"Damn it! Where on earth is it!"
Tony Stark searched the warehouse for a long time without catching even a glimpse of the Tesseract.
"Huh? What's this?"
Tony Stark immediately activated his glasses to scan the area, seeming to have found some traces.
Just as he was preparing to investigate further, a shout rang out from not far away.
"Is that Zola? Zola?"
Seeing the face of the newcomer, Tony Stark instantly lost his composure, subconsciously wanting to turn and flee.
"Hey! The door's this way, friend."
The newcomer was none other than Tony Stark's father, Howard Stark.
No matter how old Tony got, his heart could never remain calm when facing his old man, especially his late father.
"I'm looking for Dr. Zola. Have you seen him?"
"Oh no, I haven't seen him. Haven't seen a soul."
While Tony Stark was busy reminiscing with his father, Steve was running into trouble on the other side.
He had been chased out of Dr. Pym's laboratory by Rory, and was now spinning around frantically in the corridor, plotting whether to storm back in and forcibly take the Pym Particles.
At that exact moment, he turned around just in time to see the Black woman from the elevator approaching with two guards, clearly heading straight for him.
Steve hurriedly slipped away into another office, narrowly avoiding the guards.
Just as he was about to leave, Steve suddenly noticed a photo sitting on the office desk—a picture of his scrawny self right after he enlisted.
Picking up the frame, his thoughts were instantly pulled deep into memory. Those were the years he would never forget for as long as he lived.
Turning his head, he saw two bold black characters clearly written on the office door: Director Margaret Carter.
The woman he thought about day and night.
A figure stepped out from behind the blinds, and Captain America Steve's gaze locked on her, unable to tear itself away....
Next door.
After driving away Captain America, Rory immediately packed the Pym Particles from the counter into his backpack. He didn't take them all; out of the eleven vials of Pym Particles, he only took ten.
Taking advantage of the time before Dr. Pym returned, Rory retraced his steps and took the elevator back to the surface.
By this time, the commotion in the military camp had subsided, and the fire in the mess hall had been extinguished.
Rory walked casually up to a parked Jeep, placing the briefcase and backpack together on the passenger seat.
He started the engine and was just about to leave when he happened to see the father and son duo of Stark walking out of the base.
Tony was talking distractedly about something, watching his father get into a car and bidding a melancholy farewell.
The moment Tony turned around, he locked eyes with Rory.
Rory smiled and waved at Tony, then slammed his foot on the gas and sped away.
Tony felt a flicker of doubt, but didn't pay it too much mind.
Having failed to find the Tesseract, he couldn't save his world. He had intended to go back and keep searching when he happened to run into Steve Rogers coming out of the underground base.
"Hey Captain, I didn't find the Tesseract. Did you get the Pym Particles?"
Captain America shook his head anxiously. "I didn't get them either. Do you remember that guy in the elevator? He chased me out of Dr. Pym's office. When I went back, there was only one vial of Pym Particles left. I got played!"
"That guy..."
Tony pointed behind himself. "He just left... Could he have taken the Tesseract too?!"
The very thought that he had brushed shoulders with the Tesseract sent Tony flying into a rage.
"After him!"
Boom! Boom~!!!
Explosions erupted in rapid succession across various parts of the base. The blasts weren't very powerful, but they released thick green smoke that quickly filled and blanketed the entire base.
Those who inhaled the green smoke collapsed to the ground one after another.
"Damn it, that guy's a bad apple!"
"Save people first!"
Steve Rogers couldn't just stand by and watch people die. The Tesseract and the Pym Particles would just have to wait; as long as Rory was still alive, they could always track him down.
On the other side, Rory tossed the controller casually into the roadside grass while driving the Jeep.
He drove along the highway toward Trenton, located twenty-seven kilometers away.
...
An hour later, Tony Stark, wearing his Iron Man suit, tracked the trail all the way to an abandoned barn on the outskirts of Trenton.
*Clang.*
Tony dropped from mid-air to the ground, the Iron Man suit making a heavy thud upon impact.
He stood there without moving, his gaze piercing through his faceplate to fixate on the Jeep parked outside the barn.
Rory was sitting leisurely on the hood of the Jeep's engine compartment, tossing a pebble around. Seeing Iron Man fly in, he instead wore a look of curious intrigue.
"You really are a genius to be able to design such a perfect suit."
*Clang~ Clang~*
Tony took a few steps forward and said, "I know I'm a genius, mister. You took something you shouldn't have. Mind handing it over to me? I happen to be strongly opposed to violence, but if you refuse, I don't mind resorting to it."
"Of course you can, as long as you meet my conditions." Rory hopped down from the front of the car.
He walked right up to Tony and gently stroked the Iron Man suit, as if admiring a piece of art.
Thinking Rory had some kind of weird fetish, Tony hurriedly took two steps back.
Retracting his faceplate, he asked, "What conditions? Let's hear them."
"Well, it's simple. Take me—"
Before Rory could finish speaking, he saw Steve riding a motorcycle in from the distance.
Once Steve jumped off the motorcycle and stood by Tony's side, Rory continued, "My condition is to take me along for a spin in your timeline. How about it?"
"What?!"
"No way!"
"How do you know?!"
Tony and Captain America both wore identical expressions of having seen a ghost.
Rory shrugged. "Nothing to make a fuss about. There are plenty of special people in this world; you guys aren't the o—only ones."
Tony and Captain America exchanged glances. After a silent consultation, Tony shook his head first. "Impossible. Doing that might cause catastrophic consequences. I think it'd be much simpler to just forcefully take back what doesn't belong to you in the first place."
"You're going to rob me?" Rory let out a soft chuckle. "I'd advise you not to do that, because those two items have been hidden away. If I don't say where, you'll never find them for the rest of your lives. And the consequence will be that the two of you will be stuck here forever."
To prepare for the contingency of his cover being blown, Rory had long since set up various contingency plans in advance.
He had hidden the Tesseract and the Pym Particles in an unknown location where no one else could find them.
"Seriously, the risk isn't worth taking. I just want to take a look at the future, I'm not going to do anything to you guys." Rory spread his hands to show his good intentions.
"We need to talk this over."
Tony and Steve walked a short distance away and whispered conspiratorially among themselves.
A moment later, Tony walked back to Rory and said, "Fine, we agree to your terms. Can you hand them over now?"
Rory looked at Tony with the expression of someone staring at an absolute idiot—a look that pierced deeply into Tony's pride.
"A self-proclaimed genius like Tony can actually say something that idiotic?"
"Ahem, of course not. What I mean is... to ensure fairness and justice, you should take the items out so I can verify them." Tony desperately wanted to cover up his previous moronic behavior.
"First off, you should take off your suit, and then we can have a civilized chat about cooperation." Rory had no desire to converse with someone acting like an occasional moron.
Placed in the passive position, Tony had no other choice and reluctantly retracted his suit.
It was Rory's first time witnessing the sheer power of the nanotechnology suit firsthand. He couldn't understand its working principles at all, nor could he even imagine how the nanotech transformations were accomplished.
"Whoa, this is so magical. If I wanted this tech—"
"I'd rather stay here forever," Tony replied firmly.
"Fine."
Rory looked at Tony, then walked over to Steve, pointing at Steve's wrist. "Mister, please hand me that thing on your wrist, would you!"
Tony and Steve both froze simultaneously, because what Rory was asking for was precisely the time-travel GPS device; without it, Steve wouldn't be able to time-travel back to the future.
Tony hurriedly chimed in, "Hey kid, how about I give you mine instead?"
"No, stay right where you are. I know the suit on you can change forms at will, so whatever you give me is likely a fake. Don't take me for an idiot like you."
Leaving Tony rooted to the spot, Rory turned his attention back to Captain America. "Mister, hand that over right now, and our deal is sealed. You only get one chance. I'll give you three seconds to think about it. Three... two..."
"I'll give it!" Captain America let out a muffled groan.
The two superheroes were completely at Rory's mercy, with zero room to resist.
He unbuckled the time-travel GPS and handed it over to Rory, demanding with a cold huff, "Where are the things?"
"Don't be impatient, one step at a time. I'm hungry; how about we go grab a bite to eat first?" Rory grinned as he strapped the positioning device onto his own wrist.
He sat back in the Jeep and waved his hand. "Hop in, I'll take you guys for burgers."
Until they got the Tesseract and the Pym Particles back, the two superheroes had no choice but to dance to Rory's tune.
The Jeep drove into Trenton and parked in front of a burger joint.
The three of them went inside, ordered their food, and found a random table to sit at.
Tony broke the silence first, voicing the question weighing on his mind.
"Kid, how did you know?"
"Know what? Know that you guys traveled here from the future?" Rory asked with a smile, taking a sip of his cola.
Tony nodded solemnly.
Rory replied in a flat tone, "Because I'm not from this timeline either. I was accidentally forced to travel through time during an experiment, but this era is far too backward. I want to return to the world where I belong."
Tony and Captain America both fell silent, each pondering whether what Rory said was true or false.
"You're Tony Stark, Iron Man, who built the Mark I in a cave. And you're Steve Rogers, Captain America, a popsickle frozen for seventy years. You came here to bring back the people erased by Thanos with a single snap. Everything you've been through is crystal clear to me. Believe me now?"
Rory wasn't lying, because everything he said was the absolute truth.
Tony used his tech glasses to scan Rory, letting the AI Friday run an analysis, and the conclusion came back the same.
"So... your reason for getting your hands on the Tesseract and the Pym Particles ahead of time was just to go home?" Tony followed the train of thought and began filling in the blanks, making Rory's actions seem entirely logical.
"Well... you could say that."
After finishing their burgers, the three of them walked out of the shop.
Rory hopped onto the Jeep and said, "I still have some preparations to make before I leave. Tony, if you don't want Steve to be stranded here forever, you'd better hurry up and build another wristband. See you tomorrow."
Then, looking at Captain America, he continued, "Please don't follow me, alright? I've planted explosives where the Pym Particles are stored. The moment I press this switch, all three of us will be stuck here for good."
"Hey kid, hold that steady. I don't want to stay behind to keep you company."