Vermont's staff gave a low hum in response, its glow rippling across the void like concentric waves in dark water. The Avengers felt it pass through them—like being x-rayed by a god.
"Your beings are fractured," Vermont observed, voice even but edged. "Each of you carries residual paradox, threads that do not belong to this weave. To send you back now would risk rupturing more than one timeline."
"Translation," Natasha muttered, never lowering her guns, "we're still hostages."
Steve's jaw tightened. "If that's true, then fix it. Don't keep us in the dark."
Gohan's gaze flicked to him. There was no malice in it, just weight, the kind that made even Captain America straighten as if bracing against a storm. "You don't understand. This isn't about trust. It's about stability. A single misstep here could collapse more than your world. It could erase dozens."
Thor, steadying himself now, raised his hammer slightly. "And who placed you as arbiter of such matters?"
The faintest smile touched Vermont's lips. "By none. And by all. The Abyss is not governed—it is endured. Those who survive it… inherit the right to act."
Scott exhaled shakily, the only one willing to voice the thought lingering unspoken. "The Abyss… I'm guessing we're not even in a universe anymore. We're just… outside?"
"Outside. Outside of the outside. There are layers to creation," Vermont confirmed, his tone steady as stone. "We are far beyond the bounds of being in a universe. We are, in fact, outside the omniverse itself." His staff dimmed, but his eyes sharpened. "And something beyond is moving. It is why we came. Why we risked interference at all."
The Avengers stared, the implications of Vermont's words hitting them like a physical blow. Outside the omniverse. The scale was so vast it was incomprehensible. Tony's mind, which could model a new element in a cave with a box of scraps, briefly short-circuited as he conceptualized it.
Before the silence could solidify into pure dread, the Abyss itself answered. The low, groaning vibration that rolled through the void was a sound felt in the bones more than heard by the ears. It was the approach of something ancient and immense.
Gohan's aura erupted in response, not as a threat, but as a shield. The divine, pinkish radiance of Rose was a stark, blinding contrast to the infinite black, casting their faces in sharp relief. It was power made visible, a pressure that was both terrifying and awe-inspiring.
Thor was the first to break the stunned silence, his warrior's spirit igniting in the face of such sheer, unadulterated might. "By Odin's beard! What incredible power!" he boomed, Mjolnir crackling with lightning, not in challenge, but in exhilaration.
Tony, meanwhile, winced blocking the light from blinding him. "No kidding. A little warning next time you decide to go supernova, pal. Friday? Talk to me."
"Analyzing energy signature," the AI responded, her voice tight. "Sir, the wavelength has a 94.7% correlation to the anomalous tremors that destabilized our molecular cohesion prior to the temporal stasis event."
Tony's blood ran cold. The theory he'd barely dared to form was just confirmed. His eyes, wide with a mix of fear and razor-sharp intellect, locked onto Gohan. He pushed down the panic, the genius, playboy, philanthropist persona snapping into place.
"So, it was you," he said, his voice deceptively calm. "The one who gave us all a case of cosmic food poisoning. Care to explain why we were your collateral damage?"
Vermont answered before Gohan could, his tone leaving no room for argument. "You misunderstand. We were pursuing the culprit responsible for that act. The threat was of a magnitude that required the entire dominion of Destroyer Gods and their Attendants to intervene." His gaze was grave. "We failed. The shift occurred. The tremors you felt were the aftershock of that failure."
The revelation landed with the force of a hammer blow. Destroyer Gods. An entire dominion of them. They hadn't been shaken by a natural disaster; they'd been caught in the wake of a war between gods. Tony let out a breath of relief.
"And as for your earlier impertinence," Vermont continued, his voice taking on a formal, weighty tone. "You are in the presence of Lord Gohan, God of Destruction of the 21st Universe. I am his Attendant, Vermont. You will adjust your tone accordingly."
The titles hung in the air, heavier than any metal. God of Destruction. The name said it all.
Before anyone could process this new, terrifying reality, the Abyss tore open. A jagged rift, bleeding ominous red light, split the nothingness before them. It was not a natural phenomenon; it was a wound, vicious and intentional.
Steve Rogers, ever the soldier, immediately fell into a defensive stance, his shield raised not toward Gohan, but toward the new threat. "Thanos?" he barked, his voice strained.
"No," Gohan said, his voice low and deadly serious. His rose-colored eyes were fixed on the rift, his divine aura intensifying, ready for a fight. "This is something else." He glanced back at the assembled heroes, his gaze sweeping over their forms, their determined faces.
"The conversation about your fate is postponed," he stated, his tone leaving no room for argument. "Surviving this comes first."
A shriek rippled through the Abyss as a large phantom came through the rift. Gohan's eyes narrowed as he stared at the behemoth of a phantom, it's ghostly ethereal form shimmering in the darkness as it turned towards the glowing cube in the Abyss.
"By Odins beard! What foul creature is that?!" Thor called out, he had seen many similar things throughout his own life but this thing was huge.
"If it didn't move and screech, I'd have thought it was a star," Rhodey muttered. "And we're supposed to fight that? No way."
Natasha and Steve stayed quiet, eyes locked on the thing. Calculating.
"For once," Tony said, squinting against the glow, "I don't think we're the ones doing the heavy lifting." He glanced at Gohan and Vermont. "Gods, sure. But on a whole different tier."
"Masenko!" Gohan's voice cut sharp through the Abyss. He raised his palm, and a torrent of power blasted forth, tearing the phantom in half.
It let out a hollow scream, twisting to flee.
"Hakai!" Gohan declared. The creature froze, shuddered, then dissolved into nothing.
The silence afterward was heavier than the battle. Gohan lowered his aura, face unreadable. "That was a phantom. Universe-consumers. They infect a reality, drain it until nothing's left, then hibernate for millions of years before hunting again. You should never have to face one."
Tony exhaled slowly. "Great. So, not the reason you're here, then?"
Gohan glanced to Vermont. The attendant studied his staff, then shook his head. "No. Something greater stirs. A signature… strong enough to eclipse even this."
"We'll find it soon," Vermont added, his tone calm but absolute.