62 Chapter 54: hulk and the abomination

-Splash 

...

-slap 

"Huh?!!" 

 "Wake up, dumbass, and tell me what happened here?" 

Vladimir Ranskahov and his brother Anatoly looked at the tied guards in anger and confusion. 

They rushed to the warehouse after learning from one of the workers that they had been attacked by an unidentified vigilante.

"Vlad... Vladimir" The guard stuttered, finally coming to his senses after the slap. 

"Yes, Me. Now tell me, where did all the cocaine disappear to before you have the same fate, huh?" 

Vladimir grabbed his face and squeezed it with his fingers. 

....

"So you all lost to a single man?" Anatoly asked in mild disgust. 

"What weapon was he using?" Vladimir asked in confusion. How could they all lose to a single man, and such a degree that he could tie them all up without alerting the others? 

The guard first tried to answer but then hesitated and lowered his head. 

"Come on, speak up, you fool!!!!" Vladimir screamed in anger. 

"That... Mostly just his fists except for those two," He looked at the seaside where two corpses were scattered, "He made quick work of them with an extremely sharp sword." 

Both Russian brothers looked at each other before walking to a corner. 

"Could it be a ninja?" Anatoly guessed. 

"Why would Nobu try to do that? He is the most desperate of us all right now. He wouldn't subjugate the shipment because it would affect the flow of money that he so desperately requires to purchase all these buildings in hell's kitchen."

Vladimir rubbed his beard in puzzlement. 

Anatoly shook his head, "Nobu isn't the only one who has ninjas working for him. It could be a rival clan. Every one of us has enemies, so why should he be any different?" 

"Vladimir" A grunt quickly ran to them and waited for further permission. 

"Speak"

"I... I think I know where all of our shipment is.", He nervously spoke. 

"What are you waiting for then? Lead us." 

Both of them followed him toward the seaport, and he pointed below into the waters. 

Both followed his fingers and after a few seconds, they noticed the empty packets floating around in the ocean. 

"Millions of worth of pure cocaine ...  all dissolved into water.", Anatoly hissed a cold air in surprise while Vladimir gritted his teeth.

"Madam Gao wouldn't like this."

..... A few blocks away. 

"Come on, not much to see here now." Kar-el turned around and started to walk away with Now and Then in tow. 

His costume transitioned into casual clothes with each step that he took. He took out his phone and called Serena. 

(Hello?) 

"How are stark industries fairing in the absence of tony?"

( The stock market is down, but the worst is yet to come. The market's closure saved them, but I'm sure it will still be a downward slope when it reopens tomorrow.)

" What about my funds? Any growth in them?" Kar-el wondered.

(Obviously. l handle your funds individually, and we have the advantage of insider trading without anyone knowing. They are constantly increasing while safely scattered around the world to no one's suspicion.)

(I honestly believed you had forgotten about them. You have a lot of money for a guy who is content to live in a 3BHK apartment. Do you want to put money into Stark?)

(If so, now is not the perfect time. Let it go down even more.) 

"Hmm, money isn't an issue here. You can always manufacture more for me. Simply begin slowly purchasing its shares to ensure that no one notices. I have high hopes for him when he returns, and if we own a majority stake in his company, we will have some clout over him without having to play any of our other cards."

( Okay. )

"Additionally, while you're at it. Keep an eye out for a piece of art called 'rabbit in a snowstorm.'"

( Ohh, did you like it? Want me to buy it for you? Your birthday is quite close.) Serena excitedly asked back.

Since they both arrived on Earth, Serena has developed an interest in the concept of birthdays. 

She always hosts an extravagant party on Kar-el's birthday and often buys a long list of things that he likes as presents. 

From pricey beverages to houses with sea views, that's her indirect way of adoring him.

" No, keep an eye on it and tell me when someone buys it. Also, I will be busy training for some time, so take care of basic things for me in my absence." 

(Don't worry about it.) 

****A month and a half later, Kar-el penthouse. 

"Hello?" 

(Are you seeing this?) Coulson asked immediately. 

"Yeah," Kar-el sighed. 

Honestly, he wanted to continue his training, but the twins insisted on watching the fight, so they turned on the news station.

Right now, every local and international television is broadcasting the same thing. On the streets of Harlem, the two creatures are fighting. 

(Well..., We could use some assistance here.) Coulson spoke in a snarky tone. 

"No uncle, Don't take his advice. If you fought alongside them, it wouldn't be fair. No one would enjoy it. Let them battle it out amongst one another." Now grumbled and then agreed, focused on the television while eating snacks. 

Kar-el laughed heartily. "This was not agreed upon, agent. I'm happy to help with any extraterrestrial inquiries or problems, but this is your problem, gamma radiation men or not." 

(Ahh, at least I tried.) Coulson sighed before cutting the call. 

.....

"Your physical self, while beyond powerful, is not your most powerful form. It is your primordial form that everyone should be afraid of." Now explained to Kar-el as he was sitting and meditating. 

Then continued from where his sister had left off, "Manipulation, space, and matter transfusion are among the most potent sorcerer arts available to any master sorcerer. Because, of the nature, of how magic works, They are exceedingly difficult to learn and apply."

Now continued from where he left," To use magic, a sorcerer needs to trade. Using energies from different planes of existence to make changes in their reality. This is why there is a limit to their powers. Because they cannot trade unconditionally."

Then continued, "Even the sorcerer supreme cannot do anything against it. While right now she is getting around the system by tricking Dormammu, there is still a limit that she can't cross. She succeeded in tricking the opposite party. However, she cannot fool the system."

Now continued," But we are different, as conceptual beings, we hold complete control over the aspects that we belong to. Then as the personification of past experiences has no cap when it comes to the time domain, the same holds true for me." 

Then continued," But even among us, you are exceptional. As the personification of the laws that govern this universe, your abilities in any domain are limitless. You are the system itself."

"The very same system that allows sorcerers to use magic. You don't need to trade for you to use the magic of any domain just like how we do not need to do that when it comes to the time domain." 

"Open your mind to possibilities, to your own-self. Magic is not foreign to you, it is just a part of you that you haven't allowed yourself to explore." 

***A week later, on a private island in the Pacific Ocean. 

"So, any reason why you came to him to ask for help instead of anyone else?" Serena asked the twins as Kar-el meditated in peace for the last time.

"He was the only option," 'Then' replied. 

"We live in the house of ideas, and our only job is to look after the library of heroes in the halls of all-knowing. We frequently make deals with dissatisfied customers who want to add more chapters to their books." 'Now' elaborated. 

"The moniker of spider man is one of the few of our regular customers. Loki from noise mythology is also one, even though often he is best described as a villain. Due to the nature of our job, we can be best summarized as chaotic good as we endorsed both heroes and anti-heroes." 'Then' joined. 

"There are a few universes that are about to face incursion due to our intervention, but the beings in it are far too interesting for us to give up so easily." Now scratched her head with a guilty face. 

"Which universes are we talking about?" Serena asked in puzzlement. 

"Earth-65, Earth-8311,  Earth-6110, Earth-14512, Earth-90214,  Earth-928, Earth-616," Kar-el replied, finally breaking his silence.  

"All of them are incapable of producing beings that could potentially stop an incursion unlike our own." Kar-el shrugged his shoulders. 

"What about your parent or siblings then? Can't you ask them instead?" Serena asked the twins.

She was disturbed by the prospect of Kar-el becoming trapped in those universes if something went wrong.

"We did contact our father, but he is uninterested in assisting us. And depending on which sibling we ask, we could find ourselves needing assistance to save ourselves first." 'Then' smiled wryly. 

"The vast majority of abstract entities are letting their domain define them instead of them defining their domain. Our siblings included," 'Now' explained. 

"Okay, mind explaining one more time what I need to do?" Kar-el raised his palms in front of his chest and concentrated. Slowly blue energy was emitted from his palms and combined into a ball between his hands. 

He continued to feed it more energy, and the ball began to grow in mass and spin.

"At the moment, you are not sufficiently trained to stop an incursion event unless you are present at the origin point. There is no other option; you must act quickly to address the issue before it spreads." The twins looked at him as they explained.

"In addition, it would be a nice opportunity for you to put what you have learned from us into practice. Practical application is the best way to familiarise yourself with your skills." They prompted.

Kar-el nodded and pulled his left hand back and made a fist with his right hand, the ball of energy floated a few centimeters away from the fist. 

He let go of all the self-restraints he had been using and punched with all his might.

The energy ball and the fist slammed into the fabric of space, tearing an opening in it.

Inside it was the land of 'between places.

Kar-el nodded at them for the last time before flying right into it before the hole repaired itself. 

"We forget to tell him the coordinates.",_Then offhandedly commented once he was gone. 

"What?!!!" Serena screamed. 

"Some things are better left to instincts. He will be fine," Now assured. 

"Probably," She quietly added later. 

***With Kar-el 

Between places is what the name implies—between places.

Here you feel a multitude of contradicting phenomena at the same time. From the weightlessness of the void to the extreme gravitational pull of a neutron star. 

Overall, this location is ideal for my training. With my Kryptonian gene, it is difficult for me to train physically on Earth, but in this place, I could easily, train, both physically and magically.

After a few minutes of admiring the surroundings, I returned my attention to the task at hand.

I fell directly below into the abyss as I concentrated on the crossing between worlds. I felt as though I were falling straight through a wall of paper wallpaper as the floor on which I was floating vanished. 

Every layer gave me a different sensation; at times, I felt like every molecule in my body was transmuting into something else.

Sometimes it is liquid, sometimes it is gas, and sometimes it is energy itself. 

After an unknown time just falling around, I finally regained some control over my well-being. 

It was a surreal experience, flying in front and ending up in a different direction. 

I stopped and sighed. Common sense would not apply here.  I had to get my act together if I wanted even to reach a random universe, forget about getting to some specific universe.

Maybe I am doing this the wrong way from the start. Forcing my way through a path does not work every time, maybe this time I should let the path guide me to my destination. 

Once I had this change of mind, the whole realm of 'between places' started to resonate with my very being. 

My vision expanded to nigh omniscient levels, and I felt like the realm itself was my body. In this trance-like state, I felt the presence of others. 

The living tribunal, eternity, and infinity. In this nothingness, they were blazing beacons of unprecedented energy. 

They didn't hide their presence, so it was easy to gleam at their essence, but others were more reclusive. I knew their presence but it was impossible to pinpoint them unless I had another breakthrough. 

I didn't get to enjoy my newfound nigh omniscient senses because, before long, I had to protect myself from a spear of energy that came out of nowhere. 

The opposing party was quickly reported to me by the realm. Entropy. The favorite child of Eternity. 

A being born for the very reason to replace his father and become the next Eternity just like eons ago, his father did the same. 

History sure does like to repeat itself. His displeasure with my presence was also easy to guess. 

My judgment ( the weapon made entirely of nth metal that ×÷+- gifted me) was capable of hurting even the abstract entities. 

And due to our opposing nature of chaotic good and chaotic evil, we were bound to clash at some point. 

It was a warning shot, but sadly I am not yet capable of using the entirety of my powers, so it is better to retreat now. 

Revenge is best, served cold. 

I followed the path that the realm of between places guided me, and my body slowly turned into blowing sands as I transitioned between the universes. 

I was not ready to face another attack from him, and it hit me with the force of exploding supernova, causing me to lose conscience as I exited the realm of 'between-places' and entered the universe that it led me to. 

****Unknown P.O.V.

"What are they planning? We need to inform him before it's too late." The girl frowned in displeasure. 

"Don't worry, I'm sure your cousin can take care of himself and his girlfriend until we reach him. He is not a child. I mean, not a normal child." The guy driving the car assured the girl as they steadily increased their speed.

Suddenly, the girl frowned and looked outside the window, causing the boy to do the same. 

"Woah, is that a meteorite?" The boy remarked in awe, not at all worried about their safety. 

"Something feels off about it. I just can't pinpoint it." The girl wondered aloud.

"Well then, I hope your cousin is ready to handle it too. Look at its trajectory, it is heading right at Mr. Smoothy." The boy remarked before finally turning on nitro boosters.

(ED: I have exams coming up (from the 20th), so if anyone loves the story much and has time to help edit it. Please contact to discord).