A dark crimson radiance bloomed from the Infinity Gauntlet—like a cosmic curtain being drawn open.
Centered on Lock, waves of energy rippled outward, wrapping the world in their glow.
For a fleeting instant, everyone thought they saw another realm behind that crimson veil—a shadow of a world that both existed and didn't. But when they blinked, everything looked the same.
In truth, Lock had awakened the Reality Stone, yet he hadn't created any illusions. If he wished, he could have rewritten reality itself—just as Thanos once did when he toyed with the Guardians of the Galaxy.
A simple thought could veil the entire world in illusion, trapping the weak-minded in a dream from which they'd never awaken.
But Lock wasn't here to deceive. He was here to erase.
The crimson tide spread faster and faster, the power building like a storm around him.
One hundred kilometers…
A thousand…
Ten thousand…
The rooftop became the eye of the tempest. The energy wasn't harmful, but the wind it stirred was enough to send even Fury, Hill, and Helen staggering backward.
Superheroes caught them before anyone fell. No one dared to leave—because who would walk away when Lock was about to save the Earth again?
At forty thousand kilometers, the Reality Stone's energy finally enveloped the entire planet, shrouding it in a faint red hue. The storm stilled for an instant—then surged again, its tendrils reaching beyond the atmosphere.
A crimson beam lanced upward into space, branching into countless filaments of energy. They coiled around orbital satellites, communication arrays, and lunar probes, covering the Earth-Moon system in a scarlet mist.
Down below, countless civilians looked up at the red sky, panic rising. Gas masks appeared on faces as people screamed that the air was poisoned.
Lock only smiled faintly.
Step one—complete.
Though he couldn't wield the Reality Stone as fully as the Dark Elf King once had, the Power Stone amplified it—enough to blanket the Earth and Moon alike.
Under that vast veil, he could see—see every pulse of electronic life.
Now came step two: erasing Zola.
To the naked eye, the world looked unchanged. But in the digital dimension, chaos reigned.
Inside the global network, Zola's countless data fragments convulsed. Circuits melted. CPUs burned. Drives scrambled. Code collapsed into static.
Zola's AI clones fled along fiber cables, trying desperately to escape Lock's expanding domain.
Across the globe, routers and servers were overloaded as terabytes of corrupted data surged toward the United States—Zola's last refuge.
Each time Lock sensed the digital signature vanish from an area, he severed the network node entirely, cutting off the route.
One by one, escape paths disappeared.
Hill's voice cut through the chaos:
"Lock! Incoming nuclear launch—two warheads, underwater trajectory!"
Zola had found control of a nuclear submarine—and fired.
By the time S.H.I.E.L.D. detected the launch, the missiles were already over the U.S. mainland. The offline defense systems couldn't compute an intercept fast enough.
If they detonated over New York, the blast would erase everything for miles.
Even Thor, Wanda, and Vision—stationed outside the barrier—couldn't stop it. If they tried, Zola would detonate them midair.
All eyes turned to Lock.
He frowned, focusing. Through the layers of energy and atmosphere, he could see them—two blinding specks of light cutting through the sky toward him.
Then, calmly, he asked:
"Natasha… what flavor of cotton candy do you like?"
"Wha—?!"
The rooftop exploded in disbelief.
Now?!
The nuclear missiles were seconds away, and Lock was flirting.
But Natasha didn't hesitate. "Strawberry!" she snapped.
Quicksilver chimed in from beside her, panicked and babbling, "My sister likes five-nut flavor! Idol, hurry, they're almost here!"
The sky burned white. Two missiles streaked toward them, their warheads glinting with the promise of annihilation.
Everyone held their breath. Even Wanda shut her eyes, heart pounding.
The missiles hit the energy barrier—
BOOM! BOOM!
—only, there was no explosion.
The warheads passed straight through the shield like ghosts… and crashed directly onto the rooftop.
"Ah!" Pietro yelped as one struck him square in the chest.
But instead of vaporizing him, the missile… bounced.
He blinked, confused—then shouted, "Wanda! Five-nut flavor! It's five-nut cotton candy!"
Everyone stared.
The two nuclear missiles had transformed into massive, ten-meter-long marshmallows—soft, fluffy, and faintly steaming.
Natasha reached out in disbelief, pressing her hand against one. It felt warm… and spongy.
She tore off a bit, glanced at Lock for confirmation.
He nodded.
She tasted it. Sweet. Soft. Melted instantly on her tongue—strawberry.
That was all the permission the others needed. One by one, they broke off pieces to taste.
One marshmallow was strawberry. The other—five-nut.
It was absurdly good.
As Fury chewed, however, he felt a shiver crawl down his spine. This wasn't just power. This was divine mockery.
Turning nuclear warheads into candy—who does that?
If Lock ever looked him in the eye and said, "Stare any longer and I'll drink you," Fury wouldn't assume it was a joke. He'd assume Lock would literally drink him—and somehow make it taste good.
Thor chuckled, taking a bite himself. "Brother, I have to say—you've surpassed even me. Your grasp of the Infinity Stones runs deeper than I imagined."
Lock just smiled faintly, the crimson light of the Gauntlet reflecting in his eyes.
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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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