Chapter 67: The Unknown Visitor

The Battle of New York was finally over.

But the cost was staggering, half the city lay in ruins, and the death toll had soared past ten million.

Among the rubble and ruin, survivors wiped tears from dust-streaked faces, casting grateful glances at the figures rushing past them. This unprecedented war, fought with fire and blood, had violently shattered humanity's narrow view of the universe, and nothing would ever be the same.

"Thank the Avengers… and the mutants too. I swear, I'll never badmouth them again…"

"It was the Transformers… they saved us…"

Captain America stood atop a pile of debris, face smeared with ash, staring up at the sky where the space-time rift had just closed. He exhaled in quiet relief, then immediately began searching through the wreckage for his shield.

But after digging through piles of twisted metal and shattered stone, he still couldn't find it.

"Hey! Have you seen my shield?"

He wandered in circles, growing increasingly anxious at the emptiness of his hands. Spotting a passing Transformer, he raised his voice and called out.

The Transformer paused, tilted its head, and scanned Steve briefly before nodding. "I saw Lord Shockwave take a shield earlier. Forget it, it doesn't belong to you anymore."

And with that, the bot turned and strode into a Ground Bridge, vanishing in a pulse of light.

Steve Rogers was left frozen in place, confusion etched across his face.

"…Why would they steal my shield?"

In any case, the skirmish over his shield was a minor footnote. The larger battle was over.

Martin had secured two Infinity Stones, and as an added bonus, Captain America's one-of-a-kind Proto-Adamantium Shield.

...

Earth Base, Cybertronian Science Wing.

Shockwave returned in haste, carefully placing the shield inside a diagnostic cradle. His cyclopean optic lens flickered as he scanned it from multiple angles, collecting massive datasets. Machinery activated in response, running a host of analytical tests.

"This is it. The only known piece of Proto-Adamantium, as the Creator described," he muttered coldly.

Ratchet, who hadn't taken part in the battle, had followed him out of sheer curiosity. It was rare to see Shockwave, ever the cold and hyperlogical intellect, display something so close to urgency.

"I will reverse-engineer the synthesis formula for Proto-Adamantium. If successful, we'll possess the means to mass-produce the hardest metal in the known universe."

Shockwave's voice was as emotionless as ever, his gaze fixed on the data flooding his screen. Without looking up, he curtly ordered Ratchet to leave and not disrupt his work.

Proto-Adamantium, created through an unrepeatable fusion with Vibranium, was not only unimaginably durable but also capable of absorbing and redirecting both energy and kinetic force. It was unique in the entire multiverse.

For over half a century, humans had poured their best minds and resources into replicating the formula, but always in vain. The miraculous accident that birthed it had never been duplicated.

As a fallback, they settled on True Adamantium, equal in hardness but lacking Vibranium, and therefore unable to absorb or project energy.

A further downgrade was Secondary Adamantium: cheaper to make, more widely used, but notably softer.

Ratchet crossed his arms. "If I were you, I'd skip the shield and focus on the beta-Adamantium inside Wolverine. If we can find a way to fuse a healing factor with True Adamantium, that'd be a game-changer."

As a medical specialist and biologist, Ratchet had a keen interest in the rare variant of Adamantium within Wolverine, one that incorporated the mutant's regenerative abilities into the metal's structure.

Shockwave didn't respond. As a pure logic engine, words carried no offense, no meaning beyond utility.

Ratchet sighed and shrugged. "Suit yourself." He turned to leave, already pondering how best to negotiate with Logan, preferably in a way that might involve sawing off a sliver of his skeleton…

...

Elsewhere… Martin Returns

"The Tesseract is impressive, but next to an Infinity Stone, it's nothing."

Martin stood beneath the vast dome of the hall, holding the Tesseract in one hand. The cube glowed with ethereal blue light, casting a cold luminescence over his features.

He gazed down at it. Slowly, deliberately, he began to squeeze.

The force he applied could have crushed a star, and it only intensified.

The Tesseract began to groan, its structural integrity collapsing. Cracks veined across its surface until, at last, it shattered in a blinding burst, disintegrating into a cloud of shimmering blue dust.

What remained in his palm was the Space Stone, glowing with crystalline brilliance. Within it swirled the endless depths of space itself, hypnotic and transcendent.

"Two down…"

With his other hand, Martin summoned forth the Mind Stone, its golden core pulsing like a living thought. He studied them both, immersed in the presence of pure cosmic law, artifacts that embodied the foundational rules of the universe.

Time passed in silence.

Then, without warning, a voice echoed through the chamber.

"You really like using the Infinity Stones like that? I've never seen anyone handle them quite the way you do."

It was crisp and melodious, with an odd undercurrent of allure. The hall had been completely empty, or so Martin had believed, yet now someone was speaking, their voice curling through the silence like smoke.

Martin opened his eyes slowly. His expression remained unreadable.

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