The group followed the children to the center of the unfinished building, and as soon as they arrived, Jane and the others were stunned by what they saw.
In front of them, a delivery truck was floating in mid-air, completely motionless as if suspended by invisible wires.
"Is this some kind of magic trick?" Daisy asked, her first instinct being that this was an elaborate illusion. "Maybe this is some kind of street performer's setup, and that truck is just a prop."
Rather than answer, one of the children walked directly toward the floating vehicle. He wanted to demonstrate the phenomenon to these adults who seemed interested in understanding what was happening.
The child reached up and gently grasped the truck's bumper, then lifted it higher. The suspended vehicle rose smoothly with his movement, as if it weighed nothing at all.
This demonstration left Jane and the others completely amazed. Even the most sophisticated magic props couldn't achieve this effect so effortlessly, unless there was something genuinely unusual about this location.
Looking at the detector in her hand that continued beeping frantically, Jane began walking through the unfinished building with scientific curiosity. She was determined to find the source of these gravitational anomalies.
"Oh, what a workaholic," Daisy sighed helplessly as she watched Jane wander off with her equipment. "Ian, turn on the phase detector. Let's check out the situation here ourselves."
Ian nodded and followed Daisy's instructions, activating the phase detection equipment to begin scanning the area.
"There are other weird things happening over here!" called out one of the children, motioning toward a different part of the building.
Out of curiosity, Daisy and Ian followed the children to see what else they'd discovered.
The group approached a staircase, and one of the children picked up an empty aluminum can from the ground and threw it down the stairs.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the can fell rapidly, and when it reached a specific area, it suddenly vanished completely.
"Ouch!" Ian cried out in pain as his head was struck by an empty can. "Who's throwing things around?"
"I'm not throwing things around," the child who had thrown the can explained matter-of-factly. "That's the same can I just threw down the stairs."
This made Daisy and Ian even more curious. They hadn't expected this place to be so fascinating—apparently you could throw things down and have them appear from above.
Daisy picked up a small stone and threw it down the staircase. The stone fell to the same spot where the can had disappeared, and a moment later it materialized above them and fell back down.
"Huh? This is actually pretty fun!" Daisy exclaimed, becoming intrigued by the phenomenon.
She and Ian began picking up various objects from the ground and throwing them all down the stairs, watching as some of them reappeared from above.
However, they noticed that not everything they threw down came back up. Some items seemed to disappear permanently.
"What's going on with that?" Daisy asked the children, confused by the inconsistent results.
"We don't know either," one of them replied. "We only know that not everything thrown down will come back. Some things just disappear forever."
Daisy suddenly realized that this phenomenon was similar to the portal that had appeared over New York a year ago, except that this one was much more unstable and unpredictable.
"By the way, where's Jane?" Daisy asked, looking around. "Why hasn't she come back yet?"
Under normal circumstances, no matter what Jane encountered during her investigations, she would return to share her findings with the group. But now Jane had been gone for an unusually long time.
Meanwhile, Jane's pursuit of the energy readings had led her to a place unlike anywhere she'd ever seen. She found herself standing in the center of a vast chamber surrounded by countless square stone blocks, all perfectly arranged in geometric patterns.
She was standing on a huge stone platform in the center of the space. In the middle of the platform stood something that resembled an ancient obelisk, from which red and black particles were flowing like liquid smoke.
"This is an incredible discovery," Jane whispered to herself, her scientific mind racing with the implications. "This could revolutionize our understanding of theoretical physics."
Seeing the red and black particles floating around the obelisk, Jane slowly raised her hand. No matter what this phenomenon was, she felt compelled to make direct contact with it.
The moment her fingertips touched the obelisk, the red particles seemed to come alive, rushing toward Jane's body with explosive force.
"Ahhhh!" Jane screamed as the red particles poured into her body, causing excruciating pain unlike anything she'd ever experienced.
She felt the alien energy flooding through her system, overwhelming her senses and making her feel as though her very essence was being rewritten. Soon, her vision went black and she collapsed, unconscious.
Asgard - The Rainbow Bridge
In Asgard, Thor was standing before the Rainbow Bridge, engaged in conversation with Heimdall, the all-seeing guardian of the bridge.
"Do you remember the Convergence I mentioned?" Heimdall asked, his golden eyes focused on distant realms.
"I remember," Thor replied. "You said it would be beautiful."
"It is the most beautiful and magical sight in the universe," Heimdall confirmed, his gaze seeming to encompass everything in the cosmos. "And we will witness it soon."
Thor's thoughts turned to his girlfriend on Earth, and he smiled as he asked, "Can you see the same phenomenon in Midgard?"
"Of course. Your mortal companion seems to have discovered such an anomaly, though her understanding of cosmic forces is still quite limited."
As he was speaking, Heimdall's expression suddenly changed to one of alarm and confusion.
"Your girlfriend in Midgard... she's missing!" he announced, his voice filled with concern.
These words hit Thor like a bolt of lightning. Heimdall's eyes could see everything across the Nine Realms, but now he couldn't detect any trace of Jane's presence.
"What do you mean she's missing?" Thor demanded, his voice rising with worry.
"I cannot locate her," Heimdall replied grimly. "She was there moments ago, investigating the convergence point, and then... nothing. It's as if she's been removed from this reality entirely."
New York - Stark Mansion
"Hmm?" Marcus suddenly looked up from his relaxed position on the sofa, his enhanced senses detecting a familiar energy signature.
Because he possessed both the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Scepter, Marcus was extremely sensitive to the fluctuations of Infinity Stones. This sensitivity had been further enhanced now that he had integrated the power of the Space Stone into his own abilities.
He could clearly feel the presence of several Infinity Stones on Earth. One was the Eye of Agamotto, which he had already sensed as the mystical weapon of the Supreme Sorcerer of Kamar-Taj. But another stone had just suddenly appeared.
"Setting aside the Eye of Agamotto that belongs to the Ancient One," Marcus thought to himself, "the only other Infinity Stone that should be on Earth right now is the Aether. It seems the Reality Stone has finally manifested."
Realizing the implications, Marcus immediately opened his eyes and looked at Tony.
"Iron Can, come with me somewhere," Marcus announced. "You might find something very interesting there."
Marcus's sudden words left Tony confused. What was going on? Marcus had obviously been resting just moments ago—why was he suddenly inviting him to go somewhere?
"Oh, wait a minute," Tony said, standing up. "Let me suit up first."
Although he didn't know what Marcus was planning, Tony wanted to be properly equipped for safety reasons.
A few minutes later, Tony returned wearing his new battle suit, having transformed into the "tin can" that Marcus liked to call him.
"Where exactly are we going?" Tony asked through his suit's speakers.
"You'll find out when we get there," Marcus replied cryptically.
As he spoke, thick fog enveloped both men's bodies, and they gradually disappeared from the mansion.
London - Outside the Unfinished Building
Accompanied by the familiar thick fog, the figures of Marcus and Tony gradually emerged outside the abandoned building where Jane had been investigating.
The location was now surrounded by various police cars and emergency vehicles. Several officers were holding their pistols in both hands, clearly terrified by the sudden appearance of the mysterious fog.
"If I were you, I'd put down those weapons," Tony said through his suit's external speakers, his voice carrying a hint of amusement.
Perhaps because of his considerable fame, the policemen immediately lowered their weapons the moment they recognized Tony's distinctive red and gold armor.
After all, in addition to being a super genius and incredibly wealthy, Tony was also known as the superhero Iron Man. How could a superhero be a bad guy?
Seeing that the officers had lowered their weapons, Tony turned to look at Marcus. He still didn't understand why Marcus had brought him to this seemingly random location in London.
"So," Tony said, his curiosity evident even through the suit's voice modulation, "care to explain what we're doing here?"
Marcus smiled and gestured toward the building. "Inside that structure, someone just made contact with one of the most powerful forces in the universe. And I have a feeling we're going to need to clean up the mess."
As if to emphasize his point, a low rumble emanated from within the building, and the air itself seemed to shimmer with an otherworldly energy that made both men's advanced sensors begin registering readings unlike anything they'd seen before.
"Welcome to the Convergence," Marcus said quietly. "Things are about to get very interesting."
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