"I have two options that might solve your current problem."
Caesar's words were like a lifeline that instantly revived Future Steve and the others. Their eyes focused intently on the golden-haired boy in the passenger seat, whose calm and steady demeanor belied his youthful appearance.
Of course, they reminded themselves, this was no ordinary child. He was one of the most powerful and intelligent beings on Earth.
Future Tony couldn't contain his impatience. "Little Godfather, don't hold back. What are your solutions?"
"Yeah, tell us," Future Scott urged, his anxiety evident.
"Why do you keep calling me 'Little Godfather'? I may look small now, but..." Caesar paused, looked down at his child-sized body, and sighed. "Okay, I am kind of small right now."
"Caesar, tell us your two plans," Future Steve said, putting a hand on Caesar's shoulder, his expression serious.
Future Tony and Future Scott turned their attention to Caesar and waited silently.
"All right, I'll get right to it," Caesar began, raising a finger. "The first option is to find my original self, Kyle. He has a special ability that I lack that could help you retrieve the lost Space Stone."
This version of Caesar, being a clone of Superman, did not know that Kyle had already recovered the Space Stone. He could only offer suggestions based on his current knowledge.
"The symbol of peace, Kyle? If we find him, it could work!" Future Scott agreed enthusiastically. Even in the future, Kyle had a fanatical following.
"The plan is feasible, but challenging," Future Tony said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "The problem is that Kyle is probably with the current version of me in deep space, light years away from Earth. Should we just sit here and wait?"
"Right, I remember Kyle returning to Earth sometime after the Battle of New York," Future Steve added with a frown. "Even if we manage to find him, there's no guarantee he'll be able to help us. Tony, your concerns about lack of control are valid, right?"
Future Tony nodded. "Yes. The risk is too great. It's possible, but not guaranteed. We need a plan we can follow through to the end."
"Then let me tell you the second option," Caesar said, his expression remaining serious as he raised a second finger. "We can travel back to an earlier time when the Space Stone was still on Earth and retrieve it."
"More time travel? Are you serious?" Future Scott exclaimed.
"Caesar, maybe you don't understand our situation," Future Steve interjected with a bitter smile. "We need a substance called Pym Particles to travel through time. After arriving in this timeline, each of us has only one Pym Particle left. If we travel further into the past, even if we get the Space Stone, we won't have enough Pym Particles to return to our original future."
"I know that. But each of you has one, so you have a total of three," Caesar said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Future Tony, who had been silent, perked up. "Little Godfather, your proposal has a hidden twist, doesn't it?"
Caesar smiled mysteriously and held up three fingers. "Three Pym particles. If you give them all to one person, that person can use them for three separate time jumps."
Future Scott's jaw dropped. "You mean one person uses all the Pym Particles while the other two stay here? That's insane! Have you ever heard of Schrodinger's Cat?"
"I don't care about your cat theories. There's a loophole here you haven't noticed," Caesar said.
Caesar rolled his eyes and turned back to Future Scott. "So you're Ant-Man Scott, right? Let me ask you, can you shrink people and objects?"
"It's not a superpower, it's a kind of shrinking technology. And I'm not just Ant-Man, I'm Ant-Man, Ant-Man!" Scott corrected him, pronouncing each word clearly.
"This is exactly what we need."
Caesar clasped his hands with a smile. "If one of you shrinks the rest of the team down to a portable size, you could carry them with you. Then a single Pym Particle could effectively transport several people through time."
"Wait..."
Future Scott blinked, then slapped his forehead, excitement lighting up his face as he turned to the others. "Of course! We can do this!"
"If we can continue time travel, then we have a real chance," Future Steve agreed, looking at Future Tony with renewed hope.
"Theoretically, it's entirely possible," Future Tony acknowledged with a nod. "Now all we have to do is pick the right time. Little Godfather, when should we go to retrieve the Space Stone?"
Caesar looked at Future Steve in the driver's seat and smiled. "Your captain knows the answer to that. We can go back to World War II when the Tesseract was in Red Skull's possession before the Space Stone was lost."
"We?" Future Tony looked at Caesar in surprise. "Godfather, are you saying..."
"Yes, I'm going back in time with you."
Caesar's explanation stunned the three men in the car.
"We can handle this on our own," Future Steve and Tony started to protest, but Caesar cut them off.
"I've already made up my mind. Don't worry about it. This is how we're going to do it: One person uses a Pym Particle to get us into World War II. After we retrieve the Space Stone, you three will use another Pym Particle to return to your original time, and I'll use the last one to get back here."
Caesar's resolve was clear. He had a personal reason for going back, a regret he hoped to correct, and this might be his only chance. He couldn't let it slip away.
Future Steve spoke quietly, "Tony, let him do this. When he sets his mind to something, nothing can stop him."
"All right," Future Tony sighed.
"Then it's settled," Caesar said, snapping his fingers decisively. "We're going to World War II together!"
(End of Chapter)
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