Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

The jellyfish-like creature seemed to notice that Ant-Man was unhappy and made a strange, unintelligible sound.

Its glowing tentacles suddenly shot out and, in the blink of an eye, wrapped around Scott, pulling him close—as if it was about to absorb him into its body.

Cassie tilted her head and asked, confused,

"Why do I feel like it's trying to eat my dad?"

"Really?" Russell studied it for a moment and then shook his head.

"No, this is still love. Maybe it just has the same mating habits as a female mantis… or a female spider."

"Oh... is that how it works?"

Cassie blinked, slightly disturbed.

At this point, Scott finally couldn't take it anymore and shouted:

"Stop talking and HELP ME—wuwuwuwu—!"

His arms were bound, making it impossible to activate his suit.

Cassie, who'd been too starstruck to react before, finally snapped out of it. She grew into a towering giant, over ten meters tall, and yanked her father out of the creature's grasp—then squashed the jellyfish.

Before Scott could even celebrate, he looked behind Cassie and paled.

Pointing in horror, he yelled:

"RUN! NOW!"

Cassie turned—and froze.

Behind her, a monstrous creature resembling a water bear—but dozens of meters long—was floating through the air, its jagged, ringed mouth wide open as it lunged at them.

Cassie recoiled in terror.

Scott hit the ground, grabbing his lower back.

Russell, meanwhile, didn't move. Instead, he stared toward a nearby hill.

The next second, a golden laser beam shot from behind the hill, piercing the water bear's skin. The creature burst like an overripe melon, drenching Scott in glowing green fluid.

He looked… slimy.

Cassie cringed and opened her mouth to apologize when they all heard a strange string of gibberish.

On the hill, several quantum beings appeared—one with a glowing searchlight-like eye, another humanoid, another alien-like, and a final one that was… extremely abstract. Each carried a weapon.

Russell immediately recognized them.

Quantum rebels.

They were friendly—or at least not hostile. As long as he followed the expected storyline, they'd lead him to Kang the Conqueror's army.

So he didn't resist, and followed Scott and Cassie to their camp.

There was no day or night in the Quantum Realm, but the nebula overhead shifted between brightness and shadow. At the moment, the sky had dimmed, mimicking night.

Beside a campfire, Russell, Scott, and Cassie sat surrounded by a group of rough-looking rebel soldiers. They all looked eager and intense.

After a few moments, a four-armed humanoid stepped forward carrying a jug of glowing red liquid.

The crowd cheered in excitement.

Scott began to panic as the creature walked up, nodded at him, and suddenly grabbed him.

Before he could fight back, he was shoved to the ground and had his head lifted forcefully.

Frantically, he looked to Russell for help, his eyes wide and pleading.

Russell just smiled.

"Relax. It'll be over soon."

"You're the guy who got swallowed by a jellyfish—you'll survive this too."

He knew exactly what was happening.

The liquid was "Enlightenment Juice," a kind of jelly-like biofluid that granted the ability to understand the quantum creatures' language.

The four-armed being had originally planned to give it to Russell, but changed targets after some subtle influence from Russell's aura.

Scott had no choice.

Moments later, he was force-fed the Enlightenment Juice.

His eyes widened. Suddenly, he could understand everything the rebels were saying.

The four-armed being turned to offer the drink to Russell, but Russell raised a hand and interrupted:

"No need. I already understand your language."

The rebels all froze.

A moment of silence passed. Then came a chorus of gasps:

"He speaks our language!"

"Unbelievable!"

"Whoa!"

"Incredible!"

"...Weird flex, but okay."

"Wait," one creature asked, squinting at him.

"You're not one of us. How do you speak Quantum?"

Scott wasn't even surprised.

To him, Russell could do anything.

Russell simply said:

"It's not that difficult. I just read Scott's brain. Now I can communicate."

Scott blinked.

He'd been used as a test subject?!

Then Russell turned to Cassie.

"Come here, Cassie. Take my hand—I'll transfer the knowledge to you too. That way, you won't have to drink... bodily fluids."

"Bodily what now?" Scott frowned in confusion.

That's when the jelly-like creature from earlier slithered up, touched Scott gently with a tentacle, and said proudly:

"My fluids. Tasty, right?"

"UGHHHH—"

Scott doubled over, retching violently.

Cassie, on the other hand, eagerly took Russell's hand.

Her eyes sparkled with admiration. Even after gaining the language ability, she didn't want to let go.

Scott stared, completely lost.

At that moment, a native rebel who looked vaguely human, with dark skin, leaned over and said:

"What's the problem? Worried your daughter's into him?"

Scott replied weakly:

"She's sixteen…"

The native gave him a curious look, glanced at Cassie, then back at Scott.

"Yeah, that's the thing—your daughter doesn't just like him… she wants him. Oh yeah. Exactly like you're imagining."

Scott was stunned.

Cassie's face turned bright red and she yanked her hand away, utterly embarrassed.

She looked like she might faint on the spot.

Russell's mouth twitched before he turned to the black man and said:

"Mind-reading is a useful ability... but it's another story if you can't control it."

In an instant, his mental power surged out, and Russell directly sealed off the man's telepathy.

After all, it was just a form of psychic ability.

Russell could use it if he wanted—but honestly, he never liked it much.

The black man suddenly found the world completely quiet. His eyes widened.

After a few seconds, he burst into tears and looked at Russell with overwhelming gratitude.

"You... was it you? Did you do this?"

"Thank you, sir! You have no idea how much I hate this power. It's torture!"

"Everyone here has filthy thoughts—and that jelly thing is obsessed with... holes!"

Russell was reminded of young Charles Xavier, who also couldn't control his mind-reading. That must have been quite a childhood.

Despite that moment, the surrounding rebel soldiers hadn't let their guard down.

Suddenly, a cold voice echoed from behind:

"You fool, Azas. He sealed your ability—how are we supposed to tell if they're Conqueror spies now?"

"Move aside!"

The crowd parted instantly.

A muscular woman stepped forward, a spear in hand, exuding raw aggression.

She gave a brief glance of disdain to Scott, who was still kneeling with glassy eyes.

"Tch. Forget that one."

Then she turned her gaze to Russell and Cassie.

"If the two of you can't prove you're not working for the Conqueror, then this will be your grave."

Scott finally snapped out of it and, with a bitter smile, looked at her:

"Even though I'm in a pretty sorry state right now... I still have to warn you: Don't talk to the Sorcerer Supreme like that."

The woman sneered.

"No one's ever dared to speak to me that way."

"Really?" Scott stood up and turned to Cassie, who was still blushing with embarrassment.

"Alright, watch your dad show off his superhero moves!"

"Avengers... ASSEMBLE!"

And with that, he rapidly grew in size—transforming into a giant over 50 meters tall, towering far above the transformed creatures around him.

He slammed his foot into the ground with massive force, shaking the area. Several rebel fighters lost their footing and fell.

"Enemy attack!"

"He's with the Conqueror!"

"Counterattack!"

A dozen tripod-shaped biomechanical weapons activated, charging up with glowing blue energy.

Some rebels rushed in with melee weapons, while others opened fire with strange gun-like devices.

Even the giant searchlight creature fired a concentrated energy beam.

So much for assembling.

Scott immediately shrank back to normal size, clearly flustered.

"They have cannons on their houses! That's cheating!"

Cassie, who had expected her father to save the day, was thoroughly disappointed.

He didn't even last one round before panicking.

The female rebel leader sneered:

"It's too late to be scared now."

"Take them alive!"

A large group of rebels surged forward.

Russell hesitated, then sighed. He didn't want to kill them.

They weren't evil—just too brave for their own good.

He slowly raised his palm and pressed down gently.

The female leader watched, confused.

The next moment—

BOOM!

Cassie gasped.

Every single rebel, along with the massive living war-machines shaped like buildings, were slammed to the ground by an invisible force!

Complete, overwhelming suppression.

Not one of them could get up.

Cassie looked over at Russell.

He looked calm, as if he'd just waved away a fly.

So strong.

Cassie's admiration for him grew even deeper.

Russell casually walked up to the rebel leader, crouched down slightly, and looked her in the eyes.

"Calmed down now?"

The woman nodded. Her arrogant demeanor was gone, and her pupils were trembling.

She had never seen such overwhelming power from a single gesture.

The strongest fighters in her group couldn't resist at all. Even the Conqueror couldn't suppress them so thoroughly.

This man... couldn't possibly be a spy for Kang.

He wasn't a person.

He was a monster.

Just... what kind of being had Zolun brought back?

Russell gave a satisfied nod and asked:

"Do you know where Conqueror Kang's base is?"

"If yes, blink once."

Her face was pinned to the ground by the pressure. She couldn't speak, so she blinked to indicate: yes.

Then Russell smiled and said:

"In that case... there's no need to keep anyone alive."

What?!

The woman's eyes went wide with fury. Was he going to kill everyone here?

But then—

Russell suddenly looked up at the sky.

Something was coming.

A few seconds later, she understood what it was.

Dozens of flying warships appeared, glowing with blue light.

It was Kang's army.

Not only were the ships heavily armed, but the soldiers inside had terrifying strength.

The remaining rebels on the ground also noticed—and they despaired.

The gunships lit up and began to rain down high-energy blasts.

Just when all hope seemed lost—

A golden shield suddenly shimmered into existence above them!

Massive, glowing lines wove together into an enormous, radiant barrier.

The energy blasts hit it—but didn't even ripple the surface.

Then, Russell calmly raised his hand again—just as he had earlier.

The rebel leader's heart skipped a beat.

She suddenly understood.

The next instant—

BOOM!

Every single warship exploded mid-air, turning into a fiery downpour of metal and debris.

None were spared.

The sky was filled with falling fire and twisted wreckage, all crashing harmlessly onto the golden shield.

The woman stared blankly.

The Conqueror's army, which had hunted and tormented the resistance for so long...

Wiped out in a single second.

In that moment, she realized:

She knew nothing about real power.

Scott had been right all along.

She should never have spoken to this man like that.

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