From beginning to end, the Time Stone had never rejected Bella, but it had never acknowledged her either. It was just like with the Time Stone's previous users: she could use it, but anything beyond that? Dream on!
The Infinity Stone most suited to Bella was the Mind Stone. She had a strong premonition and had also reasoned as much. Once she obtained the Mind Stone, her strength would rise enormously.
There would be no threshold and no bottleneck. Endless mental power would be available for her to draw on at will. At that point, seventh-circle, eighth-circle—if she wanted them, she could reach those levels with a little time.
The black mist noticed the intense desire in her heart and laughed in satisfaction. "You want the gem? Of course! I can give it to you. All you need to do is pry open a tiny gap in the seal and let me out..."
Bella was silent for more than ten seconds, then sneered. "You just said the gem was taken by someone called Thanos. You don't think I know nothing, do you? I know Thanos, and I also know he's still alive and doing perfectly well."
The black mist churned. Faintly, she heard scales scraping across the ground, like swords chopping into stone. A long time passed before the mist spoke again. "...But the gem belongs to me. Without my permission, that thief Thanos can't use even a fraction of its power! How about it? Let me out and I'll tell you how to use the gem properly."
His voice was thin and soft, yet the radiation carried by that voice alone darkened more than half the outside sky. Mental power filled with blasphemy and temptation crashed against Bella's mental shield like an ocean tide.
Thanos could not use the Mind Stone either? Bella thought it over. That actually seemed true! Thanos had never personally used the Mind Stone. He had merely fashioned the Scepter and then casually handed it to Loki.
The black mist continued tempting her. "Interested? Heh... Don't lie to me. I know you're interested. Let me out, and we'll kill Thanos together. After that, the gem is yours. All I want is Thanos's life!"
Bella asked tentatively, "You can defeat Thanos? From what I know, he's very strong."
The coaxing tone coming from the black mist changed at once, becoming vicious and savage. "Strong? You mean Thanos? You have no idea what strength is."
"Got it!" Bella nodded firmly. Apparently this sealed fellow really was stronger than Thanos. She had no idea by how much, but since he could be sealed here, there was clearly a limit to that strength. He definitely was not on the level of sneezing and blowing out the universe.
"What should I call you?" she asked.
The black mist was silent for several seconds. "The Eternals call me the Dragon of the Moon."
"Dragon of the Moon? Nice name!"
Bella knew how dangerous Thanos was, and she understood even better what would happen if she released a level-sixty major boss to defeat a level-fifty major boss.
Not a chance!
"Oh! I suddenly remembered... I think I forgot to turn off the stove before I left home! Honestly, I'm so forgetful!" She turned around and left.
She left without the slightest hesitation. The Dragon of the Moon kept making offers, but she ignored every word. Once she had flown beyond a range of ten kilometers (about 6.2 miles), she could no longer hear his voice.
"Only ten kilometers? Weaker than I expected..." Bella didn't go far.
Once she was outside the range of his voice, she began inspecting the outer perimeter.
Titan was neither especially close to Earth nor especially far away. Leaving a hidden danger like this here indefinitely would be extremely risky.
Bella examined the Dragon of the Moon's seal and found it extremely old. By conservative estimate, no one had touched it for several hundred years. There were no signs of the Decepticons either.
She didn't try to reinforce the seal unnecessarily. First, she did not understand the Eternals' sealing methods. Second, she worried that her Psionic Power could be turned against her.
The Dragon of the Moon had controlled the Mind Stone for many years. Anyone could guess that he was an expert at mental abilities. Bella did not believe her Psionic Power was stronger than his. If he took control of the Psionic Power she used to reinforce the seal, he could break free in no time, guaranteed.
She placed her hopes on... Optimus Prime! Magic was a little unreliable right now, so she would turn to technology instead! As a librarian, Optimus Prime ought to have some ideas.
Bella put the Dragon of the Moon aside. He had failed to escape for several hundred years, so a little more time would not matter.
She continued searching the planet's surface. Ten minutes later, she received a transmission from Ironhide and flew south, toward the point diagonally opposite the Dragon of the Moon's seal.
Titan was not small. She flew for half an hour before finally rejoining the three Autobots.
A valley lay before them. A mechanical city packed with structures filled the valley, built in a Cybertronian style. Large numbers of electronic signals came from within. Jazz believed this was the Decepticons' forward base for scouting and attacking Earth.
Starscream and The Fallen had probably been hiding here for the past two years.
Bella could not read the Autobots' expressions. She only knew they were very quiet.
"What's wrong?"
"There are... a lot of enemies here..."
"How many?"
"There are too many to count..."
Bella froze for two seconds as one possibility occurred to her. "No way. Don't tell me the Decepticons not only captured Optimus Prime, but also got the AllSpark? Did they use the AllSpark to create an endless mechanical army?"
That would be far too serious. If the Decepticons reached a hundred thousand, or even a million, Earth would be impossible to defend, especially with Unicron buried beneath it! If the two sides ever linked up, it would be a no-win situation for humanity.
At that point, even waking Godzilla would be useless. Even the strongest fighter can be overwhelmed by sheer numbers. Concentrated Chitauri fire could make even Hulk howl in pain. If the Decepticons brought their full Cybertronian arsenal to bear, including things like interstellar cannons, then after one savage bombardment even Godzilla would go down.
Jazz shook his head very cautiously. "It shouldn't be that bad. Our sensors are very sensitive to energy. We don't know exactly what happened, but the calculations show that the AllSpark has already been destroyed. Its energy has dispersed into every corner of this moon. Optimus Prime probably destroyed the AllSpark, right?"
They observed from outside the valley. From time to time, they could see Decepticons transform into aircraft and fly through the city. The mechanical city was enormous, roughly twice the size of New York City. Judging from the Decepticon patrols moving in and out, there was probably an even larger space underground.
"This isn't entirely Decepticon architectural style. Have you humans ever been to this moon before?" Jazz asked, pointing toward a tall spire in the distance.
That was probably a structure built by the Eternals, right? Bella was not certain either. The subject could lead into endless complications and had little to do with their current problem.
Bella asked, "I don't know. Forget the buildings. Have you found Optimus Prime?"