'That's the new armor. How did the Lothario suit appear so fast?'
Saturday downloaded for Artoria a video stolen from Jarvis: piece after piece of armor flying up and snapping onto the wearer, just like the 'Mark series' Lothario—only not yet complete. With Artoria around the plot had already veered off into who-knows-where, so she could only sigh.
Iron Man growing stronger is a good thing; maybe he can beat the purple potato—movie or comic version. But even if he beats Thanos, the Celestials are next. Challenging.
'Saturday, send the regeneration cradle blueprints to my brother; let him figure it out.'
'Yes, master.'
After a moment's thought Artoria shared the cradle tech with Tony; it should let the movie armor meant for Thanos arrive early. Lately she'd felt immense malice heading this way—not aimed at her, but at every Earthling. Besides Thanos and 'third princess' Loki, she couldn't guess who else could radiate such hate.
'hyperion, how's the refit going, Saturday?'
'Final phase: 87 % done. Remaining work finished in fifteen days. Should I accelerate?'
'No, leave it. Check every deck plate—Space travel is no joke.'
'Yes, master.'
Artoria watched hyperion's slow refit on the projection. For the ship she'd paid through the nose for super-alloys on the black market, even got a fair bit of adamantium—too little to sheath the whole ship, so she diluted it with other super-alloys on vital sections. Black-market metal prices doubled; some Japanese old man collecting adamantium would be furious.
'Step by step, no rushing.'
'Is my blade ready?'
'Done. I can send it over now, master.'
'Bring it; I want to test it.'
'Yes, master.'
Thinking of the pricey project, Artoria thrilled. She'd extracted a hundred jin of Chakra metal; a Noble Phantasm is a Noble Phantasm, but you can't open with those. Holding one made her want to unleash it—plenty of mana—but that won't hone combat experience. So she forged a tang-dao shape mixing adamantium with Naruto Chakra metal.
The blade would rival ordinary Noble Phantasms. No special powers, but Chakra could cover the gap. If only she had her two swords; when this one breaks she can project another. With few Phantasms seen, her projections can't match Archer's—lack of battle experience was her weak point.
'Weight's fine, just a bit short—good enough.'
The 1.2-m silver blade sported blood grooves and a wolf-head crest. Artoria nodded, slid it across marble—sliced the block like tofu. She channeled Chakra: silver flashed pale blue; a swing sent a crescent wind-blade that parted the wall to show steel.
'Nice.'
Pleased, she ran A Knight Does Not Die with Bare Hands: the blade blackened. She slashed three times in a second, three seconds total, then blew on the bookcase—nothing. Five seconds later it collapsed in pieces.
'Test experiment complete. Saturday, have someone redecorate.'
'Yes, master.'
She stowed the blade, straightened her suit, and finished preparations, eager to see which foe would first blood the edge.
'master, Dr. Reed Charles sends a calling card.'
'Display it.'
Artoria didn't recognize the name. The message held a Space-station project; she laughed—at this point she dared not field hyperion, yet he wanted a station. She almost deleted it, then thought of a certain team.
'Victor Von Doom, Doctor Doom?'
'Susan Storm—hm, no Charles?'
'Interesting—Fantastic Four?'
She had Saturday dig: Reed's circle held many 'old friends.' Susan had been a goddess back then; how had she forgotten Marvel's Fantastic Four existed? Blame Thanos for keeping her on edge.
'Cosmic rays giving powers to baseline humans—interesting. A few billion in investment? I can afford it.'
Smiling, she replied to Reed: she'd visit and see the 'goddess' who'd stirred her younger self.
---------------------------------
I hope you're enjoying the fanfiction so far! If the story has you hooked and you can't wait to see what happens next, you can unlock 30 chapters in advance over on my Patreon: patreon.com/TLHimejima1
Every bit of support means the world to me so if you're loving the ride, don't forget to drop a Power Stone and let me know.