85. Temporal Crossroads

30 min before,

John walked out of the workshop, his grin stretching from ear to ear as he reveled in the thought of Tony 's misery. Assigning him the grueling task of inscribing runes on the floating island had been nothing short of a stroke of genius. The mere image of the genius billionaire slumped in his chair, drained and defeated, made John's grin widen.

Chuckling to himself, he made his way to his personal chamber, ready to settle into a much-needed meditation session. As he seated himself and closed his eyes, a sudden sensation jolted him out of his calm state. His eyes snapped open, sharp and alert, as he instinctively turned his head toward a specific direction.

Something was off.

He could feel a fluctuation in space—not the usual kind he was accustomed to, but something intertwined with another force of equal magnitude. His mind raced, quickly analyzing the anomaly. There was only one element on par with space itself—time.

Space and time fluctuations together…

A thought struck him, but he wasn't entirely sure. He needed to confirm it himself.

Without hesitation, John stood up and swiftly changed into his usual attire. Then, in the blink of an eye, he vanished from his chamber, utilizing his teleportation ability to traverse the distance instantly.

When he arrived near the location of the disturbance, his eyes immediately locked onto four figures standing in an alleyway. His gaze sharpened as recognition dawned upon him.

The Avengers.

But something was… different. He quickly discerned that they were not from this Earth—not exactly. The subtle differences in their energy signatures, their appearances, told him they hailed from a parallel Earth. A future where things had diverged from this timeline.

John folded his arms, his expression thoughtful as he observed them silently. He didn't immediately approach, choosing instead to listen in on their conversation. His heightened senses allowed him to catch every word, every nuance, as the group debated their situation.

"...something might have already been altered," Bruce Banner's voice carried through the air.

Steve Rogers' jaw tightened. "Then we need to find out what. Fast."

Tony Stark ran a hand through his hair, exhaling in frustration. "Great. Just what we needed. A time-travel side quest."

Scott Lang groaned. "I knew it! This never goes smoothly."

John smirked slightly as he listened. They were clearly off-track, trying to piece things together. He decided it was time to make his presence known.

"Have you guys lost something?"

His voice cut through the conversation, startling the group. They spun around in unison, their bodies tensing, eyes scanning for the source of the voice.

"Up here."

They all looked up.

John tried to maintain an intimidating aura, but as soon as he laid eyes on Scott, he couldn't hold himself back and burst into laughter.

Seeing their confused expressions, he slowly flew down and stood in front of them.

"How are you, brother?" John said, his eyes locking onto Tony. A smirk played on his lips as he added, "Why do you look like an old grandpa?"

Tony's eyes narrowed. "Okay, what the hell is this? Since when do I have a long-lost brother?"

John paused, scanning their bewildered faces, then let out a chuckle. "Well, that's unexpected. I take it I'm not your brother in your world?"

Silence fell over the group, a mix of confusion and suspicion flashing across their expressions. Steve stepped forward, his stance firm. "Who are you? And how do you know about us?"

"Well, first of all, my name is John… John Stark. The younger brother of Tony Stark." He exhaled through his nose, shaking his head slightly. "Relax, Cap. I already figured out that you're not from this timeline. Your energy signatures are off—subtle, but noticeable. Plus, your arrival caused a fluctuation in both space and time. You're definitely not from around here."

Bruce adjusted his glasses, intrigued. "And you figured all that out just by sensing us?"

John smirked. "Perks of my abilities. Now, how about you tell me what brings you to my Earth?"

The group exchanged glances, hesitating. But given the circumstances, they didn't have much of a choice. If John really was an alternate version of Tony's brother in this world, he might be their best shot at gathering information.

After a brief moment, Tony sighed. "Alright, fine. But let's get one thing straight—I don't trust you yet."

John chuckled. "Fair enough. You'd be an idiot if you did."

The group slowly began to open up, explaining their predicament. They had assumed that traveling to the past would lead them to an identical version of their Earth, but the differences here were too vast. Even John himself—the discrepancies were glaring.

"So let me get this straight," John mused, rubbing his chin. "You guys thought time travel would work like a neat little rewind button, but instead, you landed in a completely different version of Earth. And now you're trying to figure out what the hell went wrong?"

John's eyes flickered with amusement as he studied their faces. "So, what exactly were you trying to accomplish by traveling to the past?" He had a pretty good idea already but wanted to see their reactions.

"None of your business," Tony said flatly.

John raised an eyebrow but didn't push further. Instead, he activated his Eye of Truth, just to check something. To his surprise, a single rune floated around each of them. And all four runes were identical.

Memorizing the rune quickly, John deactivated his ability. The others, however, were staring at him in alarm. His golden eyes had sent a shiver down their spines, making them feel as if they were gazing into an abyss.

When John looked at them again, he noticed sweat beading on their foreheads.

'What's wrong with them?' he thought but shrugged it off.

"Well, why don't you guys come home with me? Judging by your faces, whatever mission you had isn't going to be completed anytime soon." Said john while opening a gate ( portal same as touya's world).