Clef was typically a man with little patience, but for some reason, perhaps because he liked James, he was willing to take this opportunity to explain a bit more.
"Level 4 reality benders have no human rights in the Foundation. Omega-12 won't accept them," Clef remarked, his voice matter-of-fact.
"Wait, you mean the Mobile Task Force—Achilles' Heel?" Jack's eyes widened. "Are those guys all reality benders?"
Clef shot Jack a disdainful look. "Do you think all reality benders are like this guy? Psychopaths?"
Hearing that, inside SHIELD, Nick Fury and the other top executives froze in place.
"A mobile task force full of reality benders?"
The point that stunned them all wasn't just the idea of a whole team of reality benders. No, it was the fact that they apparently looked down on a Level 4 reality bender, as if they were beneath them. No human rights?
The massive conference room fell silent. Nick Fury sat still for a long time, before finally letting out a bitter laugh, tinged with disbelief.
When Fury first learned about the Mobile Task Force, he was impressed by the Foundation's combat capabilities. But this? It was far beyond anything he had expected. He had often compared SHIELD's power to that of the Foundation, but only now did he truly grasp how ridiculous his previous thoughts were.
He couldn't help but think, what abilities would a Level 4 reality bender possess?
In the picture, Clef continued his explanation.
"SCP-239 is a Level 4 reality bender. Although her range of influence is small, objects within her reach can be shaped by her will almost completely. She can create humans or anomalous objects at will, make humans disappear and reappear, and even turn an entire Site-17 into a rag doll."
He paused for a moment, then added, "Another Level 4 reality bender, with a much larger influence, can erase an entire city from human cognition, rewriting cause and effect on a massive scale."
Clef casually lit another cigarette, blowing out smoke as he casually referenced examples that left Nick Fury and the other SHIELD executives even more concerned.
Creating humans at will, or erasing an entire city from memory? This was beyond human comprehension.
Nick Fury swallowed hard, wiping cold sweat from his brow. The thought of such power was terrifying.
"What about Level 5?" Jack asked, his voice slightly shaky, but filled with curiosity. Nick Fury's heart skipped a beat. A Level 4 reality bender seemed unstoppable, but now... there was talk of a Level 5?
"Level 5?" Clef took a moment to think, then blew out another smoke ring. "Level 5 reality benders have the ability to threaten an entire global restructuring of CK reality. Even the Pilgrim Protocol can't handle them."
He paused, then continued, "Let me think of an example... Oh, right!"
Everyone's attention was piqued as Clef's voice took on a more serious tone.
"SCP-2464, a comatose reality bender, subconsciously created an infinite spatial anomaly within a cave. Just imagine... if she wakes up, what kind of world would it be?"
Clef's eyes gleamed with a sadistic pleasure as he spoke, clearly enjoying the shock on everyone's faces. He seemed to revel in dropping bombshells, and his next words were no different.
"Finally, above Level 5, there's an informal grading system."
The tension in the room was palpable. Everyone leaned in, waiting for what would come next.
"Level 6 reality bender... Yes..."
Clef's voice turned ominous as he paused for dramatic effect, his eyes gleaming beneath the shadows of his face.
"It's just what you think..."
The suspense in the air was suffocating.
"We call it..."
The room held its collective breath.
"God!"
As Clef uttered that single word, the entire Marvel world seemed to pause.
Inside SHIELD, all agents were frozen in place. Maria, holding a stack of documents, felt her hands tremble slightly. Natasha Romanoff didn't even blink. Nick Fury instinctively inhaled, but even the breath felt heavy, as if the very air had thickened around them.
God.
This one word encapsulated everything about a Level 6 reality bender. Supreme power. Endless power. Immortality. Omnipotence.
Nick Fury couldn't help but shudder. The sheer weight of the word made him hesitate to even think about it further. This kind of power? It was beyond comprehension.
The implications were terrifying.
Meanwhile, far away in Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One stood with her hands behind her back. She trembled slightly, the thought of what Clef had just said echoing in her mind. She had thought about this before: if the gods from the Foundation world came to Earth, would she be able to stop them?
Now, she had her answer.
No. There was no possibility at all.
In Asgard, when the word "God" was mentioned again, Loki's defense was no longer broken like it had been before. As an actual god himself, he was no stranger to the concept of divinity. He had always known there were other gods across the universe, but...
A Level 6 Reality Bender?
Such a being would be... too strong.
Back at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, Professor X, an elderly man with a vast array of mental capabilities, sat still, deeply shocked. He had long known of anomalies and powers that existed outside of human understanding. Mutants, in many ways, were anomalies themselves. They were individuals with extraordinary gifts, and in some sense, they also fell under the category of "reality benders" — though perhaps not to the same extent as the entities from the Foundation.
But as he reflected on what Clef had said, the professor realized just how out of his depth he truly was.
These "reality benders" were not just anomalies—they were something far beyond what he had ever encountered. He subconsciously categorized himself as being somewhere between Level 3 and Level 4, but hearing about the levels of power Clef described, he couldn't help but feel... insignificant in comparison.
What level would the other Inhumans reach? He wondered. Could Black Bolt, the silent king of the Inhumans, have a power even remotely comparable to a reality bender? What about the others?
As he pondered these questions, the weight of the truth began to settle in. Mutants, as powerful as they were, were nothing compared to the true scale of reality-warping power the Foundation possessed.
The world was changing, and the question of who could stand against the reality benders was more pressing than ever.
___________________________________
Get membership in patreon to read more chapters
Extra chapters available in patreon
patreon.com/Dragonscribe31