The darkness enveloped Alexander, but it did not blind him. Instead, it welcomed him like an old friend. The portal he opened was more than a shortcut—it was a corridor through the seams of reality, a hidden track only he and his shadows could walk. The veil of time and space warped around him, muffling sound and bending light, as he advanced with purpose.
Time bent inside. He could feel the pull of the cosmos, each star tugging on the edges of his power like threads on a tapestry. He reached out with his consciousness, locking onto the signature of the stasis chamber that held Doctor Strange. It was faint, flickering like a dying signal, but it was enough to guide him.
His shadow aura thickened around him as he moved. Behind him, his elite shadows traveled without sound. Nortis and Noctis flanked him in ghostly formation. Their forms were nearly invisible in the shifting darkness, blending seamlessly with the realm itself. Vasili had remained behind in New York under orders—to protect the Avengers and civilians. Now, the burden of execution fell on the two most lethal shadows at his side.
Suddenly, the darkness split open.
They emerged into the vacuum of space.
The stars above them blinked coldly as Alexander and his shadows hovered in the silence. Ahead of them, a massive Q-Ship drifted slowly toward deep space. Its engines burned in violet flame, illuminating its structure like a mechanical leviathan. Spires of metal and glowing veins pulsed with alien energy. Energy shields flickered faintly, attempting to seal the vessel from intrusion.
But Alexander saw through them.
"There," he said, voice steady.
They surged forward, cloaked in shadow. The Q-Ship didn't register them. They were phantoms, slipping between security grids, bypassing sensor arrays, drifting like whispers in the void.
Alexander reached the outer hull and placed a palm against the cold, metal surface.
A surge of dark energy passed into the ship, infecting its systems like a virus. His shadows slithered through the circuits, mapping the corridors from the inside.
[Target Located: Central Core — Life Support Chamber]
With a flick of his wrist, the hull cracked open, just enough for them to enter. No alarms triggered. No guards reacted. They moved like blades through the body of a slumbering beast, weaving between shadows and alien machinery.
The corridor beyond was dimly lit, pulsating with alien veins of energy. The walls throbbed like the inside of a living thing. Alien glyphs blinked in irregular patterns along the edges, casting eerie glows across the floor. Alexander led the way, his steps light but deliberate.
As they moved deeper, they passed dead soldiers—black-armored Chitauri warriors drained of life. Their bodies bore no wounds, but their eyes were hollow. Their armor was warped, and the marks left behind suggested a presence far darker than natural death.
"Something's wrong," Noctis muttered, scanning the area with his shadow-forged spear.
"They weren't killed," Nortis said. "They were harvested."
Alexander's expression hardened. "Thanos is preparing something more. This wasn't just containment. It was a ritual."
They reached the chamber.
Inside, Doctor Strange floated in a crystal-like stasis field, his limbs suspended and eyes shut. Runes of alien origin rotated around him in tight, slow orbit, reinforcing the prison with every pass. The entire structure pulsed with dark energy—intertwining mystic restraint and alien technology.
And standing before him was a towering figure.
Corvus Glaive.
The lieutenant of Thanos turned slowly, his obsidian armor glinting with the light of the containment field. His signature weapon, the glaive itself, rested across his back. His eyes narrowed at the intruders, calculating and cold.
"Another shadow pretending to walk in light," Corvus said. "You're too late."
Alexander stepped forward, cloak rising behind him like smoke.
"You speak of time as if you command it."
Corvus lunged. His glaive sliced through the air, aimed at Alexander's heart.
Nortis intercepted, blades drawn. The weapons clashed in a storm of sparks. Noctis flanked the enemy, launching dark bolts that curved mid-flight. They exploded around Corvus, forcing him to break away.
Alexander raised a hand and shattered three of the rotating runes with a single pulse of concentrated darkness. The magic cracked like glass.
Corvus hissed. "You have no idea what you're tampering with."
"I know that he doesn't belong in a cage."
He surged forward, shadows coiling around his arms, and clashed with Corvus directly. Their blows echoed through the chamber—dark magic against celestial steel. The glaive tried to pierce him, but Alexander's armor shifted with each attack, deflecting it with adaptive precision.
Noctis slipped past them, gliding toward the containment field. He extended his spear and tapped into the matrix, his shadow tendrils wrapping around the core.
"The runes are breaking. One more surge."
Alexander nodded and slammed his palm into the chamber's base. A pulse of dark energy erupted.
The final rune shattered.
Doctor Strange's eyes snapped open.
The containment crystal cracked and collapsed. Strange fell—but Alexander caught him gently before his head hit the ground.
Strange coughed and winced. "Took you long enough."
Alexander raised a brow. "You're welcome."
Corvus Glaive shrieked and charged again, glaive aimed for Strange this time.
Nortis threw himself in the path, the glaive impaling his chest—but he didn't fall. He grabbed the weapon, twisting it and snapping the shaft in half with a growl of defiance.
Corvus staggered back in horror. "Impossible—"
Alexander stepped forward, eyes glowing with wrath.
"This ends here."
Darkness surged around him, coiling like a serpent. With one gesture, he launched a barrage of razor-sharp shadows. Corvus was thrown back, pinned to the wall by a dozen tendrils.
"You serve a dying god," Alexander said.
"He... cannot be stopped..."
"Then we'll break the rules."
With one final wave, the shadows consumed Corvus. There was a scream—then silence.
Strange groaned and sat up. "We have to go. This ship... it's calling something."
Alexander's system pulsed.
[WARNING: TITAN SIGNAL DETECTED. INCOMING VESSEL — CLASS: PRIME DREADNOUGHT]
The deck trembled beneath their feet.
Through the viewport, they saw it. A wormhole tearing into the void. From its center, the massive shadow of Thanos's warship emerged, swallowing the stars around it.
Strange struggled to his feet. "Can you hold them off?"
"No. But I can slow them down."
He turned to Noctis. "Take him. Get out."
Noctis nodded, wrapping Strange in a veil of shadow. A rift opened, leading back to Earth.
"You're not coming?" Strange asked.
Alexander's gaze remained fixed on the dreadnought. "I will. After I make sure they understand what they're about to lose."
The portal closed behind Noctis and Strange.
Alone, Alexander stood in the darkened command deck as the shadow of the Titan's arrival spread across space.
And he prepared.
To be continued.
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