Before Tao left I gave her an enchanted token that would allow her to bypass my Anti-portal wards if she ever wanted to visit. Since, without the token she would have to contend with the full force of my MTAR and R2s' dynamic defenses.
I went a little overboard with its design, as the Token would not only allow her to portal in, but also inform her of whether or not I was alone.
If there was a green light, it meant that I was in the house alone. Yellow if I had people over, and red if that person was in my bedroom.
I'm just so considerate.
Once she left I began starting up a number of projects with R2.
I also began construction on a machine that would help me develop my Serum. It was an all-in-one lab that had the functions of a number of specialized machines — A centrifuge, Thermocycler, Spectrometer, Cytometer, CRISPR gene-editor, Incubator, Autoclave, ELISA reader, Sonic-manipulators etc…
I didn't have all of the required knowledge, or components so I had to do a bunch of studying, stealing, secretly borrowing… you know how it is.
I called it — Gene-E.
A lot like my MTAR, it was a fusion of Vibranium, magic and stolen Wakandan designs.
It looked a lot like a 3D printer, a van-sized cube with a large window peering into the numerous micro-labs inside. Tiny little arms filled the lab spaces, they were descendants of Tony's DUM-E mechanized arms, just a lot better, and made of Vibranium and magic.
Importantly, every aspect of Genie could be controlled by R2, who I had recently connected to the Internet.
Now that was a nerve wracking experience, the first true field-test of R2s' capabilities. Suffice to say, my expectations were met, then shattered.
R2 was clearly more than an A.I.
R2 could parse through terabytes of data in mere minutes, the server racks operated at far beyond their rated performance thanks to all of my Vibranium and magical enhancements. Overclocking was stupidly easy when you had a near-limitless heatsink reinforced by cooling runes.
R2 prowled the internet like an apex predator, no firewall could hold it back for longer than a couple minutes, it learnt and adapted at rates faster than I could've ever anticipated.
It was fortuitous that the Force link meant that R2 couldn't go all sky-net on my ass.
It was total bullshit to be completely honest, but it made sense in a weird way. Androids and A.I's in Star Wars were far beyond most Marvel systems, with a couple exceptions — yet I couldn't remember a single singularity-type event happening in canon. Of course, I could be wrong and R2 could still take over the world, but that was a risk I was willing to take.
Regardless, I had R2 immediately begin analyzing the Extremis Virus and Peter's Spider, with the end goal of creating a stable Serum.
Ontop of that, I had it begin analyzing the effects of infusing Vibranium energy into plants, mice, and eventually the Serum itself.
I had a theory about the Heart-Shaped Herb… So I popped over to Wakanda to borrow a couple pieces of their most vaunted sacrament.
I was of the belief that the HSH, pre-vibranium infusion was a potent, yet fairly mundane plant with health benefits and psychedelic properties.
The subsequent exposure to Vibranium latched onto those innate traits and cranked them to a thousand. Mutating and enhancing the mundane health benefits to super-human levels.
And the psychedelic component?
What what was probably a mushroom-like acid trip beforehand became a literal trip to the 'Ancestral Plane' where you'd come face to face with God.
In their case — Bast.
It wasn't too surprising, as worship and spirituality was a very real thing in this universe. I mean, Force above, I had met a God myself. Not to mention being a Master of the Mystic Arts meant I had a plethora of research, anecdotes and direct experience with such things.
After pushing the HSH herb through Genie, my theories were confirmed.
I then had R2 try to find the how and why around Vibranium's mystical properties — with the end goal of trying to capture some of that super-human goodness for my own Serum.
Hopefully, if all goes well I would get a laundry list of enhancements.
From Extremis' I'd get Heat Generation (without the whole, go boom thing), accelerated regeneration, Super-Human strength, durability, and agility, and likely some neural enhancements.
From the Spider I'd get an even greater Super-human size-to-strength ratio, Spider Sense and its agility/reflex increases (without the whole, destined to suffer thing), Toxin resistances, some minor regeneration, and maybe even wall-climbing.
Finally, from the HSH I'd get the standard Super-Human package — more strength, speed, durability, agility, healing, cognition based benefits and maybe if I'm lucky, a semi-symbiotic bond with Vibranium itself.
Which would come in very handy for my next project.
R2 set about making my wishes come true, Genie's arms moving about the micro-labs with uncanny precision.
[Total analysis and estimated completion time of the Serum: 35 Hours…]
—
While my Serum was coming to life in the background, I turned my attention to a project long-since overdue.
A fiery crimson and onyx black crystal the size of a golf ball appeared in my hand. The condensed heart of a mutated dragon and the Kyber crystal for my lightsaber. It reminded me of a Krayt Dragon Pearl — in origin, not appearance.
I began with forming the hilt out of Vibranium, obviously. Making it slightly longer than the standard, coming out to 14 inches. This was so I could two-hand the blade comfortably if need be.
I thought about going full Maul and making the lightsaber double bladed, but found that I preferred having a free-hand to use the Force and cast spells if need be.
The internal circuitry was simple, an activation button that could be flipped by the Force, connected to a Vibranium battery that could be refueled by channeling the Force. On a single charge it should last me multiple years of constant use, though I doubt I'll ever get close to bottoming the charge out, since it should continuously draw upon the force.
Indeed, it was the first-ever relic that was directly connected to my Spatial Dimension. Using the same technique Tao used to pull energy for the Dark Dimension.
This meant that it would not only never run out of juice, but would also be bonded to me on a level greater than even R2.
By the time the hilt was completed I was left with a silvery, 14 inch cylinder of Vibranium, visibly decorated in runes and mandalas. The exhaust was crowned by four razor-sharp spikes that gently curved into the main-body. I wrapped the grip with crimson-burgundy Wyrm-leather before ending in a slightly bulbous tear-drop pommel.
With a simple flex of Force the hilt opened, revealing the mounting slot for my Dragon-Heart crystal.
Gently, like putting your old, weathered grandmother to bed, I placed the crystal into the hilt.
The moment I did, a wave of Force erupted around me. The hilt hummed, hovering above my palm of its own volition.
I could feel it awaken, its joy drowned out by an anxious anticipation for what was to come.
I grasped the hilt and held it parallel to my eyes. With a dumb grin I ignited the blade.
*CRKK—KAAAAAAAA!
A fiery, plasma cackle roared to life, bathing the space around me in a crimson-purple glow. The growl of the blade was low, as if the Dragon it was birthed from had awoken once more.
The blade itself was two-toned. Its outer edge a crimson-purple that periodically pulsed in sharp tongues of plasmatic flames like a ghostfire saber. It wasn't the standard stable solid-plasma of a typical lightsaber, that was for sure.
And that was ignoring the fact that the core of the plasma was a solid black. The same Onyx black that corrupted the crystal within. Diametrically devouring any light foolish enough to get too close.
With a slow twirl of my hand the blade hummed. Crimson-purple wisps of fire trailed in its wake, the sound of its motions utterly euphoric.
With a swipe of my free-hand I opened a portal to my Spatial Dimension. In the plane of marbled white the Onyx core of the blade stood out even more, appearing as an abyssal tear into the fabric of space.
I started slowly, feeling my connection to the blade through the Force. It whispered to me, tugging on the muscles in my arm, pleading to be used. It was an extension of me, more than muscle, more than synaptic — a level of connection that had me speechless, for I needed nothing than mere thought to commune with the blade.
The blade sliced across the air, a fiery afterimage left in its wake. I twisted, carving the plasma upwards, then diagonally down, combining swing after swing in a dance of super-heated death.
My grin never left my lips, the ecstasy of wielding the blade drowned my sense of time, every slash sent me deeper and deeper into the Force.
My Spatial dimension hummed in response, and a figure manifested before me. A man I hand't seen in a few months.
Mike stood across from me, a wooden training sword held in his hands. Without warning he launched at me, sword held at his hip, his eyes filled with murderous fury.
I never broke form, my figure blurring with speed, the lightsaber carved through space in the blink of an eye splitting Mike in two before his manifestation even noticed.
The moment he 'died' two more figures appeared.
Cap & Bucky stood side by side, shield and metal arm at the ready.
The two super-humans blurred towards me, their steps leaving craters in the white floor below.
A metallic whistled filled the air, my eyes narrowed at the incoming shield, lightsaber moving before I could even think.
*KAACH!
The sound of igniting plasma filled the space as Cap's shield split in two.
Bucky's metal arm exploded towards me, missing as I twisted into a slash, carving him from shoulder hip — instantly killing the super-human assassin.
I leaned back, letting the disrupted wind of Cap's round-house kick ruffle past my hair.
I shoved my hand out, sending a wave of Force exploding from my palm. Cap was lifted off the ground, flipping through the air as he tucked and recovered with the grace of an olympic acrobat.
*VHM VHM VHM VHM!
The sound of my lightsaber spun through the air, slicing across space like a saw blade of crimson-purple fire.
*KAA!
The war hero couldn't react in time, his eyes wide as the plasma sliced through his torso, instantly cauterizing his disbelief.
*VHM VHM VHM VHM!
The lightsaber curved around, spinning back to me and slapping into my palm.
I suddenly leaned, watching a golden-beam of energy screamed by my ear. I turned, seeing two metal men aiming glowing palms at me.
I felt a tug from my lightsaber, the crystal whispering me to infuse it with the Force. I obliged, channeling as much as I could muster, feeling the hilt vibrate with power.
My arm blurred, the plasma tearing across space in the blink of an eye.
A wave of crimson-purple plasma launched from the blades' edge, scorching towards the two metal men with a dragons fiery wrath.
The collision was cataclysmic. Metal melted in an instant, their Arc Reactors reduced to ash as muscle and sinew involuntarily cremated into dust.
I looked down at my lightsaber, feeling the pulse of my hammering heart being absorbed by the Vibranium.
My head snapped up, the Force screaming at me from all directions. I barely registered the golden-orange sparks of the portal surrounding my throat before my hand moved.
A tearing sound filled the air as my lightsaber rose to meet Tao's portal. I felt resistance for the first time, the plasma caught in the space-folding magic — then I felt it give.
The Force shook, my lightsaber roared and the portal shattered.
I stepped forwards, my body blurring towards Tao as she conjured two Eldtrich Tessens.
I slashed towards her, lightsaber clashing against her magic, shattering construct after construct as she gracefully deflected my connected attacks.
My free-hand clawed forwards, grasping through space for her throat. Tao's eyes went wide, her hands reaching for the intangible pressure around her neck.
For a mere moment she flailed — until the suddenness of being choked by an invisible hand left her face, eyes narrowing into swords.
Her hands snapped towards me, Eldritch mandalas blooming into golden bolts of heat-seeking energy.
My lightsaber blurred, deflecting the gatling fire of energy as I ripped my Force hand to the ground.
Tao slammed into the floor, bouncing once before twisting and landing in a spider-like pose.
I stared as she stood, her eyes locked onto my own. A long breath passed between us, then she gave me a curt nod before her manifestation suddenly vanished.
My brows rose in confusion.
The fuck?