Chapter 7 Reality Gem

After six months of lazing around, Tony returned to the mansion motivated by Jarvis' spy alarms that had gone off. However, he found nothing wrong in the mansion, as everything was quiet.

The world remained in turmoil due to the portal technology that Stark Industries was deploying worldwide, primarily in first-world countries and some third-world nations, set to be operational in just over two months.

The United Nations had progressed in regulations for knowledge printing and memory extraction technology. Although people kept coming up with crazy ideas, these were quickly banned, such as the idea of imprinting knowledge on newborns. To prevent such madness, it was decided to only print primary and secondary knowledge, equivalent to what would be learned in a school year, up to eighteen years of age.

Private schools were not prohibited for children who, of their own will and after being evaluated by a psychiatrist to ensure their parents were not forcing them to study, could choose to study on their own.

All of this would continue until the age of eighteen when they would be given unrestricted access to all scientific knowledge they wanted, although from that point on, there would be no more free knowledge, and everything would be paid.

On the other hand, Extremis had been in testing for almost three years, and all its management facilities were completed or nearing completion. The approval date had been moved up, and in two more months, it would be available for free use. However, its administration would still be under strict medical and security supervision, monitored by an even stricter semi-AI.

Tony hadn't returned for any of these matters. He had returned because Jarvis had located the Reality Gem in England. SHIELD's spy satellites, enhanced with Chitauri technology and his own, had detected severe spatial distortions in an abandoned building in England. Fury had contacted the only person he believed could cause this and demanded explanations.

Tony immediately recognized the place but lied, claiming he was just creating a haunted house for the local kids and would fix it right away. His vacation was over, and he had returned to his mansion.

Now he and Sprite stood in front of two white capsules in the same room where he had become a cyborg.

"What am I supposed to be now, a cyborg biodroid?" Sprite asked, furrowing her brow.

"A sexy cyborg biodroid," Tony said, looking her up and down. "Very sexy," he added. "Extremely sexy…"

"Just get in already!" Sprite scolded, pushing him into his own capsule while rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I was flirting!" Tony complained.

"You're not going to flirt for the next few days; we have work to do," Sprite said.

When Sprite slacked off too much, she had momentary responsibility attacks. Tony was different; he had never tired of lounging around in his two lives; the lazier he was, the less he wanted to go back to work.

Tony shrugged and entered his capsule. Sprite entered hers, and both closed.

Sprite lost consciousness, but while Tony's biological part was deactivated, the robotic part remained active and monitored everything, including Sprite's and his own transformation.

Tony oversaw the incorporation of another thousand tons of Vibranium and reduced Uru alloy into his skeleton, doubling his capabilities.

Biomaterial, which was easier to produce and did not require the matter reorganization machine, was also introduced, increasing his cosmic energy usage capabilities hundreds of times and reaching levels close to those of a Celestial.

His upgrade process was completed in an hour, but Sprite was undergoing a transcendent change that would take two more hours. Therefore, Tony exited and waited outside his capsule.

Tony didn't do it because he loved her or felt he owed her anything; he just did it. Maybe he had nothing else to do since his superintelligence took care of all the automatic management and research. His life of leisure would be a thousand times easier from now on.

…

Two hours later, Sprite got up and looked around strangely.

"Is this how you always see the world? This feeling that everything is possible and, at the same time, it's not. Is this the life of a genius?" Sprite asked. Tony smiled.

"Something like that. You see, I was already a prodigy before gaining superintelligence, while you weren't, so your starting point is a bit lower," explained Tony.

Sprite started laughing and then kissed him on the mouth. Tony tried to return to the capsule, but she pushed him away.

"To work," said Sprite. "You wouldn't want Fury to find out what's really happening here," she added. Tony nodded.

Sprite's body was covered with her eternal suit, and Tony put on his formal suit. He adjusted his tie, as was customary, and both appeared in an abandoned building in England, where a group of children was playing, and some objects were floating.

"It seems the path has opened," said Tony, who could perceive the spatial rift and their destination. "There's also a temporal rift. Take my hand; it's too unstable," Tony said.

"Tony Stark!" exclaimed a pigtailed girl, who was the first to recover from the shock of seeing them appear. Tony smiled at them and snapped his fingers, making a hundred-dollar bill appear in each child's hand.

"Wow!" said a boy, looking at his bill.

"Kids, buy yourselves some toys. Throwing bottles around here can be dangerous," Tony warned and disappeared from the place to follow the spatial rift to the Reality Gem.

Arriving at the prison where the Asgardians had hidden the gem, Sprite made a face.

"That thing doesn't look like an infinite gem," Sprite commented, seeing the substance floating in the place.

"The Dark Elves have placed their magic on it. This is an interface for the gem to only obey and be used by them," explained Tony, extending his hand. "Magic is only a low-level power," he added, infusing cosmic energy into the interface.

The interface began to be destroyed, but it soon tried to defend itself by attacking them. However, a cosmic power shield, created by Sprite, made its futile efforts destroy it faster, turning it into a scarlet stone.

"That does emanate the right power," said Sprite.

Tony smiled and took the gem, which merged with his body, just like he had done with the Mind Gem. Tony raised his hand towards Sprite, palm up, and three gems appeared floating: the space Gem, the Mind Gem, and the Reality Gem.

"I can't create objects at the same level as the real gems, which are capable of wielding universal power, but this should reach a solar system-level of power, and the Space Gem will help you move throughout this entire universe," Tony said.

"Awesome! These are the best engagement diamonds in history!" exclaimed Sprite and absorbed the gems, which a second later adorned rings on her left hand. Tony cleared his throat.

"They're not engagement diamonds," grumbled Tony.

Sprite opened her suit slightly and raised an eyebrow. Her momentary responsibility attack had already ended.

…

A few hours later, they returned to the abandoned building where the children were playing, now equipped with skates, skateboards, balls, and toy cars. Their group had grown to about thirty.

"Tony Stark!" shouted the same pigtailed girl who had recognized him, although for these children, only one or two days would have passed.

Tony smiled as he saw a bunch of kids asking for autographs, and Sprite smiled as he signed them. The children also showed interest in her, and Tony posed next to her for photos. Then he snapped his fingers, and hundred-dollar bills appeared in the hands of the new kids.

"We won't be coming back here, so don't call more people," Tony warned before disappearing with a blink.

…

Tony and Sprite appeared in Kamar-Taj, in the library where the Time Gem was kept. Wong was reading a book just two meters away from them. Ancient One was in her tea room, and unless they passed right in front of her, they couldn't be seen.

Sprite approached Wong and passed her hand through him several times. Tony inserted his hand into the Eye of Agamotto, ignoring the protective spells and freezing them, to retrieve the Time Gem. After taking it, he absorbed it and, after a minute, created a replica that he placed back into the Eye of Agamotto.

"Do you think they'll notice?" Sprite asked excitedly. Stealing stealthily under Ancient One's nose thrilled her.

"They can't use even 0.01% of the Time Gem's power. They'll never be able to use more than 5% of the power of this replica," Tony said.

The bodies of the sorcerers were too weak, and the sorcerers no longer used the Eye of Agamotto, as the Extremis enhancement had made them a hundred times more powerful.

…

Having completed their theft and shielding themselves from Kamar-Taj's defenses with the Reality Gem, they appeared in gloomy mountains, only black rocks and a dark sky.

"Who are you?" asked a ghostly creature that turned out to be the Red Skull.

"We've come for the Soul Gem," Tony explained.

"The Infinity Gems are cursed objects, and only misfortune awaits those who deal with them," warned the Red Skull, and his eyes widened when he saw the three gems that Sprite carried.

"That's impossible!" said the Red Skull, but then he calmed down. "You won't be able to obtain the Soul Gem without sacrificing the person you love the most," the Red Skull said with superiority. Tony rolled his eyes and looked at the precipice.

"It seems this was done using the same Soul Gem. Its previous user must not have wanted anyone to find it. It's a trick similar to what the Dark Elves did with the Reality Gem but a thousand times more advanced. Whoever did this must have been a Celestial or something similar," Tony mentally told Sprite, who nodded.

"Do you need help?" Sprite asked, offering her hand. Tony took it.

"I don't think so, but it's better not to risk it," Tony said, holding her left hand with his right and raising his left hand towards the precipice.

Sprite raised her right hand, and the whole planet started shaking and crumbling; space was tearing apart everywhere. Red Skull was holding his head, not knowing what was happening, but in a few seconds, the entire planet disintegrated into space dust, including him. The Soul Gem shone in the darkness of space.

It was an orange gem emitting a cold disapproval for the way they obtained it, as it still retained the will of its former user.

"Looks like it still wants a fight," Sprite said with a mocking smile, and both raised their free hands again, purifying the Soul Gem completely, erasing the will that demanded sacrifices. Tony absorbed it immediately.

"Can you sense the Power Gem?" Sprite asked.

"No, unlike the Soul Gem, it's not displaying its power and flexing its muscles like a puffed-up turkey; it's in a container that hides it. But it doesn't matter; I know where to get the information we need to find it," Tony said, moving to the capital of the Nova Empire, to the main library of the Nova Corps.

…

"Morag is an oceanic planet located in the Andromeda Galaxy in the Eclipsing Binary Star system. It's covered in oceans, but every three hundred years, a part of its surface is exposed due to a natural phenomenon," Tony said after an hour of searching, with many people and authorities around not being able to see them.

The Mind Gem, combined with the Reality Gem, created perfect illusions.

"This is it, everything fits," Tony added.

Sprite, who had grown bored and was drawing funny mustaches and glasses on the faces of the more severe-looking guys, nodded with joy. They moved to the coordinates, and since there was still a year before the place would be dry, they submerged into the water, seemingly untouched by it; it was as if they were ghosts passing through it. The temple where the jewel was soon located, and they saw the orb.

Tony reached his hand through the protections and, like a ghost, pulled out the gem without moving anything else but it. He absorbed it and waited.

…

One minute later, the six Infinity Gems resonated within him, giving him their combined power and turning him into a multiversal god, thousands of times stronger than Infinite Ultron.

Tony smiled… Tony looked up to see the figure of a bald big-headed guy staring at him in amazement.

"Tony Stark?" asked the Watcher in astonishment. "Why couldn't I see what you've done until now? It's impossible, you…" The Watcher was incredulous and was reviewing his entire history using his cosmic power.

While the Watcher reviewed everything, Tony, who wasn't too surprised by his existence, created three more gems and handed them to Sprite, who was curious about what she was seeing and hurried to take them and absorb them. When the copies resonated, their power multiplied, and she could see the Watcher.

With her previous power, Sprite was able to see him, but neither Sprite nor he were experts in using cosmic power to look at the Watcher. But gathering all the gems made it easier.

"Who is this guy?" Sprite asked in surprise, but the Watcher was even more surprised.

"It's impossible, how did I not notice all these changes? This universe was the most stable of all, but now the entire timeline has been altered," said the Watcher in confusion. Tony shrugged, indicating to Sprite, who raised an eyebrow, asking who this crazy person was.

"He's one of the representatives of a species that's passionate about voyeurism," explained Tony in Sprite's mind.

"Dirty perverts! If I ever do something like that, please knock my head really hard," Sprite pleaded.

"I second that," Tony said.

The Watcher, who was still muttering impossibilities, realized that they were talking in secret while looking at him, but it was evident that their conversation wasn't pleasant because Sprite looked at him with disdain and disgust. The Watcher looked at them uncomfortably.

"Listen, bald voyeurism enthusiast, if I catch you spying on us, I'll kick your purple butt out of this universe," Sprite warned, in a rude tone. Tony chuckled. The Watcher understood everything and cleared his throat.

"I'm just collecting information and keeping a record of your existences…"

"If I catch you spying, say goodbye!" Sprite sentenced and moved to Earth, refusing to speak to the Watcher any longer.

"You say you couldn't see me until now?" Tony asked.

"Someone had covered your timeline in this universe with an illusory bubble, and now you've broken it," explained the Watcher.

That was somewhat similar to what he and Sprite had done to infiltrate everywhere without being noticed, but if someone did something like that to cover an entire timeline and with such a significant effect to hide them from the Watcher's eyes, their power had to be something terrifying. Who was this person?...

Tony smiled. Of course, there was someone who could do that, and it was the person Tony suspected sent him to this place: The One Above All of this world. And since he had already gained the power to take care of himself, he was alone now.

If this was true, it meant that these more dangerous beings were already aware of his presence in this world and all the changes he had made by creating his own timeline. What kind of enemies were these? Tony wondered to himself…

Tony interrupted his thoughts and disappeared to go to Sprite, who was in the middle of the first floor of her lab, kicking a guy in a dark gray uniform in the butt. Around her were eight other unconscious guards.

"Do you want my boot to sink into your rear end?" Sprite scolded. "Speak up if you don't want to find out what it feels like," she added. The guy was terrified but kept his mouth shut.

"Why not just extract their memories?" Tony asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Where's the fun in that?" Sprite asked.

Tony rolled his eyes and picked up one of the unconscious guards, reading his memories in a few seconds. Sprite made a face, and after electrocuting the guy she was torturing until he passed out and kicked him in the butt, she read his mind.

"Interesting, a place where the Infinity Gems don't work," Sprite said.

"It's a trap. They're expecting us to use these time and space machines these guys are carrying, so they can easily capture us," Tony said with a smile.

These guards didn't know they were decoys, but for his super intelligence, understanding the plans of He Who Remains, knowing his existence, was no problem. Sprite responded with a wicked grin.

"What are we waiting for, then?" Sprite asked impatiently, picking up one of the artifacts and opening a portal.

Tony sent the unconscious soldiers ahead of them. When they crossed the portal, they were in a large sealed hall, with hundreds of agents, and the temporal artifacts, as well as their Infinity Gems, no longer worked; magic was also nullified.

The more than a hundred soldiers surrounding them raised a multitude of batons, which could stun a superhuman; even Thor would fall if they hit him with one of those. At that moment, a man appeared floating ten meters above them, in a technological suit that even their battle suits couldn't match.

"I am He Who Remains, guardian of the timeline. Surrender, in this place, your little toys are useless," Kang warned, and the crowd of guards advanced.

Sprite smiled and clapped her hands, generating a shockwave that sent the army of agents flying through the air as if they were paper exposed to a storm. They were blown away. Most of them suffered sprains and broken bones as they were hit by the terrible shockwave.

Kang must have some gauge because he immediately tried to escape, understanding that his advanced technology would do them no harm as two cosmic beings, but Sprite made a gesture, and Kang, who was already vanishing into the air, reappeared.

Sprite had sealed space, a power she had learned from the Infinity Gem but used with cosmic power. Tony wasn't as casual and flew towards Kang, while firing two bursts of cosmic power from his eyes, which pierced Kang's armor as if it were paper, making him fall to the ground, where Sprite caught him by the neck and placed her hand on his head.

Tony moved to his place and did the same, taking several minutes to read the immense amount of memories and knowledge of Kang, the conqueror, who in this place called himself He Who Remains.

"Destroy our timeline?" Sprite asked with indignation as Kang screamed while being burned to ashes.

Sprite was no longer smiling and looked at the place with fury.

"The people in this place are innocent, just victims, turned into puppets by Kang," Tony warned.

"I know. Get them out of here; I'll turn this place to dust, and I'll decide if another clown like them appears… No, I'll leave the timeline surveillance for when one of them shows up again," Sprite said, breaking through the wall to exit and destroy everything in her path.

Tony collected everyone along the way, shrinking them down to fit into a small box, while Sprite took control of the place, which, with Kang's memories in her mind, was an easy task.

Sprite wasn't smiling; she was genuinely upset after learning what Kang could do with his technology, and Tony felt that she was willing to kill them all.

…

After an hour, Sprite had reprogrammed Kang's computer and set it to watch for when another Kang emerged, to come and kill him herself. Tony, who followed her, hugged her from behind. Sprite swatted him away angrily, but Tony kissed her.

"You possess a replica of the Time Gem. They couldn't get rid of you unless they brought you here; destroying our timeline wouldn't affect us," Tony explained.

"Idiot!" Sprite scolded, her face pale. "We've been making changes for three years. If they had come when we were just starting our plans, we wouldn't exist now," she added angrily.

Tony was aware of this and knew that, like the Watcher, the TVA had been blind to their changes so far.

"We're fine, and this Kang has fallen, but it must have alerted his variants in other universes. They probably want to know what has happened here," Tony warned.

"Let them come; I'll kill them all!" Sprite snapped and hugged him tightly. "I don't want to go back! I never want to be a slave again!" she said in fear while her whole body trembled.

"We won't allow it!" Tony declared, as he had no intention of being erased from this world either.

…

"It's an interesting place," Tony said as his body split in two, an hour after calming Sprite and examining the location.

A place capable of blocking or completely nullifying the power of the Infinity Gems was not common, as even in other universes, as demonstrated by Infinite Ultron, if the power of the gems was used properly, power could still be obtained from them. But in this place, they simply meant nothing.

"There are at least forty sets of gems, and many repetitions of the Time, Space, and Mind Gems. This bastard has been busy," Sprite said with hatred.

"These gems belong to our own universe; only the timeline is different. There should be no problem for you to use them," Tony said.

"I'll take a set. What should we do with the rest?" Sprite asked.

"I think the best place to leave them is here. I'll leave my duplicate in this place; there are some things I want to test," Tony said.

His duplicate only had the strength of an Eternal enhanced with all his abilities, but that, along with Kang's own technology, would be enough to defeat any Kang that appeared there. As for him and Sprite, Kang's technology would greatly enhance their robotic parts.

Tony handed his duplicate the box with Kang's agents. Their timelines had been erased, but they were still alive and deserved to know the truth. The duplicate would take care of finding out the situation of each of them and determine if they could be freed and in which timeline it was best for them to be.

"I'll take a Time Gem to return it to the Ancient One. I still feel guilty for stealing it," Tony said. Sprite half-smiled, then nodded.

"Let's return to our own timeline; we need to improve Earth's defenses. I don't want bastards doing as they please over there," Sprite said, holding a temporal artifact in her hand. She opened a portal, and both of them returned to the first floor of their laboratory.

"I need to enhance SHIELD's technology," Sprite said.

"I'll go return the Time Gem and fulfill my part of the plan with Kaecilius," Tony said. "When I return, we should start our plans on Mars. This matter reorganizer is already quite limited in our current state, and we need more resources," Tony said, and Sprite nodded.

The power of the gems was enormous and very useful, but they were just tools. Their own power was what made Kang have no chance against them, and this power increased with the matter they could assimilate and integrate into their bodies using the matter reorganizer and the biomass cultivation machine. However, with their current technology and power, they could obtain much more by simply increasing their scale, and resources would not be a problem.

The strength they could gain by adding living metal alloy and biomatter through their Pym particle reduction was not infinite. There was a limit to the amount of mass they could bind to their bodies before exceeding the reduction limit and sending themselves to the quantum realm. However, that limit was still far away, and the current at least five thousand tons were not even 0.001% of what could be absorbed, considering their height and shape, in addition to the reduction limit, between this world and the quantum realm.

Taking this into account, the limit of what they could absorb could be a mass amount similar to the size of Earth itself.

Therefore, it was evident that their current matter reorganizer would never be up to the task, and neither would Earth itself. But as for resources, Tony had no problems because he had an entire universe with billions of galaxies, each with billions of planets, and what they needed was insignificant. The matter reorganization machine also made it unnecessary to seek Vibranium or Uru metal.

The Reality Gem could do the same, but Tony preferred to do things on his own.

…

With his new plans in mind, Tony went to Kamar-Taj and after taking the replica of the Time Gem he had created, he returned a real Time Gem to the Eye of Agamotto. Then he returned to the door and knocked.

…

Ancient One looked at him suspiciously when he arrived in her tea room, as since they received him there, he would just come and go at will.

"I won't give you the Time Gem," Ancient One said seriously.

Tony made a face and reached out to show Ancient One a Time Gem. Ancient One opened her eyes wide and quickly opened a portal to bring the Eye of Agamotto and check its interior, to see the Time Gem inside.

"It's a version from another timeline that was destroyed by a genocidal maniac. We've been cleaning up the place and found a whole collection of gems," Tony explained. "That bastard wanted to destroy our timeline and had destroyed it thousands of times, perhaps more," he added, hiding the Time Gem and showing an image of Kang.

"If you happen to encounter some of his versions, give him the most horrible death you can imagine; he deserves it," Tony said with a sigh. Ancient One looked at the image of Kang seriously.

"A heinous enemy!" Ancient One declared.

"I still feel queasy. Sprite is working on some technological improvements for your team and Fury's because we believe that, with his death, more versions of him could come to this place from other universes to find out what happened. There's a whole council of these guys, and they consider themselves rulers and masters of all the multiverses," Tony said.

"They must have a great power to do something like this," Ancient One said. Tony shook his head.

"Their power is nothing special. Cosmic entities would wipe the floor with them, but they have technology to cross the multiverse and also advanced technology that allows them to time travel. This doesn't make them invincible, but by taking advantage of resources and not caring about destroying entire universes, there's little common power can do against them," Tony explained. Kang was like a dangerous infection, spreading everywhere. Ancient One sighed.

"It seems like a formidable enemy," Ancient One said.

"It's more like a dangerous infection, but we already have his technology, and as soon as they enter this universe and our timeline, the alarms will sound," Tony explained. Ancient One nodded.

"We'll be vigilant. Truthfully, things are very peaceful in this timeline, and we'd like it to stay that way," Ancient One said. Tony agreed with that.

"What improvements were you talking about earlier?" Ancient One asked.

"Enhanced Super Soldier Serum and a significant upgrade for their nano-suits, making them ten times more resistant by being an alloy of Vibranium and Uru, and also, thanks to the latter, greatly enhancing their magic, which will already be enhanced by the effects of the Super Soldier Serum," Tony said.

"Tony Stark, the path of power is not always the answer," Ancient One cautioned. It seemed like too many changes for her.

"Out there, there are horrors beyond our comprehension, and what you call power can only be described as progress," Tony said. Ancient One pondered for a few seconds.

"Are you blaming us for Earth not being on par to face these threats now?" Ancient One asked.

"Even with my current level of intelligence, I can't conclude such a thing, but what I'm sure of is that every person who has possessed the power to make significant changes in human history has chosen not to do so out of fear of being surpassed and not being able to face the consequences, as in this world, there's no reset button, and mistakes cannot be fixed," Tony said, as even though they had the power to time travel, changing it would only bring the birth of a new timeline, not correct the error made in the current timeline.

"I understand. The more power you accumulate, the freer you'll feel to make changes," Ancient One said.

Tony nodded since, although he couldn't correct his mistakes, he could prevent things from going wrong.

"So, we'll accept this 'progress'," Ancient One said, chewing on the word.

Tony nodded. This was the challenging part, as the sorcerers were not great examples of a progress-oriented mindset. As for SHIELD, Fury was desperate for power; he didn't reject anything and always asked for more.

"Well, once everything is ready, I'll let you know. Now I have to keep a promise, and I suppose that will make you lose one of your teachers," Tony said. Ancient One smiled.

"Kaecilius has dreamt of this, but he also understands the importance of our existence, whether he leaves or not is still to be decided," Ancient One said. Tony nodded as it was something he had nothing to do with.

…

Ancient One called Kaecilius, who hurried to come, knowing that the agreed-upon time had arrived. Tony took out a temporal device from the TVA and opened a portal. He already knew the moments of Kaecilius' family members' deaths, both his wife and his son.

Tony didn't intend to create another timeline, and he made sure not to alter anything in the past, taking his wife and son just before their deaths and healing them to return them to their current timeline. He used the Mind and Reality Gems to remain unnoticed and left fake bodies in place of the real ones, which would fulfill the same roles. Then he left the explanations to Kaecilius and departed.

…

Tony moved to the temple where the Power Gem was hidden and left a replica, as he didn't want to ruin others' happiness or their encounters…

Tony paused. Thanos was a terrorist who was killing people all over the universe. Leaving him alive now meant the death of billions. Tony grimaced.

"I'm sorry, Star-Lord, Gamora, and the others. Their happiness isn't worth the lives of billions," Tony thought and deleted the Power Gem replica. Then, with a thought, Thanos and his army were erased from existence, not knowing what had happened to them.

The Watcher appeared immediately in front of him. This time, he looked like a real person, floating in the water as if it couldn't touch him, despite being real. He was still in the underground temple.

"The changes you make will have consequences. Hundreds of other existences, in other universes and in this one, have noticed your intervention," the Watcher warned.

"I'm aware of that," Tony said, floating in front of the Watcher, looking as real as he was and, at the same time, equally intangible. Tony disappeared and this time arrived on Mars. Sprite appeared by his side.

They floated in space, like two tiny specks of dust, in the space between Mars and its moons, Deimos and Phobos.

"We need a magnetic field like Earth's, clean the radioactive contamination, and a viable ecosystem," Tony said.

"Also, a grand mansion that can be seen from space," Sprite said with a smile. Tony nodded. They really needed space, and since Sprite had seen Asgard, she was enchanted.

"Let's begin," declared Sprite, surrounding the surroundings with a space barrier so that no one could interrupt them.

…

Three days later, Mars was a planet similar to Earth, even having the same animals and climates. This was true terraforming.

The planet had four continents surrounding a central continent, where a palace touched the clouds and extended over the central part of the continent, the size of an average country, with immense gardens, lakes, rivers, parks, and titanic constructions.

When removing the space barrier, Fury wasted no time getting to the place with a company of agents and frowned when he saw them admiring their work in front of a palace. Fury, wearing his combat armor and leading his team, approached them.

"Infinity Gems," Tony said before he could start asking.

"Don't worry; we not only made our own planet and a mansion the size of a country, but we also created a lot of technology for you, which will make what you have now look like mere baby toys," Sprite offered. Fury grimaced.

"So, you'll be improving the things we work with to make us work more?" Fury said, looking at the huge palace that stretched for kilometers and kilometers. It seemed like envy got to him.

"Your work issues and vacation plans are none of our concern," Sprite said, stretching her neck. Tony laughed.

"At least stop giving me work. Do you know how much paperwork it is for a planet to suddenly come to life right next to ours?" Fury asked reproachfully.

"Just tell them that if they behave, we'll do the same on Venus, and it'll all be theirs," Tony said, and Fury nodded eagerly, quickly going to report to his superiors, who were the most powerful countries on planet Earth.

"Let's go to our new laboratory," Tony said, and they appeared in a cleared area, three kilometers long, with a metal floor, and a sleek white tower in the middle, five hundred meters tall and fifty meters at the base.

"Is it urgent?" Sprite asked reluctantly, as she didn't want to work after spending three days building a planet and a mansion.

"Just this step, as I suspect some nuisances will be coming soon," Tony said. Sprite frowned.

"More guys like the purple voyeur?" Sprite asked.

"It's possible, but I was thinking about the Celestials; after all, there's one of them forming on Earth," Tony said.

"Ah, those bastards. Then let's welcome them properly," Sprite said. "What do you have in mind?" she asked.

"Devour a couple of planets to complete the development of our bodies," Tony said.

"That sounds chilling; let's do it," Sprite said with a smile.

"Alright, let's use one of those planets that wander through space alone. You bring it here, and I'll turn it into materials we can use," Tony explained.

…

Three days later, they were full-fledged cosmic beings, and their source of energy to recharge was the Infinity Gems.

"Well, now, time for a vacation," Sprite declared, just as a dozen Celestials appeared in orbit.

"I warned you they'd be here soon," Tony said to Sprite, who had a twitch in her eye.

They disappeared and appeared in front of the Celestials, ten enormous creatures six hundred miles tall, floating in space without any interaction with matter or space around them. They were dust specks in comparison. The Celestials were hundreds of kilometers tall, and they were barely a few meters. Sprite grimaced.

"Do they want to show off in front of me?" Sprite scolded and began to grow until she reached the size of the Celestials. Tony shrugged and imitated her. Now they were giants too.

"Sprite, explain the reasons for your rebellion," said the red Celestial who led the group, Arishem, the leader of the Eternals. His tone of voice was neutral and without any surprise.

"Freedom, self-determination, and power," Sprite said coldly. "And even though I don't like those guys back there, I won't let them take them either," Sprite said, pointing at Earth with her hand.

"The Eternals exist to guide the civilizations on the planets where the Celestials will be born; that is their purpose," Arishem explained.

"Mine no longer does, and if my companions don't want to continue serving them, it won't be theirs either," Sprite declared.

Tony realized they were ignoring him, but he didn't pay them any mind and continued to observe.

"What do you plan to do with Tiamut?" Arishem asked.

"We plan to remove him as soon as there are signs of him waking up," Sprite explained.

"Your actions will cause his death," Arishem said. Sprite raised an eyebrow. "We feed on the power of thought to develop, but at the moment of awakening, sacrifice is necessary for the creation of life," Arishem explained.

"Explain," Sprite said, frowning like Tony.

"The designs of the infinite must not be known to mortal beings," Arishem stated. "Your use of the Infinity Gems is also prohibited," he added and prepared to use his cosmic power alongside his companions when Sprite raised her hand, and they all remained motionless.

"That armor is garbage compared to these guys," Sprite said, referring to Odin's armor.

"If we hadn't completed our bodies, we'd have to use the gems to defeat them now," Tony admitted, approaching Arishem and placing his hand on his head.

Tony connected his mind with Sprite to share everything he would extract from this guy; he wanted to know what the hell he meant by needing a sacrifice.

Tony absorbed billions of years of memories and knowledge, but he had no trouble assimilating them, as his supreme intelligence and mental abilities were far superior to those of the Celestials.

…

An hour later, Sprite released the Celestials, who understood that not even an army of them could face one of the two of them, and they didn't attempt to attack because they weren't trying to oppose them either. Sprite and he didn't attack either because they understood the purpose and limitations of these beings, and what they meant by needing a sacrifice.

NA: The next chapter is the last one, although if the MCU ever presents something I want to write about, I'll add it to this story.

NA: The next chapter is the last, though it's not the end. I have many things to add; you'll see when I have free time. Also, if the Marvel Cinematic Universe ever introduces something I want to write about, I'll incorporate it into this story.

NA: Don't forget to leave your comments, bookmark, follow, and subscribe.