#help I'm stuck in the alternate universes rabbit hole

[lessenedhope]

4 shades of Harold

"Cliché opuesto" by Nemui_Fukurou on tiktok

Role swap referenced from @.harzeke

"Island of the Slaughtered" by @.eavee-ry

[aeterna-auroral-avenger]

STORY TIME!

This story has been in the works quite literally since I drove home from the cinema after watching Infinity War. It started off as a fix-it, no matter what the MCU outcome would be, and then I watched Endgame and made my fix-it cover as many cracks in that story as I could.

Personally, I like my idea waaaaaaay better. No, I'm not biased, what?

Jump down the rabbit hole with me, my friend because I'm going to infodump so much on you. I will try to keep it brief, but I already can feel it's not gonna happen because I'm so excited to share this story. So apologies in advance @sobeautifullyobsessed

In the comics, there are actually seven stones not six due to some god-like entity with the power of Infinity committing suicide out of loneliness. As a result of this act, the entity split into the six stones we know plus the Ego Stone which holds the entity's psyche; however, that stone was lost to an alternate reality somehow.

I hate the Ego Stone part, but I saw great potential with the idea of seven stones however.

Let's start at the very beginning. After the creation of the universe, the Creator saw it was good and presented it with gifts: Stones that controlled certain elements of the universe. Sometime after, who knows how long after, a secret organization of beings from across the universe banded together to protect the stones and make sure their powers would not be abused. But there was one among them who sought a Stone he wasn't meant to keep. He stole it, killed the Stone's keeper, and used its power to flee. But he was unworthy and unable to handle the Stone's power, and it killed him. But since he fled, the Stone was lost to an alternate reality. Ours. The Stone in question? Light: a power that seems to encompass all the rest of the Stones' powers while also keeping its own. (it may be mary sue-ish but idc)

The rest of this band of protectors searched in vain, but alas, the Stone could not be found. The band was disbanded, and the Stones were spread far and wide for safe keeping. Agamotto was one of the last of this band, and only he had been successful in doing what the rest could not.

And the Light Stone was lost to time and history in their reality. In ours, the Stone grew dormant and even depressed as it searched the future for a way to return to its universe. And it found one in the form of a baby not yet born. Seeping from its Stone casing through the expectant mother, the powers of the Stone lay waiting for the time this baby would bridge realities to get it back home.

Jump ahead to 14 months before Infinity War, and Dr. Strange finds himself wounded and in his attempt to return to his own dimension, he accidentally finds himself in ours where a young woman named Aurora (or Rory to her friends) manages to tend to his wounds and take care of him so he could return home when he was ready. An unlikely friendship arose, and in return - especially after hearing how our reality views his - he gave her a gift: a sling ring and the lessons needed to use it properly. It took some effort, but eventually it clicked. Now she was free to come and go as she chose.

In the time Rory spent wandering their reality, she had successfully wove her way into a world and friendships she believed she wasn't supposed to have but would take anyway (this was well before I learned the consequences of multiverse meddling so I'm going to ignore such things. They don't exist).

Rory was in our dimension when Thanos began taking Infinity Stones, and her unknown connection with them made her hear voices in her head: the Stones begging for help and rescue. And when Dr. Strange peers into so many futures in a desperate hope to find victory, he does find one. The lost Stone residing in none other than his friend from the other dimension. Who was now also stuck in said other dimension. And he had to make sure there was a way to get her back to theirs. Which also required making sure Scott Lang is in the Quantum Realm before Thanos laid the devastating blow.

When all that occurs as the Master Chessplayer devised, he used what last bit of magic he had before turning to ash to do two things: appear to Rory and assure her the task she would find herself taking on would be one she could do, despite it all, and appear to Scott in the Quantum Realm and lead him to a Quantum vortex leading to the right dimension to get Rory (who he insisted was vital to winning) and lead her back to their dimension before that vortex closed again for another 100 years. Success.

The problem with working in the Quantum Realm though is once Scott and Rory get back to the right dimension, two years have passed (screw the five year gap). The pair make their way to the Avengers compound, and Scott has been devising a plan the whole way there. Once the remaining Avengers give them all the full story, Scott explains how Strange put a lot of emphasis on Rory’s importance, much to her chagrin. But he and Bruce convince the rest that Strange’s way is the way to go considering they’ve seen how legit he is. Scott gives his first plan: the time heist, and Rory, who has heard Strange speak of the wonders and dangers of Time, said absolutely not.

Then Scott came up with plan number 2: a Quantum Heist. A dangerous plan to send all of them and Thanos to the Quantum Realm where the Infinity Stones would be rendered useless and the playing field would be leveled. The reason why the Stones still exist is because in this story, Thanos needs all the Stones to destroy them. Since he did not, he could not do that even though he tried, rendering him weaker than before.

In the process of everyone working on making sure this plan would actually work, some plot things happen. Rory discovers what she possesses and what her infinite heritage is, uses that power to restore Mjolnir and remind Thor he's still worthy, and test her newfound powers in the Quantum Realm to make sure those Infinity powers really would be useless.

But there was a problem during testing. Rory accidentally fell into one of those Quantum vortexes which led her to a time and place where she meets (and has a philosophical debate with) Thanos himself. Too little too late, she realizes she is not in the same Time she left and Thanos learns there will be a group to go against him in his quest with her at the lead with the power he wants most of all.

She manages to get back, but now the Avengers know Thanos will be waiting for them which will make the job extra challenging. Not only that, but Thanos is rebuilding his army just for confronting them. So they have to cut him off from his army to get him alone and then get him to the Quantum Realm via the bifrost through Thor's axe. By some miracle, they manage to do not only that, but get the Stones from Thanos in the Quantum Realm too! But he escapes them before they could finish him off, and they use the Quantum Tunnel built in Endgame to return to the compound in the right time and space.

Bruce snaps his fingers, reverting himself back to Bruce/Hulk instead of Professor Banner, right at the time Thanos unleashes his attack on the compound.

Cue the epic portals scene plus one human woman with the blazing powers of Light at her disposal. Major fighting ensues, and mostly everything plays out similarly but Strange knows one extra thing the rest do not. Tony is still meant to snap his fingers, and he will survive as long as Rory helps him carry the burden of the Stones. And with milliseconds to spare, Rory gets to Tony in time. The only real casualty on the heroes' side is Rory takes a lot of the damage from the snap, leaving Tony with lightning scars on his arm. Strange, Shuri, and Dr. Cho take care of her injuries.

So the war is over, and it's a happy ending, right? Not yet. The universe is very scarred and weary from such a war, and it needs a jumpstart. It needs an outpouring of love to heal such wounds. And using the power of all the Stones, Rory manages to do something pretty incredible. She came from a universe of untapped love for the marvel universe, and she acts as a catalyst, a bridge between universes for all that outpouring of love to go right to where it needs to go. And like a great tidal wave, the love and devotion of the fans practically floods that universe, giving it the medicine and jumpstart it needs to move forward like the Infinity War never occurred.

But the cost of such an act was high, and the Infinity Stones were returned to their Creator. Forever. Rory was allowed to live, and since the Light powers were basically fused with her soul, remnants of said power were left behind. Only time will tell if it will be useable or not as she heals.

And that is a rather large synopsis of my Endgame rewrite.

[365footballorg-blog]

Wiebe: World Cups changed my life, and in 2026 one happens here - I'm ready

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June 15, 20188:31PM EDT

What a different eight years makes.

In 2010, I was living in Kansas City. I know exactly where I was – The 810 Zone on the Plaza, if you must know – on the morning of December 2 when Qatar was awarded the 2022 World Cup at the United States’ expense. I can still feel the pit in my stomach and the mouthful of proverbial sand that rendered me speechless when Sepp Blatter triumphantly raised the card aloft.

This Wednesday, eight years later, I was in lying in bed when United 2026 brought the world’s biggest sporting event back to North America. My 7-month-old son lay next to me, alternating between jamming the leg of his stuffed giraffe down his gullet, attempting to yank out handfuls of his dad’s hair and bee-lining for the edge of the bed whenever my attention was elsewhere.

I checked my phone and let out a whoop. He looked up, gave me a no-teeth grin and went back to baby business, too young to grasp what Wednesday morning meant, for him and millions of others in Canada, the US and Mexico. I knew then that my own World Cup experience had come full circle.

Best part about #United2026? This guy is gonna be eight years old, same age I was in 1994. Can’t wait to experience the tournament with my son by my side. He’ll be one of the millions of beneficiaries of everything the World Cup will do for our collective soccer culture. pic.twitter.com/sesaeCni9l

— Andrew Wiebe (@andrew_wiebe) June 13, 2018

When the US national team failed in Couva and missed the tournament that will captivate us all for the next month, I mourned the immediate loss, the World Cup that would go on without us, but it was the long-term repercussions stuck with me.

Gone was the opportunity to expose hundreds of millions of prospective fans to the best American soccer could offer. Gone was the opportunity to bring our soccer community, our soccer culture to the forefront of the mainstream conversation. Gone was a golden opportunity to see the game we love make the sort of every-four-years leap that the U.S. had grown accustomed to and took for granted.

Two of those momentous leaps, more than 20 years apart, changed the trajectory of my life.

I remember 1994 in snippets. Sitting alone on my grandparents’ couch as the US played Colombia on a tiny television with aluminum-foil wrapped rabbit ears. Alexi Lalas’ beard. Cobi Jones’ dreadlocks. The way Roberto Baggio’s head fell after he skied his penalty kick in the final.

I’d played soccer since I was 4 years old, first with foam balls on a gym floor at the YMCA then on AYSO teams, complete with halftime orange slices and a can of pop after the game. I went to Wichita Wings games at the Kansas Coliseum with my aunt and grandmother; it was the only professional soccer I knew. The nachos, people watching and postgame autographs stand out more than anything that happened on the field.

After 1994, I knew there was something much bigger that I was missing. There were players and leagues and tournaments happening that simply didn’t penetrate the sports pages and magazines I pored over obsessively.

I begged my parents for Baggio’s signature shoe, indoors so I could wear them to school, and wore the soles off them in a matter of months. Through an Italian youth coach, I learned about Diego Maradona, Johan Cruyff and their signature moves. Until plantar fasciitis wrecked my heels in middle school, soccer was my game of choice.

I remember 2006 more vividly. It was the summer after my freshman year of college. The U.S. didn’t make it out of their group, but the games were still thrilling. I woke up each morning to catch the action, and each afternoon the Internet sent me down rabbit hole after rabbit hole while I was supposed to be working at an internship.

Who was Clint Dempsey? Tomas Rosicky and Jan Koller? Jimmy Conrad? Michael Essien? Zinedine Zidane and Marco Materazzi? Where did these all these players come from? What had I missed in my Midwestern bubble when I decided baseball and soccer couldn’t co-exist? By the time I went back to college, I was spending hours each day reading transfer rumors on Eurosport and watching techno-laden highlight reels. My thirst for information was voracious.

I threw myself into Major League Soccer, too. I paid for FOX Soccer Channel with the little disposable income I earned from the campus bookstore. I bought a pair of crappy cleats, started playing in pickup games and signed up for men’s league. I changed my major from business to journalism and sold the sports editor of The University Daily Kansan on a soccer column.

I stuck with it, got a few big breaks and, a decade later, the game consumes my life, which brings us back to United 2026.

What will the World Cup mean to my son? To the millions of kids who play the game in North America or will in the years to come? To coaches, referees and administrators who spend their weeknights and weekends at the field? To our professional leagues? What will the world’s biggest sporting event do to our soccer culture?

There it is. #WorldCup2026 is coming to North America. By final count of 134-65, #United2026 bid tops #Morocco2026. #worldcup returns to U.S. for first time since picture below was taken. 1994 changed my life, hope 2026 will do same for boys and girls in 🇲🇽 🇨🇦 & 🇺🇸. pic.twitter.com/2H2K5lHxoS

— Sebastian Salazar (@SebiSalazarFUT) June 13, 2018

We don’t yet know, but we have the opportunity of a lifetime, a beacon to guide us as we attempt to right the ship after the failure of the past four years.

Right this second, there’s a 12-year-old somewhere trying to replicate Cristiano Ronaldo’s free kick against Spain. He or she could be the next Christian Pulisic or Mallory Pugh.

Right this second, there’s a youth coach working on tomorrow’s training session. He or she could help develop a player who takes the world by storm.

Right this second, there’s a young professional working on his game when nobody is looking. He’ll be in his prime when the World Cup comes to American soil.

For eight years we will work, so that eight years from now, lives, like mine, will be changed. Our sport will take over the continent, the entire world for that matter, for a month. We will make our own way, build on what’s already been accomplished while rooting out the inefficiencies that hold us back.

What a different eight years will make.

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Wiebe: World Cups changed my life, and in 2026 one happens here – I'm ready was originally published on 365 Football