Marvel: I Am The Lord of the Shadow Dimension

Looking at the older, battle-weary versions of the Avengers, Luke instantly realized this wasn't a simple situation. He gestured for the Shadow Ninjas to silently bind the time-travelers with shadow-ropes and drag them over to the barbecue feast. 

"Hey, Luke! Where did you run off to?" Tony yelled, waving a massive skewer of grilled meat. 

"There were a few suspicious guys lurking in the alley, so I brought them over," Luke replied casually, ordering the ninjas to drop the bound time-travelers next to the tables before grabbing a plate of food. 

"These guys... why do they look so incredibly weird?" Tony frowned, staring specifically at Future Tony. Seeing an older, more exhausted version of himself gave him a deeply unsettling feeling. 

Future Tony sighed, looking at his younger self holding the barbecue skewer. "Well, I guess we got caught." 

"Wait, who is this guy? I didn't know the Avengers had a guy like him," Future Scott (Ant-Man) asked, pointing at Luke while simultaneously drooling over the heavenly scent of the barbecue. 

"Our timeline doesn't have him. But clearly, this universe does," Future Tony replied grimly. 

"So... what exactly is the situation here?" Future Steve asked in utter bewilderment. 

A moment ago, he had been standing in an alleyway, ready to sneak into Stark Tower. Then, out of absolutely nowhere, dozens of heavily armed ninjas had literally melted out of the shadows, pressed razor-sharp black katanas against his throat, and completely neutralized him before he could even flex his super-soldier muscles. He felt completely useless. 

Future Tony sighed helplessly, looking at his two teammates who were clearly still struggling to grasp the concept of the multiverse. He really missed Dr. Banner right now. 

"To put it simply: the Quantum Realm GPS didn't just take us back in time. We clearly branched off into an entirely different, parallel universe timeline." 

"So... you guys are us from the future? I mean, a parallel universe version of our future?" 

Tony blinked, processing the information. He casually waved his barbecue skewer right under the bound Loki's nose—just to torture the god of mischief with the delicious scent—before handing the skewer directly to the Hulk. 

The Hulk had never eaten barbecue before. He grabbed the skewer, shoved the entire thing—meat, wood, and all—into his mouth, chewed twice, and swallowed it whole. Beside him, Banner (in his synthetic body) was practically drooling. 

"Exactly," Future Steve nodded grimly. "In our timeline, we suffered a catastrophic defeat. A mad titan named Thanos wiped out half of all life in the universe. To save the people we lost, we built a time machine to travel back into the past, hoping to retrieve the Infinity Stones and change the future." 

Luke shrugged. 'Ah, so that's how they pulled off the comeback in Endgame. Time travel. The writers really went all out for that one.' 

But Luke didn't really care. Since this version of the future didn't include him, it definitively proved that these Avengers weren't from his universe's future. That meant his timeline was safe from the 'Snap.' 

Luke mentally commanded Megatron to project K-Shadow's visual feed from deep space. To Luke's pleasant surprise, K-Shadow hadn't been blown to pieces by the Chitauri armada! In fact, the alien warships weren't moving at all. K-Shadow was happily wrapping its massive tentacles around the colossal Chitauri command ships—which were easily several times larger than K-Shadow itself—and effortlessly assimilating them into pure dark energy! 

Every time K-Shadow assimilated a ship, it would release a joyful pulse of dark energy, annihilating the surrounding asteroids and debris while its countless, massive eyes eagerly scanned the cosmos for more snacks. 

Tony, being a genius, immediately grasped the concept of parallel timelines from the brief explanation. He decided not to ask the time-travelers for details about their future. He correctly deduced that since Luke's presence had already drastically altered this universe, the time-travelers' history was utterly useless as a predictive model for their own timeline. 

Dismissing the time-travelers for the moment, Tony walked over to Luke. Looking at the horrifying holographic projection of K-Shadow happily eating spaceships, Tony grimaced. He casually tossed a piece of grilled octopus directly into the bound Loki's mouth, completely ignoring Loki's teary-eyed gagging. 

"Your little pet is still as utterly horrifying as ever," Tony commented. 

"I think he's cute! Besides, his aesthetic actually provides a massive debuff to enemy morale." 

"Yeah, it definitely provides a debuff. I literally can't look at it anymore, otherwise I'm going to lose my appetite," Tony muttered, turning his back on the projection. Even through a hologram, looking at K-Shadow made him feel physically ill. If that thing ever appeared in front of him again, he would probably go insane. 

While Tony was trying to figure out how to forcefully fix Luke's terrible aesthetic tastes, the bound Future Tony suddenly spoke up. 

"Do you want to know what happens in the future?" 

Tony looked at his older self. "We've already established our timelines are fundamentally different. Your history is completely useless to us." 

"That's even better," Future Tony smiled softly. "Because in my future... I have an incredibly adorable daughter." 

"A daughter?! What's her name?!" Tony's eyes instantly lit up. Suddenly, he felt like these time-travelers actually had some highly valuable, relevant information! 

"Uh, Tony, I highly suggest you don't ask," Luke warned ominously. "If you learn too much about your future child, the timeline might punish you for trying to cheat destiny. You might end up having a son instead." 

Tony froze. "Damn it, you're right. Compared to a son, I definitely want a daughter." He immediately turned around, completely abandoning his desire to see a picture of Morgan. 

Natasha, Barton, and Steve, however, weren't as cautious. They were eagerly chatting with Future Steve, completely shocked by the tragic, apocalyptic history the older Captain America was describing. 

"Wait... why doesn't your timeline have Luke?" Steve asked Natasha and Barton in confusion. Throughout Future Steve's entire recounting of their devastating battles, he hadn't mentioned the Lord of Shadows a single time. As a result, every major conflict they fought was incredibly desperate and grueling. 

"Because I didn't exist in their universe," Luke answered casually. 

"Time is a fascinating concept. Every single choice creates a branching timeline, spawning a completely different parallel universe," Luke explained, his appetite increasing as he watched K-Shadow's 'mukbang' video. He took a massive bite of a grilled chicken wing. 

"Maybe in their timeline, my counterpart chose not to travel to their universe. Or maybe he got permanently locked in Kamar-Taj by the Ancient One and never came out. Who knows? Every universe is different. Hell, I know for a fact there's a parallel universe out there where Tony Stark is a woman." 

"WHAT?!" Tony yelled, absolutely horrified by the concept. 

Luke shot him a wicked grin. "Yeah. And in that universe, 'Toni' actually married Steve Rogers." 

Both Tony and Future Tony simultaneously dry-heaved. Clearly, that specific piece of multiversal trivia was far too traumatic for either of them to process. 

Enjoying their disgust, Luke instructed Megatron to save the photos of their horrified faces before continuing. "So, maybe in some universes, you guys are incredibly overpowered and slaughter Thanos like a dog. But in other universes, Thanos is incredibly overpowered and slaughters you guys like dogs." 

"Why aren't you included in that analogy?" Tony asked defensively. 

Luke smiled. "Because no matter what universe I'm in, I will always slaughter Thanos like a dog." 

But the time-travelers clearly didn't believe him. 

"You don't understand how terrifyingly powerful Thanos truly is," Future Steve warned grimly. 

"And you don't understand how terrifyingly powerful I truly am," Luke countered smoothly. 

Luke thought about the massive warehouse in Kamar-Taj currently stockpiling nearly a hundred billion Energy Points worth of Dark Energy Crystals. With that much raw power, Luke could comfortably arm-wrestle Odin! 

In his prime, Odin had literally chased Thanos across the entire universe, terrifying the Mad Titan into hiding. If Thanos dared to show up in front of Luke right now, Luke could casually slice him up and serve him as a main course. 

Luke looked Future Steve dead in the eye. "Maybe Thanos seems like an unstoppable god to you. But unfortunately for him, I am significantly stronger." 

In the original movies, Thanos possessed an incredibly terrifying aura. But context mattered. 

Thanos only dared to attack Earth after the Ancient One had died, and Odin had passed away! With Earth and Asgard's greatest defenders gone, the universe's power scaling hit absolute rock bottom, allowing Thanos to finally make his move. 

If Thanos had tried to invade Earth while the Ancient One was alive, she would have instantly dragged his entire armada into the Mirror Dimension and turned them into abstract modern art. If he had tried to attack Asgard while Odin was active, a stray blast from Gungnir would have instantly vaporized his command ship. 

Furthermore, to Luke, Thanos was just a strong alien brawler. Luke's Shadowkhan could easily pin Thanos to the ground and force him to endure a highly aggressive, 24-hour deep-tissue massage! And if Luke decided to use his True Demon God form... well, just look at what happened to Corvus Glaive. 

(Author's Note: Let's be real. Captain Marvel, who literally couldn't find a challenging fight on Earth so she went to play in the 'tutorial zone' of deep space, managed to completely overpower Thanos in a test of pure strength. A furious Scarlet Witch easily lifted Thanos into the air and was literally crushing his armor like tinfoil. Without the Infinity Stones, Thanos wouldn't last five minutes on an Earth populated by actual heavy-hitters.) 

Seeing the lingering doubt in Future Steve's eyes, Luke didn't bother arguing further. Hearing that Future Banner had been sent to Bleecker Street to demand the Time Stone from the Ancient One, Luke chuckled. He knew exactly what was about to happen. 

While he waited for the inevitable, Luke opened his System interface and checked the newly unlocked Dimensional Exploration Module. 

Looking at the radar-like display, Luke tapped on a newly discovered, blinking coordinate. 

[Basic Dark Dimension Coordinates Acquired. Estimated Combat Power: 320,000.] 

Luke checked his own combat power rating. It currently sat at a staggering 2,424,000! 

(Author's Note: For simplicity, we calculate combat power by multiplying the total number of Shadow Ninjas by their physical enhancement multiplier. I will list the current composition of the Shadowkhan army in the chapter notes later for those interested.) 

'This isn't an invasion; this is a casual stroll!' 

Luke instantly deployed a massive detachment of Shadowkhan to conquer the newly discovered dimension. Within minutes, the dimension was fully assimilated. The System reported that no usable, uncorrupted equipment was found. 

'Well, obviously. If I found usable loot in a Basic Dimension, I'd assume the System was broken.' 

Over the past two years, the only objects Luke had ever seen successfully resist the absolute corrosive assimilation of the Dark Dimension were the photograph of the Stan Lee cameo, the Infinity Stones, and the AllSpark. Even incredibly powerful cosmic artifacts like Odin's royal token, Proxima's spear, and Corvus's glaive could only temporarily slow down the corrosion; they couldn't resist it permanently. 

To find an artifact capable of permanently resisting dark energy inside a weak 'Basic Tier' dimension would mean the dimension was secretly harboring some kind of supreme cosmic entity. If that happened, Luke would probably have to personally visit the dimension to investigate. 

Using the radar, Luke casually conquered several more 'Basic' and 'Micro' dimensions while happily munching on his barbecue. 

A few minutes later, a glowing, golden Sling Ring portal spun open on the rooftop. 

Luke looked up and saw the Ancient One step through. Trailing behind her, firmly bound by glowing, crackling magical whips, was Future Banner (Smart Hulk). Judging by the numerous magical scorch marks across his green skin, he had clearly said something incredibly stupid and earned himself a severe beating from the Sorcerer Supreme. 

"Well, that's it. We're completely finished. Our entire team has been captured. Even if the others manage to retrieve the Soul Stone, we'll never be able to return and save everyone," Future Scott groaned in absolute despair. 

Future Tony and Future Steve lowered their heads in defeat. 

"The Soul Stone?" Luke perked up, genuinely curious. He knew the lore regarding Vormir. To acquire the Soul Stone, one had to sacrifice the person they loved most. 

"Who exactly did you guys send to get the Soul Stone?" Luke asked the time-travelers. 

"Clint Barton and Natasha Romanoff," Future Steve answered miserably. 

Luke frowned deeply. "Uh... are you absolutely certain those two can actually acquire the Soul Stone?" 

Ignoring the fact that Barton was a happily married family man... would Natasha actually push her best friend off a cliff? 

"To acquire the Soul Stone, you have to literally sacrifice the person you love most in the universe. Do you really think they qualify?" 

"WHAT?! YOU HAVE TO SACRIFICE THE PERSON YOU LOVE MOST?!" 

Future Tony and Future Steve's faces instantly drained of all color. 

"Wait... you guys didn't know that?" Luke asked, seeing their genuine, absolute horror. They clearly weren't faking it. 

"Damn it! We cannot afford to lose another teammate!" Future Steve slammed his fist into the ground in sheer frustration. 

"Hold on a second!" 

The present-timeline Barton and Natasha, who had been listening to the conversation, exchanged an incredibly awkward, bewildered look. 

"Why the hell would you send us to get that Stone?!" they both asked simultaneously. 

"I literally have a wife!" Barton protested. 

"He is absolutely not my type," Natasha added firmly. 

Future Steve sighed heavily. "In our timeline, Barton's entire family was erased in the Snap. Natasha spent the next five years desperately trying to pull him out of his grief. They became incredibly close. They were the only ones who truly understood each other's pain." 

"Wait... my entire family disappeared?!" Barton leaped out of his chair, his face pale. "I thought you said it was a random 50/50 chance?! Why was my entire family wiped out?!" 

"It was a 50/50 chance across the entire universe," Future Steve explained grimly. "But statistical probability is cruel. On Earth, we actually lost closer to two-thirds of the population." 

"That is phenomenally terrible luck," Luke commented sympathetically. "But don't worry, Barton. Our universe will never reach that point." 

"Right. Right," Barton nodded, wiping a cold sweat from his brow and taking a massive gulp of soda to calm his racing heart. 

"While the tragic future is certainly compelling, I am far more interested in knowing why the Doctor Strange of your timeline willingly surrendered the Time Stone to Thanos," the Ancient One suddenly spoke up. Her presence was so incredibly subtle and perfectly masked by magic that everyone jumped when she spoke. 

"Logically, if Stephen had simply hidden the Time Stone within the Mirror Dimension or a localized time-loop, Thanos would have never been able to acquire it."

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