I twisted, sidestepping a massive fist that shot into space, frowning as I pulled Yamato from its sheath and slashed, channeling Dimensional Slash and mincing the dozens of school-bus-sized fists that followed after, abruptly accelerating toward me.
I groaned. I hated that trick so, so much. Thanks to constant exposure to the Time Stone, my apprentice had picked up a few instinctive spells tied to the concept, the least annoying of which was the ability to accelerate all of his movements in short bursts, even projectiles.
The cheeky bugger could now also see half a second into the future. Though he preferred to operate in milliseconds when he was up against faster opponents like Pietro and me, because in our eyes, half a second might as well be a minute.
Rin's eyes glowed green as he activated his Time Sight and blurred forward, moving nearly too quickly for me to follow as he struck out with a glowing blue fist superimposed on his gauntleted one.
I parried the first strike with a panel of Anathema flames before coating myself in it as well. It was the only element resistant to Rin's bullshit power absorption, which had become truly ridiculous after I gifted him the suit he was using now.
It was laced with Wolverine's DNA, so it was extremely difficult to destroy, and it was layered over his own DNA, Devourer's, and Armando's as well.
It basically made him a moving, indestructible energy vacuum, damn near impossible to stop, much less wound, and with enough time, I was sure he would even become immune to my attacks, but that day was not today.
Dozens of fists followed the first, staggered and carefully timed, designed to force an opening, but it was useless. My blade flowed like water, precise and balanced. I shredded through the fists, my blade coming to a rest in its sheath once more. My evolved perception made the display trivial.
Rin was not the only one who inherited something from draining an infinity stone for so long. I now had an almost intuitive awareness of the space around me that extended for miles. I had not needed my dimension as a go-between for space teleportation in quite some time, and it was why I had taken to Yamato so easily.
Eventually, I ended the engagement with a charged slash too fast for Rin to react to. He summoned a pair of hands larger than skyscrapers to weather the attack and fired back with a beam tinged with Time energy.
The attack struck with little warning, just like his others, but I was one step ahead, opening a pair of portals that sent the beam screaming into empty space.
In that brief moment of distraction, Rin moved, practically teleporting behind me and striking, using one of the many stealth enchantments I had baked into his new suit. For all intents and purposes, it should have allowed him to ambush me, but my spatial sense was absolute.
I blocked his strike and twisted to cut him with Yamato, but he had foresaw it, parrying with his gauntlet and throwing the blade wide before trying to punch me in the face. I flashed bright, flaring my Anathema fire to overwhelm his sight, and while he struggled to recover, the tip of my blade rested lightly against his throat.
Rin was panting slightly. "I almost got you that time."
Not really. "You're definitely getting better. Much, much better. Honestly, I'm kind of jealous of your Time Sight."
I vanished Yamato into my dimension, and Rin lowered his fists. "Thanks. Doesn't help when your opponent's perception is bullshit."
I laughed. "Says the guy who can absorb all forms of energy."
"Almost," he corrected, then blinked. There was a flash of something in his green eyes. "You think we're ready for Thanos?"
"I don't think Thanos is ready for us," I assured him, though his doubt was understandable.
We had been properly briefed on Thanos after joining up with the Novan fleet, and it was clear I'd severely underestimated Thanos.
He had crushed entire worlds with just the Mind stone and his fists and always claimed the best warriors and technologies of every planet he balanced.
The Novan Empire only fought him with automatons and non-sentients, if they fought him at all. Their last estimate put his army at over a hundred million and rising. With Thanos only targeting planets outside their galactic borders, and the conflicts they had with the Kree and the Demons, he didn't take priority.
Even the Demon Lords were afraid to face him, not that anyone had gotten close enough to challenge him in decades. He typically splattered them with half a gesture.
So… yes. And here we were trying to jump that guy.
Still, I liked our odds. Our ship was packed with enough runes to hide from a psychic on his level, and I was no lightweight either, not to mention my armor, the Stones, and my completed Sentinel Corps.
I was as ready as I would ever be, but I couldn't pretend the risk was nonexistent. Maybe that was why Lauren had not secured the Infinity Stone. It also made me wonder whether Thanos already had his hand on the Soul Stone, since all of the information anybody had on him was out of date
After all, if he could read Gamora's mind, then he knew where it was hidden.
I shook my head. Maybe he never found Gamora in this timeline, or maybe she still loves her father because of his Telepathic powers. There were no certainties in this timeline. After all, I just found out the new Sentry was John Walker.
"Well, if you're sure," Rin said slowly.
"You know what you need?" I said, grabbing Rin by the shoulder. "A date night back at home. I'll set the ship to autopilot. By the time we wake up, we should be at the final jump point."
That seemed to cheer him up.
"We've gone up against worse odds and won," I said.
"Not really," he pointed out.
"Well, he can't do anything we both couldn't technically achieve with some elbow grease," I said. "You're downright terrifying in a fight now, especially with those gauntlets. Why you only make fists with them, though, is beyond me."
"Not everybody can be the sword guy," Rin huffed. "I like punching things more."
I shrugged. "Fair enough."
I patted him on the shoulder and threw up a portal. "I might just ask Jean out as well...make it a double date, or check up on the Avengers. Been a minute since I've done something with them. I know Peter will be looking forward to it."
Rin rolled his eyes. "He's such a kiss-ass."
I gave the mental commands to the ship and watched it shoot off into the distance in a flash of purple light. My breath caught. I would never get used to that. Rin and I stepped through the portal, arriving back home.
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