MARVEL's Avengers: Infinity War: The Cosmic Quest, Volume 2

by Brandon T. Snider

  “That’s the spark I remember.” Anoki smirked. They took a moment to realign. “You, Erik, need to reconcile your mind. Clarity will refine your true purpose.”

  Selvig became agitated. “How do you suppose I do that, eh? Should I see a therapist? Shall I make a doctor’s appointment?!” Selvig’s tone shifted to mockery. “Hello, Doctor? I just haven’t felt the same since Loki, the Asgardian god of mischief, used an otherworldly Scepter to control my actions. I hurt people. Friends. The thought still gnaws at me. I often go to bed at night wishing I would’ve never become involved with these Super Heroes. Doctor, might you be able to prescribe me something to deal with the aftereffects?”

  “That would’ve been a start,” Anoki said. They rose from their perch and prepared some tea. “Erik, you supported me and my education when others wouldn’t. Without your guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to create the conditions that allowed me to live comfortably, on my own terms. I’m forever grateful,” they said kindly. “If you think for one minute I’m going to stand by and let you give me this pathetic excuse, you’ve got another thing coming. Your mind is a gift! Heal it. Protect it! It’s time to come through the darkness and into the light.” Anoki handed over a mug. “This is the way. We both know it’s the real reason you’re here.”

  Selvig glared at the tea suspiciously. It was thick, black, and smelled pungent. He didn’t want to drink it, but he trusted Anoki’s counsel. “Down the hatch,” he said, gulping the mixture completely. “Blech!” He scraped his tongue with his fingertips. “Tastes like gasoline.”

  “So dramatic, Erik,” Anoki said. “Let go of the past, and acknowledge that you cannot stop the future.”

  Selvig began to sweat. His body tensed as he fell to his knees, out of breath.

  “Boss?” Darcy said. “You okay?”

  “I’ll be fine,” Selvig said. “Better soon, hopefully.”

  Anoki helped him onto the chaise lounge. “Rest. When you wake, your burden will have lifted,” Anoki said, fluffing a small woven pillow and putting it behind Selvig’s head. “Won’t that be nice?”

  “What did you give him?” Darcy asked.

  “Calm yourself,” Anoki said, lighting a sprig of sage. “He drank an ancient medicinal brew that will help heal his mind and renew his spirit. That’s all you need to know. Now that he’s out, the three of us can talk shop.”

  The smoke from the sage stung Darcy’s nostrils, making her cough. “You should check out Dollar Holler,” she said, waving the soot away from her face. “They’ve got an amazing selection of incense—strawberry, wasabi, urinal cake. You’ll love it. So much nicer than whatever this stuff is.”

  Anoki rolled their eyes. “A comedian. What a treat,” they said, waving the glowing herbs in a circular motion. “This is called smudging. It’s a ritual that’s meant to cleanse an area of negative energy. Get used to it. Hanging around with the good doctor can be a real drag.”

  Darcy smirked. “I take the good with the bad.” She glanced around the dwelling. “So, are you, like, a survivalist? One of those people who stock up on buckets of taco meat because they think the world is ending?”

  “That’s exactly who I am,” Anoki said, entertained by the thought. “You’re a clever one, Darcy Lewis.”

  Darcy froze. “I didn’t tell you my name,” she said, her voice panicked.

  “You’re the glue,” Anoki said. “That much is clear.”

  “Why do people keep saying that?” Darcy asked. She watched Anoki dig into their satchel to retrieve a touch screen tablet. “That’s some real off-the-grid living, right there.”

  “Very primitive,” Anoki said.

  “Erik told us you don’t have a phone,” said Felix.

  Anoki cackled. “Ha-ha-ha-ha! Who doesn’t have a phone?! What a grotesque thought,” they said, swiping their finger across the tablet and offering it to Darcy for inspection. It was a photo of her and Ian. “This is you, yes? And your ex-suitor.”

  Darcy grabbed the device, flipping through a file with her name on it. She was shocked to find photos, documents, and a treasure trove of her personal information. “Wh-what th-the?!” she stuttered, breathless. “It takes a lot to scare me, okay? I’ve seen a monster from another dimension rip apart London.”

  “It was a Jotunheim beast,” reminded Felix.

  “All this? It’s really freaking me out right now. Make it go away, please,” Darcy said, handing the tablet back to Anoki. “Why do you have my life story readily available?”

  “Erik and I have had our share of quarrels over the years, but we’ve always kept in touch. To a degree. He values my opinion, so when you entered into his world, a stranger with no scientific background, I did the due diligence,” Anoki explained. “I’m the reason you have a job, sweetie. A thank-you would be nice.”

  “Erik didn’t hire me. Jane did,” Darcy replied. “From the internet.”

  “That’s correct,” Anoki said. “But how do you think you were able to stay in your position? Especially when there are so many who are more qualified. You’d still be trolling for jobs on the internet if it weren’t for my wise counsel.”

  “I don’t believe you,” Darcy said.

  Anoki rolled their eyes. “Of course you don’t,” they said. “Neither does Erik. But my intentions are honorable, despite what he may have told you.”

  “He doesn’t tell us anything,” replied Darcy.

  “Well, then, you should know I’m amazing,” Anoki said, grabbing an apple from the fruit basket and taking a bite. “We have a bit of time to kill before he wakes up. Anything on your mind?”

  “You know Loki’s Scepter isn’t all that unbelievable, right?” Felix asked. “I mean, I know it messed with Doctor Selvig’s head, but…” His nose scrunched as he tried to communicate his ideas. “The brain runs on electricity. It controls the flow of ions and sends electrical signals from neuron to neuron. Whatever that Scepter is, it changed the electrical currents in his brain, which, in turn, controlled his brain function, thereby allowing him to become susceptible to intense suggestion. It’s, like, crystal clear. Everyone thinks it’s some magical thing but it’s so much more simple than all that. Know what I mean?”

  “What was your name?” Anoki asked. “I don’t have a file on you.”

  “Felix. Last name Desta,” he responded. “Write it down. Tell your friends.”

  “So self-assured, you are. I imagine you see yourself as the next Erik Selvig, yes?”

  Darcy chimed in: “Actually, he sees himself as the next Jane Foster.”

  “A fine choice.”

  “You’re both wrong,” Felix replied. “I don’t plan on being ‘the next’ anyone. I’m the first me.”

  “Very astute, Felix Desta,” Anoki said. “Where do you study? One of those science high schools?”

  “I’m kind of in between schools at the moment.”

  Anoki considered Felix’s situation. “I have a friend who’s an instructor at the Wakandan Outreach Centre. It’s fast becoming the place to be for young minds like yours. They’d be lucky to have you.”

  Before Felix could react, Darcy noticed Selvig’s chest expanding and contracting at a quicker pace.

  “What’s going on with him right now?” she asked.

  “That Scepter stole a piece of his soul. I’m helping him get it back,” Anoki explained.

  “By poisoning him?” Darcy asked.

  “His recovery plan clearly hasn’t been enough,” Anoki said. “He requires a medicinal push. Thankfully, he has me to give it to him.”

  “Gah!” Selvig yelped as he tossed and turned. His eyes closed tightly and he began his spiritual journey.

  “Wake up, you pathetic, dawdling, flesh bag,” a voice hissed in Selvig’s ear. He opened his eyes to find Loki sneering at him from across the room. Darcy, Felix, and Anoki were nowhere to be found. Selvig patted down each of his limbs. He slapped himself across the face.

  Loki rolled his eyes. “Have you concluded your investi
gation?” he asked. “Are you really here, or am I a figment of your imagination? What’s the verdict?”

  Selvig remained silent. He wasn’t sure what was happening yet.

  Loki snapped his fingers as the elements of Anoki’s home slowly fell away, piece by piece. “Apparently, you’re one of the most brilliant men on this planet, which begs the question, why haven’t you done what you know needs to be done?” Loki asked. “Hmm?” The walls were gone. The floorboards soon followed. Loki snapped his fingers again. The Scepter appeared, floating in the middle of the space. The glowing stone that once powered it had been removed and replaced with a drab gray pebble. “Are you afraid now, Erik?”

  Selvig rose to his feet. “No,” he said firmly. “Your weapon is without its power source, and I cannot be controlled by it.”

  “Are you sure?” Loki said playfully.

  The drab gray pebble exploded, sending slivers of stone in all directions. Selvig threw his arm up to protect his face. When he lowered it, the Scepter had grown twice its size. It had also gained a new, familiar power source.

  “That—that stone… that’s what you used to control my mind,” Selvig stammered. He slowly backed away from the device.

  “This old thing?” Loki said, swiping the Scepter and twirling it through the air like a baton. “Don’t worry, Erik, it’s not as if it can control you. You said it yourself.” Loki violently jabbed it in Selvig’s direction.

  “No!” Selvig exclaimed. He swerved, lost his footing, and fell to the ground. Selvig was so focused on the Scepter that he hadn’t noticed his surroundings had completely transformed. They were now on a small, cold planetoid. Swirling gas giants glowed in the sky above. Shooting stars soared past his head. Celestial bodies expanded and contracted. Selvig was in awe but unsure of his place in this new configuration. In the distance, a mysterious figure sat in a craggy chair atop a throne of boulders, facing out toward the cosmos.

  “You are shaken, aren’t you, old man?” Loki taunted. “Everyone was right about you. You’re not well.” He moved around Selvig, stalking him like prey. “Erik Selvig, you are a frightened animal, lying on the ground, unable to move. Not because you’ve been maimed, not because you’ve been bloodied, but because you are simply frightened by the forest. You know what it contains. The unknown creatures, waiting to attack you. I wouldn’t get up and fight them, either, if I were you. I’d do exactly what you’re doing: Lie there and pretend I was dead!”

  Loki sent Selvig flying into a pile of gravel.

  “HA-HA-HA!” The cosmos shook with laughter. The figure on the throne found this interaction to be amusing.

  Selvig thrust himself out of the rubble and dusted himself off. “I won’t be controlled any longer,” he growled.

  FWASH!

  A sphere of white light appeared, hovering above the ground in the distance. Its brightness pulsed like a heartbeat. Selvig heard it calling out to him in his head, comforting him. When he focused on the sphere, the stress of his current situation disappeared.

  Loki shook his head. “You keep saying that, but I must admit, I still don’t believe you,” he said, tossing the Scepter in Selvig’s direction.

  “Yah!” Selvig said, ducking to avoid the blow. He looked past Loki to make sure the Scepter was gone, but it had already reappeared in Loki’s hand.

  “Magic,” Loki said with a bow. “Or something more? You’re the scientist. You tell me.”

  Selvig’s strength started to build. “I am a scientist,” he said. “It is my job to search for answers to the universe’s impossible truths.”

  Loki yawned. “I’ve heard this monologue before.”

  “You’ll hear it again, fiend,” Selvig growled. “You play games with humanity and leave us to clean up your messes. Take your toys and go home!”

  FWASH!

  The sphere’s light grew brighter as the heavens above turned pitch-black. Loki shuddered at the sight. Selvig slowly moved toward the frightened god. They stared each other down, unblinking. “The hunter has become the hunted. How does that feel, Loki?” Selvig asked.

  Loki did his best to appear unfazed. “I’m waiting to be impressed,” he scoffed.

  Selvig was, at last, face-to-face with his enemy. He felt calm. His thoughts were clear and collected. He delivered them plainly and without emotion. “You misused a great and powerful resource. You infected my world, and my mind, with galactic energies I barely understand. Because I didn’t understand these energies, I feared them. I’m human, after all. But now I finally understand who’s really in control of my fate. Me. I see that clearly now. And while my struggles may not be over, I refuse to play dead. Now give me my damn soul back!”

  Selvig swiped the Scepter from Loki’s grasp and tossed it, like a spear, into the great darkness that surrounded them.

  “Good luck,” Loki whispered, fading away.

  The light of the white sphere ignited. The burst of energy blinded Selvig.

  “HA-HA-HA!” The figure on the throne cackled again.

  “I’m coming for you next,” Selvig threatened.

  FWASH!

  Suddenly, the planetoid was gone. Erik Selvig had awakened, safely, in Anoki’s encampment. He was soaked in sweat.

  “How was your nap?” Anoki asked, offering Selvig a cup of water. “Drink this. I swear there’s nothing in it except good, old-fashioned hydration.”

  Selvig took the cup and drank. “I feel… good,” he said. “Better.” He sipped again. “What did I just experience?”

  “It was a dream, Erik. Nothing more, nothing less. The things that appeared to you, whatever they might’ve been, were not real. They were representations, manifestations of your struggles,” Anoki explained. “Did you vanquish them?”

  Selvig cracked a tiny smile. “I did,” he said.

  “Excellent. The healing process has been accelerated. Your future is up to you.” Anoki grinned. “Now leave me alone. I need to get back to a very important knitting project.”

  As Selvig and Darcy prepared to leave, Felix pulled Anoki aside. “Um, I hope this isn’t weird or anything but, um, you know how you mentioned that Wakandan Outreach Centre?”

  “I’d be happy to write you a letter of recommendation,” Anoki said, handing Felix a business card. “Email me. If you survive your little expedition.”

  Felix felt energized but played it cool. “Right on,” he said, bopping his head ever so slightly. “I’ll email you. Soon. Not too soon, though. In, like, a week. Is that too soon?”

  Anoki handed Selvig the invitation to Bixby’s event. “Just in case.”

  Selvig inspected the note card. “This symbol,” he muttered, pointing to the half-moon. “What does it mean?”

  “It’s a crescent,” Anoki said. “Bixby’s new logo or some such.”

  “Thank you for this,” Selvig said. “I hope to see you again soon, Anoki.”

  “Can we go home now or no?” Darcy asked.

  Selvig looked to the sky. “There’s been a change in plans.”

  “Reverse Engineer!” Selvig shouted. “We come in peace.”

  Darcy looked out among the piles of garbage, wondering where she’d be if she hadn’t answered Selvig’s late-night call for help. “Tell me this is the last destination,” she whined. “Please, please, please tell me we can go home after this.”

  They’d arrived at a junkyard in Compton, California. The property was surrounded by heaps of old tires, outdated electronics, furniture, and other assorted debris. In a corner, near the back of the property, was a tiny cottage owned by a man named Bisi Banyaga. To some in the scientific community, he was a legend. To others, he was a fraud. To his neighbors, he was a nuisance. Rumor on the street was that Banyaga was over one hundred years old. He’d started that rumor so people would tell him he looked younger. At six feet tall and three hundred pounds, Banyaga cut an imposing figure. He always wore the same thing: a “comfortably classic” red tracksuit. If you didn’t know him, you might think he wanted to fight you
until he flashed his million-dollar smile. In his early years, Banyaga studied engineering at the University of London, where he met Selvig. They bonded quickly over their love of science and their passion for knowledge. While Selvig went on to teach, Banyaga chose to make science his hobby, not his profession. He’d been courted by S.H.I.E.L.D. many times over but always declined their offers. It wasn’t his style to do what people told him.

  “I know you’re here, Bisi. I can smell your cooking!” Selvig shouted.

  Two enormous hounds descended from atop a pile of garbage two stories high. They bounded down, clumsily running up to Selvig, Darcy, and Felix, and stopping in front of them and staring in silence.

  “Call off your pets, please?” Selvig asked. “I’ve serious business to discuss with you.”

  Banyaga opened the door to his cottage. “Is this about that interview in Science Digest where I called you a milquetoast bore, Erik?” he asked. “That was a joke!”

  “No.”

  “Oh. Okay, then. Is it about Anjelica Tan’s new boyfriend? I’ve only met him once. He’s handsome, kind, a real sweetheart. Nothing like you; don’t worry.”

  “What? She didn’t tell me she had a new boyfriend,” Selvig said. He didn’t mean to get distracted. “That’s not what I’m here to talk to you about today.”

  “What is it you want from me, then?” asked Banyaga. “Besides my good looks and stellar brain, that is.”

  “Help me save the world.”

  “Too broad!” Banyaga barked. “I’m very busy, but I’ll consider it.” He flipped a light switch inside his tiny house. And just like that, the hounds mysteriously vanished.

  “Holograms,” Selvig grumbled. “I should have been able to spot that.”

  “We all make mistakes, old man,” Banyaga said. “Some more than others.” He waved Selvig, Darcy, and Felix over, and they entered the cottage warily. It was sparsely decorated. Wires, circuits, and assorted technology sat in piles on the dinner table. A flat-screen TV played game shows on a loop. On the stove was a boiling pot of Agatogo, a flavorful Rwandan soup and one of Banyaga’s favorites. “Sit there,” he said, pointing to a love seat piled high with notebooks, magazine articles, and research.