Karl immediately contacted Heimdall through telepathic communication.
"Send us back to Earth."
Moments later, a pillar of seven-colored energy descended from the sky.
The Rainbow Bridge engulfed Karl, Dark Phoenix, and Ganata.
In an instant, the beam shot back into the heavens.
The three of them vanished.
Leaving Star-Lord, Gamora, Rocket, and Groot staring at each other in stunned silence.
Back on Earth—
At the gates of Karl's manor, the Rainbow Bridge descended once again.
The light faded.
Karl, Dark Phoenix, and Ganata appeared.
The three walked calmly toward the manor.
However, the moment they stepped inside—
Karl noticed something was wrong.
The living hall was full of people.
Present were:
Tony Stark
Pepper
Several members of the Avengers
Magneto
Charles Xavier
Everyone seemed tense.
Karl frowned slightly.
"What happened?"
Tony immediately rushed forward.
"Oh God, you're finally back!"
"Something terrible has happened!"
Tony spoke rapidly.
"My vibranium armor has been taken over by something that looks like artificial intelligence."
"JARVIS was almost destroyed while fighting it."
"I barely managed to save him."
"Right now I only have one backup suit made of adamantium and vibranium."
Tony took a breath and continued.
"When we tried to capture it, the Hulk was suddenly controlled by someone."
"I had to subdue him."
"We ended up fighting inside a city…"
"A lot of people died."
Tony's expression became frustrated.
"Now the entire internet is turning against superheroes."
"Rumors about us are everywhere."
"At the same time, that unknown AI started controlling my armors and attacking cities around the world."
"Even the new server JARVIS is linked to couldn't stop it."
"Speed couldn't stop it either."
Tony rubbed his forehead.
"Speed told us that the angel in your manor could stop it."
"But when May asked for help…"
"She said she was too busy."
Tony's expression became even more serious.
"And that's not the worst part."
"Steve Rogers appeared."
"And Bucky Barnes too."
Tony lowered his voice.
"They were both surrounded by red flames."
"After that, they started destroying entire city blocks."
"We couldn't stop them."
"Even my vibranium armor was burned through by those flames."
"And some of their attacks hurt me even when they didn't hit directly."
"What the hell is going on?"
After Tony finished speaking, everyone looked toward Karl.
Banner, Hawkeye, Natasha, Carter, and the others all waited silently.
Even Ganata looked at Karl curiously with her large purple eyes.
Karl thought for a moment.
Then he spoke calmly.
"Looks like some people started making moves while I was away."
"The flames surrounding Steve Rogers and Bucky Barnes are probably Hellfire."
Karl continued analyzing.
"Bucky's resurrection is likely the result of Steve selling his soul."
"To Mephisto, the Lord of Hell."
"In exchange, Mephisto resurrected Bucky."
Karl shook his head slightly.
"But Mephisto never keeps his promises."
"He probably modified the contract."
"Now he controls both of them."
Karl then considered the rest of the situation.
"The Ancient One has already left."
"The new Sorcerer Supreme is still inexperienced."
"And without the Time Stone, Earth's magical defenses are much weaker."
"So the dimensional demons and hell lords naturally started making moves."
Karl frowned slightly.
"But that unknown artificial intelligence…"
"I have no idea where it came from."
"In the original timeline, Ultron was created by Tony himself."
"But Tony never researched it in this timeline."
"So where did this one come from?"
Tony sighed helplessly.
"My God…"
"Hell, demons, contracts with the devil…"
"I can't believe this is real."
"So what do we do now?"
"Public opinion is turning against superheroes everywhere."
"Well… except you."
Karl waved his hand dismissively.
"First find out who that AI is."
"I suspect dimensional beings might be manipulating it."
"Let me check on Kamar-Taj."
Karl raised his hand.
He drew a circular portal in the air.
Then he reached inside and literally pulled someone out.
The person collapsed onto the floor.
It was Stephen Strange.
He looked terrible.
His entire body was covered in dark energy.
Karl blinked.
He had only been gone for a few days.
And the Sorcerer Supreme already looked like this?
Strange struggled to open his eyes.
"Senior… brother…"
"Save me…"
Karl rolled his eyes.
Then he activated True Rewrite.
A flash of white light swept across Strange's body.
The dark energy instantly disappeared.
Strange's condition returned to normal.
Strange coughed a few times.
Then he stood up excitedly.
"Hey!"
"I'm actually healed!"
"Senior brother, you're amazing!"
Strange called Karl Senior Brother because the Ancient One had taught him to do so.
She had even instructed Strange:
"If something happens that you cannot solve, go find Karl."
Karl looked at him speechlessly.
"Alright, alright."
"Explain what happened at Kamar-Taj first."
"You're the Sorcerer Supreme and you still got corrupted by dark energy."
"That's embarrassing."
Tony and the Avengers stared at Strange.
Tony had already told them about the Earth's sorcerer organizations.
They knew how powerful they were.
Especially the Sorcerer Supreme.
Strange sighed.
"It started after the Master died."
"Mordo was unhappy that she passed the title of Sorcerer Supreme to me."
"So he left Kamar-Taj and went to the New York Sanctum."
Strange continued.
"For some reason, he was tempted by Dormammu."
"He shut down the magical defenses of the New York Sanctum."
"That allowed dimensional demons to start invading Earth."
"It started while you were still on Earth."
"But they didn't dare do anything major."
"After you left…"
"They launched a full-scale invasion."
Strange clenched his fists.
"Mordo ambushed me."
"I was corrupted by dark dimension energy."
Karl rubbed his forehead.
"I don't even know where to begin with this mess…"
Then he waved his hand.
"Go back to the New York Sanctum."
"Reactivate the magical barrier."
"I'll come deal with the rest soon."
Strange nodded quickly.
He immediately opened a portal and disappeared.
Now Tony and the others finally understood what had happened.
The previous Sorcerer Supreme had died.
And the new one had only just taken the position.
Karl then turned toward the two guests who had remained silent.
Charles Xavier and Magneto.
"So why are you here?"
They rarely visited Karl unless something serious was happening.
Charles spoke calmly.
"My telepathy sensed something."
"A powerful mutant is about to awaken."
He paused.
"In Egypt."
Charles' voice grew heavy.
"This mutant once ruled all of humanity."
"If he awakens…"
"He may start a war to reclaim his throne."
Charles looked directly at Karl.
"We are not strong enough to stop him."
"So…"
"We came to ask for your help."