White light tore through the void.
Without warning.
It appeared deep within Universe-404, stark and savage.
Then a hum too sharp to be called a sound stabbed straight into everyone's skull, shaking their souls.
Distant stars twisted wildly along the edge of the rift, then went dark.
Chu Hang's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
That wasn't light.
His instincts were screaming.
That was... a gaze.
Yes. Like a microorganism under a microscope suddenly realizing there was an eye pressed against the other side of the lens.
Cold. Indifferent. Utterly without emotion.
The chill did not crawl up his spine. It erupted from the core of his existence, seeping into his bones and threatening to freeze his consciousness.
The control room looked grim.
Clark's Super Vision showed him nothing but blinding white. He squeezed his eyes shut, then opened them again. The world was still white. He could see nothing.
Thor's hand trembled around Stormbreaker.
It wasn't fear. His divine body was warning him—Run.
Even the leather of his glove creaked under the strain.
Wanda clutched Adam tightly. Chaos Magic instinctively burst outward into a crimson shield, but against that pure white, the red could barely flicker before it was crushed to a wavering glow, like a candle in the wind.
Reed's holographic display went berserk. Data poured down it like a waterfall, countless red alerts shrieking across the screen. Sparks were already hissing from its edges.
Tony's armor blared warnings. Nanoparticles surged out desperately, trying to build a defense, but they managed only a flickering, hazy film of light. They couldn't even hold the shape of a basic shield.
"No readings... There are no readings..."
Tony's voice was dry and shaky, not from fear, but because his brain had overloaded trying to process something it could not understand.
He swallowed. His