A sudden burst of pale blue spatial energy erupted in Martian orbit, scattering like fireworks across the void.
Suspended only a few light-seconds from the blast, Shin fixed his gaze on the epicenter, every muscle ready to spring into motion. His instincts urged him to intervene, yet he held back. The Space Stone, despite the violent surge, had failed to form a portal. Whoever had been attempting to breach through was no longer pushing.
'So, they finally gave up,' Shin thought. He doubted it was a matter of will alone. Tony Stark's containment design had kept the Infinity Stone's energy cycling for months, preventing a gateway from stabilizing.
Maintaining a remote stimulation of the Space Stone for such an extended period was absurd. Even the Shi'ar Empire, one of the most powerful civilizations in the cosmos, would consider it a waste of resources.
In the end, it seemed more likely that Stark's engineering tricks had cornered the opponent, forcing them to retreat.
Drifting closer, Shin found himself staring at the Cosmic Cube, or rather, what remained of it. The crystalline casing had fractured and dissolved under the strain, leaving only the raw Space Stone. It gleamed in the void, a pale blue gem radiating an energy so intense that even he hesitated to touch it.
He drew in a breath, exhaled, and released a stream of frigid, chakra-laced wind. A crystalline frost bloomed across the Stone's surface, encasing it in layers of translucent ice. Only then did Shin extend his hand. The moment his fingers brushed the gem, his body dissolved into a streak of light and vanished.
Back on Earth, Tony Stark was in the middle of his usual commentary when the streak of light descended before him. Shin stood there calmly, the frozen Space Stone securely in place.
"It's done," Shin said casually, his tone making it sound as though disposing of a cosmic-level threat were no more trouble than taking out the trash. His eyes flicked toward Stark. "By the way, I thought I overheard something about anti-magic armor. Was that specifically for me?"
Tony Stark coughed and forced a grin. "Ah, yeah… you misheard. Just a prototype. You know, nothing personal. Purely theoretical... something to deal with hostile mages."
Shin arched a brow but said nothing. He knew Stark's habit of preparing contingencies against everyone, friend or foe.
Suddenly, Stark stiffened, Jarvis's voice cutting into his earpiece. "Sir, there's been an explosion in New York. Specifically, the Baxter Building."
"What?!" Stark shouted, his face twisting in disbelief. "That's Reed's lab! Don't tell me that rubber-head has blown up his building again."
Jarvis replied calmly, "Correction, sir. The explosion was not structural. Hostile lifeforms have manifested inside. Numerous insectoid organisms have breached containment."
For a moment, Stark was speechless. "Alien insects? Now? What is that guy doing, inviting invaders to afternoon tea?" He groaned, clutching his forehead. "Fine, execute A3 protocol. And deploy the new Mark 34 suit immediately!"
Even as he spoke, armor components were already flying toward him, clicking and whirring into place around his body.
Shin reached out a hand. "We're wasting time. Hold on."
"Wait—" Stark barely managed before Shin's biomagnetic field enveloped him, Wanda, Pietro, and Natasha. Space warped. In the blink of an eye, they reappeared high above Manhattan, directly above the Baxter Building.
The sight below was grotesque. The iconic skyscraper, normally gleaming against the skyline, was now a twisted hive. Chitinous walls sprouted across its surface like cancerous growths, and swarms of winged, locust-like monsters erupted from the windows. Among them scuttled humanoid insectoids, their mandibles clicking as they spewed streams of acidic plasma into the city streets.
Inside, faint bursts of flame and shockwaves rattled the structure, the Fantastic Four were still holding out, but their resistance was faltering.
"Teleportation?" Stark gasped, his face pale. "Do you have any idea what that does to a person's inner ear?!" He swayed slightly inside his suit, struggling with the dizziness, while Natasha and Wanda landed effortlessly beside him. Pietro, of course, had vanished before anyone could blink.
"Get used to it," Shin said bluntly. "That was the safe version."
"Safe?!" Stark groaned. He opened his mouth to argue further when the incoming whine of repulsors drew his attention. Several of his automated suits streaked across the sky, deploying into combat formations. One of them, a newer model, peeled away and descended toward Stark, disassembling mid-air to reattach to him.
He spread his arms, grinning despite the chaos. "Now that's more like—"
His words were cut off as a glob of caustic plasma struck the suit in mid-transformation. The armor exploded in a shower of molten shards. Stark's grin froze, his HUD blaring alarms.
"What the hell?!" he shouted. His pride, the cutting-edge Iron Legion, was being shredded before it even activated.
Shin caught Stark by the shoulder before the falling wreckage could bury him. "Your designs are vulnerable mid-assembly. You should know better than to deploy like that on an active battlefield."
Even Natasha gave a curt nod. "He's right. You've seen this happen before."
Stark bristled. "That was a one-off! A freak accident. You don't seriously expect me to redesign every single—"
Before he could finish, a massive insectoid warrior the size of a truck lunged at him, mandibles wide.
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Now available - Chapter 611: Dumbfounded