At the moment it happened, Leonardo was calmly walking behind the group, effortlessly dodging the attacks aimed at him. Suddenly, his mind felt clear for an instant, a brief second in which he stopped seeing the future. The sensation was so fleeting that he barely had time to notice it before everything returned to normal, with countless overlapping future paths once again flooding his mind.
The effect on the Avengers was far more drastic, Wanda and Pietro lost their powers, becoming completely human again and forced to fall back. The only one who remained unaffected was Tony.
Far from being surprised, Tony smirked with self-satisfaction inside his armor.
"After all, it's all based on technology. Given enough time, of course I could surpass them." He grinned mockingly.
With that, he fired two small devices toward Wanda and Pietro. They attached to their bodies, and in an instant, a metallic nano armor unfolded around each of them.
Pietro was encased in a sleek white and silver armor with a faint shine, formed by overlapping layers that gave him an aerodynamic look. His helmet wasn't as simple as Tony's, the elbows and edges had patterns resembling feathers, and a blue Y-shaped visor covered his eyes.
Wanda, on the other hand, wore armor with a medieval, almost sacred air. Dark pink with shining highlights, its design resembled that of a paladin. A red cape flowed from her shoulders, and her helmet, similar to Tony's in shape, was adorned with two curved horns on the sides, reminiscent of a certain mutant who controls magnetism. Between the two horns, the Arc Reactor glowed like a pink gem.
As soon as the armors sealed, both felt their powers return.
"Incredible, you can make things like this? I'll never underestimate you again just because you're a guy trapped in a can," said Pietro, giving Tony a friendly pat on the shoulder.
Wanda said nothing. She looked at herself closely, admiring the details, then raised her hand to confirm her magic had returned before moving forward.
As Pietro ran past, Wanda's cape lifted, her chaos magic swirling around the enemies mixed with the color of Tony's armor as he continued launching projectiles and dispatching aliens with only a few hits.
---
Minutes earlier, inside the Skrull base, a middle-aged man with a human appearance lay on a white, polished, flawless bed. He had short black hair, a few days' worth of beard, and tired brown eyes. On his head, he wore a metallic semi-spherical helmet connected by several cables that pulsed with a blue light.
When the base shook as it emerged from underground, at first he felt nothing unusual. But seconds later, he removed the helmet and stood up abruptly, alarming the Skrulls who were watching him.
"What's happening?" asked one of the guards with suspicion. Although the man was valuable for his abilities, few Skrulls truly trusted him.
"It's important, I need to speak with Gravik," he replied anxiously.
The guards exchanged glances before nodding and escorting him.
When he reached Gravik's office, the man pushed the door open without asking permission. Inside, the Skrull leader awaited him.
Gravik, stern-faced and imposing, was the commander of the Skrull forces on Earth.
Years earlier, his race had lost everything after their war with the Kree, planets, colonies, an entire empire reduced to nothing. Thousands of refugees wandered without a home, and Earth became their only possible refuge.
At that time, the Kree also posed a threat to humanity. So the Skrulls allied with S.H.I.E.L.D. under a pact, they would help protect Earth, and in return, they would receive a new world to live on. The two human representatives of that agreement, the ones meant to keep the promise, were Nick Fury and Carol Danvers.
Over the years, the Skrulls helped Fury rise from a simple agent to the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D., even fueling the organization's rapid growth. But the promise was never kept. Fury, despite his power, never gave them a planet. Carol, now a cosmic hero of renown, didn't either. She had traveled across entire galaxies, seen infinite worlds, and still, she never fulfilled her word.
To Gravik, the conclusion was obvious, humans never intended to help them.
Tired of waiting, he decided that if they wouldn't be given a home, they would conquer one. He gathered his kind, eliminated the pacifist faction led by Talos, his former friend and Fury's ally, and consolidated his rule. In a secret invasion, silence was vital, so there was no way to let the pacifists live. The fewer who knew the plan, the better.
Now, after months of preparation, Gravik was ready to take the next step. The base was surfacing, the era of secrecy was over.
Or so he believed.
The man who had just entered was Ulysses Cain, a human with the ability to see the future. Gravik had recruited him some time ago, promising him power and wealth in exchange for his services.
Seeing his agitated expression, Gravik understood something was wrong.
"This shouldn't be happening yet," said Ulysses, shaken.
"What do you mean?" asked Gravik, confused.
"The base, it wasn't supposed to emerge yet. According to the plan, that was months away."
"Of course it was supposed to. We've worked for years for this. The antennas absorbed the planet's powers, and we'll use them against them. No one suspects anything, every person with abilities lost them. Only the Skrulls retained theirs. After months, Earth has no superhumans, and without anyone realizing it, every powered individual is actually a Skrull. After all that effort, it's finally our time to act," said Gravik proudly.
"But that's the problem," interrupted Ulysses. "The antennas haven't activated. Something advanced the whole event. I don't know how, but this was forced. It shouldn't be happening. I couldn't even foresee it."
Gravik frowned. He tried to feel within himself the surge of powers that should have been absorbed, and realized there was nothing. His body was weak, drained of energy.
"Someone advanced time," continued Ulysses. "I don't know how they did it. It's as if someone played with time itself."
Without hesitation, Gravik turned to his desk.
"I'll activate the antennas. Whatever it is, we'll win."
He pressed a button at the center of the desk. As the system began to start, he looked at Ulysses.
"Get ready. When the abilities are absorbed, some will channel into you. You're the only one with foresight powers, so you'll receive every ability related to that. I doubt there are many with that kind of power, in fact, you'll probably only receive those from the Laplace's Demon. But even if that happens, and you only absorb his abilities, your power will multiply."
Ulysses nodded, though he didn't seem convinced. He already knew the plan.
Seconds later, the energy flow surged through them. Gravik felt power return to his body, not as strong as he'd expected, but enough.
However, when he looked at Ulysses, his face showed not satisfaction, but panic.
"What's wrong?" asked Gravik gravely.
"His abilities, I had them," Ulysses replied, his voice trembling.
"You had them?"
"Yes. For only half a second. He must have something protecting him, but..."
"Speak up," ordered Gravik, irritated by his tone.
But Ulysses didn't flinch. Instead, he burst into laughter that filled the room.
"Ha... ha... hahaha..."
He raised his gaze, eyes filled with fear and awe.
"We can't win," he finally said.
"The future isn't written," replied Gravik coldly. He believed in Ulysses' visions, but not that they were absolute. From the start, he had trusted in using them as guidance and altering what he wished at will.
"You're wrong," the seer answered firmly. "I used to think so too. I believed the future could be changed. No, it could be changed, and I did it many times. But now I understand. It's not about seeing the future, he's manipulating it at will. Thousands of possibilities, all seen, all planned...but it doesn't matter. He doesn't care about the possibilities. He destroys the paths he doesn't like and creates new ones, impossible ones, that never even existed before."
Ulysses lifted his head, his expression dark.
"The future is written," he declared gravely. "And the writer's name...is Leonardo Valentino."
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+15 chapters in advance on Patreon.
p-atreon.com/IAMME26
(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)