92 A very, very cold future...

Viktor returned home and sat on the couch, removing the armor from Lilith and changing his clothes, sitting on the couch. Lilith bounced to him and jumped into his arms, nestling into his lap as she said "So exciting! That was so fun!"

Emma appeared with her hands on her hip and shouted "And dangerous! What were you thinking?! Are you insane!? Tell me, do you have a mental problem?! Bringing a 2 year old into a fight like that!"

Viktor replied weakly "She was fine…" Emma shouted "I don't care if she is fine! She could've not been! What would you have done then?! HUH!? Answer me!" Viktor sighed and replied softly "I'm sorry."

Emma laughed in anger and Lilith said happily "Did you see me on TV, mommy? I was flying in the air! So cool! Hihihihihi~ Then Uncle Red was blown away by daddy! But then Daddy was trying to be a bad guy but then I stopped him! I'm a superhero!"

Emma sighed and hugged Lilith, smiling "Lilith is my favorite superhero!" Lilith giggled and swung her arms around, "Lilith beats all the bad guys!" Viktor smiled lovingly and rubbed her cheek, saying "Lilith needs to wash her hands for dinner."

Lilith slapped her forehead and said in shock "I forgot!" before jumping off the couch and running away.

Emma watched her go before saying with a frown "What's wrong with you!? Don't ever do that again, understand?" Viktor sighed and nodded seriously, Emma then softened and held his hand, asking "Big bear, tell me the truth. Are you okay?"

Viktor laughed and replied "Of course. Why wouldn't I be? They didn't even touch me…" Emma continued worriedly "That's the problem. That girl…" Viktor frowned and said sternly "I'm only trying to protect you both…"

Emma sighed and rubbed his hand, saying "Big bear, she didn't do anything yet… I don't think-" Viktor frowned and raised his voice "And wait!? Am I supposed to wait until she destroys all Mutants?! Please. I know it's going to happen, why would I wait until it does?"

Emma opened her mouth before closing it with a sigh and walking to the kitchen without a word.

Viktor pinched the bridge of his nose and frowned.

Emma stopped by the hallway and suddenly said "I still remember the big bear who only killed so I wouldn't bloody my hands…" Viktor replied "That was a long time ago." Emma laughed and shook her head, replying "Yeah… It really was." before leaving him alone.

Viktor rubbed his face and smiled, forgetting about what Emma said.

She didn't know what was good for them, he did…

A few hours later

Tony came to him with Rhodes, saying "His legs…" Viktor nodded and said "Don't worry…" before treating Rhodes in the Clinic.

He operated and injected an Extremis Shot before rubbing his hands as he said "He'll be fine in a few hours." Tony let out a breath and smiled "Thanks, Vik." Viktor smiled and Tony asked "Those Gauntlets were good, where did you get them?"

Viktor smiled "Emma made them."

Tony clicked his tongue and said "They're useful for disaster relief and SWORD agents." Viktor nodded and smiled "Your call. By the way, the pill…" Tony grinned "Pepper's looking better than ever."

Viktor chuckled and patted his shoulder, asking "Dinner?"

Tony refused and shook his head, saying "I still have some stuff to do, Thanks though." Viktor nodded and Tony took Rhodes, leaving.

Viktor didn't even look at the clinic before teleporting back to the lab underground and researching Shimmer.

He barely spent any time in the clinic anymore…

He had half a mind to tear it down.

A month later

Viktor hovered above a town in Austria, looking down and narrowing his eyes at Wanda walking around with Vision…

Just as he was about to pull a Meteorite down, fractured glass appeared around him everywhere.

Viktor put his hand down and turned to his side. A bald woman was looking down at the town, saying "Lovely, isn't it? A witch and an android finding each other… And this town. It looks much better than a crater, surely."

Viktor frowned and said "Why are you stopping me?" the woman smiled and didn't reply, saying instead, "You've been very busy. I've been watching you for quite some time. You have a beautiful family, by the way. Congratulations."

Viktor clenched his fist and the woman smiled "Ah ah ah~ Please relax, Doctor Gardens. I mean no harm." as she slapped his chest.

Viktor's soul flew out of his body and looked at the woman with an ugly face. The woman smiled at him and said "Interesting soul. It's very bright." Viktor questioned "What do you want?"

The woman smiled slightly, replying "Well, it's not what I want, per se.. It's what YOU want. You've single handed changed the future a total of 17 times. Quite the new record, if I might add, the previous one was zero."

The woman floated next to him and made a gesture, showing a series of images.

She continued "I don't know how or why, but until recently, your true identity has been eluding me. I only found you when you came here. Fortunately." Viktor stared at the pictures and the woman smiled "You can call me the Ancient One… Yes, or Yao, I suppose."

Viktor looked at Yao and she smiled "I don't quite understand how you came to this point in time, Doctor. Perhaps it's every Doctor's need to control everything. In this regard, you're actually very similar to Strange."

Viktor frowned "I am not Strange." Yao chuckled "Yes, of course, that would be a conundrum. I suppose I can call you a Nexus Being. In many universes, you simply don't exist. Your powers in this Universe are very terrifying, well for the Earth at least. Can I ask you a question, Doctor?"

Viktor stayed silent and Yao turned to him, asking, "This Scarlet Witch hasn't exterminated the Mutants and wouldn't have. Does she still need to be killed?" Viktor replied simply "A possibility of that happening is more dangerous than a word that she wouldn't."

Yao turned to the pictures and said "So for this possibility, you'd rather exterminate her along with an entire town. I have to say, you've become extremely ruthless. It's quite perplexing as your soul is very bright. It's almost as if you don't believe you're in the wrong in any way. You haven't actually been corrupted at all."

She turned to him, smiling "Which is VERY interesting. Corrupted souls are pitch black and dim but yours is pristinely white and positively glowing. However, you've lost your original intentions." she waved gently and the picture showed Viktor before he got powers, going to find Emma across the world, not killing a single person at all.

Even the rocket explosions only severely injured the soldiers…

Yao asked "So how did you come to be like this?" Viktor looked at the mirror and said "That was a long time ago." Yao replied "Not enough, surely. How about this?"

It showed Viktor saving people everywhere during the Expo and the Attack on New York, Yao added "I think this Viktor is more to my liking. You've changed and lost your way, Doctor."

Viktor retorted "I've done everything to keep my family safe! They are happy." Yao asked, "Oh? Is that so?" as she waved again.

Emma laughed after talking to Viktor and walking away.

Her face was covered in tears and she wiped them sadly, forcing a smile as she went to play with Lilith.

Viktor froze and said "Why would she cry? We're not bothered, we're safe!" Yao smiled and pointed out, "Might I remind you that you had just made a point that your previous self and thoughts were gone. The man she fell in love with was different, of course she would be sad."

Viktor retorted "I haven't changed! I've always protected them!" Yao replied "Yes, but your methods are drastically different. Before you were a man who didn't hesitate to bloody his own hand to keep hers clean, now you actively asked her to cause thousands of deaths. Are her hands still clean?"

She clicked her tongue, adding "You've become obsessed with protecting to the point that you've lost the original meaning, Doctor. Would you like to see the future?"

Viktor stared at Emma's teary face as the scene changed.

Viktor dropped a Meteorite on the small town and killed Wanda, but Vision came to him and they started fighting, destroying more towns. Eventually Viktor ripped the mind stone out of Vision's body and flew away.

The time sped forward and Viktor pulled down, pulling a meteorite down on the pentagon and the white house before moving to every government in the world.

Noticeably, there was a sling ring on his fingers with green and yellow gems floating around his head.

Speeding forward again.

Viktor sat on rubble as half the moon in the sky was shattered. Moon rock fell from the sky, smashing down on Earth as a barrier erected around Viktor's house.

6 gems floated around Viktor's head and all the superheroes were bunched up, inside a barrier staring in horror at the sight.

Only Viktor stood outside the barrier, staring at the destruction with cold eyes as people died one after the other.

Viktor grabbed the air and punched down, revealing a massive hole.

He pulled and a giant Golden figure slowly rose from the ground with 4 eye holes.

Viktor used the infinity gems and crushed the figure to powder before slapping the ground.

The Earth trembled and started growing better, turning into a lush planet.

He raised his hand and snapped his fingers as all people and mutants started interbreeding, creating a new generation of humans.

Time sped forward and Viktor stood in the air, blinking across the world. The green gem glowed bright and matched his glowing green pupils as he scanned people one by one, place to place.

He stopped and pointed at someone. The purple gem lit up and that person turned to powder before Viktor teleported away, constantly turning specific people to dust.

The world was peaceful, naturally, nobody had any free will…

Emma found him and left after some cold words. Viktor sat on a throne and cried with an expressionless face. He closed his eyes and pointed at Emma, she robotically turned around and stood by his side with dull eyes.

Lilith also suffered the same fate, not even allowed to leave his side anymore…

The world ushered in a Utopian Era, there were no more wars, no more countries, no more conflict, everything developed as fast as a rocket.

Threats from outside the planet were dealt with immediately.

Viktor erased anyone who came and created a bubble around the Earth, hiding it.

Finally, Viktor had a son and died years later.

His son received the gems and destroyed the world in rage for being controlled all his life.

Viktor watched this entire thing with blank eyes. His mind replayed the scene of Emma turning around, completely controlled. He noticed that after that she never said another word…