Wanda possessed chaos magic, which allowed her to manipulate and even modify reality at will. If she truly mastered her abilities, replicating Marcus's blood blade river would be relatively straightforward.
However, this remained difficult for Wanda currently—the young woman hadn't achieved perfect control over her power.
Her utilization of abilities was extremely superficial, and her brother Pietro was even more limited in his understanding.
"Compared to Wanda, I think you're the one who needs the most instruction," Marcus observed, looking at Pietro standing before him with obvious amusement.
He had encountered many speedsters throughout his travels, but this was the first time he'd seen someone like Pietro who possessed only speed and nothing else.
Even the Pietro from the mutant world wasn't this limited. Beyond super speed, this version hadn't mastered any combat techniques whatsoever.
Indeed, Pietro was identical to Wanda in this regard. Their grasp of personal power remained embarrassingly shallow. Forget Marcus—any person proficient in combat would outperform them.
If not for their superpowers, they would probably be weaker than ordinary people.
"Me? I'm perfectly fine. I think I performed excellently in battle!" Pietro protested, somewhat unconvinced by Marcus's assessment.
He felt confident in his mastery. When in action, no one could see him clearly. He could accomplish whatever he desired within the accelerated world of his perception.
"What you call excellent performance was running around frantically under Chitauri soldier fire," Marcus replied dryly.
He had observed clearly that when facing Chitauri attacks, Pietro had begun panicking and fleeing erratically through gunfire after eliminating a single soldier.
If Pietro could master proper fighting techniques, he wouldn't need to appear so helpless—though only Marcus had witnessed this particular embarrassment.
Hearing Marcus's words, Pietro froze momentarily. He hadn't expected his actions to be observed so clearly.
"You... how did you know—"
Before he could finish speaking, the three young heroes saw Marcus suddenly transform into a lightning flash and vanish from his position, appearing behind Pietro the next instant.
"So... so fast!" Peter exclaimed in amazement, his spider-sense failing to react before Marcus materialized. "Why does it feel faster than Pietro?"
"Definitely!" Wanda agreed emphatically.
The power Marcus displayed far exceeded her brother's capabilities. This was her first time witnessing such velocity.
"Impossible! I'm the fastest!" Pietro declared furiously.
The siblings' comments infuriated him. Since acquiring this superpower, he'd believed himself the fastest person alive.
While speaking, Pietro's figure vanished instantly. He intended to demonstrate to Marcus and everyone that he remained supreme in speed.
The moment he disappeared, Marcus also transformed into lightning and vanished. The two began racing throughout the facility.
Only Wanda and Peter remained standing there, staring in bewilderment at the electrical storm surrounding them.
If Pietro's speed was silent movement, then Marcus's displayed velocity exceeded their expectations entirely.
The thunder encircling them provided the clearest answer. These electrical arcs completely enclosed their surroundings, and they could distinctly feel the cage formed by lightning contracting.
CRACKLING...
Within the arc cage, Pietro desperately tried avoiding scattered lightning, but the dense electrical field still caused periodic paralysis. While the current caused no actual harm, the paralysis significantly reduced his speed.
Now his figure was becoming visible to the observers. Though only afterimages could be seen, his velocity had definitely decreased.
Glancing at Marcus beside him, unlike his own desperate exertion, Marcus appeared to be strolling casually, completely relaxed and comfortable.
If not for the lightning emanating from Marcus's form, Pietro wouldn't have believed he was competing with him.
"Boy, the limit of speed isn't your current state!" Marcus declared.
While speaking, he placed his hand on Pietro's back, and electrical energy followed his touch, instantly enveloping Pietro's entire body.
SWOOSH!
Pietro's figure completely vanished from Peter and Wanda's sight, and the lightning cage around them disappeared simultaneously.
"Where are they?" Peter asked Wanda with confusion.
"Who knows? Maybe they've already left the building," Wanda shrugged.
Having a brother with incredible speed meant she didn't react strongly to people's sudden disappearances.
In fact, just as she'd suggested, Marcus had transported Pietro to Washington while she was speaking.
"Have you been here before? How long does it take you to travel here from New York?" Marcus asked.
Looking at the city being rebuilt before them, Pietro's eyes appeared somewhat vacant.
His speed was indeed impressive, but he couldn't match Marcus's ability to travel from New York to Washington within a single sentence.
"This... is this even legal?" Pietro muttered.
He was genuinely impressed by Marcus's velocity. With such speed, enemies in combat might not even register his presence before being defeated.
"Ha, my speed isn't the fastest. The fastest speedster is much quicker than my current level," Marcus replied with amusement.
Though Marcus had never encountered him personally, he did know of the ultimate speedster.
Unfortunately, that individual existed in a different reality. For them to meet would require universal convergence.
Pietro believed Marcus's statement. After all, the power Marcus demonstrated was overwhelmingly superior. Perhaps someone truly faster than Marcus existed.
CRACKLING...
In a lightning flash, both disappeared from Washington and returned to Wanda and Peter.
"Your speed still has tremendous growth potential, but your combat abilities cannot rely on simple movement alone. Interested in learning?" Marcus offered.
"Yes!" Pietro's eyes blazed with excitement. "I want to learn that electrical technique!"
Hearing this, Marcus raised his eyebrows slightly. That electrical ability wasn't ordinary—it was Speed Force he'd acquired from Barry Allen, the Flash.
While no Speed Force barrier surrounded this reality as in the DC universe, the Speed Force contained within his enhancement was essentially infinite, providing continuous power.
However, such abilities couldn't be directly granted to Pietro—after all, only one Pietro existed in this timeline.
Nevertheless, he possessed methods to help Pietro achieve similar results. The kinetic battery equipped on his Gauss armor configuration represented an excellent option.
Kinetic batteries charged through movement, and Pietro excelled at high-velocity motion. With proper application, Pietro could accomplish identical feats.
"Once you've mastered combat skills, I'll help you control electrical energy," Marcus promised.
Seeing that Marcus had agreed, Pietro cheered excitedly. Both he and his sister Wanda could learn from Marcus, and they believed it wouldn't be long before they became the Avengers' backbone.
After witnessing the siblings' acceptance by Marcus, Peter's expression filled with envy.
He also wanted to learn from Marcus. Since gaining spider abilities, he'd been exploring independently.
While this had made him more experienced in using his powers, he remained a novice in direct combat.
"Come along—it's just as easy to teach multiple students," Marcus decided.
Though these young people remained immature, their abilities were exceptional—significantly stronger than Steve and other first-generation Avengers.
If they could utilize their strength skillfully, they could provide far greater assistance to Tony and the others.
Training Progress
For several days, Marcus spent most of his time instructing the trio in combat techniques while occasionally monitoring Loki's situation. Pietro and the others developed rapidly.
Pietro was no longer limited to simple high-speed movement. Now he moved like a precision instrument—every attack targeted vital points with clean, efficient strikes.
Wanda had learned to control multiple weapons simultaneously. She could manipulate more than a dozen implements at once, directing each to perform different functions, dramatically amplifying her power.
Peter had achieved breakthrough progress in close combat. Combined with his spider-enhanced strength, he'd learned from Marcus how to focus power into concentrated points.
This made his power output more focused and destructive capability significantly greater.
The trio's growth shocked Steve and the others. They'd never imagined these young people could change so dramatically.
Marcus was like a magician—in just days, he'd substantially improved everyone's capabilities.
"Indeed, the future belongs to the younger generation," Steve observed, watching the three train with obvious satisfaction.
Having reached peak human conditioning, he was extremely strong across all aspects. However, witnessing their training still impressed him.
"Yes, there are increasingly more enhanced individuals, and we older members will soon be obsolete," Bucky agreed, nodding at his longtime friend's assessment.
In this world, the number of powered individuals continued growing. They were merely warriors with enhanced physiques—they might truly become outdated.
"That's not necessarily true," Marcus interjected, appearing behind them.
"While enhanced individual numbers have increased, quality doesn't match theirs."
After all, people like Peter remained exceptional. Most superpowers were essentially useless for practical applications.
This paralleled the mutant world. Having meaningful combat capabilities was fortunate, but many mutants' abilities not only failed to enhance combat effectiveness but actually created life difficulties.
For example, some individuals produced highly corrosive saliva. While their internal systems possessed resistance to this liquid, their external skin had no protection.
If saliva accidentally contacted their body, it would cause serious damage.
Many people faced similar challenges. For most enhanced individuals, simply having powers that weren't self-harmful was sufficient.
After considering this, the Avengers nodded in agreement with Marcus's assessment.
Superpower emergence was indeed random, and no one knew what other abilities existed worldwide.
They felt genuinely fortunate to recruit three promising new Avengers, especially given their exceptional capabilities.
Pietro's speed remained beyond their reach, Peter's spider-sense and physical conditioning exceeded expectations, and Wanda's abilities were arguably the strongest among the trio—possibly even among all Avengers.
Whether control or attack, Wanda could accomplish both effortlessly.
Now they were learning from Marcus. Though the instruction remained relatively basic, they'd made obvious progress.
"I believe more people will join your team in the future, and they should become core members," Marcus predicted.
After speaking, he flicked his finger, sending an energy stream from his fingertip.
The next moment, Peter seemed to sense something and suddenly leaped aside, even halting his practice.
"Strange, why do I feel something flying past?"
Seeing nothing behind him, Peter scratched his head and resumed training.
Witnessing his reaction, everyone couldn't help laughing. Peter's response genuinely surprised them, but the young man's honesty left them feeling helpless.
"Compared to them, I think your strength should also improve. Otherwise, I'm concerned about your condition when I return next time," Marcus advised seriously.
Everyone nodded gently at his words, understanding his meaning.
Marcus always departed for extended periods. If he left, no one knew when they'd meet again.
Additionally, enhanced individuals worldwide were increasing in number. If they couldn't improve their strength, they'd soon be surpassed by their successors.
If their successors could handle responsibilities, being surpassed wouldn't matter. But if the enhanced individuals who'd mastered superpowers demonstrated less capability than the current team, that would create serious problems.
To avoid any complications, they could only choose to continue strengthening themselves, ensuring they could still fight when facing potential future difficulties.
Observing everyone's expressions, Marcus smiled.
"You're different from them. Your strength has stabilized. Continued improvement requires tremendous effort."
"Therefore, I'm providing these items. They're tools to help you enhance your abilities more rapidly."
While speaking, Marcus produced several rings. Each ring was inscribed with runes—specifically, growth runes.
Wearing these runic rings would ensure that consistent training produced steady strength increases.
Though they didn't understand the rings' purpose, since Marcus had explained their function, they naturally wouldn't refuse.
After all, they knew Marcus never carried worthless items—everything he possessed was genuinely valuable.
The moment they donned the rings, everyone felt unprecedented comfort—a sensation they'd never experienced before.
"It seems you all feel the effect. Remember to wear them consistently—they'll help you!" Marcus advised carefully.
After thoroughly instructing everyone, he turned to observe the three young heroes training.