Everyone could sense that Tony Stark was on the verge of a breakdown, but the silent Thor was equally devastated.
"He's furious. He thinks he failed, and he's right!" Rocket Raccoon replied. "But is it really that simple?"
"Honestly, if you didn't speak, I'd think you were a stuffed animal!" Tony Stark snapped.
"Whatever!" Rocket Raccoon shrugged, unbothered.
"For the past three weeks, we've been searching for Thanos everywhere. Satellite scans across the universe have turned up nothing!" Captain America said, his voice heavy with frustration. "Tony, you fought him..."
They had never given up searching for Thanos. Who could accept this dogshit outcome—half the world dead?
But before Captain America could finish, Tony Stark cut him off abruptly. "Who told you that? I didn't fight him! He slammed a planet into my face, and the magic trickster handed over the gem. That's it. There was no way to fight him. We couldn't win!"
This Tony Stark was different from the one in his timeline; he didn't know what Doctor Strange was truly thinking. He harbored resentment, even though he had survived because Strange had surrendered the Time Stone.
But their overall strategy had completely failed.
However, those watching the scene saw it differently. They knew Doctor Strange well—a man who would stop at nothing to save the world.
His will was unwavering. Facing the Dark Dimension Lord Dormammu, he could die countless times, using time loops to force the entity back.
To call him fearless in the face of death would be an understatement. Such a man wouldn't have surrendered the Time Stone lightly.
It was all for that one in 14 million chance of success.
Captain Rogers pressed on, "Did he leave any clues, coordinates, anything?"
Tony Stark didn't answer. His mind was under extreme duress, teetering on the brink of madness. He spoke with frantic intensity, "I knew this years ago! I predicted it all! I couldn't believe it, I still thought it was a nightmare!"
A man like Tony Stark, with his personality, wouldn't normally shift blame. But his anger had completely boiled over. He hadn't yet witnessed the devastation of half the world's population, but he had already lost the kid he'd personally invited into the Avengers.
His mindset had shattered. If they had prepared sooner, perhaps everything could have been different.
Only those watching the scene from beyond the screen understood that even earlier preparation would have changed nothing. Years of time couldn't alter the inevitable.
Yet they also knew Tony was somewhat paranoid, his mind perpetually on edge since the Battle of New York.
Unlike the others, Tony refused to wait passively. From that day on, he had thrown himself into preparing for the imminent Chitauri invasion, preparing for everything.
This even led to the creation of Ultron, the Ultron Crisis, the Sokovia Accords, and the Avengers' Civil War, all stemming from that foundation.
It even resulted in the creation of another superhero, Vision.
He had proven to be far-sighted, yet no one believed him. While others were still debating the dangers of the weapon, even Tony Stark himself doubted whether he was overthinking things, whether he was suffering from paranoia.
"Tony, we need you to focus," Captain America said.
"I needed you back then, but now I need you more! It's too late, man!" Tony Stark was referring to the Civil War.
Although they could temporarily set aside their differences to face a common enemy, the rift remained. Under Tony Stark's current extremely unstable mental state, it had become a time bomb waiting to explode.
After all, he had lost his parents; how could he truly let that go so easily?
"I'm sorry," Captain Rogers said, understanding exactly what he meant.
He later tried to make amends, working tirelessly to fix his mistakes, but regret was useless. The damage had already been done.
Tony Stark grew increasingly agitated and erratic, even smashing things as he shouted, "Do you know what I need right now? I need a shave, and I remember telling you..."
As he spoke, Tony ripped the needle from his arm.
"Tony! Tony!" War Machine Rhodes urged, trying to calm him.
"I told you and everyone else—we need to arm the entire world with our suits! Remember? It doesn't matter if it violates our precious freedom. That's what we need!" Tony declared, his expression wild with emotion.
Why was he so angry?
Because they were only starting to regret it now—after half the world had been lost, after he had lost that child, after he had nearly lost his wife.
Only after all that did they finally begin to regret it.
He knew now that what he had done back then was right, but it was already too late.
After everything he had been through, one thing became even clearer: you had to be alive to talk about freedom.
What freedom was there in death?
*Fuck freedom!*
If you don't believe me, ask those who were wiped out by the Shimmering Extinction. Ask them if they'd rather lose some freedom or die.
I'm sure ninety-nine percent would choose to live.
*There is great terror between life and death.*
This Eastern proverb, Tony Stark truly understood its meaning while waiting to die on the spaceship. No one willingly waits for death.
Those who understood him best were actually the audience beyond the screen. When they fully grasped how terrifying Thanos was and how dire the crisis was, they immediately adopted the same mindset as Tony Stark.
According to Lin Feng, Thanos was merely the first stage of a supervillain. There were more to come.
When survival was at stake, everything else became irrelevant.
But Captain Rogers, seen in the footage, disagreed with this statement. "That path will ultimately lead nowhere," he said.
He still believed that what made humans human was their value of freedom.
This was the core reason he had fought his entire life. Otherwise, why would he have risked his life to battle the Third Reich and Hydra? Wouldn't it have been easier to just be a compliant citizen?
But his words had also completely enraged Tony Stark, who suddenly erupted.
"I told you we would lose! You said that even if we lost, we'd face it together. And what happened? Captain! We lost, and you weren't even there! Is this all we're capable of? Always one step behind? Are we just Avengers? Can't we be more than just Avengers? Can't we be proactive?" Tony Stark roared, his face flushed with fury.
He lunged forward to confront Captain America, but War Machine Rhodes restrained him. "Enough! You've said enough. Sit down, okay?"
Tony Stark was far too weak at that moment.
"I'm not finished!" Tony Stark pointed at Captain Marvel Carol. "She's perfect! We need you! You're the new blood!"
He pointed at Captain America and continued, "You old fools, I have nothing left for you!"
"No coordinates, no clues, no tactics, no plans!"
"Without any of that, I'll never trust you again, you liar!" Tony Stark's face was flushed with emotion. He ripped the Arc Reactor from his chest and placed it in Captain America's hand. "Take this. When you find him, put it on and hide."
After saying this, Tony Stark, too weak to stand, collapsed into a seated position and finally passed out.
Their ideologies, even to this day, remained mutually opposed, unyielding to the passage of time. Instead, they continued to escalate and deepen their conflict.
"Captain, I think sacrificing some freedom to protect the right to survive is key," Black Widow Natasha said to Captain Rogers from off-screen.
"I know!" Captain Rogers replied.
He wasn't a stubborn old fool. The difference was that the Captain in the scene had no idea what kind of enemy they were facing—one that could truly annihilate all of human civilization.
If he could, Tony Stark wouldn't want to be an Avenger. He'd rather be a preventer, stopping crises before they even happened.
Tony Stark was convinced he'd done nothing wrong. Look at the future in the parallel timeline: when they faced the Chitauri army, they were utterly helpless, even having to rely on the army of an African tribal tribe.
He'd rather have world leaders suspect him of hoarding too much military power than be powerless against the Chitauri invasion.
Let the Avengers play their head-hunting tactics.
They'd already seen the consequences of those tactics.
It was a disaster!
Almost wiped out, only two survived, and they barely made it.
Even Captain Rogers' thinking was gradually aligning with Tony Stark's, rather than remaining like his counterpart in the parallel timeline.
It was like in the zombie Marvel timeline: when everyone's turned into zombies, what's the point of talking about freedom?
In the scene, after frantically giving Tony Stark a sedative, the group finally breathed a sigh of relief and gathered together.
-----------------------
Completed English PDF of this fan-fic on my Patreon shop if you want to support and own the full fan-fic in one go. Just grab the PDF and binge the entire story from start to finish!
Guys, I've uploaded some High Quality english translated fanfic on my Patreon shop! Feel free to check it out-if you're interested, you can grab a copy and support me there.
Here are a few titles of recently uploaded fanfics:
New Addition
" Marvel: Invincible Talismans "
" Marvel: Awakening Abstract Abilities at the Beginning "
" Marvel: Fused with Broly at the Start "
" Marvel: Starting as the God of Destruction "
" Superman in Marvel—Will I Get a Copyright Warning? "
" Marvel: Starting by Loading the Homelander Template "
" Marvel: Becoming an Emperor Through Lottery Draws "
" Marvel: Awakening the Power of a Million Stars at the Start "
" Marvel: I Am the Leader of the Mutant Race "
many more are available 140+
Your support means a lot-thanks in advance, legends!
patreon.com/SuperTL
(End of Chapter)