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Ch. 189 - Renegotiations.
🕑 Added 2022-04-11 10:14:56 +0000 UTCI exited the portal onto the courtyard of the sanctum, dressed in my usual garb, having changed out of the bloodied armor and showered.
As usual the students were training here, though it was more mediation and less CQC with magic.
Rows and rows of students sat under the cherry trees while the Ancient One walked among them in her astral form, helping guide them through.
As I walked over, she spotted me with a surprised look.
Hmm?
Shouldn't she have known I was coming?
"What brings you here today, Jay Walker?" She asked, concerned.
"Shouldn't you already know?" I asked.
"No. I stopped looking into your future per your request after our last conversation." She replied.
"Is that so? Um uh...sorry for doubting you, I guess." I laughed awkwardly.
The Ancient One raised an eyebrow.
"I sense you need to talk."
I nodded.
"Come." She gestured, leading me to the same meeting room where her true body sat in a cross legged pose.
I sat down opposite her at the low table, as she entered her body.
The Ancient One's eyes shot open gracefully, and she swept her hand over the table, her sleeve swiping over, obscuring my view as she conjured a teapot from somewhere.
"Tea?" She offered.
"I guess?" I replied.
"Don't worry. It's not the gross one from last time. I've decided to try a new blend." She teased.
"Wanda... that girl needs to learn to keep some things private." I sighed.
"On the contrary, you need to learn to open up more. You're always so
.. tightly wound. Like a rope. And someday, if you don't ease up on that pressure, you will snap."
"I didn't come here to be lec-" I caught myself.
No. I shouldn't be so abrasive.
Why am I even like that?
"Sorry. Just had a long day." I yawned.
"I can see that. What brings you here today?" She asked.
"Thanos." I said and her expression changed immediately.
"What of him?"
"He has the Power Stone. And he's looking for more. I fought him today but he escaped. Logically, I figured his next destination would be either here..."
"Which it is not." She pointed out.
"Or to wherever the Reality Stone is hidden." I added.
"That one seems more likely." She nodded.
"Indeed. But I would still prefer that you give the Time Stone to me for safekeeping till this passes over and Thanos is dealt with."
"I think not. The sanctum is secure. There are no threats that can breach it."
"My ship is safer. Not even cosmic entities can break in anymore. Why not just give the Stone to me? It is my payment after all."
"Yes. After you defeat Dormammu." She insisted, sipping on her tea.
"With the Heliosphere I gave you, I won't need me to defeat Dormammu." I countered.
The Heliosphere.
The improved version if SCP 1548, the protective array hidden in the sun, this one in the form of an easier to manage dyson sphere that would protect the solar system from extradimensional and extraterrestrial threats.
After the incident with Lady Death, I had renegotiated the deal for the Time Stone to instead trade it for the Heliosphere.
Now though, I didn't trust the sanctum to keep the Stone safe.
"Indeed. But there is still the problem of it not being completed yet. If Dormammu attacks now, I will need the Stone to protect the Earth." She stood by her point stubbornly.
I sighed.
"We both know Dormammu isn't scheduled to attack anything yet, so just give me the Stone."
"You don't know that." She argued, "After what you have done, Jay, I cannot in good conscience trust that there will be no... unexpected visits from realms beyond our own.
Please understand, I must take all precautions to ensure the safety of our world."
I frowned.
"Don't force me to fight you, Ancient One. Please, just hand it over, or else I'll have to be less polite about this." I threatened.
"We agreed on certain terms, Jay. Then you broke those terms. And I can understand why. But that is no excuse to renege on our current deal. We create the Heliosphere, then you can have the Time Stone." She drew the line.
For a moment I considered just killing her and taking it.
But.....
I have killed enough.
Thanos was pretty damaged when I last saw him. Maybe I should find him first.
Hmm..... I could just track the Power Stone with the energy from the other stones.
If only she gave that stone to me.
"Fine. Then at least let me help with it. I can probably invent something to make the process faster or more-"
"Can you use magic?" The Ancient One interjected.
"What? Sure. I can harness magical power. Easy peasy." I assured her.
"But can you cast a spell. Channel it through you?" She pressed on.
"With some time, sure." I muttered.
"I have been busy these past few months."
She just shook her head.
"I thought so. Just leave it to us. We will double the workforce and be done in a month or so. Just be patient." She said.
I sighed again.
"I suppose I can give you another month. But you need to keep one of my droids on hand here so I can come and help if any invasions occur."
She made to speak when I cut her off, already realizing her worries.
"And this time I'll route the network through your Wi-Fi." I assured.
"That's good." She smiled, relieved.
Another few moments went by as we sat sipping the tea in silence when a query arose within me.
"Say, don't other races in the universe have magic too? How do they deal with these incursions from extradimensional entities?" I asked.
"We know not." She replied with a sigh, "We haven't been in contact with them for centuries now. But before, the Eternals helped around. They have their gods too, of course. Like we have ours. Or they can always make contracts with entities from opposing dimensions. Mostly, though, as I have heard, they get overtaken. A sad fate. It's what happened to the denizens of Hel. Even the Asgardians couldn't protect them. They could only limit the damage. Now while the entities are gone, sealed away, the dark energies still linger in Hel, turning every which way at the whims of their dark sorcerers. Then there are the Lem. They are naturally attuned to magic but stick to the eldritch arts avoiding extradimensional entities entirely. Their homeworlds are so tightly warded most gods wouldn't even dare think going near them.
And there's what we do. Maintain a healthy balance among dimensions and hope no one pushes too far. It has worked for millennia and it should keep working for another few. Or it would have if you hadn't interfered." She threw shade at me.
I giggled.
"You're really salty about this huh?"
"I am not used to such uncertainty. In this sacred duty, we cannot afford such luxury." She replied.
"I can understand the sentiment. I am scared too. Very, very scared. The multiverse is so dangerous I feel like a shit father taking my kids along. But....the enemies I have made, I cannot afford to leave my children anywhere." I shrugged.
"Have you considered not making enemies?" She suggested.
I nodded.
"I have. Maybe after this is over. By the way, where's Wanda? Didn't see her out in the courtyard. The library?" I asked.
"Actually, she went back for lunch and then didn't come back. It has been a few hours now. I thought you might have held her back?" The Ancient One said concerned.
Immediately, I checked back home and saw no one.
Hmmm.... that's suspicious.
Even Pietro is gone.
Let's try the tracker I put in her earrings.
Connecting to the mainframe, a map opened up before me displaying her location.
Sokovia?
Was she meeting the orphans she saved or something?
Nope she was in the public square. And there was a high energy reading coming from it.
I have a bad feeling about this.
Instinctively, I opened up the tv and saw the breaking news
"Novi Grad in the air!"
Oh....oh boy.
Should've known.
"She's fighting Ultron. And she has involved my kids!" I turned to the Ancient One who did not look surprised at all.
"Let me guess, you saw it coming."
"I did not. I saw a set of circumstances leading up to it, but not this in particular. I foresaw this conversation happening two years from now. But things seem to have moved up on their own. It seems the timeline is repairing itself. Fate is setting things straight. And you cannot change that, Jay. It is inevitable-"
Slap!
Crackle!
My slap phased through the Ancient One and into the mirror dimension
The Ancient One looked surprised at the assault, as I fumed.
"You knew! And you let her go?! What is wrong with you?! Putting my children in danger. Who gave you the right?!" I said, shooting a particle beam at her.
She swept her hand as reality dissolved mirrored fractals and she sent the beam into mirror dimension.
She just smiled as if she knew it was going to happen.
"Are you sure you want to waste your time here?"
I looked between her and the tv and frowned, shooting her a death glare as explosions started ringing out across the city.
"If my children suffer so much as a scratch, I will raze all the sanctums to the ground." I growled.
"You are overreacting again. Your children will be fine. They were never fated to get hurt. But Wanda and Pietro, that is a fate that cannot be changed. Even you can't do anything about it."
"Watch me!" I scoffed, opening a portal to Novi Grad.
.
I exited into Novi Grad just as a suit of armor came flying at me.
With a flick of my wrist, I plucked an ultron suit from the air, caught it by the neck, my iron grip squeezing it like a mango till it creaked and cracked, decapitating it.
With it's head, I connected to the servers Ultron was using and immediately sent a DDOS attack into his systems delaying this stupid plan of his.
With his servers in my hands, I located him, in a grotto, deep within the city centre fighting the Avengers and my children and quite handily losing.
Well he was winning against the Avengers, but my children had been enhanced with cognitive implants that were meant specifically to help them combat machines.
A fledgling A.I. like Ultron didn't stand a chance.
Great.
Time to bury Stark for once and for all.
I gave him a chance and I warned him to not attempt exactly this.
And yet here we are.
A drone flew out of a portal as I connected to the world's media broadcasting myself acriss the world again.
I cracked my knuckles and stretched my neck.
Let's do this.
Time for a livestream.
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