At dawn, Rory stepped outside and summoned a massive golden greatsword by bringing his hands together, channeling all his internal energy into it. He hoped to strengthen his mastery of cosmic energy through this training.
But no matter how hard he tried, the weapon he conjured never exceeded about two and a half meters in length.
That wasn't Rory's limit, it was the limit of the cosmic energy itself.
Rory was like a data cable. The amount of data it could transmit didn't depend on the cable, but on the bandwidth, how much cosmic energy his body could actually absorb.
Something was restricting the flow of cosmic energy into him. Perhaps it was a limitation left by the Celestials when they genetically engineered the Eternals.
Meanwhile, at the New Avengers Base...
A completely frustrated and burned-out Nick Fury glared at Captain Marvel, Carol Danvers. She sat there with an expression of utter indifference.
Just ten minutes ago, Fury had received a notice from a Congressional hearing demanding an official explanation from both Carol and S.H.I.E.L.D. regarding the attack on the military aircraft.
Worse yet, Carol, who technically still retained her military rank, had just been served a subpoena from the military court.
What had once been a golden opportunity to take down Secretary Ross had now turned into a crisis. S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Avengers were suddenly on the defensive, all thanks to Carol's reckless actions.
"Carol, stay put for the time being. Don't go anywhere. I'll handle the rest. From now on, you take action when I say so," Fury snapped.
Carol pouted and said nothing.
Whoosh, !
A golden portal suddenly opened in Fury's office. The sorcerer Wong helped a visibly weakened Doctor Strange step through it.
"Doctor Strange? What the hell happened to you?"
After the battle in New York, both Strange and Wanda had fallen into a dimensional rift. Neither had been seen since.
Fury never expected to see Strange suddenly appear here.
He immediately stepped forward, asking urgently, "Are you hurt? What about Wanda?"
With Captain Marvel back, if they could also get Strange and the Scarlet Witch, they'd have a real chance to take Rory down.
Strange shook his head. "I was rescued by a Sorcerer Supreme from another universe. Wanda… she's still trapped in the dimensional realm."
He and Wanda had fought fiercely. Neither of them had yet advanced to true Mastery, so the battle had ended in a draw.
After falling into the dimensional rift, Strange had wanted to return immediately, but the realm's chaotic forces made it impossible to open a new portal.
Fortunately, he was able to reach out across realities and was rescued. Wanda, however, remained trapped.
Fury pressed, "Then why didn't you bring her back?"
"I can't right now. I need time to recover," Strange said. "But I came here to warn you, Rory is a World-Ender. If he's allowed to grow any further, he'll be more dangerous than Thanos. We must capture him, fast."
Captain Marvel frowned. "What's a World-Ender?"
Wong, still supporting Strange, explained, "It's a term from the mystic community. These are people who possess the ability to disrupt the timeline. If the timeline deviates far enough… the entire reality could collapse."
Strange added, "Protecting the timeline used to be the responsibility of the Time Stone, but I've lost the Eye of Agamotto. I can't stop a World-Ender on my own, we need as many allies as we can gather, and fast."
Fury and Carol understood immediately.
Rory's very existence posed a threat to the natural order. If left unchecked, he could destabilize the world beyond repair.
Fury asked, "But Strange, even with you and Carol together, you still can't beat him?"
Before Strange could reply, Carol jumped in, "I've fought him. Honestly? He's strong. That weapon-summoning thing he does, it's brutal. I can tank a few hits, but much more than that, and even I'd be seriously injured."
"He's gotten stronger?" Strange asked. "And what do you mean 'weapon-summoning'?"
After Carol described Rory's use of shape-shifting golden energy, Strange's expression turned grim.
"You mean golden light that can take any form?"
Carol nodded.
"We're in serious trouble," Strange muttered.
Sorcerers use cosmic energy as part of their spellcasting. From Carol's description, Strange could tell Rory was tapping into that same force.
Rory was already nearly unbeatable physically, even Banner might struggle with him. If he was now wielding cosmic energy on top of that… then even he and Carol combined might not be enough.
"We need more help, and fast."
Everyone understood the gravity of the situation.
Fury immediately called Maria Hill into his office.
"Maria, go find Dr. Banner."
"I'll go find Thor" Carol added.
Fury nodded. "Move fast. I'll reach out to other enhanced individuals. In three days, the second Congressional hearing begins. If things go sideways…"
Strange interjected firmly, "Then screw the hearing."
World-Enders were a nightmare even for Sorcerer Supremes.
Sure, if the timeline collapsed, the World-Ender would be erased too, but no one wanted to see their entire universe wiped out just to take him with it.
What made Strange most uneasy wasn't just Rory's power, but the fact that Rory had already traveled through time.
If they failed and Rory escaped to another timeline, the consequences would be far worse.
In the following days, S.H.I.E.L.D. rapidly gathered as many superpowered individuals as they could.
Now all they needed was for Carol to find Thor and for Strange to recover. Then they'd make their move.
Meanwhile...
Rory had no idea that S.H.I.E.L.D. was preparing for a full-on offensive against him. He was busy conducting mass super-soldier serum enhancement experiments.
Ross's plan was to build a Super Soldier Squad, a team to replace the Avengers as Earth's defenders.
Rory felt that handling the Avengers on his own was a bit much. He needed an army.
So the two of them struck a deal. They began selecting candidates from the military for the program.
There were only two requirements: loyalty, and absolute loyalty. Morality and competence weren't even factors for Rory.
While Ross courted politicians with the Eternal Serum, Rory was building an army with Super Soldier Serum.
After leaving the lab, Rory called in Mr. Immortal, Hollis.
"Hollis, I need half your brain. Mind cooperating?"
"…What?"
Rory had a theory: Hollis's immortality came from some kind of entanglement between his body and cosmic energy.
Essentially, it was another form of cosmic energy expression. As long as that energy existed, Hollis couldn't die.
But Rory still hadn't figured out the mechanism behind Hollis's immortality. Today, on a whim, he decided to… crack open Hollis's skull and take a look.
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