After receiving the vibranium, Speed was equally astonished by its molecular structure.
Unlike conventional metals, Wakandan vibranium possessed a unique lattice capable of absorbing and redistributing kinetic energy at the atomic level. Its energy-storage threshold was extraordinarily high, though not limitless.
Speed immediately began constructing a new body for himself using the refined vibranium Karl had brought back. He also planned to redesign his frame architecture and upgrade his weapon systems accordingly.
Karl had long ago converted one of the manor's large warehouses into a dedicated fabrication facility for Speed. It contained Stark Industries' decommissioned weapons, advanced machining systems, and high-capacity power units.
Over the next several days, Speed worked continuously.
Meanwhile, Karl remained home preparing for Christmas with May and Raven.
Since receiving the serum, May looked radiant. Her youthful vitality made Peter and the others stare in disbelief at first, but they quickly accepted it. After everything they had seen, rejuvenation no longer seemed impossible.
They were simply happy for her.
Raven spent most of her time refining her abilities.
Her electromagnetic control — copied from Magneto's genetic template — required practice. While she could replicate his ability signature after transforming into his form, her mastery was limited by her own experience and cellular endurance.
She trained daily, learning to sense magnetic fields, manipulate metal particles, and generate localized electromagnetic pulses.
Unlike Magneto, who possessed decades of control and raw power, Raven's version required deliberate focus.
Still, she was progressing.
And she was smiling more than ever.
Regaining a stable human form while retaining her mutant evolution had lifted a burden she had carried for decades.
Juggernaut, meanwhile, spent his days racing the reinforced SUV through rural terrain.
Speed had upgraded the vehicle with high-tensile alloys and adaptive suspension systems — not vibranium, as Karl had explicitly forbidden that.
If the car were indestructible, Cain would lose interest.
Instead, the vehicle was built with top-tier commercial-grade materials — strong, but breakable under extreme force.
Cain routinely smashed through forests, dirt mounds, and abandoned structures.
When the SUV inevitably fell apart, a Shadow Ninja transported both him and the wreckage back to the manor.
Speed would repair and improve it.
This cycle had unexpectedly strengthened their bond.
Karl had planned it that way.
A sense of belonging was more powerful than force.
The Wakandan Reconnaissance
BOOM—
Raven suddenly rushed into the main hall.
"Karl! There's something in the air above the manor!"
Her electromagnetic senses had detected an anomalous vibranium signature — faint but distinct.
Karl immediately extended telekinesis upward.
He felt it.
A cloaked aircraft.
Wakandan stealth technology relied on vibranium-based light-bending arrays and magnetic distortion fields, rendering the craft invisible to radar and optical detection.
But vibranium still carried an electromagnetic signature.
Together, Karl and Raven pulled the aircraft down.
Juggernaut and Yelena arrived moments later.
As the cloaking field destabilized, the sleek Wakandan stealth craft became visible — compact, angular, and entirely constructed from vibranium composite.
Karl understood instantly.
Wakanda had begun investigating.
He dismantled the hatch using telekinesis and reached inside.
Two Wakandan operatives.
Likely War Dogs or royal reconnaissance agents.
He restrained them telekinetically and extracted them.
"Secure them," Karl said calmly to Yelena.
Juggernaut cracked his knuckles, but Karl did not want unnecessary fatalities.
Yelena efficiently disarmed and restrained the operatives, binding them with reinforced restraints and gagging them before moving them to an isolated room.
Karl turned to Speed.
"The aircraft is yours. Study it. Reverse-engineer what you can."
Speed's optical sensors flickered brightly.
"Understood, boss. Wakandan propulsion technology uses vibranium harmonic resonance engines. It will be… educational."
Karl nodded.
"How long until your new body is complete?"
"Structural assembly is finished. Transfer can begin tomorrow at noon. I will require your assistance."
The construction had consumed twenty metric tons of vibranium.
Even Karl paused slightly at that number.
"Tank," Karl said, turning to Juggernaut, "stay here tomorrow."
Cain grinned.
"Fight?"
Karl didn't answer directly.
But the implication was clear.
Later, Karl sat in the living room with Raven in his arms.
May had gone to pick up the children from school.
He considered bringing Tony into the situation — but Tony's palladium toxicity was already at a dangerous level. Escalation with Wakanda could complicate matters.
He would handle this himself.
The Transfer
The next day, Karl entered Speed's fabrication facility.
Before him stood the completed vibranium body.
Nearly nine meters tall.
Humanoid in structure, reinforced with layered vibranium armor plating and integrated weapon ports.
The surface shimmered faintly under warehouse lighting.
Speed lay on a reinforced platform beside it.
"Boss," Speed said, "when I disengage my core processor, you must transfer it into the new chassis within three seconds to prevent cascade memory loss."
Karl frowned.
"Don't we need data cables? Stabilizers? Something?"
"No physical interface required. My AI core is modular. You only need to relocate it."
Karl exhaled slowly.
Speed's cranial housing opened.
Inside was a compact, luminous blue quantum-processing core suspended in synthetic coolant — a hybrid Stark-era AI matrix heavily modified by Speed's own evolution.
"Trust you?" Karl muttered.
"Yes, boss. I trust you."
The coolant field began to drain.
The core disengaged.
…
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