How to Hide the Infinity Stones

"Thor came to Earth?"

It had taken Oaks more than half a year to settle Ancient One’s situation with Avalon’s power, and he had also put on an act with her when he followed her back to Kamar-Taj.

Whenever he recalled how Mordo had looked shocked and conflicted when he had "accidentally let it slip," while Wong’s tiny eyes had widened with gossiping excitement, Oaks could not help but laugh.

One was the senior brother of all mages, while the other was the librarian every mage would meet. Once those two knew, practically every mage in Kamar-Taj would know.

Oaks had intended to return to Avalon for a period of quiet cultivation, but only a few days later, Malorne relayed a message to him.

He immediately headed to Upstate New York, where Banner had already arrived.

"So this was what was inside Loki’s Scepter?"

Having learned the full story, Thor stared gravely at the Mind Stone on the detection instrument.

"No wonder Father told me to bring it back…"

Oaks’s expression turned strange.

In other words, Loki had finally remembered that his Scepter was still on Earth and had sent Thor over to run an errand.

But there was no way they could let Loki take this thing.

"The Mind Stone is one of the six Infinity Stones. According to Loki, it came from the Chitauri’s hidden master."

Seeing Thor’s thoughtful expression, Oaks waved a hand and conjured a Magic Light Screen.

Oaks actually knew quite a few spells by now.

He had learned some of Agatha’s spells, as well as several minor spells from the Sorcerer Supreme’s lineage that did not involve borrowing magical power.

He projected images of the six Infinity Stones, drawing everyone’s attention.

"From the Sorcerer Supreme, we learned information about the Infinity Stones.

At the beginning of the universe’s birth, there was nothingness. Then… the Big Bang hurled six Elemental Crystals into the depths of the new universe.

Each of these six Infinity Stones controlled one essential aspect of the universe’s existence.

Space, reality, power, soul, mind, and time.

While we wanted to gain more knowledge from the Mind Stone, and had even considered using the stone itself as a Computing Core, we understood the danger involved.

So I imagine the same logic applies to Asgard—

You sent away the Aether, the Reality Stone. So how do you intend to handle the Mind Stone?"

"This… Father has not given any explicit instructions for now."

Thor thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"Odin" truly had not given him instructions regarding this matter, but that did not stop him from agreeing with Oaks and the others’ judgment.

After all, when facing these three scientists, he himself admitted that he chose to trust their intelligence.

"Did the Sorcerer Supreme say what would happen if the Infinity Stones were gathered together?"

All he could think about now was whether Loki would be settled by that hidden master…

He could not accept that at all. His dear brother had finally earned their father’s recognition, and with the three brothers working together, Asgard’s prosperity was within reach…

But now he knew that his dear brother faced an enormous crisis. What unsettled him most was that Odin had told him, "Loki has gone out in pursuit of knowledge"…

In other words, Loki no longer had Asgard’s protection. Who knew whether that hidden master would find him, or what he would do to him?!

"No, but I do not think that is something we should feel reassured about—

If possessing one Stone grants its user control over that aspect of the universe, then if all six are gathered, the only conclusion we can draw is that he would become omniscient and omnipotent."

Oaks shook his head. Any smart person could imagine the power that would result from gathering all six Infinity Stones, so there was no need to hide it.

"Omniscient and omnipotent?"

Tony frowned.

"Although we had considered that before, the Infinity Stones probably cannot be controlled without paying a price.

One Infinity Stone is already so dangerous. Could anyone truly control all six?"

"Heh, if we are talking about how strong aliens can get, I think there are plenty of possibilities."

Banner shrugged and pointed at himself.

"There should be beings stronger than Hulk… If a powerful alien really controlled them, then things would get troublesome."

"I once read a comic."

Oaks raised an eyebrow, and the illusions of the Infinity Stones vanished from his hand.

"If you gather the Seven Dragon Balls, you can summon Shenron and make one wish."

"…I think I have heard of that."

Tony rubbed his temples and sighed.

"Indeed, if it is merely granting a wish, perhaps even an ordinary person could do it… The question is, what wish does this hidden master want to make by gathering the Infinity Stones?"

"Judging by the behavior of this individual and the Chitauri Army, it probably will not be a good wish."

Oaks spread his hands and turned to Thor, who was deep in thought.

"No matter what, the Infinity Stones still need to be kept apart to make gathering them more difficult, so the Mind Stone should not be placed in Asgard either.

We have gone about as far as we can in safely using the Stone. The Mind Stone… cannot remain on Earth."

"I came to Earth precisely to take it away…"

Thor nodded slightly. He agreed strongly with Oaks and the others’ analysis.

However, when he thought of his "father’s" recent administration of the Nine Realms and the strange changes in his lifestyle, the words reaching his lips stopped there.

After a long while, he said thoughtfully,

"…I think I need to confirm with Father how this should be handled…"

"Wait!"

Tony’s eyes suddenly lit up, and he raised a hand to interrupt everyone.

"If we want to make the Infinity Stones as impossible to gather as possible, what method is there?"

"A method?"

Banner blinked.

"We only need to destroy one of them, or hide it somewhere it cannot be found, right? The universe has existed for so many years, and no one even knows whether the Infinity Stones have ever been gathered."

"As for destroying one, I do not think we can do that right now. And for something tied to the universe’s fundamental laws, we cannot judge what harmful effects its destruction might cause."

Oaks shook his head. At the very least, the Mind Stone was not something any of them could destroy.

Even Wanda could not do it now.

Because she had not yet undergone her transformation.

"Then all that remains is hiding it!"

Tony’s eyes grew brighter and brighter as he looked at Oaks, whose expression had become strange.

"Keeping the Mind Stone on Earth may bring unknown danger to Earth, but what if we place it in an independent space detached from Earth’s universe?"

"…You mean Avalon?"

Oaks stroked his chin, looking conflicted.

"Come to think of it, I really had considered that before. But Avalon is not a completely sealed space. It has a Space Passage connected to the main universe, and our plans must make use of that.

Unless…"

"Unless?"

"Unless it evolves into a Dimensional Space. Then it might truly be able to hide an Infinity Stone."

Oaks shrugged helplessly.

"But at least for now, that is impossible."

"But it should be safer than anywhere in the known universe."

Banner had explained what Avalon was to Thor, and Thor now looked at Oaks with astonishment.

The advisor had such a massive asset?

"Perhaps if we do not use the Stone, and add a Magical Seal, we can conceal its aura to the greatest possible extent—

Did you not track the Tesseract before? Could you try seeing whether you can track the Mind Stone under those conditions?"

"…"

The three scientists stared intently at Thor, making the muscular man shudder.

"Why are you looking at me like that?"

"Lord God of Thunder is quite wise after all."

Oaks patted Thor’s shoulder with an admiring expression.

"Excellent. I will go find the Sorcerer Supreme and see whether we can find a suitable seal. Tony, Banner, prepare the detection equipment."

At the New York Sanctum, Oaks stepped through the Portal to Kamar-Taj under the complicated gazes of the mages stationed there.

From the way they looked at him, Oaks knew that the little story he had fabricated had likely spread throughout the Masters of the Mystic Arts and become an open secret.

Sigh, the mages were probably feeling rather emotional about the Druid now.

"The Mind Stone is in your hands?"

Ancient One’s green pupils widened slightly.

"No wonder. I always felt there was something strange about that tree and that deer. So his life form was modeled after an Infinity Stone."

When she had been in Avalon, Ancient One had fully cooperated with Oaks to disperse the Dark Magic in her body and replace it with Natural Magic, leaving her no time to think further.

At the same time, she could not see Oaks’s fate, so she naturally had no way of knowing about the Mind Stone.

"Sorcerer Supreme, they still do not know that the Time Stone is with you. Do we need to tell them?"

Oaks glanced at the Eye of Agamotto on Ancient One’s chest and raised an eyebrow.

"Actually, with you here, Sorcerer Supreme, there is no need to worry about that hidden master."

"Leave that matter to my successor."

Ancient One smiled.

"But regarding Odin, do you not intend to tell Thor?"

"Odin definitely knows Thor has come. Since he is not showing himself personally, I should not spoil his fun."

With Ancient One personally taking action, the Mind Stone was sealed in Avalon. As expected, even Earth’s most advanced instruments and detection methods could not detect it.

"Then I shall take my leave first. There is something important I need to do."

Thor let out a huge sigh of relief. Loki was what worried him most now.

"I need to investigate the whereabouts of the other Infinity Stones and, if possible, look into the mastermind behind the Chitauri."

"Uh… wait, I just remembered something."

Thor was about to leave when Tony and Banner shoved Oaks forward together. Wearing a strange expression, he stepped up.

"Could you take me to Nidavellir first? I want to forge a weapon and, while I am at it, obtain a batch of Uru Metal."

"A batch?"

Thor looked strangely at the three scientists, whose eyes were darting around.

"Uh… forging a weapon is certainly no problem, but while Eitri has quite a bit of Uru Metal, your ‘batch’…"

Oaks coughed softly and waved a hand, conjuring the Heracles Armor. The enormous mechanical body made Thor’s expression turn spectacular.

"Roughly… this much."

"…"

PS: I watched Doctor Strange 2 yesterday. Damn it, I got slapped in the face. The Darkhold was turned to ash when some minor Kamar-Taj mage stabbed it with a little knife, though she turned to ash herself too…

But every universe in the Multiverse has a Darkhold, and only the Scarlet Witch can completely destroy them all…

What the hell was the Book of the Vishanti? They built it up as some incredibly powerful lifesaving artifact, but it only fired a magic blast before the Witch, while in an astral state, blew it apart in one move. What happened to tearing out one page of the Darkhold destroying one page? The entire book got blown up, yet the Darkhold was still perfectly fine (_)

They also mentioned that dreaming meant connecting to oneself in the Multiverse, which was quite interesting and could be used as reference.

I originally thought Senior Brother Mordo would show off his might, but it turned out to be a Parallel Universe version. Where was the Mordo from this universe mentioned in the spoilers? The Minotaur guy also went from a big shot to a mere apprentice…

Looks like it really was as the spoilers said—massive reshoots, resets, and plot changes…

The spoiler version, where Wanda was tempted by Chthon to find her children, was much more compelling. This version felt far too absurd. The Witch had practically lost her mind.

The spoiler versions of Baldr and Jarvis from the Illuminati were gone, replaced with Mister Fantastic and Black Bolt. They all died miserably—Professor X, the Black Captain Marvel,

Captain Carter was the worst off (_). The biggest rip-off was that the original heroic Doctor Strange had been changed into a villain…

In the end, it proved one thing: old Wong was the Sorcerer Supreme acknowledged by the Witch. He knew everything. Doctor Strange was just a figurehead (_)

Still, Wanda’s ending was a tiny bit better.

At last, I understood. This was Disney family entertainment, after all~