In Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, Thanos sacrificed Gamora, and Black Widow sacrificed herself before obtaining the Soul Stone.
Later, Tony Stark's late father, Howard, discovered the Space Stone while searching for Captain America. But even with all his brilliance, he was unable to harness its power.
In Captain Marvel's storyline, Mar-Vell, a Kree who had gone undercover on Earth, used the Space Stone to develop a lightspeed engine. He eventually betrayed the Kree Empire and sided with the Skrulls.
Mar-Vell hid the Space Stone inside his space station, but when a Kree strike team led by Carol Danvers destroyed it, Carol absorbed the unleashed energy. That was how she became Captain Marvel.
Everything beyond this point followed the movies. But since Aetheris had already crossed into this world, events began to change.
Mortals cannot wield the Infinity Stones, for they hold unimaginably terrifying power. Touching the Power Stone would reduce a mortal to ash. The Time Stone would show no reaction. The Reality Stone would leave one a hollow husk. The Mind Stone would strip away sanity, leaving only madness. The Space Stone could hurl its holder into an unknown dimension.
Now before Aetheris lay the Cosmic Cube, glowing with brilliant blue light. Once safeguarded by Asgard, it had even inspired the creation of the Bifröst.
To Aetheris, the Space Stone was like Doraemon's "Anywhere Door," or like the ability in fantasy novels to tear through the barriers of space once the laws of space were mastered.
But anyone who had seen the films knew the Space Stone had a will of its own.
Though it could not speak, its infinite energy and its ability to teleport and manipulate space dazzled the imagination.
Aetheris had stared at it for more than two hours before a sudden thought struck him: could this Space Stone send him back to his original world?
It was a fascinating question, but also a dangerous one.
If it worked, only his body would cross over. Back on Earth, an American would suddenly appear out of nowhere, forced to start from scratch. But that world had no superheroes. With Captain America's physique and Hulk's bloodline, he might be revered as a god—or dissected as an alien in Area 51.
If it failed, he could just as easily end up stranded on some barren, lifeless planet, condemned to spend his days hauling bricks until the end of time.
After weighing the risks, Aetheris chose caution. He was no longer a lone wanderer. An entire company of employees depended on him for their livelihood. At his villa and beyond, countless women waited for his affection.
And more importantly, countless superheroes were waiting for him to become their mentor. The burden on his shoulders felt heavier than ever.
Nick Fury walked over, studying him with curiosity.
"Stark, have you figured anything out?"
Aetheris snapped from his thoughts and shook his head.
"Not yet. But if Hydra's Professor Zola once found a way to study it, why shouldn't I, Tony Stark, be able to do the same?"
Fury nodded approvingly.
"Good. That's the spirit. So when do you plan to move it?"
Aetheris thought carefully. At the moment, he had only two research facilities: Stark Industries in Manhattan, and a nuclear fusion test site he had built months earlier in the remote mountains of western New York.
Bringing the Space Stone to headquarters recklessly would risk losses beyond measure. Property damage was one thing, but losing top talent was what he feared most.
Raised in a culture that valued people above all else, Aetheris firmly believed that talent came first and that the interests of his people were fundamental.
The Space Stone could bring immense benefits, but its risks had to be considered. Since it was the greatest target in the Marvel universe, he would need to build a brand-new research base.
It had to be hidden, fortified, and most importantly far away from any city.
"Alright, let's settle it here."
He spun the globe beside him, and his gaze stopped at the southernmost point of Earth: Antarctica.
"Wouldn't that be too far?" Cyclops asked uneasily. He agreed with the principle, but just hearing the name of the continent filled him with doubt.
To be honest, fewer than ten thousand people in history had ever set foot in Antarctica, and even that was an optimistic number. For Earth's population of 6.5 billion, the odds were about one in a million.
Cyclops himself had never been there. It was practically forbidden to humanity. Aside from scientific expeditions, survival there was impossible.
"This is the only option. The Cosmic Cube is too important. If anyone else got hold of it, they could gather the Infinity Stones much faster."
Aetheris didn't say the rest out loud. It would still be over ten or twenty years before Thanos appeared on Earth. His own power had only just begun to grow. He couldn't risk becoming a villain before Thanos arrived, because in the Marvel universe, justice always won—and that would mean his death.
Cyclops watched Aetheris place the Cosmic Cube into a box.
"Why don't you at least stay for lunch before leaving?"
Aetheris blinked, suspicious of what Cyclops was plotting, and set the box back down.
"There's probably not much good food here. How about I treat?"
Cyclops shrugged.
"You're not wrong. Besides, we can use the time to talk more about the Avengers initiative."
Aetheris nodded.
"But bring Agent Hill along. I haven't seen her in a while."
Without giving Cyclops the chance to respond, Aetheris picked up the box and walked out.
When Cyclops heard that this playboy even wanted Hill to join them, his face darkened. Recently, newspapers had run fewer stories about Tony Stark's scandals, and he had thought the billionaire had finally changed. Clearly, he had only been biding his time.
As expected, a dog could never stop eating filth.
That afternoon, Aetheris booked a table at a renowned Manhattan restaurant with a long history, founded in the 1960s or 70s by a man from Beijing.
The owner, known simply as Mr. He, was an honest, good-natured man who had come to America after a love affair back home ended badly.
(End of Chapter)
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