Inside a high-tech laboratory, Nolan stood silently before Thanos, who was restrained by shimmering psionic chains.
The "Zombie Swordsman" project could wait; the specialized serum for enhanced undead wasn't ready yet. What mattered now was the specimen in front of him a version of Thanos pulled from another universe.
"Damn you… Who are you really?"
Thanos roared, his deep voice echoing against steel walls. He had believed that with the Ancient One and Odin gone, nothing in this reality could oppose him.
Yet here was another sorcerer someone unlike the Sorcerer Supreme he knew, Doctor Strange.
"Supreme Sorcerer. Nolan," he answered coldly.
This wasn't his universe's Thanos. He had reached into another reality and dragged this one back.
Of course, there were many Thanos variants some far stronger, like the so-called Heart-of-the-Cosmos Thanos, who was rumored to approach omniversal levels of power.
Compared to that, this one was a blank slate, unremarkable except for the Infinity Stones he once wielded.
Those Stones were only powerful within their own native universe, tied to its very foundation. That meant Thanos's "omnipotence" here had a ceiling far lower than Odin or the Celestials.
Nolan was beginning to realize this wasn't the exact MCU timeline he remembered when he first crossed over.
Back in his Hydra days, there had been no records of Symbiotes or Ghost Rider. His presence had warped the flow of events time streams that once ran parallel now bent and collapsed into his own.
That was the truth of multiversal timelines: branching possibilities formed by key decisions. Universes split and merged, expanded and collapsed. Infinity was never stable it was always shifting.
Thanos snarled. "What do you want from me?"
"To study you," Nolan replied simply.
The restraints lowered him onto a reinforced surgical table. Dr. Connors and his team moved in, their instruments gleaming. Thanos thrashed violently, but Nolan's psionic chains dug deeper, binding the Mad Titan as scalpels pierced skin tougher than Vibranium.
The cosmic conqueror who had annihilated civilizations now lay powerless, his roars echoing as his body was dissected. For the first time, the "inevitable" faced humiliation.
Data streamed across holographic displays:
Skin durability: equal to Vibranium alloy.
Muscle output: Class-7 strength.
Toxic resistance: immune to all known Earth toxins, with vulnerabilities only to Viper venom and Death Spores.
Genetic analysis: 98% correlation with mutant genomes. Human-like double helix but layered with multiple strands.
Nolan studied the results, astonished again at the craftsmanship of the Celestials. Unlike the engineered Kree or Inhumans, both the Eternals and mutants appeared naturally perfect. Their genes carried no scars of tampering it was as if they were designed to become this way from the start.
Mutants were evolution's wildcard, endlessly diverse. Eternals, on the other hand, were born powerful but fixed, lacking the same adaptability.
Still, combining the best of both… the idea sparked something in Nolan's mind. Asgardian durability, Eternal genetics, and mutant variability, such as hybridization, could one day elevate humanity itself.
For now, though, Thanos continued to howl as his genetic secrets were laid bare, each incision bringing Nolan closer to unlocking the forbidden knowledge of the Celestials.
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