Emerging victorious in the Battle of Wakanda, Thanos successful used the Infinity Stones
to eliminate half the population of the Universe in a single snap.
Among the culled was Nick Fury, the man who led SHIELD and created the Avengers Initiative,
yet before disintegrating into dust, he reached for a special pager and sent an emergency
message to Carol Danvers also known as the superhero Captain Marvel, who at the time
was helping other species far off in space.
Once the message was received, she made her way to Earth where Steve Rogers, Natasha Romanoff,
James Rhodes and Bruce Banner, informed her of Fury’s fate and of their missing Avenger
comrades, who never returned from their mission to stop Thanos on the desolate world of Titan.
Though Dr. Strange, Spider Man, Star Lord, Drax and Mantis were gone, Iron Man and Nebula
survived, boarding the Guardians of the Galaxy ship Benatar to escape the planet, but ending
up stranded without food or water and a lessening supply of air.
After 22 days, Tony Stark recorded a farewell message to Pepper Potts before laying down
to die, but they were then rescued by Captain Marvel who tracked them down and brought the
ship directly to Avengers Headquarters on Earth.
Determined to find the infinity stones to undue the decimation caused by Thanos, Captain
America, Black Widow, War Machine, Bruce Banner, Thor, Rocket, Nebula and Captain Marvel boarded
the Benatar and made their way to a planet known as the Garden.
As a daughter of Thanos, Nebula knew much about his plans, including where he planned
to go when his mission was complete.
Rocket then confirmed the location by matching the power surge that occurred on Earth during
the snap, with a similar event which occurred only two days earlier on a faraway planet.
Once arrived, they found Thanos, living as a solitary farmer in a humble shack, and easily
captured him and cut off his arm to remove the infinity gauntlet.
Yet it was only after he was subdued, that they learned the power surge they detected
was Thanos using the stones to destroy the stones, thereby making his action inevitable
and unalterable.
Enraged and seeing no more use for him, Thor beheaded Thanos without warning, and the Avengers
returned home in defeat.
Five years later Over the next five years, many struggled to
move on with their lives, including several of the Avengers like Black Widow who took
over leadership of their organization, using operatives like Okoye and War Machine to police
Earth while Rocket, Nebula and Captain Marvel dealt with threats in space.
However since the decimation, major threats against the planet were no longer presenting
themselves, and so the team was reduced to investigating common criminals.
After meeting with a support group, Steve Rogers visited Natasha at the Avengers Headquarters,
and so the two were together when Scott Lang appeared at the front gate.
Having disappeared 5 years earlier, everyone assumed Ant Man was another victim of Thanos,
however he was actually on a mission in the Quantum Realm during the Snap and became stranded
when his girlfriend Hope Van Dyne and her both her parents were culled.
However, after their equipment spent 5 years languishing in storage, a rat randomly walked
over the controls of the quantum tunnel, accidently powering the machine and extracting Scott
Lang.
Confused and terrified, Scott thankfully found his daughter still alive, and after learning
about what occurred, made his way to the Avengers Headquarters where he presented the idea of
creating a time machine to move through the quantum realm, allowing them to steal the
infinity stones from moments in the past and use them to return all those lost in the snap.
Needing someone to build this machine, they brought the idea to Tony Stark, but he deemed
it too risky and turned them down, as he now had a wife and young daughter who took priority.
They next went to Bruce Banner, who had changed significantly after spending 18 months in
a gamma lab combining his 2 selves into a single personality.
Although he agreed to help them, he struggled with the project as it was not his area of
expertise, but they were soon joined by Tony Stark, who despite his initial disinterest,
created a working model for time travel in his spare time and with the blessing of his
wife Pepper Potts, joined his former comrades for one last mission.
Calling together the last of the Avengers, Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, Ant
Man, Hulk, War Machine, Rocket and Nebula soon arrive, but bringing Thor and Hawkeye
proved more difficult.
Though he was eventually convinced to join them, Thor blamed himself for all that happened
and after years of depression was now out of shape and emotionally unstable.
Hawkeye was also severely affected by the Snap, losing his wife and 3 kids, and in his
grief turned to violence, becoming the ruthless killer Ronin who targeted criminals he felt
did not deserve the survive the decimation.
After years of searching, Natasha Romanoff found him in Tokyo Japan after he massacred
dozens to reach a gang leader.
Given hope that he might bring back his family, Hawkeye returned to the Avengers and volunteered
for the initial test run after Scott Lang grew hesitant.
Though some of the Avengers were confused about how time travel worked, they soon learned
that their own past was fixed and could not be altered.
Even if they changed things in the past, it would not affect their own history, but instead
create a divergent timeline.
And so their mission was to travel to specific moments in the past and steal the 6 infinity
stones, in order to bring them to present day in 2023, where they could be used to bring
back all those lost 5 years earlier.
Eventually the Avengers also realized that in order to prevent the loss of the stones
from creating 6 alternate timelines, they also had to return the stones to their proper
place in history once the mission was complete.
After a successful test run, the Avengers split into 3 teams: The First included Iron
Man, Captain America, The Hulk and Ant Man were going to the battle of New York in 2012,
where they could take the space and mind stone from shield custody, while the time stone
was being held by the Ancient one in the NY sanctum for Masters of the Mystic Arts.
Team 2 with Thor and Rocket went to Asgard in 2013 during the Second Dark Elf Conflict,
when the Reality Stone, or Aether, was in the possession of Jane Foster who was staying
in the royal palace.
The final team comprised of Black Widow, Hawkeye, Nebula and War Machine, went to 2014, when
the power stone was still on the planet Morag and the soul stone was on Vormir.
Using a Quantum Tunnel, advanced tech suits and pym particles, the Avengers began Operation
Time Heist, successfully launching themselves through the Quantum realm to arrive at their
intended destinations.
The First Team arrived near the end of the battle of New York in 2012 and split up to
secure the 3 stones.
In the New York Sanctum, Bruce Banner negotiated the release of the Time Stone from the Ancient
One, promising to return it when they were finished to prevent this moment from branching
off into an alternate timeline.
Though she initially refused, he convinced her by revealing that Dr. Strange, the man
who would succeed the Ancient One as Sorcerer Supreme in the future, gave up the Time Stone
to Thanos willingly, meaning this must all be part of a larger plan.
While the Hulk secured the Time Stone, Steve Rogers was in Avengers Tower capturing the
Mind Stone by posing as a Hydra Agent, to gain the trust of those undercover within
SHIELD.
At the same time, Tony Stark and Scott Lang created a distraction and stole the space
Stone, but in an instant their plan was undone when 2012 Hulk came barrelling down the stairs,
causing a crash that sent the tesseract gliding across the room until it stopped in front
of 2012 Loki, who although under arrest, was able to simply pick it up, open a portal and
disappear.
With 2 of 3 stones secured, and only enough pym particles for 1 more time jump each, Captain
America and Iron Man came up with a new plan, sending Ant Man and the Hulk back to 2023
with the time and mind stones, while they used the last of their pym particles to go
to a New Jersey military base in 1970, where Hank Pym, vials of his Pym Particles and the
Space Stone were all present at the same time.
Not only did they succeed in getting the stone, and more than enough vials to return home,
both men saw figures from their past, with Tony speaking to his father Howard Stark,
and Steve seeing the love of his life Peggy Carter, who he lost when he was frozen in
ice.
Meanwhile on Asgard in 2013, Team 2 secured the reality stone with little difficulty,
though Rocket did the work extracting the reality stone from Jane Foster, while Thor
had a panic attack and spent his time being comforted by his mother Frigga, before taking
his hammer mjolnir with him to the future.
Venturing into the year 2014, the third team split up, with Black Widow and Hawkeye travelling
to Vormir were the Stonekeeper formerly known as Red Skull, explained the cost of the soul
stone was the life of the person they loved most.
A soul for a soul.
Being best friends and partners for decades, neither was willing to let the other die,
and so they fought a duel over who would commit suicide, so the other could claim the stone.
Though it pained him deeply to survive, Black Widow was victorious and threw herself from
the cliff.
As all this occurred, War Machine and Nebula remained on Morag where they took the power
stone from an ancient temple, and tried returning to 2023, but the daughter of Thanos did not
make it back, as a cybernetic implant malfunctioned leaving her stranded in 2014.
Worse still, this malfunction was a result of her memory network linking with her 2014
counterpart, who at this time was loyal to 2014 Thanos, meaning he now had access to
all her memories allowing him to learn about his future victory and their plan to undue
his work.
Realizing he now had an opportunity to counter their efforts, 2014 Thanos went to Morag and
captured 2023 Nebula.
Acquiring her vial of pym particles, he and Ebony Maw focused on duplicating the serum,
and then sent 2014 nebula through the quantum realm to pose as her future self, thereby
infiltrating the Avengers.
With Operation Time Heist a success, the Avengers returned to 2023 only to learn that Natasha
Romanoff was gone and could not be brought back to life even with the infinity stones.
Refusing to let her die in vain, they continued on with the mission, placing the stones on
a new gauntlet.
And while Thor wanted to be the one to wield its power, it went to the Hulk, as the stones
gave off a lot of gamma radiation, which he had the best chance to survive.
Though it nearly burned off his arm, the Hulk performed another Snap, bringing back all
those lost in the Decimation without altering anything that occurred in the past 5 years.
Yet they had no time to celebrate their victory, as 2014 Nebula now had access to their facility
and reprogrammed the Quantum Tunnel to bring 2014 Thanos and his ship to join them in 2023.
From the Sanctuary II, Thanos opened fire and destroyed the Avengers Headquarters , trapping
and injuring many of the people within.
He then made his way down to the ground, sent 2014 Nebula to secure the infinity stones,
and sat waiting for a confrontation with the Avengers.
Answering his summons, Captain America, Iron Man and Thor armed with both Stormbreaker
and Mjolnir soon arrived and spoke to the Mad Titan, who thanked them for demonstrating
the flaw in his plan.
Clearly eliminating half the population would not work because those who survived could
not look past what they lost to see what they gained.
And so his new plan was reduce the universe to atoms and remake it with new lifeforms
that had no knowledge of what occurred in the past.
Meanwhile, back on the Sanctuary II, 2014 Gamora, unwilling to be part of a genocide,
betrays her father and frees 2023 Nebula.
The two then find 2014 Nebula and kill her to take back the infinity stones, which she
acquired from Hawkeye, who mistook her for an ally.
Though the 3 avengers confronting Thanos soon engaged in an epic battle, he proved too powerful,
and was even on the verge of killing Thor, who was saved at the last second by Captain
America, now wielding Mjolnir as well as his vibranium shield.
While he put up a valiant struggle, Captain America was also overpowered leaving them
on the verge of defeat.
Thanos then enacted the final part of his plan, using his duplicated pym particles to
bring in the entirety of his chitauri, outrider, Sakaaran and Black Order army from the past.
Threatening to take the stones and wreak havoc upon the planet, Captain America stood to
face the enemy alone, but was soon joined by a massive army of allies.
Since the Hulk was successful in bring back those lost in the original snap, Dr. Strange
and the Masters of the Mystic Arts went to work creating portals to bring all the scattered
avengers and their allies to New York, where they would help confront Thanos in the Battle
of Earth.
In addition to Dr. Strange, Wong and the rest of the mystic arts practioners, they were
joined by the people of Wakanda, the Ravagers and the Asgardians, as well as the extended
Avengers team including, Black Panther, Okoye, Shuri, Falcon, Drax, Mantis, Groot, Star Lord,
Spider Man, the White Wolf, Valkyrie, Korg, Meek, Scarlet Witch, Wasp, and Pepper Potts
wearing the rescue armor gifted to her by Tony Stark.
As they gathered, the Hulk, War Machine, Rocket, Nebula, 2014 Gamora, and Hawkeye emerged from
the rubble and joined the fight, as did Ant Man who transformed into Giant Man.
With the Avengers Assembled, the two armies charged into one another, and a chaotic battle
erupted, however the core of the conflict remained with the infinity stones, as Thanos
needed to find them and wield their power, while the Avengers needed to get them to their
last quantum tunnel in Ant Man’s van, so they could be returned to their proper places
in the timeline.
Unfortunately, the van was deep in enemy territory, and so Hawkeye began the journey by carrying
the gauntlet part of the way, and when he could go no further passed it to Black Panther,
then going to spider man who was soon picked up by Pepper Potts and Valkyrie.
As they moved with the stones, Thanos engaged in a duel against Scarlett Witch who was quickly
gaining the upper hand, and so the Mad Titan ordered his ship to begin firing on the battlefield,
creating a distraction which he exploited to win the fight.
Although the Masters of the Mystic arts created shields to help protect their allies, the
barrage of fire inflicted heavy casualties and threatened to kill them all, until Captain
Marvel at last arrived to join the fight, using her cosmic energy to tear a whole directly
through the Sanctuary II, destroying the ship in mere moments.
She then flew down and after taking possession of the Gauntlet became surrounded by the female
Avengers Scarlet Witch, Valkyrie, Okoye, Pepper Potts, Mantis, Shuri, Wasp, 2014 Gamora and
Nebula, who helped her tear her way through enemy ranks to reach the Quantum Tunnel.
Yet their efforts were not enough as Thanos destroyed the van with his sword creating
a blast that sent the gauntlet flying, allowing him to take it and wield its power.
Though Iron Man, Thor and Captain America tried to stop him, he quickly defeated them
before facing captain marvel in single combat.
Quickly losing ground in the struggle, Thanos was able to pull the power stone from the
gauntlet, and used it to punch his enemy with such force, she was launched far away and
taken out of the battle.
With Thanos on the brink of winning once again, Tony Stark looked to doctor strange, who seemed
to indicate it was time to act, and so he launched himself against the gauntlet, but
rather than try taking it, he instead stripped the stones from their place.
Though he was quickly batted away, Ironman now had the stones and integrated them into
his suit, allowing him to perform a final Snap to bring them victory.
Using the stones he eliminated the enemy army, but the effort required so much energy, Tony
Stark collapsed and died in the arms of his wife, while the chitauri, outriders, Sakaarans
and black order disintegrating into dust all around them.
Seeing his army vanishing Thanos looked on in utter disbelief, before seeming to accept
his defeat, sitting down for a final moment of peace and quiet before he too was culled.
Though many of those who died in 2018 were alive once more, some few remained lost to
them like Gamora and Black Widow who died for the soul stones, as well as Loki and Heimdall
who died in the attack for the Space Stone, Vision who died for the mind stone in the
battle of wakanda and 2014 Nebula who died in the final battle.
Although 2014 Gamora disappeared after the battle, her ultimate fate was unknown.
Among those who survived and were now alive and well in 2023, there was: Captain America,
the Hulk, hawkeye and his family, Thor, Valkyrie, Korg, Meek, the White Wolf, Scarlet Witch,
War Machine, Falcon, ant man, the wasp, hank pym, janet van dyne, Dr. Strange, Wong, Black
Panther, Okoye, Shuri, Drax, Mantis, Groot, Rocket, Star Lord, Nebula, Spider Man, Pepper
Potts, Captain Marvel, Maria Hill and Nick Fury.
After Tony Stark’s funeral, the Avengers and their allies went their separate ways,
with Thor joining the Guardians of the Galaxy on their adventures, leaving his people on
Earth in the charge of Valkyrie who was named the Queen of New Asgard.
In order to keep their promise to the Ancient One, Bruce Banner, Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes
gathered to watch Steve Rogers enter the quantum realm on a mission to return the infinity
stones and the hammer mjolnir to their proper locations in the timeline.
However, Captain America had a secret plan of his own, and did not plan to return, only
revealing his true intentions to his childhood friend Bucky Barnes.
Worried that something went wrong, the hulk and Falcon grew concerned until they found
Steve Rogers as an old man sitting nearby.
After returning the stones, Steve decided to remain behind in the 1940s where he likely
married peggy carter and together had a long and happy life.
Only when that life was reaching its end, did he return to 2023 where he presented his
vibranium shield to Sam Wilson, naming him the new Captain America.
Although the Avengers defeated Thanos and restored the lives of all those lost in the
original Snap, their journey through time resulted in unforeseen circumstances which
may have created a number of divergent timelines, despite their efforts to minimize such occurrences.
Though Captain America returned the infinity stones and perhaps Mjolnir as well, their
failure in 2012 led to a new future for that timeline, where Loki was able to make off
with the space stone.
Another alternate timeline was created in 2014, when Thanos, Nebula and Gamora travelled
to 2023 and never returned.
There was also the theft of pym particles in 1970 which may have caused a divergence,
and of course the final actions of Captain America, who possibly created yet another
alternate timeline when he went back to his life in the 1940s.