CHAPTER 159

The offer is still up. Happy new week.

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[Draul St. Cross POV]

My experiments with power bestowal using the Power Stone haven't seen much success. 

It could be because I haven't fused yet with it but all my recent attempts at giving someone an ability didn't yield any good result. 

The Power Stone, like its other sister stones, had a complicated domain though not one as complicated as Space, Time and Reality. 

Power could be interpreted in many things and some might even say that it was what fueled ambition. 

If the Power Stone was to be completely destroyed or left its universe, suns would go out, most natural resources in the universe would be lost, stars would be snuffed out, life would be lost. 

It wouldn't even be a stretch to say metahumans and other species in the universe would lose their power. 

The Power Stone was not just a convenient multiplier. All the energy in the universe was tied to it. 

Maybe that was the reason why it was more volatile than the Space Stone. The energy inside the Power Stone felt more condensed than what was in the Space Stone. 

Whereas the Space Stone felt like an endless well of energy, the Power Stone felt like a raging storm that threatened to destroy anyone who tried to get close to it. And within that energy were vast amounts of different plethora of abilities. 

I once tried shape-shifting with the Power Stone and it was a trippy sensation. 

Rather than just my skin changing, it felt as if my bones down to my cellular make-up changed. 

I had also used it to sprout bony wings which were actually capable of flight but none of these things were permanent. 

HYDRA were able to use the Mind Stone to unlock and increase Wanda's potential and also giving Pietro his speed. 

I should be able to do the same with ease when I actually have the Power Stone in hand. 

Since I modeled their serum after my own body, in the case that it allowed them to have more energy than was remotely humanly possible. 

But I would also have to watch out for any complications as I could just be making another Captain Marvel for all I know. 

Now wasn't that a grateful thought? 

I also had to figure out what type of abilities that would suit the girls. 

Nat could pick whatever she wanted but I was the one picking for Yelena. Not for any bane reason such as favoritism, but because the girl could be an airhead in times like these. 

Bucky and Steve's ability were the same in the vein that it would allow both of them to absorb any kind of impact and radiation or energy emission that was sent at them. 

And with the way their cells have been saturating energy for a while now at an absurd rate, they would also be able to augment their strengths with the stored energy that they get from being it. 

They would also be able to shoot energy blasts, maybe fly at some point but that wasn't important. 

It was like I was ripping off Superman and Sentry but they both weren't here so who was going to hold me accountable for copyright infringement? 

And not to mention that the basis for these abilities would be the Power Stone, the coagulation of a universal amount of energy and not to mention the cosmic energy in it. 

Yep, Captain Marvel it is. 

It was not like I couldn't use the Space Stone and shower them in cosmic energy like what happened to Carol Danvers, it was just that I figured using the Power Stone to do it was a more better way. 

It had been proven that people get powers from the Infinity Stones but these sort of powers were kind of random, like a universal superpower lottery wheel. 

I was going for something that I knew had the possibility of me guiding the process and not spinning the wheel and giving them something like shape-shifting or invisibility. 

While there was the possibility of them gaming a random ability, it was further reduced down to the point that even if they did gain a random ability, it would be in line with the main one they should have received. 

To be honest, the more I get these stones, the more they just seem ridiculous to me. 

At least there are only six of these things in the entire universe. If there were like a hundred of these pebbles lying around, then this universe would have long since been destroyed. 

I would have to find another planet to let loose, probably Jupiter, since Mars was pretty much on its last leg. 

And besides, it also didn't help that the world government, or rather NASA, took this as a reason to siphon more funds from the treasury all in the name of space exploration and finding out what really happened on Mars. 

Which meant that next month, capable countries would be sending their own exploration team to Mars to get a clear view of what happened. 

If anything Clint told me as true, it was that the government was downright terrified because they knew fully well that what happened wasn't the solar system's largest volcano erupting but something else, despite what they told the public. 

No volcano in the universe would draw a line halfway across a planet. 

From all what they knew, something almost sliced Mars in two and they were downright panicking about what would happen if whatever did that pointed its fangs at earth. 

Fury had hit the cabinet and was gulping down scotch like it was buttermilk. I had to give it to the man, he had every right to be paranoid. 

He had called me when Clint had given him the heads up about Gods existing and let's just say that that conversation wasn't the most pleasant one I've ever had with Nick. 

It was always a welcome surprise to know how much he trusted the garbage that usually comes out of my mouth without questioning it too much and just takes it as facts. 

Anyway that was just another episode with Fury. 

For the meantime, all I did was focus on absorbing as much as I could from the Power Stone. 

Even as I currently was, I still didn't know how strong I truly was in battle and with each stone came a qualitative increase, a mini evolution of sorts. 

What would happen if I get all six stones and fuse with them? 

That was a question that comes to my mind every time I think of the stones. 

I still haven't tested out the limits of my spatial abilities. The most I've done other than creating a black hole was making a spatial dimension that only a few people could access. 

I don't know how big the spatial dimension really was since, well, distance was a skewed concept to me now. All I knew was that it was habitable by humans and also had some fauna. 

I had taken the liberties to travel around the world and spatially displaced some trees and plants that I found liking. It's not as if I wanted it to be some sort of livable and breathable void that only functioned as a safety bunker. 

Speaking of spatial pockets, my axe also had its own special one which was overflowing with spatial energies that was being drilled into it through the enchantments that I inscribed on it some time ago. 

I don't know how the axe would finally turn out but I was open to any eventuality. 

I would be lying if I said that I wasn't tempted to give a few swings when I clashed with Odin, just for the sake of it but I knew that it would have been a very bad choice. 

Thor and his group weren't strong enough for me to want to bring out my axe. I haven't even started with magic and they've already folded. 

If I had brought out my axe, then someone would have probably died and while it would have been inconsequential, Thor and his motley crew were not exactly bad guys, just arrogant dicks… and I hate arrogant dicks. 

There was a reason why Scott and Charles were my least favorite X-Men; one was an arrogant dipshit while the other was an idealist pacifist that had boundary issues. 

But they had characteristics that made them hard to like and so did Thor. 

Thor was currently in his arrogance phase and while I would say I did a good job on my humbling lesson, I wanted nothing to do with the Asgardian prince that was too fixated on being king and courting war at every given chance. 

Compared to him, Loki was rather tame. Sure his pranks and schemes were as always a pain to deal with, he at least had the decency to keep it centered around him. 

Thor on the other hand liked to live the life of the party. Case in point was that he came to fight me along with his friends at the very first encounter while Loki came alone. 

Loki was a drama queen but at least he didn't bring the whole family into it. Even if they do get dragged into his pranks, they deserve it because they raised him that way. 

I might not be the ideal role model but I'm sure I make a pretty damn good teacher. 

… 

[Galaxies away from the Milky-way] 

A large spaceship floated in the dark endless void of the universe and behind it were hundreds of destroyed ships along with thousands of bodies floating the dark cold blackness of space.

"Have there been any news?" Thanos, the Mad Titan, as he was known throughout galaxies stood in front of the glass panel as he watched the destruction that was wrought with his hands. 

Behind him a green woman with dark red hair knelt in reverence. "No father. There have been no sightings of an Infinity Stone. Midnight and Glaive haven't reported back in yet but none of us has reported any cosmic incidence."

The titanic figure didn't say anything except just continuing watching the explosions before he turned around. 

"The Sol System. There was a recent burst of cosmic energy. Find out what caused it." 

"Yes father." She bowed her head once more but she didn't leave instead chose to remain with him. 

"Father, why now? You once said the time to go for the stones wasn't upon us but recently it's all you can think about, why?" While others might be too afraid in his presence to ask such a personal question she wasn't one of them, for the simple reason that he cared that much for her. 

"The Phoenix was spotted two years ago. What others might not know is that the Phoenix is the Entity of Rebirth, or more aptly, a symbol for a new beginning. That was the first clue that the universe was already on a path of great changes. And from what I know, even some Gods have been spotted running around outside their hidden realms even though they love to isolate themselves in their golden cities. And then a few weeks ago, I felt something change." Thanos said and started walking back to his throne. 

"I wasn't the only one who felt this change. Anyone with a specific attunement with the universe would have noticed the slight shift. Along with that change, there have been some sightings of notable forces roaming the universe. And not to mention…" He held out the thrumming scepter that was emitting a blue glow. 

"The time is now or never. The universe beckons a correction and I, my daughter, will be its humble advocate. We shall find the stones and with it create a balanced universe."

"As so it shall be, father."

"It shall be so, daughter. It shall be so. For it is already ordained. I am only the handy man called in by the universe to fix the mistake its inhabitants have caused."

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