Steve's Diary

April 25, 2018

Dearest Diary,

I got a phone call today at around 10:00am.

It wasn't from T'Challa or from Shuri. Hell, It wasn't even incoming from Wakanda or Africa at all, for that matter.

It was incoming from Manhattan.

—————

"Tony?" I answered.

"No, uh... no. It's Bruce."

"Banner? What the Hell happened to you?" I asked. "Are you alright?"

"Yea, I- I'm fine. I was in space but, I'm good now."

"That's great but, uh, why are you calling me from the burner phone I gave Tony?" I wondered.

"He dropped it and I picked it up. We were gonna call you sooner, well, he was. He told me you had a falling out, but, Steve, none of that matters anymore. I don't know what happened, but trust me, you're not gonna care anymore after you hear this," he replied.

"What's going on?"

"His name is Thanos," he said. "He's a giant purple space Titan. I had a run in with him on an Asgardian spacecraft filled with what remained of Thor's people. I was sent off the ship, but that wasn't before I realized Thanos and his children were gonna destroy it. Oh, and Loki is dead along with the rest of the ship."

"And Thor?"

"He's gone, Steve," he informed me.

"What's this Titan want with us?"

"He wants the six elemental crystals that were forged at the birth of the universe, called Infinity Stones. They each hold a different ability; space, time, reality, power, mind and soul," he relayed. "At least that's what I was told. When I came hurdling back to Earth thanks to one of Thor's men, I landed in this weird looking building in Manhattan. I'm calling you from outside it right now. Inside, I met a man named Dr. Stephen Strange... he, uh- he's a wizard or, a sorcerer, I guess."

"What's he got to do with this?" I continued.

"Well, he's a Stonekeeper. He has the time stone," he came back. "Thanos already has the space and power stones, which makes him the strongest being in the universe at this very moment. If he gets all six stones, Steve... he could complete his goal with the snap of his fingers."

"And that endgame is, what, exactly?"

"He's been traveling planet to planet wiping out half of their populations. This has been his goal for years now," he went on. "Steve, back in 2012 when Loki attacked New York- that wasn't him. That was Thanos trying to come for our planet next. We were supposed to be toast then, we were lucky to have gotten 6 years out of it."

"So what can I do?"

"Well, one of Thanos' children has taken Dr. Strange on their weird spaceship along with the time stone. Tony and some web-powered spider-kid were going after him."

I chuckled. "Spider-Man," I corrected him.

"Sure," he agreed hastily. "My point is, Vision has the mind stone and we have to find him. The only problem is, he turned off his transponder a few days ago and we don't really know where he is. Tony said you were the only person he could think of that could probably seek him out and find him."

"Alright, I'll be right there."

—————

I made my way to Manhattan as soon as I could, bringing my suit with me in a bag.

Actually, before I packed it, I pulled off all the stuff on it. No more star, no more Avengers logo. This suit was gonna be just me. And when I put it on later, that's all I want to feel.

When I got there, Banner and I tracked Vision and Wanda, as they had been together, and I figured out that they had to be in Scotland as of now.

So, I made a few phone calls and made my way there.

~ S. R.