The scenery around them shifted.
The Museum, which had been clean and intact apart from the damage Rhino had caused, was now in ruins.
It did not look as though Rhino had wrecked it after coming in. It looked as though it had already been destroyed before he arrived.
Rhino on the floor and the Vibranium pickaxe in Mercer's hand both vanished.
And that remark in particular-he had anticipated the illusion attack?
"Who's playing tricks here?!"
Mercer barked, and invisible psychic power spread out from his body.
This was the boost to his psychic power he had gained after absorbing the Great Old Ones with the Blacklight Virus. Now Mercer truly possessed the sort of psychic power described in fantasy novels.
His psychic power instantly spread throughout the Museum. Mercer could clearly sense two presences inside besides his own.
"Come out!"
Mercer glared toward a corner, sending an overwhelming wave of psychic power crashing in that direction.
Space shattered like a broken mirror, revealing the figure hiding there.
"Mysterio!" The name slipped out of Mercer's mouth.
The man who appeared before him was none other than Mysterio, the traveler from another universe who had arrived through S.H.I.E.L.D.'s artificial Tesseract.
"Well, you knocked me out of the Mirror Dimension without breaking a sweat. Just what I'd expect from the owner of the Space Stone," Mysterio said seriously.
Mercer asked, "You know me?"
"Of course."
Laughter came from the "fishbowl head" filled with white mist. Mysterio chuckled. "My universe had Infinity Stones too, but they were destroyed.
"I used an ancient spell to open a gateway to another universe. I never expected that gateway to open onto that artificial Tesseract.
"The artificial Tesseract only had enough energy to bring me here from another universe. Then it dissipated. I followed the residual energy,