'From the dawn of the universe, there was nothing. Then, boom! The Big Bang sent six elemental crystals, hurdling across the virgin universe. These Infinity Stones each control an essential aspect of existence.'
The man named Wong created a display of colourful stones and of the universe. Tony, Sue and Johnny were unsure of the dark house at first, but Stephen Strange reassured them that it was safe. A grand staircase was the focal point of the lobby and a large window attempted to stream sunlight into the gloomy place. But with the deep corners and wooden interior, the house remained in the shadows. The lightshow from Wong's abilities allowed them to see each other, their faces lit up by green, purple, orange, red, blue and yellow.
'Space, reality, power, soul, mind and time,' Stephen followed. He put his hands to his pendant that sat on his chest. Its mechanics retracted and a green stone emerged, twinkling and turning in the doctor's hold. Sue found the Time Stone beautiful despite the power it held.
'Tell me his name, again,' Tony said, his hands in his pants' pockets and walking around the lobby.
'Thanos,' Bruce replied. 'He's a plague, Tony. He invades planets, he takes what he wants, he wipes out half the population. He sent Loki! The attack on New York, the silver surfer, that was all him!'
'What?' Johnny and Sue's heads whipped up at the same time. Bruce glanced at the siblings, giving a short nod before returning his gaze to the Stark.
'Thanos is the surfer's master?' Johnny thought aloud, and Sue shrugged when he looked to her for confirmation.
'Even more of a reason,' Tony mumbled to himself, before raising his voice for everyone to hear. 'What's our timeline?'
'No telling. He has the Power and Space Stones, that already makes him the strongest creature in the whole universe! If he gets his hands, on all six Stones, Tony...'
'He can destroy life on a scale hither to undreamt of,' Stephen added, his expression grave.
'All that you know is at an end...' Sue remembered the words of the silver surfer. She thought about how they should have known that the alien's escape would come back to bite them. Leaving it to SHIELD was their first mistake, but she had to remember that at the time, they were tired of always being around to save the day. After being sanctioned by the Sokovian Accords and challenged by the Earth's people, it made the Avengers question what they were protecting. The arrival of the silver surfer had been at a rough time, with the feud between Tony and Steve and Sue's pregnancy happening during the same period. It was unfortunate that the alien got away from SHIELD's containment, but it proved that Director Fury wasn't as capable as he talked himself up to be.
'If Thanos needs all six of these fruity pebbles-' Johnny stopped Stephen's scolding of Tony for leaning on the Cauldron of Cosmos. '-why don't we just destroy the one you have?'
'We swore an oath to protect the Time Stone. With our lives,' Wong stared at Johnny with a look of pride.
'You'll let an oath get in the way of stopping Thanos destroying our planet?' Sue raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. In her head, it sounded silly to not do whatever it took to protect the Earth. But from the look she received from Stephen and Wong, she clearly didn't understand the extent of their oath.
'It's not that simple,' Stephen struggled to not go on a tangent about his oath. 'You wouldn't understand.'
'Looks like we've got time if we're here talking about it.'
Sue knew that she could be coming off as rude. But it had been over a year since she had to discuss yet another instance of the world being at stake. She had been content in having normal people things to worry about, like when Morgan's nap time was and when was Tony's last haircut. He would never remember such things, so it was up to her to make sure his locks weren't growing past his ears.
'I've sworn off lots of things in my life,' Johnny shrugged in his shoulders in Sue's defence. 'Tony swore off dairy.'
'But then Ben & Jerry's named a flavour after me, so...'
'Stark-Raving Hazelnuts was nowhere near as good as Storm's Oreo Blizzard,' Sue cut in and Johnny nodded along. When they were approached by a representative of Ben and Jerry's, Johnny had been the one to agree without even reading the contract. Sue handled the copyright issues for their name while Pepper handled Tony's, as it still fell under the Stark Industries trademark.
'Whatever. Point is: Things change,' Tony brought the conversation back to its original topic.
'Our oath to protect the Time Stone cannot change,' Stephen's voice showed that he wouldn't move on the idea. 'This Stone may be the best chance we have against Thanos.'
Sue zoned out during Tony and Stephen's heated discussion about what their position as heroes entailed. She of all people knew of Tony's stubborn trait and learnt to block out his arguments with others. It made her think of how he was when they formed the Avengers, how he wasn't liked by many on the SHIELD helicarrier. Especially Steve. This led to Sue thinking of Steve, the thought blocking out Bruce's interference of Tony and Stephen's argument.
'Tony, you lost another super bot?!' Bruce cried at the mention of Vision's offline status.
'I didn't lose him. He's more than that. He's evolving,' Tony spoke as if Vision was his child.
'Him and Wanda had something the last time we saw them,' Johnny mentioned. The 'something' he spoke of was what everyone saw as love. How they met certainly wasn't the perfect setting for a relationship, as Vision was going to be Ultron's evolved body, and Wanda was fighting for the demolishment of the Avengers. But they found each other; beings who were abnormal in the Earth's society and saw the other as their normality. And when Vision turned off his transponder, everyone knew what life the two were dying to live.
'Who could find Vision, then?' Stephen tried and Tony sighed.
'Probably Steve Rogers.'
'Oh, great.'
'Call him,' Bruce asked, unaware of the events of the Sokovian Accords.
'Easier said than done,' Johnny snickered humourlessly. 'We haven't been in contact with Steve for months. Didn't even RSVP for the wedding.'
'Mine neither,' Sue added.
'The Avengers broke up,' Tony informed the Banner. 'We're toast. Cap and I fell out hard. We're not on speaking terms.'
It hurt the Storms to hear the reality of their situation. The trio couldn't be considered as the Avengers. They were just a family that assisted SHIELD once, before moving on to begin normal lives. Wanda had even found herself in need of a human existence. Without a leader, who was mutually agreed to be Steve, the team was lost. Like Tony summarised, The Avengers was toast.
'Guys, listen,' Bruce brought Tony, Sue and Johnny's attention that was off in the distance. 'Thor's gone. Thanos is coming. It doesn't matter who you're talking to or not.'
Sue cringed at the mention of Thor. Once she settled Morgan with Pepper and stepped through the portal, Bruce broke the news to them that Thor was presumed dead. The ship he was last seen on was ravaged by Thanos and his team, who they were yet to encounter. The Asgardian had been through a lot since the last time they saw him, losing his planet and his eye in a battle that was beyond their world. They knew little about the details, but they hadn't heard of his run in with the supposed Thanos. Sue didn't have time to feel for Thor's death, as they were immediately doused in the information about the Infinity Stones.
She caught sight of Tony pulling out a flip phone, seeing him stare down at it in hesitance. Johnny was unaware of its existence, ready to ask why he was never told that he had a way of contacting Steve. But before the Storm could pull the Stark into another argument, Tony looked up at Stephen and spotted a wisp of his dark hair moving in the wind. Only they were inside, where wind didn't occur.
'Say, Doc, you wouldn't happen to be moving your hair, would you?'
'Not at the moment, no?'
Sue looked up as the others did the same, a skylight in the ceiling allowing them to see the clouds outside. Pieces of metal flew by, and Sue's ears chimed into the ruckus that could be heard from beyond the lobby's walls.. Rumbles of running feet and screams came from the street, Tony being the first to head for the double doors. Sue wasn't far behind, and Stephen's cape flew behind him as he hurried after the two with Wong by his side. Johnny and Bruce were the last to head out of the lobby, the latter of the two unsure whether he wanted to see what commotion could possibly occur in New York City. Johnny broke into a jog when he saw people run by once the doors were pushed open, and the screams of civilians as loud as ever.
It had been years since Sue saw New York in such disarray. Cars were already on fire and the street was filled with running residents. She had gotten used to the serenity that came with living in Maine, but scared crowds and capital cities in turmoil had never once left her mind.
A woman fell at their right, a yelp coming from her mouth as she slammed against the road. Tony stepped forward, holding her arm as she forced herself back up to her feet.
'Are you okay?' his question was ignored as the woman ran off, glancing behind her at the corner that led to the next street.
The sound of tires screeching made Sue turn to see a car plough into an electrical pole. Its bonnet crinkled and the pole wobbled but held steady. Tony called out for Wong and Stephen to help the driver, looking over his shoulder and seeing Sue halt in her pursuit along the pathway. He saw how her eyes were wide, the speed at which people ran past her making the loose strands of her hair fly in front of her face. Her hands were clenched up to her chest, as if she was scared they would be hit by the fleeing crowd.
'Johnny!'
The Human Torch forced his gaze away from over his shoulder, the sound of police sirens originally taking his attention. But he didn't need to be informed on why Tony called his name, as the movement of the Stark's eyes to Sue was enough. Johnny put his hands on his sister's shoulders, his touch making her jump. When he saw how big her eyes were and felt her tense shoulders, he knew that she wasn't prepared for a fight.
'It's forcefield time, Susie.'
'B-But I haven't done one in so long!' her voice was shaky. 'I-I don't know if I can protect anyone!'
'Then protect yourself this time,' Johnny's voice was unusually calm. He pulled her around to face him, seeing Bruce follow Tony in his peripheral vision. 'Morgan has to have someone come home.'
Sue swallowed. After the encounter with the silver surfer, she had refrained from using her powers. The bigger her stomach grew with little Morgan inside, the less willing she was to risk hurting her fragile daughter. Then Tony made the house in Maine, and Sue hadn't needed to use her powers ever since. She wasn't sure if she was strong enough after holding them back for so long. But with Johnny's mention of Morgan back home, waiting for her parents' return, she had the responsibility to protect herself and Tony. For Morgan's sake.