The Aether(chapter 35)
prevously in chapter 34
Coulson remained silent, watching the carnage unfold. His jaw clenched as he saw the agents falling one by one, unable to withstand the onslaught. The hallway transformed into a battlefield, walls blackened and crumbling from the intense heat, the floor littered with the charred remains of what had once been a strike team. "He's... unstoppable," Fitz said, voice barely above a whisper. As Henry dispatched the last few agents, Coulson spoke, his tone grim. "Looks like we were right. He did find a way to stabilize the Extremis."
The team exchanged looks of concern and disbelief. Henry's rampage was a stark reminder of the power they were up against. The live feed showed Henry making his way back down the stairs, the building groaning in protest as sections threatened to collapse. "This is why I didn't want you all going up against him," Coulson said, his voice heavy with the weight of their reality. "He's too dangerous, and we need to find another way to deal with him." As the screen flickered and the feed ended, the team sat in stunned silence.
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Still in London, an exhausted Henry could be seen looking around. "Well, I could have used my Bifrost stone, but I ain't no bitch" he muttered to himself, as a villain, if he run away from the first sign of trouble, people would thing he was nothing. Suddenly, a large red explosion could be heard and seen, which caught his attention because the explosion was red. "Oh, this should be interesting," he muttered as he sneaked into the location of the explosion, which was an abandoned parking lot where several kids as well as a familiar woman were gathered. "Isn't that Darcy?" After the event with Thor, Henry did some research on Jane Foster and the other people with her, including Darcy and Erik. "Hmm," he thought as they didn't seem concerned about the explosion, as if they didn't see it. Henry then moved towards the specific location where the explosion took place.
However, upon arriving at the location of the supposed explosion, Henry saw no damage. As he looked around, "Well, this is something," he mused before he saw a footprint that ended when it reached the wall, the footprint was visible because the whole place was filled with dust. He thought, "Wait, don't tell me?" Guessing, Henry approached the wall before placing his hand on it, seeing an invisible membrane that rippled with his touch. "Well, this is interesting," he mused as suddenly an idea popped into his mind. He used his essence extraction skill just to see if it would work, and much to his delight, it worked on it. "Well, it works on anything," he mused as he extracted the essence of the invisible barrier into a liquid form. He then took out one of his small healing potions that he carried around, drank the healing potion inside, and poured the barrier liquid, which had the following panel:
[ Name: Essence of Aether Barrier ]
[ Grade: 5th ]
[ Description: This rare essence was extracted from the invisible wall surrounding and isolating the Aether in Midgard. The barrier serves as a portal leading to the location of the Aether, and its essence captures the unique qualities of this dimensional gateway. The liquid shimmers with an ethereal glow, resonating with powerful, otherworldly energy. ]
[ Effects: +150% dimensional stability, +130% spatial manipulation, +150% energy barrier generation, +120% protection against dimensional breaches, +150% enhanced teleportation precision ]
[ Deterioration-Rate: 0% ]
"Oh, this is just begging me to go," he mused as he entered the portal. The moment he did, he arrived at a desolate and dark location where a large pedestal could be seen. But he wasn't the only one there; Jane Foster had arrived before him. She was currently floating up as red liquid surrounded her. "Oh hell nah," Henry immediately ran towards her only to be sent back by a shockwave from the red liquid or the Aether, tumbling. "Alright, let's try something different," Henry got up again, and this time he didn't hastily approach but activated his essence extraction skill. "If I can't have whatever this aether is, then I will just take it forcefully," he thought as he began extraction. Since he had never done extraction on a normal human, he didn't know what the effect would be on them, but if Jane Foster's painful scream was any indication, it wasn't painless.
"Oof, I don't want to be at the receiving end of an essence extraction skill," Henry mused. Suddenly, the moment he started extracting, much to his delight, the red glow on Jane Foster grew more rampant, releasing red energy. "Oh, I seem to have pissed off whatever the Aether is," Henry chuckled. He didn't care who he angered, but this would come to bite him in the back and he is going to regret this moment, however one thing he noticed was that when he usually performed extraction on things like lightning, he could feel the amount he could extract. But this Aether seemed endless. As he continued to extract, the red liquid he was extracting grew and grew before condensing into a small size and then growing again. He continued to extract for 99 minutes straight. It was only when his extraction skill was forcefully deactivated due to him running out of energy that the painful screams of Jane Foster finally stopped as the Aether, which had been swirling around Jane Foster trying to merge with her, finally succeeded.
As Henry fell to his knees, it took all of his attention and concentration to focus on extracting the Aether, which left him stunned as he thought, "That thing is endless." Henry laughed for a whole minute as he lay on his back, looking at the essence extracted.
[ Name: Aether Essence (Reality Stone) ]
[ Grade: 7th ]
[ Description: Aether Essence, extracted from a human host, is the liquified version of the Reality Stone. This dark red fluid, a remnant of a singularity that predated the universe, embodies the element of reality, allowing its wielder to manipulate the very fabric of existence. This rare and potent substance grants unparalleled power to alter matter and energy, making it one of the most formidable materials in existence. ]
[ Effects: +1,000% reality manipulation, +1,000% matter transformation, +1,000% energy control, +1,000% spatial alteration, +1,000% temporal adjustment, +1,000% creation and destruction, +1,000% reality warping ]
[ Deterioration-Rate: 0% ]
"Thank you, Goldie," Henry yelled as he laughed. "I am going to be a reality warper!" Henry laughed to himself as he nearly went mad. "I can't fucking believe it," he laughed to himself as suddenly the Aether, which again seemed royally pissed off, sent a large shockwave out, attempting to destroy Henry. But 1 minute had already passed, so Henry could activate his mana again, even if it's for 1 minute, allowing him to use the Bifrost stone ring. "I will find you!" he yelled at the Aether as he was teleported out. Back in his first hideout, Henry could barely contain his joy, so much that he was staring at the liquid of the liquefied Reality Stone, well, a piece of it. "I know that items can have skills, actual abilities. I thought maybe a tier 7 and above would have skills," he thought, disappointed as he then placed the liquid in a secure bottle.
However, he didn't put all of the Aether essence in the bottle. Since the liquid was a lot, he placed the majority in the secure bottle before turning a small piece of the essence into a gem, literally a gem of the Reality Stone, which much to his surprise, actually had abilities, not just one ability, but multiple abilities.
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A/N: So yeah, this was the main reason why I wanted him in London. If he didn't use the hacker and the plant, then he would have arrived when the dark were already attacking, and his chances of getting even a fraction of the stone would have been nothing. Anyways, I know for a Reality Stone, 1,000% doesn't mean much, but remember, this 1,000% is an extra effect that the alchemy system granted it. The main function of the Aether extract is described in its description.
P.S.: Alright, let me save you some trouble. Henry will be saving this and the Reality Gem as supplementary materials when he is creating his magnum opus. So he will try to use them only when he has no choice—when he can't teleport or can't beat someone. Well, there is one occasion when he wastes some durability, but if it were you, you would want to use it too, to see what it can really do. so i want to see those comments asking why he didn't use his reality gem, because its his last line of defense. he won't use it casually, also ignore it when he uses it to turn into a fly to infiltrate shield crime scenes, i know what i just said.