Malrick leaned back slightly, considering the sorcerer.
"What do you consider normal?" he asked.
"Your Excellency… is there something wrong?" Black Strange responded cautiously.
"For me, devouring the Eyeball Demon's power was inevitable after proper preparation," Malrick explained. "I could control the summoning array precisely, ensuring only the tentacles appeared. I could sever them instantly and absorb their energy. The process was rigorous, without error, which is why I succeeded. Everything was normal."
Black Strange's eyes gleamed as he recalled his own feats. "And I could immediately use the array to sever the tentacles the moment they appeared, then consume them. The process was precise. That is why I was able to devour the Eyeball Demon. Everything was perfectly normal."
Malrick fell silent for a moment. "What you say… makes a certain kind of sense."
"But have you considered," he added, "that perhaps the Eyeball Demon was simply too lazy to bother with a weak sorcerer?"
Black Strange paused, frowned, and thought for a moment. "Possible… but I made thorough preparations before plundering its power. Failure was not an option."
Malrick gave a faint nod. He had not expected his subordinate to be so confident. A certain spiky Mutant came to mind, though he had no intention of dampening Doctor Strange's pride.
He shifted the conversation back to Shen Loki.
"Doctor Doom's situation is different. The Eyeball Demon would never willingly let anyone steal its power. Shen Loki, however, might not guard his Time Throne as a treasure. Becoming the supreme deity in charge of the timeline was a necessary sacrifice. He fulfilled the sacred mission other Lokis speak of the moment he took that seat.
"But watching countless worlds unfold and end from the throne may not be what he desires. What he seeks could simply be a moment of freedom, an escape from the bindings of the end of time. In my opinion, if Doctor Doom challenges Shen Loki, no matter how advanced the time technologies, he might succeed in seizing that power."
The room fell silent.
"If that is the case, Doctor Doom does have a real chance of taking that power," Black Strange murmured.
"So… if we find him, should we seize the power ourselves and correct the timeline?" Black Strange suggested cautiously. "The Multiverse is boundless; perhaps only Your Excellency can locate him."
Jarvis looked puzzled. "Young Master, that Loki sacrificed himself to save the Multiverse. Why would he give his power to someone threatening the Multiverse?"
Malrick raised an eyebrow. "Perhaps Shen Loki believes Doom's destruction is not true annihilation… Who can say for certain?"
"And what should we do next?" Jarvis asked.
"You and Strange stay here and repair the TVA's damaged equipment first," Malrick directed. "The TVA's duties are vital. Find staff scattered across the Multiverse. If they cannot be located, recruit sorcerers from Kamar-Taj temporarily. Then monitor worlds on the verge of collision and report to me."
He waved his hand, and the command center's equipment instantly returned to full functionality.
Malrick stepped forward, beginning to merge with space. "As for me, I likely know Doom's location. I will find him and uncover everything."
As his figure blurred, a warning light suddenly flashed in the newly restored command center. Alarms blared continuously from the wall's amplification equipment, signaling an emergency. Malrick solidified again, returning immediately.
The alert came from a TVA field agent reporting a major crisis. None of the three had expected that reconnecting the networked equipment would trigger an immediate call.
At Malrick's signal, Jarvis pressed the connect button.
A hologram materialized, showing a slender, blonde figure—Gwen Spider, a Spider-Verse agent of the TVA. Her pink-and-white Spider suit was torn, revealing deep, scabbed wounds beneath. Her mask was absent, hair messy, eyes wide with anxiety and exhaustion.
"Finally connected! B15, are you there? Why has communication been lost for so long…?" she began. Then she seemed to regain focus. "Forget that! Listen—support is needed in the Spider-Verse now!"
Upon seeing Malrick, Gwen's surprise deepened. Relief washed over her face as if she had found a long-sought ally. She called frantically for B15, the TVA official, but he was gone, memory erased by Doom and scattered across the Multiverse.
"Malrick! You're in the TVA! Oh my God, you're really here!" Gwen exclaimed, her messy hair seeming brighter somehow. "That's great. I'll come to you—no, can you come to us?"
"Do not rush, Gwen. Speak slowly. Something unexpected happened at the TVA. We're managing it," Malrick reassured her.
"What happened on your side? Is a world collision occurring?"
"No… no, it's the Inheritor Family. You remember Morlun? You killed him, but now he's resurrected through cloning and is pursuing us from another Multiverse! And he's not alone—his siblings are here too!"
"Come quickly! We have… oh no, they're here again! I must help fight! Malrick, we need you, now—"
Her transmission abruptly cut off. Silence enveloped the command center.
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