Avengers base.
The Milano landed on the lawn, and its hatch slowly opened.
Everyone unconsciously quickened their pace, hurrying somewhat anxiously into the conference room.
"I can tell you're all in a hurry." Aaron smiled teasingly. "Did you gain anything on that planet?"
"I cut off Thanos's head," Thor said gravely. "But that isn't the point. The point is, did you take the Infinity Gauntlet and the Infinity Stones?"
"Seeing as I'm planning to go home today, I won't tease you any longer." Aaron spoke meaningfully, then held his hand above the table.
A red Space Magic Array opened in his palm, and a rusted left-handed gauntlet fell from it.
Everyone stared at the gauntlet in unison, their eyes tightly drawn to the six crystals gleaming in different colors upon it.
"So it really was with you?" Tony involuntarily covered his mouth, breathing a sigh of relief. "Care to explain?"
"After the Book of Prophecy foretold that Thanos would snap his fingers and erase half the life in the universe, I dispatched every follower capable of operating outside. I ordered them to bring all the devout believers of the God of Contracts throughout the universe into the Divine Kingdom to avoid this disaster.
"To put it simply, Thanos's snap would have no effect on me. Nor had I intended to interfere with this universe's fate. What did it matter to me how many people died?
"My original plan was to pull Hela out during Ragnarok. No risks, no exposure—just steadily accumulating magic as usual until I could open a passage home."
"But Thanos apparently had something wrong with his head. He had clearly already obtained the Space Stone and achieved his goal.
"I explicitly told him that I wouldn't interfere with his plan, yet he refused to believe me. He