Outside the Sacred Timeline.
Zero-Time Zone Dimension.
Under normal circumstances, there should be absolutely nothing here—no space, no time, no matter. Just pure void.
But now, this void is filled with vast, abstract, retro-futuristic architecture—grand and awe-inspiring at a glance, existing for countless ages.
This is the TVA — Time Variance Authority.
In the main operations center, within a grid of identical cubicles, dozens of timekeepers in white shirts sit upright, monitoring every timeline event—year after year, without end.
Suddenly, one of the overweight staffers gasps, his expression filled with shock and disbelief.
He vigorously rubs his glasses, puts them back on, and stares hard at the screen in front of him.
He wasn't mistaken.
The time branch had turned red.
This signaled a top-level event crisis. If left unchecked, it could cause unpredictable and catastrophic consequences to the Sacred Timeline!
Panic-stricken, he picked up the old red landline. After a few seconds of connection, he stammered:
"TC02354 reporting to the supervisor! T-Timeline branch—red alert!!"
"Date... November 27, 2012!!"
A deep voice echoed through the line:
"Understood."
Three minutes earlier.
November 27, 2012. Night.
At a port in Tennessee, a fierce battle was raging.
Dozens of humanoid steel suits, all different in design, were dive-bombing and attacking a man with glowing red-hot skin and a bare torso.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
As more and more Iron Man suits were destroyed, Tony Stark finally saw an opening. He ordered the Mark armor he was piloting to latch onto Killian, wrapping him tightly.
The next moment, he issued the self-destruct command, aiming to blow Killian up using the arc reactor—avenging Pepper Potts once and for all.
But things didn't go as planned.
Despite the massive explosion, Aldrich Killian—the most successfully enhanced Extremis subject—survived.
His severed limbs glowed like magma as they twisted and regenerated, solidifying in seconds.
Killian looked at Iron Man's shocked expression with smug satisfaction and laughed triumphantly.
"This is true evolution. Your iron toys are nothing but scrap."
"Haha! Stark! How does it feel to be beaten by what you once mocked?"
Tony half-knelt on the ground, despair flickering in his eyes as he looked at the enemy.
He had lost.
There was no way he could beat this monster in his current state.
After defeating the Chitauri, he hadn't expected to meet his end at the hands of another human. The irony was bitter.
"Huh?"
Tony suddenly cried out, staring past Killian's head in astonishment.
Killian sneered without even glancing back, his voice full of disdain.
"You think I'd fall for that old trick? Do you take me for a third-rate villain?"
"I really gave you too much credit, Sta—"
He didn't get to finish.
BOOM!!!
A deafening thunderclap cracked from the heavens, shaking the entire area.
A blinding golden lightning bolt burst through a rift in space and struck Killian directly, just as he scoffed.
The radiant light felt like divine judgment.
Tony, caught in the blast wave, was hurled back and crashed to the ground.
Dazed, he shook his head and looked toward the impact site.
Killian—the seemingly invincible villain—was now only a torso and stumps of legs, the rest of his body obliterated.
Lying atop the mangled corpse was a young man, groaning in pain.
The man suddenly jumped up, yelling as the scorched remnants of his clothes caught fire. He frantically tore them off.
Tony stared in utter confusion.
The man who had been killing him moments ago was now dead? Just like that?
It was surreal. Too sudden. Too unbelievable.
Russell was stunned!
What the hell was going on!?
Just a second ago, I was watching the sunrise on Mount Tai. But the moment the sun rose, a golden lightning bolt struck me out of nowhere.
Next thing I knew, I woke up on fire, and the sky was completely dark!
I was unconscious for so long… and no one came to save me?
I'm just a college freshman, not some old man trying to scam people...
Suddenly, a low humming sound came from beneath my feet.
Russell looked down—and to his shock, the ground had turned into a steel bridge at some point. Lying on it was a terrifying, charred figure, with blood like molten lava continuously pouring from its wounds.
To an ordinary person, this scene would be utterly horrifying.
But for some reason, Russell felt... familiarity.
"Have I seen this guy somewhere before?"
Wait—is that even a person?
That strange sense of familiarity grew stronger, like he was just one thin layer away from understanding everything—like breaking through paper.
Then, he saw the dying man turn his head slowly to glare at him with bitter resentment, before struggling to shift his gaze in another direction.
Flames of rage still burned in his eyes as he used the last of his strength to roar:
"Tony Stark, I'll drag you to hell with me!!"
Ptui!!
A mouthful of thick—no, burning—magma-like blood shot from his mouth like a meteor, slamming straight into the chest of a man who was trying to get back up in the distance.
Russell's eyes widened in shock.
In an instant, the miniature arc reactor in the man's chest was destroyed, the molten blood searing through flesh and straight into his heart.
Tony Stark screamed—and died instantly.
It was a clean, brutal kill. There was no time, no chance, for rescue.
That all-too-familiar voice finally shattered the last veil in Russell's mind.
That was why no one had saved him on Mount Tai.
Because this… wasn't Earth at all.
He had crossed into another world—right into the final battle between Killian and Iron Man in Iron Man 3.
This was the Marvel Universe!
But...
What the hell is going on!?
Why did Iron Man just die!?
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