The metal shells of countless servers split open like husks, fragments, and wires falling away until only the glowing cores remained.
Electricity surged through every fragment, weaving itself into a lattice of blinding white energy. The light grew so intense it devoured color, until nothing could be seen but brilliance.
Then, suddenly — silence.
The light dimmed, revealing a colossal humanoid form standing in the shattered remains of the data center — a towering machine, tens of meters tall, forged from the exposed guts of a thousand servers.
Circuit boards, CPUs, and cables hung from its frame like metallic veins. It looked less like a robot and more like a grotesque sculpture of discarded technology — yet every piece was bound together by an unseen will.
The One and Only Zola had taken form.
Unlike ordinary artificial intelligences, Zola possessed not just code, but a soul — and now, the souls of every Zola copy across the world had merged into a single spiritual entity.
Its power now eclipsed any supervillain that had ever walked the Earth.
The reinforced floors above could not contain the growing mass. Concrete cracked and steel bent as the machine broke through level after level until its massive head burst through the roof of the building.
"Jie jie jie jie…"
Zola's laugh rolled like thunder. The entire building — once the headquarters of the corrupted data fortress that had hosted him — collapsed into dust, which was drawn upward, forming a swirling shell around his body.
The red glow of the Reality Stone clashed with Zola's white spiritual energy, creating a storm of color that tore at the air itself.
Lock hovered in the sky, watching calmly. There was no fear in his gaze — only calculation. He finished purging the remaining scattered Zola fragments and focused entirely on this single, monstrous form.
Within moments, the Reality Stone's energy compressed, isolating the battlefield. Zola was sealed within a crimson sphere nearly ten kilometers wide.
Zola's new voice boomed through the air like an echoing broadcast.
"King Lock! Come and fight me!"
The shockwave from his words scattered debris for miles. Civilians had long since fled, leaving only SHIELD's distant surveillance aircraft circling the perimeter.
Lock floated closer, arms behind his back. "Spiritual materialization," he murmured. "That's rare."
Fury's agents aboard the Quinjet watched in awe. They weren't here to fight — they were watching history unfold.
Zola sneered, voice buzzing with static.
"Even with all your power, King Lock, you still have weaknesses. My perfect form was made to counter you!"
His left arm transformed — mechanical plates twisting and rearranging like a Transformer — until it formed a massive cannon.
There was no explosion, no fire. Instead, a burst of light streamed out, flickering like a hologram.
Lock snapped his fingers.
A spatial barrier shimmered around him — not merely shielding energy, but bending the paths of light itself.
The holograms flickered, surrounding him — a cascade of vivid illusions.
Women appeared. Thousands of them.
Each hologram depicted a woman of impossible beauty — faces, bodies, and movements drawn straight from the archives of the corrupted data Zola had absorbed.
They reached for Lock, their voices dripping with desire and pain. "Save us… hold us…"
Lock frowned. "Really?"
Then, suddenly, the illusions changed.
The faces were no longer anonymous. He saw Hill, Wanda, Helen, Daisy, even Sif from Asgard — every woman he'd known, respected, or fought beside.
They called his name, their eyes pleading. Even closing his eyes didn't help — the projections bypassed his sight, pressing straight into his consciousness.
Lock exhaled softly. "Ah. A spiritual attack."
Not just an illusion — this was a psychic invasion.
Zola had turned human desire itself into a weapon, using the primal impulse of the mind as the bridge into Lock's spirit.
"You can't win, King Lock!" Zola's voice reverberated both in the air and inside Lock's skull.
"You are one soul — I am billions, fused into one perfect consciousness. Your mind will be mine!"
If any mystic from Kamar-Taj had been present, they would have recognized the technique instantly.
This was possession — the act of forcibly seizing another's body by overwhelming their soul.
Zola, with his vast intellect and psychic density, had instinctively discovered the method.
Unfortunately for him… his opponent was Lock.
From Frigga's prophecy and the Time Variance Authority's warnings, Lock already knew — his soul was not of this world.
He had faced the King of the Dark Elves in a battle of pure spirit and survived the blood vortex of Svartalfheim's rift. The strength of his soul had already surpassed mortal boundaries.
The Dark Elf King's will had been annihilated in moments.
Now, this newly-formed Zola would serve as the perfect sharpening stone.
Lock's body went still. He hovered silently in midair, eyes closed, as his consciousness descended into the spiritual battlefield.
From SHIELD's vantage point, Lock seemed frozen in place.
Wanda's brows furrowed. "He's caught in Zola's psychic illusion," she said softly. "They're fighting in the mental realm."
Helen and Daisy exchanged worried looks. "Should we strike Zola's body? Maybe break the connection?"
Before Wanda could respond, Thor smirked, leaning on Mjolnir.
"Relax," he said. "Look at him — does he look like he's struggling? Honestly, he looks too relaxed."
The others turned to stare. Indeed, Lock's face showed no pain — if anything, he looked almost… serene.
The images flickering around him didn't help; every seductive hologram made it look like he was enjoying the experience rather than resisting it.
Thor grinned wider. "See? Maybe he's just… appreciating the art."
Wanda flushed red, turning away. Daisy covered her eyes. Even Helen didn't know where to look.
Natasha rolled her eyes, sighed, and pressed a button on her console.
"Enough," she muttered. "Let's see if this thing bleeds."
A missile launched from the Quinjet, streaking toward Zola's massive electronic body.
It never made it. The closer it flew, the slower it became — until it froze in midair, hanging motionless.
Zola's eyes glowed. "Your toys mean nothing here."
With a flicker of psychic energy, the missile spun in place — then turned back toward the Quinjet.
Wanda's eyes widened. Thor raised his hammer. Both are prepared to intercept.
But before they could act—
BOOM!
The missile exploded into a shower of glittering light.
Instead of flames, thousands of colorful sparks rained down from the sky, illuminating a ten-mile radius in brilliant hues — as if the entire battlefield had turned into a festival of fireworks.
And at its center, two minds clashed — Lock and Zola — locked in a silent, unseen war that would decide the fate of both the physical and digital worlds.
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A/N: New Fanfic Is Out " Naruto: I'm Boruto Uzumaki"
A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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