POV Rio
'He really should have added more defences; this is just sad.'
I step over a ward without triggering it as I continue to loot the Kamar Taj vault. I had been waiting for Wong to leave Kamar Taj, and finally he was giving me the chance to waltz into Kamar Taj and steal everything that wasn't nailed down. The Wards on Kamar Taj had clearly seen better days, as it was clear somebody had to repair them recently.
'I guess Belasco really did assault Kamar Taj.'
That was the only explanation I could think of why all the wards were so haphazard. Perhaps I was being a bit unfair, as John Constantine was really good at getting into places he wasn't supposed to be. Let alone Batman. And then you had my most recent Template Beast Boy, which allowed me to turn into small animals to further avoid the occasional ward I could get around otherwise. The result was the same regardless; there wouldn't be anything left when I left.
'I wonder what Wong is even doing.'
I knew where he went, but that didn't really explain much. He went to New York, and this wasn't his first trip there. From what I can tell, he was watching Dr Strange. What I couldn't figure out was why. It made no sense. Sure, Strange has great potential, but it would take a long time to turn him into a mage of any kind. Not to mention most of Kamar Taj's magic is based on borrowed power, not internal power, so bringing Strange here would be pointless, as he can't gain an external power source.
'Unless Wong plans on taking over Limbo like Kaecilius is still struggling to do.'
Limbo was still a mess as always. Sure, Kaecilius was making progress, but it was slow going, and I was keeping a close eye on the situation. If he started getting close, I would step in and take everything at the last minute.
I shake my head and refocus on collecting the loot when I freeze as I spot something I never expected to be here.
'Is Wong brain damaged?'
There on a pedestal was the Eye of Agamotto. Sure, it was heavily guarded by wards, several of which I could tell were teleportation wards meant to teleport the Eye away from here, but it still baffled me as to why he would leave it here. My first thought was that this was a trap. That the Eye was empty or this was a replica and taking it would trigger some unseen mechanism. But that was dispelled when I sensed the energy the Eye gave off. It was clearly the type an Infinity Stone gave off.
'I'll come back for that once I search the rest of this area.'
I didn't have much more to go through, and I didn't want to risk missing out on any loot. My only disappointment was the lack of cool stuff. I didn't know where the really good stuff went, but it was clearly not here anymore, which annoyed me, as this was the only place left that those things could be.
'Sigh. I'll have to deal with that later, I guess. Maybe I'll find out more from all the books I took.'
Once I was done and was sure that there weren't any other hidden traps, I came back to the Time Stone.
'Now, how do I get you out of there?'
I looked over the various wards and traps for a way in and eventually found it. The only issue I found with the flaw was that as soon as I used it, the caster would be notified immediately. So I would have a few seconds to get out before Wong came crashing through. But I had planned ahead for being seen, whether in person or from magic. As such, I was disguised as Eirtama Ballory, a template I had no plans to use for anything else. That was my favourite thing about my transformation ability. I basically had a full roster of throwaway identities that could literally never be tied back to me. If Wong tried to find Eirtama Ballory, he would find nothing. No traces, no identities, no doppelgangers, nothing.
I rub my hands carefully and go for it.
Crack
The spell matrix cracks and then shatters, and I swiftly store the Eye of Agamotto before it has the chance to leave. Then I start crashing through the other wards as I bob and weave the various defensive spells that are launched at me. As I near the exfiltration point, several red threads shoot at me from a certain furious sorcerer.
"Oh, kinky, but sorry, I'm not into that kind of stuff," I joke as I do a backflip to avoid the tendrils.
"You have intruded upon Kamar Taj; surrender or else!" Wong threatens.
"Or else what?" I mock.
"I will kill you," Wong warns grimly.
"Sorry, but my soul already belongs to someone else, and if I died, they might bring me back; just kill me again for dying," I semi-joke, as I could actually see Lucy doing that.
'That and destroying the world to get to whoever killed me.'
"Return what you stole, or I will make you," Wong threatens.
"As much as I would love to stay, I have a very important date, and I can't be late," I say cheekily as I drop a smoke bomb and conceal my exit.
Of course, that by itself wouldn't be enough to escape, so I left a little surprise.
SHIIIIIIIIIIII
Wong was instantly blinded as the flashbang went off right as he cleared the smoke. It was his fault for not predicting that a mage might use Muggle weapons. By the time he recovered, I was already gone and had long since dropped my disguise in an area where they wouldn't be able to track me.
'After all these years. Finally, I have them all.'
All that was left was to turn them into the stones, but that would have to wait until after my date. I wasn't lying to Wong when I said I had an important date to get to. Lucy and I were heading to that area where the universe was born for a little date.
POV Shift Wong
I stare blankly at the empty halls of Kamar Taj.
'They even took the damn tables! Who does that!?'
The intruder had truly taken everything from Kamar Taj; all I had was the artefacts on me and, of course, the Ring. Everything else was taken. I was at a loss for what to do. All the wards I had built had been destroyed, the Eye of Agamotto was lost, and Kamar Taj didn't have anything even remotely useful beyond the walls.
'Maybe I should finally give it up and abandon this place.'
I hated to admit defeat, but there was little I could do. I could track down the thief, but I had already attempted to find them with most of the spells I knew, and not a single one gave me any results. If I at least had the library, I could search for a better tracking spell or perhaps a divination spell, but that wasn't my speciality and the books were taken as well. Even my plan to train Strange is just about dead in the water. Sure, I can train him to use the Ring and even teach him what spells I know, but that would be a mere drop in the bucket to what he would need to reach the Ancient Ones level. It all just felt so... Hopeless.
'No... I can't give up. I cannot be where the knowledge of Kamar Taj dies. Even if Strange can't be the best sorcerer to exist, he can at least be better than me.'
With my renewed resolve, I stood up and looked for what scraps might have been left behind before choosing to set up only a couple of minor detection wards before leaving Kamar Taj behind once and for all. This place had served the order well for basically its entire existence, but all good things must come to an end, and I can't let sentiments keep me from moving on. This place just wasn't safe anymore, and I can't ignore that fact any longer. I could destroy the complex itself, but I couldn't bring myself to do so. There was little in the way that made the place special anymore anyway, so even if someone took over the temple, it wouldn't mean much.
With one last look at Kamar Taj, I opened a portal and left.
POV Shift Rio
The day after my date with Lucy, I had time to finally bring all the stones together. To do this safely, I made sure that I was in that strange area where I saw a universe being born. I had actually been back several times since then and reviewed the footage, and I had to admit I never got tired of watching the sights of a universe slowly forming. The first to be turned into a cleaner stone was the Space Stone. Then I did the same to the Soul Stone, Mind Stone, Power Stone, and Time Stone. I didn't have to be that careful, as since the area I was in was outside the Marvel Universe, the Infinity Stones were basically just fancy paperweights. The only one that I had to be careful with was the Reality Stone, or as it was at this point, the Aether.
Thankfully, I had managed to design a way to solidify the Aether into the Reality Stone. I really had to thank Odin, as it was thanks to reading the old records in their library that I finally found the last puzzle piece to this problem. As such, I now truly had the full set. The only shame was that I didn't have an Infinity Gauntlet and couldn't even use it even if I did.
'Oh well.'
I put the Reality Stone into my inventory and got a notification.
[Ding]
[Detected The Host Has Collected All Six Infinity Stones. Would You Like To Integrate Them?]
[Yes] [No]
'Integrate?'
I was intrigued, so I opened the system help menu to get an explanation for what that meant, and when I got the answer, my eyes felt like they might pop out of my skull.
'Yes!'
I selected yes as the rewards were more than worth it. Sure, I lost a bit of offensive power, but the reward was too good to pass up.
[Confirmed]
[Stones Integrated.... New Immunities Gained]
Integration gave me immunities to all forms of Soul, Space, Time, Reality, Power, Mind, and finally Continuity manipulations. Sure, I had some form of immunity to those kinds of powers before, but now I was truly immune to any and all forms of that, and it would affect a radius around me as well. The only two that weren't as clear were Power and Continuity. Power meant that I couldn't have my powers stolen, absorbed, sealed, copied, or anything similar to that; it sadly didn't make me immune to all powers. Continuity was based on the secret 7th Infinity Stone that was stolen by Deadpool in the comics, which, in that case, gave him the ability to communicate with the writers of Marvel. In this case, it instead gave me immunity to people trying to rewrite my fate or plot. It also gives me the most powerful ability in all of existence. I can bypass Plot Armour. And this one isn't a radius; it affects any universe I am in and lingers in places I live for a long time, so my main universe is safe from Retcons or anything like that even when I wasn't present.
It was more than worth losing those useless trinkets, as they can only be used in my main universe and only after I eventually become strong enough to use them. These immunities are active everywhere and at all times. And Thanos truly has no chance at getting any Infinity Stones. Though I still need to kill him or otherwise deal with him.
'I wonder if Nokotan can beat him? Probably. I think she's like Kermit in that she wins if it's funny that she wins.'