Khan watched silently as the pieces came into place. He really experimented with Marionette Master's limits. He wasn't sure it could work that way, but any order given during the control period would be carried out even after their release as long as the appropriate trigger was given.
Using that way had limits of course, if the order was too blatant and extreme then they could resist or straight up reject it. However, tying it with the right trigger made it easier to accept. Like Queen Adora from the Nova Corp. She was in charge, but if he simply ordered her to hand over the power stone, then dozens of alarms would've gone off and Adora would've fought back tooth and nail.
However, implant the idea to have the Guardians move the stone when they warn her about him, then it becomes a reasonable idea. Xavier proved tricky, with his telepathic powers, he could potentially spot ideas that aren't his.
Thankfully, Cerebro fixed that problem for him. When Xavier tried to enter Khan's mind, the professor fell into the Warp. All of Xavier's mental focus went into surviving the Warp and escaping its masters. He was in no position to stop Khan or resist the orders. Hasn't even realized that something was off, and his followers are too loyal to question him.
Khan fleets were approaching Earth, the Zerg would hit New York, Orks had Wakanda, and the Protoss would be setting up outside outside of London.
The Blood Angels and Drukhari had their own assignments elsewhere. If those two were successful, then great, but it wasn't a make-or-break thing.
Everything was almost ready. Lilith has just corrupted Venom, and Strange, with Stark and Danvers, would soon head to the Abby. Without Magik, their return would probably take a little longer than the doctor would be comfortable with if he had known. Khan entered the Shadow Nexus; it was time to grab time and the witch.
...
Steven Strange was not sure how to process recent events. First, Lilith, the Mother of Demons, had attacked them in his own home. He, Carol, and Tony had proven helpless before her. If not for the intervention of his apprentice Wanda, then they would have very much been dead.
Wong was out confirming that the other pages of the Darkhold had been stolen. So, he had to leave Wanda behind to maintain the wards while he, Carol, and Tony went to the Abby.
When they arrived however, instead of finding the ancient warrior who was key in preventing the prophecy, they found Sara, Blade, and Robbie trapped in stone and the grave destroyed. The magic that bound them appeared to be easily broken, all it required was someone touching them.
As they were set free, Tony said, "Well I'm all for helping people in need, but didn't we come here for some secret weapon?"
Hearing that, Sara remarked, "Of course, that's why you're here. Unfortunately, you're too late. The one who trapped us, stole the Hunter's body." Blade then added, "They indicated they were here at Lilith's bidding."
Steven felt heart drop, apparently Lilith had been active long enough to anticipate the need for Hunter's revival.
Then horror dawned on the doctor, if the enemy could predict then who knows what else they've anticipated. He immediately turned to Sara and asked, "My portal magic is unreliable here, what is the fastest way back to my Sanctum?" Sara was silent as she studied Steven's face. Her eyes went wide as she became aware of his concern. She said, "Before the attack, it was Magik, but we lost her in that last attack. Now it's Robbie's Hellraiser. In Rider mode it would take half an hour after it has cleared the dimensional gap."
Robbie asked, "What's the rush?" Sara answered, "If the enemy knew what Strange's plan was before he knew, then they might have anticipated how under defended the Sanctum is right now even with its wards." Steven also added, "Wanda is maintaining the wards on her own, if they find a way to break them while she's attached. Then she be vulnerable to whatever Lilith has planned for her."
As they piled into Robbie car, Sara decided to stay behind, if the worst should happen then they would need more reliable means of getting around. As Robbie floored the pedal, Steven hoped they weren't to late.
...
Peter Quill was looking at the Reality Stone. Several members of the Nova Corp had attacked the Collector, providing the necessary distraction needed to get the prize. The Milano was heading towards earth. Why? Because as soon as they left the Collector's ship, they received a signal from a beacon pointed them towards earth.
The soon arrive, to find nothing waiting for them. As they hang in orbit, Rocket said, "So what's going on? Are we early?" Suddenly the ship rocked hard. Alarms were blaring, lights flashing, it was madness. Peter yelled, "What happened?!"
Rocket yelled, "Something hit us! We're losing power... and we're going to crash." Peter could feel it, gravity pulling them towards the surface. He immediately secured both the power and reality stones. As they tried to desperately keep the Milano from turning into a flaming pile of metal, there was a second explosion. With the ground rapidly approaching, Peter didn't have time to worry.
They managed to slow enough that they would survive, as they were about to hit, Peter yelled, "Brace!"
...
Khan put his rifle away, and then joined Lilith. They both walked through the portal, Wanda was laying on the floor. Lilith walked forward with a smile on her face, obvious with her intent in corrupting the Scarlett Witch.
However, Khan's shadow extended enveloping Wanda and caused her to disappear into his Shadow Pocket. Lilith stood there for a moment, clearly trying to comprehend what just happened.
Khan not wanting to wait, searched for his prize. He found it right where he expected it to be. Just then, Lilith showed up and asked, "Are you responsible for her escape?!"
Not even looking at her, Khan responded, "Would even believe me if I said I wasn't?" Lilith looked at the stone and asked, "Is that the prize you sought?"
Not even responding, Khan reached out and grabbed it, hold it firmly in his hand. The stone glowed and vibrated, almost like it was struggling. It soon turned into dust and scattered. Then Khan got a notification.
[Congratulations, you've collected the Time Stone. Your Soul Collector will upgrade into the Soul Harvester.
Soul Harvester - No matter how long someone's been dead you can harvest their soul shard. Please note, the more powerful or prominent the soul the longer the cool down.
Warning, due to the disruption of the Time Stone, a one-year time loop has been created. Failure to complete your business within that time limit will cause you to loop back to this moment of time.]
As Khan looked at the notice, he felt annoyed. Granted a yearlong loop did grant a lot of wiggle room, there were any number of things that could delay things.
He turned to see Lilith left awe struck by how the Time Stone was so easily destroyed. Khan stretched out his senses, his fleet was entertaining the atmosphere and Strange and the others just entered the city limits.
He turned to Lilith and said, "My distraction will be kicking off soon, you'll be free to retrieve the last page from Johnny Blaze, then you can get the Hulk for the reassembling of the book."
Lilith asked, "What should I do with the Hydra? Once I have unlocked Banner's true strength, I won't really need them." Khan said, "It won't really matter in the end, use them for all their worth or get rid of them yourself, it will make no difference."
...
Ruth Bat-Seraph, aka Sabra. She was an agent for Mossad, normally her cover is that of police officer, but today she is the bodyguard for the Israeli Ambassador.
While at the U.N. headquarters, Sabra took note of other supers being used as bodyguards. From Russia, there was Ursa Major, and the twins Vanguard and Darkstar. From the U.K. was the Black Knight, Elsa Bloodstone, and Spitfire.
The list could go on, between member nations and their special escorts, it was a venerable who's who of heroes. Now why where so many gathered? Because Dr. Doom had informed them of an impending threat. Everyone was reluctant to believe him of course, but he said his ambassador would present the evidence at the United Nations headquarters.
So, here they were. Of course, with this being an event openly involving Dr. Doom, Sabra had fully expected to see Shield's Helicarrior patrolling the sky.
She suddenly noted that the American ambassador was noticeably absent. Sabra then noted the technical star of this circus, Lucia Von Bardas. The cybernetically enhanced woman was proof, that while Dr. Doom would do things that would threaten the world order, but when it came to his people, he would do anything to protect them and never endanger them on a whim.
Which is the sole reason the world leaders are willing to listen, because if it's real, then Doom's precious Latveria is also in danger. That little fact made Director Fury's absence more notable, he should've been told Doom's evidence so that he could verify.
Suddenly, the lights began to flicker indicating a power flux. Then alarms began to wale. An enemy attack?
Sabra and several others immediately went outside. Then they saw it. A giant creature, partially visible through the clouds. However, what had everyone's attention was the countless pods it was dropping and the numerous creatures that was filling the sky. Then she heard about the organic structures appearing on the other side of the river.
As a master tactician, Sabra knew they were cut off, and soon would be trapped. The others agreed with her assessment, but they also knew, while they might be able to escape, the regular civilians among them would not.
They began splitting tasks, of fortifying the building, rescue the civilians, and try to establish communications for either evacuation or at least a coordinated resistance. The trails ahead would not be easy.