---
Location: Gobi Desert, Mongolia – Two Weeks Later
The sun scorched the sands as the convoy cut across the golden dunes. Three off-road jeeps, reinforced for desert travel, roared beneath the unforgiving sky. Hann sat in the lead vehicle, eyes fixed ahead. His new gauntlet—a prototype arm-sheath for the Heavenbreaker Rings—rested on his forearm. The black staff hung diagonally across his back, humming gently with quiet awareness.
Azari leaned out the window, scanning the terrain with a drone-linked tablet. "We're close. Five klicks to the coordinates from the scroll."
"Desert's quiet," Naledi muttered. "Too quiet."
"Keep your head on a swivel," Hann said. "The Ten Rings' enemies haven't been dormant."
---
Mongolia's Ember Vault wasn't a legend—it was a warning.
Carved into the side of a cliff, masked by shifting sands and optical illusions, the vault was said to house relics too unstable for Wenwu to control. One of them was called the Soul Shard. Another, the Rift Token. Both were whispered about in Ten Rings scrolls. But now, Hann would see them firsthand.
---
Vault Exterior
The convoy halted before a cliff face. It looked ordinary—but as Hann stepped forward, one of the Heavenbreaker Rings glowed red. Sand peeled away, revealing an arched doorway made of obsidian-black stone.
Symbols pulsed across the surface—runic script in Chinese, Sanskrit, and something older. At its center: a hand-shaped indent.
Hann placed his palm into it.
The door shuddered.
A hiss escaped the ground as ancient mechanisms whirred awake. Then, with a sound like thunder muffled under oceans, the gateway opened.
---
Inside the Ember Vault
The interior was vast and jagged, more natural cavern than manmade hall. Firelight shimmered on walls lined with minerals that pulsed faintly. The temperature dropped dramatically, ice-fog rising at their feet even while fire lit torches above.
Azari narrowed her eyes. "How is it cold and burning?"
"This place is layered with elemental convergence," Naledi murmured. "A fragment of dimensional bleed. Feels like the border of a pocket realm."
Hann felt it too. The rings on his arm were vibrating… like they were reacting to something ancient—something alive.
Then came the sound.
Footsteps.
---
Attack—Thanos' Minions
A portal tore open behind them—dark-purple, swirling like corrupted ink.
Figures stepped out.
Outriders. Not thousands. Just six.
But these weren't ordinary. Their bodies shimmered with obsidian plating. Their eyes glowed red. One even bore a piece of metal on its spine—Chitauri tech grafted into Outrider flesh.
"Enhanced," Hann said grimly. "These aren't scouts. They're hunters."
Azari raised both arms. "Time to torch something."
One Outrider leaped—and was met mid-air by Azari's firebolt. It screamed as it fell, sizzling.
Naledi dove behind a pillar, firing compact plasma bolts from her custom gauntlets.
Hann stood his ground.
The staff in his hand snapped into full length, its golden tip humming.
Then he moved.
---
The Fight
He ducked a swipe, twisted beneath the claws of the second Outrider, and rammed the staff's end into its throat. A ring activated—a pulse of gravitational force launched the creature into the ceiling. It didn't come down.
Azari was in her element, hurling gouts of flame, incinerating two more.
But then one Outrider—larger than the rest—teleported mid-leap, grabbing Naledi by the throat. Her plasma bolts barely slowed it.
"HANN!"
Hann turned. Instinct.
Time slowed.
His third ring lit up—a silver glyph forming around his fist. He leaped, slamming the staff into the creature's back. It exploded in shadowed mist, Naledi collapsing to the floor, coughing.
"You okay?" Hann asked.
"Fine. Just angry."
They turned together—only one Outrider remained. It hissed... and spoke.
"You carry power the Titan desires. You will surrender the rings. Or perish."
Hann stepped forward.
"Tell Thanos…"
He lifted the staff, channeling all five active Heavenbreaker Rings.
"…come get them himself."
He struck.
A shockwave tore through the chamber. The Outrider vanished in splinters of shadow.
---
Aftermath
Silence returned. The torches flared brighter. And at the far end of the chamber, a vault door began to open—responding to Hann's display of mastery.
Inside was a floating obelisk of glass. Within it: two artifacts.
1. A shimmering coin etched with moving constellations—The Rift Token.
2. A gemstone shaped like a lotus, glowing green—The Soul Shard.
Hann reached out. As his hand neared the artifacts…
The world stopped.
Literally.
---
A New Visitor — The Ancient One
Colors faded. Time halted.
Then came the voice. Calm. British. Otherworldly.
"You shouldn't be able to touch that. Not yet."
Hann turned slowly.
There she was. Bald, serene, cloaked in saffron and gold.
The Ancient One.
"You… you're real?"
She smiled. "More real than most. Less real than some."
He stepped back. "What do you want?"
"I came to warn you. These artifacts weren't meant for your time. And yet, here you are."
---
Dialogue
"I didn't ask for this," Hann said.
"No," the Ancient One replied. "But destiny is a river, not a road. And yours is rising rapidly."
"What are these?" Hann gestured to the Rift Token and Soul Shard.
"One is a key," she said. "The other is a doorway."
"A doorway to what?"
"War. Collapse. And… a chance to stop it all."
---
The Warning
She stepped closer.
"You'll need a team. Not just warriors. Champions. Some of them have yet to awaken. Others are too powerful for their own good."
"And I'm supposed to lead them?"
"Yes. You are the center. The balance between fire and shadow. Between Earth and what lies beyond."
"And if I fail?"
"Then Kang will win. And the past, future, and present will collapse into one long scream."
Hann's jaw clenched. "I need resources. Allies. Funding. Something."
She tilted her head.
"Then go to the man who trades in weapons but dreams of peace."
Stark. She meant Stark.
"He's not Iron Man yet," Hann said.
"No. But soon, he will be. And if you're there when the spark hits… the world might survive."
---
She began to fade.
"Wait! How do I find the others?"
"They will find you," she said, smiling faintly. "One by one. Across continents and galaxies. But be ready. The Titan is not your only enemy. Nor your worst."
"Who is?"
Her eyes darkened.
"The man who once sought to fix time… and broke it instead."
Kang.
---
Time Resumes
The vault roared back to life. Naledi and Azari were beside him, weapons raised.
"Hann? You zoned out."
"I'm fine."
He looked down at the two artifacts in his hands. The Rift Token pulsed once, like a heartbeat. The Soul Shard glowed green, pulsing to his breath.
"Let's go."
"Where to now?" Azari asked.
He stared into the rising sun.
"Back west. We need a plane. Then… America."
---
Meanwhile — Titan's Shadow
Thanos stood beside a floating table. Corvus Glaive approached.
"He's gained the Shard."
Thanos said nothing. His fist closed slowly, stars flickering behind him.
"Let him run. Let him build."
"And when he's ready?"
Thanos turned, smiling.
"Then I'll take his world apart one ring at a time."
---
End of Chapter 6