up pranking me even in the multiverse," Thor chuckled.

"Well, you are my brother from another mother," Loki said wryly, causing Thor to smile widely.

"My lady Jane needs me. So, I'll be going. Enjoy yourse..." Thor screamed as he found himself facing a powerful vortex, causing him to withdraw back inside the pub.

A beat of silence as everyone's eyes flickered to the walls to see if there was a door. There wasn't.

"I don't see a door," said Sam.

"Maybe the Watcher doesn't want us to fall out of the vortex," Gamora suggested.

"If we're in the Watcher's vortex rooms, then that means we're not even our universe right now," said Wanda.

"I think we're outside time and space. Like the TVA and the Citadel," said Loki.

"You know, that idea doesn't freak me out as much as it should," said Steve.

"The Watcher has a lot of explaining to do," Natasha said.

"We're in. Mind telling us what we're up against?" Peggy asked.

"One of the most awful and powerful beings in the entire multiverse," said Quill.

"That doesn't narrow it down at all," said Bruce.

"Shit, this is just depressing," said Rhodey.

The Watcher and Stephen explained that Ultron had the Infinity Stones and their worlds would soon be under attack.

"And ours too if they don't manage to defeat him," said Vision.

"I'm going to be honest—and it might be because all these alternate universes were way too miserable to think about—but I don't know how they're going to defeat Infinity Ultron. He's too powerful," said Clint.

"The Watcher has a plan. I think he knows what he's doing," said Scott.

"And that plan involves Killmonger, who's going to betray anyone of them at any second," said Tony.

"Then it's a good thing they've got the God of Thunder and Strange Supreme on that team," said Steve. "They can handle him."

"They even have the Destroyer of Thanos on the team!" Quill added enthusiastically, causing Gamora to smile.

"I might be able to help with that. I've stolen more from worse," said T'Challa.

T'Challa shook his head. It was still strange knowing that his variant grew up in space. At least Star-Lord T'Challa stole for the good of the galaxy.

"T'Challa should tell Gamora that he managed to convince Thanos to abandon his plan and become a Ravager," said Rocket.

Nebula snorted. "Especially since that Gamora killed Thanos."

"Seriously? You really are from another planet," said Killmonger.

"Another universe too," T'Challa added.

"We believe the only way to stop Ultron is to separate his body from the stones," Stephen said.

"That's easier said than done," Stephen said.

"Strange Supreme can do it," Peter said, confidently. "He can use one of his creatures."

Stephen looked at Peter fondly. It was comforting knowing that Peter didn't think any less of him even after everything Strange Supreme has done.

It was summed up that Ultron could be hiding anywhere in the Multiverse with an army of killer robots, and armed with a full set of stones.

There was a beat of silence.

"They're so screwed," said Rhodey.

"Yeah, things are looking bleak," said Quill.

"Maybe we won't have to deal with a Multiversal War because Infinity Ultron is going to destroy the entire multiverse before that," said Clint.

"You're being too pessimistic," said Steve.

"Come on, I'm not wrong. Look at all these alternate universes. None of them have ended well."

"Yes, but the Watcher didn't intervene then. He's intervening now."

"Let's hope you're right."

"I never said it would be easy," said the Watcher.

"This is practically a suicide mission at this point," said Bucky.

"I think you're underestimating them," said Scott.

Thor asked if they could get Chinese food as his tummy was getting rumbly.

"Shawarma is pretty good too," Thor said.

The other original Avengers grinned.

"You picked them," said Stephen.

"I'd like to talk to the Watcher about why he chose Killmonger," said T'Challa. "This mission is already sensitive since the entire multiverse depends on it and my cousin is not the most dependable. He'll most likely betray someone."

Sometime later, the Guardians of the Multiverse were eating Chinese food and making a plan.

"Their plan better be airtight. They can't afford for anything to go wrong," said Natasha.

T'Challa said they had to find Ultron. "Well, I'm not one to brag, but I've been told that I excel at attracting unwanted attention," Thor said, accidentally unleashing a bolt of lightning from Mjolnir.

"That's a constant in both Thors," said Loki.

Thor chuckled. Everyone else's variants were leading pretty miserable and depressing lives, but his variant was relatively happier. A bit more immature, but happy.

"Oh. That will come in handy," said T'Challa.

"Of course, it's going to come in handy. Thor's the God of Thunder," Peter stressed.

"And after we recover the stones, we destroy them," said Gamora.

They looked at Other Gamora skeptically, including Gamora.

"Why is Other Gamora talking about the Stones as if they're easy to destroy?" said Gamora. "The only other time we saw the Stones get destroyed was by the Stones themselves, and by Wanda destroying the Mind Stone."

Thor wondered how they could go about destroying the Stones, but Gamora slammed a machine on the bar counter. "The Infinity Crusher, designed to disintegrate each stone into nothing," she explained.

There was a loud silence.

"Never mind. Other Gamora knows what she's doing," said Gamora.

"I was in favor of destroying the Stones from the very beginning. I think it's the best option to stop Thanos," said Tony. "We can just destroy the Stones when we find them. We currently have half of the Stones with us right now—Mind Stone, Space Stone, and Time Stone."

"Thanos can't snap if the Stones are destroyed," Natasha added.

"You can't destroy the Stones because the Ancient One said they're our chief forces against darkness. It doesn't matter for them because Infinity Ultron's already in a destroyed universe," said Bruce. "But what we can do is reduce them to atoms like Thanos did because they still retain their presence in the universe."

"How are we going to reduce the Stones to atoms without snapping and dying? You can't snap because you're not Smart Hulk and Tony's staying far away from all the Stones," said Rhodey.

Thor's face lit up. "I can do it!"

"Or we can just use the Pym Particles," Scott suggested.

A pause.

"Okay yeah, that can work," Bruce said. "Tony, Peter, Rocket, and I can work on it when we get back."

"We can bring in Hank Pym too if he agrees not to go on a killing spree," said Tony.

"And what about the Time Stone? Are you still sticking to your oath?" Sam asked Stephen.

"I'm not the Sorcerer Supreme. Ask Wong," Stephen said.

Everyone looked to Wong for an answer, who bit the inside of his cheek. "If we don't see any side effects of reducing the Stones to atoms any of our futures, then yes, you can destroy it," he said.

"Yep. I picked them," the Watcher said, smugly.

"A pretty solid team," said Peter.

Cut to Peggy standing in the front of the room, going over the plan.

Steve beamed at seeing Peggy take charge and be the captain.

"Get the Soul Stone and get it to Gamora. We'll hold the line. And then she'll unleash the Crusher. With some luck, we'll be home for dinner."

"They're going to need a lot of luck because this mission is looking tough," said Sam.

"Okay, wait. Slow down a little bit. There are a few people in the room that don't understand. Not me. I get it. But for them, maybe repeat it," said Thor.

The Avengers and the Guardians chuckled.

"Thor's lucky, he got the best and happiest variant. Look at Strange Supreme," said Stephen.

"That's true, I do like my variant even though he could be a little...immature at times," said Thor.

Personally, Peter thought he had the best variants. He didn't know if that was self-absorbed or not considering they were all Peter Parker. Peter Two, Peter Three, and Zombie-Hunter Peter were all pretty cool, but he didn't know if Zombie-Hunter Peter was going to survive for much longer after going to Wakanda.

The Watcher said they were ready and transported them to an abandoned clifftop.

"It must be nice to be able to travel the multiverse at will," said Wanda.

Stephen cast a protection spell around the group.

"It's pretty convenient having witches and sorcerers on the team now," said Natasha.

Stephen explained that there wasn't enough intelligent life here to attract Ultron until they decided to.

"That sentence is horrifying. They're going to try to attract Ultron," Scott said, horrified.

A tentacle unleashed itself from Stephen's hand until he drew it back.

Everyone winced and Stephen's mouth straightened into a thin line.

"I'm really worried about those tentacles. I hope they don't hurt him," said Peter.

Stephen thought Strange Supreme was probably in pain every moment of the day even if he hadn't lost his hands. Pain was an old friend and it was most likely the same for every Stephen Strange in the multiverse.

"Can I ask, what happened?" Peggy asked, kindly. Stephen sighed, "Same thing that happened to you. Love."

Stephen and Steve's eyes softened. Stephen realized that the way he grieved with loss wasn't healthy; it was worse than Wanda's.

"Strange Supreme just messed up a little because he was grieving. It's understandable," Wanda said.

"He destroyed an entire universe," Rhodey said flatly.

Wanda faltered. She didn't like to admit it, but she knew she was capable of doing the same thing. The Hex was minuscule in terms of what exactly she could do. She wasn't unaware of Chaos Magic, witchcraft, and the Scarlet Witch now.

"I take it you know the Captain Carter in your universe?" "No. Captain America. In my universe, Steve Rogers received the serum." "Now, that would be a sight to see."

Steve grinned widely. He would love to meet Captain Carter one day. He wasn't planning on leaving his universe to be with Peggy, but just to compare experiences and maybe have a good cathartic cry. It was too bad that there was no way to travel the multiverse without making it unstable like Stephen and Peter did. Maybe the Watcher would agree if he asked really nicely. It wasn't as if he could make the multiverse more unstable than it already was.

"Getting the serum is a better option than flying around in a Space Stone-powered Iron Man suit while being a ninety-pound asthmatic," said Bucky.

"Let it go, Bucky!" Steve exclaimed.

"How can I let it go?! It was a stupid thing to do!"

"That can be the name of Steve's biography," Natasha said, causing Bucky to laugh.

"I would read that biography," said Stephen.

"That same title could also be used for you," Wong said.

Stephen gaped.

Killmonger was examining an Ultron head.

Everyone narrowed their eyes.

"I don't trust him," said Sam.

"You shouldn't," T'Challa replied.

"The last thing Killmonger should be doing is touching an Ultron sentry," said Bruce.

Gamora looked at Killmonger. "You trust him?" she asked Thor, who said he trusted everyone.

"Party Thor is oblivious to everything," said Carol.

Thor chuckled. "Party Thor didn't grow up with Loki as his brother, just his brother from another mother. You learn very quickly not to trust anyone or anything once Loki transforms himself as a snake and stabs you."

Loki snickered. He loved this story. "Who says that Frost Giant Loki didn't play the same prank on Party Thor?"

Thor's face suddenly turned dismayed. "You're right."

"Hasten, friends. Tonight we feast. For tomorrow, we fight," said Thor.

"I forgot that Thor used to talk like that," Clint said.

"That was before I was exposed to Earth culture," Thor replied, smiling sadly. Jane showed him Earth's customs and culture, like panflaps, rollerblading, and that one time he dressed up as a hot dog for an Earth festival. He didn't quite understand what a hot dog was, though.

"In that spirit, I propose a toast," Stephen said, conjuring a drink.

"A toast sounds good because this is a mission that's going to be insanely difficult," said Stephen.

Stephen awkwardly went on a tangent about how a wise sorcerer told him that facing death is part of the plan.

Stephen grimaced. This was awkward. He never tried to give an encouraging speech before so he didn't know why Strange Supreme was trying now.

"This speech isn't the best," said Carol.

"He's trying his best. He's been through a lot," said Peter.

"They should stick with the tradition of Captain America, or Captain Carter for them, giving the inspirational speeches," said Bucky.

"Cap's going to get a lot of practice through the PSAs," Steve said, smirking widely.

"I'm not going to do the PSAs!" Sam yelled. "You've turned into a menace since you passed on the mantle to me. Tony, you have to fund Rogers the Musical and get it going with a higher budget this time."

"Gladly," Tony chuckled.

Steve's smile fell off his face while Bucky howled with laughter.

"I'm the one who's going to have to watch those PSAs," Peter said, unimpressed.

"Which is just motivation," Bucky said. "I lose nothing and gain everything. Steve's getting embarrassed and Sam's getting embarrassed. I win either way."

"Honestly, you deserve this, Peter. You were the one who told the team about the PSAs after I tried so hard to hide it from them," said Steve.

Peter groaned loudly. "I should've just shut my mouth."

T'Challa put an arm around Stephen's shoulder. "Let me. You've done enough, Doctor."

T'Challa and Stephen blinked in surprise at seeing how casual their variants were with each other.

The team toasted to the Guardians of the Multiverse.

"They ripped off our name," Quill grumbled.

Thor smashed his glass on the ground, threw Mjolnir into the air, and shouted, "The Multiverse!" A large lightning blast appeared.

They looked at Thor in exasperation.

"I don't care if it's a tradition on Asgard, Thor needs to stop smashing glasses!" Tony said.

Infinity Ultron appeared in the sky. "So, there is life in this universe, after all."

All of them groaned in frustration while Thor was sheepish.

"That's one way to attract Ultron," said Vision. He shuddered at seeing his own face in the sky.

"They have to be ready to fight Ultron, otherwise this fight is going to get over very quickly," said T'Challa.

"In my defence, I did warn you. I excel at attracting unwanted attention," said Thor.

"There isn't a single ounce of subtlety in any Thor across the multiverse," said Loki. "Not even in Throg."

"I kinda feel bad for Throg. He's trapped in a jar," said Scott.

"With Mjolnir right there!" Thor added.

"Do you only think about Mjolnir?" Loki asked, exasperated.

"...No?"

Ultron entered the universe through a portal.

Peter was jealous of Ultron's ability to travel the multiverse at will. He would love to meet his older brothers again without causing a multiversal incident.

"All right, here comes a non-compliant spell," Stephen said, casting protection spells on all the Guardians of the Multiverse.

"Non-compliant spells? Every version of Stephen loves to cast those," said Wong.

Stephen and Peter grimaced.

"Wow! This is fantastic," Peggy said, delighted.

A wide grin formed on Steve's face. Magic was pretty phenomenal when it wasn't causing problems. He was glad that he would watch Peggy witness this for the first time because if Captain Carter's universe was anything like his, it wouldn't be the last time she would encounter magic.

Peggy called for the Watcher, who created a portal.

"So the Watcher listens to her when she calls for him, but he doesn't listen to us," Quill huffed.

Gamora and Killmonger jumped through.

"I feel much better knowing Killmonger is away from Ultron," said Tony.

"I know how to deal with this party pooper," said Thor.

Carol laughed. "Party Thor needs to learn better insults."

"Viva Las Vegas!" Thor yelled, hitting Ultron with a lightning blast.

There was a beat of silence before it was interrupted by Thor's snickers.

"Can't say I've heard that battle cry before," Ultron said.

"It's a unique Party Thor battle cry," said Thor.

Ultron used the Infinity Stones to destroy the cliff and bury Stephen, Peggy, Thor, and T'Challa underneath it.

Everyone sucked in a breath and fear pulsed through them.

"See? This is why I said they have no chance. Ultron has all of the Infinity Stones and can use them without any harm done to him," said Clint.

There was a blast with Stephen's protection spell creating a bubble around them.

"...Oh. I should've realized that Stephen's protection spell would've held," Clint said.

"Yes, you should've," Stephen replied. He just wanted this entire mess to get over with so he didn't have to think about Strange Supreme anymore. Strange Supreme taught him a lot, mainly about how to avoid ending up like him, but Stephen still didn't like his variants and didn't think he ever would. He didn't know how Peter did it.

"Interesting. Usually, you people are much easier to kill," said Ultron.

"Yeah, well, this time they have a guy who absorbed demons for centuries on their side," said Rhodey. "It's a little hard to kill them when Strange Supreme cast a protection spell."

"Blimey! Not even a scratch. You weren't kidding about a protection spell," said Peggy.

Stephen, Wong, and Wanda made a mental note to find the protection spell that Strange Supreme used.

Thor threw Mjolnir at Ultron, and Stephen used a spell to multiply them and threw all of them at Ultron.

Thor's eyes widened in awe. So many Mjolnirs!

"Thor should put Mjolnir on Ultron so he can't get up," said Quill.

"Ultron can easily destroy it with the Power Stone," said Carol.

"Oh shit, yeah."

Peggy held onto T'Challa, and he flew away with her. Peggy jumped onto Ultron, who threw her away. T'Challa jumped onto Ultron's back, but Ultron blasted him away too.

The Avengers and the Guardians looked at Peggy and T'Challa, extremely confused.

"What are they trying to do? They can't think that would work?" said Gamora.

T'Challa shrugged. His variant was similar, yet very different.

Stephen trapped Ultron in a ball made out of Mjolnirs. Thor shot lightning at the Mjolnir ball.

"I hope that's enough to contain Ultron or at least, hurt him, but I doubt it," said Tony.

Meanwhile, T'Challa showed Peggy the Soul Stone. "As Yondu says, 'Never doubt sticky fingers.'"

Everyone shared an overjoyed look.

"They got one of the Stones!" said Vision.

"I think we should stop doubting them. They know what they're doing," said Stephen.

"It's a little hard not to doubt them when they're facing Infinity Ultron," said Nebula.

Ultron broke free of the Mjolnirs.

"It was just a matter of when, to be honest," Bucky said.

"I hope none of the Mjolnirs got hurt," Thor said, causing Loki to roll his eyes.

Stephen unleashed giant dragons that shot fire at Ultron.

There was a pause while Stephen gaped.

"Why didn't Strange Supreme do that in the beginning? It would've been useful," said Wong.

"What? You've been hiding that the entire time?" Thor said in shock.

"Thor's right, Strange Supreme has a lot up his sleeve and isn't using much of his power, which is so stupid because this situation is where all of his power should be used," said Peter. "Our Stephen's already pretty powerful and Strange Supreme is, like, a hundred times more powerful."

"It's not a hundred—" Stephen started to protest.

"Can you unleash giant dragons?"

"Well, no. But—"

"See? Strange Supreme is a hundred times more powerful."

Stephen huffed. He loved Peter, but that kid could be a pain sometimes.

"Can't Strange Supreme throw Ultron in some other dimension or something?" Steve asked.

"Ultron can get out using the Space Stone," Wong replied.

"Oh, right."

Ultron said it was time for him to bring out some of his own toys. He realized that they stole the Soul Stone.

They looked smug.

"Sticky fingers come in handy once again," T'Challa said, amused.

"The plan's going pretty well so far," said Carol.

Stephen opened a portal and hundreds of zombies poured out, smothering Ultron.

The group gaped at the enormous pile of zombies.

"Do you think any of our zombies are in that pile?" Natasha asked.

Clint gagged. "Don't say that. I don't want to think about it."

"Luckily, the zombie version of me has been decapitated," said Tony.

"I got sliced vertically," said Sam.

"I got sliced in half with my own shield!" Steve said.

"Ants tore my skin off," Stephen added.

"Vision cut off my leg to feed it to Wanda," T'Challa said darkly.

Wanda and Vision grimaced. The less they thought about that, the better.

Thor said he loved zombies.

Thor turned green. "Not anymore."

"Zombie apocalypses aren't that entertaining anymore," Sam agreed. "I don't think I'll be able to watch another zombie show or movie ever again."

"It's not them. It's what came with the zombies," said Stephen.

"Thanos?!" Bruce shrieked.

"I hope not," said Steve.

"I really hope T'Challa, Scott, and I haven't been turned into zombies," said Peter.

"Scott has already been cured, he'll be fine," Thor said.

"Scott's also only a head," said Bucky.

Peggy, T'Challa, Thor, and Stephen ran through the Watcher's portal, which closed behind them.

Loki was glad that Thor was still unharmed. "Ultron is just going to follow them into whatever universe they've jumped into," he said.

"It's a little inconvenient when Infinity Ultron has the power to travel the multiverse at will," said Wanda.

Ultron broke free of the zombies and was baffled at seeing Zombie Wanda.

Everyone's blood ran cold while a smile crept on Wanda's face.

Bucky still couldn't believe that he had seen his variant shoot Wanda, of all people, with bullets.

Zombie Wanda shot a blast of Chaos Magic at Ultron.

It didn't escape anyone's notice that Zombie Wanda was still somewhat conscious of her surroundings and expressed sadness over Vision's death in her universe. Now, Infinity Ultron was wearing Vision's face.

Wanda grinned widely, never happier that her zombie variant existed. She hoped Zombie Wanda would destroy Ultron, who never should've had Vision's body.

"Ultron can't run after the Guardians of the Multiverse if Wanda's dealing with him," said Stephen.

"I don't think that's the full plan, though," said Wanda.

Meanwhile, Peggy tossed Gamora the Soul Stone, but Natasha drove in on her motorcycle and stole it.

The Avengers and the Guardians' breaths caught at seeing Natasha and Gamora near the Soul Stone.

"They're in Infinity Ultron's universe? Makes sense, there's no one else left," said Rhodey.

Natasha's heart sank. There was no one else left. It was a lonely way to live.

Natasha and the Guardians of the Multiverse pointed their guns at each other.

"Stop that and just work with each other. Other Natasha should recognize Thor since she's from 2015," Natasha said, annoyed.

"But Party Thor's from 2011, he wouldn't know her," said Thor.

Peggy told them to stand down as that was Natasha Romanoff. "Who?" T'Challa asked.

"Spending time away from Earth means he doesn't know any of the Avengers," T'Challa realized.

"Yeah. I'm also supposed to be the last person on this planet," Natasha said.

"And the universe," Natasha whispered.

Everyone else's hearts twisted. They couldn't begin to imagine the pain that Other Natasha was going through at being the only survivor left in the universe.

Peggy said they were from other universes and were here to stop Ultron. "I can prove it. Your father is Ivan. Your da's Alexei."

Steve frowned. Natasha told Peggy about her other family but she never told him, and Peggy had basically taken his place in that universe.

Natasha's brows shot up. She didn't tell anyone about her family except Clint. She wanted to tell Steve multiple times, but could never get the words out of her mouth. And she hadn't known her biological father's name was Ivan until she watched herself and Clint arrive at Vormir and the Red Skull told them.

"And you're the one woman I trust to have my six, including now. There are three people you trust in the universe, and I count myself lucky enough to be one of them," said Peggy.

"Which three?" Thor asked.

"At that point in time? Clint, Fury, and Steve, or I guess it's Clint, Fury, and Peggy in that universe," Natasha replied. "Now? All of you."

"Well, we must be close," Natasha said, putting down her gun. "I believe the term is 'BFF,'" said Peggy.

Steve snorted. He couldn't ever imagine Peggy saying a term like 'BFF.'

A portal opened and Ultron walked through it. "I believe that you have something that belongs to me."

"The Soul Stone needs to be destroyed. Where's Gamora with that wonderful machine of hers?" Wanda asked.

"I'll be the happiest person in the multiverse if I see the Soul Stone getting destroyed," said Quill. Clint and Nebula nodded in agreement.

Ultron grabbed Natasha and the Soul Stone, but Thor threw Mjolnir at Ultron's arm, causing the two to fall.

Their breaths caught at seeing Natasha fall. They had already seen that once and it hadn't ended well.

Stephen created a portal, making sure she landed safely and put a protection spell on her, which confused Natasha.

All of them sighed in relief.

"Strange Supreme is kinda saving the day here. The team would be toast without him," said Scott.

Stephen blinked in surprise. After seeing himself mess up again and again and hurting the people he loved, it was nice seeing himself useful for once.

Natasha chuckled at seeing how confused her variant was. Other Natasha wouldn't have dealt with magic just yet since she was from 2015. She wouldn't have seen magic like Stephen's, and they hadn't even known Wanda's powers were witchcraft at the time.

Killmonger caught the Soul Stone.

Everyone scowled.

"Someone needs to get that Stone away from him," said T'Challa.

Ultron used the Reality Stone to create a new arm for himself. He shot a blast at Killmonger, who lost control of the Soul Stone.

"It would be great if T'Challa could use the same sticky fingers strategy to get the Reality Stone off of Ultron," said Bucky.

"Ultron isn't going to fall for that trick twice. They were lucky to get the Soul Stone," said Vision.

Peggy and Gamora ran towards it, but Ultron shot a blast from five Stones at the Guardians of the Multiverse. They were protected by Stephen's spell.

Their mouths fell open in shock while Loki, Stephen, Wong, and Wanda's eyes bugged out.

"...That spell held up against a blast from five Infinity Stones," Loki said faintly.

"You couldn't have cast that spell before?" Sam asked Stephen.

"I didn't know that particular spell existed! I would've cast it if I did."

"I can destroy galaxies with a thought. Why won't you die?" Ultron snarled, blasting them.

"Because they have Strange Supreme on their team. It's a little hard to defeat him," said Tony.

Stephen absorbed the explosion and ate it. "Wait. What?" Ultron said.

Everyone's jaws dropped as they stared at Strange Supreme in utter disbelief. Stephen was speechless.

"Of course, a Stephen variant is the one to do something like this," Wong said, not surprised at all.

"This can't be happening," Bruce said, astonished.

"What did I just see? Strange ate the explosion?" Quill said, dumbfounded.

"Strange Supreme is just different than everyone else," said Scott.

Wanda wondered if the Scarlet Witch and Strange Supreme were on the same power level.

"It'd be nice if our Stephen was as powerful as Strange Supreme, but I'd rather not get our universe destroyed and cause him to go through an insane amount of trauma," said Peter. He pointed at Stephen. "You're going to therapy."

Stephen raised a brow. "So are you."

The two narrowed their eyes at each other.

T'Challa tackled Ultron and shot him with his blasters, but Ultron threw him aside.

T'Challa guessed that was the best he could hope for when dealing with Infinity Ultron.

Ultron ran towards the Soul Stone, but Natasha hit him with the Red Guardian's shield.

All of them beamed.

Natasha and Peggy continuously hit Ultron with their respective shields until he was knocked down.

Natasha and Sam's eyes lit up. "Nat, you need to get the Red Guardian's shield so we can do that one day," said Sam.

"If I can ever get it back from Alexei once he finds out that I have it, then sure," Natasha said, amused.

The Guardians of the Multiverse circled Ultron and kept trying to shoot or hit him.

"Do they not have a plan?" Steve asked.

"They're lucky to still be alive," said Clint.

"Strange Supreme can use one of his demons or something. Why isn't he using them?" Rocket asked.

Stephen shrugged.

"Vegas!" Thor yelled as he hit Ultron with Mjolnir.

They chuckled.

Natasha used her signature Black Widow leg move on Ultron.

Natasha was glad that Yelena wasn't here because she would've never heard the end of it.

Gamora hit Ultron with her double-edged sword. Ultron used the Time Stone to slow them down.

They looked at Ultron with terror.

"The Time Stone always ruins everything," Wanda hissed.

Peggy nearly got the Soul Stone, but Ultron grabbed it before he could.

Everyone's blood ran cold. "NO!" they yelled.

"It's over, guys. It's not going to end well now," said Rhodey.

Ultron was about to put the Stone in his armor, but one of Stephen's tentacle arms grabbed him. Stephen used his own Time Stone to cancel Ultron's Time Stone blast.

"Huh, I didn't know the Time Stone could do that," said Stephen. Then again, he never had the chance to see the effects of what two Time Stones could do to each other since the only other time he had seen two Time Stones next to each other was when the TVA used them as paperweights.

"Two Time Stones were always going to be useful," said Loki.

Ultron grew as tall as a building.

"Scott—a Scott who had his full body and the Ant-Man suit, not the Scott that's only a head—should've been on the team," said Bruce. "Giant-Man could've dealt with this."

Stephen unleashed his true power from all of the creatures he absorbed and took Ultron down.

Sam threw his arms in the air. "He couldn't have done that when Ultron arrived? It would've saved the entire team a lot of trouble."

"I knew Strange Supreme was extremely powerful, but sometimes I don't think I realize just how powerful he is," said Bucky.

"I don't think I realized either," Stephen said, eyes wide. He wondered what it would be like to be that powerful, but quickly shut down that line of thinking. Be happy with what you have, he told himself. Seeing Strange Supreme made Stephen realize just how much worse it could've been.

Peggy was astonished as she looked at Stephen.

Steve hid his smile. He loved seeing Peggy interact with magic because it had once been foreign to both of them. However, every time he thinks that he's used to magic, Stephen and Wanda do something to question his existence.

Gamora grabbed the Soul Stone.

Gamora's eye twitched at seeing herself touch the Soul Stone while Nebula and Quill scowled.

Stephen conjured chains to hold Ultron down, which the other members of the team held.

"This reminds me of Titan," said Clint.

"You mean the time when they nearly got the Gauntlet off before Quill freaked out?" said Rocket.

Quill winced. "Sorry, guys."

"Let's just hope no one freaks out this time because whatever happens is going to affect the entire multiverse," said Carol.

Gamora put the Soul Stone in the Infinity Crusher. The Infinity Crusher crawled to Ultron and took out the other Infinity Stones. There was a large blast as all the Stones were taken.

"That's it? I was expecting a bit more than that," said Nebula.

"Is it over? We win? Not so hard," Thor said. "It doesn't feel over," said T'Challa.

"Yeah, it can't be that easy," said Sam.

"Especially when this is Infinity Ultron," said Steve.

"But Gamora has a machine with the power to destroy the Infinity Stones," Vision pointed out. "Perhaps Ultron was destroyed when the Stones were."

"I'm honestly surprised," Ultron's voice said. He wasn't visible.

"Knew it," said Sam.

"Why didn't it work? It should've worked," Gamora said.

"Maybe the machine was faulty?" T'Challa suggested.

"But the machine was made on Nidavellir. It can't have been faulty," said Thor.

The Guardians of the Multiverse assembled in a circle and activated their weapons or magic.

The original six Avengers chuckled.

"They copied half of the Guardians of the Galaxy's name and stole our move," said Tony.

Stephen, Natasha, T'Challa, Gamora, and Thor looked at each other in amusement.

"It's weird to think that our variants are working together when most of us haven't," Natasha told the other four.

"And we'll never get the chance to work with Peggy Carter and Killmonger, not that I wanted to work with Killmonger," said Thor.

"Didn't the Watcher warn you? Every universe is different, each one just a fraction unique. Thus, the Infinity Stones are unique," said Ultron.

All of them gaped at Ultron.

"The Watcher should've told them that! That's pretty important information," said Carol.

"How are they going to defeat Ultron now?" T'Challa questioned.

"But then how did the Stones taken from the Time Heist work?" Steve asked.

"Same universe, different timeline," Loki answered.

"But Strange Supreme is in a different universe from his own right now, and his Time Stone is working in the apocalypse universe," Peter said.

"Strange Supreme is just different from everyone else," said Wong.

"Of course. The Crusher was designed to destroy the Stones in my world, not his," Gamora realized.

"Seems a bit inconvenient. With the multiverse existing, the Crusher should be designed to destroy the Stones in every universe," said Gamora.

"A flaw we're going to fix," Rocket said.

Ultron flew into the air and shot a blast from all six Stones at the team, but they were protected by Stephen's protection spell.

"The Guardians of the Multiverse would've lost a long time ago without Strange Supreme," said Wong.

"You. It's you," Ultron said, looking at Stephen. "If I destroy you, you all fall."

"He's right, Stephen's the only one putting in any effort. The rest of them need to pull their weight," said Tony.

Stephen snorted while Natasha, T'Challa, Gamora, and Thor were slightly offended.

Ultron shot another blast at them until the protection spell started to dissolve.

They exchanged a concerned glance. If Ultron was powerful enough to destroy Strange Supreme's protection spell, then he had to have been holding back this entire time.

"They don't have a chance without the protection spell," Wanda said, worried. She wanted Ultron gone at any cost.

Natasha flew back and landed on the ground. She saw her motorcycle and Clint's USB arrow that had Zola uploaded on it.

Everyone's eyes widened.

"The USB arrow is going to save the multiverse," Clint said, stunned.

"But uploading Zola into Ultron's body would cause Zola to have all the Stones," Steve pointed out.

"It's a risk they have to take. At this point, Zola's a better bet than Ultron," Bruce said.

"It's a fucked up universe when Zola is better than Ultron," Bucky said.

Natasha drove Peggy on her motorcycle. "Hey, Cap, I have an idea, but I'll need distance and a clear target. Can up to you do that?"

Steve's lips twitched into a smile at hearing Peggy being called 'Cap.' Sam was Captain America in their universe and Peggy was Captain Carter in another universe. It was fitting.

"If the Watcher wanted someone to make a clear target, then he should've gotten a Clint variant," said Thor.

"Nat's aim isn't that bad either," Clint said.

"I've got the shield. You've got the sword." "More like an arrow with the mother of all viruses in the tip, but cute wordplay."

Natasha chuckled.

Stephen was protecting the team and holding Ultron back with a spell.

All of them looked at Strange Supreme with concern. Infinity Ultron was able to slowly destroy the protection spell, but if there was anyone from the Guardians of the Multiverse who could hold Infinity Ultron back, it was Strange Supreme.

Natasha drove her motorcycle up to the roof of a building and jumped the motorcycle off of it. She grabbed Clint's bow and fired the Zola arrow. "This one's for you, Clint."

Clint's stomach dropped. "Oh." His face softened. "I think Other Clint knows."

Natasha smiled softly. "I hope so."

Peggy jumped off the building and tackled Ultron long enough so the Zola arrow could pierce its eye.

Everyone's hearts soared.

"Holy shit," Peter whispered.

"It worked!" Natasha said, overjoyed. "I can't believe that worked!"

"Fantastic aim!" said Thor.

Inside the system, Zola chuckled. "This is far nicer than my human body ever was."

Wanda and Vision's faces soured at seeing another AI taking the body that should've been Vision's.

"Zola better not get comfortable because he won't be staying there for long. The Guardians of the Multiverse have to destroy the body now," said Bucky.

"I hope so. Other Natasha already lived through Project Insight, she knows how dangerous Zola's algorithm is," said Steve.

Ultron asked, "Who said that?" "It has been a long time since I have had legs. I'd like to make this a permanent condition," said Zola.

"I wouldn't," Sam muttered.

"What is your objective?" Ultron asked. "Once upon a time, it was to bring forth HYDRA's domination, but you ended that. So now, I suppose my objective is to end you," Zola answered.

"Huh," said Steve. He didn't know what to make of Zola helping them.

"The Watcher wasn't kidding when he said the key to defeating Ultron was in the box, and Clint nearly gave up when the solution was right there," said Wanda.

Clint snorted. "Luckily, Natasha was there."

"All of you would be dead without me," Natasha said.

"No arguments there."

Ultron's body malfunctioned and fell to the ground. The body was still.

No one wanted to get their hopes up. They'd already seen Ultron seemingly get destroyed once.

Natasha helped Thor up. Thor asked for an explanation and Natasha said she gave Ultron a nasty virus.

"Zola's a little bit more than a nasty virus, but she's right," said Tony.

Killmonger used the Ultron sentry to absorb Ultron's nanotech suit along with the Infinity Stones.

There was a collective groan of frustration.

"I knew it," T'Challa sighed.

"Killmonger is just as predictable as Loki," said Thor.

"I've given up the whole betrayal part," said Loki.

"The Watcher better have a good explanation as to why he brought Killmonger there because he didn't do anything special. Everything he did could've been done by someone else," said Carol.

"And no one wants Killmonger with the fucking Infinity Stones," said Rhodey.

The rest of the team pointed their weapons at him. "Cousin, what are you doing?" T'Challa asked, warily.

"He's going to make things worse than they already are," said Wong.

"The Watcher owes us this. With these stones, we could fix our worlds, our lives," Killmonger said.

Everyone swallowed thickly.

"The Infinity Stones can fix a lot, but I don't trust Killmonger with them," said Gamora.

"T'Challa, Thor, are you gonna turn down the one thing guaranteed to save your homes? Peggy, you can be with your fella again. Strange, you more than anyone know that this is it. This is our only chance."

Steve's breath caught. Once he would've wished to spend his entire life with Peggy, but it didn't seem like it would naturally work out in any universe. Maybe it was time to take a page out of Stephen's book and finally let Peggy go once and for all.

Stephen narrowed his eyes. "Their only chance to do what? Strange Supreme made his choice and he can't get Christine back." He couldn't get Christine back either, but he felt at peace with that realization.

"Wait, what happened to Wakanda and Asgard in Star-Lord T'Challa and Party Thor's universes? They're fine," said Thor.

"Hand over the stones, cousin," T'Challa said. "I'm not your cousin. I'm sorry it has to end this way," Killmonger said, blasting them with all the Stones.

Tony scoffed. "He's not sorry that it had to end this way."

Zola got up. "I am afraid that armor belongs to me." His face was plastered on the chest of Ultron's former body. A body that in another universe, would've been Vision's.

Vision blinked dumbly. "That...was not expected."

"What the hell?" said Sam.

"How am I still getting surprised at seeing weird shit happen?" said Bucky.

"I'm tired of seeing AIs taking what should've been Vision's body," said Wanda. She had seen herself blow up Vision's head, Thanos kill Vision after bringing him back using the Time Stone, Vision disintegrating because of the Hex, and Vision remove the Mind Stone from his own head in the zombie universe. And she had also seen White Vision, and then Ultron and Zola in what should've been Vision's body.

"Is that Arnim Zola?" Peggy asked in shock.

Steve chuckled bitterly. "If Peggy's universe is anything like ours then she's going to deal with HYDRA a lot in her future."

"At least she doesn't have the Winter Soldier in her universe," said Bucky.

"Or maybe there is a Winter Soldier and it just isn't you," said Sam.

Tony's face soured. His parents were probably murdered by the Winter Soldier in Captain Carter's universe too.

"HYDRA never died, it just mutated," Natasha answered.

"Maybe it's better in Captain Carter's universe and HYDRA doesn't exist?" Scott said hopefully.

"It won't be. Peggy and Natasha were on the Lemurian Star right before the Watcher took Peggy. HYDRA still exists in their universe," Steve said.

"Well, that explains the stomach-face," Thor summed up.

Vision looked down at his stomach where Zola's face would've been. "They need to end this," he said, looking back at Zola.

Zola summoned the Stones from Killmonger, who summoned them back. The Stones hung in mid-air.

"I don't want either one of them to have the Stones," said Gamora.

"None of us do," said Bruce.

"We were never meant to win. We were here to separate the stones from the body," Stephen realized.

Everyone looked at Strange Supreme, extremely confused.

"Wait, what? I don't understand," Stephen said.

"Ultron is gone. How is that not winning?" Wong asked.

Stephen strained to create a crystalline ball around Killmonger and Zola, trapping them inside. The Watcher transported the four of them to what was left of Stephen's universe—his crystalline ball.

The Avengers and the Guardians blinked in surprise.

"That's a pretty convenient way of trapping them," Quill said.

Natasha looked at Clint's bow in her hand and closed her eyes.

Clint and Natasha let out a watery smile. Clint from the apocalypse universe wouldn't die in vain.

A part of Natasha couldn't help but feel for Other Natasha, who had lost everyone. Other Natasha was literally the only one left in her universe and now she would have to go back to live her life alone. It would be a lonely existence.

Inside the crystalline ball, Stephen was holding the pocket dimension inside of which Zola and Killmonger were frozen, still fighting for the Stones.

Everyone made a sound of realization.

"The two of them are going to be stuck in the pocket dimension," Steve realized.

"That's why the Watcher brought Killmonger there," Stephen understood. "Killmonger was needed to get the Stones out and trap Zola once Ultron was destroyed."

"I'm glad that the Watcher knew Zola shouldn't be free. It's good that Zola's going to be stuck in the pocket dimension," said Bucky.

"You foresaw every moment from the failed Infinity Crusher, to Killmonger's betrayal, and my..." Stephen trailed off. "Your sacrifice," the Watcher finished.

"Sacrifice? It's not like Strange Supreme has anyone left in that universe," Stephen jeered. "He managed to kill everyone."

"Killmonger's betrayal wasn't hard to foresee," said T'Challa.

"Sacrifice?" Stephen scoffed. "That would imply I had something to lose."

"He did," Wanda said, softly. She hoped Strange Supreme would eventually be at peace with himself.

"Someone needs to attend to them. If that pocket dimension cracks, if they escape..." "I'll watch. I have nothing but time."

"Strange Supreme's the best person to watch over them. If the pocket dimension cracks, he can just unleash one of his many demons," said Loki.

"Did I hear you correctly? You're complimenting me?" Stephen said, stunned.

"Not you. I'm talking about Strange Supreme, your vastly superior variant."

Stephen scoffed. "You shouldn't be talking about vastly superior variants—"

"I already know my vastly superior variant is Classic Loki."

"That has to be a lonely life, though," said Wanda.

Stephen didn't think it would be much different than the life he was leading now.

"Thank you, Stephen." "Mmm. And besides, what are friends for?"

"Having the Watcher as a friend isn't that bad," Stephen said with a small smile.

"All of us are your friends too, you idiot," said Tony.

Stephen's eyes softened. "Yeah, you are."

The Guardians of the Multiverse and the Watcher were at the pub. Strange Supreme wasn't there.

"And Strange Supreme didn't think that the rest of the Guardians of the Multiverse would've liked to say goodbye to him? He's a part of their team," said Thor.

"And you're a part of our team," Wanda said, pointing a finger at Stephen.

Stephen didn't think of himself as a team player; it was so much easier doing what he thought was right, but Strange Supreme showed him the dire consequences of what would happen if he didn't listen to others.

"The entire Multiverse owes you a debt of gratitude, but your worlds will never know this victory. Once you walk through that door, you'll return to the exact moment you left," the Watcher explained.

"Of course, Killmonger never went back," T'Challa realized. "The Watcher said he put them back exactly where he took them from, but we saw that my cousin never went back because he wasn't there when Ms Potts and Shuri got to the throne room."

"One less problem that the two of them have to deal with in that universe," said Rhodey.

"So, if the Watcher is the reason we're here, I'm guessing we'll return to the exact moment we were taken when we go back to our universe," said Carol.

"That means we have one more week until Thanos arrives," said Natasha.

"We'll be ready this time," said Sam.

Thor, T'Challa, and Gamora walked through the door. Peggy was about to but stopped as she saw Skinny Steve's picture.

Steve stiffened.

Peggy looked at the Watcher. "You'd rather return to another time," he said. "Haven't I earned my happy ending?" Peggy asked.

Steve let out a watery smile. Despite how much he hoped that Skinny Steve and Peggy could be together, Peggy had to return to her time. She could do so much good in her universe.

"Trust me, that world, that time, needs Captain Carter."

"There are a lot more HYDRA idiots for her to beat up," said Bucky.

Peggy's eyes flickered to Natasha, who nodded. Peggy walked through the door.

"She went back for me?" Natasha said, touched.

"And then there was one," said the Watcher. "I won't go back there. My world is...gone. You won, but I lost," Natasha said.

Everyone looked at Natasha sadly.

"Can't the Watcher let Natasha stay with him? Or even with Strange Supreme? At least both of them would have company," Clint suggested. "Maybe they can play catch with the crystal ball or something to pass time."

"And her staying there wouldn't have any consequences on the multiverse because Strange Supreme's crystalline ball is the only thing left of his universe," said Stephen. "That universe can't be destroyed more than it already has."

"I cannot in..." "Interfere? Yeah, I know. We're just stories to you. We're not real. You watch us fight, win, lose. Tell me, did you make popcorn while Ultron murdered my friends and burned my world to the ground?"

All of them winced. Natasha wasn't entirely wrong.

"We technically did that; except we didn't have popcorn," said Quill.

"We would've helped them if we could, but most of us didn't know the multiverse even existed until recently," said Peter.

"You are more than that to me. You, your stories, they are everything to me," said the Watcher.

They looked at the Watcher, slightly touched.

Natasha said she wasn't walking through that door.

"Good, she shouldn't," Wanda said firmly.

"She should bully the Watcher into letting her stay," said Bucky.

Natasha's lips twitched into a smile. She didn't think Other Natasha should walk through the door either, but it was nice to think that her friends thought she could bully a powerful cosmic entity like the Watcher into letting her stay.

"Well, the door was more of a metaphor anyway," the Watcher said, waving his hand to transport them to a SHIELD helicarrier in 2012. There was a battle going on.

Their jaws dropped.

"What's going on now?" Sam asked.

Steve Rogers was fighting the Einherjar and Carol Danvers was soaring through the air, blasting them.

Steve and Carol grinned. "Co-captains might work out for them," said Steve.

"Not a bad start," Carol said.

"Is this the universe where Pym killed us?" Tony asked.

"And that universe lost their Natasha," Natasha said, her heart warming. She was glad that Other Natasha didn't have to be alone. Clint, Bruce, Tony, and Thor were still dead in that universe, but at least it wasn't entirely destroyed like the Ultron universe. Many of her friends and family were still alive.

Loki grimaced. "And Emperor Loki took over Earth in that universe."

"Other Carol is there so Emperor Loki won't be ruling Earth for much longer," said Thor.

"Where are we?" Natasha asked in shock. "On a world that lost their Widow," the Watcher replied.

"That world lost all of the original Avengers except Steve," said Bruce.

"And there's another universe where they lost their Widow," Clint said. He'd seen himself grieve Natasha's death too.

"That's only two universes. There are around five universes where I died. Natasha can't compare," Tony said.

"It's a mess," Natasha said, not unhappily. "Thank you."

"I'm always dealing with everyone's messes in the multiverse," Natasha said fondly. She'd rather deal with someone's mess than be alone on a planet and deal with no one's mess.

Nick Fury fell to the ground. Emperor Loki pointed his scepter at him. "You and your replacement Avengers fought valiantly, but now I think it's time you told me all your secrets," Loki said.

Loki ran a hand down his face. Why did most of his variants have to be so insufferable?

"Replacement Avengers? There's only two of them at the moment," said Rocket.

"And one of them is Captain Marvel," Scott pointed out.

"Good point."

Natasha kicked Loki in the face, who flew back. "I was told you were dead," Loki said, stunned.

Natasha shrugged. "Didn't stick."

"But are there going to be any consequences with Natasha staying in a universe that isn't originally her own?" Peter asked. If there weren't any consequences to visiting other universes without destabilizing them, he would like to visit Peter Two and Three. Maybe the Watcher could take him to their universes or they could come to his universe if he asked very nicely.

All of them looked at each other in concern. "The Watcher knows what he's doing," Stephen said slowly.

"Honestly, I think the multiverse is fucked up beyond repair so it doesn't matter if Natasha stays in that universe or not," said Tony.

Natasha picked up the Scepter. "Same." She used the Scepter on Loki.

Clint roared with laughter. He had made peace with Loki, but he found that a little satisfying.

"And now Mother can pick up Loki and scold him," Thor said gleefully, causing Loki to sigh.

Fury got up. "You're not my Natasha, but something tells me you have her spirit."

"From what I've seen, all Natashas have the same spirit," Bucky said.

Natasha burst into a smile. "You're cute, but I'm so glad you dropped the fish puns."

Cut to T'Challa teaching Quill how to use a blaster. Quill was delighted.

Quill and T'Challa chuckled. "Other Me is finally learning how to use a blaster. It's embarrassing that he didn't know how to," said Quill.

"And maybe he can take back the Star-Lord name," T'Challa said.

Quill's heart soared. "Maybe."

Gamora and Tony were on Nidavellir.

"I still don't know what that universe is about," said Gamora.

"But they should keep coming up with ideas like the Infinity Crusher," said Tony.

Quill desperately hoped Other Gamora and Other Tony weren't together.

Jane jumped into Thor's arms.

Thor looked at his variant with thinly-veiled jealousy. He hoped Party Thor didn't mess up his relationship with Jane as he had.

Peggy was back on the Lemurian Star. Batroc punched her in the face. "I'm too fast," he laughed.

"Not fast enough to avoid getting killed by Peggy's niece," said Bucky.

The Avengers winced.

Batroc was tased by Natasha's Widow Bites. "Don't tell me, he was your type?" Natasha asked.

Steve gagged. "Batroc? Don't even joke about that."

Peggy said she was happy to see Natasha, who thought Peggy had hit her head.

"No, she was just taken by a cosmic entity who formed a team with people from across the multiverse to defeat an evil robot who had the Infinity Stones and wanted to destroy the multiverse," said Natasha.

"So, nothing much," Carol said, wryly.

Natasha led Peggy into a storage compartment and found what the pirates were after. She told Peggy to brace herself.

Natasha and Steve exchanged a confused look.

"Is it not evidence of Project Insight?" said Steve.

"...This didn't happen on our Lemurian Star," said Natasha.

"I can promise you, Nat, this won't be the strangest thing I've dealt with today," said Peggy.

Everyone chuckled.

"And Peg already knows about HYDRA and Zola so this shouldn't be too much of a surprise," said Steve.

Peggy opened a window to find the HYDRA Stomper. "And there's someone inside," Natasha added.

Steve's jaw dropped and everyone's brows shot up.

"Skinny Steve's still alive? After all these years?" Sam said, baffled.

"Has he been in cryo all this time? How the fuck did Skinny Steve survive cryo?" Tony said, stunned.

Steve didn't know how any of this could've happened. "So, Zola got the HYDRA Stomper after the war? Is the HYDRA Stomper supposed to be their Winter Soldier?"

"Unless he's gotten the serum, there's no chance Skinny Steve can be any version of the Winter Soldier," said Bucky. He felt ill at the thought of Steve becoming the Winter Soldier.

"Who founded SHIELD in that universe? Phillips is dead, so Howard Stark and Bucky?" Clint suggested.

"God, I hope not," said Bucky.

"Well, there's one thing we know. Skinny Steve's still a virgin because he never met Quill's grandma," Natasha said, causing Steve to groan loudly.

Quill scowled and shot a furious look at Steve, who wasn't able to meet Quill's eye.

"That's it, isn't it? All creatures searching for a place to belong. To call home. As for me, I am the Watcher. The Multiverse, every single world, every story is my home, and I will protect it to the end."

"Then, the Watcher should protect it better," said Loki.

"I'm glad the Watcher is finally intervening, though," said Carol.

"I think my brain sort of melting watching this one," said Sam.

Rhodey nodded in agreement. "I don't know how much more I can handle."

"Listen, Watcher. We know you're the one who brought us here and now we're done watching this one, so you better show up now," Natasha said.

The Watcher walked through one of his multiversal portals. "My name is Uatu. Yes, I did bring all of you here and yes, I did intervene."

The Avengers and the Guardians stared at the Watcher. He was incredibly imposing in person.

"Why did you bring us here?" Wong asked.

"An...associate of mine and I decided to bring you here because we needed a fully functioning Avengers team, not the splintered team you've always been."

The Avengers winced. Uatu wasn't exactly wrong.

"But why us? You already have the Guardians of the Multiverse," Thor asked.

"They're only one team, and the multiverse is infinite. There are always threats out there," Uatu answered.

"Like He Who Remains' variants," Loki added.

"Precisely."

"Who's the associate? Anyone we know?" Stephen asked.

"You'll see. You'll be very familiar with her soon enough. She's the main reason why you're here; not me. I brought all of you here because of her."

"And you can't tell us about her?" Wanda asked.

"You wouldn't understand even if I did," Uatu replied. The Guardians disappeared through a portal, one that they now knew to be made by the Watcher. Uatu looked at Clint. "There's someone I'm bringing that's very important to you. Take care of her."

"...Alright?"

"And there's another person who's going to be incredibly useful in the future. Trust her," Uatu warned.

After a moment, another portal opened causing Clea and fifteen-year-old Kate Bishop to fall into a seat.

Clint made a sound of realization and beamed, Peter's eyes lit up, and the rest of the Avengers looked at Kate fondly.

"Oh my God. Y-you're Hawkeye!" Kate said. "What the hell is happening?!"

So are you¸ Clint thought, amused.

A door flashed on the wall. Clint's eyes flickered to it and sighed. "Kate—"

"You know my name?" Kate said, awed. Her eyes narrowed. "How do you know my name?"

"If you'll let me explain, I'll tell you."

"I can't believe I'm talking Hawkeye and the rest of the Avengers are here too, but there's also a random teenager, which doesn't make much sense."

Peter paled. He didn't know if he wanted to tell Kate he was Spider-Man or not. After everything he'd seen, it was probably for the best if she didn't know. It was for her own good.

Clint's lips twitched into a smile at hearing Kate ramble. He got up and gestured for Kate to do the same. "I'm going to explain everything, but it's a lot." His face softened. It wasn't going to be a great conversation.

"I'll do anything you want, Hawkeye."

"Don't call me that. Clint is fine."

"Oh my God. I can call you Clint?"

Clint sighed. He gently led Kate to the room Uatu created. This was going to be a difficult conversation.

Once the door closed, the rest of the Avengers shared a concerned look.

"Poor kid," said Tony.

"She'll get through it, she's tough," said Natasha.

Clea scanned everyone in the room and stilled as her eyes fell on Stephen. Doctor Stephen Strange, she realized. She looked at him closely; he was skinner than she thought he would be for someone who defeated her uncle. Handsome, though. Foolishly brave, too.

He appeared in her dreams occasionally and she didn't understand why her multiversal self would be with him, nor was she about to explain those dreams to him as they were... intimate.

Stephen blanched at seeing Clea. "You've shown up in my dreams," he blurted out.

There was an awkward pause as the rest of the Avengers looked at Stephen and Clea curiously. Stephen's face turned a funny shade of pink.

"Yes, you've shown up in mine too," Clea admitted, tense. Both of them were very aware of what they saw in those dreams.

"Who's this?" Wong asked Uatu.

"This is Clea," Uatu introduced.

"Clea what?" Stephen asked.

"Just Clea," Clea replied, studying Stephen. She looked away from him and glanced at Uatu. "You're a Watcher and you're interfering," she stated. "What's wrong with the multiverse?"

"You know about the multiverse?" Bucky asked.

"Who doesn't?"

"You're a magic user," Bruce realized.

Wanda's eyes lit up. "Are you a witch?"

Clea shook her head. "No, I'm a sorceress."

Wanda's shoulders slumped in disappointment. "I like your eye makeup, though."

Clea smiled in delight. "Thank you!"

"Sorceress?" Stephen said, looking at Clea in curiosity. "You're not a part of the Masters of the Mystic Arts." He pointed to Wong. "He's the Sorcerer Supreme."

Clea looked at Wong with interest. "Earth finally got a new Sorcerer Supreme?" She bowed to him.

Wong nodded. Clea seemed...interesting.

"But no, not from a sorceress from Earth. A sorceress from the Dark Dimension," Clea answered, bracing herself for pushback. Earth's sorcerers were close-minded at times, but she couldn't blame them after what her uncle did to their dimension.

Wong and Stephen stiffened and looked at Clea suspiciously. "The Dark Dimension?" Stephen said in a strangled voice.

"You're a Faltine?" Wong said, aghast.

"Only half-Faltine; it's complicated," Clea said. She wasn't about to explain her insanely complicated family situation, especially not to Stephen Strange.

"Is a Faltine a bad thing?" Scott asked.

"No, they're just extra-dimensional energy beings born from pure magic. It doesn't mean they're inherently bad, although they're a bit...violent and their thirst for conquest is well-known," said Wanda.

Clea beamed. She liked Wanda.

"Great, I'm always up for powerful beings on our side," Sam said.

"Are you one of Dormammu's Zealots?" Stephen asked, eyeing Clea.

"No!" Clea exclaimed, highly offended. "I'm the one leading the rebellion to usurp Dormammu! After you bargained with him to never come back to Earth, it weakened his rule in the Dark Dimension."

A pause.

"Good for you," said Wanda.

"Sorry," Stephen mumbled.

"She can be trusted," Uatu told Wong and Stephen.

"Why did you bring me here?" Clea asked Uatu with a troubled expression. "How bad of a state is the multiverse in?"

"Very," Uatu replied. He explained how the multiverse was breaking apart, a Multiversal War was approaching, that her help was required, and they were there to watch their futures.

Clea took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright."

"Clea, these are the Avengers, Earth's mightiest heroes," Uatu introduced. "You know Wong, the Sorcerer Supreme. And this is—"

"—Stephen Strange," Clea interrupted. "You're quite famous in the Dark Dimension after what you did," she told him.

Stephen smirked slightly. "I'm not surprised." Clea was very beautiful, and his dreams about her...well, they were interesting.

There was an awkward pause as the Avengers waited for Clint and Kate to come out of the room and also wondered about Clea while Wong, Stephen, and Clea all studied each other. After some time, the door opened with Clint's arm around Kate's shoulders. Kate had red-rimmed eyes and tear tracks down her cheeks as she was clutching him. He sat her down next to him.

The other Avengers sent him a questioning look, but Clint shook his head. Kate let out a sniffle. It didn't go great, he mouthed, but that was known. Kate wasn't going to take the knowledge that her mom was working for a mob boss well.

"Kate, I want to introduce you to the Avengers. Avengers, this is Kate," Clint said.

Kate wiped the tears from her eyes and plastered on a smile. "Hi," she waved.

The Avengers looked at her sadly. "Kate," Natasha greeted warmly.

"Clint told me about your sister. She sounds cool," Kate said.

Natasha smiled. "I hope you meet her eventually."

"I'm sure you know most of them, but we have some new members," Clint told Kate. He explained what the newer members were and what they did, but faltered when he got to Peter. What was he supposed to say about Peter?

"I'm Tony's intern," Peter said quickly.

Tony snorted while the rest of the Avengers looked at Peter knowingly, but didn't say anything.

Kate narrowed her eyes at Peter while he shifted uncomfortably. "Okay...then why'd Clint introduce you as an Avenger?" she asked.

"He meant honorary Avenger. Because, you know, I work for Iron Man," Peter answered nervously.

Kate didn't believe him, but let it go. She didn't have enough energy to argue after she found out the truth about her mom. Natasha thought Peter would make an awful spy.

"Who's the new lady?" Clint asked Natasha in a whisper.

"Clea. She's a sorceress."

"Like Stephen and Wong?"

"No, she's not from Earth. She's from the Dark Dimension, which is apparently something Stephen and Wong are a bit concerned about, but Uatu said she can be trusted. And Stephen and Clea apparently dream about each other."

"Huh. Okay."

"I can't believe I got kidnapped by a giant, bald man-baby, the multiverse exists, and Hawkeye is going to look after me," Kate said.

"You're Hawkeye, Kate," Clint pointed out.

"I'm Hawkeye!" she said, excitedly. Her face darkened. She was going to take down Kingpin's entire operation.

Clint fished a coin out of his pocket and gave it to Kate. "Start practicing. That trick I showed you could end up saving your life one day."

Kate beamed, but her smile fell off her face and was replaced with a scowl as her eyes fell on Loki. "You," she growled. "My dad's dead because of you! He died in the Battle of New York!"

The Avengers sucked in a breath while Loki looked at her with guilt. "I truly am sorry. I'm trying to become better—"

"So? You having a change of heart isn't going to bring my dad back. He's gone because of you!"

"Trust me, Kate, I don't like him either—and not liking Loki just makes you a good Hawkeye, honestly—but we need him," Clint said. "A lot has changed and there's someone out there that's even worse than Loki. He genuinely wants to become better and everyone deserves a second chance."

Kate clenched her jaw and didn't say anything as she glared at Loki. Clint thought that was as far as he was going to get, and he didn't think he could or should ask for more.

Text appeared on the screen. The next recording is about Stephen.

All of them sighed.

"Great, another weird one," Bucky complained.

"Hm, we're going to see my future after seeing Wanda, Loki, Peter, and our variants' futures. I wonder what mine's going to be about," Stephen said sarcastically.

Peter scowled. "The goddamn multiverse again."

"You love to torture us," Wong told Uatu.

"And this is my cue to leave. Goodbye," Uatu said, disappearing into a portal.

"That man can be incredibly infuriating sometimes," said Carol.

"He has dramatic entrances and dramatic exits," said T'Challa.

"Is Stephen's future why Clea's here? Because this has to do with magic?" Wanda asked.

"The multiverse affects my dimension as well," Clea answered.

Stephen hoped this wouldn't end in another Dormammu situation.