"The first ever Infinity Endeavor is about to begin!" the voice of Christine Everheart announces, knocking me out of my shock. "Let the battle for the Champions commence after the countdown!"

Which then starts, the hologram displaying the timer. I scan the area, trying to get a feel for the layout before the countdown ends. The large golden Gauntlet, characteristic of the Contest, lies in the center of the circle of podiums, but instead of being a ship built in imitation of Thanos' gauntlet, it's a replica of the actual thing, with versions of each ingot resting in their proper places, gleaming in the morning sun.

Right, this is the Infinity Endeavor. The supreme celebration of the Balance.

In the opening of the Gauntlet is a pile of weapons of all sorts, and hopefully some other necessary supplies nearby. The land isn't level, rising and dipping as if natural terrain, although we all know this is simply simulating the plains of Wakanda, not the actual thing. All right, so this gives T'Challa and Shuri the initial advantage. There's a gully, and what appears to be a shallow stream, breaking up the field, with a couple marula trees in between the ring of podiums and the Gauntlet. For the moment, none of the rest of it matters – the only thing I'm focused on is making it to the Gauntlet.

The timer is winding down and my muscles tense. This year, I'm fighting for the weapons and whatever supplies are there. We've been training for this moment.

I glance to my right and see the male Vanaheim champion, and a look to my left shows Minn-Erva, who's also preparing to run for the Gauntlet. I can't see Veers from here, but I know she'll also be sprinting as soon as the gong sounds.

Okay, okay, think. This is the Infinity Endeavor. All six Stones are involved – therefore, the powers of this arena could be anything from the past thirty-six Contests. Portals, visions, time loops, waves of destruction, forced choices, and altered reality. Anything is possible here.

But first challenge – weapons, supplies, kill what competition I can. Protect Veers as much as possible.

The gong sounds. I leap off the podium, hitting the ground running as I streak for the Gauntlet. The second I do so, there's a sharp click that reverberates around the arena, startling some birds out of the marala trees, and thin beams of crimson, green, gold, icy blue, pale orange, and purple course down the entire length of the Gauntlet, sparking in the air before a boom shakes the ground.

I stagger and fall, as do most of the other champions I can see. Thick bars of each color shoot out from the Gauntlet, cutting the arena around the large replica into six sections that extend past the circle of podiums. Each wedge of the arena now crackles with energy of one of the six colors.

Shoving myself back up onto my feet, I take off again, ignoring the crisp scarlet waves around me, emanations from the Reality Stone. I see Gamora, yelling at me to take her hand, I see my mother, her eyes dead but her mouth moving in some kind of curse of my soul, I see Odin, turning away from me as he did so many times in my childhood, but I keep forging ahead. They're not real, I keep telling myself. They're not real. Those are just illusions.

They fade away as soon as I reach the Gauntlet.

I'm one of the first here, probably because the others are wary of the stray waves of Infinity Stone power. I know my experience with illusions was the only way I could make it through the Reality remnants, and only then because it wasn't the full force of the Stone's power. Just that little bit has sweat rolling down my spine.

Skirting around the edge of the Gauntlet, I reach the opening and am just grabbing the shaft of a really nice scepter – the same one I used in the opening ceremonies last year, ironically – when I hear a sound. I whirl around, bringing my scepter around, and the tip of it clanks against something hard.

"Hmm," Tony Stark says, frowning down at the scepter tip resting on his arc reactor. He's wearing one of the gloves from his signature Iron Man suit, one red palm aimed at me but not glowing in readiness to fire. Yet. "Performance issues. One out of five." As my expression darkens and I draw the spear back to prepare a killing strike, he lifts his wrist and taps his watch, no longer aiming at me. "I don't think it's time to kill me just yet, Reindeer Games. I have openings every other Thursdays if you want to reschedule, however."

"Stalling won't save you," I spit, but then my eyes focus in on the watch on his wrist. I've seen that watch. Then it hits me. It's the child's watch that Valkyrie showed us, with the LED readout and cartoon character, when she was looking for Veers' token.

Now here's Tony Stark, wearing it.

"Limited edition," Tony tells me with a slight smirk, seeing me looking at the watch. "Not mine, but a friend's."

"Damn you, Stark," I say. Damn you, Hela. There's only one way he would have that watch, and that is if my sister made sure he had it. And then the mix-up, where Valkyrie showed us the "wrong" tokens, suddenly makes sense. She wanted me to recognize this, to recognize Tony as an ally.

"Behind you," Tony says, and lifts his hand. I duck as a blast of energy fires over my head, and when I glance behind me, the female Vanaheim champion is lying on the ground with a hole through her chest, the mace falling from her hand.

"Fine," I mutter, seeing no choice but to accept his offer of alliance. Besides, I can respect Tony Stark – he had been good to Peter Parker. Snatching up a Starforce style pistol from the weapons pile for Veers, I nod to Tony. "Allies, then."

Tony snatches up a couple more pieces of his suit as I guard him. Many of the other champions have been hampered by the Infinity Stone energy, which means Tony has time to suit up without me needing to fend off our enemies. I don't see Veers at all – she must be on the other side of the Gauntlet. But I can see Ava Starr and T'Challa, making their way toward us.

"Wakanda and District 2 are in alliance," Tony says as he fits the breastplate on. "Keep an eye on them. But Peggy's with me – so she's with you, and Veers."

Oh, nice catch on Tony's part, remembering that Veers and I have already declared our alliance to the galaxy. He doesn't even ask me – indicating my trustworthiness as her ally to the entire audience. Playing into the illusion.

"Right," I say. "Hurry up, Stark."

Tony jams the helmet on his head. "Ready, Rock of Ages. Let's kick some ass."

Just in time, too, for T'Challa and Ava have cleared the energy field and are heading toward us. Shuri will be close, I imagine. Lifting my scepter up, I shoot a blast of blue energy at T'Challa and halt him momentarily, a ripple of purple sparking from his Black Panther suit. Tony aims a beam at Ava but she phases and it passes through her harmlessly.

"HULK SMASH!"

I jerk around at the bellow, seeing Bruce Banner's green rage machine – otherwise known as the Hulk – barreling toward us. I lift my scepter but Tony grabs my wrist and zooms upwards, dragging me away. "Don't risk it!" he snaps. "What, are you crazy?"

The Hulk shouts at us angrily, repeating his desire to pound somebody into a pulp, and so I conjure up an image of Tony and myself, heading in the opposite direction. It fools him, and Tony is able to drop me in one of the segments still fizzing with energy, this time soft yellow, and he lands beside me.

Ahead, I spot Veers, hovering in the air and attempting to free herself of the sparking energy tendrils around her. I recognize the pale blue – it's from the Space Stone. "Veers!" I shout. "Come on!"

She jerks her chin down, to acknowledge my shout, but stays where she is. Puzzled, I just look at her for a moment, then it clicks. The energy is holding her in place and she's unable to break free.

"Don't worry, Loki, I got this," Tony says, patting my shoulder with his iron hand. He flies up, rocketing toward her.

Fidgeting, I wait, casting glances back at the Gauntlet. The champions from Districts 1 and 2 are occupied looting the weapons cache, and the others are still hampered by the energy fields, so we should be okay for right now. But nothing stays okay long in the arena, that much I know for sure, so we need to clear out of here and fast.

Tony flies toward Veers, increasing power to his rear thrusters and plowing into her. Wrapping his arms around her, he shoots out of the segment, dragging her with him.

"Come on." I whirl around at the voice behind me, lifting my scepter, but Peggy Carter knocks it aside before I can summon a blast. She jerks her head toward the plains beyond the podiums. "We'll meet them over there."

I nod and we set off at a run, the Mind Stone remnants not able to hold us back for long. Peggy falters for a moment, calling out "Steve!" as her voice shakes, but I grab her arm and we forge ahead, finally breaking out of the energy field once we pass the podiums. Tony and Veers land beside us, Veers looking frustrated.

"I suppose we have allies, then," she says to me, her tone acidic.

"Yes, Veers, we do," I reply. "We need to go before that green beast makes his presence even more known."

"Chop chop," Tony says with a brisk clap, after tossing a pistol to Peggy. "Toward the woods, I think. Any objections?"

No one has any, so we set off at a brisk pace, Tony flying low and Veers opting to run with me and Peggy. The other champions are exiting the fields of energy as we disappear into the line of trees, with the Infinity Endeavor truly begun.