The Plan Moves Forward, Five Infinity Stones Secured

Lin Yi, Natasha, and Clint stood beside the time-travel platform, watching the others make their final adjustments.

Sunlight streamed through the towering windows. On the platform, seven people formed a circle and brought their fists together.

Steve was giving them one last briefing.

"I'll say it again. No matter how long we spend in the past, we'll all return here after five seconds."

"Each of us gets one round trip. There are no second chances. We know where we're going and what happened there."

"Find the Stones and bring them back. Stay alert! Be careful. We can't afford a mistake!"

"We have one chance. We have to win, whatever it takes!"

The seven heading out were caught between so many emotions that their hearts raced.

Machinery hummed as their nanotech time-travel suits formed around them. The seven exchanged nods, then rapidly shrank and entered the Quantum Realm.

After Tony and Steve handed the Mind Stone to Scott Lang, they would travel back to New Jersey in 1970 to retrieve the Space Stone and more Pym Particles.

Banner would get the Time Stone from the Ancient One at the New York Sanctum.

Nebula and Rhodey would knock out Star-Lord and seize the Power Stone first.

Rocket and Thor would return to Asgard, meet Thor's mother, and obtain the Reality Stone.

Lin Yi marveled at how familiar it all felt. The air was full of hope and solemn resolve, enough to make his heart beat faster.

Awkwardly, before that feeling could reach its peak, the seven who had just vanished reappeared on the platform with a hum.

...Six. They'd said five seconds, and they meant five seconds.

Nothing seemed to have changed, yet the seven carried themselves differently than they had five seconds ago.

Tony let his nanotech time-travel suit recede. He looked dazed, as though he hadn't quite recovered.

He glanced at the others who had gone with him. Every one of them had determination and anticipation in their eyes.

"Did we get the Stones?" Steve looked around.

"Looks like we all succeeded?" Rhodey grinned and held up the orb he had retrieved.

As they stepped off the platform, everyone's gaze settled on Lin Yi again.

This time, their expressions were complicated, full of questions.

"Lin, you said we'd get more Pym Particles. How did you know?" Tony found it hard to believe.

It was as if Lin Yi had known something would go wrong on their trip, that Loki would take the Space Stone and they would have to travel even further back.

Lin Yi chuckled. "That's because..."

Under Tony's expectant gaze, he slowly gave his answer: "Secret!"

Tony's eye twitched, but he didn't press him. Instead, he opened the case in his hand with an irritated huff and tossed Lin Yi the Tesseract containing the Space Stone.

He was done with the little bastard for now. Lin Yi would explain himself eventually, and this wasn't the time to push him.

Steve collected the other Stones from Rhodey, Banner, and Scott, then walked over to Lin Yi.

"They're yours. Make sure you get the last Stone!" Steve held out his hand, utterly serious.

Huh? Lin Yi was surprised to see the resolve in Steve's eyes.

He had expected another argument when they returned before they decided whether to let him carry out the plan. But the trip into the past seemed to have changed Steve's mind.

Lin Yi glanced thoughtfully at Tony. Tony winked at him.

Got it. Tony must have said something to Steve. Maybe he'd talked him around.

"I will. Don't worry!" Lin Yi promised with equal gravity and accepted the Stones.

Their hands clasped once more.

The first time they had shaken hands, they had simply looked each other in the eye. This time, the handshake carried a promise and trust.

The scepter holding the Mind Stone, the orb holding the Power Stone, and... the container holding the liquid Reality Stone, also known as the Aether Particles...

The Aether Particles, in their fluid form, were the Reality Stone. They could alter reality according to their wielder's will.

In theory, then, they could be made to solidify back into the Reality Stone.

And Lin Yi's thinking was correct.

Taking a deep breath, Lin Yi removed the Mind Stone from the scepter, crushed the container of Aether Particles, then pulled out the Mark 50's reactor and pressed it to his chest.

The moment the Mark 50 formed around Lin Yi, Rhodey was jealous.

He sidled up to Tony and jabbed an elbow into his side.

"How come you gave him the Mark 50? I don't even have one! Are we still friends or what..."

Tony had said earlier that he wanted Lin Yi's physical data from the time he wore the Mark 50. Rhodey had assumed Tony was only lending it to him temporarily to collect that data. Clearly, that wasn't the whole story!

Was he no longer Tony's best friend?

Tony was speechless. The others looked just as stunned.

Tony treated his suits like his own flesh and blood, yet he was willing to give Lin Yi one?

Steve looked thoughtful. Tony really did trust Lin Yi.

"I'm only lending it to him for now. Don't get the wrong idea..."

Rhodey said nothing. He just stared at Tony. His meaning was obvious: Do you believe that yourself?

Lin Yi ignored them. He had brought out the suit for a reason.

"Tony, sync me the plans you made for the Nanotech Infinity Gauntlet."

"Wait, how do you know about that too?" Tony stared at him. Did he know everything?

Lin Yi rolled his eyes. "Come on, it's obvious if you think about it. How could anyone snap their fingers without putting the Infinity Stones in a gauntlet? As if you wouldn't think of that and prepare a design ahead of time."

"..." Tony had no answer. Lin Yi's prediction about getting more Pym Particles had rattled him so badly that he'd forgotten Lin Yi could also work things out for himself.

"Fine. The gauntlet design is still an early version. I didn't have the Stones to work from, so it isn't complete..."

"But with your physique, I doubt it'll be much of a problem." Tony snapped his fingers. "F.R.I.D.A.Y., sync the design."

Tony had given Lin Yi the Mark 50, but Lin Yi had kept its connection to Tony's database for convenience.

The data synced quickly. The armor around Lin Yi's right hand shifted as nanotech flowed like water, forming six sockets for the Infinity Stones.

With a thought, Lin Yi took out the Stones and brought them close one by one.

The Infinity Stones seemed almost alive. As they neared the Nanotech Infinity Gauntlet, they drew themselves into their respective sockets.

Once all five Infinity Stones were in place, they blazed together. A humming roar followed as torrents of energy surged through them.

"Mm..."

Energy poured through the gauntlet and into Lin Yi's body. He frowned slightly at the discomfort.

He clenched his right hand. A visible ripple shot outward, forcing everyone around him back several steps.

"How is it? Do you feel unwell?" Tony hurried forward and called on F.R.I.D.A.Y. to run a scan.

"Whew... I'm fine. It was probably an energy surge from bringing the Stones together. It didn't actually hurt me."

As if to prove him right, the brightly glowing Infinity Stones gradually dimmed to their normal light and fell still.

Looking at the Infinity Stones on his gauntlet, Lin Yi felt as though none of it was real.

Before crossing into this world, he had even bought Infinity Stones merchandise. Back then, he'd never imagined he would one day hold the real things.