The entire Marvel universe was shaken to its core.
Countless people sat frozen, their mouths open, eyes wide, staring blankly at the vast screen in the sky as though they were witnessing the impossible.
Then, chaos erupted in the livestream chat.
> "WTF?! Is this… the future?!"
"Did SCP-3396 infect everyone on Earth?"
"Holy crap—humans all over the world gaining powers and ascending to godhood?"
"What kind of entity could do this?!"
---
Kamar-Taj
"Magic?"
The Ancient One stared at the screen in disbelief.
Magic was sweeping across the entire world.
Impossible.
As the Sorcerer Supreme, she understood better than anyone what magic truly was—
a force accessible only to the rarest of prodigies, those born once in centuries.
Each true master of the arcane arts was a weapon of unimaginable might.
And now—magic belonged to everyone?
The Ancient One was speechless.
---
On the Screen
The ever-shifting visions of the future continued to swirl like a storm of dreams.
> [At present, at least one-third of humanity has been blessed by the Blue. What a blessing this is!]
[The greatest thaumaturges of the Illuminati and the ancient sorcerers of Salem could barely rival the power now flowing through our veins.]
[Magic now stands on par with the gods, and more souls are reborn into its holy light each day.]
Magic equal to the gods.
After witnessing D-77777's devastating power, no one doubted that claim anymore.
The vision continued—
a massive World Tree rising from the earth, glowing with blue-green fractals, its branches piercing the heavens.
And then—
darkness.
The images faded, leaving the audience dazed, as if waking from a collective dream.
But that dream felt real.
And they knew deep down—
this "future" wasn't fantasy.
It was a prophecy.
A destiny already unfolding.
---
Yet, to everyone's surprise, Leon Lake stood there—
calm. Expressionless.
No awe.
No greed.
No hunger for power.
Didn't he want godhood?
Didn't he want to join this Age of Magic?
Even SCP-3396 seemed puzzled.
Finally, under its silent, glowing gaze, Leon spoke.
---
> "This resurgence of magic spreading across the globe shows three consistent traits among all affected individuals."
His voice was calm, analytical, almost clinical.
> "First, the development of glowing blue organs within the body. Their visibility and manifestation vary, but all possess thaumaturgical barriers to resist intrusion.
Their function is to generate massive quantities of primal void energy from an unknown source."
He paused, then continued matter-of-factly.
> "In terms of raw output, a Blue-Blessed individual can produce more energy than the High Priest of the Worm, the Wandering Jew, or the Black Queen—each once considered the most powerful thaumaturgical humans in history."
The audience was stunned silent.
Even SCP-3396 hummed in confusion.
Was Leon Lake… analyzing the so-called path to godhood?
---
> "The human body reacts abnormally to such intense magical influx," Leon continued.
"This leads to the second commonality: psycho-thaumic mutation.
While such mutations are rare—usually caused by failed rituals—never before have they appeared so consistently through overexposure to thaumaturgy."
He looked directly at SCP-3396.
> "Do you know what I thought of when I learned of you?"
Silence.
He didn't wait for an answer.
> "Traditional Sarkic cults believe Ion wasn't killed, as the Neo-Sarkic sects claim, nor imprisoned as the Church of the Broken God believes.
They say Ion transcended this plane—to battle Yaldabaoth, on behalf of humanity."
The livestream erupted again.
> "Sarkic cults?"
"Yaldabaoth?! That's the Devourer of Flesh!"
"And Ion—wasn't he a proto-deity from the Foundation's deep archives?!"
The mystery deepened.
Behind these names lay a cosmic war—gods battling for dominion over reality itself.
---
> "After a thousand years of war," Leon went on, "Ion defeated Yaldabaoth and consumed his divine flesh. The Blue is the new god's blessing—meant to create a lasting utopia for his chosen."
He paused, his tone sharpening.
> "The violent rejection reactions within the blue organ of each new Sarkic warlock support this theory."
The livestream went silent.
Could it be true?
Was SCP-3396's "ascension" merely the will of a victorious god?
A divine infection disguised as salvation?
---
Leon suddenly smiled—a cold, bitter smile.
> "But in my eyes, there's no 'gift' here. The true path to ascension isn't about growing another organ.
And a utopia born from destruction… isn't utopia at all."
His eyes grew distant.
> "The future you showed me isn't the future I saw."
He looked upward, voice growing heavier.
> "I saw the Pacific Ocean burning—its waters transmuted into gasoline by a thaumaturgic wave."
"I saw starved creatures from the void tearing through space to reach Earth, hungry for our world."
"I saw an ocean of corpses rising from North America's bedrock—decayed abominations screaming as they clawed toward the sky."
He smiled sadly.
> "There is no utopia. The Foundation will never compromise. They'll choose annihilation before coexistence."
> "They'll shatter continents with bombs, ignite the oceans, and unleash technological fury to erase all abnormal life."
> "The hurricane of energy will rage… until only 'normalcy' remains."
---
Silence.
No one in the Marvel universe dared to speak.
Even through a screen, Leon's words carried the weight of extinction.
This wasn't fantasy—it was the Foundation's grim reality.
> Control. Contain. Protect.
Even if it meant erasing the world itself.
---
The livestream erupted in horror.
> "Oh my god! The Foundation's insane!"
"They'd really destroy Earth to maintain normalcy?!"
"I thought they'd compromise with mutants… but no. They never will."
"This is terrifying—and… kind of admirable."
---
S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters
The agents were speechless.
Natasha Romanoff's voice trembled slightly.
> "So the Foundation never intended to negotiate… not even once."
Nick Fury exhaled heavily.
> "The Crimson King, the Cosmic Starfish, even Death's Three Brothers couldn't make them bend. Why would SCP-3396 be any different?"
He finally understood Clef's conversation with O5-12.
The Foundation had prepared for the worst from the very beginning.
His eyes returned to the screen—where Leon Lake stood, unyielding.
---
Leon looked up at SCP-3396 once more.
> "Magic takes infinite forms, infinite rules, and infinite sources.
But one truth remains universal—everything has a price. Nothing is free."
The livestream audience froze.
Of course.
> All gifts from fate are secretly marked with a price.
Could humanity truly become gods… without paying anything?
---
> "Humanity may ascend step by step," Leon said quietly, "but what price will we pay?
And what happens when that debt comes due?"
He closed his eyes and raised his hand, feeling the thaumaturgic particles swirling around him.
---
Kamar-Taj
The Ancient One gasped.
Even in the dense tide of thaumaturgical energy, not a single particle entered Leon's body.
SCP-3396 had been trying to infect him from the start—
but it had failed.
Leon Lake had rejected it.
Rejected magic.
Rejected the so-called "miracle."
He refused the path to godhood.
---
In the glowing void, Leon inhaled deeply, feeling the cosmic wind on his skin.
Then he turned away from SCP-3396, his voice echoing softly:
> "The disaster will be contained."
"The anomaly will be contained."
"Normalcy will be preserved."
"The Foundation rejects the new era."
His tone wasn't loud—
but it resounded with unshakable conviction.
---
The entire Marvel universe watched in awe as Leon Lake walked down a path opposite to everything "Marvel" stood for.
When the screen darkened, a faint sigh seemed to ripple through the stars.
Then—
The livestream exploded.
> "WTF?! What is he doing?!"
"He refused godhood??!"
"Control, contain, protect… damn, that's so Foundation!"
"He's insane—but I respect him for it!"
---
Old Vegas
The screen flickered back to life.
In the ruins of Old Vegas, D-77777—the Queen of Spades—stood at the city's edge, her people behind her.
Across from them: the fully armed Foundation army.
Just one command, and the world would drown in fire again.
But before the battle could begin—
A silent sigh rippled across the sky.
A pulse, like an invisible wave.
Raindrops began to fall—clear, shimmering, otherworldly.
D-77777 looked up.
Above her, the mutants who had once soared through the air were now falling like raindrops, their blue light fading.
The miracle was unraveling.
> "My body… it's normal again?"
"Your tail—gone!"
"I'm… human?"
The sound of bodies striking the earth echoed through the city.
One by one, the mutants fell, powerless once more.
D-77777 watched, tears streaming down her face.
A single droplet of molten metal floated from her hand and vanished into the distance.
A memorial to all who had perished in arrogance, ignorance, and meaningless conflict.
Their time had not yet come.
She turned to her people, voice calm but final.
> "It's over."
×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×-×
Read Extra Chapter Visit My Patreon
I have only 1 tier
19$ Tier – Access to 40 advance chapters
patreon.com/Lempil
patreon.com/Lempil