Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

Inside the Battleship

Thanos watched as Ebony Maw tried to escape, got caught, and was killed. His face almost turned from purple to blue with rage.

The Dark Order had been utterly humiliated by that coward!

Nebula, Black Dwarf, and Corvus Glaive could feel the Mad Titan's fury. Trembling, they immediately dropped to their knees.

They couldn't understand it—why had Ebony Maw acted like that?

Why was he so afraid?

It was unthinkable!

Thanos let out a cold snort, picked up his double-bladed weapon beside the throne, and growled:

"A bunch of trash… I'll do it myself!"

The others knelt silently, not daring to look up. They knew Thanos wasn't just speaking out of anger—he meant it. No one else was allowed to interfere in this fight.

He wanted to unleash his wrath personally. To tear flesh. To crush bone. To drown his enemies in darkness and fear.

None of them below would be spared.

But just as Nebula was wondering how to beg Thanos for mercy, the entire ship began to shake violently. A sharp, blaring alarm echoed across the command deck.

[WARNING! Unknown energy attack detected!]

[Energy shield activated!]

[WARNING! Energy shield failure!]

[Repeat—energy shield failure!]

[Level 1 battleship disaster triggered. All crew evacuate immediately!]

[The ship will be completely destroyed in… 9 seconds.]

[8... 7... 6...]

Nebula and the others looked up in shock, their expressions quickly turning to horror.

Just moments before this descent into chaos, the only oddity they noticed… was that strange man on the ground pointing at the ship.

But how could this be happening?

Cold dread ran down their spines, and their bodies began to tremble uncontrollably.

Finally… they understood what Ebony Maw had felt.

On the Ground

As Russell slowly curled his fingers into a fist, everyone on the battlefield watched in awe as the oppressive warship in the sky began to shake violently.

Then, a dark-blue hexagonal energy shield rose into place.

Star-Lord's eyes widened as he shouted in disbelief:

"That's an Alpha-level reinforced shield! Its energy core runs on a molybdenum reactor—it could withstand a meteor storm!"

"Even the New Legion's high-energy lasers wouldn't—"

BOOM!

The sound thundered through his chest. His voice stopped mid-sentence as his eyes nearly bulged out of his skull.

The shield—a defensive system Yondu couldn't afford in ten lifetimes—was suddenly covered in wild arcs of electricity… and then vanished.

Destroyed in a second!

"Oh my god!!!" Star-Lord screamed.

Tony swallowed hard and turned around.

He never would've guessed the man they'd rescued from the crashed ship was actually an Earthling.

But there was no time to think about that now.

Because what happened next defied all logic.

An unbearable grinding metallic sound filled the air.

The massive battleship above them sparked wildly as its outer shell—crafted from unknown alien alloys—began to twist and deform before their eyes.

Captain America and Tony both now realized why the Chitauri's bio-weapons had twisted into scrap metal earlier.

But compared to this… that was nothing.

Weapon turrets glowed—then blacked out.

Escape pods and teleportation platforms were crushed and shattered instantly!

The entire ship was shapeshifting—twisting, contorting, compressing—breaking apart piece by piece.

The violent roar in the sky was deafening, like the fabric of space itself was trembling.

Everyone stared upward in stunned silence.

This unseen power was more terrifying than anything they had witnessed—even on Titan!

Then came the explosion.

The ship's energy core detonated—but instead of expanding, the blast was compressed, sucked back in, and rolled through every crevice of the ship like a consuming storm.

And then… Russell clenched his fist.

Space itself seemed to distort.

What had once been an awe-inspiring starship—one that cast a shadow over the entire battlefield—was now reduced to a dense, twisted sphere of scrap metal.

Flames still flickered on its surface, the last embers of a dying behemoth.

Nebula stood frozen. In her mind, she could hear the screams—the despair—of the Dark Order soldiers dying helplessly inside.

It was terrifying.

Death wasn't the worst part.

It was the powerlessness—the absolute fear—that turned it into torture.

And all of this…

It had happened because of Thanos's arrogance.

Now she finally understood what Russell had meant earlier when he said: "Why let him go?"

That hadn't been arrogance—it had been cold, terrifying truth.

Even after all that destruction, Russell's breathing remained calm. His expression didn't change. There wasn't a hint of fatigue on his face.

It was just as he had said before.

Easy.

Nebula shuddered.

She now believed—even the Thanos who had four Infinity Stones on Titan might not be able to defeat this man.

Star-Lord sat on the ground with his mouth hanging open. Slowly, he turned to stare at the man who had just loosened his grip.

He destroyed the entire Dark Order with a single hand!

He had never heard of anyone this powerful—not even the Celestials.

Was this… a god?

Hawkeye and Black Widow, both ordinary mortals, had gone completely numb.

They had never seen anything this terrifying in their entire lives.

If this Sorcerer Supreme had been there during the battle of Wakanda, the Dark Order's invasion would've been pure suicide.

But even now, they were grateful.

It wasn't too late.

This time, they had this powerful being on their side.

At last, the two Avengers understood why Tony and the others had shown such humility toward him earlier.

Even Tony Stark—rebellious, proud Tony—had bowed his head.

With no hesitation, Hawkeye and Black Widow stepped forward to join the team.

The great Sorcerer Supreme, the man who would save half the universe, deserved their reverence.

And from this moment on…

They would be his most loyal allies.

Russell glanced at the sky with a satisfied expression.

He had just tested a new power—one that combined spatial manipulation, mental rotational force, and telekinesis.

He called it the Power of All-Distortion, and it hadn't disappointed him at all.

In just three days at Kamar-Taj, while mastering hundreds of spells might sound like an exaggeration, his strength had indeed skyrocketed.

He had requested a small reward in advance and received secret knowledge from the Ancient One—insights into dimensional space and the technique of manipulating space strings.

And the Ancient One certainly lived up to her title. She wasn't just the Sorcerer Supreme who had tricked Dormammu and cursed people with a flick of her finger—she was much more powerful than the fledgling Strange had ever been.

In just one day, Russell had made a qualitative leap in his perception and control over space.

But what Russell didn't realize was that while he was silently praising the Ancient One's teaching, she had been even more shocked by him.

She had never seen anyone grasp 80% of her teachings in just one day.

Perhaps only the future Doctor Strange could match this level of comprehension.

If Russell hadn't insisted on traveling to a different timeline, she might have seriously considered abandoning Strange and making him the Sorcerer Supreme.

After all, the Masters of the Mystic Arts weren't exactly fond of "Doctor Strange" anyway.

But let's not digress—

Russell didn't linger. Without hesitation, he stepped into the space-time portal.

The others followed and quickly found themselves on a barren mountain littered with jagged rocks. Not a single plant or sign of life could be seen.

Snowflakes floated gently from the gray sky. The environment was bleak and lifeless.

A hint of sorrow appeared in Nebula's eyes.

This was the place where her sister had been killed by Thanos.

The others looked around curiously, trying to spot the Soul Stone.

As for Star-Lord and the Collector's maid, they had fled Morag in fear and followed the group here—though they weren't sure what they were doing exactly.

In the shadows...

Red Skull, cloaked in a smoke-like black aura, gazed at them with gleaming eyes.

So many people!

Since being transported here and cursed to guard the Soul Stone, he had been completely alone.

Unless someone came to claim the stone, he would remain here—alone—until the end of time.

But now... freedom was finally within reach!

And more importantly—wasn't that an old acquaintance?

Waiting for the right moment, Red Skull floated silently behind a large boulder. As the group passed by, he emerged like a ghost, turned his back to them dramatically, and spoke in a solemn, eerie tone:

"Welcome… son of Stark."

"…Natasha Romanoff…"

Bang!

Before he could finish his ominous performance, Russell casually slapped him to the ground.

He looked down at the stunned Red Skull and scolded:

"Seriously? So many people here trying to pass, and you're blocking the way?"

"Are you blind? Deaf?"

Red Skull was stunned.

This isn't how it's supposed to go!

Aren't they supposed to stare at him in awe while he reveals their names with dramatic flair?

Why did he get slapped!?

Captain America finally realized something was off. He stepped forward, eyes wide with surprise.

"Red Skull? Is that you?"

"Did cosmic magic teleport you here?"

Hawkeye and Black Widow—both former S.H.I.E.L.D. agents—were equally shocked.

Red Skull couldn't stand their reactions. Awkwardly dusting himself off, he tried to maintain a mysterious tone and repeated:

"What you seek lies before you, entwined with your deepest fears. To obtain it… you must sacrifice what you love most. That is the rule—"

Smack!

Russell slapped him to the ground again, expertly.

"Speak normal language," he snapped.

Red Skull growled in anger, black soul energy erupting from his body.

"I am the guardian of the Soul Stone! How dare you—"

Smack!

Russell raised his arm and slapped him again.

The swirling black aura around Red Skull scattered, and his body spun a dozen times in the air before crashing into a nearby boulder with a loud thud.

Tony's eyelid twitched.

Why does this feel so familiar?

Oh right—Loki was slapped just like this before.

And this one looked even more painful.

Russell tilted his head.

"What was that? What do I dare?"

Red Skull quickly peeled himself off the rock, forcing a nervous laugh.

"N-No… nothing..."

He was utterly stunned.

He was a soul, and yet those slaps had landed like they were on solid flesh.

Only now did he realize—this man was terrifying.

Russell asked again, "Now, what were you trying to say?"

Red Skull hunched his shoulders and replied quickly:

"The Soul Stone is here. To obtain it, you must sacrifice someone you truly love."

"There's no way around it. That's the rule."

Hearing this, Tony and the others' expressions darkened.

So Russell had been right all along… a sacrifice was required.

And judging by Red Skull's tone, even the Sorcerer Supreme couldn't bypass this cosmic law.

Star-Lord, who had tagged along out of curiosity, suddenly perked up and exclaimed:

"The Soul Stone is really here?!"

"Incredible! That thing would sell for at least 300 million Nova Coins to the Collector!"

"If I got it, I'd be rich! My spaceship only cost like 300 coins!"

Hearing this, Russell turned around with a very friendly smile.

"Come here, Quill."

"I'll give you a buff."

"You'll be rich very soon."

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