The night had never been so quiet.
King Toxic stood on the shattered rooftop, his red dreadlocks catching faint streaks of neon from the city below. The air shimmered where the portal had collapsed, leaving behind a static pulse that made his skin crawl. Space still trembled — like the universe itself was watching him.
He exhaled slowly, the city's hum folding into silence.
For a moment, everything stilled.
Then he felt it again — that pulse. Deep. Ancient. Alien.
Not from another planet, but from between them.
A whisper cut through the void.
"Do you feel it…? The stone calls to you."
He turned sharply, scanning the skyline. No one. But the voice echoed within his skull, vibrating through the very threads of space that he could now sense. He closed his eyes, letting his inner energy stretch outward like invisible tendrils. And there — miles away — he felt it: a tremor of corrupted power emanating from below Manhattan, like a storm trapped in a bottle.
He clenched his fists.
"Whatever you are," he muttered, "you're bleeding into my city."
His coat billowed as he stepped forward. With a single motion, he folded space and vanished into the night.
---
The Underbelly of Manhattan
When King Toxic reappeared, he stood in an abandoned subway tunnel deep beneath the city. Old train cars rusted in the dark, covered in graffiti. But that wasn't what drew his attention — it was the blue light seeping from the cracks in the concrete ahead.
He moved closer, boots echoing softly. The air thickened with radiation and static. Each step forward made his vision flicker — the world glitching for half a second, revealing glimpses of alternate space folds.
He crouched near a glowing crate stamped with an all-too-familiar logo:
S.H.I.E.L.D. PROPERTY – LEVEL 9 CLEARANCE REQUIRED
But beneath it, another insignia had been burned into the metal — a twisted skull with tentacles.
Hydra.
King Toxic smirked. "You snakes never die, huh?"
He touched the crate's surface, and the moment his fingers met the blue glow, his vision exploded. For a heartbeat, he wasn't in the tunnel anymore — he was floating through stars, blue ribbons of light spiraling around him. A cube hovered before him, endless and alive, whispering with cosmic arrogance.
"The Space Gem…" he whispered.
The vision shattered. He was back in the tunnel, chest heaving. The crate cracked open under his touch, revealing a shimmering device — part gun, part reactor — humming with stolen energy.
King Toxic frowned. "This isn't science. This is corruption."
The device pulsed violently. The blue energy reacted to his own spatial aura, wrapping tendrils of light around his arm. He tried to pull away — but the energy clung to him, merging, recognizing him. It wasn't trying to kill him. It was calling to him.
---
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters – Triskelion Remote Link
Meanwhile, miles away, inside a secure S.H.I.E.L.D. control room, alarms blared.
"Director Hill! We've got a Tesseract energy spike downtown — unknown source!" shouted a technician.
Maria Hill stepped forward, eyes narrowed. "How big?"
"Comparable to the Loki Event — but unstable, fragmented. Someone just awakened a corrupted derivative signature."
"Get me visuals."
Screens flickered, revealing the subway feed — King Toxic standing over the cracked crate, surrounded by swirling blue energy. Hill frowned.
"Who the hell is that?"
A voice behind her cut through the noise. Calm, sharp, and ancient.
"He is someone who does not belong to this timeline."
Hill turned — and there she was.
The Ancient One.
No alarms had detected her arrival; she simply existed there, her golden robes glowing faintly under the sterile light.
Hill stiffened. "You—how did you—"
"I was invited by the imbalance," the Ancient One replied softly, her eyes glowing faint amber. "The Space Stone's energy was never meant to be fractured. Someone inside your agency has corrupted it. You're playing with forces that do not forgive mistakes."
Hill's expression hardened. "We didn't authorize—"
"Hydra did." The Ancient One's tone was final. "They've nested inside your walls again."
---
Back in the Tunnel
King Toxic finally managed to stabilize the leaking energy. He twisted his wrist, channeling his own spatial resonance around it, sealing the burst. The energy responded like it recognized authority — folding obediently around his palm.
"Easy…" he murmured. "I'm not your enemy."
He focused his mind, pulling the raw space energy into himself. It felt like drinking lightning. His veins glowed faintly, and he could feel wounds from the previous battle closing. Space energy could heal. Space energy could bend life itself.
Then, movement.
Footsteps behind him.
He turned instantly — three figures stepped out of the shadows, their armor sleek, bearing S.H.I.E.L.D. insignias. But their eyes glowed faint blue.
King Toxic tilted his head. "Let me guess. You're not here to talk."
They said nothing. The first one raised his arm — a gauntlet weaponized with a blue pulse cannon. Before it fired, King Toxic folded space. The blast tore through air, but he was gone — and reappeared behind them, palm glowing with space energy.
"You shouldn't play with toys you don't understand."
He snapped his fingers — the space around them warped. The agents screamed as their weapons inverted, collapsing into micro-portals that consumed themselves. Their bodies flickered, trapped halfway between locations before vanishing completely.
King Toxic sighed. "Hydra."
He turned back toward the crate — but this time, a new voice echoed softly behind him.
"You're touching power you cannot yet control."
He froze.
The Ancient One stood at the far end of the tunnel, her silhouette framed by a faint mandala of golden light. Her expression was calm, unreadable, her hands clasped behind her back.
King Toxic straightened, cautious but intrigued. "You must be the monk I've been feeling since that rooftop."
She smiled slightly. "And you must be the storm that has been tearing through dimensions."
He smirked. "I prefer the term 'improving them.'"
---
The Ancient One's Warning
She stepped closer, the light shifting as her portal closed behind her.
"The Space Gem's energy flows through you now, doesn't it?"
King Toxic frowned. "It's not the Gem. It's fragments — corrupted by Hydra tech."
"Yes," she said softly. "Fragments of the Space Stone — torn from its essence when S.H.I.E.L.D. attempted to replicate it. But what they hold is poison. Even touching it without understanding could shatter your mind. Yet here you stand."
He crossed his arms. "Maybe I'm built different."
Her eyes narrowed slightly. "Or maybe the universe hasn't decided what you are yet."
The air trembled again. Space folded unnaturally — blue and gold light clashing in waves. King Toxic's aura flared, his coat whipping violently as his energy reacted to hers.
"I didn't come here to be lectured," he said. "I came to find out why people are dying from this stolen energy."
She held his gaze. "Because S.H.I.E.L.D. has been compromised. Hydra agents are leaking corrupted tech, powered by fragments of the Space Stone. You've already seen what it does to men — it twists them, makes them slaves to the void. And now, it's spreading."
"Then I'll find every one of them," he said quietly. "And shut them down."
The Ancient One studied him. "And when S.H.I.E.L.D. comes for you? They already believe you're the threat."
King Toxic smirked. "They can try."
---
Hydra's Shadow
Far away, in a darkened facility outside New Jersey, a man in a black suit watched multiple holograms displaying the chaos below Manhattan. The corrupted S.H.I.E.L.D. tech, the collapsed tunnels, and finally — the red-haired figure glowing with dimensional energy.
"Interesting," the man said, adjusting his tie. "He absorbed it."
A subordinate nodded nervously. "Yes, sir. The space resonance fused directly with his biofield."
The man smiled. "Then the experiment is a success. The Tesseract fragments seek compatible hosts. Let's see how far we can push this one."
On the monitor, a new file opened: KING TOXIC – THREAT LEVEL UNKNOWN.
The Hydra operative turned to the shadows behind him. "Activate the Leviathan project."
The Ancient One's Offer
Back in the tunnel, the Ancient One moved her hand gently. The corrupted energy began to calm, drawn into a golden sigil she formed midair. "I can stabilize what's inside you — but it comes with a choice."
"Go on."
"You can learn to control this energy under my guidance. Or you can keep walking alone and risk becoming the very thing you fight."
King Toxic looked at his hand, faint blue veins glowing under his skin. "You think I can't handle it?"
"I know power when I see it," she replied. "And I know the hunger that follows it."
He chuckled. "You sound like someone who's seen this story before."
She tilted her head. "Because I have."
For a moment, they simply stood in silence — two beings who bent space in different ways, both caught between control and chaos.
Finally, King Toxic turned away. "I don't do temples and rules. But if you're serious about stopping Hydra's leaks, we'll cross paths again."
The Ancient One smiled faintly. "We will. The universe ensures it."
She opened a portal — golden sparks spinning like galaxies — and stepped through, her voice echoing softly before fading:
"Beware, King Toxic. The Space Stone remembers everyone who touches it."
---
Manhattan Skyline – Later That Night
King Toxic stood atop a skyscraper, the city lights stretching infinitely beneath him. His hand still glowed faintly blue, the corrupted energy whispering in his veins like a second heartbeat.
He raised it toward the horizon, and space rippled in response — streets bending slightly, air shimmering. He could feel the energy stretching for miles. Every fragment of stolen space tech across the city pulsed faintly in answer.
Hydra's fingerprints were everywhere.
He clenched his fist. "You thought you could steal from the stars…"
He opened his palm — the energy flared. "Now I'm stealing it back."
A black SUV below screeched to a stop. Agents in S.H.I.E.L.D. armor emerged, scanning the area. One pointed upward.
"Target located! Engage!"
King Toxic grinned. "Guess I'm not invited to the party."
He folded space around him, and the world shattered into light.
The Convergence
Inside the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Ancient One watched the ripples spreading across multiple timelines. The Tesseract's energy signature was mutating — linking not just to Hydra tech, but to something darker buried deep in the multiverse.
Wong entered quietly. "You've seen it too."
"Yes," she whispered. "The Convergence begins. And he… King Toxic… is one of its anchors."
She turned toward the window, where blue and gold energy lines crossed the night sky, invisible to human eyes.
"The Space Stone chose him," she said. "Now we must hope he chooses the right side."