"I require an explanation, Psyphon."
Malekith's voice carried the cold authority of someone accustomed to commanding space forces, but underneath lurked a growing edge of suspicion. His dual-toned features, half shadow, half light, twisted with barely contained fury as he studied the alien strategist who should have been dead.
He had always understood that his alliance with Psyphon was built on mutual exploitation rather than genuine loyalty. Unlike Loki's chaotic unpredictability, Psyphon had offered concrete value, revenge against the Plumbers in exchange for the loyalty of Thanos's former armies and access to space-level resources.
Malekith could have accepted straightforward betrayal. What he couldn't tolerate was Psyphon bringing unknown entities to challenge his authority directly.
The audacity was breathtaking.
"Do you mistake me for some powerless pretender?" Malekith actually laughed, the sound carrying genuine amusement mixed with lethal intent.
He had just suffered a tactical defeat at Ben Parker's hands and remained in a state of space fury. Under normal circumstances, Psyphon's usefulness might have earned him a chance to explain his actions. But bringing uninvited guests to threaten the King of the Dark Elves crossed every conceivable line.
"I'll grant you one opportunity for repentance, Psyphon," Malekith declared with icy finality, deliberately refusing to acknowledge Vilgax's imposing presence. "Kneel before me and offer Midgard as tribute to your rightful master."
Among the Nine Realms, only Earth remained untouched by the current conflict. While Malekith had temporarily abandoned his pursuit of the Aether particles, his determination to control all Nine Realms had only intensified. With time running short before the Convergence's conclusion, delegating Earth's conquest to Psyphon would allow him to focus on more challenging targets.
"Of course we intend to visit Earth," Psyphon replied with unmistakable amusement, his cybernetic enhancements glinting in the dim light of Svartalfheim's ruined throne chamber. "After you surrender to the conqueror of ten realms, the great Vilgax."
The ten realms referenced the eight remaining kingdoms of the traditional nine, plus the fallen Heaven and conquered Sakaar. While these represented aspirational rather than achieved conquests, Psyphon spoke with the confidence of someone who considered victory inevitable, merely a matter of timing.
"It appears you have foolishly chosen death," Malekith said without hesitation.
Dark energy erupted from his enhanced form like a tide of liquid shadow, gathering in his palm before manifesting as a roaring dragon of pure destruction. The attack carried enough force to level mountains, channeling both Light Elf radiance and Dark Elf void-power in perfect synthesis.
But Vilgax's mountain-like form didn't even twitch in response to the assault.
Instead, Psyphon and Sixsix stepped forward simultaneously, massive Sky Hammers materializing in their grips. The enchanted weapons blazed with opposing energies, terrible flames and the cold wind of death, that met Malekith's dragon-attack head-on and shattered it completely.
"You are unworthy of Lord Vilgax's personal attention!" Psyphon declared with savage satisfaction.
Despite his relatively slender build, the alien strategist wielded his enormous Sky Hammer as though it were weightless, space authority flowing through his enhanced physiology. Both he and Sixsix had possessed formidable abilities even before receiving Cul's divine weapons, strength comparable to Asgardian Cursed Warriors or elite sword-saints.
With the Sky Hammers' divine enhancement, they had become entities capable of serving as final bosses in lesser space conflicts.
Their combined assault sent Malekith flying backward across his own throne chamber, dark matter and light-energy crackling around his tumbling form as he crashed into the ancient walls with bone-crushing force.
The Angel King and the Three War Witches immediately moved to provide support, but Vilgax's other subordinates reacted with practiced coordination. Sevenseven and Eighteight engaged the war witches in brutal melee combat, while Sindr the Ash Queen trapped the Angel King within a cage of hellfire that burned at temperatures approaching stellar cores.
In moments, the battle had effectively ended without Vilgax lifting a finger.
Malekith attempted to rally, drawing the divine weapon granted by Heaven's ruler, but Vilgax casually gestured and the artifact simply... transferred to his control. The casual display of authority over divine implements was more terrifying than any direct assault.
Then Vilgax raised a single finger, and the true extent of his power became clear.
Pure terror erupted from his enhanced form, not fear as an emotion, but Fear as a space principle. The attack bypassed all physical defenses and struck directly at the deepest foundations of Malekith's psyche.
Suddenly, the King of the Dark Elves was no longer a space entity wielding the combined powers of light and shadow.
He was a starving child in plague-ravaged Svartalfheim, surviving by transporting corpses for burial. Death lurked around every corner like a patient predator, and the skinny boy had no protectors, no resources, no hope beyond each day's meager survival.
That primal terror, the bone-deep certainty that death could claim him at any moment, returned with overwhelming force.
Malekith collapsed, his space powers flickering as his enhanced form curled into a fetal position. He trembled at every sound, paranoid and broken, as though any movement might invite the final blow he had spent millennia trying to escape.
"Pathetic," Sixsix observed with cold contempt. "Completely overwhelmed by fear."
Malekith possessed tremendous power, but his psychological foundations were built on childhood trauma and existential terror. While Vilgax's Fear authority could awaken dread in any opponent, beings with sufficient willpower could resist or overcome the illusion through mental discipline.
But Malekith crumbled like a broken dam, offering no resistance whatsoever.
"Worthless," Vilgax agreed dismissively, gesturing toward his power-absorption apparatus.
Psyphon immediately dragged the paralyzed Dark Elf toward the device while Sixsix moved to assist with the other prisoners. Soon, the Three War Witches and Angel King joined Malekith in helpless captivity, awaiting the extraction of their accumulated authorities.
The so-called angelic power was revealed as curse-based magic, a remnant of Odin's ancient dominion over Heaven that would now serve Vilgax's ambitions. The War Witches provided something even more valuable: complete mastery over the Dark Rainbow Bridge.
With dimensional transport capabilities, Vilgax could deploy his armies to any location within the Nine Realms instantly. Malekith's surviving forces would bow to new leadership, the fire demons would serve a worthier master, and even the angels would submit to superior authority.
"I am the King of All Realms!" Vilgax declared as space energies flowed into his already enhanced physiology.
Within his transformed body, the powers of various domains began merging and resonating: fire and ice, light and darkness, curse and fear, titanic strength and divine authority. The interaction of so many fundamental forces created something unprecedented, a tree-shaped energy pattern that seemed to encompass entire realities.
"Is that... the World Tree?" Sixsix whispered in amazement.
Vilgax already possessed individual powers that approached godlike status. The fusion of seven distinct space authorities was creating something capable of reshaping existence itself, the power to destroy old realities and create new universes according to his will.
At this moment, Vilgax commanded strength sufficient to challenge Yggdrasil directly.
"A pity we couldn't acquire the power of death," Psyphon observed with grudging admiration. "Otherwise, the Nine Realms would be completely under your dominion."
He was genuinely awed by what he witnessed. This was victory beyond his wildest expectations, Lord Vilgax had transcended mere conquest to become something approaching a fundamental force of nature.
"With such overwhelming divine power, do you even require that watch?" Sixsix asked with nervous curiosity.
He had witnessed the Omnitrix's capabilities firsthand, and while impressive, no single artifact could possibly challenge Vilgax's current authority. Unless the legends about the Outer Gods were actually true, unless that device truly contained genetic templates from entities beyond conventional reality... but such beings were surely mythological constructs, like the Celestialsapiens or Contemelia, stories told to frighten children.
"I don't need it personally," Vilgax replied, carelessly tossing the shrunken, dehydrated form of Malekith aside like discarded refuse. "But my soldiers do."
His plan had evolved beyond simple conquest. "I intend to wage war across multiple realities. The Omnitrix's genetic templates will be copied onto blank biological matrices, creating the most powerful army the universe has ever seen. We will conquer not merely worlds, but entire dimensional clusters."
Vilgax paused, his transformed features twisting into an expression of terrible anticipation.
"Now it's time to conquer the multiverse itself."
Traveling between realities had clearly expanded his ambitions, but he possessed the power to make such grandiose claims reality. Perhaps no force within the Nine Realms could oppose him now, and beyond their boundaries lay infinite cosmos filled with countless realities ripe for subjugation.
Vilgax had become too powerful for single-universe conflicts.
The multiverse awaited his dominion.
"Come, children," he commanded his enhanced subordinates. "Let us claim Earth and crush the Plumbers once and for all."
Earth - Plumbers Headquarters
Knowing that large-scale conflict seemed increasingly inevitable, Norman Osborn had maintained the planetary defense shield at maximum operational capacity for weeks. The protective barrier drew its seemingly inexhaustible energy from the Power Stone, creating a nearly impenetrable shell around Earth's atmosphere.
Additionally, they had constructed a planet-destroying energy cannon capable of delivering devastating force anywhere within the solar system. The weapon represented the combined efforts of Dr. Bruce Banner and Dr. Otto Octavius, using vibranium-enhanced focusing arrays to channel Power Stone energy into coherent destructive beams.
Unfortunately, the cannon's tremendous power came with significant limitations. The weapon could only fire once per day, repeated use would exceed even vibranium's tolerance limits and potentially cause catastrophic muzzle explosion.
"Against external threats, a single shot should prove decisive," Banner observed with quiet confidence as he reviewed the weapon's specifications.
An attack capable of obliterating entire planets would be difficult for most entities to survive, especially if they could achieve perfect timing and target selection.
"But such weapons are useless against enemies who breach our planetary defenses," Norman replied grimly, his security-focused mindset always seeking additional contingencies.
Perhaps because of his experiences during the Battle of New York, the director of the Plumbers' Earth branch suffered from what could only be described as chronic insufficient-firepower syndrome. No amount of destructive capability ever seemed adequate for his peace of mind.
"With a Power Stone-enhanced planetary shield, how could enemies possibly appear inside Earth's protective perimeter?" Banner asked with genuine confusion.
The logic seemed sound. If opponents could destroy barriers powered by Infinity Stone energy, the planet-killer cannon's output would likely prove equally ineffective.
"If such entities actually exist," Banner continued with dark humor, "there's no hope anyway. We might as well surrender immediately."
He paused, considering their ultimate contingency plan. "Actually, that's not entirely accurate. We can always wait to see what miraculous new transformation Mr. Parker unveils."
Norman shook his head with fond exasperation. "We can't always rely on Ben's capabilities. Eventually, we need to develop independent strategic assets."
The conversation highlighted a persistent concern about Earth's defensive posture. "Aside from the Power Stone, our planetary security remains inadequately developed," Norman continued. "Plumber agents on other worlds are primarily alien species with natural superhuman abilities, while Earth's personnel are enhanced humans who received super-soldier serum. Even our Thunderbolts team members possess relatively modest powers by space standards."
"Most alien species aren't necessarily more powerful than enhanced humans," Otto interjected from his position at the particle collider controls.
His recent visits to Plumber headquarters and various branch worlds had provided valuable perspective on galactic demographics. "The majority of space civilizations operate at roughly human baseline capability. Even the Chitauri soldiers who attacked Earth, considered elite forces throughout known space, possessed individual combat abilities comparable to well-trained human soldiers."
He gestured toward Banner with obvious amusement. "As for high-end combat capability, don't we have the Hulk?"
"Please don't include me in strategic calculations," Banner replied with weary resignation. "If I transform, I can't guarantee which side would benefit from the Hulk's participation."
The green monster's unpredictability remained a constant source of tactical uncertainty.
"Our Thunderbolts roster actually provides impressive capabilities," Banner continued, attempting a more optimistic assessment. "Particularly Wanda Maximoff, who possesses tremendous growth potential. And Eunice. essentially functions as a walking Infinity Stone. The Masters of the Mystic Arts from the Sanctum Sanctorum have also expressed interest in formal alliance with the Plumbers."
When calculated comprehensively, Earth's defensive capabilities were actually comparable to many powerful space empires, even excluding Ben's direct contributions.
"That analysis sounds encouraging in theory," Norman replied skeptically, "but Ben is frequently absent from Earth, and the same applies to Eunice. As for Wanda, setting aside her current off-world status, she's still developing her full potential."
Without these key assets, Earth's superhero community consisted primarily of enhanced humans with limited space-level experience. Norman's pessimism wasn't entirely unjustified.
Eunice.'s future responsibilities would likely keep her away from Earth indefinitely, protecting the Infinity Stones and overseeing Primus's transformation. Wanda and Pietro seemed increasingly committed to serving as Ben's personal retinue rather than planetary defenders.
At that moment, piercing alarms suddenly filled the command center with urgent warnings.
All three men immediately snapped to attention, their casual conversation forgotten.
"What's happening, Azmuth?" Norman demanded, his voice cutting through the electronic cacophony.
The AI responded instantly, holographic displays materializing around the command center. "Alert: anomalous energy manifestations detected over New York City. Energy levels exceed measurement parameters."
The screen showed Manhattan shrouded in absolute darkness, as though reality itself had been torn away to reveal empty void. Countless monstrous forms poured from the dimensional breach, their otherworldly appearances defying conventional description.
But the crisis extended far beyond New York.
"Temperature anomaly in Washington D.C., entire metropolitan area experiencing flash-freeze conditions," Azmuth continued with clinical precision. "Los Angeles registering extreme thermal elevation, "
Additional screens displayed scenes of devastation from across the nation. Cities transformed into frozen wastelands, others consumed by supernatural fire, and still others simply... gone, replaced by landscapes that belonged to alien worlds.
Several long seconds passed before Banner found his voice. "I believe the war has officially begun."
Otto immediately checked their planetary defense status, his face darkening as the readings became clear. "The shield remains completely intact," he reported with growing frustration.
He slammed his fist against the control console with enough force to crack the reinforced surface. "The enemy used specialized methods to bypass our physical barriers entirely!"
The limitations of conventional shielding had become catastrophically apparent. Most of Vilgax's accumulated powers operated on magical or dimensional principles, allowing him to simply teleport his forces past technological defenses and strike directly at Earth's population centers.
Norman Osborn stood with military bearing, his voice carrying the authority of someone prepared for exactly this moment.
"Thunderbolts," he declared, the words echoing through emergency communication channels across the globe, "assemble!"
The final battle for Earth had begun.
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