Rogue: Annihilation (An Avengers Sequel)

4. Out Of Time

I'd always imagined that someday we'd face our biggest threat. Bigger than any villain we'd ever faced before, enhanced or not. Bigger than Kilgrave and his group of Winter Soldiers that had managed to destroy us, killing a group of the most important people in our lives. But I always thought that, when it came, we'd be ready to face it.

I never expected it to come when our team was so fragmented; when all we had was a genius/billionaire/playboy/philanthropist, a gamma-exposed physicist with anger issues, two magicians, and an electricity-infused former fugitive.

But whether we were ready or not, Thanos was coming for the Infinity Stones.

What's our timeline?" Stark asked.

"No telling," Banner answered immediately. It was clear that he'd had time to think about this, and that we were the only remaining members of the team he could find.

Stark looked at Dr. Strange, confusion etched on his face. "If Thanos needs all six, why don't we take this one," he said, pointing to the eye-shaped locket around Strange's neck, which housed the green Infinity Stone – the 'Time' Stone. "And stick it down the garbage disposal?"

"No can do," Strange answered instantly.

"We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone," Strange's partner in crime, Wong, added in a grave tone. "With our lives."

"And I swore off dairy," Stark responded in a jovial, if slightly condescending, voice. "But then, Ben & Jerry's named a flavor after me, so..."

"Stark Raving Hazelnuts." Strange nodded, clearly familiar with the ice cream company's latest money-grabbing attempt.

"It's not bad."

"A bit chalky."

I rolled my eyes and groaned. "You're seriously talking about ice cream? You brought us here to prepare us for a fight with the most powerful being in the universe – don't you have a plan?" Strange's facial expression didn't change, but Stark had the decency to lose his sardonic look. "Tony's right, things change. If we know what Thanos wants, we have to make sure that he can't get it. And that's the only Stone we have access to."

"This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos," Strange said in a monotone voice.

I rolled my eyes again. "Unless he gets the upper hand and takes it from us. Then he has three of the six Stones, including the one that can literally turn back time?"

"Yes," Strange nodded. "If we don't do our jobs."

Suddenly, snarky Stark was back. "And what is your job exactly... besides making balloon animals?"

"Protecting your reality, douchebag," Strange countered, not missing a beat. Clearly, whoever this magician was, he was more than a match for Stark.

"Neither of you are helping," I reminded them, taking a deep breath. "So, you guys found us, and you have one of the Stones. What's the next step?"

"We have one Stone," Banner repeated. "The only other person we know who definitely has a Stone is Vision – the 'Mind' Stone. We have to find him now!"

Stark and I looked at each other, the same thoughts running through both of our heads.

"That's gonna be... a challenge," I confessed. "We don't actually know where Vision is. And we have no way of finding him."

"Who could find Vision?" Strange asked. For this first time, the tone of his voice changed slightly; there was a hint of desperation in it.

Stark looked at me, and I shrugged. He exhaled, mumbled 'shit' under his breath, and then answered the question. "Probably Steve Rogers. Maybe."