TGS - #68

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Birnin Zana, Wakanda [October 2014]

–Jack Sullivan–

Well, it was nice of them to vacate the entire meeting room. He'd hate to deal with more people than absolutely necessary. The more people knew about Wanda, the riskier the entire thing became.

He could still remember the blank vacant gazes of all the Avengers, sans Bruce, as they tried to attack him haphazardly. 

One thing that continued to gnaw at him about the encounter in Avengers Tower was the utter lack of planning for it. It was as if she just ordered them to attack him, and that's it. Either her mind control robbed the target of their ingenuity and made them take the backseat in their own mind or she just purposely robbed them of the ability of using their abilities at the highest level.

Tony, for example, could have taken control of the vast amount of weaponry hidden in the walls of the Tower, or the Captain could have taken position with the Shield ready to decapitate him. Barton could have hidden himself at a vantage point.

He truly did not know what had entered her mind to not just attack Avengers Tower but also take down Jarvis with it, and then escape with the Hulk. 

The Hulk was the one person whose mind control could not be silenced. The avatar of Rage would simply shrug off the mind haze, increasing his rage in a way that all other emotions would simply slide off his mind, leading to a scene of absolute devastation.

But when he came to the Tower, Bruce was nowhere to be seen. It was as if he was targeted somehow, or maybe he was neutralised first and then taken because he was the most dangerous of the lot and she wished to deprive the Avengers of one of its strongest members?

"Now, I assume that the Earth itself is in danger for you to be running around the globe with panicked desperation that I had not expected to see in someone of your powers," T'Chaka intoned as he sat on the throne, with T'Chaka standing at his side.

He had to hand it to these guys, they did things with style. The subtle shadows in the room made the empty room feel much tenser than it was.

As for T'Chaka's question, "You are correct, King T'Chaka. As of 3 hours ago, I encountered an entity that had no place existing at this point in time. Capable of mass mind control, telekinesis, cyber interfacing, and all around reality warping, it would not be wrong to say that the individual is currently the most dangerous human on the planet."

He nodded after seeing the father son Black Panther duo pale when he mentioned reality warping as one of Wanda's powers.

I assume you have satellite footage of my actions taken in Novi Grad?

"Yes but the strange red land is hardly enough evidence to declare someone of warping reality as we know it," T'Chaka said, skeptical of his claims and…fair, he had every right to be suspicious of something like that even existing in the outside world.

But the truth was that he had no time to deal with things. He needed their help and while a long winded explanation might help speed things up, other things worked just as well when it came to getting the support of an absolute monarchy.

"Look, I know it might not look like it but I know what I saw and I would prefer your support in the fight but as things stand, you will not be able to help much, if at all. I just need you to make sure that the Avengers are safe and sound, while increasing vigil across the country, while monitoring any significant event happening in the outside world," He said abruptly, his patience wearing thin in the face of the skepticism displayed by the aged King.

It was not his fault. Even as old as Wakanda was, and how old their records might be, there must hardly be any mention of magic at all, let alone Chaos MAgic being used as a tool to warp reality itself.

"O-okay. Very well, we will make sure that the country is completely locked down. Do you need any help in disarming the nuke stores of the world? Because you mentioned Jarvis to my daughter, I assume that anything connected to the digital world is compromised then?" T'Chaka asked him gravely.

He did a double take at the entire line of questioning.

"You can do that?"

"We can do that?"

He looked at the equally surprised T'Challa who asked his father in a flabbergasted voice. T'Chaka sighed and looked at both of them, replying.

"Yes, a few years back, we figured out how to disable any surface to air missile that can be launched that was based on an algorithm that we purposefully let the US Military use, one that was much more advanced than their usual tracking algorithms. 

Of course, the Concept had already been used and discarded by us but we knew the ins and outs of the tracking algorithm. We planted the concept of the algorithm in the military and now, we can remotely disable any missile, nuclear or otherwise, within minutes of them launching, provided we act swiftly,"

T'Chaka said with the air of a man who just signed his own death warrant.

He blinked in confusion, only for realistion to hit him like a ton of bricks. His brows furrowed as he looked at king T'Chaka in confusion.

Why would he admit to something like that, especially to his face?

He almost flinched as T'Challa lept in front of him, holding a combat pose as he tried to shield his father from his rage, or rather, the rage that both of them were expecting to erupt out of him. He could feel the fear and resignation wafting off both son and father, as they expected him to go on a rampage.

Honestly, what was the man thinking? Revealing such a bombshell at such a bad time?

The expected explosion of rage never happened as he simply sighed, tired of all the bullshitery going on around him, and said, "While that is certainly disappointing, I can only hope that T'Challa, as the new King, will make better decisions in his reign. And yes, please keep an eye on all the known stockpiles. If the time comes, something like that could happen. The chances of that happening were very low but we are dealing with someone who can manipulate probability like it was their bitch," He said and turned around, not sparing the king another glance.

The fucker could have stopped that missile. He was not angry because he was the one who suffered because of the attack. No, he was angry because it might have been true in the canon timeline as well and that meant that this man watched as the Avengers fought a losing battle and still didn't do anything to stop the nuke from reaching Manhattan.

Or did he also believe that the nuke would do any sort of substantial damage to the ongoing invasion? Did Wakandands not have absolutely better tech and intelligence?

He took a deep breath, opened a portal to Avengers Tower and stepped through, he had to get some fresh air and get some clues as well.

For one, where was Pietro? Why did she take Bruce with her? Could she control the Hulk as well? 

If that was the case, then he pitied Bruce even more. The man already feared a part of his alter ego. It would do his mind no good to spend even more time under the control of another villain.

Pietro was also another mystery in the situation as well. Logic dictated that if things turned out the same as canon, Pietro should also be with Wanda.

With the sceptre in her hands, presumably, he had not seen it being used by her, nor had the Ancient One, she could have made Bruce compliant. Pietro was not significant because of his combat potential as a speedster but because of his relationship with Wanda.

If he remembered correctly, Wanda was not born the Scarlet Witch, no, she was made into one because of the back to back tragedies occurring in her life.

Each tragedy happened just as she was healing from her previous wounds. Precious people were stolen from her life just as she was about to get some semblance of life.

Pietro when she lost her parents.

Vision when she lost Pietro.

Her kids and reanimated Vision when she lost the love of her life, Vision.

Good Lord, the woman had her fair share of tragedies. He wouldn't fault her for being grumpy but doing something like this was unacceptable.

He looked to the Tower and spread his barriers to get a general idea of the situation. His eyes narrowed as he realised the entire tower was closed down. More than that, there was no power to the entire building.

The Arc Reactor was still active and supplying energy to the city but all the things that made Avengers Tower the most technologically advanced building in the United States were shut off. There were no personnel in the building as well.

He had to wonder if Pepper had taken the decision. He should probably warn her as well. He was about to create another portal when he paused and looked up, his senses warning him of something approaching him at high speeds.

He didn't even have to use his observation barriers as the familiar colour scheme told him exactly who or what was coming. The drone platform came to a stop right in front of him, the accent lights blinking in the signature orange color of Jarvis.

"Hello, Jarivs, I am glad to see you are alright." He said to Jarvis as he inspected the makeup of the drone and the speed with which it was deployed. 

It would seem that Tony had figured out Orbital platform delivery much earlier than he did in the movies.

"Hello, Mr.Sullivan. I'm sorry but my memory banks are somewhat fuzzy when it comes to the events that transpired atop the Tower. Can you please confirm if Mr.Stark is safe or not?" Jarvis asked him as another drone found itself near him, this one blinking with purple highlights, as it seemed content to let Jarvis do all the talking.

"Yes, Tony is safe. I can't yet release him because of the suspected mind control but I assure you, he is absolutely safe. You can tell Pepper that she can relax and safely focus on the company,"

"Now, Jarvis, what the hell happened there?" He asked Jarvis though he had a hunch what had happened.

It stands to reason that if he could somehow cast a spell, granted with aid the energies from an Infinity Stone, that could interact with a strictly digital entity, Wanda should also be able to do the same. Her bullshit powers probably did it all for her on the fly.

Fucking Chaos Magic.

He listened to Jarvis' words as he told him his side of the story. So, they had lost all contact almost as soon as they had landed in front of the castle. The description of the effect of Wanda's spell on Jarvis' digital space was enlightening. That was probably the reason why the Tower's defenses were not actively used against him.

"Alright, Tony is safe. I assume you are actively looking for the perpetrator?" He asked Jarvis, who was currently projecting a visual representation of the digital corridor that the wave of red had taken hold of.

The thing about being an AI meant that in addition to having perfect memory, Jarvis could recreate his entire memory on demand. The red confirmed Chaos MAgic but the question remained, did Jarvis have any idea where Wanda currently was?

"Unfortunately, Mr.Sullivan, neither the myriad cameras on the Tower nor any cameras in the entirety of the city managed to capture any suspicious individual who could have done all that damage so my search net has holes that cannot be plugged because of incomplete information," Jarvis' voice spoke from the Drone, his main mind already doing a thousand other things no doubt.

"I see. Well, let me give you a few data points. Late Teen to early twenties. Female. Caucasian. Average Height. Red eyes. Sokovian in Origin. See if the name Wanda Maximoff pings anywhere but the last part could be wrong,"

The lights on the drone blinked rapidly as he told Jarvis everything he could about Wanda, even though he knew that she would not use normal methods of transportation. 

"Very well. This should help narrow the search significantly. Mr.Sullivan, I would like to know when Mr.Stark will be ready to return to active duty. Can I contact you using this?" Jarvis asked as a portion on the back of the drone's body slid off and a small arm came out holding a small lighter shaped block.

He created a barrier on top of which the lighter was dropped, the barrier then brought it to him.

"This is an advanced communications tool, built with all the latest transponders that I could design and build," 

"Very well," he accepted the communication device and then watched as both the drones then blasted back up into space. He then looked at the device for a moment before slipping it into his pocket and creating a portal to the ship kept underwater.

He had to check in on Jessica Jones.

In all the rush, he had actually pushed her down to the priority list but he couldn't really keep her hostage, now could he?

He might also have to hand her over to Wakanda, they were the only ones he knew who could heal the extensive damage that might have occurred to her mind,save for the Ancient One but that was a landmine he didn't know how to disarm without blowing up his relationship with the Ancient One.

He paused mid step as the portal closed behind him as a thought flashed through his mind.

Wasn't he just handing over enhanced individuals, both natural and artificial, to Wakanda on a silver platter?

Damn.

The good news was that the pod could conclusively say that Jessica Jones' brain activity was entirely of her own. It reeked of depression and anxiety but the thoughts were her own.

Well, guess who had a shit ton of therapy to go through before she could gain some semblance of a normal thought process and brain chemical composition.

Once again and he couldn't overstate it enough, Damn.

Word Count - 2479

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