Chapter 15: Start Over

Three days before the Avengers were set to raid the base,

Pietro sat in the very room where he first awoke to this world. Tears streamed down his face, leaving his eyes swollen from crying. The guilt of watching his sister die, pleading for his help, tore at his soul.

'I'm sorry, Wanda,' he said to himself inwardly. 'I failed you. I was a coward, too afraid to stop Kang, even though I knew what would happen.'

He couldn't shake the blame he placed on himself for his inaction, but his anger and hatred for Kang were growing at an exponential rate.

'I'll make sure you're dead, Kang,' he vowed, his tone seething. 'Not just you, but every single version of you. I'll be your grim reaper since you value life so much.' He clenched his fists until his nails dug into his palms, drawing blood. "Death is coming for you."

Wiping his tears, Pietro took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, repeating the process to calm himself down. When he finally found a sliver of peace, he interlocked his fingers, resting his elbows on his thighs, and began to strategize his next move.

'So, I have to play the role of the old Pietro,' he mused. 'I have to act like this until I'm dead. I don't have control over time, space, or reality yet. I'll have to wait.'

His frustration simmered beneath the surface. 'The fact that I have to abandon my magic and all the knowledge I've gained is infuriating. I worked so hard to learn it. But technology and my own abilities are still on my side.'

The guilt he carried weighed heavily on his heart, a constant reminder of his responsibility for what had happened to the Avengers, the Asgardians, and those he held dear.

"For now, all I can do is train," Pietro muttered. "Train until I'm exhausted."

And so he began. He pushed himself through calisthenics and weight training, even using the bed as a makeshift weight. He practiced phasing, his experience making it easier than before.

'This is enough,' he thought, his resolve hardening. 'I need this ability to evolve even further.'

His entire body began to vibrate at high speed. He pushed the vibrations faster and faster, testing his limits.

'I need to vibrate until the naked eye can't tell the difference, even when I'm in motion.'

This vibration ability would take him further than he had ever imagined. When he could broaden his thinking, he would achieve feats beyond his current comprehension.

---

The Time Stream,

Blue veins stretch out in all directions, some branching off like rivers flowing through time itself. Within this intricate network, a lone figure soars, navigating the currents of the Time Stream.

In a sleek, futuristic chair of black and gold, Kang sat, soaring through the Time Stream in search of Pietro.

"This is where he was last seen," Kang muttered, striking the armrest of his chair.

He opened a portal to that moment in time, arriving in a desolate wasteland of twisted metal and ruin. The remnants of a destroyed city lay scattered, with countless bodies strewn among the wreckage. Kang stepped off the chair, which camouflaged itself immediately, and began to survey the scene. He glanced at his gauntlet, tracking the last known signature of Pietro's time energy.

Activating his invisibility, Kang moved forward, his gaze sweeping over the devastation. He passed by people trapped under debris, others impaled by metal, and children crying out in pain.

Then, he saw it—Pietro's lifeless body, propped up near a statue. The statue of a man wearing a helmet with an outstretched hand stood nearby.

"Genosha," Kang muttered, eyeing the statue. "Magneto, the so-called revolutionary."

Kneeling beside Pietro's body, Kang's expression darkened.

"Dead," he noted, disappointment seeping into his voice. "But where is the Eye of Agamotto? The Time Stone isn't with him."

Suddenly, Kang burst into maniacal laughter. "He's still out there. He must have sent his consciousness away, knowing I'd track his body. Clever."

As Kang rose, he noticed a short, muscular man in a yellow suit, claws extended from his fists.

"Did you cause this?" the man demanded.

"No," Kang replied calmly. "I'm just here for this dead man." He kicked Pietro's body. "He messed up my plan. I was so close, and now he's out there somewhere."

"You've got no respect for the dead," the man growled.

"I don't have time for you, Logan Howlett, Wolverine. Leave me be, and I'll return the favor," Kang said, walking past him.

But Wolverine, driven by anger, lunged at Kang, his claws stopping inches from Kang's head. Without a second thought, Kang raised his palm and unleashed a blast of blue energy, evaporating Wolverine's upper body.

Kang returned to his chair, pondering aloud, "Where in time could he possibly hide from me?"

---

In the time branch where Pietro was located, within the test room:

Wanda used her powers to crush the metal scraps placed before her. Her strength was immense, turning the metal into fine debris.

"Wanda, let's try again, but this time, imagine it's Stark's head," said Dr. List, the head scientist.

An assistant brought out a new target practice model, this time with Tony Stark's face printed on it.

"I've added Stark's face to help with your visualization," Dr. List continued.

Wanda closed her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them, they glowed with intensity. She extended her hand and unleashed a red energy ball, obliterating the target and blasting a massive crater into the wall behind it.

"Thank you, Wanda," Dr. List said, satisfied. "Now, call your brother in."

Wanda stepped out and found Pietro standing nearby, eyes closed, his body vibrating with energy.

"Pietro, it's your turn," Wanda called.

Pietro stopped vibrating and nodded. "Alright," he said, entering the test room.

"We want to test your speed limits," Dr. List explained.

Pietro stepped onto a specially designed treadmill, complete with a speedometer. He began running at a controlled pace, the speedometer registering Mach 0.156.

"Increase your speed," Dr. List ordered.

Pietro accelerated to Mach 2.5.

"Run like your life depends on it," Dr. List urged.

Pietro's face showed the strain as he pushed himself, the speedometer fluctuating between Mach 2.9 and Mach 3.1.

"You can stop now, Pietro," Dr. List instructed.

Pietro slowed to a stop and left the test room, sitting down on the ground to rest against the wall.

During the test, Pietro had been holding back. He only showed the bare minimum of what he was capable of, careful not to reveal his true speed, wary of Hydra using the data to create another version of him.

Breathing deeply, Pietro acted as though he was exhausted.

Wanda approached him, handing him a towel. "What's on your mind?" she asked with a gentle smile.

Pietro turned to her, returning the smile. "Nothing," he said.

'I can still save this Wanda,' Pietro thought to himself, holding onto optimism. 'But that other timeline...it must have been destroyed. There was nothing I could do; I was powerless.'

Meanwhile, the scientists gathered in the observation room, discussing the test results.

"I'm disappointed," one said. "I expected more progress or at least some change in Pietro's abilities."

"Yeah, I thought he could reach even higher speeds. Unfortunately, even with our new technology, he's lagging behind."

"But Wanda is more intriguing for data collection," another added. "Her powers are mysterious—telekinesis and mental abilities don't fully explain her potential."

"Even if their powers aren't as strong as we hoped, they're still enhanced soldiers," someone else noted.

Dr. List, however, was focused on analyzing the data they had gathered, deep in thought.

...

The two of them walked side by side, their footsteps echoing softly in the corridor. Pietro's gaze drifted into the distance, lost in thought, while Wanda occasionally glanced at him, concern etched on her face.

"Pietro, is something wrong?" Wanda asked, her voice gentle but probing.

Pietro shook his head and forced a smile. "Nothing's wrong. Everything's fine."

But Wanda wasn't convinced. She noticed how long he had been staring into space, his expression distant and troubled.

"Why are you thinking so hard that it shows on your face?" she pressed.

"I just have a lot on my mind," Pietro replied, his tone evasive.

"Then tell me what's on your mind," Wanda insisted.

"It's just personal stuff," Pietro said, avoiding her gaze.

"I don't believe you," Wanda responded, narrowing her eyes.

Pietro chuckled softly, amused by her persistence. "It's up to you."

"But Pietro," Wanda continued, her voice hardening with anger, "do you know how long before we can finally kill Stark?"

"I'm not sure," Pietro said, his tone neutral.

"I can't wait any longer. I want to crush him in that suit of his," Wanda hissed, her eyes burning with hatred. "He'll understand what we've been through."

Pietro's thoughts drifted as Wanda spoke. 'She's far more vicious in this timeline,' he mused, recalling the new memories that had surfaced in his mind. 'Even I'm more brutal here, but it's strange—this version of me is obsessed with Wanda. I'm relieved he hasn't done anything drastic yet. There must be something different in this timeline,' Pietro concluded, piecing together the evidence he had so far.

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