BOOM!!!
Crimson energy surged outward like a tidal wave, carrying the raw force of annihilation. In a single instant, it slammed into the surrounding walls.
Purple fractures spiderwebbed across the entire room in the blink of an eye, as though reality itself had been torn like wet paper.
At the epicenter of that eruption, Wanda was swallowed by endless light. Before her eyes, beyond the blinding white, a twisted silhouette seemed to stare back at her.
She couldn't make out its features. Faintly, at the edge of hearing, came a mournful sigh.
"Energy output is beyond all projected parameters!"
Outside the lab, Eunice immediately raised the alarm.
Every single monitoring console had maxed out. The readings hadn't just exceeded their limits—they'd obliterated them.
Even Ben was frowning, watching Wanda through the observation glass with undisguised worry.
After completing the Celestial Demon Talisman, he'd moved on to the next phase of the original plan: awakening Wanda's latent potential.
As it happened, Banner and Otto had previously studied the Mind Stone together. They hadn't achieved any major breakthroughs, but the data they'd gathered was more than enough to provide a theoretical framework for this experiment.
Ben had then obtained the full details of Project Pegasus from Norman, and only after that did he give the green light.
"I didn't expect things to go sideways like this."
Bruce Banner's face was grim.
But only Ben knew the truth—this experiment had never been meant to succeed in the way Banner thought.
Bruce Banner assumed Ben was trying to restart Project Pegasus, using the Stone's energy to forge a powerful superhuman.
In reality, the Stone was nothing more than a catalyst.
"The energy is still climbing!"
Bruce's hands flew across the keyboard, frantically inputting commands, trying to salvage whatever he could from the cascading failure.
The energy Wanda was releasing was far too immense. If they couldn't shut it down, it wouldn't just be the lab—they'd be lucky if the entire space station wasn't ripped to shreds!
The thought made Banner's expression darken even further.
He wasn't afraid for himself. But there were nearly a thousand Plumbers aboard this station.
Banner shot a helpless glance at Ben, who stood calmly beside him.
The kid didn't have a flicker of panic on his face, even now. That, at least, let Bruce breathe a little easier.
"Aren't you worried?"
"At this rate, even vibranium's absorption ceiling will be breached!"
Bruce demanded.
"You're forgetting about the Anti-Metal."
Ben's voice was level. His gaze cut through the Mind Stone's glow and the roiling Chaos Magic, fixing directly on Wanda at the heart of the storm.
He genuinely wasn't worried.
"If all we had was vibranium, then yes—this energy output would eventually exceed its absorption limit. At that point, the station would essentially become a ticking bomb. The kind that could crack the entire Earth into pieces."
That wasn't an exaggeration. Whether it was an Infinity Stone or Chaos Magic, obliterating a planet was child's play.
"But with Anti-Metal in the mix, it's a different story."
Anti-Metal's property was to destabilize the molecular structure of other metals. As long as they broke down the vibranium and reconstructed it via nanotechnology before its stored energy hit the ceiling, they could bleed off the pressure.
And all that stored energy would flow into Reigedom.
That's right—Reigedom!
Just as Ben had reasoned before, awakening Celestial Energy in beings who already possessed powerful life force yielded far greater returns.
Thor was his first candidate. The Scarlet Witch was one he absolutely wasn't going to pass up.
Which meant the external forces driving this awakening experiment weren't limited to the Mind Stone. The Celestial Demon Talisman had played its part, too.
Of course.
Fundamentally speaking, Wanda's life energy wasn't all that much stronger than an ordinary human's. What was truly formidable was the Chaos Magic.
And her Chaos Magic came from a supremely powerful dimensional god—Chthon.
Unlike Ben, Chthon was an old-school deity, ancient and entrenched. The fact that Chaos Magic could go toe-to-toe with an incomplete Phoenix Force was proof enough of its terrifying potency.
Right now, Ben was able to forge a link between Wanda and Reigedom—effectively siphoning off a portion of Chaos Energy, converting it into Celestial Energy, and funneling it into Reigedom's reserves.
Chaos Magic, by its nature, was remarkably inert. Compared to the energies of other dimensional lords, its inherent signature was relatively muted.
Precisely because of that, converting it into Celestial Energy was far easier.
Of course, Ben wasn't reckless enough to overdo it.
The Chthon of this era was still far beyond his ability to provoke.
He could only skim a small amount of Chaos Magic from Wanda and convert it, keeping the draw subtle enough to avoid catching Chthon's attention.
Once he was strong enough, Ben fully intended to turn the Scarlet Witch into a Pink Witch powered entirely by Celestial Energy.
Right now, even this faint trickle of Chaos Energy produced an immediate and dramatic transformation the moment it flooded into Reigedom.
In that instant, Wanda glimpsed the true form of the Scarlet Witch. Chthon's vast reservoir of Chaos Magic came pouring down like a dam bursting open.
Even though Ben only skimmed the excess, Reigedom's total Celestial Energy surged by an enormous margin.
It multiplied several times over in a single heartbeat!
The upheaval was so great that it even startled the Ancient One.
Far away in Kamar-Taj, the Ancient One had been diligently refining Ben's Celestial Energy magic when the sudden spike in Reigedom's reserves nearly made her jump out of her skin.
Only then did she cast a detection spell to see what was happening on Ben's end.
"It seems that while I've been buried in research and cultivation, he hasn't been idle either."
The Ancient One nodded, well pleased.
*Don't like it? I've got the Vishanti in my left hand and Dormammu in my right. I'll beat you until you do.*
And so, the Ancient One didn't think Ben had done anything wrong. If anything, she thought he was thinking too small.
*Why take so little?*
*If you don't take it, and I don't take it, how is Reigedom supposed to grow?*
*And if Reigedom doesn't grow, what say does Earth get at the table?*
---
Back on the space station.
After the first wave of energy discharged, the readings inside the lab began to plummet.
Wanda lost consciousness, crumpling weakly to the floor.
Seeing that, Bruce Banner let out a long breath of relief.
At least they didn't have to worry about the station being vaporized anymore.
"Eunice, how's Wanda?" Bruce asked quickly.
"Vital signs are normal," Eunice replied.
Bruce nodded, fully reassured.
"I think we should hold off on any further experiments for the time being."
"Agreed. Freeze the project entirely."
Ben had no objections. He already knew the experiment had succeeded.
Much like him, Chthon had done something similar—planting a seed of Chaos Energy inside the witch. Or rather, more accurately, Wanda had carried that seed from the very beginning. The Mind Stone had simply lit the fuse.
That tremendous energy pulse from earlier hadn't come from the Wanda of today. It was the raw Chaos Force released the instant the seed ignited.
Now that everything had settled, the energy within Wanda's body naturally dropped off sharply.
But the flame had been lit, and it would only burn hotter from here on.
And a considerable portion of that rising heat would be absorbed by Reigedom.
Ben walked into the lab, scooped up the unconscious Wanda, and carried her to the medical bay.
He knew perfectly well she'd be fine, but a checkup was still in order.
Once Wanda was settled, Ben stowed the Mind Stone away, left the station, and headed back to Earth.
Roughly forty minutes later, he appeared at Avengers Tower.
The original Avengers Tower had been completely destroyed during the war, and the whole of Manhattan had been leveled along with it. Tony and T'Challa had pooled their funds, and Primus Corp had begun rebuilding New York.
Manhattan was the first district on the list.
By now, New Manhattan had already begun to take shape.
Avengers Tower, most of all.
It had originally belonged to Stark Industries, and since Tony was the one writing the checks, Primus naturally prioritized his vision, constructing a lavish new Avengers Tower to his exact specifications.
The guy was ambitious to a fault—he'd outfitted the tower with top-tier materials and established entire departments dedicated to handling the Avengers' post-battle logistics.
On top of that, there were support divisions of every kind, weapons departments included.
Suffice it to say, the new Avengers Tower was massive. It made Ben's current Primus Tower look modest by comparison.
Then again, Primus Corp had long since pivoted to being a purely civilian company. The Plumbers had relocated entirely to the space station.
"You're here too, Hacker."
T'Challa stepped out of his car and spotted Ben standing at the entrance of Avengers Tower from across the street. He walked over with a greeting.
"T'Challa."
Ben turned, recognized him, and returned the greeting warmly.
He and T'Challa got along well. They'd fought side by side, and when it mattered, T'Challa was generous to a fault. Every ounce of vibranium on the Plumbers' station had come from him.
"Who knows what that maniac Tony has planned?"
Ben shrugged.
He'd originally intended to head back to the office and find Thor, but Pepper had contacted him out of the blue. Tony was throwing a celebration for the completion of the new Avengers Tower, and she was extending an invitation.
Clearly, whether or not Tony had let go of their previous conflict, getting him to swallow his pride and apologize was no simple matter.
Otherwise, Pepper wouldn't have been the one making the call.
"Maybe he just wants to throw a party. You know how he is," T'Challa said with a weary sigh.
He'd only been stateside for a few months, coming over from England, and in that short time he'd gotten a thorough education in the obscene, gilded excess of this country's ultra-rich.
Hearing about Tony's past exploits in particular had been something of a culture shock.
He might be the future king of Wakanda, but even he hadn't descended to *that* level of absurdity.
Thankfully, word was that Stark had reformed considerably. Otherwise, T'Challa might have skipped this party altogether.
"I don't think it's that simple."
Ben curled his lip.
Tony was fiercely, stubbornly competitive.
Last time, at the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, he'd given Ben the cold shoulder and spewed all kinds of ugly talk—how he could protect the Earth single-handedly, all of it. If Tony didn't have something to show for it, there was no way he'd have Pepper extend an invitation.
That would be too humiliating.
Which meant, Ben suspected, that Ultron was already taking shape.
He couldn't help but grin.
He was practically itching to watch Tony eat crow.
He wanted to hear Tony Stark admit, out loud, that he was no match for Ben Parker. Wanted to see that precious pride of his ground into the dirt underfoot.
Of course, beyond the petty satisfaction, Ben was also trying to teach him a lesson.
"Let's go."
He and T'Challa walked into Avengers Tower together.
The place was already packed. Beyond the Avengers, a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and Earth-based Plumbers like Harry, Tony had hired a small army of women to set the mood. There were even a few female journalists mingling about.
The lighting across the entire floor was drenched in sultry, suggestive hues. It looked less like Avengers Tower and more like an upscale club specializing in *companionship services*.
The moment T'Challa stepped inside, his brow creased.
When had this tribal chief from a pre-industrial society ever seen anything like this?
Steve, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Three drinks deep, he was already on the dance floor, grinding out what could generously be called geriatric disco with a cluster of women.
Ben turned his head away in disgust.
Absolutely unwatchable.
The instant Tony spotted them entering, he lit up behind the DJ booth at the center of the stage. He threw his arms wide in their direction, and in a flash, every light on the floor swiveled to converge on Ben.
Right behind the spotlights came every single preening, posing supermodel in the room.
"I should have stayed home."
T'Challa's displeasure was plain. He leaned toward Ben and sighed.
His duty was to protect Wakanda, not to drown in this kind of soul-eroding indulgence.
If the Panther God saw him wallowing in this, the disappointment would be unbearable.
"It's fine. Just don't forget who you are."
Ben patted T'Challa on the shoulder.
He didn't find the scene particularly offensive himself. Then again, he had zero interest in that crowd of castoffs, either.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the boss of Primus Technologies—Ben Parker! And His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wakanda!"
"These two are the reason New York isn't an alien colony right now!"
Tony's introduction set the supermodels and journalists ablaze with excitement.
In an instant, it was as if the entire dance floor surged toward them. The woman who'd been dancing with Steve—wearing a gown whose back slit threatened to reach her tailbone—ditched him without a second thought and joined the stampede toward Ben and T'Challa.
Terrified that a single step too slow would cost them the chance to rub shoulders with billionaires.
After all, Primus Corp was now every bit the equal of Stark Industries.
If even a trickle of that kind of wealth splashed their way, it would be more than they could spend in a lifetime.
"Tony Stark!"
"You have *fallen*!"
Young T'Challa found Tony's spectacle thoroughly disgraceful and called him out at the top of his lungs.
Then, in the very next breath—scene change.
The young prince was already surrounded by several spectacularly built women, drinking and boasting loudly about his own prowess.
He even threw two backflips on the spot, sending the women into shrieking fits.
Ben shook his head slowly and sighed.
"Looks like even His Royal Chieftainship can't withstand the corrupting influence of capitalism."
The resolute young man from thirty seconds ago was dead and gone.
---
"That's more like it. Otherwise I'd end up working for *him*."
Ben's move was, admittedly, a bit risky. But to the Ancient One, it was hardly a concern.
Never forget—this was a woman who had built an entire career on borrowing other people's power and using it to beat them at their own game. A seasoned rogue, through and through.
So what if it was Chthon?
She'd pinched a little of his Chaos Magic. Big deal.
*Don't like it?*
*Don't like it? I've got the Vishanti in my left hand and Dormammu in my right. I'll beat you until you do.*
And so, the Ancient One didn't think Ben had done anything wrong. If anything, she thought he was thinking too small.
*Why take so little?*
*If you don't take it, and I don't take it, how is Reigedom supposed to grow?*
*And if Reigedom doesn't grow, what say does Earth get at the table?*
---
Back on the space station.
After the first wave of energy discharged, the readings inside the lab began to plummet.
Wanda lost consciousness, crumpling weakly to the floor.
Seeing that, Bruce Banner let out a long breath of relief.
At least they didn't have to worry about the station being vaporized anymore.
"Eunice, how's Wanda?" Bruce asked quickly.
"Vital signs are normal," Eunice replied.
Bruce nodded, fully reassured.
"I think we should hold off on any further experiments for the time being."
"Agreed. Freeze the project entirely."
Ben had no objections. He already knew the experiment had succeeded.
Much like him, Chthon had done something similar—planting a seed of Chaos Energy inside the witch. Or rather, more accurately, Wanda had carried that seed from the very beginning. The Mind Stone had simply lit the fuse.
That tremendous energy pulse from earlier hadn't come from the Wanda of today. It was the raw Chaos Force released the instant the seed ignited.
Now that everything had settled, the energy within Wanda's body naturally dropped off sharply.
But the flame had been lit, and it would only burn hotter from here on.
And a considerable portion of that rising heat would be absorbed by Reigedom.
Ben walked into the lab, scooped up the unconscious Wanda, and carried her to the medical bay.
He knew perfectly well she'd be fine, but a checkup was still in order.
Once Wanda was settled, Ben stowed the Mind Stone away, left the station, and headed back to Earth.
Roughly forty minutes later, he appeared at Avengers Tower.
The original Avengers Tower had been completely destroyed during the war, and the whole of Manhattan had been leveled along with it. Tony and T'Challa had pooled their funds, and Primus Corp had begun rebuilding New York.
Manhattan was the first district on the list.
By now, New Manhattan had already begun to take shape.
Avengers Tower, most of all.
It had originally belonged to Stark Industries, and since Tony was the one writing the checks, Primus naturally prioritized his vision, constructing a lavish new Avengers Tower to his exact specifications.
The guy was ambitious to a fault—he'd outfitted the tower with top-tier materials and established entire departments dedicated to handling the Avengers' post-battle logistics.
On top of that, there were support divisions of every kind, weapons departments included.
Suffice it to say, the new Avengers Tower was massive. It made Ben's current Primus Tower look modest by comparison.
Then again, Primus Corp had long since pivoted to being a purely civilian company. The Plumbers had relocated entirely to the space station.
"You're here too, Hacker."
T'Challa stepped out of his car and spotted Ben standing at the entrance of Avengers Tower from across the street. He walked over with a greeting.
"T'Challa."
Ben turned, recognized him, and returned the greeting warmly.
He and T'Challa got along well. They'd fought side by side, and when it mattered, T'Challa was generous to a fault. Every ounce of vibranium on the Plumbers' station had come from him.
"Who knows what that maniac Tony has planned?"
Ben shrugged.
He'd originally intended to head back to the office and find Thor, but Pepper had contacted him out of the blue. Tony was throwing a celebration for the completion of the new Avengers Tower, and she was extending an invitation.
Clearly, whether or not Tony had let go of their previous conflict, getting him to swallow his pride and apologize was no simple matter.
Otherwise, Pepper wouldn't have been the one making the call.
"Maybe he just wants to throw a party. You know how he is," T'Challa said with a weary sigh.
He'd only been stateside for a few months, coming over from England, and in that short time he'd gotten a thorough education in the obscene, gilded excess of this country's ultra-rich.
Hearing about Tony's past exploits in particular had been something of a culture shock.
He might be the future king of Wakanda, but even he hadn't descended to *that* level of absurdity.
Thankfully, word was that Stark had reformed considerably. Otherwise, T'Challa might have skipped this party altogether.
"I don't think it's that simple."
Ben curled his lip.
Tony was fiercely, stubbornly competitive.
Last time, at the S.H.I.E.L.D. facility, he'd given Ben the cold shoulder and spewed all kinds of ugly talk—how he could protect the Earth single-handedly, all of it. If Tony didn't have something to show for it, there was no way he'd have Pepper extend an invitation.
That would be too humiliating.
Which meant, Ben suspected, that Ultron was already taking shape.
He couldn't help but grin.
He was practically itching to watch Tony eat crow.
He wanted to hear Tony Stark admit, out loud, that he was no match for Ben Parker. Wanted to see that precious pride of his ground into the dirt underfoot.
Of course, beyond the petty satisfaction, Ben was also trying to teach him a lesson.
"Let's go."
He and T'Challa walked into Avengers Tower together.
The place was already packed. Beyond the Avengers, a handful of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, and Earth-based Plumbers like Harry, Tony had hired a small army of women to set the mood. There were even a few female journalists mingling about.
The lighting across the entire floor was drenched in sultry, suggestive hues. It looked less like Avengers Tower and more like an upscale club specializing in *companionship services*.
The moment T'Challa stepped inside, his brow creased.
When had this tribal chief from a pre-industrial society ever seen anything like this?
Steve, on the other hand, was having the time of his life. Three drinks deep, he was already on the dance floor, grinding out what could generously be called geriatric disco with a cluster of women.
Ben turned his head away in disgust.
Absolutely unwatchable.
The instant Tony spotted them entering, he lit up behind the DJ booth at the center of the stage. He threw his arms wide in their direction, and in a flash, every light on the floor swiveled to converge on Ben.
Right behind the spotlights came every single preening, posing supermodel in the room.
"I should have stayed home."
T'Challa's displeasure was plain. He leaned toward Ben and sighed.
His duty was to protect Wakanda, not to drown in this kind of soul-eroding indulgence.
If the Panther God saw him wallowing in this, the disappointment would be unbearable.
"It's fine. Just don't forget who you are."
Ben patted T'Challa on the shoulder.
He didn't find the scene particularly offensive himself. Then again, he had zero interest in that crowd of castoffs, either.
"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome the boss of Primus Technologies—Ben Parker! And His Royal Highness, the Prince of Wakanda!"
"These two are the reason New York isn't an alien colony right now!"
Tony's introduction set the supermodels and journalists ablaze with excitement.
In an instant, it was as if the entire dance floor surged toward them. The woman who'd been dancing with Steve—wearing a gown whose back slit threatened to reach her tailbone—ditched him without a second thought and joined the stampede toward Ben and T'Challa.
Terrified that a single step too slow would cost them the chance to rub shoulders with billionaires.
After all, Primus Corp was now every bit the equal of Stark Industries.
If even a trickle of that kind of wealth splashed their way, it would be more than they could spend in a lifetime.
"Tony Stark!"
"You have *fallen*!"
Young T'Challa found Tony's spectacle thoroughly disgraceful and called him out at the top of his lungs.
Then, in the very next breath—scene change.
The young prince was already surrounded by several spectacularly built women, drinking and boasting loudly about his own prowess.
He even threw two backflips on the spot, sending the women into shrieking fits.
Ben shook his head slowly and sighed.
"Looks like even His Royal Chieftainship can't withstand the corrupting influence of capitalism."
The resolute young man from thirty seconds ago was dead and gone.
/-\
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