Set Up Perfectly
My name is Red Skull, I am the guide of Vormir, and the guardian of the Soul Stone.
I have a sworn enemy named Steve Rogers. The reason I'm here is because I fought with him for the Tesseract during World War II.
I was transported to Vormir by the Tesseract, and became a slave to the Soul Stone, replacing the deceased predecessor.
To put it nicely, they are guides.
My job is to screen out those with weak wills for the Soul Stone. Over the years, I have done my job very well and there has never been a single accident.
Then, I met a complete idiot who was utterly unreasonable.
This simpleton had no reverence for power, let alone respect for the Soul Stone.
I said that obtaining the Soul Stone is simple; all you need to do is sacrifice the person he loves most.
One life for one stone.
Fair enough.
Then this silly guy said that I was the person he loved most...
Oh my god...
Before this, I never imagined that anyone would say that to me.
This guy's thought process is just too peculiar.
Then, he kicked me down.
He kicked without hesitation, and I landed gracefully.
It's just that his limbs were shattered and his head was cracked; it's not a big problem.
"... Woz?"
On the edge of the cliff, Beckett, dressed in a loose black Battle Suit, frowned. The mist gathering below the cliff was of unknown composition, and even with his eyesight, he couldn't see it clearly.
"The mist contains a large amount of Infinity Stones isotopes, Woz cannot scan," Woz gave an answer that made Beckett raise an eyebrow.
Infinity Stones isotopes?
Isn't that the work of the Soul Stone?
Is that even possible?
Standing next to Beckett, Hela re-examined this Beckett.
Does this mean that the Soul Stone has been deceiving visitors for thousands of years?
With disbelief in her eyes, Hela stayed with Beckett on the edge of the cliff for more than an hour, enduring the wind.
Snow had already accumulated on their shoulders, but the Soul Stone still hadn't appeared.
Hela's gaze grew increasingly mocking, while Beckett's expression darkened further.
The passage of time brought about completely different psychological processes for the two.
"I've said it before, the Soul Stone has its own set of rules. These are its established rules, and you can't exploit any loopholes." Hela watched Beckett's changing expression with great interest.
Perhaps because she had been sealed away for so long and hadn't seen anyone, Hela now actually thought Beckett's face was alright.
Beckett raised his right hand, and golden light surged across his body in an instant.
The dazzling light seemed to possess an intense heat, instantly evaporating all the snowflakes falling from the edge of the Vormir cliff.
"Wait, Beckett, what are you trying to do?!" Hela's playful smile vanished.
"Destroy Vormir." A vast amount of energy continuously gathered in Beckett's right palm, and an energy ball about the size of Red Skull floated and spun on his palm.
The energy is still gathering, but it remains hidden and unreleased.
Even though the energy sphere didn't change in size, Hela was terrified.
The terrifying aura emanating from it was something she could hardly withstand, even after returning to Asgard and replenishing her divine power.
"Since it won't come out, I'll just smash its house."
"With its hiding place gone, it naturally has nowhere to hide."
It was as if he were explaining, or perhaps speaking to the Soul Stone hidden somewhere in Vormir. The energy sphere in Beckett's hand grew increasingly terrifying in intensity over time, yet he seemed to feel it wasn't enough, and continued to gather energy.
The fog at the bottom of the cliff grew thicker and thicker...
"If you destroy Vormir, you will never gain my power."
The Red Skull, who should have been dead, slowly rose from the mist at the bottom of the cliff. The black flames flickering in its pupils made Beckett's lips curl into a mocking smile, "You're afraid."
If before it was just uncertainty, now Beckett is 100% certain.
"I will not feel fear."
Red Skull shook his head. "Since my birth, there has only been one thing I have pursued, and that is fairness."
"To exchange the life of a loved one for sufficient power is a fair choice."
"Gaining power comes at a price."
"I never force anyone to do business with me, because the final decision is not in my hands."
"Son of Thanos, do you understand?"
The black flames that flickered in Red Skull's eye sockets vanished instantly after he uttered this final warning, and Red Skull's body once again plunged into the mist.
He died a second time, and the manner of his death was extremely gruesome.
The mist containing the Soul Stone's isotopes dissipated, revealing that the Red Skull's head had been smashed apart from its body.
Beckett, standing on the cliff edge, dispersed the energy orb he had been holding for so long and turned to leave without hesitation.
"Woz, create an electronic map of Midgard and have that Midgard Artificial Intelligence life form search for it."
"Understood, Your His Highness Beckett."
Woz bowed respectfully on the spaceship's main control panel, then secretly slipped inside through a hidden door he had previously left in the J.A.R.V.I.S. system program.
For Woz, who was created by Thanos himself and possesses all the high-tech databases of the Dark Order, it could easily turn J.A.R.V.I.S. against him if it wanted to, and leaving a secret door would be even easier.
No matter how powerful J.A.R.V.I.S. is, it is ultimately just an Artificial Intelligence on Earth, while Woz has long since become Artificial Intelligence life form, and a physical one at that.
Earth, USA, Washington, Tony Stark's mansion.
Due to the ongoing reconstruction efforts in New York City, billionaire Tony Stark was forced to move into his luxurious villa in Washington, D. C., to continue his research.
A study of Beckett.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., what are the results of your analysis of Ancient Egypt documents?"
With a resounding clang of his hammer, Tony Stark, wearing only a vest, continued experimenting with and modifying his Iron Man Armor in the laboratory.
Every blow costs millions of dollars.
But Tony Stark, the dog tycoon, is not short of money.
So he's been working as a blacksmith at home for two days now.
"The information is vague. The civilization of Ancient Egypt has been interrupted for a long time, and all the information that can be found on the Internet is insufficient to support your analysis of Beckett's power."
J.A.R.V.I.S. gave Tony Stark a disappointing answer.
"However, besides that, there is another piece of good news."
"Huh? What is it?"
"I tracked them down by using the signal traces left in my system by the Artificial Intelligence that was previously with Beckett."
As soon as J.A.R.V.I.S. finished speaking, the appearance of Vormir appeared before Tony Stark. On a screen to the side, there was also a map of the route J.A.R.V.I.S. had tracked down.