The world was paused in time, my form being the only bit of motion in it as I raced across the world and came to a stop in front of the Eiffel Tower.
My sudden appearance draw gasps from those that noticed, but I ignored them and stared up at the pristine tower in front of me. With a step, I was gone, taking myself to the Great Wall of China and running along it.
'No damage,' I thought as I picked up speed, covering half of the world in the blink of an eye and stopping at the top of one of the pyramids.
There was no damage other than that left by the passing of time and my frown deepened before I continued.
Every spot that Kang and I clashed and destroyed were spots that I checked out and every time, I found nothing but pristine land that didn't look like they were fixed or patched up in the past four years.
I could feel the panic clinging to my chest, but forced it back, instead rushing out of the Grand Canyon and shooting through the western area of the USA.
It did not take me more than a few seconds to come to a stop inside one of the many alleyways of San Francisco, but I was not focused on the people's shouts coming from the streets as I slid down against the wall.
'Stay calm, Pietro. Stay calm,' My heart was beating in my chest and I felt my breathing getting heavy with every exhale, but I had to stay calm.
So what if this was four years from where I was last in the world? So what if this might be a completely different timeline or universe? I couldn't do anything if I didn't keep calm.
I needed to stay calm. Wanda and the others needed me to stay calm.
"Okay, it's just like a timeline jumping episode. All I have to do is stay calm and..." My eyes focused on the wall in front of me as a familiar orange doorway opened and a masked figure dressed in black armour with orange accents stepped through.
He was not the only one as two others stepped through the doorway as well, their faces not obscured and their eyes locked onto me as I rested my head against the wall.
"Great, and now the TVA are here. I assume I'm getting put back into a cell or pruned?"
"No, we are here for Kang's corpse," the leader, who sounded masculine, replied, making me furrow my brow as I focused on him.
"Kang? Well, that's going to be hard as I kind of need him to get back to my universe."
"It's of no concern. Our companions have already t-" The world slowed as I vanished from the alleyway, racing to the shore only to find nothing but panicking civilians frozen in time.
Janet, Hank, Scott, Hope and Luis were there, but the lab was shrunken down and there was no body for me to see. Just the looks of concern and panic on their faces as the orange doorway of the TVA was but a smudge in the air.
"Shit," I cursed as I turned around and raced back to the alleyway, appearing in the entrance right as the doorway behind the three in the alley closed.
"Open that."
"Why?"
"Open it before I take one of your gadgety gauntlets and do it myself."
"If you're looking to head back to your timeline, you will find it pruned," the leader replied and I did not miss how the other two tensed while grabbing at the rods holstered at their hips.
"Take your hands off. I could take those away before you can even think of activating them," I spoke, looking back at the leader whose masked face turned towards me. "Well, if it's pruned, I can just go back in time to the point where it deviated and live my life out from there."
"You could, but then we would have to prune the timeline again, causing trillions to die yet again. Do you wish to have that blood on your hands?" I didn't reply as I stared at the leader, crouching down and resting my face in my hands.
"The Multiverse is a delicate machine, Mr. Maximoff. Your battle with that Kang variant was a massive anomaly and killing him the way you did caused a 'Nexus Event' so volatile it put the entire Sacred Timeline at risk of collapse. We could not risk that, not after the last time."
'Last time? Ah, right. The Loki show,' I thought, looking at the man who reached up and took off the helmet. My eyes widened as silver-grey hair popped out and fell to his shoulders, grey eyes having a hint of nostalgia and bemusement in them as they stared at me.
"Well, shit," I murmured, staring at my older variant who gave a bow of his head.
"I know what you wish to return to, Pietro. I really do, but the path you wish to run on is gone," My variant spoke and I didn't miss the hint of trauma flashing across his face. "You're survived the pruning and you survived the Quantum Realm. That shows that you're here for a reason. That and, the higher-ups informed me to tell you that since your variant here is dead and as a Nexus Being yourself, you are fully tethered to this universe alongside your sister."
"Thus, no branch in the timeline?" I asked, shaking my head as the man nodded. "You know that I'm going to be making sure he doesn't win this time, right?"
We both knew who I meant and O. Pietro just smiled and nodded, "It would fit your narrative and thus, the story as a whole. Goodbye, Pietro Maximoff, and enjoy your life this time instead of fixing every problem by yourself."
With that said, O. Pietro put his helmet back on and pressed a button on the interface on his right gauntlet, a Temporal Doorway opening behind them.
The three stepped through and my eyes closed as it shut behind them, taking a deep breath before exhaling softly with a nod.
"Enjoy your life this time instead of fixing every problem by yourself," his words rang through my ears, drawing a chuckle from my lips as I stood up and pushed my hands into my pockets.
'No more 'Throughout Heaven and Earth, I alone am the Honoured one' shit,' I thought as I stepped forward, time pausing as I ran through the streets and reappeared in another alleyway.
Ghost spun around along with whom I vaguely remember as the guy who could grow tall like Ant-Man, his eyes wide as I smiled and nodded in greeting.
"You're not going to take me in, are you?" Ghost asked and I noticed her British accent before I shook my head.
"Nah, it's too much work and officially, I'm supposed to be dead."
"How is that by the way? I've been 'dead', but I've never actually been...dead," she spoke, drawing a bewildered look from the Laurance Fishburne lookalike as I shrugged.
"Pretty good to be honest. Just spoke to the time police and they said that I'm okay to stay in this timeline."
"And you don't miss your loved ones in the other timeline?"
"A lot, yeah, but mourning and grieving them would be much better than destroying the time police, going back in time and experiencing it all over again."
"Ah, I get that."
"Would someone please explain what's going on?!" the man finally broke, to which Ghost and I looked at each other before I gestured to her.
"You can tell him. Also, the police are going to be covering the area near the harbour first for the next...half-hour before they spread out their search area. Start on running away."
"Will do," Ghost spoke as she gave a sharp appreciative nod, grabbing the still confused man by his arm before she stopped for a moment, "and thank you, speedster. Perhaps, we will meet again in the future."
"I wouldn't mind. You are cute," I said with a wink and I caught a flicker of amusement flashing over her face before the two of them ran out of the alleyway and intermixed with the crowd.
Time slowed as I stepped into the street, staring at their slowly moving forms before I turned and raced towards where I last saw Scott and the others.
"Sweet Jesus!" Scott jumped and clutched at his heart with a yelp as I stopped next to him, Luis doing the same while the Pym-Van Dyne family looked relieved at me.
"Uh, I don't know how to tell you this, though, but some people-"
"-came through and took Kang's body? Don't worry, I know of them and there's nothing you could do."
"What are they, actually? And what was the technology they used?" Hank asked, to which I chuckled and shook my head.
"If I told you, the entire timeline and universe could come crumbling down. Just know that they are what you would call a police force that governs the time-space continuum of the Multiverse."
"The Multiverse is real?" Hank asked, but I just gave a smile in response before turning to Janet.
"You guys can escape from here, right?"
"Yep, we can. What about you?"
"I think I'm going to go see someone whom I hope remembers me," I replied, looking into the far east where I felt a familiar hint of chaotic energy rippling.
It's much more untamed than before, but I guess it's good that I can still sense her no matter what version I'm dealing with.
"I see. Well, thank you for your help," Janet spoke as she held a hand out, which I shook with a smile before nodding to the others.
"Ant-Man, Wasp, it was nice to help you two."
"Hey, you saved us from a long fight that might have made me sprain a muscle. We are thankful to you," he replied and I waved with a smile, the world slowing as I took off.
Racing across the U.S.A. at a moderate pace instead of full speed was much more relaxing than one would think, my legs carrying me forward and through several environments before my eyes caught sight of a butchery to my right.
My stomach decided to remind me of its existence right at that moment with a loud rumble, to which I paused before giving a shrug and rushing towards it.
After all, a few pieces of meat won't fuck up someone's income that much, right?
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The chilling yet comforting cold winds of Edinburgh blew over my body as I sat outside a cafe drinking an espresso, one of almost twelve that I've had since I arrived in the city.
My eyes were elsewhere, focused on the couple across the street as the brown-haired woman laughed at something the man who held her hand spoke with a soft smile.
To most, they would seem like any ordinary couple, but it was the flickers of chaos radiating from her body and yellow hue clinging to his forehead that told me otherwise.
Her eyes seemed to look past him and caught mine, Wanda's eyes widening for a brief moment as she paused. Vision himself looked confused as she came to a standstill, looking over at where she was looking.
"Oh dear," I read his lips whisper, his eyes looking back at Wanda who slowly walked over. I didn't say or do anything other than take a sip as the two of them crossed the street, watching as they entered the cafe and came back out the door that led to the seating area I was in.
"Hello ther-" I stood up and sat on the railing blocking off the tables from the rest of the street as a flash of red missed me, Wanda's head snapping to me as I smiled and pushed off it.
"We've been waiting for you. Now you are here," I sang softly in Sokovian, her eyes widening and the magic around her fingertips ceasing as I walked closer. "More perfect than I imagined. Our house is now a home (our house is now a nest). No matter where you go..."
"Sunlight shines on you," she finished, her voice shaky as her fingertips caressed my face. "Pietro?"
"Hello, sister," I whispered, letting out a soft chuckle as her arms wrapped around my neck and she pulled me tight. I could feel her shaking and her muffled sobs against my neck, forcing my own tears back as I hugged her tightly.
"Y-You...you..."
"I know, sister. We'll talk more on that later," I whispered, Wanda pulling back with a beautiful smile filled with emotion.
"Okay," she nodded and my eyes then turned to Vision, whose soft smile grew a bit strained as I narrowed my eyes at him.
"So, you're dating my little sister, huh?"
"Leave Vision alone," she swatted my chest, though it was much softer than usual nor did she let go of my arm around her shoulder as Vision cleared his throat and stepped forward.
"Last we met, it was years ago and I do believe that...how do I put this?"
"Let's not worry on the technicalities. Like I said. I'll tell you all about this later, beginning with how I'm here and not dead," I replied and that seemed to appease him as he nodded.
Truthfully, I was overjoyed that he even persisted with the questioning. If he's dating my sister, or at least a variant of her, and he's that protective of her, then I don't have to worry for anything else.
"You feel...different," Wanda spoke as she finally stepped back, her eyes narrowed at my chest before they widened as I raised a hand and showed off the chaos energy aura coursing around it.
"Maybe we should have that talk now instead of later. Coffee?"
A/N: And we end it here! Truthfully, not sure what to write about once the whole Thanos thing is over. I mean, I have something for the Kang council and for Doom, but I'm already thinking of an ending.
Next chapter: Explanation.
A s always, read, enjoy, review and until the next one...
Ba-bye~!