Marvel's Iron Lady

As for what exactly Miss Stark and the Sorcerer Supreme talked about during those days at the hospital, no one truly knew.

The fact that she had been hospitalized didn't escape the attention of Los Angeles' local media—after all, this was America's second-largest city.

With Hollywood and Beverly Hills nearby, any noteworthy event had the potential to attract reporters. Even if the person at the center of the event wasn't a celebrity, but rather the daughter of Stark Industries, she was still a figure of great interest.

Thus, Miss Stark's stay at the hospital eventually became public knowledge. As a result, the board of directors at Stark Industries arranged for her to return home and provided a specialized therapy team to aid in her recovery.

To be honest, most people assumed that she had undergone some sort of psychological trauma, which led her to engage in what they called a "crazy stunt."

Yes, a crazy stunt—after all, no normal person would lock themselves up and starve for ten days, right?

As a result, the board even spent a significant sum of money to hire several prominent psychological experts to offer her counseling.

Miss Stark didn't object to their presence but treated them more as expensive therapists hired for casual conversation. She understood that she had pushed herself too far recently, so she accepted the board's arrangement as a chance to take a break.

Over the following weeks, she appeared to fully cooperate, undergoing therapy sessions and allowing herself to rest. Time flew by, and half a month passed.

By the time the board members reached out to the psychologists for an update, they were surprised to learn that Miss Stark had already left for London—along with her therapy team.

Her departure had been carefully planned yet conducted so discreetly that even the board didn't immediately notice.

By the time they realized, Miss Stark was already in London, enjoying the unique charm of the ancient city.

Riding on the upper deck of a double-decker bus, she soaked in the sights of the Thames, local cuisine, and soothing music.

London—an ancient city rich in culture—was both steeped in history and yet exuded a sharp, modern energy.

"Don't be so tense, Happy. We're here to enjoy a vacation. Relax a little, will you?" she said with a smile, noticing her bodyguard's cautious stance beside her.

"Boss, this isn't our turf. I think we should stay alert," Happy Hogan responded, keeping a watchful eye on their surroundings.

Miss Stark couldn't help but feel a little speechless. With her current power—bolstered by the Space Stone—there was hardly anyone who could pose a threat to her anymore. The bodyguard team, while mostly redundant, was something she kept out of sentiment for her old friends. She didn't want them to lose their jobs, so she refrained from laying them off.

Seeing Happy's tense posture and glancing at the musicians on board, she chuckled and shifted her focus to the dessert on her plate.

The bus continued its leisurely route along the Thames, and with the entire bus rented for her private use, no one disturbed her peace.

This wasn't her first time in London, but she had never had the opportunity to simply sit and enjoy the tranquility like this.

As the heir to a weapons manufacturing conglomerate, Miss Stark rarely had a chance to leave the United States. Even on her previous visits to London, they had been brief stopovers or layovers.

Her father, Howard Stark, had spent a considerable amount of time here during World War II while working with the Strategic Scientific Reserve, which was how she came to own a property in London.

Located on the west side of Grosvenor Square, just across from the U.S. Embassy, the old house had been left to her by Howard.

Grosvenor Square was one of the most valuable areas in the city, and the property's value had skyrocketed over the years.

What's more, if Howard's notebook was correct, this house had been a gift from the British government.

A house gifted to Howard was, by extension, a gift to Miss Stark—a luxurious inheritance, so to speak.

She had no intention of selling the place, as the property still had plenty of potential to increase in value.

Later that evening, after her leisurely tour of the Thames, Miss Stark returned to the old mansion via a rented Rolls-Royce Phantom. Sleek, silver, and luxurious, the car's grandeur suited her taste perfectly.

The best part? Even renting such a car only cost a modest ten thousand dollars per day.

Miss Stark, without hesitation, rented it for a week—after all, she wasn't sure how long she'd be staying.

But was her trip to London really just a vacation as she claimed?

Perhaps she was taking a break, but there was a far more important reason behind her visit.

Since obtaining the Space Stone, Miss Stark had found herself increasingly drawn to the Infinity Stones.

Yet, after her encounter with the Ancient One, she realized she had no interest in taking the Time Stone from her.

Instead, an inexplicable urge had been pulling at her, urging her to travel to London—to find another Infinity Stone.

The Aether—or more accurately, the Reality Stone.

After carefully reviewing the fragments of memory in her mind, Miss Stark recalled information about the Reality Stone.

After the Big Bang, before molecular clouds coalesced into stars, there had been an age of darkness.

Yes, the Dark Ages—a time beyond words to describe, when the universe was shrouded in utter blackness.

In that dark age, life had emerged—a race that called themselves the Dark Elves, thriving in the primordial chaos.

For eons, they ruled the universe, with no opposition, as they wielded power in a universe filled with nothing but shadows.

Eventually, nine civilizations were born from this chaos, each bringing with it order and strength.

Led by Asgard, these nine civilizations united and drove the Dark Elves to the brink of extinction.

But the Dark Elves' king, Malekith, obtained the Reality Stone in a last-ditch effort to plunge the universe back into darkness.

However, the Reality Stone was both one of the most powerful and one of the hardest to wield among the Infinity Stones.

It represented the power to alter reality itself, but using such a power required an enormous amount of energy.

In fact, only the limitless energy of the Space Stone could fuel the Reality Stone's abilities.

Without the energy to sustain it, Malekith couldn't fully unleash the Reality Stone's power. Ultimately, the Dark Elves were defeated by the combined might of Asgard and the other eight realms.

Since the Reality Stone, like all Infinity Stones, could not be destroyed, it was hidden away by Odin, the King of the Gods.

He sealed it in a desolate, isolated place, hoping it would remain there forever—untouched, unknown.

That place was none other than Earth, known in Asgardian terms as Midgard.

More specifically, the stone had been sealed right here, in London.

Originally, the Reality Stone wasn't supposed to resurface for several more years, but driven by the inexplicable yearning in her heart, Miss Stark had come to London ahead of time.

She wanted to understand this compulsion, and more importantly, she didn't want anyone else to get their hands on the Reality Stone.

Perhaps, if she could gather all six Infinity Stones first, she might be able to stop Thanos.

The next morning, Miss Stark woke up early, eager to begin her search for the Aether.

She and JARVIS had spent countless nights using advanced technology to track the Aether's energy signature.

Her therapy team was merely a cover—they were currently relaxing in a luxurious hotel in London, fully cooperating with the charade in exchange for the lavish lifestyle Miss Stark had arranged.

All she asked of them was to surrender their phones and avoid contacting the outside world.

As for the Infinity Stones, Miss Stark had discovered that, when in close proximity, they created a unique form of resonance—a gamma energy wave.

She built a special device to enhance the interaction between the stones' energy fields. Using satellite support, she pinpointed the location of the Aether—a truck parking lot in the outskirts of London.

About thirty minutes later, her Rolls-Royce Phantom pulled into the desolate parking lot of an abandoned logistics company.

The place was eerily quiet, with no sign of life for miles. The nearest settlement was about 20 kilometers away.

Now dressed in casual attire, Miss Stark stepped out of the car with her tablet, while Happy Hogan followed closely behind.

"The energy fluctuations are faint, but the Space Stone seems to be reacting," she muttered.

Ever since the Space Stone had fused with her mind, she often felt as though there was a stone lodged in her brain.

But after numerous scans—including MRIs and other medical tests—her brain was found to be perfectly healthy.

In fact, her brain activity was so unusually high that it shocked the doctors conducting the tests.

The neural activity they observed was far beyond the norm, something that only added to Miss Stark's already legendary genius.

She hadn't dared to show them her previous medical reports, fearing she might frighten them further.

Ultimately, she dismissed the sensation as a psychosomatic response, though it was hard to ignore.

After all, she did literally have a Space Stone inside her head...

Although the next convergence of the nine realms was still five or six years away, Miss Stark had found that, in this abandoned parking lot, the stones' resonance was unmistakable.

"Stop standing around. Let's get to work."

With a glance at Happy Hogan, who was still looking confused, she rolled her eyes.

Soon, the two were walking through the derelict logistics center, heading toward a dilapidated office building.

"This place is showing some strange gravity anomalies," Miss Stark noted, glancing at the data on her tablet.

She recalled some reports she'd read earlier, indicating that this logistics company had been shut down due to paranormal activity.

She wasn't particularly interested in ghost stories, nor did she care if the haunting had anything to do with the stone's seal.

Climbing the broken steps of the old office building, she paused halfway up.

"Boss, why'd you come to such a creepy place anyway?" Happy asked, his expression a mixture of confusion and discomfort.

He had no idea what his boss was thinking, nor did he understand why she had dragged him to such a remote and eerie location.

Outside, the cawing of crows echoed from above, while the scurrying of rats could occasionally be heard in the hallways.

Had this been New York, the place would've long been overtaken by the homeless.

"Don't just stand there. Grab something and toss it down the stairwell."

"Huh?"

Shaking her head in mild exasperation, Miss Stark bent down to pick up a loose stone and tossed it into the stairwell.

The chunk of debris fell harmlessly to the bottom, without any sign of the supernatural phenomena she had been expecting.

"As I thought, I'm a little early—the space entanglement hasn't reached its peak yet."

Her gaze flicked back to the readings on her tablet before she made up her mind.

"You stay here. I'm going up to take a look. And don't follow me."

With those words, she began ascending the stairs, leaving Happy behind without any regard for his protests.

As her bodyguard, Happy Hogan knew he was supposed to stay by her side at all times.

But over the years, he had come to understand that his boss occasionally needed her private space.

And considering this place looked abandoned and relatively safe, he wasn't too worried. After all, if anything happened, she could easily call for him.

Satisfied that his employer was safe, Happy obediently remained at the bottom of the stairs.

Miss Stark, meanwhile, continued her solitary ascent through the decrepit office building until she reached a dead-end corridor.

A strange feeling washed over her—a sense of connection that caused an unexplainable unease to settle in her chest.

She glanced at her tablet again, noting a sudden shift in the energy readings.

"It seems... I've found what I'm looking for."

With a single step, she vanished from the office building, leaving nothing behind but a flicker of blue light.

When she reappeared, she found herself standing on a stone walkway, surrounded by complete darkness.

Everything around her was pitch black—so dark, in fact, that it sent a chill down her spine.

Frowning, she pulled out her phone and switched on the flashlight.

Though the white beam did little to illuminate the oppressive darkness, it was better than nothing.

This was the alternate dimension where Odin had sealed the Aether centuries ago, only accessible once every five thousand years.

However, Miss Stark's control over the Space Stone allowed her to traverse dimensional barriers at will.

The flashlight on her phone could only illuminate a few feet in front of her, but it was enough to guide her down the ancient stone path.

Beneath her feet was a stone road inscribed with mysterious symbols—twisted glyphs that resembled both writing and artwork.

Despite their strange forms, Miss Stark could decipher their meaning.

Though she wasn't an expert in archaeology, she recognized some of the symbols.

They were Chinese characters, Egyptian hieroglyphs, Sumerian cuneiform, and Indus script.

Each symbol, carved into the stone beneath her feet, seemed to belong to a different ancient civilization, though she couldn't make sense of their deeper meaning.

"What is this? Are you saying Asgard gave humanity its ancient languages?"

Her lips curled into a wry smile as she muttered her disdain.

Miss Stark wasn't interested in whether these ancient human languages were a gift from Asgard. At this moment, her only concern was finding the Aether, the Reality Stone she had come for.

The stone path seemed to stretch on endlessly, leading her through the void as she held her phone up for light.

To her left and right, floating chunks of stone drifted in the air—some crumbled to pieces, others retaining a semblance of their former shape, all covered in the same script.

Danger!

Turn back!

Do not proceed!

Had she been an expert, she might have been able to interpret these warnings. Unfortunately, they went unnoticed.

Before long, her path was blocked by two massive stone pillars, each standing upright, with only a narrow gap between them.

In that gap, she could see a faint red light flickering.

Miss Stark knew exactly what it was—her target, the Aether.

She knew the risks of taking the Reality Stone; she might end up like Jane Foster, overtaken by the Aether's power.

Yet, the desire in her heart had already overwhelmed her reason. The Space Stone within her began to hum, as if recognizing a fellow Infinity Stone.

Without hesitation, she reached into the gap between the stones, grasping the scarlet tendrils of the Aether.

The moment her hand made contact, a wave of clarity washed over her, and her expression paled.

"I... What have I done?"

Miss Stark instinctively tried to pull her hand away, but the Aether didn't give her a chance to retreat.

In an instant, the scarlet energy surged through her body, materializing into a solid, irregularly shaped crystal.

Then, without warning, the crystal dissolved into a liquid and burrowed into her arm.

She could see it—blood-red tendrils spreading through her veins, twisting and writhing beneath her skin.

The pain was excruciating.

The Extremis virus in her body couldn't combat the Aether's invasion. She had no choice but to endure the agony as the Aether tore through her, wreaking havoc within her cells.

It wasn't until the Aether began encroaching on her mind that something changed.

From deep within her brain, a surge of pure white energy erupted, as if defending its territory from the invading force.

The scarlet energy, momentarily suppressed, gathered into a single point and retreated into her mind.

When Miss Stark finally regained consciousness, she found herself in a strange, eerie place.

Why did she feel like she was inside her own mind?

The world around her was cloaked in darkness, her body was nowhere to be found, and she had no way to move.

The only thing she could see were three glowing crystals—each a different color—floating in the void.

"Infinity Stones... But why do they look like this?"

One crystal was a deep blue, the color of the Space Stone's infinite energy.

The second was a brilliant red, undoubtedly the Reality Stone, still pulsing with its wild, uncontrollable power.

But in between them, there was a third crystal—a pure white gem that radiated a dazzling light.

Miss Stark's confusion deepened.

She knew about the Infinity Stones, but none of them were supposed to be white.

The red crystal—the Reality Stone—seemed to sense her presence.

It transformed back into its liquid form and rushed toward her.

Miss Stark froze. In this bizarre mental realm, how had the Reality Stone found her when she didn't even have a body?

For some reason, the Reality Stone remained volatile, even in its crystalline state.

But before it could reach her, the white crystal suddenly flared to life, emitting a blinding light.

The entire dark space was illuminated as the white crystal's energy surged forth.

Under the assault of the white light, the Reality Stone reluctantly retreated, returning to its solid state.

Only then did Miss Stark realize that the white crystal had been the key to suppressing both Infinity Stones all along.

She didn't know what this mysterious white crystal was, but its presence had undoubtedly saved her.

There was nothing in her fragmented memories about such a white stone.

If her suspicions were correct, this white Infinity Stone was the source of her transformation.

While Miss Stark was inside her mind, examining the three crystals that now resided within her, the Reality Stone's energy rippled out across the universe.

"The Aether's seal... Why has it—someone took it?!"

In the golden halls of Asgard, Odin sat upon his throne, his face grave.

He was the first to sense the disturbance in the seal, but he was not the only one.

"I felt a strange energy signature... What's going on?"

On the battlefield, Thanos pulled his blade from his enemy's chest, his expression one of confusion.

Yet even the surge of energy from the Aether wasn't enough to distract the Titan from his mission of conquest.

In the vastness of space, a Dark Elves warship, hidden among the asteroid fields, slowly activated.

In the ship's cryogenic chamber, a figure stirred—a Dark Elf with cold, lifeless eyes.

"Finally... I've found you."