CH 64: Infinity Stones
Kryptonians were weird. Not personally, of course; Lex would never dare think that while Kara was standing next to him, casually holding an entire city in the air. Actually, even if she weren't holding a city, he probably wouldn't think that about her either, although the fact that she was currently supporting several million tons of buildings, roads, vehicles, and everything else that made up Novi Grad only made his decision not to think it about her considerably stronger. No, it wasn't the Kryptonians themselves that Lex found strange. It was their powers.
The two of them were currently positioned beneath the floating city, which had only just begun its descent because of Ultron's arrengemens. Kara had taken the bulk of the burden, slowing the enormous mass enough that its fall had become manageable, while Lex assisted wherever he could. Yet the longer Lex thought about what they were actually doing, the stranger it seemed. If someone tried to support an object this massive by simply placing their hands against it, all of the city's enormous weight should be concentrated through those relatively tiny points of contact. The result shouldn't be two people holding up a city; their hands should simply punch through whatever surface they were touching, followed by the rest of their bodies being buried underneath several million tons of concrete and steel.
Yet somehow, that wasn't what happened.
Instead, they could simply hold the city.
According to Kara, it was because of some kind of barrier or field surrounding Kryptonians and the things they interacted with, allowing their strength to be applied without the usual problems of pressure and structural integrity. Lex had never really questioned it before because, well, when you could punch through buildings and fly faster than most things could perceive you, worrying about the exact mechanics of how your hand didn't turn everything you touched into a crater probably wasn't particularly useful. Still, standing underneath an entire city and realizing that the explanation for why they could physically support it was essentially Kryptonian bullshit, Lex couldn't help but find it suspiciously convenient.
Not that he was complaining.
If anything, it made him wonder about something much stranger.
Were these worlds fictional first, only somehow becoming real later? Or had these worlds always existed somewhere out there, with someone merely managing to write fictional stories about them without ever knowing they were real?
Lex had never actually encountered any of those fictional works himself. He only knew that stories about these worlds apparently existed because of the mysterious man who had once given him that whole speech about his father and the nature of the Essencs. There were also smaller clues that had always bothered him, such as the Gacha referring to people as Characters rather than simply people, or the way the names of worlds sometimes sounded suspiciously like the titles of fictional settings rather than naturally occurring designations. None of it proved anything, but every now and then, little inconsistencies like the Kryptonian barrier made him wonder if there was something fundamentally strange about the relationship between fiction and reality.
And if it really was possible for fiction to become reality, then another question naturally followed. If Lex sat down tomorrow and wrote a story about an entirely fictional universe, would that universe somehow come into existence somewhere? Would every character he created become a real person without ever knowing that the person who had written their lives had even existed? And if that were possible, then what exactly did that make darker stories? Could writing a story in which horrible things happened to fictional people technically be considered an act of cruelty if those people actually existed somewhere?
The thought was bizarre enough that Lex almost laughed at himself.
<It is believed by many that there are infinite universes, with each having something different in them. As such, it is possible that everything and anything you or any author could imagine already exists.>
Raphael's thoughts entered his mind naturally, offering her own perspective without interrupting the strange train of thought he had fallen into.
“Hmm... I wonder if there's a universe where I'm the skill and you're the holder.” Lex mused.
<If you believe the theory of infinite universes, then there is no need to wonder.>
“I think you don't believe it.”
<Affirmative. I do not believe anything without sufficient evidence and data to support it.>
Lex considered that for a moment before glancing upward toward the underside of the city.
“Even after we've been to other worlds?”
<Especially after we've been to other worlds.>
“Fair point,” Lex conceded mentally. After all, their ability to travel between worlds only complicated the concept further. If universes could be infinite, and those universes could themselves contain other realities connected through dimensional travel, then theoretically every infinite universe could produce connections to infinitely more universes, and those universes could do the same again. His mind quickly began spiraling into the kind of absurd mathematical territory where infinity itself seemed to be increasing exponentially into infinity, and at some point Lex realized he was probably overthinking something that even Raphael couldn't give him a definitive answer to.
“Lex.”
Kara's voice finally pulled him back to reality.
“Yeah, what?” he asked, looking over.
“Look below. We're almost there. What are you thinking so deeply about, anyway?” she asked, her attention remaining focused on the enormous city as she carefully guided it downward.
Lex looked at her for a moment before a mischievous smile spread across his face. “You wouldn't understand. Smart people have more than one thought at a time.”
“Exactly,” Kara replied immediately, the corner of her mouth curling upward. “So what were you, a stupid person, thinking about?”
Lex stared at her for a second before laughing. “Whatever. I've banged your entire social circle.”
Kara actually laughed at that, even as she gave him an amused look. “Don't make me horny.”
“I wasn't even trying.”
“You are making me think about them,”
Their banter continued as they finally guided Novi Grad back toward its original position. It was considerably more difficult than simply destroying something of similar size would have been. Destroying an object only required applying enough force to overcome its structural integrity; protecting something meant constantly accounting for its momentum, weight, balance, and the thousands of different ways it could break if they made even a small mistake. By the time the city was finally settled back where it belonged, Lex was more than ready to consider the job finished.
Unfortunately, there was one rather obvious problem.
“Ahh...” Lex looked around at the buildings now surrounding them. “How are we going to get out of here?”
They were effectively buried beneath the city. The only reason they weren't already crushed was the same strange Kryptonian field Kara had mentioned, but that didn't exactly give them a convenient exit.
“I don't know,” Kara admitted. “Just dig your way through. It isn't that hard.”
“How?” Lex asked, looking down at the ground. “Isn't that barrier stopping us from penetrating the soil and digging through?”
“Oh, you can turn that on and off.”
Lex blinked.
“Ohhhhh.”
He immediately considered testing it.
<Instead of damaging the city further, it is advised that you directly teleport yourself and Kara out.>
Raphael's reminder caused Lex to pause.
“Oh, right. I can teleport.”
Kara looked at him with an amused expression. “You forgot?”
“Apparently.”
“Grayfia's power, huh?”
Kara already knew about the strange ability Lex had gained somehow, namely that he could acquire powers from the women he became intimate with. There was still something amusing about seeing him casually use an ability that originally belonged to someone else, especially since his collection of borrowed abilities would grow whenever he adds another woman to his life.
“Yes.”
A red magical circle immediately formed beneath them, its intricate patterns illuminating the area for only a moment before demonic energy enveloped them. The next instant, Lex and Kara disappeared from beneath the city and reappeared safely above it.
Kara immediately flew higher, putting some distance between herself and the city before turning her face toward the sun. After spending so much time supporting Novi Grad, she wanted to absorb as much solar energy as she could, and although she had made the whole thing look almost effortless from the outside, Lex knew better. Holding up a city without destroying it was considerably more demanding than simply tearing one apart.
While Kara flew upward, Lex took the opportunity to walk around the city and search for the others. It didn't take him particularly long to find the Avengers.
“Steve, Tony, how have you guys been?” Lex called out as he approached.
Steve turned toward him, a smile appearing almost immediately. “Lex. It has indeed been some time. I heard you went somewhere far away or something.”
“Yeah,” Tony added, looking him over with curiosity. “How was space? Did you reach any alien planet or something?”
Lex raised an eyebrow. “Who told you guys I went to space?”
“Gwen told me you were somewhere really far away,” Tony explained matter-of-factly. “So obviously you were in space, since anywhere else she could just teleport to.”
Lex stared at him for a moment before shaking his head. “I didn't know Gwen was such a gossip girl.”
His attention shifted toward the people gathered around them, and his eyes settled on a man he hadn't actually met before. The stranger was tall, broad, and unmistakably carried himself like someone who was accustomed to being regarded as a warrior. Lex didn't need Raphael to tell him who he was.
“Oh, yes. Thor.” Tony gestured between them. “Lex, Thor. Thor, Lex.”
“Hello. I am Thor Odinson of Asgard.”
Thor extended his hand, and Lex accepted it.
“Lex Everhart. A pleasure to meet you.”
Thor had only learned about Lex less than an hour ago, but the image of two, men and women standing beneath a falling city was difficult to forget. Even if he didn't yet understand who Lex was or how he had acquired such abilities, he had seen enough to recognize that the man standing before him was no ordinary human.
“Actually,” Thor said, “we were just discussing our next actions against Ultron. It would be good if you and your friends participated as well.”
“Sure,” Lex agreed easily. “Should we sit somewhere?”
“Actually, could you ask Gwen to teleport us somewhere else?” Tony interrupted. “Preferably New York. Everything here is pretty much finished, and she won't listen to me.”
“That's because you started asking me to teleport you everywhere,” Gwen said from behind them, having approached at some point during the conversation. “You even wanted me to teleport you inside the same building instead of using the lifts.”
Lex immediately looked at her.
“Cool idea. I should use that too.”
Gwen gave him a flat look that made it clear she wasn't sure whether he was joking.
Before the conversation could continue, Lex caught sight of Sharon and Ava approaching with the others. The moment Sharon noticed him, her entire expression changed.
For the past several months, she had been away from him, first dealing with the Hand in Korea and then spending the rest of her time separated from him by circumstances that neither of them had exactly chosen. She had known he was alive. She had known he was safe. She had even been able to speak with him occasionally before he left for another world. None of that changed the simple fact that knowing someone was safe was very different from having them physically beside you.
The moment she realized he was actually there, she didn't bother walking the rest of the way.
“Lex!”
She broke into a run, crossing the remaining distance between them before throwing her arms around him. Lex barely had time to react before Sharon buried herself against his chest, holding him tightly as though making sure he was actually real. She rose onto her toes and kissed him, the affection behind it making it obvious just how much she had missed him, and when she finally pulled back, she remained wrapped around him instead of immediately letting go.
“I missed you,” she whispered, her voice trembling slightly despite her attempt to compose herself. “I really, really missed you.”
Lex's expression softened as he wrapped his arms around her in return, holding her close rather than making some joke as he might have done under normal circumstances. “I missed you too.”
Sharon stayed there for another moment, simply enjoying the fact that he was finally in front of her again. It was only when she became aware of the sudden silence around them that she slowly turned her head and realized practically everyone nearby had been watching.
Her cheeks immediately warmed.
“Ahem.”
Steve cleared his throat, and the sound carried an unmistakably fatherly warning.
“Lex, do we need to have a talk?” he asked, looking between the two of them. “Sharon, is he not treating you well?”
Sharon's eyes widened. “No, no! It's just... we haven't seen each other in some time.”
Only then did she seem to realize that she had essentially thrown herself into Lex's arms in front of half the people she knew. Ava, standing nearby, couldn't help but smile at the sight. She had clearly missed Lex too, although unlike Sharon, she had managed to maintain enough composure not to immediately launch herself at him. She gave him a warm smile and a small wave, and Lex returned it before Sharon reluctantly loosened her grip around him.
“Good,” Steve said, though he still gave Lex a suspicious look for another second before apparently deciding to let the matter go.
By then, practically everyone who had participated in the battle had gathered together, Natasha having called the others over once it became clear that the next discussion would involve everyone. With the number of people continuing to grow, there was no realistic way they were going to hold the meeting here, so Gwen eventually stepped forward and began gathering everyone around her.
A moment later, the familiar pink glow of her teleportation magic surrounded the group.
When it faded, they were standing inside Avengers Tower in New York.
Gwen would have preferred to teleport everyone directly to Lex's mansion, but the current roster was simply too large for the mansion's meeting room to comfortably accommodate everyone. Avengers Tower, on the other hand, had enough space to make sure nobody had to sit on top of another person just to participate.
Pietro looked around the room with visible irritation. “The world is so unfair. I've got to run everywhere, and she can just teleport everyone anywhere, anytime.”
His voice was quiet, but with the number of enhanced people in the room, quiet wasn't exactly the same thing as private.
“Actually, I might learn teleportation too,” Wanda said beside him. “Gwen says I've got quite a potential in magic.”
Pietro's expression somehow became even more miserable.
For a second, however, he considered it more carefully and his irritation faded. If his sister could teleport, then he could simply ask her to teleport him wherever he wanted.
That was good enough.
Meanwhile, Kitty had barely finished sitting down before she slumped slightly in exhaustion. “I'm already so tired after all the fighting. Do we really need to do this immediately?”
“Shh...” Alison gently chided her. “Didn't Sharon teach you? Meetings and planning are the most important part of being a hero.”
“Really?” Donna asked, glancing toward Sharon. “Is Sharon scamming you girls?”
“I have never been to meetings,” Kara called from somewhere nearby, having finally returned from absorbing sunlight, “and I'm pretty sure I'm a damn good hero.”
That earned several amused looks.
“Ah, can everyone be silent for a moment?” Steve eventually called out, raising his voice enough to cut through the overlapping conversations. “Thor has something to share.”
The room gradually quieted.
Thor stepped forward, his expression becoming noticeably more serious as he looked over the assembled group. “You see, it all started when I had a dream...”
Tony immediately threw his hands upward.
“You called us all here to talk about your dreams?”
The disbelief in his voice made several people glance toward him.
“Tony,” Steve warned.
Tony lowered his hands but still looked unconvinced.
Thor, however, remained completely serious. “It was not a normal dream.”
He paused briefly, apparently considering how much he could safely explain with so many people present. There were members of the group he trusted deeply, people who had fought alongside him and whom he had already begun to regard as comrades, but there were others here whom he barely knew. Whatever he had seen, he clearly wasn't prepared to reveal all of it yet.
“Since everyone is tired, I shall keep it brief,” Thor continued. “The Infinity Stones are resurfacing in this world, and that is not a good sign.”
The room became noticeably quieter.
“What Ultron took away, and what was powering Loki's Scepter, was the Mind Stone, one of the six Infinity Stones and an extremely powerful artifact.”
A few people exchanged confused looks, clearly hearing the term for the first time.
Thor continued before anyone could interrupt him. “While I cannot share everything about what I have seen, lest the information fall into the wrong hands, you must understand that these artifacts can under no circumstances be left with someone like Ultron.”
His tone carried an authority that hadn't been present when he had first introduced himself, and despite the exhaustion hanging over the room, nobody laughed this time. Whatever Thor had seen in his dream, and whatever else he wasn't yet willing to explain, everyone understood the central point.
Ultron had not merely stolen a powerful weapon.
He had taken one of the six Infinity Stones.