"
When Victor Drake woke up, the sky was burning. Again.
AETHER's voice snapped him awake before the caffeine could.
> "Rise and shine, multiversal disaster. You've got visitors."
Victor squinted up at the holographic display hovering over his bunk — energy readings spiking, temperature anomalies across the eastern hemisphere, and a little glowing dot over Wakanda.
"Let me guess," Victor muttered, rubbing his eyes. "That dot is bad news?"
> "Bad news? Try catastrophic. The fragment signature is growing, and it's anchored to a vibranium core. Meaning? It's feeding."
"Feeding?"
> "On energy. On matter. On reality itself. You really should get up."
Victor groaned and threw on the modified tactical jacket Tony had printed for him — reinforced weave, pulse-reactive plating, and a little emblem on the sleeve that read Project: Reality Stabilizer.
He'd laughed when Tony named it that. Now it felt like a cosmic joke with his name written on it.
---
Scene 1 – The Wakandan Summons
Within the hour, Victor was on a quinjet bound for Wakanda, accompanied by Natasha, Doctor Strange, and Spider-Man, who had a hard time staying still.
"Hey, you think they'll let me try on that Black Panther suit?" Peter asked, grinning behind the mask.
Natasha didn't even look up from her weapon diagnostics. "Kid, that's a death sentence in Wakanda."
Victor chuckled. "Yeah, man, T'Challa doesn't exactly do 'borrowing royal armor.'"
> "Focus, genius," AETHER said in his head. "This isn't a vacation. The fragment energy here makes Manhattan look like a broken lightbulb."
Victor stared out the window as the African savannah blurred below them, golden light spilling across the horizon. In the distance, the shimmering dome of Wakanda appeared — fractal light patterns rippling as it opened to admit them.
The quinjet descended smoothly onto the landing platform, where King T'Challa stood flanked by Okoye and Shuri.
Wakanda looked different now — darker clouds hovered above Mount Bashenga, and the air hummed with unstable frequency.
T'Challa stepped forward. "Drake of the Fragments," he said formally. "We are honored… though the reason for your visit troubles me."
Victor bowed awkwardly. "Yeah, trust me, I'm not here for the tourism."
Shuri smirked. "Good, because our tours don't cover collapsing dimensions."
---
Scene 2 – The Vibranium Rift
The group moved quickly through the city, escorted to the Vibranium Mines — now partially sealed off. Strange traced sigils in the air as Victor watched readings spike on his wrist console.
> "Energy frequency: 12.6 tera-rifts per second," AETHER said, voice taut. "Translation? Something below is breaking reality apart."
T'Challa looked at Victor. "Can you contain it?"
Victor shrugged. "Can I? Maybe. Will I die trying? Probably."
Peter leaned in. "That's the spirit."
Deep underground, the walls pulsed with light — veins of vibranium glowing erratically. At the heart of the cavern, a fracture floated midair, spinning like a black hole threaded with violet energy.
Inside it, shadows flickered — humanoid, shifting in and out of form.
Natasha frowned. "Those look like…"
"Echoes," Strange finished grimly. "Time remnants. The fragment's pulling from alternate Wakandas."
Victor blinked. "You mean, different timelines?"
Shuri crossed her arms. "So basically… we've got a cosmic blender sitting on top of our energy source."
---
Scene 3 – Enter the God of Thunder
Before Victor could respond, lightning crackled through the air. A booming voice filled the cavern.
"Did someone mention energy?"
Thor descended, cape flaring dramatically. He landed beside Victor with a grin that could power a city.
"Ah, mortals meddling with the fabric of creation again. Always entertaining."
Victor stared. "Thor. Perfect. Because when I think 'stability,' I definitely think 'guy who throws lightning at things.'"
> "Careful," AETHER warned. "He is the God of Thunder. And arrogance."
Thor slapped Victor's back, nearly knocking the air out of him. "You, boy, look far too mortal for this madness. Perhaps a hammer will toughen you up!"
Victor coughed. "Yeah, I'll pass on that cardio."
Even Strange couldn't suppress a faint smirk. "Thor, please refrain from hitting anything until we understand the rift's nature."
Thor raised Mjolnir — or rather, the new weapon, Stormbreaker — and studied the rift. "This energy… it reeks of the void. Old magic. Not of Asgard."
Victor muttered: "Yeah, I've been noticing a pattern lately — everything reeks of doom."
---
Scene 4 – The Rift Reacts
Suddenly, the rift pulsed violently. The ground cracked, sending shards of glowing vibranium flying. Aether alarms blared in Victor's head.
> "It's accelerating! Incoming surge!"
"Everyone back!" Strange shouted.
But the surge came too fast. Shadows burst from the rift, slamming into the walls, forming mirror versions of those present — Wanda-less echoes of Thor, T'Challa, Natasha, and even Victor himself.
Peter yelped. "Okay, this is officially creepy! Are those… us?"
Victor's duplicate smirked darkly, eyes glowing purple. "Not you. Better."
> "Fragment echoes," AETHER said. "Pure energy constructs mimicking memory patterns. Kill them before they stabilize."
Thor roared, launching a lightning bolt at his duplicate, shattering it into light. Natasha engaged hers in close combat, blades sparking with kinetic energy.
Victor charged his system module, pulling in raw fragment energy. His clone matched every move — but less controlled, more violent.
"You copy my style?" Victor grinned through the struggle. "At least have the decency to do it better!"
He slammed his fist into the echo's chest, channeling energy directly from the rift. The clone disintegrated.
AETHER purred approvingly. "Not bad. You're starting to look like you know what you're doing."
"Don't jinx me," Victor hissed.
---
Scene 5 – Strange and Shuri's Plan
As the battle raged, Shuri and Strange exchanged quick calculations.
"The vibranium veins can be inverted," Shuri said quickly, "to redirect the energy flow. But we'll need a stabilizer."
Victor sighed. "That's me, isn't it?"
> "Oh, absolutely," AETHER replied. "You're basically a cosmic plug now."
Strange nodded. "Victor, focus your fragment control here." He pointed to a circle of runes forming around the rift. "We'll bind it using both magic and technology."
Thor slammed Stormbreaker into the ground. "Then let us begin!"
Electric arcs danced across the circle as Shuri activated her vibranium conduits. Strange wove sigils midair, and Victor synced his interface.
The air thrummed with combined power.
> "Stabilization sequence: 40%... 60%..."
The rift screamed, a sound like glass breaking inside Victor's skull. He gritted his teeth.
"Come on… hold together…"
The ground shook again. A dark silhouette emerged from within — massive, shifting, sentient.
Natasha cursed. "What is that?"
> "Rift Guardian," AETHER said. "Constructed to defend unstable fragments. It doesn't want you fixing this."
---
Scene 6 – The Rift Guardian
The creature towered over them — six-limbed, shimmering with chaotic energy. Every move bent gravity around it.
Thor swung Stormbreaker, lightning slashing across its torso, but the creature absorbed the hit and retaliated with an energy blast that threw him into the wall.
"Thor!" T'Challa shouted, leaping forward, claws glowing blue as he struck the Guardian's leg. Sparks flew.
Peter zipped in with web lines, looping around the monster's arm. "Got you!"
"Do you?" Victor muttered, charging another pulse.
> "Feed off the rift!" AETHER shouted. "Convert its own energy against it!"
Victor closed his eyes, feeling the fragment pulse through his veins. His interface glowed crimson-blue, energy circuits threading into his hands.
He released the stored charge in a single burst — a shockwave of refracted light that staggered the creature.
Strange seized the moment, conjuring a binding spell. Runes encircled the Guardian as Thor slammed Stormbreaker again, amplifying the strike.
The rift began to collapse inward.
> "95% stabilization… 98%..."
Victor screamed as energy poured through him, searing his nerves. The last of the Guardian's roar echoed as the rift imploded — collapsing into a single glowing shard that floated gently before him.
He caught it — trembling, breath ragged.
And then, silence.
---
Aftermath
The cavern was still. Thor exhaled deeply, leaning on his weapon.
"Well done, mortal. You've earned my respect. A rare thing, indeed."
Victor wheezed. "Cool… does respect come with medical insurance?"
T'Challa stepped forward, placing a hand on Victor's shoulder. "You saved my nation's heart. Wakanda owes you a debt."
Shuri grinned. "I'll settle that with tech upgrades. You'll like them — probably won't explode."
Peter clapped Victor's back. "Dude, you literally fought yourself. And won. That's like, the ultimate therapy session."
Victor smirked weakly. "Yeah. And I didn't even charge myself an hourly rate."
Strange studied the fragment shard in Victor's hand. "This energy isn't fading. It's evolving. Every time you stabilize one, your connection strengthens."
Victor frowned. "Meaning?"
Strange met his eyes. "Meaning whatever controls these fragments… it's watching you."
> "He's right," AETHER whispered darkly. "I can feel it too. Something vast. Something ancient."
Victor exhaled. "Wonderful. So I'm basically on cosmic TV."
> "Smile for the multiverse."
---
Signals
That night, as the quinjet soared back toward New York, Victor stared out at the stars.
The fragment shard pulsed softly in his palm.
> "You realize you're not just stabilizing these, right?" AETHER said quietly. "You're awakening them."
Victor frowned. "Awakening?"
> "Every fragment sealed sends a signal. And something — or someone — is responding."
Victor's stomach tightened. "So… what, there's a big bad boss waiting at the end of all this?"
> "Oh no," AETHER said. "There's a system waiting. The one that started it all."
Lightning flashed outside the window, as if punctuating the thought.
Victor Drake closed his eyes. "Then let's finish the damn game."