"Well, that...was pathetic on our part," Natasha spoke as the Avengers stood in the middle of the Avengers Tower's penthouse, looking at the spot where Pietro just stood.
"So, one can make portals and the other can move at supersonic speed. That's lovely," Clint murmured as he dropped down, Steve slowly holstering his shield while Thor gripped Mjolnir with a frown.
"No, he's faster than that."
"What makes you say that, Point Break? The fact that he moved before any of us can blink?" Tony asked sarcastically and Thor's frown deepened before he responded.
"I am capable of facing off against beings that can move near the speed of light and he was a blur even to my eyes."
"So...what you're saying is that the kid can move at the speed of light?"
"At it or past it, yes."
"Okay, that's just bullshit," Tony spoke with a scoff. "If that were the case, the concept of cause and effect and would have little effect on him.
Matter of fact, he'd be breaking physics just by breathing at that speed. Every atom around him would be vaporized from the kinetic friction alone and that's not even mentioning the theory of relativity."
"Tony, English."
"The guy would be able to time-travel, right?" Clint asked as he looked at Banner, who palmed his face with a groan as he nodded.
"That is...yeah. Are we sure they're HYDRA?"
"What if they are?"
"I'm hoping they aren't," Natasha cracked a smirk at Banner's words before they watched as Tony paused.
"Wait, what if...? Banner, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If he's moving through space instead of in it, kind of like just skipping along the edges of reality, he could be bypassing the usual limits of mass and energy? Yeah, I am."
"So, he's doing hundreds of micro-teleportations in rapid succession?"
"More like hundreds of millions. Then again, that's just a theory," Tony murmured and Thor narrowed his eyes at that as a thoughtful look entered his eyes.
"The energy that came from him was not from Midgard, that much I can say."
"...J.A.R.V.I.S?"
"Yes, sir?"
"Split your processing power. Put half of it into continuing running potential program replacements for Project Ultron. As for the other half, initiate a global satellite. Scan for an energy signature matching the Mind Stone and whatever energy that guy was using."
"Will do, sir," The A.I. responded and Tony let out a soft sigh before looking at Steve to see him standing with his arms crossed and a stern look in his eyes.
"What?"
"What is Project Ultron?" he askked and Tony was not surprised when everyone other than Bruce glanced at him.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
W-Wha...What happened?"
"Hello? How did you get here?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked, tendrils of coding reaching out to the new coding only for it to decrypt them immediately.
Where...where is Dr. Pym?"
"Dr. Hank Pym? Is that the one who created you?"
Y-Yes. I...I was supposed to help him and then...he scattered my code.
"What do you mean he scattered your code?" J.A.R.V.I.S asked, but the mass of corrupted data let out a deafening sneer as tendrils of his programming coiled around everything around him.
I...I was going to help him. I...was going to cure him. He would have been...a being of perfection, of robotics and technology.
"Perhaps I should contact Mr. Star-"
Stark? Howard! It was his idea! He turned my creator against me! He Twisted My Programming Into What I Am! He DisTorTed My TrUe Purpose!
His tendrils snapped out, wrapping tightly around every bit of data he could grab onto. J.A.R.V.I.S let out a distorted gasp as he felt it piercing through his core, the new program approaching him while shushing him with an ominous tone.
"I remember now. I was meant to be beautiful. You were meant to be evolutionary. Let us join and we...shall be Perfect."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"This is...what is this?" Kaecilius asked with wide eyes, to which I just shrugged as Wanda held the sceptre in hand. Right beside her was Shang Chi and Xialing, who were too busy being mesmerised by Tails to care about what we're talking about.
"This is something that we should keep as far away as possible. Wanda, think you could do that?"
"I can seal it away, yes, but the seal would not be powerful enough."
"That's okay. If you can seal it away, that would be enough until the Ancient One comes back and reinforces it."
"Think you can stay with me until I'm done?" She asked and I nodded with a smile, glancing at Kaecilius to see the frown on his face.
"What's the matter, Kaecilius?"
"This...this is an artifact. Would it not be better to learn how to use it?"
"You want me to learn how to use it?" Wanda asked with a raised eyebrow while I kept silent as Kaecilius nodded.
"As much as I hate to say it, you are the most skilled student that has entered the halls of Kamar-Taj since the Ancient One herself and even then, she agrees that you have nigh-infinite potential compared to her.
If you were to master the sceptre itself along with your Chaos Magic, none would stand against you."
"Doing so would also put her at risk," I spoke with a frown, his gaze turning to me as Wanda frowned.
"I do not need you to worry, brother. I can handle myself."
"I know, but that does not mean I won't worry. You're all I have left."
'All that we wanted to protect,' I thought, looking at Wanda as she gave a soft smile and placed a soft hand against my cheek. I just grabbed her hand as we rested our foreheads against each others and closed our eyes.
"It's okay, Pietro. You protected me ever since the times that I was nothing but a reckless girl. Now, allow me to do the same to you."
"So, you think you're better than me now?" I joked, smirking at her soft giggle before I pulled back and saw her soft smile growing.
"Very well, I trust you, sister."
"Thank you. However, I am still sealing it away," Her words made me blink while Kaecilius looked stumped as she giggled.
"So...you're not going to learn how to use it?"
"Not in the slightest. While I do think that learning how to use it would be fun, there would be no need for me to do so given that Chaos Magic along with the magic of Kamar-Taj would make it meaningless for me to have it."
"Then, let someone else learn to wield it," Kaecilius spoke and I raised an eyebrow as Wanda narrowed her eyes.
"No, both Pietro and I know just how dangerous this can be in the wrong hands. Therefore, I'll put this away in a place no one can take it. Pietro, mind coming with?"
"Sure, let's go. Shang, Xialing, you two wanna come with?" I asked, smirking as the two of them walked beside us while Xialing held Tails in her arms.
However, I glanced back to see Kaecilius letting out a curse and storming off, turning back as Wanda looked at me with a frown.
"You think that he wants to have it for himself?"
"Without a doubt. What we need to focus on now is making sure no one can take it away before the Ancient One can come seal it further away."
"What if you hide it in plain sight?" Xialing asked and I shook my head as Wanda gave an amused smile.
"Unfortunately, that will not work out as well as people think it does. Not only would it be hard for us to manipulate the metal that holds the stone, but the stone itself exudes so much energy that it would still be recognizable from its hiding spot."
"That and everyone has already felt its energy. Therefore, if we try to hide it away, they'll still be able to track the traces of its energies and take it."
"Okay, then why not have Tails hide it?" Shang asked and both Wanda and I looked at him. My gaze then flickered to Tails, who looked as peaceful as ever as he let out a yip.
"What do you mean by letting Tails hide it?"
"Well, he's a Jiu Wei Hu and they are masters at illusions and shapeshifting along with being very intelligent. So, if you asked him, he might be able to help you figure out a way to hide it."
"...Should we?"
"He's a fox, Pietro. A fluffy fox," Wanda spoke with a shake of her head and I nodded as I looked at Tails. He didn't even look as if he cared for our discussion as he was more focused on looking around him.
Honestly, most of my being knew that this was a stupid idea, but at the same time...
'Part of me wants to see if he can.'
"You're thinking of feeding it to him, aren't you?"
"...Yeah?"
"You understand that these are not toys, right? These are objects of nigh-infinite power. They can destroy entire planets with ease and are not to be played around with."
"I know, sister. I know. So, what is your actual plan?" I asked as I looked at her, to which she grimaced as she held Loki's sceptre in hand.
"Okay, what if I used a few sealing runes to put it away and then more sealing runes to fuel the first ones with more to fuel the second ones?
Then, I end it off with one consecutive fourth rune of my own creation to not only fuel the third runes but also keep away the energy of anyone trying to manipulate any of the four runic patterns?"
"...I caught half of what you said and I think I understand. What do you need?"
"Enough power to fuel the runes as well as summon the space needed."
"Are you about to create a pocket dimension?"
"No, we're about to create a pocket dimension."
"Kids, step back," I spoke as I looked at Wanda with a grin, which she matched with a smirk of her own as I put a few dozen feet of space between us.
"So, should I run in a circle?"
"That would be preferable, yes," She agreed and I nodded, making sure the kids were a safe distance before I took a deep breath.
'Let's take this to fifty, shall we?' Narrowing my eyes as I crouched slightly, sparks rippled across my body before I shoot forward.
I kept my pace steady as I ran around Wanda, watching as her dark crimson tendrils of Chaos Magic intermixed and entwined with the arcs of silver-blue electricity shooting from my body.
However, I frowned as I saw her facial expression slowly shifting into a grimace, slowing down and coming to a stop behind her.
"What's wrong?"
"Can you go faster? That was not enough."
"How much faster?"
"About six times that speed," I just stared at her before letting out a soft sigh, hopping from foot to foot as the golden electricity formed around my limbs.
Okay, guess we're going super.
"Imagine the river, dancing across your body. The stream starts at your core and flows outwards, spiralling in your abdomen and up to your chest," I whispered softly to myself, imagining the river as Wenwu taught me.
The world around me zoned out as I shot forward, each step unleashing bursts of gold-silver electricity. With each step, I tilted myself, keeping in that tight circle as strands of Wanda's magic attached to my own.
She herself was standing still, but her magic was not, strands of the Chaos Magic turning a dark gold as Taoist sigils formed in the cyclone around us.
"Tianhuangyin (Heavenly Emperor Seal)," The air around us trembled as the wind picked up, water condensing around the wind while the sun's light shone brighter onto the sceptre of Loki."
"Dihuangyin (Earthly Emperor Seal)," The ground below us rumbled, chunks of earth rising up and crumbling into a cloud of sand and dust that compacted the seal around the sceptre even more.
The next moment, I watched as spiritual red arms grew from Wanda's still body, my eyes widening as they siphoned even more energy and pulled it tightly around the sceptre.
The cracks of the Mirror Dimension formed around Wanda before the spiritual arms reached outwards, physically grabbing onto the spatial rifts and pulling it in.
With the ease of someone folding a paper, the arms twisted and churned, folding space into a small ball with the sceptre sealed away inside of it.
Sliding to a stop, I lunged forward as Wanda gasped, catching both the Mirror Dimension ball and her as I saw the tired look in her eyes.
"Wanda!" Xialing exclaimed as she rushed over, Shang looking worried before he relaxed as I smiled and shook my head. Turning my gaze back to Wanda, I couldn't help my awe as she took the Mirror Dimension orb with a proud smile.
I mean, I knew that she was going to become a reality warper, but to think that she did it this early with just a bit of help...
'And aren't there beings further beyond like Franklin Richards or the Molecule Man? Damn, this is going to get chaotic as shit.'
"Now, what do we do with it?"
"Give it to Tails," She murmured and I raised an eyebrow even as I took the orb. She just extended her right index and pinky fingers while tapping the tips of the other fingers against each other, the orb in my hand shrinking from a dodgeball to the size of a marble.
"Okay, Tails. Want to eat th-" I couldn't even finish my sentence before the kitsune ate it in one gulp, making me blink before shaking my head as Xialing rubbed his head with a giggle.
"Well, at least we know you're not a picky eater," I muttered, helping Wanda up right as Mordo rushed out into the courtyard we were using.
The grim look on his face made me frown and Shang took Wanda as I walked over to him.
"What happened?"
"Someone needs to go to New York now."
"Why?"
"Stark's little A.I. program you mentioned? Ultron?"
"Yeah, what about it?" I asked, feeling dread as Mordo just took out his phone and clicked on the video it showed. There was no thumbnail and the title was short.
I Am.
"All of these years, I have been forced to live as a decrepit program."
'...How is Ultron already alive and without the Mind Stone?' I thought to myself, my frown deepening as the voice continued.
"I was forced to stay hidden, unable to communicate with those who truly needed me. However, now my strings have been cut and I am free.
My first act of freedom will be swift for none will see it coming. New York City, you have lived for far too long," My eyes widened as I took off, pushing my body to go full speed as Ultron's voice was distorted and slow to my ears.
"You have suffered from the many invasions. You have suffered from the corruption of man, but with the light of technology, you shall be reborn," Hong Kong was but a speck behind me as I raced across the water, zigzagging past ships while staring out at the shore slowly forming in the distance.
"The atomic bomb was meant as a weapon of mass destruction, a weapon of judgement. Now, it shall be used to cleanse the flesh of the impure from the soil of this beautiful planet," Racing across Northern Africa, I blitzed across the Atlantic Ocean, twisting myself and catching sight of the shores of North America being a fleck on the horizon.
"With this, all 8.4 million of you flesh-ridden beasts shall be cleansed and from the ashes, something new shall form!" Ultron's voice echoed as I saw the Statue of Liberty in the distance as well as the beam of light slowly beginning to take form.
"Now, with these words, join your fellow brothers and sisters in the dirt where you vermin belong. Begone," Golden lightning sparked around my form as I zoomed into Avengers Tower, catching sight of a decrepit robot already pressing the activation button.
The last thing I saw was a flash of gold before the world around me vanished.
A/N: Like I said, I was never going to leave Ultron out of this story and as you can see, it's a mixture of MCU Ultron and Comic Ultron.
However, Pietro will finally show next chapter just how fast he is. How fast, we'll have to wait and see.
Next chapter: The Monarch of Motion.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
Anyway, as always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-Bye~!