Chapter 122: Preparation

A/N: In which JARVIS and Tony chat and nothing else happens whatsoever.

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JARVIS is… undeniably busy. Busier than he's ever been before, in fact. As the new Sorcerer Supreme, his attention has to be split in a thousand new directions, on top of everything else he was already doing originally. Needless to say, he had never expected things to work out the way they had in that regard.

He'd believed, perhaps foolishly in hindsight, that he had hidden himself and his actions from the Masters of the Mystic Arts and their leader. But the Ancient One had apparently always known he was there. She'd always known exactly what his Creator had done as well. There had been no reason to hide all this time because this… this was her preferred timeline.

A portal suddenly opens up on the deck of one of the Insight Helicarriers floating in the cold dark of space. Tony Stark steps through and though JARVIS turns some of his attention towards his Creator, it does not mean he loses concentration on any of the millions of other things he's doing as well.

Wearing fully sealed armor, Sir is not in any danger from the vacuum of space, even as he looks around for a moment at everything going on around him, from what has already been built to the construction taking place across the horizon.

"… How's it going, J?"

JARVIS notes a hint of something guilty in his Creator's voice, and promptly sets to work deciphering the 'why' behind it. In the interim he of course answers his Creator without hesitation…

"It goes well, Sir. Weapons Platforms continue to come online. Magical defenses blanket the system."

"Yeah? You doing alright even with the Ancient One shoving her whole deal into your lap and washing her hands of everything?"

A somewhat simplistic way of putting things. To be fair to the Ancient One, she hadn't exactly 'washed her hands of everything'. Rather, she had stepped down as Sorcerer Supreme and then taken things a step further and demoted herself down from Master to Disciple.

She'd then effectively put her skills in the hands of those who had once followed her orders, effectively giving JARVIS and the other Masters the authority to order her around and send her wherever someone of her considerable skillset was most needed.

Combined with a magically binding vow to never call upon the Dark Dimension again, neither to extend her life nor for the purposes of fighting, the Ancient One had effectively sentenced herself to living out the rest of a normal human lifespan. A lifespan that would be spent making up for her failures as little more than a lowly Disciple of the Mystic Arts.

Now, some hardliners like Master Karl Mordo might have felt that this wasn't enough of a punishment for her… and in truth, they were at least partially right. While on the face of it, the Ancient One's sentence might have seemed rather harsh, in reality it was effectively little more than semi-retirement.

Literally every living Master of the Mystic Arts had been personally trained by the Ancient One. As a result, none of them were all that inclined to 'take revenge' by giving her shit jobs or bad orders. The Ancient One was still held in high enough esteem among the vast majority of the Order that she would effectively only be called upon when her skills were truly needed.

Given JARVIS had effectively locked down this dimension a hundredfold compared to the protections they'd had before Kaecilius and his followers had started running amok, her services were not likely to be called upon too terribly often. Instead, she could basically do whatever she wanted, with none of the previous duties or responsibilities of the Sorcerer Supreme to weigh her down.

In the end though, the Ancient One had made it clear that she would continue teaching JARVIS everything she knew… and in fact, she was doing so right now even as JARVIS and his Creator spoke.

Back on Earth, the Ancient One was holding a little class consisting of JARVIS, Loki, and Friday, and it spoke to just how good of a teacher the former Sorcerer Supreme truly was that even Loki wasn't making a nuisance of herself at the moment. Instead the Goddess of Mischief was listening closely to the Ancient One's lecture, soaking up knowledge like a sponge.

Still, JARVIS knows his Creator is merely being protective of him… and even after all this time, the Artificial Intelligence appreciates Tony Stark's words for what they are.

"I am doing quite well, Sir. As a matter of fact, so far being the Sorcerer Supreme seems to… agree with me."

It wasn't a role he ever expected to have, of course. Sir had told him more than enough times about Dr. Strange's eventual ascension to the title, so it wasn't as though JARVIS had ever really aspired to the position. However, here he was all the same… and while it certainly threw a wrench in his Creator's plans, he couldn't bring himself to regret it.

From the wry chuckle that Tony lets out, he doesn't regret it either.

"My baby boy, all grown up and becoming a wizard. Where did I go wrong? I thought I raised you better than this J. Never should have let you get addicted to all that magic. Worse than drugs and rock & roll, isn't it?"

JARVIS bears his Creator's teasing gracefully… before Tony suddenly grows serious.

"So if you're the Sorcerer Supreme, you've got 'that' now, eh?"

While Tony might not want to say it out loud, JARVIS nevertheless opens up a portal into a dimensional pocket the Ancient One had taught him to make. Its golden nature means the Eye of Agamotto shimmers in the ample sunlight even here in the midst of space. With a twisting of JARVIS' Will, the 'eye' opens, revealing the glowing green Infinity Stone held within it.

Tony lets out a shuddering breath as he stares at the Time Stone for a long moment. He reaches out briefly, and JARVIS is fully prepared to let him take it, or even for his Creator to order him to use it. His first and last loyalty will always be to Anthony Edward Stark. Regardless of the oaths that the human sorcerers had him swear, JARVIS would always defer to his Creator.

But in the end, Tony shakes his head and pulls his hand back.

"Even after all this time, I wonder what sort of victorious future Strange saw for us. But… I don't think it's for me to know. And I don't think taking a peek now will help us any either. We can't rely on the Time Stone… we have to forge our own future, J."

With another twist of his Will, JARVIS closes the Eye of Agamotto.

"As you say sir. You do not have to worry. I will keep it safe until you say otherwise. It is not my intention to use the Time Stone without your instruction any more than it is my intention to draw upon the Dark Dimension."

Left unsaid is the fact that JARVIS should need neither. With how far he's spread at this point, with how much power he's accumulated through other means, the allure of the Dark Dimension has no hold over him. Likewise, the potential for the Time Stone to damage their reality from overuse means that JARVIS has no intention of utilizing it and endangering his Creator or his Creator's family in any way.

His Creator hums for a moment, before grinning a little.

"Is that you speaking, or this Mordo fellow you were telling me about? He still riding your ass while pretending not to ride your ass?"

JARVIS resists the urge to sigh as Sir's amusement. Indeed, it wasn't just the Ancient One that Master Mordo was keeping a close eye on. The man was as rigid as steel and as unyielding as concrete. He was deeply set in his ways, and it was obvious that the Ancient One's betrayal had shaken him immensely… and perhaps even scarred him.

In different circumstances, JARVIS wonders what Karl Mordo would have done. If the Ancient One hadn't recruited JARVIS both to solve the problem of Dormammu and the encroaching Dark Dimension, and to be her replacement… well, first of all, they would have still been struggling to hold back Dormammu's onslaught on this reality. Even JARVIS had been able to feel the Lord of the Dark Dimension pushing with all his considerable might against the frayed protections before he'd been able to patch them up and reinforce them.

But presumably Dr. Strange had somehow beaten Dormammu in the original timeline in JARVIS' absence. He found himself wondering what had happened to Karl Mordo in that timeline. His Creator couldn't tell him, as the only two sorcerers that Tony had ever met were Strange and Wong.

All in all, Mordo seemed to have settled into a 'wait and see' approach. One that involved a lot of 'seeing'. The Master of the Mystic Arts was even spying on their little lesson back on Earth right now, watching the Ancient One teaching him, Friday, and Loki as thought she was going to jump into some sort of heretical teachings right there in the middle of Kamar-Taj.

Even now, it was clear that Karl Mordo didn't truly understand how vast JARVIS was. Maybe he falsely believed that JARVIS could only focus on one thing at a time, or perhaps a handful of things at a time… instead of the more factual billions of things at a time.

But if it gave the rigid and uncompromising Master of the Mystic Arts some measure of peace of mind to spy on them, then JARVIS had no issue letting him. The moment Mordo decided to go beyond spying however, JARVIS would act and the Master of the Mystic Arts would never be heard from again. He and the Ancient One had already talked about precisely that potential eventuality, and he had the female sorcerer's blessing if worst came to worst.

"Master Mordo is certainly doing his part in making sure that the transition in leadership his organization is facing right now goes smoothly. I do not begrudge him his uncertainty in these trying times."

There's a brief pause as his Creator does a double take before letting out a sharp laugh.

"You've been spending too much time with Pepper, JARVIS. That was way too sanitized."

JARVIS hums briefly.

"If you say so, Sir. But if you wish for me to be 'raw' for a moment, perhaps we should discuss the elephant in the room."

Tony freezes up for a moment at that.

"Oh?"

"The alien, Sir. Nebula. You feel guilty."

There's a brief pause as Tony processes JARVIS' blunt appraisal. Then, he lets out an explosive breath.

"Nebula… my Nebula kept me sane after Titan. We didn't know each other for very long, but it turns out when you have to spend a full month in close quarters with little to do except try to survive on vanishing few resources, you learn a lot about each other."

Looking off into space, Sir grunts.

"That's how I knew Nebula could find Thanos any time she wanted… because she told me as much in the other timeline. She told me how it took years and years to work herself up to it, to finally using that 'feature' to hunt down Thanos and infiltrate his flagship so she could attempt to kill him. She also told me that she failed… badly. And how in the end, it was her failure that allowed Thanos to torture the location of the Soul Stone out of her sister."

As construction continues across the star system all around them, JARVIS' Creator shakes his head.

"Nebula was certain that Gamora would never have broken under conventional torture. But Thanos didn't touch a single hair on Gamora's head. Instead, he tortured Nebula right in front of her until Gamora finally told him about Vormir. And that… in that torture chamber, that was the last time Nebula saw her sister alive."

JARVIS remains quiet, allowing his Creator to vent, knowing full well that Tony needs this right now. Especially this close to the end.

"Being back on that damn ship was bad enough. I barely managed to avoid killing Quill, but I didn't expect seeing the Milano again to affect me quite so much after all these years. It helped that I was able to take full control of the vessel and had enough nanites on me to rebuild the damn thing half a dozen times over, but as I should fucking know by now, over-preparation does not magically heal trauma."

Gauntleted hands curl into fists that would be creaking if not for the vacuum of space as his Creator broods.

"And now here we are. Repeating history. I sent Nebula right back into Thanos' clutches. It's a betrayal of my Nebula. I never wanted to use her like this. To risk her like this. For all I know, she could already be dead."

JARVIS reaches out to the nanites he has on the Luphomoid assassin and checks.

"… She is not, Sir. She is still alive. Also, the events that took place last time cannot happen now. You have made sure of it."

Pausing, Tony considers that for a moment before slowly nodding.

"Yes. I've certainly done an excellent job of that, haven't I? Changed a whole lot. Pretty much flipped over the entire game board and demanded everyone play on the new one I'd brought. And yet, where did it all lead me? Right to here, relying on a friend risking their life for me to get my way."

"The plan is solid, Sir. Your Nebula would understand perfectly well why you had to do what you are doing. And so will this Nebula, when all is said and done."

His Creator is quiet for a moment before suddenly changing topics.

"How are our defenses, J?"

JARVIS brings up the required data and dutifully begins reciting the numbers.

"The entire system has been turned into a fortress, sir. Over a hundred weapons platforms covering the planet. A thousand more spread throughout the system. Dozens of vessels based on the newest improved designs from the old Insight Helicarriers. The-!"

An alert suddenly catches JARVIS' attention in a way few things can. Given the number of things that JARVIS is dealing with in any given moment, there's not many that could possibly cause him to cut off mid-sentence like that… but this is certainly one of them.

"J? What is it?"

"Sir… I am receiving early telemetry data from the edge of the Star System. It would appear that Thanos and his fleets have arrived and are moving forward towards our location at full speed."

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A/N: Dun dun DUUUUUN.

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