"What happened to this planet? Its rotational axis is off by eight degrees. The gravity and magnetic field are wildly unstable—sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker. Honestly, it's a miracle none of us have passed out yet."
Quill couldn't help commenting on the state of the planet.
"Where are we?"
Ignoring Quill's usual antics, Tony turned toward the more level-headed Nebula and asked again.
"This is Titan. Thanos's homeworld. More importantly, what are you doing here?"
Nebula gave a brief explanation, still clearly surprised that Tony and the others had somehow ended up here.
"Simple. We boarded the wrong ship."
Tony shrugged and added jokingly,
"Two of Thanos's lackeys showed up on Earth and tried to take the Time Stone. So we followed them. Next thing we knew, we ended up in this dump."
"Huh? The Time Stone? Where is it?!"
Everyone immediately turned toward Tony in shock.
"It's with Strange. Didn't you know?"
Tony pointed directly at Strange.
"I really appreciate that."
Strange looked like he wanted to sew Tony's mouth shut.
That was supposed to be one of Kamar-Taj's biggest secrets.
Now everyone knew.
The group immediately turned and stared at Strange.
Left with no choice, Strange opened the Eye of Agamotto.
A green glow instantly emerged.
"The Time Stone... and you've just been wearing it around your neck like that?"
Quill and the others had seen the Eye before. They had always assumed it was merely an ornament—or at most a magical artifact.
None of them had ever connected it to an Infinity Stone.
Strange shrugged.
"The Ancient One kept it sitting in a chamber that any sorcerer could enter. Frankly, it's safer with me."
"Okay, enough. We need to discuss our next move. First, we lure Thanos here, then—"
Tony launched into planning mode.
As he rambled on, Strange quietly floated into a cross-legged position with his eyes closed.
No one noticed what he was doing.
Everyone was focused on discussing strategy.
Well, almost everyone.
Mantis and Drax weren't paying attention.
Drax understood exactly one tactic: charge forward.
Mantis, meanwhile, still approached most things with childlike innocence.
Neither had the slightest idea what Tony's battle plan was about.
Mantis was the first to notice Strange.
"What's wrong with Strange?"
Everyone turned around.
Strange floated in midair with his hands forming seals.
The Time Stone glowed brightly against his chest.
Magical circles revolved around his wrists.
His head trembled slightly as countless afterimages flickered behind him.
"Strange, are you okay?!"
Peter immediately stepped forward, but Tony grabbed him.
"Wait."
Tony slowly approached.
The moment he reached Strange—
The green light vanished.
The circles around Strange's wrists disappeared.
Strange dropped from the air.
Sweat covered his forehead.
"You alright?"
Tony caught him before he hit the ground.
Even without JARVIS scanning him, Tony could see how exhausted he was.
His entire body trembled slightly.
"Carl..."
Strange gasped.
"We need him."
"What?"
Everyone froze.
"I just used the Time Stone to travel through every possible timeline."
Strange gradually steadied his breathing.
The trembling subsided.
He wiped the sweat from his forehead.
"In those timelines, I saw every possible outcome of this war."
"How many outcomes?"
Tony immediately asked.
He fully believed Strange.
No one could fake that level of exhaustion.
"Fourteen million."
The number stunned everyone.
A collective gasp swept through the group.
"And how many did we win?"
Quill asked the most important question.
The number of possibilities didn't matter.
The number of victories did.
Their next actions—and the fate of the universe—depended on that answer.
Strange's expression grew solemn.
After a long silence, he finally spoke.
"One."
---
Earth – Kamar-Taj
Wong and the gathered sorcerers continued searching for Strange's coordinates.
A full week had passed.
They had neither slept nor rested, continuously expending magical power in the search.
Unlike ordinary people, sorcerers could sustain their bodies through magic.
If they wished, they could go indefinitely without food or water.
Carl, however, was a different story.
Although he was technically a sorcerer, he wasn't a traditional one.
His magic excelled in combat, but it didn't support everyday biological functions.
So while helping maintain the spell circle, he still needed three meals a day.
Naturally, cooking duties had fallen to Gwen, Skye, and Wanda.
Just as Carl was enthusiastically working through another meal, Wong and the other sorcerers suddenly opened their eyes.
The artifact floating above them began rapidly tracing countless lines of light.
Those lines gradually formed the image of an unfamiliar planet.
A golden thread connected the planet to the artifact itself.
"We found it!"
Wong rose to his feet—
Then immediately staggered.
After a week without rest, his body had become stiff and exhausted.
He would need magic just to restore himself properly.
Wanda quickly caught him with Chaos Magic before he could fall.
Carl spat out a chicken bone and stood up, joining Wong beneath the floating image of the planet.
"Titan."
Wong identified it.
The reason they had finally located Strange was actually because of Strange's journey through alternate timelines on Titan.
The Time Stone had powered the process, but Strange had contributed his own magical energy as well.
He had used temporal magic from the Book of the Vishanti.
That magical signature allowed the artifact to locate his position through the mystical network and pinpoint his exact location.
Carl already knew Strange was on Titan.
The problem was that he had no idea where Titan actually was.
His knowledge came from the movies of his previous life.
Those films mentioned Titan's name plenty of times.
They never provided directions.
Now, at last, they had found it.
"Can you open a portal there?"
Carl asked.
After all, finding Strange had always been about establishing a portal.
Wong nodded.
Then shook his head.
Carl stared.
For a moment, he had absolutely no idea what that answer was supposed to mean.
Was that a yes or a no?
Watching Carl's confused expression, Wong finally explained.
"I can't open it immediately. I need time to prepare."
Carl instantly understood.
"Alright. You prepare. I'll head over to Fury's place. Let me know when you're ready."
With that, Carl departed Kamar-Taj with Gwen, Skye, and Wanda and headed straight for Avengers Tower.
As soon as Nick Fury heard the news, he immediately summoned everyone.
Before long, the conference room was packed.
Even Bruce Banner—currently unable to transform into the Hulk—had arrived.
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