Nexus - Into the Marvelverse

3rd POV:

''Therefore the charges and accusations against Mr. Hansen are dropped,'' The Judge slammed down the gavel. The Judge looked as if he wanted to stand up and leave the room. But Chris Hansen began getting hysterical.

''NO!!! NO!!! I demand to be punished for my crimes. I need to atone. I need to repent,'' screamed Hansen desperately. The Judge stopped and a shiver went down his spine. That was different then what they had discussed previously. Hansen was so smug when he and his cronies were bribing and threatening him before hand and now he behaved like this. He took his seat again.

''Mr. Hansen the judge has looked at the evidence and found you to not be guilty of any wrongdoing. You were proven innocent. There is nothing you need to atone for,'' the Judge tried to calm him.

''Liar! You are just saying that because I bribed you previously. PUNISH ME!,'' explained Hansen.

''Alright, you are clearly getting hysterical. Someone please restrain this man ad try to calm him down, before he makes another banal accusation like that,'' the judge played it cool.

But that turned out to be a mistake. The moment the courtroom deputy tried to put his hands on Hansen he gave him a shoulder tackle and took his gun. He pointed it at the people keeping them away as he moved his back to the wall. The deputy slowly approached him, trying to calm him down and not startle him.

''If you won't punish me then there is only one way I can atone,'' Hansen said resigned, but strangely at peace. He pointed the gun into the roof of his mouth and shot the gun as the deputy lunged for him. His brain matter painted the wall red.

...

Fury put the tablet down after seeing the window. He turned to Maria Hill.

''Chris Hansen was the first target of the Phantom Thieves,'' Maria added dutifully, waiting for Fury to ask more questions.

''The first, but not the last. Do we have reports of any other targets? Do they always commit suicide? Was what he said true and the judge took bribes?,'' Fury asked.

''Yes, it was true. Investigations revealed that there were more zeroes then there should be in the judges account. There were also six other targets that the Phantom Thieves got their hands on. One bit his tongue and choked on his blood. One played it cool only to then walk onto oncoming traffic. One hanged himself after the trial. One also shot himself in the courtroom. And the last one to kill himself, died by setting himself on fire. Only the sixth one lived and that was because the judge declared him guilty. He is now rotting in a cell for life. The target was noted to be at peace with no sign of suicidal tendencies,'' Maria informed.

''How long have they been active? Do we have anything on them, that would tell us how their powers work?,'' Fury asked.

''At least a few months now. And no we have nothing on them. All we know is that they operate extremely slowly. Though why that is we don't know. We suspect it is a very small organization and that they have no other powers besides this strange guilt inducing effect they have on their targets. Though we could be wrong on that. Since they appeared they have been operating all over the country.

We also don't know how their powers work. All we know is that they need to send a calling card to their victims,'' Maria finished.

''Maybe it is because it brings out all memories related to their evil doing, so that they can induce guilt then. In that case I wonder how their powers would work on sociopaths or psychopaths. Do we have any suspects?,'' Fury wondered.

''We have observed all targets, after the second one, since the calling card was read by the target. Nothing seemed suspicious and our equipment picked nothing out of the ordinary. No fluctuations of any kind. We further traced back the steps our targets took in he past week before the calling card was sent. The truth is we have no suspects. Our initial belief that they would be from NYC was wrong. The next victim was in Florida. The next in California. And so on and so forth. They also pick their targets at random, so we can never predict their next target,'' reported Maria.

''Great. The UN Security Council will love to hear this,'' Fury sarcastically remarked.

''Have they been giving you trouble, sir?,'' Maria asked.

''What do you think? The Phantom Thieves seem a corrupt politicians natural enemy. S.H.I.E.L.D is meant to secure earths survival, instead we are running around like headless chickens trying to clean their butt, because their corruption is finally catching up to them and being exposed to the world. And with us being forced to run such a tight ship now, we can't afford to allocate to many resources on this,'' Fury bit out.

''Then what will we do?,'' Maria asked.

''Simple. We ignore their orders. It's not the first time we've done this. They want us to treat this as a high priority, but we will treat this as a low priority,'' Fury explained.

''And who will we send?,'' Maria asked, understanding what low priority meant.

''Agent 13. She is not Black Widow. But she is the next best thing. We will give her full authorization to pursue this group,'' Fury explained, effectively making Agent 13 the leader of this operation.

''And should we find them, what will we do?,'' Maria inquired.

''The UN Security Council wants to make an example out of them, so that no one else threatens their hold on power. We on the other hand will recruit them. A power like theirs will be indispensable when interrogating someone,'' Fury explained.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Wanda wasn't completely sure if she would like it. But she decided to paint her nails with red polish. All of them were getting more lax around each other day by day. She was done with her nails and inspected them. 

''What do you think, Pietro?,'' Wanda asked.

''Looks good,'' he absentmindedly told her not looking away from his Switch.

Fine then. She will seek an answer from someone who actually cares. She stood up from the couch and walked past Sarah who was brushing and making Lauras hair.

Zero was typing away at his computer, probably his cyber security job.

''Is now a bad time?,'' Wanda asked.

''I'm good at multi tasking. Shoot,'' Zero replied. Wanda put his hands on the table so that he could see her fingers and nails.

''I'm not sure what to make off the red nail polish. What do you think? Does it look good?,'' Wanda inquired. She would appreciate it if SOMEONE would give her feedback, if it looked good or silly on her. She cast a quick glance at Pietro. No offense to the girls, but this was a guy question.

Zero did not turn his head, but he did stop typing for a few seconds.

''It looks good. The particular shade of red compliments your usual attire,'' Zero finally answered.

''Really? I was thinking about painting my toes as well, but I wasn't sure,'' Wanda conversed pleased.

''I wouldn't recommend it. Not only would it take up more time, but what is the point. You constantly wear socks or black stockings, so none will see your toes. Also, painting toes is more for special occasions. Like when you wear high heels at a party or the like,'' Zero gave his opinion, typing away.

''Oh. That is a valid point I think,'' Wanda disappointedly remarked. Pietro groaned, letting his hands with the Switch fall on his chest.

''Urgh. This is starting to get boring. When will that damn information broker of yours contact us for the next HYDRA base?,'' Pietro complained.

''Look. I told you, we worked faster then I usually did. By the time I was done my broker usually had something new for me. Just, stay calm for a bit. Tomorrow we can go train again. Alright?,'' Zero tried calming him down. Pietro groaned.

Sarah chuckled at their interaction. She definitely made the right choice not telling Laura about the X-Mansion. They were all eccentric, but the were definitely good people and more importantly good for Laura. She still had a long way to go, until all that damage to her gets undone, but slowly and surely they were getting there. This banter sometimes even dragged Laura into them.

''Well, until then I guess I can watch another episode of LoL. You guys want popcorn too?,'' Wanda asked, using her telekinesis to start moving things around in the kitchen. Sometimes, she liked involving herself personally when cooking. But with how frequently she watches the shows she was getting a little annoyed at the repetition of making popcorn.

She received three 'ayes', except from Zero.

''Can you make me a coffee instead, please. I'm getting a bit tired from all the coding,'' Zero requested. Wanda nodded and began moving more stuff in the kitchen.

----

Red wisps of light grabbed Zero by the coat. It moved at swift speeds and coiled like a snake around his head. Wanda held him in place as she started applying pressure on his helmet. His greatest strength was his access to his portals. So, ergo, remove his access to his portals. She couldn't take away abilities.

But she could definitely telekinetically grab hold of his clothes and lock him in place. She noticed that he can't move the portals themselves, so she attacked that limitation.

''I give,'' Zero said dangling in the air. Wanda let him down softly and then descended from the air as well. Zero uncoiled the coat from his head and adjusted it properly.

Then it was Pietros turn. It went a little something like this.

Sarah gave the go and before Zero could do anything he flew away from a punch from Pietro, then he changed direction as he was punched again and then a third time as well. At this point Pietro stopped punching him and juggling him in the air. It was just bullying. But it was Zero that said, he should use the momentum from his super speed to give stronger punches that the enemy couldn't react to. Thanks to Zeros and Sarahs tutelage, he could use his speed much more proficiently.

Zero approached the ground only to go through a portal and hover in the air. He picked himself up and made the portals smaller so that they would only touch ground with his shoes. Pietro looked up as Zero looked down. Each preparing for the next move. Zero sighed.

''I give,'' Zero huffed.

''What? Just like this? Come one, man,'' Pietro complained.

''No. Not, come on. You juggled me like a juggler. Besides with your reflexes getting faster and you processing the world at a slower speed, it will take three business day until my arm goes through a portal. Let alone touch you on the other side,'' Zero reasoned.

The fight between Zero and Laura was more what he was used. But, since they were obviously not trying to kill each other, Laura did not use her talons. Frankly, there wasn't much he could teach her. HYDRA did everything in their power to hone every one of her ability. He did however help her sharpen her skills, teach her how to fight a portaling dude and how to work with her instincts, instead of completely relying on it and getting dependent.

The three stood near each other and waited for Zeros assessment. He remained stubbornly silent. Sarah rolled her eyes.

''Just give them the compliments,'' Sarah told him.

''Fuck the compliments. It took me much longer to get where I am. Meanwhile they surpass me after a month of training. That is bullshit,'' Zero complained.

''Wasn't it you that said they had a much higher skill ceiling than you. Except Laura. No offense Laura,'' Sarah said. Laura grunted and nodded.

''Besides they had a very good teacher,'' Sarah finished. Zero sighed and untensed.

''Two good teachers. Also, sore loser,'' Pietro petulantly added and referred to Sarah. Zero gave a small chuckle.

''Yeah, yeah. I'm sorry. I reacted poorly on that. But yes, you did amazingly well. Laura there is not much I can add. Say what you want, but HYDRA trained you well. Continue to sharpen your skills. Pietro, you are getting faster and faster. Don't neglect your martial training just because you're that fast that your enemies can't see you. Never forget phasing, if you go past the sound barrier. Wanda well done. You fine tuned your abilities and got more creative with them. Remember, practically everything can be affected by telekinesis. Just, because I can't come up with something, doesn't mean you can't. Continue to explore your powers and find new ways to use them. 

With that being said, you surpassed me. Congratulations you three. Now go out into the world and cause mischief,'' Zero gave them the feedback. Sure he was powerful as his Zero persona, but as he has just seen there are ways around that. He genuinely tried his best in this sparring match, but it amounted to nothing, except with Laura. Even so that didn't mean she was weak. He looked a bit at her DNA because he wasn't that familiar with her from the comics. She can regenerate from a single cell. How does that work and where does all that material come from?

Fuck, if he knows, but she is definitely powerful. This bore further investigation.

Wanda rolled her eyes.

''Calm down. Even if we are more powerful than you now. You were the one that brought us here. And you are a good leader. So you will remain as such,'' Wanda assured him. She gave a quick elbow to Pietro when she noticed he was about to protest.Reluctantly he nodded alongside Laura.

''Aww, thanks guys. Your love is enough to make a grown man cry,'' Zero cooed before his voice hardened,'' But not this boy. Get back to training and honing your abilities.''

Wanda as scowled as Sarah chuckled. Fucking slave driver. They were all just having a moment too.

---

Wanda was sitting on the couch as Laura was lying in it. Laura forced herself to remain relaxed, as instructed. With Wanda having gotten so much better at telepathy she was approached by Sarah with a request. Sarah ran it by Laura first, before doing so.

Her request was simple. Remove the trigger scent from Lauras mind.

Wanda reluctantly agreed. She had no issue looking into someones mind and affecting it. But Laura was a friend and if something went wrong she could harm her.

Pietro and Zero stood on standby, just in case something went wrong. It took an entire day. And at times Laura growled almost unsheathing her talons. But she calmed her rage down. Wanda was forced to go through some particularly unpleasant memories to remove the trigger scent.

It took a while and by the end she was sweating both from the sheer concentration and fear she would harm her friend. Bur she did it. 

''Did it work?,'' Pietro asked carefully.

''Only one way to find out,'' Zero said, dropping a plate with rotten onions and bananas through his portal. Laura gagged, her strong nose being assaulted by the smell. She immediately grabbed the plate and threw it outside through the open window. The others were not much better. The smell was horrid, some of it also lingered in the living room now.

''Dude, you have no tact. It smells now, here,'' Pietro complained waving his hand before his nose.

''Perhaps. But that was the only way to test, if she was still affected by the trigger scent, though he could have done it outside instead of inside. Wanda I can not thank you enough for what you have done,'' Sarah said, grabbing the younger womans hands.

''Yes. Thank you,'' Laura agreed softly. She was happy no longer having that sword hang over her head and potentially threatening her friends.

Wanda blushed a bit a their praise. She looked up, when Zero gave her a head rub.

''You worked hard today. Go take a bath, you have been sweating a lot. I will make Gulash. Your favorite,'' Zero instructed her. She blushed a little at the display off affection. She appreciated it, but she wasn't a small child any longer.

''Not without me you don't. I like my Gulash in just the right way and you still can't make it how I like it,'' Wanda called back as she was making her way to the bathroom. Just like Zero liked making his favorite dish with his own hands, so too, did she. Part of making her favorite dish was the process itself as much as the taste.

---

''Let us go to Akihabara. You all kind off earned a reward for that hard training,'' Zero offered coming through a portal after exchanging money. Pietro immediately perked up.

''What is Akihabara?,'' Laura asked.

''Just the most popular part of Tokyo. Maid cafes, cosplay conventions, manga stores, food stores and heap of other stuff. I'm in. We are all going. No negotiations,'' Pietro explained and then demanded. Even if they don't up buying anything, the sights alone would have been worth it.

Wanda slammed a pillow telekinetically into his face. She knew her brother.

''Get your mind out of the gutter,'' Wanda demanded. He probably wanted to see the infamous maids dresses up in their maid attire.

''I heard good things about Akihabara. We should go. It would do you guys some good to relax every once in a while,'' Sarah concluded. But it was also a perfect opportunity for her.

Eventually they all agreed and they quickly went to dress in something nice.

''Must I wear this? It is more than I usually wear,'' Laura complained to her mother. She usually preferred wearing a simple tank top and leather pants with boots. But her mother insisted that she wear a nice white T-Shirt, a black leather jacket and black jeans with normal shoes. At least the jacket and pants were black, but she usually wore more black than this.

''You must. Now take a seat and apply some make up,'' Sarah demanded. Everything had to go well for her daughter. Laura wanted to protest, but eventually she relented seeing her mothers look. She wasn't stupid. Her mother was trying to play match maker. She could very well get a man for herself, damn it.

''You guys are done?,'' Zero asked still wearing his satin clothes and helmet. The rest of the group dressed really nice on the other hand.

''You are not serious,'' Pietro remarked. Zero shrugged.

After a portal they came out of an alley and after a short walk they entered the plaza. They took in the colors in awe. The explosive neon colors mashing really well with the environment.

''Great. This is exactly what I have been fearing,'' Pietro complained, when he noticed the people looking at them and casting glances.

''They are not looking at me. Even if they don't recognize who I am, these Otakus will think me 'cosplaying' someone. They are looking at you. You are the foreigners here. They are a little xenophobic like that, unless you're a tourist,'' Zero explained. Now that he could see the japanese people with his own eyes, it was no wonder that anime was so colorful and expressive. Despite some people standing out with their attires and cosplay, there were still enough people that dressed the exact same and were almost indistinguishable. 

Meh. No country was perfect. They were more or less the same when it came to xenophobia. Their culture, their problems, their consequences. He gave a mental shrug.

He quickly explained how the money system worked and how much it was worth before giving them all some money.

''But why? We didn't bust any more HYDRA bases. We did no job for you to pay us for. We don't want to leech and would be happy to just walk around,'' Laura asked. Even Pietro nodded with her, despite having no issue with taking something that was offered.

''I'm rich. I may not live off of 'daddies' money, but I earn a lot. Take the damn money and let me treat you all to a nice outing,'' Zero explained. Money could not buy happiness, but it very well could bring it, by giving you options. Options, in many forms, that could also take the form of making memories and having a nice time with your friends. He was a good judge of character. They were no gold diggers, they didn't ask and he offered. Matters closed as far as he was concerned.

Reluctantly they accepted the money. Sarah grabbed the opportunity and dragged the twins away, citing that she saw something the three of them would like.

Zero and Laura starred awkwardly after them. You were not subtle Sarah. 

''What do you want to do first,'' Zero said to break the awkward tension.

''I don't know. What do you want to do?,'' Laura replied. Zero sighed. This was gonna be a 'great' time. The problem was that she was still to delicate to reject. Still healing and coming in contact with her emotions, that she wouldn't take having her heart broken well. Well, so long as certain lines were not crossed, he had no trouble stringing her along for a bit.

Urgh.

Now he sounded like a piece of shit. 

As far as he was concerned he wasn't cheating. There was no flirting, no affectionate gestures involved (except of that between friends), and no physical interactions beyond a hug or a head pat. Matters closed.

''How about visiting a shrine?,'' Zero offered. 

They visited a shrine.

The people looked at them. Mostly Zero. He wore neither a kimono nor a nice suit. It was pretty disrespectful to their gods. At least he was no Logan Paul and seemed to follow proper etiquette and customs. He also seemed to be respectful not disturbing anyone.

Zero scratched something from his bucket list. Pray in at a Shinto shrine. The two of them clapped their hands in front of their faces. Then walked away.

''What did you wish for?,'' Laura asked.

''Your supposed to keep this a secret. Else your prayers won't be heard by the gods,'' Zero explained. Laura nodded seriously.

''So what now?,'' Laura asked.

''Why don't you tell me,'' Zero replied. Laura seemed to think for a bit before shaking her head.

''Fine. How about visiting a manga store?,'' Zero offered. 

They visited a manga store. 

They looked around for a bit. Laura wasn't completely familiar with all the different genres so she asked a lot of questions and Zero answered all of them. They got separated when Lauras attention was grabbed by something. She snuck away without Zero realizing and went to the second floor. After a bit of inspection she looked inside the mangas. There was no Zero to explain what the mangas where so she had to look for herself.

Oh. They were having sex.

She looked at the illustrations displayed in the manga. She was familiar with sex. The HYDRA base was teaching her about it and how to seduce her targets, should she ever need to. Thankfully they escaped from there, before they could do any physical training. So the training only went as far as theories.

Sarah was giving her some pointers. Apparently it would not be smart to apply those theories on Zero. Seduction and romance was very different. So she shouldn't undress in front of Zero and offer herself to him so easily. She really didn't understand all that her mother told her about romance, but these books seemed to know what they were talking about. It seemed to follow two people in highschool that were falling in love, culminating in love making eventually. She narrowed her eyes at all the different activities loving couples did.

Zero was waiting downstairs for her. Surely she would be flustered at seeing that stuff. That is precisely why he let her go upstairs when he noticed her trying to sneak away. When he saw her come down with several books he stilled.

Fuck.

Thankfully the cashier didn't let her buy them since she was a minor. Crisis averted.

''I'm hungry. Let's eat,'' Laura told him.

After some little more exploring they eventually met up with the other three. They were all hungry, so they quickly agreed to eat at a maid cafe. There was a bit of a debate going on if they should eat there or at a proper restaurant. But Pietro insisted.

Sarah and Laura excused themselves after talking between each other for a bit and told them that they will meet up at the maid cafe. They gotten familiar enough with the area to know where it is by now.

It was a ... novelty. Being serviced by these hyper enthusiastic maids. Wanda starred in disgust as Pietro was starring a lot at the womans legs and cleavage. Fucking creep, she thought with disappointment. At least he had the decency to mask it well enough that the woman didn't notice. She would know after all with her telepathy.

At least Zero seemed more composed. Though weather he did stare or not she couldn't tell, thanks to his helmet and her being unable to read his mind.

Soon the Kinneys came and they sat down with them. Sarah carrying a bag of books and looking strangely proud. Laura as usual was a blank face.

Zero cast a subtle glance at the books.

Sarah was insane. She was not normal in the head. Then again no one experimenting on children would be normal in the head. Who buys a minor hentai? Let us conveniently ignore the fact that porn is free on the internet and easy to access by any 13 year old.

That was improper. Why was she even so fixated in pushing Zero and Laura together? 

Zero moved past that issue and focused on eating. That was a problem for future him.

---

A week later after they visited Akihabara Zero came to them.

''Screw this. We don't need to wait around until my broker calls me, without doing anything. We can do something besides training. There was a Tsunami and earth quake in Japan. Let us go join the rescue efforts,'' Zero offered. The group looked at each other.

''You guys go ahead. By the time you will return I will have made some food for you all,'' Sarah offered.

''Fair warning. There will most likely be cameramen involved. You should disguise yourself if you care for your privacy,'' Zero offered taking out a few clothes. They looked at each other for a bit until finally...

''I don't really care if people know my powers, but being a celebrity would be annoying. Give me that,'' Wanda explained. The others as well took the disguises and masked their faces.

(A.N. Let your creativity do the work. Their disguise won't be permanent and I'm a little lazy.)

A portal hop later they came up in Japan. There was a lot of destruction. 

''So how do we do this?,'' Laura asked, the group looking at Zero.

''We are not here to cause an international incident. We will find the one responsible for the rescue effort, advertise our powers and then help,'' Zero said.

''What if they refuse? You know how the politicians are. It would look bad on them for accepting foreign help,'' Wanda countered.

''No politician worth their salt would deny our help. Their approval ratings would go through the sky for convincing enhanced people to quickly resolve the ongoing crisis. But if they are dumb enough to refuse our help, then we will help anyway.

What are they gonna do? Send the police or army after us? The cameras are rolling and if the people see us rescuing them and then getting attacked... Well, there is no quicker way to political suicide. Someone will be forced to resign in great shame from their position,'' Zero scoffed.

It was an easy thing finding the one responsible for the rescue efforts. Zero went and talked to the politician in japanese, after walking past the security. He can now talk and understand most languages. Thank you training clone.

After a short demonstration, they got the approval to help. Smart guy, that politician. 

Wanda lifted the debris with her telekinesis. She put people on the boats, pushed water back at certain spots so that it wouldn't be flooded as easily and no one trapped under debris would drown. She was kind of the MVP doing the most work.

Pietro was running around on water. His sheer speed allowing him to find people after checking in every corner.

Zero and Laura stuck together. Laura could swim but that would take to much time, so they tag teamed, lifting debris together and dropping people through the portal onto life boats.

The affected area by the tsunami and earth quake was big enough that there was enough for every one to do something.

The News helicopter captured most of the images and reported them on television. There were still people who died. But the death number was much smaller then the expected and speculated death toll.

There was some disapproval to that politician for accepting foreigners help. But most people approved of his actions for putting his pride aside and prioritizing peoples survival over anything else. His chances of reelection looked pretty good.

The rescue effort lasted a few days until the situation was under control. A reward was offered, but it was declined.

The team felt good for helping and so did Zero. But it wasn't completely altruistic. Friends of Humanity has recently gotten more active, they also gained in popularity. He went out of his way to track some of them down and read their minds. As expected, they didn't know who was a mutie or not, unless someone declared himself in possession of the X-Gene. Nor did they care, at least not most of them.

They were no more and no less different, then all the other fascist shit he had to endure in his life. They believed that mutants were meant to be lesser than them. WERE lesser then them. There was also a few other things involved like economic repercussions and etc, etc.

Their reasons were inconsequential, only that they existed and resulted in this bigotry. 

It wasn't much. A tiny drop in an ocean, really. But the world seeing enhanced people help out in the event of a natural catastrophe, was sure to put at least some obstacles in Friends of Humanity's movement.

Could he simply killed all of them? Sure.

But why jeopardize his own movement? He will kill them. In time of course.

All in due time.

---

Zeros phone pinged and he looked at he read the message. 

''Finally! I'll be back in a moment,'' Zero said leaving through a portal. The rest of the team, sans Sarah quickly changed into their battle attire. Zero came back after a while.

''Alright. We have two HYDRA bases. Let us go then,'' Zero ordered after he checked the USB files on his laptop.

...

It should go without saying that they just breezed through the HYDRA bases. All that training came in clutch.

''So, what does the terminal say,'' Pietro questioned, looking at the partially built mechanized construct. Zero was too focused to answer typing away. Guess it was more difficult to hack then the previous ones.

''This was called the Sentinel program. They were trying to create an adaptable mechanized construct that would scan and integrate any X-Gene so it would be the perfect Mutant exterminator,'' Zero finally told them.

''Wait, what? So X-Program and Weapon X were both trying to utilize the X-Gene and this one was trying to kill us all? That makes no sense,'' Wanda exclaimed.

''Of course it makes sense. HYDRA likes to present an unified front, but they are splintered. All these different groups have different ideas and goals on how they should go about world domination. It could also be that they were infiltrated by someone who hates mutants, that wants to use their resources to kill them all. It could also be that they are preparing to take over the world by appealing to the idiots like Friend of Humanity and others of their ilk,'' Zero explained.

''That is just great. I wonder where all those Mutants could be, though. Surely there must be a lot of them if they think they can ride anything on this matter,'' Pietro remarked.

''I heard caught snippets of a school somewhere that they have their eyes on. But I never caught anything more concrete than that,'' Laura added.

''So that is a dead end then. For now at least. Zero, will destroying this base put an end to this all?,'' Wanda asked. Zero typed away for a bit.

''No. They didn't get far enough in construction, because they couldn't find a means for the Sentinels to adapt the X-Gene. They also never put any names on this terminal, about who was constructing it and the like. I doubt that the leader was among those we killed to get here. Unless.... Pietro can you quickly go through all material documents while I look some more though the teriminal,'' Zero asked, though it was more phrased like an order. Pietro nodded and begun running going through all documents he could find.

Eventually both Zero and Pietro stopped looking and the girls paid attention to their findings.

''Nothing on my side,'' Pietro told them,'' All I found was schematics for the Sentinels construction and a few other things, but nothing more concrete than that.''

''Me neither. Whoever we are dealing with is more paranoid and careful than your usual HYDRA leader. The only thing I could verify is that this is not the only base they are building them. I caught snippets of them among these files, so who knows how many there are,'' Zero told them.

''Isn't that just great. So we will definitely encounter them again in the future. Fantastic,'' Wanda celebrated sarcastically, hiding her worry for her brother and Laura. She may not be affected but these two were going to be targeted by this plot.

''Yup. Anyway let us destroy everything here and explore the other one,'' Zero said, bringing out the bombs from his portals.

...

The four of them arrived back home. The second one was even more off a bust then the first one. It was completely abandoned, the terminal wiped and neither guards or documents in sight. All they found was a incubation pod meant to freeze someone. Wanda didn't know how the HYDRA agents got spooked, since they did nothing to tip them off.

Zero starred off a bit in the distance. He knew about the Sentinels. But as for the second base he was kind of stumped. There were definitely people present when he checked the first time and they definitely shouldn't have caught him snooping, so what was going on. He narrowed his eyes behind his helmet. Time to launch a full blown investigation behind the scenes.

---

And so it was that months passed. They either trained, hang out somewhere in the world, helped out somewhere in the world or just hang out at home for movie nights. They didn't raid another base, since the two last ones, though his 'information broker' was still looking.

He found out a few things in his investigations. Some guy he didn't know about before coming here. Some idiot named Mr.Sinister has been going aro....

He mentally snickered.

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

The cringe. Wooh, boy. Not that he has any right to talk, but oh well.

Nah, he is gonna call him Nathaniel Essex.

Although, maybe he shouldn't diss the guy too much. The only reason he is so gutsy in mocking him is, because Zero is a reality warper. Say what you want, but Essex isn't weak. Telepathy, Telekinesis, Energy Blasts, Molecular manipulation, Super Intellect, A Super Enhanced Body. Oh, Zero already came up with a shit ton off ways to kill him, but he was powerful, there was no mistaking that. And he knew how to use his ability as well.

Anyway.

The idiot was a Social Darwinist. Survival of the fittest. Because of course he was. He has been manipulating events behind the scenes to achieve his various goals. One of them is him going around as Nathaniel Essex, Scotts therapist and manipulating him to try and get him together with Jean to make some kind of next gen baby.

Which, cool, Zero guessed, rolling his eyes. Why he didn't use telepathy to just mold Scotts brain he didn't know, but apparently it was better this way, that stupid guys brain argued. 

He even made a perfect clone of Jean named Madelyne Pryor and kept her the same age as Scott in the event Jean dies. He moved every two weeks from his current hideout, because of course the guy was paranoid. He stopped reading his mind at some point. The guy was a bag of crazy cats and his drivel was contrived and unintuitive in his humble opinion.

All that mattered was that he had a new plaything, until he kills it at least. That guy was absolutely his enemy.

He didn't share the news with the others and quietly kept the information to only himself.

Right now they all just kind of sat around and occupied themselves with their owns thing. Pietro with his Switch. Wanda moved on from LoL and watched another show. Sarah and Laura spent time in their rooms reading the hentai they bought. Sarah had a few screws loose. And he read a book.

There was a sudden knock on the door and the three of them in the living room shared a look. That was definitely not the postal service.

Zero went to the door, part ways relaxing as he checked with his magical senses who it was. Sarah and Laura came into the living room, when Laura heard the knock. They all tensed as they pushed Sarah behind their back.

Opening the door, he saw who he was waiting for, for the past months.

A bald guy in a chair two other adults and two teenagers looked at him.

Fucking finally.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

''Congratulations, you're a god now,'' Stan congratulated. Papis Pizzeria was closed now and they have been talking for quite a while.

Bell rolled his eyes. He still had some way to go before being the strongest in the universe. He also didn't have any issues with Stan not warning him about what happens when a black hole dies. Sure he may not read his mind, but he can feel what is going on around him. Excelsior, be better and be yourself, just be ready to bear the consequences of your choices.

Turns out Time worked a little similar to Steins Gate. Instead of your consciousness however, it was your body that moved and you just ceased to exist, cursed never to return to your original world. So when the time stone does its thing, it is not actually looking in the past or in the future. Instead it draws in knowledge from parallel universes. But you could turn back time on a person or object, you were just killing or destroying the same object in a parallel universe. So (Semi) Time Travel to the past was possible on persons or objects, but not actual Time Travel itself.

As for the Soul it was even simpler. It was just the vessel of the mind and the connection between the mind and the body. All living beings had it. There can be a body without a soul, but there is no mind without a soul as well.

Not that this knowledge matters now anyway

As it turns out ROB DID lie to him. He was a fully fledged reality warper. He also had infinite energy now, because he just could generate it himself. He still did not want Stans throne.

...

Bastard played a prank on him.

THUD.

A VERY heavy fridge landed on top of him. With some considerable effort he got himself out of it.

''What did you do?,'' Stan asked, fascinatingly inspecting the fridge.

''I insulted the one that gave me my powers. Now at least I know that he still watches. I guess I'm still entertaining him. Surprisingly,'' Bell guessed.

''That seems like a particularly foolish thing to do. Also I'm keeping the fridge. It is something truly unique that I have never seen before. It is novel. Clearly something created outside of the multiverse cluster,'' Stan took the fridge with some effort and replaced it with his current one.

''Knock yourself out,'' Bell calmly replied.

''Why did you insult your benefactor though?,'' Stan asked coming back and repairing the damage to the floor with a wave of his hand.

''Turns out I am a fully fledged reality warper. I just needed to think with a different state of mind. If that makes any sense. Something inhumane. I did not need to study up all the different scientific laws,'' Bell hung his head and sighed.

''I mean, look at it this way. Now you know where your limits reside, because you know what doing one thing can cause what. So you can go completely crazy, but you shouldn't. I mean look at the mess some of the other reality warpers are causing throughout the multiverse. It is a damn mess.

So actually he may have been teaching you about responsibility,'' Stan speculated. Bell sighed but said nothing else on the matter.

No Stan, you didn't meet the guy. It was definitely a prank. Also it made no sense to teach him responsibility and then demand chaos and entertainment.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Time flew by and months passed. The trio trained and made upgrades to their equipment. Before long their final exams where here and they aced them all with perfect score.

Huzzah.

Bell lied down face first on Gwens bed. He groaned as his back gave a crack.

''Can you go a little more down in the middle?,'' Bell requested. When Gwen moved her hands again Bell gave a bigger groan. Gwen may not be an expert in giving a massage, but all the same she was good enough to make it pleasant.

''Someone is enjoying himself,'' Gwen joked.

''There is too much sexual pretext in that sentence. You are just giving me a massage to the back. Nothing more,'' Bell hastily explained. Gwen rolled her eyes. Great Bell. thanks for making it weird.

''Anyway. Now that summer break has begun, you want too visit Aunt May at F.E.A.S.T with Peter in a few days? He wants to help her a little with the tasks around her,'' Gwen asked, kneading the muscles between his shoulder blades a little. There was a small blush present on her face at touching Bell somewhat intimately. He had a nice build. A somewhat athletic one. Not like those body builders. She liked his build and was glad to have offered him a massage.

''Sure. Sure,'' Bell agreed into her blanket. It smelled like strawberry and was very pleasant.

''No bullying the homeless Bell,'' Gwen requested.

''Who do you take me for? I won't do something like this,'' Bell scoffed. Shit, she saw right through him.

Gwen did not believe him. He was gonna bully the homeless anyway. She could try to convince him more, not to do it, but she knew he wouldn't kick them or cause any kind of harm. More like he was gonna be a tempest and sweep everyone around making their head turn dizzy. So she gave up.

''Wanna go on a date?,'' Bell offered.

''We kind of went on a lot of dates the past few months. I think we advanced enough in our relationship that we don't need that anymore,'' Gwen argued.

''I wasn't aware our relationship was transactional or followed the progression of a RPG leveling system. But sure, guess I can stop putting effort and take our relationship for granted,'' Bell shot back turning his head to look at her. Gwen rolled her eyes. Fine then. They will go on a date.

''Alright, let us go on a date then,'' Gwen agreed. Bell pushed himself up trying to stand up.

''Sweet. I already have something planned,'' Bell said only to be pushed back into the bed by Gwen.

''Did you make reservations or something,'' Gwen asked. 

''Uh, no,'' Bell replied a little confused.

''Then we can do it another time. This time I will be the one inviting you on a date. Surely you will accept,'' she teased. Bell turned his head and raised an eyebrow.

''Sure then,'' Bell agreed, being curious about what she planned.

---

She requested him to put on a blindfold and remain on a roof top until she came for him. He was sitting for a while, until finally she came back. The smell of pizza entering his nose. There was some rustling of clothes before she lifted his blindfold from his eyes.

They sat on the ledge eating the pizza as Bell starred at the bridge. Giant letters webbed in between the suspension hangers could be seen from multiple parts off the city.

I love you.

''Really? That is kind of corny,'' Bell said a little bashful.

''With some of the other stuff you did for our dates, THIS is were you draw the line and call it corny? Just tell me the damn words back,'' Gwen joked. Though she was a little serious as well. She firmly believed if someone said 'I love you' then the significant other needed to say it back.

''Hm? Oh yeah, the words,'' Bell took a bite from his slice of pizza.

Gwen waited patiently, a little eager. It always caused a warm fuzzy feeling in her chest when he said the words.

''What words?,'' Bell asked confused. Gwen deflated, but remained otherwise calm. She wasn't gonna give him the satisfaction. She took a bite from her own slice off pizza. So what if pizza wasn't the most romantic dish, all that mattered was that they both enjoyed it and had a good time. Wait. That reminds her that they did eat a lot of pizzas on their dates. Her favorite food. 

That settles it. Next time she is gonna make him spaghetti bolognese. Maybe she could even ask Aunt Melina for her recipe. She still misses her mothers cooking. Even the pizzas she made tasted infinitely better than any other pizza Gwen had. Was it the nostalgia or was it the knowledge somebody you hold special to you made it for you? She will find out when she makes Bell his dish.

Anyway. 

Two can play that game.

She did not press him to tell her the words. She had another plan in mind. 

She took her handy out and ignored him. Bell narrowed his eyes. She has been only getting better at not giving him the cute reactions he wanted from her. 

''So which one of them is Wanda? That guy in black clothes and helmet is your puppet clone, right? It must be the one flying in the air and lifting the debris with her telekinesis,'' Gwen said conversationally and turned her phone showing him a video. She had seen this video a month ago but hadn't yet the opportunity to address him on that.

''Yeah, it is the flying girl,'' Bell confirmed taking another bite of his slice of pizza.

''She has a nice figure. Is her face pretty as well,'' Gwen asked loftily. Bell starred for her a bit.

''Objectively, yes,'' Bell offered.

''And personally?,'' Gwen asked turning her head. Bell was starting to get amused.

''Personally, also yes,'' Bell answered shamelessly. Gwen stiffened. Yeah, you still have much to learn padawan, if you want to fluster him.

''Well, I suppose that makes sense. You are a reality warper. She is a reality warper. You two are a match made in heaven. Tell me a bit about her,'' Gwen said not turning her head.

''She constantly occupies the TV and watches her stupid soap operas or shows, assuming she doesn't want or need to do anything else. She cooks quite well, I have tasted her cooking a few times. She comes from Sokovia, so she has some traditional values. She has a brother, who spends most of his time on the Switch, but only because he perceives the world so slowly around us. He gets bored easily. Despite her being stronger then him, he seeks to constantly protect her. She comes to ask me about her looks a few times and listens to my opinion,'' Bell rattled off, completely pleased when he elicited a reaction from her. She slowly turned her hand into a fist. He knew how to play a love sick full who hasn't realized it yet. The little annoyances that you will miss when she is gone.

''Then go date her,'' Gwen scowled and stood up. She was trying to runaway when Bell grabbed her by the hand.

''Let go, Bell,'' Gwen demanded. Bell dragged her into an embrace though she didn't resist much and he rubbed her back.

''Don't be a sore loser. Yes she is a good friend, but I have no feelings for her. It is kind of your own fault for suppressing your cute reactions and then trying to beat me at my own game,'' Bell whispered in her ear. She softly punched his stomach.

''Look at you being a professional gaslighter. So it is all my fault. Why do you even want me to react at your teasing so much?,'' Gwen huffed calming her jealousy down. Bell moved his head from her ear and looked her in the eyes softly caressing her cheek.

''Put on your blindfold,'' he suddenly said, conjuring a blindfold and offering it to her. With no hesitation she tied the blindfold around her eyes.

...

''Untie the blindfold,'' Bell whispered, her ears easily picking up the sound. She did so and jumped up in fright, only to slowly descend back to the ground, dust getting softly kicked up. She looked around her, taking in the sight and her heart slowly calming down when she realized she wasn't dying. Then again her spider sense did not get off, so she kind off wanted to kick herself for her over reaction

Then again was it really an over reaction when one finds himself in space, on the moon?

''How are we not dying? Wait you explained it to me on our first date. Is that it?,'' Gwen asked skipping back to Bell since she distanced herself when she jumped away initially.

''I have progressed in my training sufficiently enough. I will it and it happens,'' Bell explained forthcomingly.

Better to give her the impression that he trained himself to this point.

No reason to explain or go into detail about his self discovery journey to reach greater heights.

Funny.

Others lose family, experience great hardship or utilize the power of friendship.

Meanwhile he finds out he got pranked and essentially became god.

Story of his life.

''I love you. And I'm possessive and greedy. I want to see EVERY part of you. Something that is only mine to see and experience. Of course I'm not a tyrant so if you want I will, reluctantly, let you go, but until then I will drive you up the walls,'' Bell said softly, his eyes starring unwavering in hers, looking down at Gwen as he put a hand on the back of her head. Gwen blushed fiercely at that wish, her just squeezing in a pleasant way as she slowly found her hands around his back. Then she couldn't help herself.

''All parts of me? You know that the process itself of me not giving you what you want and either succeeding or failing is also a part of me giving you a part of me to experience,'' Gwen smugly said. Bell starred at her surprised at her audacity. Then he threw his head back and laughed with giddiness until finally he slammed his lips on her. Gwen was surprised but she returned it just as enthusiastically. They found themselves lying on the ground soon enough, Bell getting more affectionate and starting to nibble and kiss her on the neck. 

Gwens hands were interlocked with Bells hands above her head. Bell gave a small suck on her neck leaving behind a small hickey. Her heart was starting to hammer in her chest. By now they have been together for a few months, but surely it was still to early. She wasn't completely sure. Bell locked her hands in a cross and held them in place with one of his hand. The other one slowly trailed his finger tips over her skin. The tips barely touching her as they tickled her. Along her forearm, her biceps, the side of her chest and her waist until they arrived at her hips. They slowly snuck beneath her T-Shirt and grabbed her by the waist firmly. His thumb rubbing her soft abs as shivers went down her spine from the pleasant feeling.

Just as suddenly as he snuck his hand under her T-Shirt he pulled it away and adjusted her T-Shirt to make her decent. He rolled on his side and crossed his arms behind his head, calmly looking at earth, masking the sheer turmoil of emotions inside his body. She had no idea what she was doing to him.

With some disappointment Gwen looked at him. Though she mostly felt pride in her feminine charms. He was doing a good job at masking his emotions, but she could see she aroused him.

She grabbed one of Bells arm and stretched it out so she could put her head on his shoulder as a pillow. She gave him a side ways hug as they both observed earth.

''You know what this reminds me off?,'' Gwen opened up the subkect.

''Cyberpunk Edgerunners?,'' Bell answered, swallowing his final frustrations down.

''Well, that too. I guess it is a little romantic. I was more thinking about The Eagle from Apollo 11,'' Gwen said awed, now that she has calmed down. 

''A 'little' romantic? Some people can't be pleased,'' Bell scoffed, closing his eyes.

''A small step for a man, a giant leap for mankind. To think some people would denounce the moon landing as fake and deny themselves this sight and the wonder of space. I can finally see why some people are so fascinated with space. It really is beautiful,'' Gwen said in wonder, but slightly smiling at his annoyance.

''Call them what they are. Idiots. Are you considering a career change?,'' Bell asked. For awhile Gwen said nothing, merely starring at mother earth.

''No. I still want to become a genetic engineer,'' Gwen affirmed.

Bell hummed.

''Did you really have to blow my gesture out of the water? Not even for a day? I went through a lot of effort to make those letters as well,'' Gwen whined, softly tapping Bells chest.

''No,'' Bell told her.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

Well at least it was more than worth it having her efforts thwarted.