After Natasha's explanation, the assembled Avengers had a basic understanding of where Mario had come from, another universe entirely, one where Thanos hadn't won.
Mario took his time studying the group before him, and what he saw made his chest tighten with something between pity and discomfort.
Stark looked like shit. The man he remembered had been at his absolute peak, arrogant, confident, practically radiating that trademark Stark swagger. But this Stark? His eyes were hollow, lacking former spark.
And Thor... Mamma Mia. The God of Thunder had become the God of Beer Bellies. His impressive physique had been replaced by what could only be described as a keg with arms. The guy looked like he had cheese running through his veins.
Rogers stepped forward. "Thank you for your help."
Mario smiled and handed the Soul Stone to him. The gesture visibly relaxed everyone in the room, they'd clearly been worried he might keep it.
"No need to thank me."
Then his gaze drifted to Rocket, who was standing near the quantum tunnel equipment.
Rocket's fur bristled immediately. He raised his energy rifle and pointed it at Mario. "Hey, kid! That look's making me real uncomfortable. You wanna throw down?"
Mario laughed, holding up his hands. "I'm just appreciating you, man! I've been looking for you in my universe for months. No trace of you anywhere."
He paused, then added with a grin, "Interested in coming to work for me? I pay well."
Rocket waved the rifle angrily. "What am I to you, a pet? Damn Earthlings! But for the right price... I'll let you touch my head. Once."
Everyone turned to stare at Rocket. The raccoon met their gazes without a trace of shame or embarrassment. "What? He said he's rich! Who turns down money?"
Rogers cleared his throat. "All right, now that we have all the Stones, Tony, Banner, the gauntlet's up to you."
The group began dispersing to their various tasks. He turned to Mario. "Come with me. I'll show you where you can rest."
Mario shook his head. "Actually, I didn't come here just to deliver the Soul Stone. I've got some business to take care of."
Rogers stopped mid-step. "What kind of business? Do you need our help?"
"Nah, I've got it covered."
Mario walked out of the facility without waiting for permission, heading toward the open fields surrounding the Avengers compound. The area was actually pretty nice, green grass, chirping birds, a lake sparkling in the sunlight. Almost peaceful enough to forget about the apocalypse they were trying to prevent.
Rogers and Natasha followed him outside.
Thunk.
Mario placed a single obsidian block on the ground.
Natasha's expression changed instantly. She moved to position herself between Mario and the obsidian block.
"You're building a portal? To summon those things?"
Those things? My people are not monsters, thanks.
Mario pulled out more obsidian blocks. "I'm building a portal. But only to bring my team through. They're human, well, mostly human. No monsters."
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Natasha couldn't stop him even if she wanted to. His hands were placing obsidian blocks so fast they seemed to materialize out of thin air. Within seconds, he'd constructed a massive 20×20 portal frame before she could even organize her thoughts into a proper objection.
"This should be big enough."
Mario pulled out flint and steel, striking them together. The portal ignited with a rush of purple energy.
Natasha tensed immediately, and Rogers shifted into a combat stance, though he realized belatedly that he'd forgotten to grab his shield in the rush to follow Mario.
At that moment, Mario stood frozen, his expression distant. The instant the portal activated, a voice echoed in his mind:
[WAYSTONES MOD LOADING...]
[LOAD COMPLETE]
Waystones? Does that mean I've got a fast-travel system now?
Finally, he wouldn't have to rely on Kaecilius and his sling ring portals for every damn trip.
A figure stumbled through the portal, clearly disoriented by the Nether-style teleportation. He caught himself, then immediately looked at Mario and complained, "Oh, for fuck's sake. Can't you improve this portal system? The teleportation process is disgusting."
Mario looked at Tony and grinned. "You're just not used to it. Your body's too weak. Do it a few more times and you'll acclimate."
As he spoke, he pulled out a bucket of milk from his inventory and handed it to him. The armored Avenger took it without question and downed the contents. Almost immediately, the nausea and disorientation faded.
More figures began emerging from the portal. Rogers stood there, watching familiar faces from another world step into his reality. His brain seemed to freeze for a moment.
---
"All right, that's the situation," Rogers said, finishing his explanation of the past decade's events to the newcomers.
Tony looked serious. He glanced at Mario, who was examining a strange stone monument that had appeared near the portal, and couldn't help but wonder: Can this Mad Titan actually take the Stones from Mario's hands?
Mario ran his hand across the glowing inscriptions on the Waystone. When his fingers touched the surface, a teleportation menu appeared in his vision.
For now, there was only one entry, the Waystone standing before him. He could set up a network of these across multiple dimensions, creating instant fast-travel points.
He turned to Ivan, who was studying the post-Snap Avengers. "Ivan, take the Iron Legion and find a hiding spot. When Thanos' forces deploy from his ship, that's when you strike. Secure the mothership."
Ivan nodded, and grinned. This mission was far more dangerous than he'd expected, but fear had never been his driving emotion. Excitement, though? That was a different story.
Hundreds of heavy Iron Man suits rose into the air with Ivan, forming a dark cloud that dispersed toward the horizon to find suitable ambush positions.
Rogers watched the swarm disappear, then turned to Mario with confusion. "Thanos is already dead. His army was dusted five years ago. They can't come back."
"I'm talking about a different Thanos," Mario said. "One from 2014, before he ever collected the Stones. He'll be arriving through the quantum tunnel very—"
Rogers' comm crackled to life.
"Something's wrong with Nebula. She doesn't seem to be our Nebula."
---
Nebula found herself surrounded by very large, very suspicious men.
The situation had developed thanks to the butterfly effect caused by Mario's arrival. His presence had made everyone more vigilant. When she had tried to approach the quantum tunnel control console, Rocket noticed immediately.
Just as her mechanical hand reached out to interface with the equipment, he fired an energy blast that sent her flying across the room.
"You can't stop Father's plan!" she snarled, struggling against the hands restraining her. "You're all going to die!"
Stark looked at her coldly. "But not today."
Mario immediately took two steps backward, putting distance between himself and Stark. Dude just tempted fate so hard. He's definitely dying today.
"What do we do now?" Natasha asked, unwilling to abandon anyone, even a compromised team member. "Nebula's still in their hands."
Thor gripped Stormbreaker. "Let him come! This time, I'll cut off his head properly!"
The trauma had clearly haunted him for five years. The guilt that he'd had his chance and blown it, all of it surfaced in that moment.
The group erupted into heated discussion. Mario stood to the side. After a moment, he walked forward and knocked on Nebula's head with his knuckles.
Clank. Clank.
The metallic sound echoed through the room. Nebula glared at him. He responded with a gentle smile.
"Hear me out."
Everyone turned to look at him.
"Don't you want Thanos to feel the pain of death himself?"
Silence fell. Thor's eyes turned red.
"Thanos knows you killed his future self. He's made his decision. This time, he won't just wipe out half of all life. He's planning to destroy everything, then use the Stones to create a new universe from scratch, one that will never know what it lost. If you don't bring him here and end him, another universe will pay the price for your actions. And I guarantee he won't spare you either. After all, you've already 'killed' him once. He's got a grudge."
The Avengers fell into silence.
"You're right," Rogers said finally. "We can't let another universe suffer for our mistakes."
"Good. Now that we're prepared, the next step is simple, bring everyone back in this world, then prepare a proper welcome for him."
The group exchanged glances, then nodded in agreement. Mario secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
That was close. I almost lost my mothership.
Nebula was secured in a cell.
Soon after, Stark sent word, the gauntlet was complete.
Mario examined the six Infinity Stones embedded in the Iron Man-style gauntlet. It looked impressive. But it was also fragile, good for maybe one or two snaps before the nanomaterials would fail catastrophically. In contrast, the gauntlet in his inventory could snap as many times as he wanted, as long as he wasn't trying to destroy the Stones themselves.
Rocket leaned toward the gauntlet. "So here's the question, the hardware's ready, but who's gonna do the snapping?"
"I will!"
Thor immediately volunteered, walking toward the gauntlet. The others quickly moved to stop him.
"No, no."
"Hold on."
Rogers reached out to block him. "Wait... We haven't decided who should wear it yet."
"What are we waiting for? The perfect moment? Staring at that thing won't bring everyone back. I'm the strongest Avenger. This is my responsibility."
Stark shook his head. "That's debatable. Especially right now."
"This is my duty!" Thor grabbed Stark's hands. "Please. Let me do this. Let me do something good."
But Stark wasn't about to let Thor sacrifice himself. The God of Thunder wasn't wrong about being powerful, but he was clearly not in peak condition. And with Thanos coming, they needed him at full combat effectiveness.
"This gauntlet could power an entire continent. And honestly, you're not in the best shape right now."
Stark's eyes flicked involuntarily to Thor's prominent beer belly.
Thor bristled. "What do you think flows through my veins?"
Rhodey crossed his arms. "Cheese sauce?"
Mario snorted with laughter. He turned his head to look at Banner, who stood nearby in his merged Hulk form.
"Lightning won't help you," Banner said, stepping forward. "It should be me."
He looked around at the others, then walked toward the gauntlet.
"You saw what the Stones did to Thanos. They nearly killed him. None of you could survive it."
"Wait."
Mario raised a hand. "How about I give it a try instead?"
The Avengers exchanged glances. These were six Infinity Stones, even if they trusted Mario, no one was about to hand them over to someone they'd met half a day ago.
Seeing their expressions, he sighed. "All right, fine. After you're done, I'll try it myself."
He pulled out a staff radiating holy light and aimed it at Banner. "Let me give you a buff first."
Brilliant light cascaded from the staff, nearly blinding everyone nearby.
"Diamondflesh! Font of Vitality! Greater Ward!"
Banner's body began to glow with multiple overlapping auras. He stared at his hands, feeling that his body had changed drastically, though he couldn't quite tell how.
Mario lowered the staff and pointed at the gauntlet. "You're buffed. Go for it."
Banner took a deep breath and slid his hand into the gauntlet. The nanomaterials automatically adjusted to accommodate his massive fingers, expanding to fit.
Suddenly, immense energy erupted from the gauntlet. Multi-colored lightning surged up his arm.
"AHHH... ugh..."
He cried out in pain, then paused, his tone shifting to confusion. He looked at the gauntlet in surprise. "Huh... it's not as painful as I expected."
Without hesitation, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
SNAP.
Banner instantly collapsed, feeling every ounce of energy drain from his body. The gauntlet slipped from his hand and clattered to the floor. Everyone rushed over to check on him.
Stark looked at Banner's hand. "How do you feel?"