Chapter 48: Chapter 48

The Fastest Man Alive

Chapter 48

Trainee Avengers

Wanda Maximoff

Lost in Paradise

Wanda was utterly lost and had no idea what to do next. Sarah had brought them to a building that floated in the air using anti-gravity generators she was told. The walkways floated, and even the water fountains floated, Wanda couldn't help, but be in awe. For Wanda, everything was doing great. If only she could keep her brother from being well... himself.

Wanda released another sigh as her brother ran into another forcefield that blocked his path. Wanda wanted to hide when Sarah, her guide, turned to give her a raised eyebrow look.

"Get up and stop embarrassing yourself." Wanda whispered as she slapped her brother in the arm once more. Pietro was looking dazed and confused as she looked around for what had hit him.

"Why do I keep running into invisible things?" Pietro asked, looking around confused.

"Those Mr. Maximoff are kinetic shields rated to stop anything at speeds exceeding sixty miles per hour. This is to keep any sky cars from crashing into the surroundings but still allow fliers to land at designated spots." Sarah said as she pointed out entrances above their heads. As the siblings looked up, they watched as a girl with brightly colored wings took off while someone with a pink glow landed on the same platform.

"Ohh, okay," Pietro replied before starting to look around once more. Since he was already at the edge, he couldn't help looking down over it. Down below, Pietro looked over the forest, but something else he couldn't make out. "What's down there?"

"Down below, you will find the hyper rail systems and the garbage shoot, but also a fast lane for those with advanced movement type abilities," Sarah answered before pressing a few command keys into her tablet to open the door to the apartment complex. "This way, please…"

Wanda noticed that her smart band had beeped with the opening of the door. She smiled as she noticed that she now had access to this apartment complex. Wanda turned and gave her brother a tug with her powers before following behind Sarah. "You can go down and race the other speedsters later, Pietro."

With a huff, her brother turned around and followed along.

"Worry not Mr. Maximoff, there is an entrance portal allowing you to head down and run to your heart's content," Sarah said as she directed them to an elevator-shaped box. Wanda watched as Sarah pressed the glowing button that labeled complex eight wing B. She felt a minor shift before the doors opened once more, and Wanda could instantly tell that they were now up in the same apartment complex.

"Wow," Pietro said with shock before zipping to the controls panel. Pietro was frozen solid in the air before any of his fingers could touch any of the panels.

"Mr. Maximoff, I do have things to do today other than helping you and your sister get settled. Do not interrupt more than you already have, please," Sarah said with a small smile as her eyes glinted with a promise of pain. "Now, follow along, please."

Wanda could only shake her head as she followed Sarah down a remarkably short hallway. Beside how short of a walk it was, Wanda noticed the three other doors that were separated by an open-air balcony that looked over the island towards the bay.

"Beautiful," Wanda remarked as she looked at the view.

"Wait until you see it from your apartment." Sarah spoke with a smile on her face as she stood next to a door.

"The view is always beautiful when I look at you." Pietro said with a smile as he zipped to the side of Sarah. Wanda had to stifle a laugh as she noticed Sarah roll her eyes as she turned around to enter the apartment. Giving her brother a smile and a shoulder bump, Wanda followed behind into the apartment.

When she walked into the apartment, Wanda was stunned by the size. It was double the size on the inside, she noted. The living room alone could fit her living quarters on the asteroid her father owned. There was a large hologram TV mounted on the wall, and in the center of the living room were three steps that led down to a couch and lounging area. The kitchen was off to the right with an island center.

Pietro zipped to the fridge, opening it to check out all of the food stocked inside. This allowed Wanda to also notice even the inside of the fridge was a lot larger than she thought possible. She turned around and spotted the smile on Sarah's face.

"The insides are bigger?" Wanda asked and stated all at once.

"It doesn't matter Wanda. Look! Food!" Pietro said in excitement.

Wanda looked at her brother then turned to Sarah in wait for a reply. There was silence as Wanda stared down Sarah while her brother made an enormous sandwich for himself.

"You will have to ask the teacher that's volunteered to teach you about spatial manipulation." Sarah answered, throwing Wanda off with the statement.

"Teacher?" Wanda asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Of course, one of the reasons your application went through so quickly was because the Ancient One had given orders to make sure you were accepted quickly and made comfortable," Sarah replied with a smile as she looked at the confused expression on Wanda's face. "Now, the rooms are down that hallway, each with full baths and another one off the hallway."

Ding dong!

Before they could make their way down the hall, the doorbell had rung drawing everyone's attention.

"Ahhh, there she is now, please be on your best behavior." Sarah said with a serious expression on her face. Before Sarah could get to the door, Pietro was already there. With a sandwich in one hand, the door was opened with the other.

Without even looking, he asked. "Who are you, and what do you want?"

The bald lady on the other side wore golden monk robes and smiled at him before snapping her fingers. Wanda watched and was stunned before panicking as a golden ring beneath her brother's feet appeared. The golden circle sucked him in before anyone could say or do anything.

"Such speed on that feline transmutation spell." The bald lady before her chuckled as she walked into the apartment. Behind her was a lady with a walking stick.

"Well, I had to be quick. I know you like those void transference spells." the lady with an onyx black cane said. Wanda flared her powers, causing her hands and eyes to glow a ruby red.

"What did you do to my brother?!" Wanda growled with her powers on full display.

"Ohh, nothing horrible, dear. Just helping him learn some manners." The one with the cane answered as she also walked into the apartment.

"Yes, such dreadful manners for one so young." the bald one in golden robes answered.

"What did you do?" Wanda demanded once more with a growl. The ruby-red aura started to spread from her hands to cover more and more of her body.

"Interesting use of chaos energies dear, very interesting." The little old lady with a cane said as she peered at Wanda with sharp piercing eyes.

"Yes, it would seem that Benjamin's little hypothesis was spot on, once again," The bald lady with golden monk robes spoke. "Sarah? Introductions, please."

"Ahh, yes, of course! Wanda, may I introduce you to the two Mistresses of Magic of our little nation. Ms. Agatha Harkness with her beautiful feline, Ebony." Sarah said with a wave of her hands towards the lady with the cane. There was a meow from the black cat that she had not noticed. "This beautiful lady with the flowing golden robes is known as the Sorceress Supreme, Protector of the Realms. Also known as the Ancient One."

"Thank you, Sarah," Ms. Harness said as she looked at the couch then back to Wanda. "Your brother is fine, now be a good dear and offer us a seat."

"He will enjoy himself; don't worry dear." The one known as the Ancient one said with a smile as she took a seat without it being offered.

Wanda gave Sarah a look but only got a shrug in reply before she just gave up and accepted what was happening. Instead of lowering her hands, Wanda sent a bolt of ruby red energy at both of them.

"Yes, the chaos is clear, and without any corruption. Interesting indeed." The lady with the cane said as she caught the bolt of ruby energy and inspected it. Wanda didn't even notice as the one in golden robes finger flicked her attack away. Wanda listened to Madame Harness mutter as she looked her attack over. Then with a twist of her wrist, the chaos energy fluttered away on the wind having been transformed into butterflies. Wanda was dumbfounded with nothing to say as she watched her attack fly away on wings.

"The band on her wrist. The runic work is to keep one's mind isolated from outside influences, even one's own powers." The Ancient One answered with a smile.

"And you said that Benjamin came up with this idea?" Agatha asked her colleague. Agatha asked as she waved a hand for Wanda to show her the smart band. "And you haven't taken him as an apprentice?"

"He is quite terrified by one, such as I." The Ancient One replied smoothly, before taking a cup of tea out of thin air to drink.

"I see, and you would like me to teach her since you are going to take Strange." Agatha surmised with a smile to her old friend. The Ancient One returned the smile and a small nod in acknowledgment.

Agatha looked Wanda up and down before giving a nod of confirmation. "Would you like me to be your teacher, dear?"

"Teach me what?" Wanda asked, still confused with it all.

"I will teach you to harness your raw magic." Agatha replied with flashing eyes.

"Magic is not real." Wanda said with her brows pinched. She noticed the Ancient One, and Ms. Harkness shared a smile before the world started to shift around her.

"MY DEAR MAGIC IS AS REAL AS YOU AND I!"

The world shifted for Wanda, and she could not tell her up from her down. Her hands changed to paws as a kaleidoscope of colors ran past her vision. This was a trip that Wanda didn't think she could survive. She fell and started to yell out as her powers didn't respond. Yet, before she knew it, Wanda was now somewhere in the solar system beside the sun.

"EVERYTHING YOU KNOW DEAR IS ONLY A PART OF THE STORY."

Wanda watched the sun shatter into little fireflies before coming to circle around her hand. The fireflies flashed brightly before the world shifted once more.

"ARE YOU WILLING TO LEARN?"

Wanda was far too stunned to answer anything before being slammed into an open chair. Wanda looked at the two crazy old women before her and felt fear for the first time in her life. This was a fear so primal that Wanda felt it in her soul. This was a fear Wanda had never felt before she had met her father's killers on that astroid of his. When she was finally able to get the word "yes" out of her mouth, everything shifted once more. The world slammed back into focus for Wanda as she found herself sitting on the couch in her new apartment once more.

"Good, good, let's get you squared away so we can start your first lesson." Madame Harkness said with a smile before tapping her cane on the ground twice. Before her eyes, Wanda watched as the clothes she had left on the asteroid started to appear before her. The clothing spun in the air once, before going to the room Wanda had wanted. This was the room that would give her an amazing view of the sunset in the evenings. Still standing stunned, Wanda was jerked out of her dazed moment as a pair of her brother's sneakers floated by her face and into the other room.

"Wait, my brother, can you please bring him back?" Wanda asked as she rubbed a hand over her face.

"Of course, dear." Madame Harkness said as she scratched the regal cat that sat on the couch beside her. Wanda was trying to figure out how she would do it, but the one called the Ancient One did a little finger wave. A golden circle appeared beside the door as a blonde cat came falling out of it.

Stunned, Wanda looked on as the blonde cat jumped and looked around before all of its hair stood on end.

"Thanks for your help Sarah, but I do believe it is time to drop this one off with Benjamin before we start Wanda's lessons." The Ancient One said as she finished off her cup of tea before getting up.

"Wait; what?" Wanda asked, still totally confused about everything and how fast things were moving.

"Keep up dear, we are already moving," Madame Harkness said before levitating the blonde cat into Wanda's arms. Wanda never noticed that shimmering fractal wall of light approach before it washed over her and teleported her away.

O.O.O.O

Benjamin Blake

Anti-Hero Red Hood, Hero Light-Speed

The flight pad was a beehive of activity. I noticed as I got out of the sky car first with the rest following behind. Logan was growling at a group of meta's while he had a no-nonsense looking spartan as his second. I was interrupted from saying anything as I felt the world bend and shift before depositing two women that thoroughly unnerved me with one of Marvel's chief fuck ups, Wanda Maximoff. What I was not expecting was the blonde cat in her arms looking thoroughly scared.

Emma gave me a look that said this was all my fault, and there was nothing I could say against that. With a sigh, I went to find out what they wanted. I had given them plenty of magical apprentices to choose from, and a complete archmage's tower to traumatize with their brand of teaching, and yet. I can't seem to escape them. Wanda flinched as I approached, but I barely even gave her a glance.

Of course, as a gentleman, I gave a slight bow before kissing the backs of their outstretched hands. I then bent down and gave Ebony a scratch behind the ears. Now, with that out of the way. It was finally time to figure out this mess.

"Madame Harkness, Ancient One; might I ask, what brought you both out here to the flight pad today?" I asked politely to the two uber-powerful magic users. Neither of these ladies was Selene, which meant they would use full power from the start. No ego was going to stop them from eradicating me or teaching me a life lesson if they felt like it. The blonde cat in Wanda's arms was odd, but I was getting the feeling that Pietro might have irritated one or both of them.

That could only be him in cat form since I didn't see him standing there next to his sister. Plus, cats don't come in blonde putz colors.

"Ohh, nothing much, dear. We only came to drop off one unruly child," The Ancient One answered with a smile. A wave of her hands and Pietro the cat levitated out of his sisters hands before turning back. "Now, Agatha, let me introduce you to a student by the name of Marcus, a little loose in the head, but dreadfully talented. Come along, dear."

I watched as they vanished in a swirl of leaves, leaving Pietro behind. With a facepalm, I looked down at the blonde moron. He looked around from his location on the floor before shooting up to his feet.

"Who are you, and where did that old hag go?" Pietro yelled as his head did a rapid side to side as he looked around for the old witches. I couldn't help but shake my head at the fool. And I was correct because as soon as he finished his statement, Pietro started to bounce on the spot. Most of us watching him winced as he bounced off his head a few times before being deposited on his face. Emma looked down at him and gave a sniff before leaving towards the direction of the kids.

With a sniff of my own, I gave the moron a kick in the ribs.

"Get up and stop making a fool of yourself." I sighed, looking down and the newest recruit for Logan's school of hard knocks.

"Are you aware why the Ancient One left him here?" Ororo asked from my side.

"Sigh, to teach him a lesson, but also have me keep an eye on what I could have become." I answered, giving 'Ro a sad smile.

"Well, crack the whip," Ororo said, before smacking me on the ass. I turned and watched her hips swing as she walked away. "We have places to be."

"And who are you?" Pietro growled as he tried to poke me in the chest. He never got the chance as I was already moving, leaving an afterimage in my wake.

"Kid, I am The Fastest Man Alive," I replied a little smug as his hand went right through my afterimage. "You can try and keep up, but you will still be too slow."

Pietro shot me a cocky grin of his own before he came directly at me. He never made it within arms reach of me. As he was running, I started to do circles around him as he kept trying to reach out and grab me.

"Kid, you're just too slow," I sighed dramatically before starting to leave after images. There were now three images of me around Pietro and he still couldn't catch any of them. "Hell, I would have taken you out over the ocean; but with this speed you can't even run on water."

Pietro's face changed from a sneer to one of concentration, but it was far too late. I was already finished with my little game. My after images vanished as I moved in for the knockout. I watched Pietro's eyes become comically large as I slapped him across the back of the head. The spartans around us watching laughed uproariously as Pietro went down like a wet fish.

With a sigh and a shake of my head, I picked up Pietro then tossed him towards a medic.

"Fix him up and make sure he is on the flight with everyone." I commanded before heading back to where Ororo and the rest waited on me. As I pulled up behind Jean, I listened in on them talking about how they would distribute the team of trainees Logan had recommended. Ignoring the medics as they looked over the blonde putz, I made my way over to my kids standing off to the side with their guards.

I watched as Maya and the triplets stomped their feet, squared their shoulders with their little balled-up fists on their hips. Looking them over I noticed the extremely cute pout they shared.

"Pa-pa!" They said in unison, and it was a straight shot to the heart and hit me right in the feels. I had to hold and protect my heart from the sudden attack and cuteness overload. I looked down at the leader of this little rabble. Maya stood there with her chest puffed and a proud smile on her face. The triplets looked a little lost, but they backed their sister, while Alfred was sitting on his spider bot on the side.

"And what do we have here?" Ororo asked as she came out of the Pelican dropship with a tablet in hand.

I gave a shrug before answering, "The Brady bunch had something to say."

"Well, let's hear it." Jean spoke as she walked up on my other side

"We would." Phoebe said before her sisters.

"Like to." Sophie said next in the same bright clear voice.

"Go, too." Celeste finished for her sisters with bright eyes. Everyone was thrown for a loop while I tried not to rub my forehead with their triplet speech.

"Yeah, I wanna help." Maya said with puffed up cheeks.

"Denied." I said with finality, but Ororo had spoken the same time as I did. My plan was just to shut them down and then have their guards take them out for food or gaming, but the look on Ororo's face spoke volumes. Her eyes were glowing with lightning, and her hair raised up.

Jean snorted as the kids took one look at Ororo before turning tail and running away. Turning, I gave Alfred a raised brow, which he returned with a shrug.

His spider bot turned to follow behind his sisters, while I turned around and looked across the launch pad. Most of the team was already loaded, but Sue was still off to the side talking with her brother. Ororo gave me a peck on the cheek before getting into the Pelican dropship. Jean did the same, but I had her wait on Sue.

As I walked up behind them, I watched Johnny do one of those over the top sighs before running into the Pelican.

"Wow, it's larger on the inside." Johnny said, stunned. Turning to my left, I gave Faora a little wave motion signalling her to take Sue and get on the Pelican. With everyone loaded, I gave the command for the Pelican dropship to take off without me. I watched as my heavy Vtol flew over the island before I decided to make my move. I step point teleported to my armory to get prepared.

Vibrating on the spot to form and concentrate my power some more; I willed my body to split into two as I stepped out of the spot where I was standing. This was one of the many abilities I had been experimenting with for some time now. The world shifted as I started to look around me in two separate directions. With some focus, I was able to look at the clone of myself. What I did was separate my speed force from my strength force. Yet, this was only possible because my speed force was able to make me paradox proof.

I did some minor tests, arms, legs, and minor reactions before turning around and getting myself and my clone dressed. It felt weird doing two things at once. It was as if my mind was partitioned, and I was living and breathing in two separate spaces.

My speed clone wore red, black, and gold combat pants with a tight muscle shirt that showed off the arms. The helmet was the Hayabusa ninja type from when I had first started out. The HUd that was built into the helmet was linked to the one in my red hood helmet. Everything was made out of my UMF material, which meant that it had a smart function and combination features.

Looking both of my selves over, I took in the Red Hood batman battle armor that I wore on one body. Then I looked over the ninja styled speed clothes I wore on my other body. With a step, I combined back into one, turned, and took off running across the ocean. Before I made it out of my nation I made sure I picked up a utility belt that had all of the tools and materials I would need to rebuild anything I might come across.

OOOO

I leaped from one of the many cliffsides and burst through a spray of water frozen in the air. I shot off over the open ocean surrounding my island. The GPS locations where the shelters were going to be placed were already uploaded into my computerized gauntlet. A mile out from my island, the land faded from view in a shimmer, reminiscent of an invisibility screen.

I was taking a moment to look it over and smiled at my mad genius magician's work of art. Once I was finished taking in the invisible view, I turned around to start my rush across the pacific ocean. The waters rose behind me as I sprinted flat out across the ocean. I crossed leagues of water within moments, almost missing something spectacular. The sight was so peculiar that I had to pull over to help the small island inhabitants.

I vibrated on the spot to keep myself from sinking into the water as my systems ran a facial recognition on the person I was watching. She was fighting desperately to hold the water back from her little fishing village. What I got back from the system was a completely unrecognizable name. Her name was Pearl Pangan, age 22, born on Mactan Island, located in Cebu, Philippines. I took a moment to look at her, and that was when it struck me: and I was sick to my fucking stomach from my own revelation.

A lot of the actions I was taking were starting to be reminiscent of Magneto's. Hell, the fact that I dismissed the lives of those that were unable to protect themselves was the same as his reactions to humans: and it revolted me. It made me sick to my stomach coming to that realization; but I could not fold. I was on a path, yes, but I could still change how I traveled along that path. There was no way I was going to fall into such a cliche thing and become the next Magneto.

With a growl, I jumped down from the wave that was holding me in the air. I landed down on the ground right next to Pearl. From my position on top of the water I could tell that she had some form of hydrokinesis but she lacked training. I knew she lacked training because right now her face was slowly turning red from the strain as she held back the wall of water.

Landing beside her, I raised an arm in one fluid motion so she could watch me bring my gravity manipulation in a solid ring around the village; keeping the water surrounding the island up and at bay. When I landed, I had stomped hard with my left foot and engaged my tremor sense to figure out where all of this water was coming from. The information I received back was not good by any measure. The location of the village was slowly sinking into the ground because of the erosion deep below. So, I did the next best thing until I could get a chance to fix this myself.

With the water forced away, I raised the island with my earth and gravity manipulation, and then I placed a call.

"Portal Control," I barked out the command into my comms as the villagers looked at me in awe. "This is Red; I need a sling portal placed on my location."

"Red, This is Portal Control. Be advised, we are using camera feeds for portal placement. Please stand back five feet."

"Portal Control, Red, we understand and acknowledge," I spoke while sending off the location marker before turning around to look at the meta named Pearl. "Nice to meet you, young miss?"

They had been speaking in the background for some time now. I could tell that my communication runic array was already working out the translation issues when fluent English reached my ears. Her eyes widened as she looked at me, then they shifted to behind me. The sound of a portal opening reached my ears but I paid it no attention as I kept my eyes squarely set on her features.

Taking a moment to look at her, I noted the silky black hair and bright brown eyes. She was roughly five-six and her lean muscular build told me she had a healthy diet. From the healthier tone of her skin, compared to the others, I surmised she didn't normally live on this island, and she was only back to visit. Through her soaked shirt, I noticed that she wore a swimmer's leotard underneath, and I could make out her abdominal muscular definition. Hmm, I guess her Facebook statement about training to be an Olympic swimmer was spot on. Too bad that chance was now shot with the activation of her meta-gene.

That was another one of the most frustrating things to learn. Knowing that one can't even participate in the Olympics once they found out you're carrying an active meta-gene.

One of my spartans came to stand behind my shoulder, but I held out a hand to stop them from moving forward.

"Miss?" I asked once more, prompting her. I didn't know who this was because she was not in any of my larger Marvel meta-knowledge and was going to snatch her right up.

She let out an eep then answered me.

"Pearl Pangan, Sir!" Pearl answered, snapping to attention, giving me an answer. "Who are you people?"

"Code name's Red, who is in charge here?" I asked with a commanding tone to my voice.

"That's… Ahhh, no one." Pearl answered while scratching the back of her neck as she looked around. "I was visiting my mother when this happened."

"Then talk to your people because my spartans will be giving out aid while I fix the erosion underneath the earth." I said as I looked at her from behind my helm. I sent a subtle hand gesture to the leading spartan. This caused him to immediately turn around and begin snapping off orders.

Pearl kept looking around like a stunned fish as my spartans went to work. Taking up a kneeling position, I placed my hands on the ground in preparation for what I wanted to do.

Before I could start, though, she was already looking over my shoulder and asking questions.

"What are you doing?" Pearl asked, standing a little too close as she knelt right beside me.

"Fixing the island." I answered as my mind sank into the earth.

"I know you're like me, right? But how?" Pearl asked as she floated a little bit of water around her hands.

Taking a moment, I looked at her out of the corner of my helm.

"I will use my geokinesis to fix the erosion I felt when I first landed. Once I repair that, I will add in hardened support struts to secure the land better." I answered with a thoughtful tilt of my head.

"Geokinesis?" Pearl prompted with a pause.

"The name of the meta-human power I am currently using," I said, then I closed my eyes for a little better focus. This was going to take some fine, detailed work. "Do you want some training?"

The pause she gave me allowed me to fix the erosion problem by changing the density of the shifting sediment below. Once that was fixed, I traced where the underwater channel was coming from and found a leaking well connected to an underground aquifer miles away. I fixed the break then funneled the earth around it and back into the underground aquifer in case this happened again.

With that issue solved, I turned my attention back to underneath the little island. Using my gravity manipulation, I crushed the earth into solid ten-meter slabs under thousands of pounds of pressure and aligned them to keep the island up and in place. This was performed fifty more times as I made sure to keep consistent with my style of overkill.

Getting up, I looked at the still thinking Pearl. She had not said anything since I had asked her the question about getting some training. Turning my back to her, I started to give out commands as I prepared myself to leave. My job was done here now that the island was no longer sinking. Hell, I had even raised it some to make sure this didn't happen again.

I looked back at Pearl, but she still didn't say anything. I checked my utility belt for one of my cards. I found one and gave it to her with instructions to call me once she made her decision. Turning around, I gave a two-fingered salute to the spartan in charge before vanishing from everyone's line of sight with a burst of speed. I sent off a message as my feet touched down on the open ocean once more. Join or not, I was going to get a sample of her DNA for the heart tree's genetic banks.

Argh, I guess I can actually speak to her first before just taking what I want. Hell, her Olympic chances are shot now, and she doesn't even know it yet.

OOOO

I quickly arrived at the landing area the team set up once they had arrived. What I saw almost made me fall over and bust a gut because they had Pietro out, running around, setting up tents. Pietro was out running with a few guards hot on his tail with Logan looming over the area he was working in.

Ignoring them, I pulled up beside Ororo and Sue as they discussed something with Jean and Emma. Taking a moment to look around, I noticed that Peter and his little gang were nowhere in sight.

"Okay, Susan, you are with me and Red. We will be flying to the Southeast." I heard Ororo say as I turned around and stopped looking for Peter.

"Ahh, I can't fly." Sue said a little meekly. Ororo, Jean, and Emma all gave her a look.

"Powers or flight harness?" Jean asked, trying to figure out what Sue meant.

"Both, either, what does it matter?" Sue huffed indignantly. "I can't fly."

"Okay, let's walk through this real quick." Ororo said, taking command of the situation since I hadn't made myself known. Hell, I was going to relax with my stealth field up and see what they did.

"Your profile said you could create invisible telekinetic barriers," Ororo spoke up as she tapped away on her smart band. "With that in mind, we will start with something simple."

I watched as Emma and Jean relaxed a little while Sue looked on nervously. Ororo had a small platform hologram form a little shade of light blue.

"Now, create a stable platform matching this hologram without letting it touch the ground," Ororo directed with a hand. Sue looked at the holo-image, then Ororo before complying and doing as she was told. "Now, stand on it."

"That can't support me." Sue said a little put out about the situation.

"Why not?" Jena questioned with squinted eyes. "Having confidence and being self-assured are how psionic powers are manifested in the first place."

With a wave of her hand, Jean created the same platform before calling over one of the spartan guards.

"Williams! stand on that." Jean commanded as she pointed at a glowing red platform. Spartan Williams, who was wearing camo blue security gear, snapped to with a salute before standing on top of the platform. With another command from Jean, Spartan Williams did a few jumps before leaving the platform and going back to his post.

"Thank you Jean." Ororo said, giving her a beautiful smile.

"See, it's not that hard! Hell, even the kids are taught how to use their powers in different ways on the island." Emma snapped, sending a look in Sue's direction. Ororo shot Emma a look, but Emma was already done caring.

"Fine!" Sue shouted as she threw her arms up into the air. "See, I'm standing on it." The platform she made caused her to tilt for a moment before she found her balance.

"Hmm balance is a little stiff, but we can work with that. Now, form a wrap like this to cover the top of your foot. Then have one wrap around the back of your leg to support your ankles," Ororo said, tossing out more instructions as she manipulated the holo-image. "This will also keep you secured on your telekinetic platform."

Watching Ororo teach Sue how to use her powers as something other than brute force walls was an interesting prospect. Over to the side, I watched Emma double-tap the mini snowflake emblem on her chest. This caused the back of her suit to sprout wings of frost with glittering snowflakes slowly shedding off the wingtips. She gave Jean a kiss before waving to her own set of guards and took off flying in the direction towards the south. Jean turned and gave me a wink, sensing my position even in stealth mode, before she made herself a set of flame wings. Then she also took flight towards the north. With a chuckle, I turned back to watch Ororo instruct Sue on how to use her variable barriers for flight.

Sue was not doing as great as I thought she would have. Pulling up my smart band, I ran a systems check on the UMF suit she was wearing. Besides her suits diagnostics working as they should, I found her gyro-stabilizers were turned off. I didn't even want to know why she didn't turn on all the features to her suit. Seconds after I turned on the stabilizers in her suit, Sue gained newfound skill on her invisa-board.

Of course, Sue wasn't pulling off any kickflips or anything crazy, but she did gain solid stability while she zoomed around the little area. I sent off a message to Ororo, letting her know what had changed. With that message sent, I turned around and headed right into the Pelican VTOL. This gunship was another thing I had recreated from the Halo Universe, but with my own little twists all around.

You are reading story The Fastest Man Alive at novel35.com

There was a flow of light over my body as I crossed the threshold, which could only be the forcefield. This was a unique invention that stood in the way of any unauthorized access and those without approval from entering. With a sharp turn, I was around a corner and was now removed from all outside lines of sight. Now, no one outside the Pelican could see me. It was time to head to the command deck. The reason I took this path was to make sure I was not caught on some stray film or picture as I separated into two beings once more.

It always felt weird as I separated my speed force from my strength force, yet stayed the same person. I thought this was due to the speed force and it's paradox negation, but I was not going to test that theory. I stared at myself for a moment in the flashy red and black ninja combat pants and gear as I looked back at myself in heavy armor and red bat helm. It was always a trip doing this, but it was always better than being caught and outed.

With one last check on both of my helmets, I sent the speed version of myself to clean up and perform rescue operations on the other side. While the strength version of myself in the heavy armor started to re-shift the mass of earth washed away by the tsunami.

It was time to clean up my messes.

OOOO

Peter Parker

Spider-Man

Peter was supposed to have felt strung out and devastated, but for some reason, he couldn't bring himself to feel those feelings. That wasn't because he was some heartless and soulless machine man. No, this was because he was out doing what he loved to do with tons of his friends. Peter was out being Spider-man, but also bringing joy to those he saved with his friends.

With a hop and a twist, Peter shot out a web line over a lamp pole and onto a slab of concrete. Then he pulled back on the web line that stretched over the lamp pole that worked as a support beam. With a mighty heave, the heavy slab of rock shifted to allow those trapped underneath to breathe fresh air for the first time in hours.

His shoulders almost buckled as Colossus patted him on the back before he picked up and tossed the slab of concrete like it was nothing. With a smile under his mask, Peter released the web line before bringing up his smart band. A few quick commands brought down his Voltron drones from their overwatch position. This had the added effect of bringing smiles to the faces of the kids while the adults looked on in awe. While they were distracted, Peter had his Voltron drones scan for those that might need medical help. Once that was complete, he pinged on two people for mild and urgent needs and notified the medics waiting on the side.

Before he could enter the conversation going on, Peter heard the sound of thrusters overhead. As he looked up, Peter saw Johnny Storm flying over, flanked by his own Power Ranger Zords. The drones they made were a total fluke and were an extension of something Peter and Johnny were working on in their spare time. It wasn't until he was relaxing on the couch with his nephew Alfred and Laura that the mad idea to remake the drones sparked in his mind. This was because of the tv show at the time.

He had then created the Voltron five while Johnny had gone and made the Power Ranger five. There was no way he was going to tell his brother that he used Ben's million-dollar drone and shot up the budget to make his own variants. Well, there was that, but there was also the fact that these were completely battle-ready and tested because he might have or might not have battled Johnny's Power Rangers. Of course, the score was still 5-3, Peter winning, of course.

The kids made noises and gasps as they looked up and watched the person made of flames fly right over their heads. Peter felt a tingle along his spine, forcing him to jump out of the way as his spider-senses screamed danger.

"Hahaha!"

Mid flip, Peter had his arm outstretched about to launch his webbing when he realized that it was Kitty. Performing a graceful landing, Peter stared at Kitty Pryde as she laughed at him while being phased half in and half out of the rubble.

"Not funny, Shadow-Cat." Peter huffed as he looked at her for a moment.

"I thought it was funny." said a voice from behind Peter's back. Quickly Peter performed a combat role before turning around to spot his girlfriend who had been standing just one foot from his left shoulder. The first thing he noticed was the small smirk at the corner of her lips.

"Where is Iceman?" Peter asked, ignoring the smirk on his girlfriend's lips as he looked around.

"I had him create an ice barrier over on the southern side of the city to change the direction of the water." Laura said with a hand pointed in the southern direction. Nodding his head in confirmation, Peter went back to uploading commands into his Voltron drone.

The drones went into a sequence that caused them to transform back from the larger robot and into its five animal parts. As Peter bent down, the back of the black lion opened up, allowing him to inspect the inside.

That was strange; the diagnostics showed a slight tremor internally.

Peter was far too busy to have noticed that the joking around him was no longer going on. Peter shifted the power core to the side and found that one of the bolt nuts holding down the cooling coils was loose. Pulling out his traveling toolset, Peter went to work on tightening the bolt, but found that his light was blocked for some reason.

"Can you please move? You're blocking my light." Peter mumbled out.

"Ohh, I am sorry; let me fix that." Someone replied to him.

"Thank you."

"So the Guardian Spirit of the sky, the black lion, interesting choice of creation." That same voice spoke as he examined Peter's work.

"I know right? My brother wanted drones, but I felt those were far too one dimensional." Peter spoke up with some pride in his voice.

"Yes, I can tell they are a hit with the kids and parents. You and the other one have brought joy to their little slice of hell," The voice spoke with a little introspection in his voice. "But you still took a million-dollar drone and made toys out of it."

That brought Peter up short and he paused, and he looked up to find a red helmeted Ben standing there in battle armor.

"B...Be...Be..."

"Red Hood! Sir!" Colossus yelled out as he snapped to attention with a salute.

"At ease, Colossus, I'm just here to check on your training, and seeing how you have all progressed..." Ben answered back easily while my speed clone tore apart the city in my rescue efforts. "So Voltron, Spider-man?"

"Ahh yeah, it was ahh…" Peter was stuck and had nothing to say as he was already so busted. Before he could form a complete sentence, Johnny came flying over once more with his Power Ranger variants. Peter's eyes widened comically as he watched Ben jump upwards and snatched Johnny out of the sky.

The green dragon zord turned as if it was going to open fire, but one look from Ben shut down its weapons systems. Peter watched as Ben gave Johnny a shake that made him drop his flames before planting Johnny right beside his location.

"Aye, man! I was just minding my business and planning out another rescue." Johnny whined like a petulant child.

"Not right now, you're not," Been growled through his helm at them both. "Shadowcat, Colossus and Amazon, you should take the civilians back to the triage area so a medic can take a look at them."

Peter felt the command in that tone of voice and knew that neither Johnny nor himself would be able to escape this time. Peter shot the others a pleading look, but they looked between themselves before leaving him to his fate. Laura stayed for a moment, but then Jubilee came and pulled her in another direction.

Once everyone had scattered away from the area, Peter could only muster his courage and hold his head high.

"Ben, it's not what it looks like." Peter tried to say but was cut off with a wave of the hand from his brother.

"So, you didn't use my military drone project to recreate the zords from our childhood shows?" Ben asked Peter, and Peter knew that Ben had at least one raised eyebrow.

"It might look like that, but I can assure you that is not what it is, right Spider-man?" Johnny said quickly while shooting Peter a look.

"Then explain it to me?" Ben replied instantly as Peter tried not to wince at how fast Ben's head turned.

"Well, you…. You…. You asked us to create autonomous drones that can transform from quadruped to sphere and back again with flight features," Peter spoke, catching on to what Johnny was throwing out. "We not only did that, but we went a step further, and now they can combine to analyze and collate data a lot faster without bogging down someone's personal smart band or systems."

"And…. And... And this is only the test platform around civilians," Johnny shot up loudly. "Yes, we wouldn't want the civilians to know that this is still under development right? Or that it has militaristic applications."

Ben stared them down for a moment before he spoke.

"You're both just talking out of your asses, but those are decent enough points for me to leave you alone with them. Send me the data once this is over." Ben finally said, letting both Johnny and Peter breathe a sigh of relief. "Also, next time stick to simple animal forms, okay?"

Peter and Johnny instantly started to nod their heads at his statement.

"Now, show me how to work that dragon zord, Johnny." Peter heard Ben say, and he could feel the excitement in his brother's voice even though he couldn't see the smile on his face.

OOOO

Benjamin Blake

Anti-Hero Red Hood, Hero Light-Speed

I had messed around with Johnny and Peter for a while before I had to leave them and get back to being the boss man in charge. It was an interesting undertaking to have my being split and doing two separate tasks at the same time. My speed self was now clearing out people and debris while my strength powered self was shifting whole buildings with my gravity manipulation.

This was turning into more than just a learning experience. This was starting to be training, and I had started to call more help from the island in the guise of medical and rescue aid. Just doing what I was doing, I was starting to understand why all of the power was going to Magneto's head.

With one hand, I was moving and shaping earth while with the other, I was shifting the island onto a more stable base and calming fault lines. I was finishing up when I got a beep on my smart band, notifying me that my guests had finally shown up. I picked up a slab of concrete that I had found as I fixed the road I was working on and started to fly back. I flew back to find Fury inspecting one of my Pelican VTOLs with Michelle talking at his side.

Ignoring Fury, I found Coulson with Peter and Johnny looking over their zords with Malinda May standing off to the side. I wanted to facepalm so bad, but I didn't want to accidentally break my helm. Grunting instead, I ignored them as I went inside the Pelican as my speed force double came sprinting across the area.

The moment I was no longer in sight of the cameras, I fused back into one person. The world shifted from double sight back into one once more, and damn did it feel great to be whole again. I walked past the communications room, then the armory before I found the cafeteria. I had one of the on-duty staff give me a speedster special. On the way back out, I caught Logan sitting with Pietro in a corner, talking softly to him. With a shake of the head, I made my way back out and followed my smart band to the medical bay where Ororo and Sue were currently located.

As much as he doesn't want to admit it, Logan was a great father figure for many of the kids without parents. The comics always made little jokes about it, but it was always nice to see how he attracted so many like himself. Pietro was in damn good hands, and I could worry about him less now.

Stopping outside of the med bay, I found Ororo who asked me not to interrupt her class. That was strange because I was not aware we brought any of the medical students on this trip. Giving them a nod, I made my way to the observation room as a precautionary measure. Standing in the observatory, I looked down and watched as Ororo coached Sue as she used her powers during the medical exam. I waited and watched as Sue used her powers to check the bones of a person instead of using the x-ray scanner built into the medical bed.

Since Ororo had the Sue situation under control, I made my way back to the armory to pick up a few things. Once I had the briefcase in hand, I made my way back outside the Pelican. I found Coulson in control of the Green Lion Zord fighting Malinda May, who had control of the Red Power Ranger Zord. The small crowd standing around them cheered as the two did battle. Melinda May ended the fight swiftly with some latch on the neck move that brought Coulson's zord down quickly, and he was out for the ten count.

Looking around, I was stunned because of the cheer from the crowd. Then I caught onto what was happening. Yes, their lives have changed, but this was a little something to brighten their moods, and they were going to take it. I watched as Peter let one of the little kids have the controls next.

Melinda May pointed Coulson in my direction, and I made a little head motion to one of the tents. I noticed Coulson looked over at Fury before he said something to Mechelle, and she left to do whatever it was she was doing. Besides her being a part of Natasha's little X-force group and being the daughter of THE SPY, I tried to keep things as just family with her.

Maybe I should invite her to hang out with Peter and I later...

Putting those thoughts out of my mind, I laid the case down on an empty area on the desk. Then I gave Coulson a massive grin.

"I had my people go over some ideas we had during our last D&D session, and they told me it could be done. Here you go, Coulson. Magically enchanted gloves," I said with some grandeur as I opened the briefcase. "Note the glowing crystal on the back. There is a bio-energy conversion matrix runic script built-in. That crystal charges up using bio-energy, nothing harmful. You will just get tired from a lot of use, so pay attention to your exhaustion levels during combat."

I then turned the case around for Coulson to look at his new magical gloves. In the armored case was a set of gloves, just like Roy Mustangs from Full Metal Alchemist. These gloves were made out of a silk nano carbon fiber vibranium mixture. The gloves had a built in camouflage feature that allowed them to also look like anything Coulson might think up.

"Ohh, my gosh, Ben, you figured it out!" Coulson squealed like a highschool girl. Fury raised an eyebrow as he looked at his long time partner and best agent. Malinda May, on the other hand, cracked a smile before coughing the word nerd out. "Can I do a fireball? How about levitating, wait did I get air-slash?"

Fury pushed Coulson aside as he walked up and looked over the gloves.

"Ben, I want fifty of these for my Agent's." Fury commanded with an appraising eyebrow as he watched Coulson put on the gloves.

"Nope, no can do. Those were a special order for Coulson since he let slip his birthday was coming up during a game of Dungeons and Dragons," I answered while turning my nose up and away. It was tickling my bits to see that vein on Fury's forehead pulse angrily. "Coulson, those are blood locked by runes, so I would recommend putting a drop of blood on them now. Once you do that, then they will only work for you."

"Ben, can you make something for May, she is like my warrior monk." Coulson gushed while his nose was buried in his instructions manual. I watched as he also held out a hand allowing Melinda May to put a knife in it.

"Sure, sure, just be careful with those because once you get used to them. You will be able to use the mental component and won't need to call out your spells," I answered as I dug out an ear while ignoring Fury's teeth grinding not too far away. I cracked a smile as I watched Coulson juggle a fireball. "Would you like a bo-staff or a tonfa set?"

"Make it a bo-staff with the release catch in the middle." Melinda May said without any thought on the matter. Turning to Fury, I double tapped the top of the briefcase to reveal the hidden compartment. He looked at me, and I looked at him. We both said nothing and just let the silence hang there for a moment. My own mother, his sister, used this silent technique on me far too often for me to fall for it here.

Natasha and Emma were the ones that broke the silence since Coulson was in his own little world with the gloves. Natasha took a seat in my lap while Emma took a seat on the table before looking into the briefcase. Emma sent me a burst of telepathic affection as Fury instantly took the case from her to check the compartment himself.

One of the first things he pulled out was the enchanted eyepatch I had my people create.

"Hold it up to the other eyepatch," I said with a little motion from me to do as I was saying. "It's enchanted to merge with the other, but also give better comfort. You might forget that it's on. The enchantments are for sight, giving you back your depth perception, but also comes with x-ray and enhanced vision for up to one mile. I had them add in a little time dilation, but please don't call it bullet time. It will only give you a two-second slow down of the things around you. Be very careful with that because it will cause you problems if you keep it going for extended periods."

Fury gave me one hard look before quickly holding up the patch and allowing it to merge with his own. He tried hard to hide it, but I noticed the hint of surprise and the shifting of his shoulders at being able to see naturally once more. He looked at me for a moment and gave me a nod before taking out the last gift I made. Natasha and Emma let out a low whistle at the thing. The hand cannon Fury pulled out was styled in the old fashioned ways of the West, but had the feel of a new age gun. The handle was aged wood while the rest of the weapon was made with a combination of steel and adamantium alloy. The intricate scrollwork was done in a mixture of gold and vibranium to soak up the recoil, but also keep it stylish and tasteful.

"The Last Word," Fury said, reading off the Latin inscription on the side of his new hand cannon. "Why that turn of phrase?"

I gave him a shrug.

"Mom told me about what happened in '72," I said before handing him the manual for his new cannon. "She fires an ionized charge, flip out the cylinder and let her vent once the heat builds up. That's going to cost you three seconds before you can fire once more. The modes are stun, kill, and leave no bodies behind."

Everyone took a moment to stop and take a look at me.

"What?" I asked in confusion. "Sometimes, you just need to reduce someone to ash."

"I want one!" Both Natasha and Emma said at the same time. Before I could answer either of them, I got a message on my smart band from Xavier. It would seem that an old friend stopped by his school to ask about the telepathic message we sent out at the start of the new year. Alongside that message I got from Xavier, I got a few more. One was that Sage was awake, and so was Selene. The other was that the werewolves would like to talk with me, who they were calling their new alpha.

Xavier could wait; Selene and Sage were far higher on my to do list than meeting with someone who couldn't help the meta-human population. Sage was ultra pragmatic and could easily be converted to my side and look after the company when I am off world. While I can have Selene create a magical primer for me so that I could start my studies on the mystic arts. Granted, I already had access to a vast array of tomes at home, but none of those were the handwritten thoughts and collection of one of the first meta-humans to roam the earth.

It also helps that she is a meta-human doing magic.

Before I could leave and get to my meetings, it was time to get serious. Looking over to one of my guards, I gave them a signal that had them put the tent into lockdown.

"Are there any protocols you guys need to call in before I shut down all signals?" I asked Fury, who in turn, locked eyes with me, noting the serious note to my voice. He gave me a nod before calling in a code purple subsection delta protocol. He turned, and Coulson and Melinda May both did the same before they all took the batteries out of their phones. I gave them a nod before completing the shut down with my smart band controls.

"Okay, with that finished, I have good news and bad news." I spoke before sending the command to start up the hologram system inside the tent.

"Bad news then." Fury and Melinda May said together. He looked at her, and she returned her same stoic look that I noticed she gave everyone except Coulson.

"Bucky Barnes is alive," Emma said, waving her hand at the holo-screen. "Nat and I have a plan to capture him, but we are going to need bait, and that is the good news."

The reaction from both Coulson and Fury was instant as they both snapped to the hologram itching for more information.

"Okay, how is this bad news?" Fury asked before he started to read the bio we had gathered on Barnes.

"Because he is the Winter Soldier and you would not believe who has had him captive all of these years, nor will you believe his situation right now." Natasha said as she got up from my lap to start pacing.

"My god." Coulson whispered as he got down to the part about HYDRA.

"Yeah, I know it's revolting to know that they are still alive and kicking. It's also worse knowing that one of their top operatives is one of our guys brainwashed to do their bidding." I said as I had one of the videos of Barnes brainwashing being played on the holo-screen. I noticed that May slightly flinched as the electricity ran through Barnes brain as they programmed him with trigger words.

Yeah, It was a good thing I had my Spartans raid that old Russian HYDRA base from the civil war movie. There was not going to be any of that shit on my watch.

"Give me the good news then. You called it bait for Barnes." Fury spoke through gritted teeth.

"Greenland," Emma answered with a beautiful smile as she changed the display to our little side project. "We have found Captain Steven Rogers."

One the screen was the display of a crashed plane buried under tons of ice off the coast of Greenland. The satellites were able to get a scanned image from orbit. But the best layout of the Valkyrie HYDRA bomber came from the underwater drones. They were able to get us a far more detailed scan even though they were hundreds of feet away on the outside of the glacier.

"The plan?" Fury asked as his eyes moved furiously across the screen.

"You can let it slip to the World Security council while we run interference when we let it slip to the private community about the discovery of a lifetime," Emma spoke up. "Only we know who it is exactly, so when you let that slip, the mole will have no choice but to activate Barnes for a capture or destroy mission."

"Coulson will run paperwork interference for SHIELD, causing the mole to go with the less savory option of extraction." Natasha carried on with a few things switching on the screen.

"And if SHIELD sends in a team?" Fury asked as he looked over the x-ray image of a sleeping Captain Rogers.

"Not only are we lawyered up better than Stark could ever be, but we also have the hardest hitting force in the world guarding the site of excavation." Emma answered with a smug smile of her own.

"This is a trap for Barnes, and whatever mole is inside SHIELD, make sure that a team isn't sent when the paperwork gets messy," Natasha said while giving Fury the stink eye. "I have a list of clean agents and possible moles. Would you like it?"

The way Natasha asked that last question gave me shivers. I guess Fury knew that it wasn't going to be cheap because he decided against asking for a copy of Nat's list. The look in Coulson's eyes though was more than enough to tell me that he was with this plan. I also knew that at the end of the day, Fury was going to do whatever it took to make sure Barnes came home, and that's why I decided to bring this to him while also putting him on the tail of HYDRA.

We were far too much alike. I had no limits and ran on the belief the end justifies the means mentality.

Since I was no longer needed here, I made my way back to my island to get the rest of my day over with. I had to see Sage and Selene before I would head over and see what Xavier wanted.

OOOO

Island Of Pandora

Once I arrived on the island, I made my way towards the hospital located on the military base. The room Sage was staying in was not heavily guarded as the one Selene or the werewolves were in. I found Sage's room overlooking one of the lunch courtyards. Sage had a holo-tablet in hand with a smart band lying in her lap. As I walked into her room, I noticed the video she was watching. The video was one of how Shaw died as Faora ripped his head from his body. I took a seat and allowed her to finish what she was doing while I took a better look at her features.

Sage had long flowing onyx black hair that came down a little past her shoulder blades. I noticed that she had two reverse check marks on both of her cheeks. They might be scars, but the Red had me thinking that they might be birthmarks or something else. Her eyes were a vivid blue yet not as striking as Ororo's. Sage had that European taskmistress to her features that made me want to salute with, yes Ma'am.

"So, are you here to make me an offer?" Sage asked as she put the holo-tablet to one side.

"Maybe," I answered back as I looked her in the eyes. "Do you plan to continue spying for Xavier?"

She didn't even flinch when I laid that out before her. Sage gave me a look before speaking once more.

"Neither Xavier or Shaw has accomplished what you have accomplished with twice the time, connections, and money," Sage answered as if it was the easiest thing in the world to understand. "What are you going to do with Shaw's Hellion mutant team?"

I held up a hand and made my first correction.

"The correct term is meta-human, not mutant," I spoke with some heat trying to convey how serious the term and understanding is to our future. "My people have already started to raid his safe houses and secret locations with the information Emma took out of his head."

Sage went silent once more.

"You're not as nice and naive as Shaw said you were." Sage finally said after a while.

"I leave those traits to Xavier," I replied with a raised eyebrow of my own. "You have three days to decide if you want to work for me or not. The guards will leave once the docs say you can go. I will make sure that one of my staff swings by and offers you citizenship if you would like to stay."

Without looking back, I headed out of her room and to my new crazy magic-user. Selene's room was on the other side of the hospital under far heavier security. I knew she was now under a magical oath and contract to be loyal, but I wasn't going to take any chances until I spoke to her.

When I got to her room, I had to walk past at least one hundred spartans, all ready and loaded for war. The doctor that took her as a patient had reported that she has been awake for some time now. The fact that she hasn't made any move was exciting to me, but also unnerving for me.

One of the guards held the door for me, and I walked into something crazy. The hospital room was no longer just that, a room. The room was now as large as a standard apartment, all with a balcony on the side leading outside. The ceiling was high, and a chandelier hung down made from crystal.

"Are you here to finally command me to do your bidding." A voice spoke from one of the long couches. The sight of her almost made me pause for a moment. Selene was lazily lying on a couch in a silken gown that hugged all of her curves. Long ebony hair with dark smoky eyes that could burrow into your soul. She was giving off the smoking hot MILF vibes, but I knew better than to stick my dick into crazy. Hell, I was certain that the crazy to hot scale was made to warn against women exactly like her.

"Yes, but not to do what you might have in mind." I answered back as I took my own seat opposite her.

"Am I not pleasing to the eye?" Selene asked as she slowly raised up off the couch, accentuating her bust.

"I would like you to put together a magical primer from beginner level to advanced. Also, include your understanding of the soul and magic that can influence it." I said, ignoring her attempt of trying to do whatever it is that was running through her mind.

"That's all?" Selene asked incredulously. "Not going to have me turn over my company and assets? Not going to breed me for magically superior children?"

"Okay, I'm not sure what's going on with all of that, but I don't stick my dick in crazy, and you are as crazy as they come, Selene," I said as I stood back up from my seat. "Just get the primer done within the next three days and have it uploaded into the system. My AI collective will send it to my devices."

"I am not CRAZY!" Selene half yelled half shrieked.

"Sure, sure, my staff will be by to get your information to get you registered as a citizen. Play nice; that's an order. Also, no killing the citizens of my island." I didn't even look back as I left her room; I just had to be out of there. Murder witch or not, she was damn sexy, and I was sporting wood hard enough to break titanium.

A staff member sent me a message about the werewolves. They were planning to move onto the island with the rest of their pack. That was alright with me, but I had to let them know that I would come and see them some other time. The meeting with Xavier was going to be soon. With a step point teleportation, I went home to remove some of the heavier parts to my armor before switching into something light. I kept the helm on my head because, let's be honest, it's Xavier. I had no idea who he had invited to this little chat at his mansion.

Before I knew it, I was ready to go see Xavier and this person he wanted me to meet. Ignoring the Portal building, I ran out onto the open ocean and ran across its surface. It didn't take me that long to circumnavigate the globe and make it to the east coast of the United States. Within record time, I arrived in Salem right outside Xavier's school of the gifted. What I found did not fill me with boundless joy.

Xavier was found in the back garden talking to a man who was shirtless and shoeless with his fucking belly on display like he was on a beach. His shoulder guards were smooth like scales, and they interlinked down to his wrists then combined into a set of fingerless gloves. His pants were far to tight, and he had the same black scaled armor at his hips and down to his bare fucking feet.

Instantly I knew who this was, and no, it wasn't the scruffy beard or the seashells on his chest that gave it away. No, what gave it away was the trident stabbed into the ground beside his seat that let me know that this was Namor. The wings on his ankles could have been any meta-human, but none welded the trident in Marvel like Namor since he was the rip off version of Aquaman.

Well, Namor wasn't known in the public eye, so he wasn't going to say shit about who I was. So that meant I didn't need my helm, but I was going to do something to keep my identity safe just in case. I tapped the side of my helm, applying a built-in glamour system. Honestly, I wanted to be nice, but the fact that he felt he could walk around up here like that was already irritating me.

Xavier looked at me a moment before it clicked that he was not going to be able to get into my mind. Then he switched gears and started to introduce us.

"Ahh, yes, may I introduce you to King Namor of Atlantis." Xavier said to cover his little slip. I paid it no mind as I inserted my own introduction instead of letting him give my name away.

"Nice to meet you, Namor, Jason Todd, King of Pandora." I said with an arm outstretched for a shake. There was nothing that said I couldn't be civil with the man, even if I felt he was full of it walking around like that.

"Nice to meet you." Namor grunted before giving my hand a hard shake with a little too much strength to his grip. Now, I was about to start getting pissed. So I did what anyone would do, I squeezed back. I felt the pinky finger give way first before Namor took me seriously. He attempted to double his efforts, but I was already phasing my hand out of his grasp. He looked down a little stunned as my hand phased out of his own.

"Now, I called this meeting because King Namor has told me that he would like access to some of the surface world's amenities." Xavier said with a smile as he showed me the seat I could take.

"It would depend: I won't be selling any of my military weaponry or anything that could be used as such." I said, shutting down that line of thinking.

"Such weapons would not work under the waves anyway," Namor said with some pompous pride. I gave Xavier a little look out the corner of my eye. I knew Namor could be a tool and had a thing for blondes, but this was just too much. Instead of opening his mouth to dismiss my weaponry, he should have taken a moment to think about why I had to say something like that.

This meeting was just done for, and I was going to pull the ultimate copout.

"Send an ambassador here in a week, and I will have my own here also. Let's allow them to hash it out." I said, trying to shut down this conversation. I wanted to say this was a waste of time, but I couldn't because I now knew Atlantis was beneath the waves. Someone down there was at least going to be amenable to my throne. Or bow down if it came to that.

Maybe I could have Emma chat with him. Or better just keep her away, I knew he had an obsession with her in the comics.

Xavier looked at me, but I was already moving while also leaving a card on the table. This was so Namor or whoever he sent could get in contact with my people. The man didn't even have the common decency to wear either a shirt or shoes, then tried power games. I was not about to sit and stick around for any more of his shit.

4 Days Later…

After leaving Namor with Xavier, I had gone back to help with the relief efforts. Everyone out there had either the Vage industries logo on their clothing or the Frost industries logo. This allowed us to get publicity, which Emma and I started to milk the hell out of. I had brought out the Delta Six accelerator suits while Emma had brought out the advanced construction gear my people had made for her company to sell.

The public went wild when a photo leaked to the social media sites of a farmer using the Delta Six suit. Fury showed up once more on the day that leaked and tried to grill me about it, but I was already ready for him. I had one of my tech people on hand and then had them sit him down and wow him with the technical aspects of the suit.

The world wanted super suits, and they now knew that Stark was not the only one that had them, and mine were for sale. Too bad for Tony, they were still trying to steal his suit out from under his ass.

Right now, though, I was in daddy mode.

Maya was hanging over my shoulder, looking on as I helped Alfred with his mega buster. I didn't want him caring around a gun, but I wanted him to have some tools for self-defense. So I came up with the mad idea to remake Mega-man's arm blaster. Well, It could only shoot out condensed air and taser pellets.

Maya poked me in the cheek, so I gave her the scanner to run over the mega-buster while Phoebe handed me a bracket for the stabilizer. Alfred was off to the side with Celeste and Sophie working on the programming and power fluctuations while I worked on the main body of the buster.

We were working pretty steadily in the kiddy corner of my labs when Emma and Raven came in to try and force us to leave. That did not go as planned for them until Emma pulled out a miniaturized tractor beam. There were a bunch of 'mom's that's not fair', but I accepted it once I checked the time and realized we had to get changed and gone like thirty minutes ago.

The ladies led the kids out while I wrapped up Alfred's mega-buster and put it on the dining table before getting myself ready. It was the big race day, and I was not going to be late.

End Chapter...

Author's Notes:

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