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*****
Hearing Fini's words, Tony froze for a long while before stuttering, "A... spaceship?"
"Exactly." Fini looked at the dumbstruck Stark and asked skeptically, "You're not going to tell me you can't build one, are you?"
"It's just a spaceship!" Tony snapped, his ego pricked. Before the Battle of New York, he might not have been able to pull it off—technology doesn't just leap forward on a whim. But with the Chitauri flyers and other salvaged tech to study, he was confident. In fact, a huge reason he had been designing new armors at such a frantic pace was the inspiration he drew from alien engineering.
However, Tony needed to know if Fini was serious. His expression turned grave as he asked again, "You're really not joking?"
"Do you know where I was for the last six months?" Fini sighed and pulled out his phone, showing a photo he had taken of the planet Vormir. "The Tesseract warped me to a planet at the very edge of the universe. It took a hell of an effort just to get back."
Tony was floored. He stared at the photo, knowing Fini wouldn't go through the trouble of photoshopping a fake just to prank him. He couldn't help but fire off a string of questions: "Where is this? Is there oxygen? What's the gravity and soil composition like? Is there an ecosystem? Inhabitants? Is it colonizable?"
"It's a desolate rock. There's nothing there," Fini explained, waving a hand dismissively. "Besides, it has a 'master' who isn't fond of visitors."
"I didn't realize you'd already gone on an interstellar vacation." Tony looked at Fini with a strange glint in his eyes. A competitive streak flared within him; he didn't want to be left behind in the dust. After a moment of thought, he said, "I can build the ship, but I think we're going to need a map."
"A map, huh?" Fini pondered for a second before nodding. "Leave that to me. You focus on the ship."
"I think I've officially lost my mind, going along with this." Tony patted his face lightly. One conversation with Fini and suddenly he was building a deep-space vessel to explore the cosmos. Yet, surprisingly, the crushing weight on his chest felt lighter. In his moments of wandering and anxiety, having someone willing to step up and help felt incredibly grounding.
"One more thing. Do you actually know where the enemy is?" Tony's tone turned serious again. He hadn't forgotten the core reason for all of this: protecting Earth and its people.
"I don't know the exact coordinates yet, but someone in the universe definitely does," Fini replied. Thanos was famous—or rather, infamous—across the stars. Finding him wouldn't be impossible.
Tony nodded, asking nothing more. Once a decision was made, he believed in one rule: Act first.
"Wait for my good news." With a clear goal in sight, Tony's eyes regained their spark. He immediately turned to his AI. "Jarvis, create a file for 'Project Stark's Vengeance.' Also, start compiling every design schematic we have on spacecraft."
"At once, Sir," Jarvis complied.
Fini frowned, stopping Tony before he could dive head-first into the work. "You need to sleep first. This isn't an emergency that needs solving tonight."
"At the very least, give me some time to actually find the star charts! And I'm not Jarvis—if you don't listen, I'm calling Pepper."
Though annoyed by the threat, Tony ultimately conceded. The weeks of frantic work had indeed pushed him to the brink of exhaustion.
After Tony went to rest, Fini left the villa carrying the small Arc Reactor, his mind already spinning on how to acquire a map of the galaxy. After weighing his options, he realized there was only one place with that kind of data: Asgard.
"Should I reach out to them?"
Fini was hesitant. While Odin had shown him a sign of goodwill recently, he knew that was likely out of respect for the Ancient One and a silent apology for Loki's invasion of Earth. That debt was settled. If he showed up in Asgard now, he couldn't predict how he'd be received.
He knew he would eventually have to deal with them because of the Reality Stone, but he preferred to wait until he was stronger. From what he knew, Odin was a man of immense pride. You could see it in Thor and Loki—that initial arrogance was hereditary. Odin's influence was the reason Loki looked down on humans, and Odin's interference was why Thor couldn't see his mortal girlfriend.
Odin might not despise humans, but he didn't exactly value them either. He only respected strength. To talk to Asgardians as an equal, you had to prove you were powerful. Loki had already learned that the hard way, and while Thor had 'conceded,' he likely wasn't fully convinced. As for Odin, Fini couldn't guess his stance.
Beating Loki was one thing, but to Odin, that was child's play. If Fini could hold his own against an awakened Thor or Hela, then the All-Father might truly acknowledge him.
Speaking of Hela, Fini thought of a recent discovery.
As his mastery over space grew, so did his sensitivity to other dimensions. While practicing his mystic arts, he had been exploring the very first dimensional space he had ever encountered. He avoided the 'Panther' dimension—the goddess Bast's mastery was too great, and he didn't want to get caught or trapped—so he chose to investigate a certain sealed dimension instead.
He wasn't trying to open it, just sense it, so the risk seemed low.
Based on his perceptions and the Ancient One's cryptic hints from before, he had a strong suspicion about who was locked inside. If he wasn't mistaken, it was Odin's eldest daughter: Hela.
The realization startled him. He didn't ask the Ancient One for confirmation, but he felt at least 70% certain. Looking back on how he had once accidentally brushed against the seal of that dimension, Fini felt a cold sweat. He was incredibly lucky she hadn't sensed the opening and forced her way out, or things would have been catastrophic.
Knowing it was Hela, Fini became even more cautious during his explorations, terrified of accidentally letting her loose. However, anything related to space could be manipulated by the Space Stone. If Fini truly wanted to, he could set Hela free.
(End of Chapter)