It was the lunch time time for the Avengers and Scott couldn't actually be more happier to have a meal. He was extremely hungry. His meal wasn't anything special. It was just a simple taco. He walked out from the Avengers headquarters and sat down on the bench, taking out his taco and ready to dug into it, but he was interrupted as the Guardians ship landed in front of the headquarters, the two remaining Guardians walking down the hatch into the daylight.

"Hey, humie! Where's Big Green and small green?" Rocket asked him.

Scott gestured towards the entrance to the Avengers headquarters, and replied, "Uh, Kitchen, I think." He looked at Nebula as the cyborg was approaching him, "That's awesome."

Walking past Scott, Nebula said into an earpiece on her jacket,  "Rhodey, careful on the entry, there's an idiot in the landing zone."

A second after Nebula walked into the headquarters, it seemed like Scott was finally regaining his senses and was about to dig into his taco, if it wasn't for James Rhodes who landed in front of him without warning. It suprised Scott so hard  that it made him drop his taco on the ground.

"Oh God!" He shouted.

"What's up regular-sized man?" Rhodey asked him, as he walked away from Ant-Man towards the entrance of the Avengers headquarters, walking past Amethyst as she walked out of the place and approached Lang.

"Hey, dude." She said to him.

"Yes?" He asked her.

Amethyst pointed at Scott's taco on the ground, "You're going to eat it or what?"

Scott looked down at what he was planning to eat just a second ago, and shook his head, "No."

"Okay." Amethyst said as she picked up the taco from the ground and immediately took huge a bite of it, much to Scott's disgust.

"Hey, it was on the ground, you know!" Scott pointed out.

"Who cares, dude? Food is food!" Amethyst shrugged her shoulders as she walked back into the Avengers headquarters.

Scott raised his finger and it looked like he was about to say something to her, but at the end, said nothing and remained silent. He sighed as he looked down, not having any meal to fill his empty stomach as he was approached by Bruce Banner. Having seen how Lang dropped his meal, Banner handed him two tacos from his own lunch. Ant-Man took it while giving Bruce a puzzling look at this act of kindness

------

Azurite, Bruce and Rocket sat in the back of the truck as it was driving towards a place called "New Asgard". It was a place where the surviving Asgardians settled down five years ago after Thanos snapped his fingers. Their task was to convice Thor to join their mission.

When they finally reached this place, they hopped off the truck and looked around themselves with Rocket station, ''Kind of a step down from a from a golden palace for an Avenger highness and what not." 

''Hey, have a little compassion, pal. First they've lost Asgard, then half the people." Banner pointed out.

"Good thing they found home on this planet." Azurite stated, to which Banner nodded his head in agreement.

''You shouldn't have come!'' A voice that was unfamiliar to Rocket and Azurite, but familiar to Bruce called over to the trio. 

All three of them looked into the direction of that voice, and spotted someone that Bruce knew very well. They approached her, as Bruce greeted her, offering her a quick smile, "Ah, Valkyrie! Great to see you, Angry Girl."

Valkyrie noticed Bruce's change of appearance and said, "I think I liked you better either of the other ways."

"This is Rocket." Bruce introduced Rocket, motioning to the talking raccoon.

Rocket gave her a two finger salute, "How you doin'?"

Then Bruce motioned to Azurite, "And this is Azurite."

"Hi." Azurite said, giving Valkyrie a small wave.

Valkyrie eyed Rocket and Azurite, before saying, "He won't see you."

"That bad, huh?" Bruce winced.

Valkyrie nodded her head in confirmation, "We only see him once a month, when he comes for..." She glanced over at the pile of kegs of stout and other beer on the side, "...supplies."

Bruce winced again, "It's that bad?"

Valkyrie sighed, "Yeah."

"Has it been getting better or worse as the time passed?" Azurite asked.

"Take a guess, gemmy." Valkyrie answered.

"Oh, boy." Azurite heard Rocket mutter from his right side. Convicing Thor to help is going to be harder than they thought.

The male gem sighed, "Let us just talk with him."

"Alright." Valkyrie nodded her head as she gestured towards Thor's house, "But don't be suprised if he'll ask you to leave."

Rocket, Azurite and Bruce all made a mental note of that, but it was going to chance the fact that they were going to do their best to convice Thor to join them. They made their way over to Thor's house and Rocket opened the entrance to this house before walking inside, Azurite was walking behind him and the gem was followed by Banner.

''What the... Woo!" Rocket grimaced at the awful smell, "Something died in here."

"Hello? Thor!" Bruce called out for the God of Thunder.

"Is someone in there?" Azurite called out for him as well.

They heard Thor voice call from the back of another room, "Are you here about the cable?'' Thor appeared in their view as he walked into the room and all three of them couldn't believe their own eyes at the state of the God of Thunder. He was shirtless, had overgrown his hair and beard and has definitely put on more than a couple of pounds since they last saw him.

"The Cinemax ran out about two weeks ago..." Thor continued speaking as if he didn't notice his teammate, grabbing a beer, "...and the sports were all kind of fuzzy."

Bruce blinked in shock at the state Thor was in, "Thor?"

"Is that you?" Azurite asked, in shock, not believing that this was the same man he meet in Nidavellir all those years ago, but he actually couldn't blame Thor for letting himself go.

Thor turned to them, and finally noticed their presence in his house. His mood instantly shifted to joy, "BOYS! Oh my God! Its so to see you!" He walked over to Bruce, giving him a quick hug before turning his attention to Rocket. He came over to the talking raccoon, and tried to hug him,  as Rocket tried to shift out of his way, "Come here, you little rascal!"

Rocket was shaking his head, wanting to end this awkward hug, mostly because Thor's belly was touching his face, "No, I'm good. I'm good. That's not necessary."

"And Azurite! My unique gem friend!" Thor said, as he released Rocket from the hug, moving over to Azurite to embrace him, "You're here too!"

"Yeah, yeah, it's good to see you too, Thor." Azurite said, patting Thor on the back, wanting this hug to be over as fast as possible.

After releasing the gem from the hug, Thor looked up at Banner, "Hulk, you know my friends, Miek, Korg, right?" He pointed at the couch where Miek and Korg were sitting, PlayStation controller was in the hand of the latter one as he was playing Fortnite and eating chips.

"Hey, boys!" Korg greeted them, waving his gigantic rocky at the visitors.

Bruce waved back, "Hey guys, long time no see."

''Beer's on the bucket. Feel free to log on to the Wi-Fi. No password, obviously." Korg said, going back to his game, before pointing at the screen, "Thor, he's back. The kid on the TV that called me a dickhead again."

"Noobmaster." Thor growled.

"Yeah, NoobMaster69 called me a dickhead." Korg explained.

Thor walked over to Korg and took his headphones and spoke into the mic, "Noobmaster? Yeah, it's Thor again. You know, the God of Thunder? Listen, buddy. If you don't log off this game immediately, I am gonna fly over to your house, come down to that basement you're hiding in, rip off your arms AND SHOVE THEM UP YOUR BUTT!!! Oh, that's right. Yes, go cry to your father, you little weasel!"

As Thor was shouting these words to the so called "Noobmaster69", his guest couldn't believe what they were seeing. Bruce was simply staring  at the God of Thunder in shock, having no idea what to say as Azurite and Rocket looked at each other, sharing looks of disablief with each other.

Thor brought the headphones back to Korg who smiled in appreciaton, "Thank you, Thor."

''Let me know if he bothers you again, okay?" Thor told Korg.

"Thank you very much. I will." Korg assured him with a nod of his head.

Thor looked back at Banner, Rocket and Azurite, all three of them still being in shock, "So you guys want a drink? What are you drinking? We have beer, tequila, all sorts of things''

As Thor used Stormbreaker to open a bottle of beer and started drinkingit, Bruce walked over to him and placed a hand on his shoulder, "Buddy, you all right?''

''Yes, I'm fine! Why, don't I look all right?" Thor blinked in confusion at his question.

"You look like melted ice cream!" Rocket pointed out, sounding his concern for the God of Thunder.  

"And it's a gentle way to put it." Azurite stated, showing his concern for Thor as well.

Thor laughed, "So, what's up?"

"We need your help." Bruce started explaining why they came here to Thor, "There might be a chance we could fix everything."

''What, like the cable?" Thor asked, not understanding what Banner meant by that, "Cause that's been driving me bananas for weeks.''

Bruce sighed, bracing himself for Thor's reaction, "Like Thanos.''

Thor's smile slowly disappeared from his face as he put  a shaky hand on Bruce's shoulder and pointed at him, "Don't say that name."

Korg stood up from the couch and took off his headphones, "Um, yeah. We don't actually say that name in here.''

"Please take your hand off me." Bruce said to Thor, quietly, but the God of Thunder didn't reacted to his request, so he brushed his arm away, "Now, I know that... guy might scare you.''

''Why would I be? Why would, why would I be scared of that guy? I'm the one who killed that guy, remember? Anyone else here killed that guy? Nope. Didn't think so." Thor said in response as he glanced over at Korg, "Korg, why don't you, tell everybody who chopped Thanos' big head off.''

"Umm..." Korg hesitated, thinking about the answer for a moment, "Stormbreaker?''

''Now, who's swingin' Stormbreaker?" Thor asked, gesturing towards himself.

''I get it." Bruce said to his friend, "You're in a rough spot, okay? I've been there myself. You wanna know who helped me out of it?"

''I don't know. Is it.." Thor paused for a moment, trying to think of the answer, "Natasha?"

Bruce shook his head, "It was you. You helped me."

Thor walked over and looked out the window and pointed, still holding his beer, "Why don't you ask the, Asgardians down there, how much my help was worth." He dropped onto the sofa, looking defeated because this was how he felt, as he added with biterness in his voice, "The ones that are left, anyway.''

''I think we can bring them back" Bruce told him.

''Stop. stop, okay?" Thor shushed him, opening a pack of M&Ms and shoving one of them into his mouth, "I know you think I'm down here wallowing in my own self-pity, waiting to be rescued and and saved. But I'm fine, okay? We're fine, aren't we?''

He looked over at Korg and Miek. Miek nodded his head, while having a piece of pizza with his mouth as Korg nodded his head, "Nah, all good here, mate.''

''So, whatever it is that you're offering, we're not into it, don't care, couldn't care less. Goodbye." Thor replied, offering them a smile that almost instantly faded from his face.

''We need you, pal." Bruce said, in the last ditch of effort to convice him to help them.

Thor shook his head and ignored Bruce's plea for help.

"There's beer on the ship." Rocket stated, crossing his arms, 

Thor paused, "What kind?"

"The good one." Azurite added, having no idea if he was telling the truth or not.

------

On the rainy night a Quinjet was flying in the direction of the of the city of Tokyo.

One of the streets of this city was filled with lifeless bodies of yakuza members. One of those who were lucky enough to survive to this point was firing everything he had onto the hodded figure. Unfortunely for him it didn't do much as the figure threw a shuriken at him, making sure he won't cause anymore trouble, but it wasn't over. The figure immediately spotted two another yakuza members. He saw them pull out their UZI's and aim them at him, with the intention of getting rid of him, once and for all.

''It's him! He's after Akihiko!" One of them shouted. They opened fire at the figure, but it actually didn't took much until they joined their friends. Two shurikens were enough to do the job, both of them struck them in the head, taking care of them immediately.

As the figure watched how two more lifeless bodies joined already filled street, he heard someone charge at him. He instantly turned in the direction of that sound and saw a katana wielding man charging at him in the stairs, only to be cut down by his sword, falling down the steps while the lone warrior moved to kill his way up, throwing another one of them through the window on his way.

Upon reaching another floor more gunfire was heard along with pained cries, as another thug came through another window. He landed on the street, hoping to have escaped his attacker, but unfortunely for him the attacker appeared right behind him, making him turn to the hodded person responsible for the death of his friends.

''Why are you doing this?" This person who must've been Akihiko asked him in Japanese, pulling out his sword, "We never did anything to you!'' 

''You survived... Half of the planet didn't. They got Thanos... you get me." The figure retorted, getting in the fighting position before they charged at each other and the two warriors clashed, exchanging blows with each other, and one of them managed to pierce Akihiko's stomach, doing only minor damage to him, but it was still something, ''You're done hurting people.''

Akihiko gestured to all the scattered bodies of his henchmen and chuckled, "WE hurt people? You're crazy!"

Akihiko charged, which the hodded figure immediately blocked. Both exchanged blows of swords and it seemed like the yakuza leader hae the upper hand, but the figure punched him in the face, and sword-pointed him to his throat, making Akihiko is temporarily petrified. The yakuza leader felt injured by this act as he looked up at the hodded figure. He did not feel like dying today and he did not want to die by the hands of a man dressed in a costume.

Using all the strength he had left in his body, he charged back at his enemy, only to get cut once more, this time by the throat. It was enough for him. He turned around and fell on his knees as he held his throat, raising his hands in surrender.

"Wait! Help me! I'll give you anything! What do you want?" He pleaded for mercy.

The figure didn't care about his pleads. He raised his sword up for the finishing blow and spoke in English, "What I want... You can't give me.''

He thrusted the blade downwards into Akihiko's stomach. The body of the Japanese fell to the ground. He grabbed the sword, and wiped it on his gauntlet, ridding it of the blood of Akihiko. It was just a moment befor ehe saw someone behind him. He grabed his mask, and slided it off his head, revealing himself to being Clint Barton,  a retired Avenger who lost in family in the decimation and has been on a rampage ever since.

He turned around and looked at Natasha Romanoff, Garnet and Shi'ra, who were standing behind him, Black Widow and the Kratai holding an umbrella, while the fusion didn't seem to care about the rain.

''You shouldn't be here." He spoke up to someone who he considered his closest friend.

''Neither should you." Natasha stated.

''I've got a job to do." Clint told her.

''Is that what you're calling this? Killing all these people isn't gonna bring your family back." Natasha pointed out.

Clint looked down, he was on the verge of crying as Garnet stepped forward, "I understand why you're angry, Mr. Barton. I know who you lost, I lost someone important to me too, but this isn't right what you're doing. You don't have to do this anymore. We came here because we'd like to share something with you."

The fusion looked down at Natasha as she stepped forward as well, Shi'ra who was standing behind them decided to stay silent, as Nat spoke up to her friend, "We found something. A chance, maybe...''

Clint glanced over at her, now crying, "Don't."

''Don't what?" Natasha asked him.

"Don't give me hope..." Clint shook his head.

Natasha stared at him, "I'm sorry I couldn't give it to you sooner."

Clint looked down at the ground again, feeling very hopeless. Knowing that he needed her comfort, Natasha moved her hand to hold his gloved one as they stood together, Shi'ra and Garnet watching them in silence as the rain poured down from the sky.

----

The next chapter is going to be about the final test and final preparations for the time heist.