Drex Valen had already separated a portion of the Space Stone's energy and used it to create a counterfeit Tesseract for S.W.O.R.D.
When Loki eventually tried to connect to the Space Stone, Drex would be able to redirect the connection straight to the fake cube.
The imitation already possessed most of the Space Stone's basic spatial properties. Opening portals would be easy.
Which meant all Drex had to do now was wait.
In the meantime, he spent most of his free time researching the Space Stone and the Power Stone.
The results were… fascinating.
Through the Space Stone, Drex identified more than a hundred previously undiscovered elements unknown to humanity.
"At this point I could publish an entirely new periodic table," he muttered with satisfaction.
More importantly, his research had finally revealed the true method of using the Space Stone properly.
Originally, knowledge like this should have belonged only to beings like Thanos and Odin's family.
Curious, Drex opened a portal experimentally.
The reaction was immediate.
"Who's there?"
A voice came from the other side.
Then Ancient One appeared almost instantly and sealed the portal shut with a form of magic Drex couldn't even properly analyze.
"Do not open dimensional gateways on Earth," she said helplessly.
"The defensive network formed by the three Sanctums can resist invasions from dimensional entities. But if someone opens a door from inside reality itself, that becomes much harder to stop."
Drex narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
"Other dimensions?"
Originally, he had assumed the Space Stone only opened pathways across physical space, allowing travel between planets.
Apparently it could breach dimensional barriers directly.
Interesting.
That meant the Space Stone could theoretically be used as a bridge into higher-dimensional realms.
Potentially even as a method to challenge dimensional gods inside their own domains.
The Ancient One answered his unspoken thought immediately.
"Dimensional entities inside their own realms are effectively immortal," she explained. "Within their dimensions, they exist as single-universe-level beings. Defeating them there is nearly impossible."
Her tone carried obvious frustration.
"If it were that easy, I would've already marched into the Dark Dimension and cut Dormammu into pieces myself."
This version of the Ancient One wasn't quite as overwhelmingly powerful as certain alternate iterations.
Some versions of her had dominated dimensional entities using nothing but white magic from the Vishanti and sheer personal mastery, even without relying heavily on the Time Stone.
Still, she remained terrifyingly knowledgeable.
Now that Drex possessed the abilities of a magical Kryptonian, he found himself genuinely interested in discussing magic with her.
Not learning it.
Just understanding it.
At first, the Ancient One claimed she was too busy.
Then the conversation kept going.
And going.
Eventually, even she looked surprised.
Drex displayed absurd talent for magical theory.
Honestly, he seemed even more gifted than Stephen Strange, the man she had originally expected to become the future Sorcerer Supreme.
Which created a problem.
Because she had never seen a future where Drex Valen became Sorcerer Supreme.
The Ancient One sighed internally.
It was only 2011. There were still five years remaining before the timeline she expected would finally guide Stephen Strange toward his destiny.
If Drex truly possessed a future as Sorcerer Supreme…
She would've handed him the position immediately.
After their discussion ended, Drex came to one very direct conclusion.
"Marvel magic really has nothing in common with the magic inside my head."
The Ancient One had explained it honestly enough.
Magic, fundamentally, was borrowing power and converting it into supernatural phenomena.
But borrowing power always carried a cost.
Every spellcaster gradually became contaminated by the aura of dimensional entities.
And once the contamination reached a certain level, the caster essentially became a beacon for those beings to invade reality.
Even the Ancient One herself carried traces of countless dimensional signatures.
Large ones.
Small ones.
She had simply learned how to manage them better than anyone else.
While Drex and the Ancient One sat around casually discussing the nature of magic and dimensions…
S.W.O.R.D. descended into complete chaos.
…
"Sir, we have a problem! Hawkeye betrayed S.W.O.R.D.!"
Nick Fury had already been drowning in work lately.
At this point, he probably wished he could split himself into six different people just to keep up.
Mostly because Drex Valen, the actual director of S.W.O.R.D., refused to handle administrative work.
Other people might've loved having that kind of authority.
After all, S.W.O.R.D. effectively operated above the jurisdiction of the world's major powers.
But Fury was suffering.
The workload was endless.
He'd finally started seeing progress with experimental skin-regeneration treatments. Tiny strands of hair had even begun growing back on his scarred scalp.
Then the stress immediately killed them again.
It nearly broke him psychologically.
And now the Tesseract situation exploded on top of everything else.
Because he was occupied handling too many matters simultaneously, Fury had sent Maria Hill to investigate the abnormal energy readings personally.
What returned instead was a disaster report.
"Sir," Hill repeated urgently, "Hawkeye betrayed S.W.O.R.D.!"
Nick Fury's face darkened instantly.
"What?"
His single eye widened sharply.
"Agent Barton defected?"
Clint Barton had originally been assigned there specifically as security.
And now it looked like Fury had personally placed a traitor directly beside one of the most sensitive assets on Earth.
The underground research facility had already collapsed beneath the ocean by the time Hill escaped.
Covered in blood and barely holding herself together, she quickly summarized what she'd witnessed.
"Yes. Barton attacked us."
"Did he take the Tesseract?"
"I don't know," Hill admitted. "By the time I arrived, Barton and the others were already leaving. The researchers you assigned there went with them willingly. The guards had all been neutralized."
Fury paused.
"The researchers left with him?"
"Yes. No signs of coercion. Honestly, it looked coordinated."
Hill took a slow breath.
"It felt planned."
Nick Fury pressed a hand against his forehead.
A headache was forming rapidly.
"So we had infiltrators inside S.W.O.R.D. too…"
Damn it.
Former King of Spies or not, Fury was reaching his limit.
Still, anger didn't cloud his judgment.
Not completely.
"Hill," he said immediately, "go to New York and contact Tony Stark, Peter Parker, Blonsky, and Ross."
"Tell them we have a major problem."
"But do not explain what happened yet. I'll brief them personally later."
"Understood."
Hill wiped blood from her forehead while silently imagining punching Fury directly in the face.
"Right away, sir."
"Wait," Fury added suddenly. "What's the status of the Helicarrier?"
Hill closed her eyes briefly.
Very calmly, she answered:
"Sir, aside from the communicator I'm currently using to talk to you, I possess absolutely no remaining equipment capable of contacting the Helicarrier."
Then, in the politest tone imaginable:
"So perhaps you could check that yourself."
Outwardly, she remained professional.
Internally, she was one sentence away from screaming at him.
"...Right," Fury muttered. "Go."
That should be enough preparation.
Hopefully.
Inside the enormous office, Nick Fury stood alone in silence.
Shadows covered most of his face.
Only his remaining eye remained visible, burning with cold fury.
"I won't let you win."
...
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