[Titan]
A spaceship fell from the sky.
It was completely out of control, crashing into one rock after another before finally breaking apart. Debris scattered everywhere as the hull split open.
Inside the cockpit, Alex's figure appeared.
He existed in the form of an information stream, so Iron Man and the others couldn't detect him.
Just like in the movie, Thanos's followers attacked New York, Doctor Strange was captured, and Iron Man and Spider-Man boarded the enemy ship to rescue him.
In the end, Spider-Man used a move straight out of the Alien movies to throw Squidward off the ship.
After rescuing Doctor Strange, they had originally planned to return to Earth, but Iron Man thought this might be the perfect chance to defeat Thanos. So the three of them ventured deep into enemy territory and came to Titan.
Throughout the whole journey, Alex remained quietly hidden because he knew it still wasn't his time to make an appearance.
Inside the cockpit, Doctor Strange helped Iron Man to his feet.
"You okay?"
"That was way too close."
Stark opened his helmet, still shaken, "Good thing you were here."
Just then, Spider-Man dropped down upside down from above, "Just so we're clear."
"If one of those alien things jumps on me, lays eggs in my chest, and then one of us—"
Stark cut him off, "Enough. I don't want to hear one more pop culture reference from you for the rest of this trip, got it?"
"I was just trying to say something's coming this way."
The moment he finished speaking, something shaped like a grenade rolled to their feet.
BOOM!
All three of them were blasted away.
At that moment, someone charged in through the hole in the cockpit.
A masked man carrying an elemental gun shouted, "Where's Thanos?"
Another man with red skin rushed in behind him and roared at Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange waved a hand, and his cloak flew off, wrapping itself around the man's head.
Iron Man took to the air and exchanged intense fire with the masked man before getting caught off guard. Some kind of magnetic device pinned him to a machine.
The fight was over quickly.
Iron Man had his foot planted on the red-skinned man.
The masked man had Spider-Man restrained.
Then he deactivated his mask, revealing the face of a human from Earth.
Star-Lord, Quill.
Pointing his elemental gun at Iron Man, he said, "I am gonna ask you this one time"
"Where is Gamora?"
Iron Man looked completely confused, "Yeah, I'll do you one better. Who's Gamora?"
Still pinned under Iron Man's foot, Drax spoke up as well, "Then I'll do you one better. Why is Gamora?"
Standing nearby, Alex watched the Guardians of the Galaxy and the Avengers perform what looked like a comedy routine before finally clearing up the misunderstanding.
Both sides had come to settle the score with Thanos.
When Alex heard that Star-Lord was looking for Gamora, he relaxed.
That meant Thanos had indeed found a way to locate her and had already taken her away.
He had probably obtained the Soul Stone by now.
Outside the ship.
Iron Man said, "We need to work together. If we're willing to fight like we've got nothing left to lose—"
Star-Lord cut him off, "Buddy, enough with the 'nothing left to lose' speech."
"That's not how we do things."
Alex couldn't agree more.
There was no way this bunch of oddballs from the Guardians of the Galaxy would ever fight seriously.
"Yeah, we're optimists. Your plan's pretty good."
"The only problem is it totally sucks, so leave it to me."
"I'll show you how the professionals do it," Star-Lord kept rambling on.
Beside him, Drax yawned nonstop, making Stark more and more convinced this group couldn't be trusted.
"Sorry to interrupt," Mantis spoke up, "Is your friend always like that?"
She was talking about Doctor Strange.
Ever since everyone started discussing their so-called plan, Doctor Strange had been sitting cross-legged, using the Time Stone to peer into the future.
At that moment, Doctor Strange let out a low cry and fell from midair.
Iron Man quickly caught him, "You okay?"
"What were you doing?"
Doctor Strange said, "I went into the future and saw different outcomes."
"I saw every possible outcome of this battle."
"How many possibilities did you see?", Quill asked.
"14,000,605."
Iron Man couldn't help asking, "How many did we win?"
Doctor Strange shook his head, "We didn't."
"Not even once?", Spider-Man blurted out.
Doctor Strange shook his head solemnly.
"But Thanos didn't win either. Every time I tried to see the final outcome, an invisible force pushed me away."
"It's as if... the outcome of this battle is beyond my ability to see."
"I don't understand."
"That shouldn't be possible."
"With the Time Stone, I should have been able to see countless possible futures."
"Unless..."
Iron Man asked, "Unless what?"
Doctor Strange himself looked uncertain, "Unless... what I was seeing wasn't the future of this universe."
"What do you mean?"
"Have you heard of the multiverse theory?", Doctor Strange tried to explain, "According to this theory, there isn't just one universe. There are infinitely many."
"Every decision we make, every choice we make, gives birth to a universe that's similar, but not exactly the same."
"In other universes, there's also a Stark and other people, but they might have completely different jobs and live completely different lives."
"In another universe, Stark, you might not even be a billionaire."
Stark spread his hands, "That sounds terrible."
Doctor Strange continued, "The Time Stone only allows me to see the future of this universe."
"Other universes are already beyond its power."
"It's like the laws of one country, they don't apply in another."
Stark nodded, "I get it. But if we're in this universe, how could you possibly have seen another one?"
"Exactly. I shouldn't have."
"Unless something from another universe has entered ours, preventing the Time Stone from functioning the way it's supposed to."
"We call this phenomenon 'multiversal interference.'"
Doctor Strange looked up, "Yes... that's it. That's the only explanation."
Iron Man stared at him in shock, "Something from another universe?"
"Are you saying people or objects from another universe have already entered ours?"
Doctor Strange nodded, "My teacher, the previous Sorcerer Supreme, once warned me."
"She told me to beware of the Conqueror."
"There's no direct evidence, but she believed the Conqueror came from another universe."
Stark was stunned, "Someone from another universe?"
"Is that even possible?"
"You're not saying the Conqueror has already mastered traveling across the multiverse, are you?"
Doctor Strange nodded gravely, "There's a very good chance that he has."