Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

When Star-Lord heard there was a chance to get rich, his eyes lit up.

However, as an 'excellent' predator, he naturally had to weigh the risks.

"Is this really okay?"

"How much can I get?"

"There's definitely no risk!" Russell reassured him.

Star-Lord rubbed his hands together, anticipation written all over his face.

Russell smiled even more broadly and waved his hand:

"Appropriate? Of course, it's appropriate."

"If you succeed, I'll give you a better interstellar ship called the Bena Stark. It's way bigger than that broken-down thing you had before."

Tony, Hawkeye, and the others immediately exchanged strange looks.

If they remembered correctly, wasn't the Milano—the Guardians of the Galaxy's ship—currently parked at the Avengers Base?

If Quill ever gets resurrected, these two guys might just come to blows over it.

Nebula sneered, clearly amused at the thought.

Star-Lord walked over happily.

He knew full well there's no such thing as a free lunch.

But with this big shot—who could crush the Dark Army with one hand—he figured the risk was worth it.

Meanwhile, the Red Skull stood humbly to the side, but inside, he was sneering.

The rules of the Soul Stone can't be broken. These people think they can take the Stone without sacrifice? What a fantasy—

Oh, f**k.

Red Skull's eyes widened in shock as he watched the terrifying man—Russell—stick his hand directly into Star-Lord's head and stir it around like soup.

Star-Lord twitched violently, like he was being electrocuted.

To be honest, Red Skull had never seen anything so horrifying in his entire life.

Even HYDRA's darkest labs were more humane than this. At least they didn't mess with idiots' brains!

But then, a chill ran down his spine.

Star-Lord's eyes began to change as he looked at him.

First came the shy glances. Then his gaze turned bolder… heated… and finally, Star-Lord threw him a wink—right in front of everyone!

But it didn't stop there.

Star-Lord's eyes filled with hesitation… sadness…

Then determination.

He murmured tragically, "I'm sorry, Ms. Schmidt…"

Red Skull gasped, horror filling his face.

Jesus Christ!

He finally realized what Russell had done, and his body instantly turned into black smoke as he fled in terror!

Russell wasn't fazed at all. Smiling, he said casually:

"Don't run, Mr. Sacrifice. Without you, we can't get the Soul Stone!"

At that moment, Tony and the others, who had just been looking at Star-Lord like a total pervert, suddenly understood.

The Sorcerer Supreme had used a psychological suggestion to alter Star-Lord's memory and cognition—making him fall in love with Red Skull!

Everyone was floored by the power and sheer versatility of the Sorcerer Supreme!

Just then, a crackling sound echoed through the air.

A bolt of winding lightning shot from Russell's palm, wrapping around the smoke-like Red Skull like a chain.

The space around them twisted briefly.

When everyone came to their senses, they were already standing at the top of the mountain.

Red Skull had returned to his human form. A rare look of panic filled his usually impassive face.

He screamed in fear:

"No! You can't do this!"

"I'm the Soul Stone's guardian! I'm not bound by the rules!"

Captain America replied calmly:

"The more scared the enemy is, the more it proves we're doing the right thing."

Hearing this final blow from his old rival, Red Skull panicked even more and shouted:

"I've already been transformed into a soul form!"

"Even if you throw me off the cliff, I won't die!"

Hearing that, Captain America hesitated. It… did sound like it might be true.

But then why was Red Skull so scared?

It didn't add up.

Everyone turned their eyes to the Sorcerer Supreme.

Russell kicked Red Skull to the edge of the cliff, handed the lightning chain to Star-Lord, and explained with a grin:

"Indeed. As a soul-form, the fall won't kill you."

Red Skull nodded vigorously, beginning to relax.

But then Russell's tone shifted.

"…But does that really matter?"

He glanced down at the giant rune beneath the cliff and declared confidently:

"No. It doesn't matter."

"What does matter is the ritual. As long as the sacrifice is made, the soul becomes the price for the Stone!"

"So... do it, Quill."

Star-Lord, tears already streaming down his face, roared and charged forward.

With a heartbroken howl, he kicked the horrified Red Skull off the cliff:

"Goodbye… my love!"

"Ah—You idiot!!"

Bang!

With Red Skull's fading curses echoing in the air, his incorporeal form slammed hard against the altar below. Cracks appeared in his smoky body.

A second later, a blinding red-orange light exploded outward, swallowing everything.

When the light faded, everyone found themselves no longer in a cold, barren mountain—

—but standing above calm, peaceful waters.

Only Russell remained staring into the distance at the dark red sky, thoughtful.

Just now, the world had flipped upside down.

For a moment, the boundary between soul and reality blurred.

It was brief—too fast to grasp anything concrete—but Russell could feel it…

His soul felt… more solid.

Or maybe it was just an illusion.

Then came the sound of retching.

Star-Lord was doubled over, clutching the Soul Stone, crying and vomiting.

"I actually fell in love with that ugly freak! He's not even human!"

"I cried! I hesitated! I flirted!"

"It's over! I'm not clean anymore!"

Captain America looked genuinely sympathetic. Falling in love with Red Skull—now that was true horror.

Tony chuckled and said:

"The Sorcerer Supreme did say he could get the Stone."

"Wanna guess who would've been the next candidate if we hadn't met this guy?"

Captain America's expression instantly changed. His eyes filled with unspeakable dread.

Without that idiot Star-Lord…

I would've fallen in love with Red Skull!

At this moment, Star-Lord finally finished vomiting. He turned his head toward Russell, face full of resentment.

"You owe me a spaceship!"

Russell shrugged.

"Then don't come asking me for it."

Star-Lord was stunned on the spot!

I went through all that—and he's trying to back out?!

Isn't this just bullying an honest man?!

He was just about to get angry, but before he could speak, he suddenly remembered what had happened back on Morag.

His expression changed. Deflated, he muttered with grievance:

"I paid a big price, you know. A guy like you shouldn't be playing tricks like this."

Russell just glanced at him and said:

"Look at your hand."

Star-Lord opened his palm—and suddenly realized that the Soul Stone was fading.

It flickered briefly… then vanished completely.

Tony's expression changed instantly.

"What the hell? Didn't it work?!"

The others panicked as well.

Russell sighed.

"Looks like the loophole isn't that easy to exploit."

"When Quill regained his memory, the sacrifice was invalidated."

"I canceled the memory alteration too early. I should've waited until after we snapped our fingers."

He smiled again and turned to the others.

"But it's fine. We can travel back in time and do it again."

Star-Lord collapsed to his knees with a plop, face pale.

"Bro… if we do that again, I'm dead!"

Russell nodded, showing no sign of sympathy, and turned to look at the rest of the team.

At that moment, Earth's mightiest heroes all bowed their heads—

—just like students avoiding eye contact with the teacher after spacing out in class.

Nobody wanted to be picked.

Finally, Captain America clenched his jaw, raised his head, and said:

"I'll do it. I believe Peggy would forgive me."

Looking at Steve—Mr. Morality, noble and stoic—trying to act like a tragic hero, Russell nearly laughed out loud.

This guy probably didn't even look this serious when he crash-landed into the Arctic.

But he'd already had his fun. He didn't actually want to see Red Skull's disgusting face again. He'd only said that to see everyone's reactions.

Shame he hadn't brought his phone. That would've made for some fantastic photos.

Russell waved it off casually.

"Forget it. We don't have to get the Soul Stone here."

"Let's try something else."

Hawkeye looked up, confused.

"If not here, then where else?"

Tony suddenly thought of something.

"You mean when Thanos sacrificed Gamora?"

"But we don't know the exact time. And if we show up too early, Thanos might not go through with it."

"Unless we could somehow hide on the planet without being detected by Thanos… or Red Skull."

But even as he said it, he knew it was unlikely. As the guardian of the Stone, Red Skull could probably sense anyone nearby.

Russell shook his head slightly.

"Why go through all that trouble? Isn't there another time point?"

"Just give me the exact spacetime coordinates. Also, none of you can physically survive using the Stones to snap your fingers anyway."

Tony took a deep breath. He understood what Russell meant.

Thanos with the Stones would be much more dangerous. His respect for Russell deepened.

And yet…

He was just about to volunteer to become Red Skull's next boyfriend—

When Russell cut in:

"It's settled. I don't repeat myself."

"Oh—and take Quill and his alien girlfriend with you. Without powers or immortality, he won't survive in the Void."

Tony didn't know where this Void was, but it definitely didn't sound safe.

He didn't argue. Instead, he gave Russell the spacetime coordinates from their previous time travel jump.

Russell opened a portal, and they stepped through.

Date: 2018.09.27

Location: Titan

Tony, Star-Lord, Spider-Man, and the others were discussing strategies.

Suddenly, Mantis asked in surprise:

"Um… is your friend… normally like that?"

Tony turned to look.

Doctor Strange was floating cross-legged in the air, green energy swirling around his wrists. His head spun in a blur—so fast there were afterimages.

"…That's a strong neck," Drax muttered, impressed.

Seriously? Tony shook his head and called out:

"Hey, Strange! You okay?"

Doctor Strange suddenly dropped from midair, gasping for breath.

"I just went through time… browsed all the possible future outcomes of our upcoming battle."

He paused, then added:

"There were 14,000,605 possible futures."

Tony went straight to the point:

"How many did we win?"

Even Drax tensed up.

Doctor Strange was silent for a few seconds. Then, in a heavy tone, he replied:

"…Only one."

The air went still. Everyone's faces turned grim.

Only one.

One out of 14 million.

That was even worse odds than winning the lottery.

It felt hopeless.

But just then, Mantis tilted her head, pointed behind Strange, and asked curiously:

"Mr. Magician… was this the winning one?"

Strange blinked, confused.

He turned to look behind him—

—just as an orange portal opened out of thin air.

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