The video continued, and Natasha's voiceover sounded again.
[Although the Avengers were divided on the surface—and some of us were even wanted criminals—in truth, except for Tony and Steve, this family still existed. No matter who faced danger, we would rush to help each other.]
[But Thanos was like a nightmare. He took everything from me.]
The scene shifted.
Thor's Stormbreaker, charged with the full power of the Infinity Stones, slammed into Thanos' shoulder.
Thor, half-kneeling, pressed Thanos to the ground and growled something threatening.
But Thanos' words—"You should've gone for the head."—made him freeze.
Then Thanos raised his hand and snapped his fingers, the Infinity Gauntlet glowing with all six Stones.
With that single snap—
On Earth:
"Steve…"
The Winter Soldier walked toward Captain America with his rifle, but after a few steps, his body crumbled into ashes.
As Rhodey crawled toward Sam Wilson, Sam also dissolved into dust before he could reach him.
"No… no, no, no…"
Rocket Raccoon screamed in despair as Groot slowly turned into ash.
The loyal Dora Milaje captain reached out to steady King T'Challa—
only to watch Black Panther himself scatter into the wind.
On Titan:
Except for Nebula, every member of the Guardians who fought beside Tony vanished.
Doctor Strange looked at Tony with deep meaning… before turning into ash.
Even Spider-Man dissolved after whispering, "I'm sorry…"
Billions of figures turned to ash on the screen.
In the theater—
"Oh my God!"
Peter Parker shot up from his seat.
"This… this is insane! Just because that purple guy snapped his fingers, billions of people died?!"
"This is too scary. What kind of future is your universe going to go through? Oh my God…"
While Peter rambled in shock, the others looked on with grim expressions.
After a moment, Natasha spoke.
"Now we finally understand why billions of people died in the videos we watched earlier."
"The finger snap I mentioned… should be this moment."
Hearing Natasha's solemn voice, Tony and Steve remained silent.
Compared to this catastrophe, the conflict between them suddenly felt meaningless.
Nick Fury narrowed his eyes.
"I looked closely. When Thanos snapped his fingers, the Gauntlet had six Stones of different colors."
"That must be how he erased half the life on Earth—and in the universe."
Steve nodded immediately.
"The Tesseract. One of those Stones must be the Tesseract. It already showed up in earlier videos."
"Remember the conversation between Linen and Natasha?"
Tony, who had been quiet, finally spoke.
"In that video, Linen said Natasha knew he could destroy Thanos, but he didn't do it."
"He said he needed to delay the 'God's Appearance.' After that, we traveled back in time—I even met my dad."
"So half the universe dying shouldn't be the final outcome. There must be a way to bring them back."
Tony's expression turned serious.
"I haven't known Linen as long as Natasha has, but I understand him. If he wasn't sure about something this big, he wouldn't have taken the risk."
"I agree with Tony."
Natasha nodded.
"I believe in Linen in that video. I trusted him enough to let billions of people turn to ash without demanding an explanation."
"Either the 'God's Appearance' he mentioned is more important than the snap… or I knew he had a way to save the world."
Hearing Natasha and Tony speak with such certainty, Wanda grew even more curious.
She hadn't met Linen yet, only seen him in future videos.
She had already been interested in him before—
and now, hearing everyone's trust, her curiosity only deepened.
What kind of person was her future boyfriend, someone worthy of such faith?
And curiosity… is often the first step toward falling for someone.
Even Wanda herself didn't realize that from this moment on, Linen was beginning to root himself deeper in her heart.
"Let's continue watching," Nick Fury interrupted. "Judging by the length of the previous videos, this one should end in about five minutes."
Since the first video, Fury had been silently timing each one.
And just as he predicted—
Natasha's voiceover returned.
[For the five years following the Snap, I searched desperately for a way to bring everyone back. And now, we finally have one.]
[The cost is heavy… but I am willing to pay it.]
The scene changed again.
Natasha and Hawkeye sat facing each other—with a cliff behind them.
"Red Skull?"
Seeing the cloaked figure standing behind them, Steve frowned.
"He isn't dead?"
Beside him, Peter Parker blinked.
"Uh, Captain Rogers… do you know that faceless guy? Red Skull—that name fits him perfectly."
Because everyone in the video called Steve "Captain," Peter did too.
"He was my greatest enemy seventy years ago. I defeated him back then. The energy from the Tesseract disintegrated him and he vanished."
"I thought he was dead. I never expected him to still be alive."
Peter nodded… but his focus had shifted entirely.
"Um… I've been wanting to ask since watching your video. I don't mean anything rude, Captain Rogers, but—"
"Do people in your universe have insanely long lifespans?"
"You haven't aged at all in seventy years! And Red Skull is still alive too!"
"Oh my God—where I'm from, living to eighty is considered impressive!"
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
You can visit my Patreon page:
Patreon.com/PhoeniXcel
There are 40+ advanced chapters available for you to read.
Your support would be greatly appreciated.