Alarm Lifted

After being swept into a spatial turbulence during his battle with America's Ass in World War II, Red Skull awoke again to find that he had become the Soul Stone's... guardian?

Calling him a guardian was not quite right. In truth, his status was no more than that of a watchdog, a toy to pass the time, a cursed soul.

Decades ago, at Soul Severing Cliff, the Soul Stone had finally waited for a living person to arrive, using the power of the Tesseract. It had wanted to watch him perform and see how he might please it...

As one of the six Infinity Stones representing this universe's Cosmic Origin, it had been full of confidence.

No one could resist my temptation. No one!

Come on!

Trade the life of the person you love most for my favor!

And then!

...it read Red Skull's soul and discovered that the person he loved most was only himself. There was simply no one who could play its game.

Soul Stone: "..."

That was... awkward.

Thus, unwilling to accept this, the Soul Stone used its leaking energy to bind Red Skull's soul and cursed him into becoming its guardian.

The misery of a single dog was plain to see.

Furthermore.

Yes, with no one controlling it, the Soul Stone had actively bound Red Skull's soul!

All six Infinity Stones possessed spirituality, but this was the only Infinity Stone that had developed self-awareness!

Rather than an Infinity Stone, it was more like a stone spirit.

One of the Three Great Foundations of the Necromancy School was knowledge of souls. Their research had revealed that all things possessed spirits, but without sufficient accumulation of Soul Energy, self-awareness could not be born.

The reverse was true as well.

As long as there was enough Soul Energy,