As expected, the problem had technically already resolved itself by the time the police arrived.
Late, loud, and thoroughly confused.
Several London police vehicles screeched to a halt nearby as officers poured out and established a perimeter. The lead officer raised a megaphone.
"This is private property! You are all under arrest for unlawful trespassing!"
Jane stepped forward immediately.
"We're leaving," she said quickly. "We weren't doing anything illegal. We were conducting scientific research."
"What's happening here?" Thor asked as he walked over, Mjolnir resting casually in one hand.
The moment the officers noticed the hammer, several of them visibly stiffened.
"Sir!" the lead officer shouted. "Put down the weapon immediately! Put down the hammer!"
Thor's expression cooled.
"You want me to put down my hammer?"
Mjolnir wasn't just a weapon to him. Asking Thor to abandon it was somewhere between an insult and a declaration of war.
For a brief second, he genuinely considered launching the officer into orbit.
Fortunately, he had matured since arriving on Earth.
Barely.
Unfortunately, the police weren't helping the situation.
The officers ignored Jane's explanation entirely and moved to restrain her first. The moment one of them grabbed her arm, the dormant power inside her body reacted violently.
A pulse of dark red energy exploded outward.
Boom!
The shockwave blasted every nearby officer off their feet. Patrol car windows shattered instantly, spraying glass across the street.
"What the hell was that?!"
The officers scrambled back up, now drawing batons and firearms in panic.
Thor immediately rushed to Jane's side and helped her up.
"Jane, are you alright?"
She rubbed her head weakly.
"I think so…"
By then, the officers had completely surrounded them.
"Hands behind your heads!" the lead officer barked while aiming his pistol. "Step away from her!"
Thor didn't even look back.
"She's not well."
"She's dangerous!"
Thor's voice dropped into something colder.
"No. I'm dangerous."
The atmosphere tightened instantly.
One wrong move and the entire scene was seconds away from becoming an international disaster.
Then another figure appeared.
"Alright. This situation is now under S.W.O.R.D. jurisdiction."
Drex Valen stepped forward wearing his newest combat armor, a black cape swaying behind him in the wind. Unlike before, the helmet remained open, leaving his face fully visible.
The moment people recognized him, tension shifted again.
Drex Valen.
The police certainly knew who he was. At this point, anywhere with internet access or newspapers knew who he was.
The second they heard S.W.O.R.D. was involved, the officers backed off without argument. Nobody wanted to stay anywhere near a superhuman incident.
Thor stared at Drex warily.
They had met twice before.
The first time, Thor had only seen him in armor after arriving on Midgard. The second had been during Loki's invasion of Earth, where Thor had witnessed Drex's terrifying power firsthand.
Honestly?
Thor wasn't confident he could beat him.
And right now, every instinct in his body was screaming that this man meant danger for Jane.
Drex suddenly paused and glanced upward.
A gaze from beyond dimensions.
Not Heimdall.
After Drex warned him once, Heimdall had become far less eager to spy on him.
So this was probably Odin.
If the old king was really that worried about his idiot son, maybe he should've come himself.
"What do you want?" Thor demanded.
Drex ignored him completely.
Instead, his eyes settled on Jane.
Then he moved.
There was no warning.
No buildup.
One instant he stood several meters away.
The next, his hand had pierced straight through Jane's chest.
"No!"
Thor hurled Mjolnir with all his strength.
Without even turning around, Drex backhanded the hammer aside.
The impact sent Mjolnir ricocheting backward directly into Thor, launching the God of Thunder through walls, debris, and half the surrounding structure before he finally crashed to a stop.
At the same moment, Drex extracted the Aether from Jane's body.
Dark crimson energy twisted violently in his grasp.
For someone at Drex's current level, even an Infinity Stone could be forcibly separated from its host.
What surprised him more was how little resistance the Aether showed toward him.
With a thought, quarks assembled around his hand, forming a black version of the Infinity Gauntlet.
The Space Stone glowed blue.
The Power Stone burned purple.
The Mind Stone shimmered gold.
Three cosmic lights pulsed against the darkness of the gauntlet.
Jane, barely conscious, stared at the stones in shock from only a few feet away.
Then Drex pressed the Aether into the gauntlet as well.
Red energy spread across the black metal instantly.
The Reality Stone's corrosive force tried to consume him, but the black hole singularity cells within Drex devoured the invading energy effortlessly. It vanished before it could even damage his skin.
Thor staggered back into view, still dazed.
This was the first time in his life he had ever seen someone casually swat Mjolnir away.
The sheer absurdity of it left him speechless.
But Drex had already lost interest in him.
Now that he possessed the Aether, Thor simply wasn't important enough to waste time on.
Drex vanished.
The Aether.
One of the most incredible creations in the Marvel Universe.
The Reality Stone could grant virtually any desire its wielder imagined. It rewrote reality itself.
Natural laws.
Physics.
Matter.
Energy.
Cause and effect.
All of it became optional in the presence of the Reality Stone.
And for a scientist like Drex Valen, that made it irresistible.
After several experiments, however, he quickly discovered the price behind its power.
"Life force…"
Every wish demanded vitality from the user.
Not stamina.
Not energy.
Life itself.
And the process was irreversible.
The consumed lifespan could not be restored or regenerated in any way.
Even someone like Deadpool would eventually be drained dry and die permanently.
Not even death-defying immortality could resist it completely.
"Hm. This thing is remarkably effective against regeneration."
Drex rotated the Reality Stone casually between his fingers.
To him, though, lifespan had long since become meaningless.
Through mastery of electromagnetism, he had effectively transcended aging and conventional death. As long as even a single quark remained, he could reconstruct himself completely.
Life expectancy had become little more than fuel.
Still…
"This thing is practically a character creation engine," Drex muttered. "Saves me the trouble of needing the Soul Stone."
He snapped his fingers.
A portion of his life force vanished instantly.
Then a man appeared before him.
Tall.
Silver-haired.
Inhumanly handsome.
The Reality Stone reconstructed him perfectly, including his abilities.
Sephiroth.
The legendary SOLDIER from Final Fantasy VII.
One of the most iconic villains in gaming history.
The silver-haired warrior slowly opened his eyes and looked toward Drex.
"My lord."
Drex studied him carefully.
Whether the Reality Stone had truly recreated the exact Sephiroth he knew was impossible to determine from appearance alone.
Still, the result was… impressive.
"Remember this, Sephiroth," Drex said calmly. "From this moment onward, you are a super-soldier created by Umbrella Corporation."