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When Nolan and Supergiant stepped out of the rift, the skies above Xandar were already empty. The Chitauri swarm and Thanos's armada were erased, shredded into nothing by the collapse of Nolan's mirror dimension.
Commander Irani Rael stared at him, throat dry. One casual snap of his fingers, and an invasion that had threatened her entire people was gone.
The fear that crept into her chest told her a truth she didn't dare voice aloud this Supreme Sorcerer was far more terrifying than Thanos.
Nolan appeared beside her without warning. "It's over. Now… the Power Stone."
Irani hesitated, her eyes flicking toward the alien woman at his side.
"She serves me now," Nolan said flatly, nodding toward Supergiant.
Irani swallowed, then barked a command. "Worldmind release the Orb."
The ceiling of the chamber split open, revealing a containment capsule. Within it, violet light pulsed violently, like a caged star. The Orb floated down slowly into the prison of the Power Stone.
Nolan reached out, his palm brushing the artifact. The raw, destructive essence within clawed at his senses. Among the Infinity Stones, the Power Stone was the most straightforward pure, unrestrained force. Violence incarnate.
He already carried three Stones now: Power, Space, and the one embedded in his lab's reserves. Soul, Reality, and Mind remained scattered Vision's forehead, Vormir's hidden altar, the Collector's vault. Each would require a strategy.
Nolan tucked the Orb away. "I'll analyze it later. For now… my business here is finished."
Irani bit her lip. Desperation overrode her pride. "Supreme Sorcerer… I wish to offer Xandar's allegiance to Earth. A formal alliance. If you would grant permission."
Nolan studied her, amused. "Xandar, the so-called guardian of the galaxy, begging for protection?"
She grimaced. "Guardian? If not for you, we'd be ashes. Our title means nothing."
"Then send your envoys to Earth. They'll find the right hands to negotiate with."
Relief washed over her face. "Thank you… Supreme Sorcerer."
Nolan gave a curt nod, opened a shimmering portal, and stepped through.
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Back in his hidden sanctum, Nolan dropped a stack of schematics onto E.L.L.'s holographic frame the Nova Corps' worldmind blueprints and their capital-class warship designs. Then he moved to his private chamber.
Three Stones.
Three cosmic truths in his grasp.
He conjured a mirror dimension, isolating reality from the storm he was about to unleash.
From a secure Asgardian relic case, he retrieved the Tesseract. Runes glowed across its surface wards designed to suppress its power. Nolan pressed his hand against it, and with a single squeeze, the crystalline cube shattered, spilling fragments like shards of frozen starlight.
At its heart, the Space Stone revealed itself. Crystalline, multi-faceted, glowing with endless corridors of blue light like windows into every dimension of the cosmos. Space itself breathed around it.
"Connection nodes… infinite lattices feeding off the Dark Dimensions," Nolan murmured as his eyes flared. "This isn't just a gem. It's a Concept fruit the crystallization of the universe's understanding of space."
He clenched the Stone in his palm. It pulsed violently, space fracturing outward, but Nolan's body became the anchor. His veins lit with blue fire, skin marked with glowing sigils as the Stone tried to tear him apart.
Cells screamed. Space folded and unfolded within him.
But Nolan only smiled through the strain. "Yes… feed me."
When the blaze finally settled, the Space Stone vanished consumed. Locked within his being. His body now pulsed with the hum of infinity, every cell a tiny singularity, hungering and evolving.
For the first time, Nolan felt… full.
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