The energy pursuing Brad had begun slowly eroding the universe he was currently in again. According to his calculations, he had roughly twelve days left.
By then, the Universe Barrier would have been completely eaten away, and Brad would face the deadly threat head-on.
But for the first time, Brad settled into hiding in this universe without any sense of urgency. He waited quietly for the virus to take effect.
The spacecraft landed on the pad at the Avengers base. Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, and a group of other fully armed Avengers disembarked.
Tony Stark opened his faceplate, utterly baffled. "I swear I picked him up. Just now, outside the atmosphere, there was someone out there."
"We all saw the surveillance footage, Tony."
Captain America's expression was grave.
"But he clearly noticed us, too. For some reason, he avoided us."
They were puzzled, unable to understand the mysterious man's intentions, but they remained on high alert.
Tony was particularly irritable. Back aboard the spacecraft, Thor had poked fun at him, saying his satellites weren't reliable.
He didn't know why he was so angry, either. But Tony Stark was, after all, a well-educated man, so he kept his feelings off his face.
Back at the base, everyone dispersed to train or rest as needed. Only Tony refused to accept the result, scanning the place where the mysterious man had appeared over and over in an attempt to find some trace of him.
Even after night fell and the entire base went quiet, Tony remained at his computer, staring grimly at the images transmitted by his satellites.
He grew increasingly agitated.
"Why?! Why can't I find him?!"
The voice of the artificial intelligence JARVIS sounded somewhat hesitant in Tony's ear.
"Sir, something seems wrong with your emotional fluctuations."
Tony raised his