Inside the building that once served as a hub of innovation, Tony and Reed were tearing through corridors of shattered glass and sparking consoles, their boots splashing through water from ruptured coolant lines.
The entire floor trembled with unstable energy fields, warping the air into shimmering distortions that hummed like an angry hornet's nest.
"Jarvis, what's the energy reading on the main conduit?" Tony shouted over the roar of crackling electricity, his armor flickering from power fluctuations.
JARVIS: "Sir, the field generators are collapsing again. Quantum lattice disintegration detected. You have approximately three minutes before total overload."
Reed, hunched over a handheld analyzer, barked back, "The quantum stabilizers are shot. The feedback loop's unstable we can't contain the exotic energy while the coils are still resonating at this amplitude!"
"Try reversing the phase oscillation," Tony said, sprinting toward a control console. "If we collapse the lattice inward, maybe we can short-circuit the feedback—"
Before he could finish, a massive eruption of energy exploded from the main conduit.
The shockwave tore through the floor sending metal, fire, and shrapnel flying but a translucent telekinetic field shimmered around them, shielding both men from certain death.
Reed coughed through the static haze. "Gojo's field… it's still active?" he muttered, eyes darting to the cracked ceiling. "He must've anchored it before heading out."
"Yeah, bless the flashy bastard," Tony muttered, shaking sparks off his armor as he stood. "That explosion would've turned us into Stark-flavored paste."
They pressed forward through the chaos, moving inside the thin blue bubble Gojo had left around them. The walls were crumbling, machinery twisted and molten circuitry poured down like rain.
Reed adjusted his tool. "I'm rerouting power through the magnetic containment coils, if we stabilize the harmonic feedback, it might buy us a few seconds."
JARVIS: "Sir, the exotic energy is now forming a closed loop. It's redirecting through the generator coils."
"What?" Tony asked, typing furiously into the holo-console.
JARVIS: "Yes sir, it's eating itself."
Tony blinked. "That's… not ideal."
Suddenly, the entire tower shook violently. Light arced through the room, forming jagged lines across the walls like lightning frozen mid-strike. The air grew heavy.
Reed's eyes widened as instruments on his wrist scanner spiked. "What the hell is going on?"
JARVIS: "Energy levels rising exponentially. It appears the exotic matter is being siphoned upward and toward the main breach atop the building. A… nexus point is forming."
Tony looked up. The entire ceiling began to shimmer and twist like liquid glass. "Oh, that's bad."
JARVIS: "Correction, sir: that's catastrophic."
They both looked at each other then ran.
The energy was being sucked straight out of the tower, drawn upward toward the massive swirling tear in the sky. All around them, the city's skyline was bathed in pulsing green light. Then suddenly everything stopped.
The energy went silent. The hum died. Only a thin, trembling thread of power remained, connecting the rooftop generator to the portal above.
Reed froze, scanning the thread. "Oh no… if that connection collapses, the feedback—"
"It'll blow," Tony finished grimly, staring up at the portal. "And we're standing right in the blast radius."
But before Reed could say another word, the portal didn't explode.
Instead, a sharp, crystalline sound echoed through the air. Crack. Like glass shattering.
The portal went black.
"What the hell…?" Tony whispered. "Jarvis, what just happened?"
JARVIS: "Stabilized spacetime path established. The tear has… anchored itself. Sir, I believe something is coming through."
Tony's face went pale. "Uh oh."
They both raced outside as the building trembled again. The sky above was no longer a swirl of green but a vast, ripping void.
The clouds split apart, lightning arced between skyscrapers, and an unnatural silence swallowed the world.
Then they saw a hand that is massive, clawed, and armored in jagged purple plating. It gripped the very edge of the portal. The air around it warped like heat over asphalt. The claws dug into the edges of reality itself, peeling the tear wider.
"Please tell me that's a bad dream," Tony said under his breath.
"Tony…" Reed could barely speak. His analytical mind faltered. "That's—he's—gripping spacetime."
Clint Barton landed beside them, bow drawn. "So, uh… are we having another guest?"
"Yeah," Tony muttered grimly. "And this one didn't RSVP."
Natasha also came around to them with her eyes narrowing. "Great. We failed to close the portal."
Johnny Storm hovered down beside them, flames dancing across his shoulders. "You think?"
Before anyone could respond, a low, resonating shrill echoed through the air. It was part growl, part scream. Then, with a burst of light, hundreds of thousands of insectoids began pouring from the portal, their wings slicing through the air like chainsaws. The swarm descended on the city in a black wave of screeches.
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X-Mansion — Cerebro Chamber
Far away, in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, the alarms of Cerebro screamed.
Professor Xavier was already linked to the machine, his consciousness stretching across the psychic void. What he saw made his blood run cold.
A colossal entity, half-shrouded in voidlight, was tearing open the universe.
"What in the hell is that thing?" Logan grunted, standing beside him as the psychic projection filled the air.
Beast adjusted his glasses, eyes wide. "Fascinating… he's literally gripping the fabric of reality. That shouldn't be possible. Unless—"
"Unless he's like Gojo who can apparently use space powers," Logan interrupted. "And I doubt this one's here to help."
Charles opened his eyes, his face grim. "There's no time for fascination, Hank. They're leaving the city."
Through Cerebro's mental feed, they saw it—the swarm breaking past Manhattan's perimeter. Helicopters, tanks, and energy barricades fired relentlessly, but the insectoids overwhelmed everything, crawling over each other in rivers of black.
Then something slammed into the energy barrier, a massive beam from the portal and tore a hole straight through Gojo's shield over the city. The swarm poured out like blood from a wound.
Ororo's voice was sharp. "We need to move. Now!"
As the others rushed to suit up, Charles sent his telepathic signal across the mansion, his voice echoing through every mind:
"X-Men, New York is almost lost but the avengers and fantastic four are there. The swarm is spreading. We must contain it before it reaches the next cities."
Within moments, the team mobilized. Jean Grey, Cyclops, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Beast, Storm, Wolverine, Jubilee all sprinting to the Blackbird as the engines roared to life.
"Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?" Rogue asked, strapping in.
"The kid's in a conundrum again," Logan said dryly, lighting his cigar.
Beast turned, his face solemn. "Something is invading Earth."
Jubilee blinked. "What?"
"Long story short," Ororo said, taking the pilot seat. "We're going to stop bugs. A lot of bugs."
The jet sliced through the night, heading for the outer city limits.
As they neared the first impact zone, Jean used her telekinesis to lift her team out mid-flight, descending them into the swarm. Cyclops fired bursts of concussive energy, Rogue smashed through clusters of wings, and Nightcrawler blinked through midair, slicing at throats.
Further away, Storm leapt from the jet, summoning lightning from the clouds. The bolts cut through the horde like fire through paper.
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Across the City
Spider-Man swung through the skyline, grabbing terrified civilians from collapsing rooftops.
"Alright people, no pushing, no panicking, and definitely no OW biting! Lady, that's not helping!"
He launched two web lines, slingshotting himself upward, webbing a cluster of insectoids mid-flight. "Alright, bug boys, welcome to New York, try our pizza, die horribly!"
Below him, Daredevil moved through the crowd on the ground, his heightened senses guiding him through smoke and panic. His batons ricocheted off car metal and into insect skulls with perfect precision. "Spider-Man! Cut the power lines ahead they're blocking evac routes!"
"On it!" Peter yelled back, swinging hard as lightning arced from a distant tower.
Above them, the portal pulsed once more, and something colossal emerged. It was a head, plated in gleaming purple armor, eyes burning like molten suns.
Reed stared in horror from the street below. "Dear God..."
The tyrant of the Negative Zone finally breached through.
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