Marvel: Starting as a Time Criminal, Stealing Powers

"You shouldn't have mentioned that name!"

Kang the Conqueror roared, and the energy mask covering his face instantly shattered! He flung his arms wide, unleashing a powerful blue shockwave that surged across the room.

Russell was a little surprised by his reaction.

With a flick of his wrist, his telekinetic powers enveloped Janet and launched her through the wall. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared into the distance.

At the same time—without a spell—a Taoist-style energy shield materialized in front of him.

The shockwave struck the shield directly—but didn't leave a single crack.

A floating platform rose beneath Kang's feet, lifting him into the air. Dozens of automated turrets deployed from the upper walls and hovered, surrounding the space.

"You can't save her!" Kang shouted from above. "I'll find her. I'll imprison her. I'll torture her—even if I have to scour the entire Quantum Realm!"

Russell chuckled.

"You should change your name to Confident Kang. If your technology ends up amusing me, maybe I'll kill you quickly."

Kang's face darkened.

"Arrogant human! You don't know who you're facing!"

"I am the World Conqueror! The Star Destroyer!"

"Die!"

As his voice fell, the hovering cannons emitted a high-pitched charging hum. In seconds, they reached critical capacity and fired a barrage of dark blue energy blasts!

At the same time, Kang slammed both hands downward.

Instantly, the gravity generators hidden beneath the fortress overloaded. The floor under Russell was suddenly subjected to 500 times Earth's gravity.

The metal plating twisted and collapsed.

But Russell didn't move an inch—merely tilting his head slightly, completely unaffected.

Meanwhile, the blue energy bombs, which were capable of leveling entire buildings, detonated just before reaching him.

There was no smoke—only flames rolling inward like a reversed explosion.

Kang frowned.

Why are the flames... collapsing inward?

Before he could figure it out, the swirling fire coalesced—condensing like liquid—until it became a fiery spear, hovering in Russell's hand.

"Here. Take it back."

Russell grinned and hurled it forward.

Kang's expression changed. The floating platform under his feet vanished in an instant, and a burst of electromagnetic force yanked him to the ground.

The flaming spear soared past, pierced the metal wall, and struck an energy tower several hundred meters away—

BOOM!!

A violent explosion rocked the entire base.

"Not bad, not bad."

Russell clapped with a smile, clearly more amused than threatened.

Kang clenched his teeth in humiliation.

"RA—!!"

Before he finished roaring, he raised his hands and unleashed another attack!

A blazing blue ray blasted forth and struck Russell directly!

His coat began to disintegrate under the ray's force.

Kang's eyes lit up—it was working!

This was the Disintegration Ray—one of his most devastating weapons.

He pictured the man's skin burning, muscle vaporizing, bones turning to ash...

But his smile froze.

Only the coat disintegrated. When the beam hit Russell's bare chest—it did nothing. At most, it turned his skin slightly red.

"Impossible!"

Kang's voice cracked in disbelief. This was the first time the disintegration tech had ever failed!

Russell scratched his chest lazily.

"I've got high resistance. Maybe try something else next time."

His physique had far surpassed even the Asgardian gods—resistant to fire, curses, energy, and rays.

This so-called disintegration ray felt more like a mosquito bite.

Kang's face twisted in fury.

"Don't force me—!"

He extended his hands and fired wave after wave of blue energy blasts—clearly running out of ideas.

But none of it worked.

Then—

BOOM!

Kang slammed his fists together, and the entire hall was consumed in a burst of blinding blue light.

Russell could feel the intense radiation within it—powerful enough to reduce any ordinary human to a pile of rotten flesh with shredded DNA.

But for him?

It was just bright.

Russell laughed.

In that moment, he realized Kang was bluffing. The whole light show was a distraction.

And sure enough, as the light faded—

A dozen Kang the Conquerors stood before him, identical in appearance.

Some held high-energy particle blades, some launched missiles, and some were charging forward with a blue mist radiating from their bodies—clearly preparing to self-destruct.

Russell's lips curled slightly as he said,

"You've learned Mysterio's tricks quite well—but even Spider-Man figured them out. Are you seriously underestimating me?"

As he spoke, he ignored the high-energy particle blade that slashed through his body harmlessly.

He then pointed at a self-destructing Kang duplicate. The figure instantly exploded and reverted into the corpse of a common cybernetically-modified soldier.

These Kang illusions—some real, some fake—shifted with the environment, mimicking Mysterio's style. However, their illusion calculations were far more advanced.

Still, casually destroying a few fake Russells felt dull.

These tricks wouldn't fool him—a master of illusion magic—especially when he also had Spider-Sense.

After more than ten seconds, Russell suddenly said:

"I think I've given you enough time."

"Don't disappoint me again."

He stepped forward—and in an instant, a terrifying inferno erupted beneath his feet, forming a howling firestorm that roared through the air!

BOOM!

The upper level of the fortress was instantly engulfed in a tidal wave of flame, blooming like a giant fiery lotus!

Russell stood calmly at the center of the blaze, his eyes fixed on the distance.

The real Kang the Conqueror hovered in front of a massive tower.

Suddenly, loud rumblings echoed, and ring-shaped stabilization devices began to rise around the core of the time-energy matrix. Blue energy barriers pulsed across them.

At the same time, the entire fortress activated: 148 energy towers lit up in sequence, connecting in overload mode.

Electric arcs danced wildly inside the barriers, striking Kang's armor again and again—growing more intense—until complex, circuit-like patterns formed across his armor. Deep blue energy surged through him.

The next second, Kang raised his palm, and countless arcs of electricity converged into half-meter-wide orbs, linking together to form a massive, polyhedral cage—intended to imprison Russell.

Interesting… Russell's eyes lit up slightly. He could feel the entire area had shifted into an unfamiliar spatial field, where direction no longer made sense.

Forward. Backward. Up. Down. Left. Right.

Each step brought him back to the starting point.

He hadn't expected it—his usual mastery over space was neutralized in the quantum realm. Yet Kang's technology had succeeded where his powers failed.

Every ability had its strengths—and this one was clearly based on electromagnetic simulation. Something even Thor's divine lightning could mimic.

Russell's smile widened as he looked at Kang.

"Your knowledge… I'll be taking it."

"Let's try this again."

Kang grinned darkly—and fired a fission ray ten times more powerful than before!

But as it entered the electromagnetic prism, the ray morphed into a strange state—like ink being injected into a balloon.

The entire sealed space filled with glowing blue liquid energy at lightning speed, making it impossible to see inside.

Hovering above, Kang sneered coldly:

"I've been stuck here long enough—waiting for you."

"This time, not even dust will remain."

With that, he clenched his fist. The electromagnetic cube immediately compressed, and the fission energy inside underwent a violent chain reaction—before solidifying into crystal form.

Snap!

Kang snapped his fingers.

The cube collapsed. The solidified blue energy turned to mist and faded.

There was nothing left.

"Hmph. Pathetic."

The energy mask on Kang's face dissipated, and he prepared to descend—until something caught his eye.

Without the blue light blocking his view, he suddenly noticed a point of white light that hadn't faded with the rest of the mist.

The light had no physical source—but it remained, glowing gently.

A voice echoed like a whisper from the abyss:

"I really have to thank you."

"I was going to break free by force… but your trick helped trigger a spiritual realization. I learned how to use the power of light."

As the voice faded, the white glow began to condense—returning to flesh and form.

Russell examined his reformed hand and nodded with satisfaction.

Light.

For energy types that disintegrate matter, it was a natural counter.

Immune to physical attacks.

Of course, no power is absolute.

If a punch can shatter space, it can break light too. And light was still vulnerable to magic and Infinity Stone energies.

But even so, Russell was more than satisfied.

Kang, on the other hand, was furious.

"Who… are you!?"

His energy mask reactivated, and the circuits on his armor blazed white-hot.

In an instant, two energy barriers appeared on either side of Russell—blasting out a raging arc storm!

He had once used this exact attack to incinerate a fully armored Iron Man into a blackened husk.

Even if it didn't kill this man, it had to at least hurt him!

But when he looked down—

Russell was standing calmly inside the storm.

Smiling.

Basking in it like a hot spring.

Kang's eye twitched. Russell grinned:

"I heard you killed Thor once?"

"Then here—taste some of my Thunder God power!"

He raised a hand and snapped.

A silver-white bolt of lightning surged from his fingertips—spreading like tree roots across the air!

Kang tried to dodge—but it was too late. He was already surrounded by the lightning tree!

He crossed his arms and activated a maximum-powered spherical shield.

BOOM—BOOM—BOOM!

Explosions rocked the room. Lightning slammed into the shield again and again, burning brown scorch marks into it.

As the bolts intensified, cracks began to appear.

Then—

CRACK!

The shield shattered like a dam hit by a tsunami.

Lightning poured down!

Kang's suit tried to defend him—but it only took a few strikes before it started sparking and cracking.

"AAAAARGH!!"

Kang screamed as he was blasted from the air and slammed into the ground!

But the moment he hit, the metal floor opened—and an electromagnetic tractor beam pulled him into a lower escape passage.

He was trying to flee.

But—

SWOOSH!

A sound sliced through the air.

Kang instinctively turned—and saw a terrifyingly calm, smiling face staring at him.

"Leaving without saying goodbye? How rude."

"Guess I won't be joining you down there."

Russell raised his hand and spread his fingers.

Kang's scalp tingled.

He unleashed another blue shockwave, but it was pointless. He had seen the man shrug off worse without flinching.

The beam, capable of vaporizing life, touched Russell—and passed by like a gentle breeze.

"No!"

Kang screamed, desperately trying to reverse the electromagnetic pull.

But it was no use.

He found himself frozen mid-air—the tractor beam deactivated, his body locked in place.

The HUD of his suit began flashing red.

"Powerful telekinesis field detected. No countermeasures available."

It was over.

Kang's eyes widened in horror as he watched the man reach forward—and slide a hand directly into his skull.

His vision began to fade. Just before everything went black, he heard a final whisper:

"Don't worry. I'll just read your memories—then I'll kill you."

"It won't hurt."

And in that moment, Kang remembered what Russell had said when they first met:

"If your technology impresses me, I'll give you a quick death."

So that was it.

His fate had been decided from the start.

A performer.

A tragic clown, dancing for the crowd.

"My variants…"

"…see you in hell."

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