Rhodey's overwhelming firepower actually managed to suppress Cull Obsidian for a ti.
Tony and Pepper seized the opportunity, deploying their respective drones and unleashing everything they had on him.
For the mont, Cull Obsidian couldn't move at all. The beams fired by the drones couldn't break through his skin imdiately, but given enough ti, even his defenses wouldn't hold forever.
anwhile, Ebony Maw and Strange were locked in a fierce battle.
Though both were spellcasters, Ebony Maw was clearly the superior one at this stage.
Using the montum of Strange's own spell against him, Maw rushed forward and slamd into him, smashing him into a wall. Countless chunks of stone imdiately surged forward, pinning Strange firmly in place.
"Little sorcerer, your technique is passable, but your magical power is far too weak. In the end, you're nothing more than a stage magician."
Seeing Strange buried beneath layers of stone and brick, Maw reached out and grabbed the Eye of Agamotto hanging on his chest.
Sizzle—
A burning sound erupted.
The Eye of Agamotto suddenly shone with golden light, scorching Maw's hand.
He quickly withdrew it.
His palm now looked as though it had just been pulled from a vat of boiling oil.
"So a stage magician managed to hurt you."
Strange looked at him with a smirk.
"That's pretty embarrassing. What are you, so circus clown?"
"You seek death!"
Maw ripped Strange out of the wall and hurled him violently to the ground.
Strange scrambled back to his feet and imdiately opened the Eye of Agamotto, intending to use the power of ti against Maw.
But the mont he ford his hand seals, countless vines burst from the ground on both sides, wrapping tightly around his arms.
That wasn't all.
More vines erupted from beneath the pavent, binding his entire body, even entangling his Cloak of Levitation.
"Even if I die... you'll never get... the Ti Stone..."
Strange struggled to speak as the vines tightened around his throat.
"Don't worry. I have no intention of letting you die so easily."
Maw clenched his hand.
The vines constricted violently around Strange's neck.
Strange imdiately lost consciousness.
At that very mont, however, his blue cloak suddenly tightened around him, creating a gap between his body and the vines. It then shot away carrying Strange, flying toward Tony and the others in the distance.
The cloak was incredibly fast.
In the blink of an eye, it had already passed overhead.
Peter fired a web and imdiately swung after Strange.
Maw tried using nearby debris to attack him, but Peter's spider-sense wasn't for show. His body moved instinctively, weaving around every obstacle with ease.
His web was already attached to Strange.
He was only monts away from rescuing him.
Then suddenly—
A pillar of blue light descended from the sky, enveloping Strange.
The beam's suction force was imnse.
Both Strange and Peter were pulled upward.
Peter tried to resist, but Maw casually raised a hand.
Peter, along with the streetlamp he was desperately clinging to, was dragged skyward as well.
"Mr. Stark! I'm getting sucked up!"
Peter shouted through the comms.
He could tell the blue beam was trying to pull both him and the unconscious Strange into the massive ring-shaped ship above.
"Hang on, Peter! I'm coming!"
Felicia sprinted toward him like a madwoman.
Her vibranium armor granted her speed comparable to a racing car, but Central Park was still several blocks away from where the beam had appeared. There was no way she could reach him in ti.
At the sa ti, Cull Obsidian abandoned the fight.
The Ti Stone had already been secured.
A blue beam appeared around him as well, drawing him upward into the ship.
Without hesitation, Tony followed him into the beam.
"Pepper, go find Felicia and stop her. I'll bring Peter back!"
After leaving those instructions, Tony accelerated sharply, ramming into Cull Obsidian and flying upward through the beam toward the spacecraft.
Pepper imdiately headed for Felicia and intercepted her.
Rhodey wanted to follow Tony, but Tony stopped him.
"Go find Carl and Cap. Don't worry about !"
The communication abruptly cut off.
Tony had already entered the ship.
In re monts, the vessel broke through the atmosphere.
With Ebony Maw at the controls, it accelerated violently, leaving trails of afterimages before disappearing from Earth's orbit entirely.
---
At that sa ti, sowhere along an orbital route in deep space, Rocket and Quill were piloting their ship along a preset course.
The latest hit songs from Earth blared through the speakers—music Quill had specifically bought during his last trip ho.
Dancing wildly to the beat, Quill vented his endless energy.
The rest of the crew seed infected by his enthusiasm.
Even Gamora found herself moving to the rhythm.
The only exception was Drax.
He was sleeping so soundly that the deafening music didn't wake him at all. His snoring even sohow synced perfectly with the song.
"Are we there yet?"
Nebula lounged lazily in her seat.
Having officially joined the Guardians of the Galaxy, she was one of the few relatively normal people aboard.
"The distress signal should be sowhere nearby."
Rocket watched as the red marker on the display drew closer.
"Can't we just ignore it?"
Nebula sighed.
She really didn't want any more trouble.
Traveling with Quill's group was already troubleso enough.
"Maybe whoever we're rescuing will pay us afterward."
Quill laughed.
He wasn't exactly known for doing charity work.
"We're here!"
Mantis suddenly announced.
The next mont, the ship erged from folded space.
What greeted them was a field of wreckage.
Countless ship fragnts drifted through space alongside innurable floating corpses.
"What happened here?!"
Everyone stared in shock.
No ordinary spacecraft accident could reduce a ship to this state.
What lay before them looked less like an explosion and more like the vessel had been completely disassembled.
The debris stretched out like an asteroid belt.
Not a single intact section remained.
"Looks like we won't be making any money from this one."
Rocket looked at the shattered remains and the corpses drifting past the windows.
Suddenly—
A body slamd against the ship's glass.
The entire crew jumped in fright.
Rocket nearly leaped out of his seat.
Before anyone could recover, the corpse suddenly opened its eyes.
Everyone scread again.
"He's alive! Get him inside!"
Gamora imdiately shouted.
Quill and Drax quickly suited up in spacesuits and headed outside to retrieve him.
The man was the sole survivor of the destroyed ship.
The current King of Asgard—
Thor.
The distress signal the Guardians had answered had originated from the Asgardian refugee vessel that Thanos destroyed using the Power Stone.
"This guy can actually survive out here?"
Quill couldn't help exclaiming.
After all, there were very few beings who could survive direct exposure to outer space.
Not only among humans—even among aliens, such individuals were exceedingly rare.
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