James held the Stone between his fingers. It pulsed in response.
He didn't know exactly how to "use" it.
But he felt the connection.
He focused and Willed it.
The gem floated slowly.
James guided it into the emitter housing—
—and thought about the energy output it should release.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The theory was simple, the Space Stone responded to thought, but the reality was far more uncertain.
James stood before the test rig, the faint hum of Stark Tower's rebuilt systems vibrating under his shoes. The Space Stone floated obediently above his palm, a calm, cosmic heartbeat that pulsed in time with… something inside him.
He still didn't understand how it worked.
Not fully.
Cortana fed him diagnostics, readings, and predictions, but even she had to acknowledge the truth:
[The Infinity Stone resists full quantification. Probability models ineffective beyond 12%.]
It was jarring and irritating. James didn't like uncertainty.
The Asgardians had possessed the Tesseract version for millennia without ever understanding it. Selvig had opened a portal with brute-force resonance. Hydra had weaponized it with no finesse. Thanos—well, that name reminds him of the inevitable clash he would have with the Mad Titan.
The fear of not knowing whether Thanos would either be the comic or the MCU version, hoping to almighty Stanley that it's MCU.
James exhaled slowly and looked back at the glowing gem.
He felt a link—thin but undeniable—connecting the Stone to his mind. Like a muscle he'd never known he had, waiting to be used.
"Alright," he muttered. "Let's see how cooperative you're feeling today."
He reached out, mentally, and the Stone brightened.
TRANSITIONAL SCENE — THOR & LOKI (OPTION C INTEGRATION)
Earlier that day—before the testing, before the diagrams and diagnostics—a brief moment of strange normalcy unfolded atop Stark Tower.
Loki, with his wrists locked in Asgardian binding cuffs, stood chained to Thor.
Thor insisted on waiting politely while James prepared the Stone-powered return device, but Loki insisted on being Loki.
"This is undignified," Loki muttered.
"You attempted to conquer a realm that was not yours," Thor replied solemnly. "Dignity is not among the rights you retain right now."
A gust of wind whipped across the rooftop. Loki shivered in unfair misery.
"And must we linger here, brother? Surrounded by mortals and their… smells?"
Thor sighed. "You will conduct yourself with honor. The midgardians are brave people, and they fought beside us that day."
Loki glanced at a passing Stark Tower employee who nearly fainted under his gaze.
"Yeah. Fearless."
Thor ignored him and glanced toward the crowds gathered behind barricades far below.
"I should speak to Jane," Thor murmured, half to himself, half to the sky.
"You should perhaps bathe first," Loki offered dryly. "Mortals have delicate noses."
Thor frowned, uncertain whether that was legitimate advice or mockery.
To fill the awkward silence, Thor decided to accept Stark's offer of refreshments.
This led to the surreal image of the God of Thunder politely sitting at a small table, drinking orange juice out of a plastic cup, while Loki sat chained beside him with a look of existential despair.
A group of construction workers approached nervously.
"Hey—uh—Mr. Thor?" one asked. "You saved our lives today. Can we… get a picture?"
Thor brightened immediately. "Of course!"
Loki groaned. "Oh, this is torture."
Thor pulled the workers together with such enthusiasm that two of them nearly fell over. Loki stood in the frame only because the chain forced him there. The resulting photograph left half of New York wondering why the pale, sulking man next to Thor looked like he wanted to commit regicide.
"Thank you, heroes!" one worker shouted.
Thor nodded proudly. "You are mighty people, with brave hearts!"
Loki muttered, "They barely survived the alien invasion."
Thor ignored him again.
Moments later, James contacted Thor to say preparations were nearly ready, and the odd little mortal interlude ended as the two Asgardians were escorted back inside.
BACK TO PRESENT — THE TESTING CHAMBER
Now, in the lab deep inside Stark Tower, James stood before the energy collector platform.
Tony hovered over the monitors, Bruce adjusted stabilizing clamps, and Dr. Selvig scribbled frantic notes like a man trying to decode the universe before the universe exploded.
The Umbra Sentinel Mk III schematics floated nearby, blueprint rendered in polished crimson wireframe. Sleeker, Darker, and far Faster. Every surface optimized for speed and precision, powered by the unique energy of the Space Stone.
A faint hum filled James' helmet as Cortana monitored his vitals.
[Neural Sync stable. Latency 0.041 milliseconds.]
[EM harmonic channels open. Output governors calibrated.]
[Warning: Operator stress elevated. Possible risk of overextension.]
James wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "I'm fine."
Tony glanced over. "You sure? You're sweating like it's raining here."
Tony smirked.
James ignored him and focused on the gem's energy output.
THE FIRST OUTPUT TEST
He pushed gently with his mind.
A wisp of power leaked out of the Stone—barely enough to light a bulb, according to Selvig's calculations.
"Get Selvig over here," he snapped. "And Bruce—now. I'm not holding this output much longer."
Bruce was already moving, fingers flying over the console as he rerouted stabilizers. Selvig rushed in moments later, coat half-buttoned, eyes instantly locking onto the data streams.
Tony glanced between the readouts and James' situation.
"Why do you look like you're trying to bench-press a Helicarrier?" Tony asked, unusually serious.
James exhaled through clenched teeth.
"Because if I lose focus," he said, voice tight, "we could teleport straight into a star."
He wasn't wrong. Without control, the Stone would open a spatial tear wide enough to swallow all of them.
Tony blinked once.
"…Okay then, I'll be out of your hair and ensure nobody and nothing distracts you."
Selvig leaned in, excitement cutting through the tension.
"The Stone isn't just outputting energy," Selvig said quickly. "It's trying to resolve the trajectory. It wants an endpoint."
Bruce nodded. "Which means we need a stabilizing frame. Not a portal generator—an energy harness. Something that drinks excess output without letting it form a spatial tear."
Tony was already sketching holographic models.
"Fine then. We cage the output, using Stark level capacitors, Banner's dampeners, and Selvig's harmonic regulators." He glanced at Thor. "You—no offense—but don't touch anything."
Thor nodded immediately. "None taken. This is not my field."
Loki smirked faintly from where he sat chained. "A miracle of self-awareness."
Thor ignored him.
"What I can provide," Thor continued, stepping closer but keeping his hands away from the equipment, "are the coordinates. The realm anchoring. The destination must be precise, or the Stone will seek a broader endpoint."
James' breathing was uneven now.
"Then give them," he said. "Before I accidentally invent a new constellation."
Thor placed a hand on the console—not touching controls, only indicating the display.
"Asgard's spatial axis is fixed relative to Yggdrasil's root pathways," Thor said. "Loki knows the exact coordinates."
All eyes turned to Loki.
Loki sighed theatrically. "You are all remarkably underqualified for this."
"The coordinates," James growled.
Loki rattled them off—numbers, angles, spatial descriptors that made no sense until Selvig's eyes widened and he began translating them into usable mathematical models.
"Yes—yes, that works," Selvig said rapidly. "We can lock onto those coordinates without opening the channel fully."
Tony snapped his fingers in realization.
"That's it. We're not opening a door—we're charging a key."
Bruce nodded. "A contained spatial capacitor."
Tony grinned despite the tension. "I love it when science finds a breakthrough."
They moved quickly.
Tony assembled the outer containment frame, Bruce calibrated the damping fields, Selvig tuned the harmonic regulators to keep the Stone's output from collapsing into a tear.
James increased the energy flow in careful increments, sweat rolling down his temple.
The harness absorbed it.
More and more energy was released.
Still stable.
"Unbelievable," Tony muttered. "It's like trying to pour a river into a cup."
James pushed harder, muscles locking, his vision blurring.
"Almost—" Selvig called out. "Just a little more—"
The harness flared once—then locked, its core glowing steady blue.
James cut the flow instantly.
He bent forward, hands braced on his knees, breathing hard.
"…Done," he managed.
Bruce checked the readings. "Fully charged and stable."
Tony exhaled. "Okay. That was officially terrifying."
Thor stepped forward, inspecting the device—a way to get back home.
"I thank you everyone," he said. "With this, I can return with Loki to Asgard."
A MOMENT OF RESPITE
"What now?" Tony asked.
"Analyze the output," James said, wiping his forehead. "Thor—now that you have the device, when do you leave?"
"Immediately," Thor said. "The longer Loki remains here, the greater the risk."
James tilted his head. "Did you see Jane?"
Thor hesitated—his gaze softening just slightly, but his resolve harden just as quickly.
"I will return when the Bifrost is restored," he said. "Duty comes first."
The four left the lab and moved to Stark Tower's rooftop garden.
There, beneath the open sky, Thor activated the device.
Light enveloped the brothers, and in a blink, they were gone.
James watched the empty air, a faint ache of curiosity flickering in his chest.
"I really want to see Asgard," he murmured. "Magical tech mixed with primitive tradition… must be beautiful."
DINNER BREAK
The lockdown prevented normal travel, but Tony Stark was not normal.
"Any want some burgers?" Tony suggested.
James raised an eyebrow. "You know the area is on lockdown."
"I'm Iron Man," Tony said, already walking toward the balcony. "What are they gonna do, arrest me?"
He flew off.
Thirty minutes later, he returned with a bag of burgers and a victorious grin.
"I got the burgers, does anyone want them?"
James blinked. "Did you even bring money?"
Tony held up a credit card. "Of course. I'm not a barbarian."
They ate, they drank, and they didn't stop working on their many projects.
Because geniuses rarely do.
BACK TO THE LAB — A NEW SUIT UPGRADE
After the meal, they returned to the holographic table.
The Umbra Sentinel Mk III blueprint hovered above them—sleek, deadly, and efficient.
The iconic emblem—a black eagle with twin pistols outlined in white and a crystalline core on the chest piece.
An emblem that would be the symbol of his identity.
"This time," James said, "will replace the bulky missiles. The shoulder launchers will conceal lightweight, high precision laser cutters."
Tony nodded.
"Will develop a new EM penetrator Arcshot ammo."
Selvig adjusted his glasses. "From the battle, I saw how you had difficulty penetrating the armor of the leviathans, this should be excellent for armor breach."
James continued working through the blueprint, dismantling outdated systems, replacing them with cleaner, sharper, and deadlier ones.
New Energy Twin pistols, Enhanced Deadzone/Dreadfire gauntlets, Upgraded stabilizers, and energy conductors for the space stone's energy.
Tony whistled. "Sometimes I envy your aim. You don't even need targeting assists."
James smirked. "I envy your engineering. You can build so many cool stuff."
FINAL PREPARATIONS
"We'll need an energy controller," James said, tapping the floating schematic. "Stabilizers, converters, and a capacitor conduit—all integrated into a single control loop."
Tony rolled his shoulders, already mentally assembling the parts. "Alright. We build the core chassis first. Weapons come after."
James nodded. "If funding becomes an issue, I'll transfer another hundred million."
Tony paused mid-step and looked back. "You only have two hundred million left, right? Did the Gilson Marbury project even start?"
"It's started," James replied calmly. "Reluctantly—but he doesn't have much of a choice."
He shifted the schematic, adding another translucent layer to the projection.
"There's one more thing," James continued. "I want to integrate the neural connection system we discussed last time. I need to see whether my ability can be expressed through the equipment instead of directly. Did you get any usable results from the material comparison?"
Before the research on the alien ring could be completed, James had been reassigned to monitor Bruce Banner, followed immediately by the Battle of New York. There hadn't been time for proper follow-up.
Bruce pulled up a molecular structure, its geometry unfamiliar and subtly unsettling.
"We have partial results," Bruce said. "This is the molecular structure of the alien material. I compared it against every known terrestrial alloy and composite—there's no direct match. I can try recombining the molecules into a synthetic analog, but realistically?" He shook his head. "The odds aren't great."
The structure rotated slowly in the air.
James stared at it—and something clicked.
Without looking away, he spoke quietly.
'Cortana,' he said internally. 'Your code architecture—does it resemble this? Structurally, I mean.'
There was a brief pause.
[…Processing.]
[…Cross-referencing internal logic network with external molecular geometry.]
Then silence.
Tony, unaware of the private exchange, turned toward the workbench. "J.A.R.V.I.S., initiate automated fabrication. Begin chassis assembly."
"(Understood, sir. Fabrication sequence initiated.)"
James finally broke his gaze from the projection.
"Tony," he said, "are you comfortable with the neural interface?"
Tony's expression grew serious. "You know that kind of direct linkage can damage nerve pathways if something goes wrong."
James didn't hesitate. "I know. But we'll build in hard disconnects. If there's instability, I can sever the neural bridge immediately."
He paused, then added evenly, "This time, I'll route control through Athena."
Tony blinked. "Your Helicarrier AI?"
"Yes," James said. "She isn't fully independent yet, but for suit mediation and operational control, she's more than sufficient."
Tony studied him for a long moment, then nodded slowly.
"…Alright," he said. "If anyone's insane enough to make that work safely, it's you."
At that exact moment, Cortana's voice returned—almost intrigued.
[Comparison complete.]
[Structural similarity confirmed at a conceptual level.]
[Conclusion: Your hypothesis may be viable.]
James allowed himself the faintest smile.
'That's great,' he murmured.