Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

The spaceship in front of them was enormous—almost exaggerated in scale.

The Statesman, the Asgardian ship led by Thor, was already massive. But it looked like a toy compared to Sanctuary II, which loomed like a star-devouring beast in the sky.

This... was a true weapon of war.

Just then, a piercing alarm echoed throughout the ship.

"Warning! The ship has been locked on by high-energy weapons. Immediate jump required!"

"Warning! Jump drive blocked. Unable to leave current star system!"

"Warning! Position locked. Escape pods disabled!"

"Warning... Warning..."

The alarm repeated over and over. Thor's expression darkened as he slowly muttered two words:

"...Thanos."

He didn't know how Thanos had found them, but he was certain of one thing—he hadn't come to help the people of Asgard.

"Loki, get everyone ready—" Thor started, but stopped halfway.

He noticed Loki wasn't listening at all. Instead, Loki had walked to the porthole, calmly raised a hand, and pointed out into space.

"Loki, you—?"

Before Thor could finish his sentence, the starry sky suddenly lit up again!

His pupils shrank. What he saw next left him completely stunned.

A flaming sword, hundreds of meters long, appeared out of thin air—like a meteor crashing down on Sanctuary II.

The sheer force it radiated was terrifying even from behind reinforced glass.

A hexagonal energy shield materialized around Sanctuary II, and as the flaming sword collided with it, brilliant sparks exploded across the ship's hull. The entire vessel tilted violently under the impact.

Then, a beam of concentrated purple energy shot from Sanctuary II, striking the flaming sword and shattering it in a blinding explosion.

'Loki' looked at his hand, gave a faint shake of his head—and vanished.

Thor stood frozen.

That spell... was incredibly powerful.

Was Loki really the greatest magician in the Nine Realms?

But as he stared at the now-vanished figure, realization struck him—and he was furious.

That wasn't Loki at all!

Running off when the fight starts?

Yep. Typical Loki behavior.

But this time, something was different.

He turned to the console, slammed a glowing button, and issued a command to the entire ship:

"Asgard... prepare for battle!!"

Ten Minutes Later

Blood.

Corpses.

Flames.

Thor, battered and barely conscious, collapsed onto the deck, surrounded by the lifeless bodies of his people.

Ebony Maw approached a massive figure in golden armor and knelt respectfully.

"Master, the Space Stone has not been located."

"The signal source has also disappeared."

Thanos turned slowly toward Thor.

Ebony Maw didn't need a cue. With a simple gesture, Thor was yanked to his knees by invisible force, restrained by transmuted steel.

"Tell me," Thanos said, his voice calm as he levitated Heimdall's golden sword and aimed it at Thor's chest, "Where is the Space Stone?"

Thor's heart sank. Now he understood.

Loki had taken the Tesseract from the vault. That's how Thanos found them.

But it was too late.

He glared at Thanos with rage in his eyes.

"You'll never win. He's already left with the Stone."

"And we haven't lost... yet."

No sooner had he spoken than a roar shook the ship—Hulk leapt into the fray!

Hulk attacked!

Hulk defended!

Hulk got beaten...

And then promptly disappeared from relevance after Thanos combo'd him like a pro MMA fighter.

Thor's last sliver of hope faded.

Heimdall, wounded but not yet down, clutched the sword tightly—ready to send Hulk away if needed.

Thanos removed his helmet, gave Hulk a dismissive glance, and said:

"The Stone's not here. Kill them all."

"As for Loki—put a bounty on his head across the galaxy. He can't escape."

He knew Loki too well.

That coward must've sensed his arrival and fled with the Stone.

The only strange part was the person who'd cast that earlier spell… they had vanished too.

Ebony Maw and Cull Obsidian (Black Dwarf) nodded and moved to execute the order.

But before they could move, a voice spoke from the shadows of the ruined ship:

"So it's true. Time branches only occur once the death node is reached."

Thanos's eyes narrowed and turned sharply.

He hadn't sensed anyone there before the voice spoke.

Ebony Maw was visibly shaken.

As a master of telekinesis, he sensed... nothing. Just empty air.

Then, from the shadows, a man in a green trench coat stepped forward calmly.

"Loki?!" Thor gasped in surprise.

But his joy quickly turned to dread.

No! If Loki had the Stone, he couldn't fight Thanos. It was over.

But then he heard Thanos say:

"Who are you?"

Thor froze.

And the figure laughed.

"You know Loki well," he said. "But this time, you underestimated him."

"I don't have time to explain everything. They'll be here in under a minute."

With that, green light flashed.

Russell shed the illusion.

He raised one hand and pointed at Ebony Maw.

"You're too ugly. I'll kill you first."

Ebony Maw scoffed, "Arrogant human. Master, let me—"

Crack!

Before he could finish, his neck twisted unnaturally. His eyes dimmed.

Dead. Instantly.

Thor's eyes widened in shock.

He had felt Ebony Maw's telekinesis firsthand—it was powerful.

Yet the man before him had killed him like it was nothing.

What kind of terrifying power was this?

Cull Obsidian roared in fury, leapt with his massive hammer, and slammed it down toward Russell.

The strike was so fierce that even Thor doubted he could take it head-on.

But what happened next was even more horrifying.

Russell simply clenched his fist.

Cull Obsidian's entire three-meter-tall body—and his hammer—were crushed into a ball no larger than thirty centimeters in diameter.

Blood leaked from the sphere.

The death was gruesome.

Even worse than Ebony Maw's.

Thor felt his scalp go numb.

Only now did he realize...

The Loki he had seen in the control room earlier wasn't Loki at all.

It was this man.

And then, the voice rang out again.

"Thanos... you have forty-eight seconds to struggle."

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