"I don't know anything about it," Fury admitted. "I'm just relaying the message. Come to S.H.I.E.L.D.—Thor is here."
Max nodded, ending the call.
With a flick of his wrist, he opened a portal straight into S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, stepping through without hesitation.
The moment he arrived, he tilted his head, seeing Fury turn around, eyes widening slightly at his sudden appearance.
"What's up?" Max asked casually.
Fury sighed, rubbing his temples. "There's a door on this facility."
Max raised an eyebrow. "A door in this facility?"
"Yes."
Max smirked. "So you want me to take the long route and land on one random door in the middle of the air, when I could just sense and teleport there right now?"
Fury gave him a deadpan look. "That's why you're here."
Max crossed his arms. "Fine. Where's our thunder god?"
"He's in the medical facility with his girl," Fury said.
Max nodded, already piecing things together. 'Oh… so this is that time. The Thor: The Dark World event.'
Everything clicked in his mind.
Jane Foster must have accidentally absorbed the Aether, and now Thor was desperately searching for a way to remove it before it killed her.
There weren't many people on Midgard (Earth) who could even attempt such a thing…
And as one of the strongest mages around, Max was the best bet.
'Makes perfect sense,' Max muttered to himself as he followed Fury toward the medical section.
As Max walked through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s medical section, he could already sense it—the Aether's chaotic energy, pulsing dangerously from one of the rooms.
"Yep, definitely the Reality Stone," he muttered, running a hand through his hair. "This is gonna be a mess."
Fury led him to a secured medical bay, where a few agents were stationed outside. The moment Max stepped in, he was greeted with the sight of Thor pacing anxiously while Jane lay on a medical bed, unconscious but visibly unstable.
The red-black tendrils of the Aether pulsed beneath her skin, spreading in chaotic waves.
Thor turned, his expression instantly shifting when he saw Max.
"You are finally here Max Ryder," Thor said, his deep voice filled with urgency. " you are one of the strongest sorcerers I know, can you help her?."
Max smirked. "That depends on who you ask. But yeah, I know magic."
Thor stepped forward, his fists clenched. "Then help her." He looked at Jane, concern clear in his eyes. "The Aether is consuming her, and Asgard's healers cannot remove it. If you have any way to save her, I will owe you a great debt."
Max sighed, stepping closer to Jane, analyzing the energy surrounding her.
The Aether's power was wild and unstable, constantly shifting, almost as if it had a mind of its own.
He placed a hand over her, his golden aura flaring as he tested the resistance.
A powerful force pushed back instantly, like a caged beast refusing to be removed.
"Damn. This thing is stubborn."
Max glanced at Thor. "Alright, big guy. This isn't gonna be easy. The Aether isn't just inside her—it's trying to bond with her at a fundamental level. If I rip it out forcefully, she might not survive the shock."
Thor's grip on Mjolnir tightened. "Then what do you propose?"
Max smirked. "Simple. I just need to trick the damn thing into leaving her voluntarily."
Fury raised an eyebrow. "And how exactly do you plan to do that?"
Max cracked his knuckles. "By giving it something it wants more than Jane."
Thor frowned. "And what would that be?"
Max's golden eyes glowed, his aura flaring slightly as a smirk played on his lips.
"Me."
Thor's eyes narrowed. "You mean to let it enter you?"
Max grinned, crossing his arms. "Well, yeah. The Aether is a sentient force. Right now, it's clinging to Jane because she was just unlucky enough to stumble upon it. But if I present myself as a better host, one with a stronger magical core, it'll come running."
"That might work," Thor said, frowning. "But are you certain? The Aether is something the Dark Elves used to bathe entire worlds in darkness. What if it kills you?"
Max shook his head, smirking confidently. "It won't. I'm just going to force it out."
With that, Max placed his hand over Jane, his golden and dark aura flaring up simultaneously.
The moment his Night Monarch Aura surged, the Aether reacted—recognizing the darkness in his energy.
It began to pulse violently, sensing something more compatible than Jane.
Max let go of his golden energy, focusing entirely on his Night Monarch Aura, amplifying the darkness.
Slowly but surely, the Aether started seeping out of Jane, its red tendrils retracting, drawn to the overwhelming Night Mana pouring from Max.
As soon as the Aether fully left Jane, it began swirling toward Max's outstretched hand, entering his body like a slow-moving storm of raw cosmic power.
Max gritted his teeth as the energy settled within him.
His Night Monarch Mana resonated perfectly with the Aether, allowing him to control and suppress it without resistance.
The chaotic Reality-warping energy inside the Aether shifted, almost as if reacting to his power.
And now, in his hands, the Aether was no longer resisting him.
It was transforming back into its true form.
A pulse of dark-red energy radiated from his palm, and before their eyes—
The Aether condensed, reshaping itself… back into the Reality Stone.
"So you forced whatever this Aether was into that gem form?" Fury asked, eyes narrowed.
Max glanced at him before smirking. "Yep. And I'm taking it with me."
Without hesitation, he shoved the Reality Stone into his inventory, making it disappear from sight.
Thor suddenly spoke, his voice filled with awe. "That's incredible… You actually turned the Aether back into the Reality Stone."
Max waved him off. "You don't have to worry about it."
Fury, of course, got his curiosity perked. "And what exactly is the Reality Stone?"
Thor took a deep breath and answered. "It's like the Cube you have—you call it the Tesseract. That thing was actually an Infinity Stone, the Space Stone. It allowed for near-instantaneous travel across dimensions."
He gestured toward Max. "And the stone that he just took? That's the Reality Stone. With its power, one can warp reality itself, creating illusions so perfect they might as well be real."
Fury stared at Max, his mind racing.
"I want to see it," Fury demanded.
Max chuckled, shaking his head. "Do you really think I'm gonna let you see it?"
Fury's eye narrowed. "Last time the you stole the Cube...."
Max rolled his eyes. "Correction—last time it was in your hands, Loki got it, and an alien invasion happened, So I had to make sure you don't do such thing again."
Fury exhaled sharply, frustration clear on his face. "I know you don't trust me, and I don't trust you either. But now you've got the Cube, Loki's scepter, and now the Reality Stone? I can't just let you keep collecting all these weapons unchecked."
Max smirked. "Then try and stop me."
***
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