"See? I mastered this kind of teleportation a long time ago," Marcus said casually, as if opening interdimensional portals was no more remarkable than switching on a light.
Tony stared at the crackling portal of blue sparks in front of him, his expression a mixture of fascination and disbelief. The scene before him was genuinely challenging his understanding of what was possible.
It was interesting—he hadn't been nearly this surprised when he'd first met Thor and learned about Asgardian technology. But this display of Marcus's abilities was clearly shocking him on a different level.
"This... you created this?" Tony asked, turning to look at Marcus with obvious incredulity.
In Tony's memory, Marcus had always been incredibly skilled in combat, but his abilities had seemed similar to Tony's own—relying on advanced equipment and technology to achieve extraordinary results.
But now, the appearance of this spark portal was obviously not the product of any device Tony could recognize. This was a portal opened by Marcus seemingly out of thin air, just like the thick fog that had enveloped them during their transportation.
"Of course," Marcus replied with amusement, settling back into the sofa. "Who else would have done it? You?"
Marcus chuckled and took a sip of his wine, though his expression immediately soured.
"Seriously, why do you all enjoy drinking this stuff? What's so appealing about wine? It's not only harsh to drink, but it also dulls your perception of the outside world."
Marcus set the glass down on the table with obvious distaste, his brow furrowed in genuine confusion.
He'd never developed a taste for alcohol, especially wines with complex flavors that others seemed to appreciate. Perhaps it was precisely because he didn't drink regularly that he never experienced the so-called special aromas and subtleties that wine enthusiasts praised.
In Marcus's opinion, no matter what type of wine it was, it all just smelled like volatile alcohol.
"If you can't appreciate it, don't drink it," Tony said, rolling his eyes as he came back to his senses. "It's a waste to give you expensive wine anyway."
Sure enough, no matter how good the vintage, it was pearls before swine when it came to Marcus.
"Your latest suit is made from vibranium alloy, right?" Marcus observed, changing the subject. "You're probably going to use up all the vibranium alloy that Howard left behind."
Since Tony had gained access to the vibranium alloy, he'd been incorporating it into every new Iron Man suit he designed. After all, this was the best material available to him aside from pure vibranium itself. Tony certainly wasn't going to leave such valuable resources unused in favor of inferior materials.
And Tony didn't care about Marcus's gentle mockery. Since he had access to superior materials, he was going to use them. What would be the point of keeping them in storage?
"I've actually been getting reports about vibranium recently," Tony said with obvious interest. "I believe I'll be able to purchase some pure vibranium in the near future."
After obtaining the vibranium alloy, he'd been collecting information about vibranium sources from around the world. Recently, he'd received word that a batch of vibranium was potentially available for sale.
Although he didn't know exactly how much vibranium was involved, if he could acquire it and have it processed into vibranium alloy, it would provide him with materials for a long time.
Seeing that Tony had his own plans, Marcus nodded slowly.
Of course, Marcus knew where the world's vibranium deposits were located, but he didn't think those places would be willing to sell their strategic resources to outsiders.
After all, vibranium was an incredibly important mineral resource. The societies that controlled it relied on vibranium to develop technology that surpassed the rest of the world.
Wakanda and Atlantis—the people in these two locations were not easy to deal with, and they certainly wouldn't part with their vibranium willingly.
Marcus thought to himself that unless Tony was looking at vibranium that had already been lost or stolen, the people in these two places would definitely work to recover any vibranium at all costs.
However, Marcus wasn't particularly interested in pursuing these special metals himself. For him, they were just new and better materials that wouldn't significantly improve his power.
"You'd better be careful," Marcus warned. "Vibranium isn't easy to obtain safely."
"In that case, how did you manage to get it back then?" Tony asked with curiosity.
"I picked it up from a Hydra base," Marcus replied matter-of-factly.
Seeing Marcus say this so casually, Tony's eye began to twitch involuntarily.
What did he mean by "picked it up"?
Although Tony didn't know which specific Hydra base Marcus had visited, he could probably guess the fate of those Hydra agents. But could this really be considered "picking it up"?
"Forget it," Tony said, waving his hand. "I'll have my people keep an eye out for opportunities. But I'm definitely going to acquire some vibranium."
"Whatever works for you," Marcus replied with a shrug. "I'm just giving you a heads up."
Marcus waved his hand dismissively and leaned back into the sofa.
He hadn't returned to argue with Tony about materials and resources. Compared to the DC universe, the Marvel universe currently offered more opportunities for his purposes. He could find more diverse energy sources and create more advanced equipment.
Marcus began extending his perception outward, ready to search for energy signatures that he hadn't yet extracted or studied.
London, England
Dr. Jane Foster was taking a much-needed break in London with her friend and assistant Daisy Lewis. She hadn't seen Thor in more than a year, which was particularly frustrating given their supposed romantic relationship.
They were supposed to be a couple, but they hadn't been in contact for over a year. Even during the Battle of New York, she hadn't encountered Thor, which had left her feeling both angry and abandoned.
Even though she was a scientist who was genuinely passionate about her research, she was still a woman with emotional needs, and Thor's complete absence was becoming increasingly hard to accept.
Beep, beep, beep.
"The detector is going off!" Jane exclaimed with delight when she heard the sound coming from her pocket.
"Jane, are you serious?" Daisy asked, looking at her friend with exasperation as Jane suddenly became excited. "We came out to relax and have fun. Why did you bring scientific instruments with you?"
Daisy didn't know what to say about her teacher and friend. She wasn't sure whether to call Jane a workaholic or a woman who was using work to avoid dealing with her feelings.
"Let's not worry about that now," Jane said, brushing off Daisy's concerns. "Let's go see what triggered the detector's alarm."
The two women got into their car and began tracking the source of the detector's signal. Soon they arrived at an abandoned building, and the sound of the detector had escalated to an almost constant beeping.
"This is it!" Jane announced, studying the readings on her device.
"So our target is this half-finished building?" Daisy asked, looking at the broken structure in front of them.
"I think it's not too bad," commented a young man carrying a device that resembled a bread machine. This was Ian Boothby, Daisy's intern, just as Daisy was Jane's assistant.
Ian had startled Jane earlier when he'd appeared in their car, partly because she'd never recruited male interns before.
Tap, tap, tap.
Not long after they entered the unfinished building, the sound of footsteps echoed through the space.
Hearing the approaching footsteps, Daisy instinctively raised her hands and called out loudly.
"Sorry, we're Americans! I want to see my lawyer!"
She had come to London to accompany Jane and help her relax, not to conduct dangerous scientific experiments. She definitely didn't want to risk her life for this.
However, the footsteps didn't stop because of her words. After a moment, three children emerged from the shadows.
"They're just kids?" Daisy said with relief, immediately lowering her hands without any embarrassment about her dramatic reaction.
"Who are you people?" one of the children asked suspiciously. "Are you here to tear this place down?"
"We're scientists!" Jane replied with a warm smile. "At least I am. Can you tell me what's been happening here?"
The children looked at each other, clearly excited about having found adults who might be interested in their discovery.
"Come with us!" one of them said eagerly. "We found something really cool!"
They began leading the group toward the anomalous area they'd discovered, unable to contain their excitement about showing off the strange phenomena they'd encountered.
As they walked deeper into the building, Jane's detector began beeping more rapidly, and she noticed that the readings were unlike anything she'd seen before. The energy signatures were consistent with the theoretical models she'd developed for studying interdimensional phenomena.
"This is incredible," Jane murmured, studying her instruments. "The readings suggest some kind of spatial distortion—possibly a convergence point."
"A convergence point?" Daisy asked nervously. "That sounds dangerous."
"It could be," Jane admitted, "but it could also be the breakthrough I've been searching for. This might be connected to the same phenomena that brought Thor to Earth."
Unknown to Jane and her team, they were approaching something far more significant than a simple scientific anomaly. The convergence they were detecting was part of a much larger cosmic event that would have far-reaching implications for multiple realms.
And in his penthouse in New York, Marcus suddenly paused in his conversation with Tony, his enhanced senses detecting a familiar fluctuation in the fabric of reality itself.
"Something's happening," Marcus said quietly, his expression becoming serious. "Something that's about to change everything."