The aftermath of the New York battle was prolonged, partly because of the time spent dealing with the Chitauri corpses and technology. The Avengers were forced to divert their attention to managing these issues even after the battle ended. Without their intervention, the battlefield in New York would have descended into chaos, though the full extent of this chaos was unpredictable. However, the Avengers, unlike a regular government organization, faced a significant disadvantage: they simply didn't have enough members.
During battles, robots and armored suits could compensate for the lack of personnel, ensuring that the Avengers didn't suffer due to their numbers. But when it came to handling various post-battle affairs, the shortage of Avengers became painfully evident. The Avengers couldn't recruit or train large numbers of members due to the numerous secrets they had to protect. Even though Tony Stark had slightly lowered the entry standards to include people like Reed Richards, Richards was a scientific genius, not someone suited to dealing with mundane tasks.
This manpower shortage led to significant delays in addressing the aftermath of the New York battle, preventing Robert from immediately informing the Avengers of all the developments right after the fight ended.
However, through J.A.R.V.I.S., the Avengers quickly grasped the seriousness of the situation. With the Martian Manhunter having extracted memories from Black Dwarf, the Avengers now had more intelligence on Thanos.
They learned that Thanos was a formidable being, possibly as strong as Robert himself. But what truly worried the Avengers wasn't Thanos' power; it was his ultimate goal and plan to collect the Infinity Stones. According to Black Dwarf's memories, if Thanos managed to gather all six Infinity Stones, achieving his goal would be as simple as snapping his fingers. No force could stop or reverse this outcome unless they gathered the Infinity Stones themselves and reversed the snap.
The problem now was that, despite knowing Thanos' plan, the Avengers had no clear way to counter it. Thanos was somewhere in the universe, constantly on the move. Although Black Dwarf and Ebony Maw provided a few coordinates where Thanos might be found, the Avengers were currently unable to explore these locations.
Reaching the interstellar age wouldn't be difficult for the Avengers if they focused all their efforts, but the universe remained largely unknown to them. The universe wasn't their domain, and even Star-Lord, who had spent much of his life in space, couldn't claim to understand it completely—let alone the Avengers, who had never ventured beyond the solar system.
Moreover, most Avengers lacked the ability to survive in space. Even with custom-made space suits, their combat effectiveness would be compromised, and many of their abilities would be difficult to use in such an environment. For instance, speedsters like Pietro and Barry Allen might perform better since they wouldn't be affected by Earth's gravity in a vacuum, potentially allowing them to move even faster. But for someone like Johnny Storm, even if his flames didn't burn through the suit, it was unclear whether his fire abilities would work in space.
Another critical reason the Avengers couldn't venture into space was that they were still fundamentally an Earth-bound organization. Their families and friends were all on Earth, and with the current surge in extraordinary events, the Avengers couldn't afford to leave the planet to pursue Thanos in space.
Moreover, if the Avengers left Earth, there was a strong possibility that government agencies, eager to take advantage of their absence, would try to find the Avengers' base and steal their data and technology. Thus, despite extensive discussions, the Avengers couldn't come up with a suitable solution. Fortunately, Thanos still only had the Mind Stone in his possession, and the other five Stones remained out of his reach, at least for now.
Especially concerning was that the Space Stone and Time Stone were both on Earth. While the Space Stone had been taken by a mechanical device and its whereabouts remained unknown even to the Avengers and Clark, it hadn't fallen into Thanos' hands yet. The Time Stone was still with the Ancient One, who had disappeared, possibly due to the awakening of Earth's dimensional consciousness. This disappearance also meant that the Time Stone was in a safe place for the time being.
Thus, for Thanos to complete his ultimate goal, he would eventually need to come to Earth to gather all six Infinity Stones. However, this raised a new issue: just how powerful would Thanos become with four Infinity Stones in his possession? Robert had already sensed that even one Space Stone's power exceeded his own. If Thanos could wield the full power of four Stones, the result would be terrifying.
Unlike Loki, who had only partially tapped into the power of the Infinity Stones to open a portal, Thanos planned to craft the Infinity Gauntlet, a device rumored to allow full control over the Stones' power. This was why Robert had agreed to let Loki and Thor return to Asgard, hoping that Asgard, potentially under attack by Thanos, might put up a fight, whether through Odin's hidden trump cards or Thor realizing his potential.
Although the situation wasn't yet critical, the Avengers were feeling the strain. This pressure came not only from Thanos but also from within Earth itself. The actions of various government agencies during this time had not gone unnoticed by the Avengers. Their main concern, however, was the mysterious figure who had taken the Kryptonian remains and the Space Stone.
The Avengers couldn't be sure that this figure wasn't associated with a government agency. J.A.R.V.I.S. had been quietly monitoring several agencies but found no solid evidence. This caution was necessary to avoid escalating tensions if their surveillance was discovered.
"You don't need to worry too much," Robert said, trying to reassure the Avengers. "The universe is vast, and it won't be easy for Thanos to gather all the Infinity Stones. From what we know, he can't pinpoint the exact location of each Stone right now."
In this world, the Infinity Stones weren't widely known, and Thanos hadn't developed a detection device like the Dragon Ball radar. Without such a tool, the Stones couldn't be found unless they were actively used.
Thanos was already aware of the Time Stone on Earth, and the Space Stone's location had been confirmed after S.H.I.E.L.D. used it during the Lucifer and Mammon incident, prompting Thanos to send his forces to Earth.
"But once an Infinity Stone is used, Thanos will be able to detect it. The more we worry about this, the more likely it is to happen," Johnny Storm replied with a resigned shrug. "Especially now that we're aware of it."
"You mean Murphy's Law, right? But maybe in the vast universe, that law doesn't apply as much," Peter Parker quipped with a smile.
"Yeah, there are plenty of things I worry about in space, but not all of them happen that often," Star-Lord added. He had stayed behind with the Avengers to work on setting up a cosmic communication device, allowing him to send intel back to the Avengers and call for help if needed. Though he wasn't skilled in building such devices, Tony Stark had taken an interest in making Star-Lord an informant, hoping to gather intel on Thanos and even Howard Stark's whereabouts. As a result, Star-Lord had quickly gotten to know everyone at the Avengers base.
"Really? What's your biggest worry in space?" The Avengers' attention shifted to Star-Lord, their curiosity piqued. Although Star-Lord had already shared many stories about space, the unknown vastness of the cosmos still fascinated them.
While the Avengers had a few alien members, like the Martian Manhunter, most of his time was spent on Earth or Mars, and his knowledge of the universe was largely based on Martian records. Clark, Robert, and Kara, despite being aliens themselves, had grown up on Earth and knew less about the universe than the Martian Manhunter.
Jor-El's AI had some information about the universe, but it was outdated compared to the recently returned Star-Lord. As for Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers, who had extensive knowledge of the cosmos, she was currently out of contact...
"My biggest worry? That my hardware won't be compatible with the ladies on different planets," Star-Lord joked, causing the Avengers to groan in exasperation.
"By the way, I haven't mentioned this before, but while you're out in space, try to gather information on the Skrulls," Robert said, snapping back to seriousness as he looked at Star-Lord.
The Avengers were not only facing the threats of Thanos and the mysterious figure; they also had to deal with the unresolved issue of the Skrulls.
Although it was possible that the mysterious figure was connected to the Skrulls, it was better to be over-prepared than caught off guard.
"The Skrulls? Never heard of them," Star-Lord replied, confused. He hadn't heard of the Skrulls because his time away from Earth didn't coincide with Captain Marvel's encounter with them. He knew about the Kree but not the Skrulls, a civilization nearly wiped out by the Kree.
"They're another problem we're dealing with on Earth..." Robert began explaining what they knew about the Skrulls. Star-Lord's eyes widened as he listened, and he was stunned for a moment.
"What the heck? This race is that dangerous? Why does it seem like Earth is just plagued with problems?" Star-Lord exclaimed, dumbfounded. "In my experience, Earth shouldn't be that significant in the universe, so why is everyone so fixated on it?"
"Who knows? You get used to it eventually. I've already gotten used to it. Just be careful when you're gathering intel on the Skrulls, and try to find any information on Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers. If you locate her, don't do anything rash—contact me first," Robert advised.
The Skrulls' abilities were formidable, given their potential. Even Robert wasn't keen on dealing with Kryptonian clones, let alone a species that could mimic anyone.
Furthermore, if Captain Marvel had been outmaneuvered by the Skrulls, they must have some powerful warriors on their side.
Even with her immense strength, Carol wouldn't be an easy target, so the Skrulls had to have someone capable of challenging her.
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