The aftermath of the airport fiasco is not a pretty sight. Airline companies weep at the loss of their commercial-planes, Leipzig-Halle airport is speechless at the unscheduled demolition of their ATC tower, not to mention the small crowd of furious Ex-Cessna's owners.
It was in my best interests to gtfo.
I hitched a rather depressing ride back to New York with team Iron Man. There is a tangible air of defeat in the small Quinjet cabin, as they all hang their heads in shared silence.
Well, except for me, I did my job perfectly if I do say so myself.
Instead of going all the way to the Avengers facility I ask the team if they could just hover above Queens for a bit.
The entire team gives me odd looks as I ask them to lower the ramp while the Quinjet was still thousands of feet above the city.
Peter, still dressed as Spider Man is the only person to voice his concerns as I approach the ramp.
"Uh… is anyone going to give him a parachute?"
I chuckle turning to Peter.
"Oh! A parachute, oh my gosh!? I almost forgot!" I say aloud, cupping the sides of my head in mock realization.
But before Peter could react I lean backwards letting gravity pull me out of the jet.
Peter yelps and I see his head appear over the edge as he stares wide-eyed at my falling figure.
I wave to him as the wind screams around my ears. The Quinjet's ramp closes again and I watch as they blast-off into the night.
I flip over, belly to the city and take a moment to appreciate the view.
I can't help but smile knowing that another SWORD paycheck was about to hit my account.
I soon reach terminal velocity, the Earth below expanding as I got closer and closer to the ground.
I spread my hands out and grasp the air below me. Out of thin air Lilith appears, and I flip the red switch while using the Force to kick-start the bike.
Lilith roars to life as I mount her, cackling like my skull was on fire as I tear across the night sky towards my home, sweet home.
A deeply satisfying feeling settles into my bones as I step into my house. The fresh scent of my many plants fill my lungs as I unceremoniously slump onto my couch, and before I know it, I'm dead asleep.
—
Going back to school was nice… if not obligatory since I was like — 2 absences from losing my full-ride, which no longer mattered since I could actually afford it now.
Financial independence is one hell of a drug.
Thankfully it was finally summer vacation, my first season in this world (with new powers & memories) coming to a close.
The moment the bell rang I zipped back home on Lilith, ignoring everything and everyone, and actually using the garage door for once. I brewed myself a steaming pot of coffee, then stored it in my Storage to keep it warm.
I walked into my basement with a smile on my face.
My mental todo list was immense — build the arc reactor, which meant I'd probably be space door'in around, stealing shit.
Then actually begin construction on my secret base/lab, which meant wards, runes and sigils, oh my~.
Then I wanted to start on project R2: Reasoning², my very own A.I.
Mechu-Deru had innate semi-sentience granting abilities and, in combination with Tony's simple A.I's, as well as a couple intense Force-Trance coding sessions here and there, I was sure I could create something Super-Intelligent™.
Of course, I couldn't forget one of the best finds of all — The Extremis Virus, and subsequent mixing with Peter's spider.
…
I… may, or may not have forgotten about our little spider friend.
Do you remember how entering my Spatial Domain made time move again?
Yeah… so, the spider I picked up at Oscorp way back when, isn't looking too good.
It's dead.
Been dead for a minute.
It was half-alive when I got it, and I totally could've saved it when I eventually learnt my healing spells.
I just kinda forgot.
Well, it shouldn't be too big of a deal, since I wasn't planning on getting bit, rather — I wanted to pick and choose.
I was curious about the potential interactions between Spider Senses and my Force Senses. I also wanted its strength and durability benefits.
Spider Man's ability to take a beating is legendary, and even a fraction of that would be immense. There were also probably more spiders at Oscorp, but I think I'll leave them for other future Spider people, unless I really needed it.
Yeah, getting bit by a spider just isn't it.
Peter Parker is a cursed existence — FACT.
Chancing a Spider-Totem (if it even exists) is not in my best interests, also Riven Parker Thorne just doesn't roll off the tongue.
Anyways, The Extremis Virus and Tony's Formula + Cure should make it possible to develop a stable Serum. I made sure to store the spider corpse in an enchanted vacuum-sealed vial, slowing further degradation.
Hm… then I have to think of a cool name.
Sometime this summer break I'd also like to pay Wakanda a visit, whether as a friend, or thief if they're feeling super-stingy.
Hell, I might just steal some anyways, they probably have so much Vibranium just laying around. I just need to find a way through their barrier, which I could probably manage with the same Force Focus technique I used back at the Avengers' Facility.
Then I could upgrade my Arc Reactor, and importantly…
Use the Dragon-heart crystal to make my lightsaber.
Oh yeah, it was going to be a busy summer.
—
My days flew by like clouds in the sky.
Notice of my kleptomania was drowned out by the flood of Avengers' news. The Sokovia accords went through, and other than Cap, Bucky and Widow, the rest of the (Team Cap) Avengers' were imprisoned in a super-max called The Raft.
The new's of Steves' betrayal was all the world could think about.
Nobody even cared that the true culprit, Helmut Zemo, was dead.
There was no Black Panther to stop him from voluntarily leaving his mortal coil.
The future was changing.
Talking about the Black Panther, I finally paid him a visit.
In secret.
I crossed the ocean on Lilith, before layering myself in every single cloaking and illusion spell I knew.
The barrier was a marvel of technology, practically magic in every way. Too bad it wasn't actually magic.
I opened a space door, stepping into view of a gilded city in the distance.
Holy mother of Vibranium…
The city of Birnin Zana was best described as majestic. Towering spires stabbed out from within a great crater, surrounded by archways and swaths of greenery. I saw flying skycars and military Talons cruising through the sky, as well as a number of foot patrols.
My target was The Great Mound, the very source of Vibranium, hidden deep beneath the city.
For over two hours I searched around the city, dipping in and out of space doors like my skin was blue.
I eventually found a large, heavily guarded doorway leading under the city. I waited until it opened, examining the other side before letting the door close again.
I let this happen two more times until I felt like I had a good idea on the patrol routines. I also began seeing large armored transports come and go, likely carrying refined vibranium.
I decided to follow one, just to see where it went, watching as it drove towards the Palace. It then entered an even more heavily guarded underground facility.
I made the decision to start with the Refined Vibranium vaults.
Using Astral-projection I scouted the inside of the vaults, nearly cackling like a lunatic when I phased through a wall and found a small mountain of Refined Vibranium. There were tons, and I mean tons of the stuff. The sheer market value was mind boggling.
The guilt of thievery practically vanished.
I took over a ton of refined ingots, and even then it was like, less than a percent of the total mass. Truly, Wakanda could give a dragon a run for its money with a hoard like this.
I scouted around in my astral form for any labs I could find. Sneaking in during lulls and using Mechu-Deru to Force my way into their systems.
I made a final stop for some raw ore, mostly for experimentation purposes. The actual mine was awe-inspiring, a cavern so large you could fit multiple stadiums inside.
Every square-inch of the cavern was lacerated with deep purplish blue veins of raw vibranium energy.
I stole some chunks from an out-going shipment and made out like a bandit in the night, opening a space door back to my basement.
—
Vibranium was not an easy metal to work with. With a higher melting point than Tungsten most molding methods just aren't possible. Wakandan smiths got around this by developing highly advanced sonic-manipulators, which I now had the blueprints for.
But ironically, the manipulators needed Vibranium to construct, causing a chicken or egg dilemma, but thankfully I had a work-around.
The Mystic Force Arts!
I went about setting up a makeshift forge in my Spatial Dimension. I enchanted a stolen gas forge and laced it with amplifying sigils and external heat-resistance runes. I didn't need to reach the melting point, just high enough to be able to mold the metal with the Force.
The process was highly intensive, molding hot Vibranium felt like trying to knead a block of cold cheese with my bare hands.
After hours of work, three pots of coffee and a Power Nap, I had finally created all the parts I needed for my Gen.1 Magi-Tech Arc Reactor — Gen.1 MTAR.
The design was practically unrecognizable from Tony's as I had not only replaced large swaths of components with runes, but I'd also ripped ideas from the stolen Wakandan generator designs.
Needless to say, Vibranium was a fucking insane material.
It could absorb, store, and transfer most forms of known energy and even data, not to mention having a nearly intuitive semi-sentient ability to fuse with technology and superhuman effects after long exposure.
It was the holy grail of metals, only Uru and Adamantium its equals, and both of those weren't nearly as versatile.
My Magi-Tech Reactor took full advantage of this fact. I transformed the van-sized reactor design to a metal box the size of a basket ball.
The entire frame was made of vibranium, looking a little like a companion cube. Inside, the Electromagnetic Confinement Ring circled a rod of pure vibranium, both heavily enchanted with a number of amplifying sigils, and wards that would increase the devices total output and overall stability.
The rod of vibranium housed a Palladium core, the central fuel source until I could get some of Tony's Baddassium, or make my own catalyst w/Vibranium.
For now this would do.
Thermal regulation and energy transfer systems were also solved by liberal usage of vibranium, in combination with a number of cooling, heating, and stabilizing runes and wards. Magic and Tech worked together in synchrony, as I infused my will directly into the reactor.
I stepped into the tiny shoe-box storage closet in my basement, placing the Gen.1 MTAR in the center of the room.
I began inscribing rune after rune, lacing the floor, walls and ceiling in a tapestry of connected mandalas and energy channels, all in-laid with hair-thin strands of painstakingly molded and coiled Vibranium wires.
By the time I was done, I had worked for five days straight. My stomach growling incessantly at me, begging for anything other than coffee and meal-prepped burritos.
I ignored it.
With a deep breath I stood over my MTAR, my finger hovering over a small button on its top face.
*boop
The reactor hummed to life, a pulse of golden-purple energy erupted across the vibranium casing burning along the runes I had inscribed.
Through a reinforced glass panel I could see the fusion process beginning, the superheated plasma spun around the Containment Field in a streak of golden-purple fire. With each revolution the reactor hummed, revolving faster and faster until a stable soft hum filled the room.
*Vmmmmm….
The moment the reactor stabilized a pulse of energy erupted outwards, spreading across floor and room in a wave of raw purplish-golden energy.
The room quaked, rumbling as it greedily absorbed the energy from my reactor.
The moment the last rune filled with energy, I heard a — click.
The walls around me shot away, the ceiling suddenly lifting up four stories high. The room expanded in the blink of an eye, stretching out until I was left with a 20,000 square foot, fully powered, incredibly hidden, hyper-warded and enchanted, vibranium laced secret lair.
It was goddamn magnificent.
The MTAR had ended up in the dead center of the massive room. The closet door now far off in the distance.
My runes and vibranium wiring had perfectly stretched to encompass the entire base. The floor, walls, and ceiling were tattoo'd with channels of purplish-golden energy that spread out from the MTAR in spider-like webs. Runes and mandalas glowed with soft ethereal light, giving the entire room a sci-fi, ritualistic atmosphere.
I let out a satisfied sigh, stretching my arms out and relishing in the pops and cracks echoing from my joints.
I need… breakfast.