Face-to-Face with the Future

"Oh, right!"

Russell continued to Steve, "I just said that there would be a surprise for you if you shouted the slogan. Although you shouted it reluctantly, without passion, and in a very soft voice, you still shouted it out."

"..."

Steve: Can we not talk about this?

"I keep my word. Here are two important pieces of information for you, free of charge..."

"First, when you go on missions in Nigeria, be careful of the bombs the villains carry. Don't let the Witch kill innocent civilians."

Steve looked bewildered, not understanding what Russell was talking about. What did it mean to go on a mission to Nigeria later? And who was the Witch? Was she an enemy?

Russell held up two fingers. "Secondly, your good buddy Bucky is still alive. He's being controlled and his memory is a bit confused. He desperately needs a brave knight to save him. Work hard, I have high hopes for you."

"What? Bucky... you're lying to me?"

"Is it necessary?" Russell said bluntly, "What good would it do to lie to you? I've already told you you're so weak, there's no need to use tricks to deal with you."

Steve: "..."

Stark's mind worked much better than Steve's. After fighting for so long, he was certain that Russell wasn't the villain, and couldn't help but ask, "Does this Hydra leader have any surprises for me?"

"What a coincidence, there are exactly two of them."

Russell looked at Stark with amusement. Since he had already given away a lot of spoilers, giving him a few more pieces of information wouldn't hurt.

Stark pricked up his ears. "Speak!"

"First, your dad Howard Stark didn't die in a car accident, he was killed by Steve's best buddy Bucky."

Stark: "..."

Steve: "..."

The two men looked at each other, their eyes darting away. Steve gave an awkward smile, while Stark pursed his dry lips and said to Russell, "You said you'd give me a surprise. This doesn't count; there are two more."

Russell curled his lip, thinking how interesting it was to talk to smart people, "This is indeed a surprise. Now that I'm telling you the truth, we won't be used by those with ulterior motives, the Avengers won't fall apart... oh, and your good friend Colonel Rhodey won't be crippled."

"What! Being manipulated by someone with ulterior motives, what does 'the Avengers disintegrating' mean? Can you explain in more detail?"

How did Rhodey become crippled after his fall?

Steve and Stark exclaimed in unison, Russell's intelligence was too shocking, they were unsure whether it was true or false, and wanted to know more details.

Russell had no intention of answering questions or providing explanations, and continued, "The second surprise is that you will marry Ms. Potts and have a daughter."

Wow!

Stark let out an exaggerated scream, then covered his face and shook his head repeatedly. "Marriage is just continuing a mistake for a lifetime. My future self was so irrational. How pathetic. What terrible thing happened to him to make him so desperate and pessimistic?"

"Are you feeling smug?"

"How could that be? I'm a staunch advocate of singlehood, I hate marriage, and I hate children!"

Russell has never tolerated people who take advantage of others and then complain, and he sneered, "That's good, because your daughter is not happy. She grew up in a single-parent family."

Stark's expression changed drastically, turning icy. "What do you mean? Explain yourself!"

"Wouldn't it be more appropriate to ask your future self this question?"

As Russell spoke, he clenched the Infinity Gauntlet into a fist, turned around abruptly, and swung it out.

The backstreet wall collapsed with a roar, and a gold and red metal shield blocked the shockwave. Stark stared in astonishment at the flashy shield, cursing inwardly that someone had stolen his idea.

The shield closed up like flowing water, and a sleek Iron Man emerged, followed by a stern-faced man with the Stars and Stripes.

Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, from the future, planned to infiltrate Stark Tower after the war to steal the Space Stone and Mind Stone Infinity Stones. Steve even had the line "Hail Hydra" ready.

However, things didn't go as planned, and they discovered that they hadn't traveled through time, but had entered another world.

There was an incredibly fierce woman in the sky who single-handedly annihilated the Chitauri army. The ground was also in turmoil, with a newcomer suddenly appearing who called himself the 'Hydra Leader'... well, this guy was dressed like a villain, so he was definitely not a good person.

A mysterious figure suddenly appeared and easily defeated the Avengers. However, this would have prevented the two Avengers from appearing. But this mysterious figure obtained the Mind Stone and also had complete knowledge of what would happen in the future.

What shocked them most was that the mysterious man possessed the Infinity Gauntlet and held the Power Stone. If it weren't for the huge difference in size, they would have even suspected that he was Thanos.

"Look, Captain America and Iron Man from the future!"

Russell pointed at the two men and said to the astonished Avengers, "Stark, if you have any questions about the future, you can ask now."

"Really from the future!?"

Stark muttered to himself, his mind a jumbled mess. His first thought wasn't to ask a question, but rather to feel smug. He thought to himself, "My future self is amazing! He actually invented time travel technology!"

Buzzing!

The MK50 nanosuit disintegrates, and Stark from the future removes his helmet, revealing a weathered face. He ignores his past self and stretches his hands forward towards Russell.

The arm armor transformed into Energy Cannon, and the thrusters on the back separated to form four floating energy impact cannons. The blue-white light was fully charged, but it was not released.

"Sir, you're talking too much nonsense. Could you please take off your mask?"

"Certainly!"

Russell nodded decisively, pulled down his hood, and revealed the elegant face of the Elf Queen.

"..."

What the hell? There's a woman with incredible fighting power in the sky, and now there's one on the ground too?

Crackling sounds!

Russell's body crackled with Electric Arc. He flicked his finger on his shoulder, and a speck of dust flew down and transformed into Ant-Man Scott Lang upon hitting the ground.

As luck would have it, Ant-Man landed right on top of Loki and Thor, and the three of them, all electrified, twitched wildly as they piled on top of each other.

However, it is clear that the two brothers hate outsiders joining them!

"I know you have a lot of questions, but not now. Let's sit down and talk things over after I get the remaining two Infinity Stones. That will be very interesting."

As Russell spoke, he pulled his hood up again, the black mist obscuring his face, revealing a scarlet smile that inspired fear.

Where do you want to go?

The future Stark felt no sympathy for the person who possessed the Infinity Gauntlet. He unleashed Energy Cannon, blasting the area where Russell was located into a cloud of smoke.

As the dust settled, Russell was enveloped in a Wings of Light. He flapped his wings and slowly took flight, waving to the group before soaring into the sky at lightning speed, as if by teleportation.

"Angel!?"

Supergirl is still ruthlessly crushing the Chitauri. There's no rush to retrieve the Space Stone. Let her get some exercise and burn off the energy for writing tens of thousands of words.

Russell narrowed his eyes slightly. "Let's retrieve the Time Stone first... Tsk, it's the Sorcerer Supreme I hate the most."