MCU 3

I told the girls it would take around half an hour, but considering I was already running late, I made what, in hindsight, appears to be a questionable decision—I updated them on my status and the recent events. This unwise decision led to a solid five minutes of being berated for picking a fight with a multiversal entity.

Honestly, the fight wasn't that impressive, however, they simply didn't understand that neither of us used our full arsenal, but explaining it didn't seem to pacify them in the slightest. At that moment, with Mai and Aly included, it almost felt like I had three nagging girlfriends back at home.

"God forbid...", I mumbled softly.

Returning to the main point, inserting our data into the US systems was a breeze. I simply connected to the internet and employed information manipulation, courtesy of Existence, to 'craft' our digital footprints, complete with overflowing bank accounts and tax histories. After that, a bit of creative conjuring followed, bringing forth our cards, certificates, and all necessary paperwork.

From the perspective of the real world, all three of us had been American citizens throughout our lives. I even made it so that Olivia and I were officially married, and lived in a cozy estate in Colorado before moving to this side of the state to take over our inheritance. The 'inheritance' in question was a smaller tech company that 'didn't' appear out of nowhere, thanks to information manipulation.

Initially, I considered establishing our headquarters in New York, the epicenter of most events in this world. However, with Olivia pregnant, that seemed a bit too risky, and truth be told, I also wanted to play with the sanity of a few individuals. So, after manipulating reality and information, I ended up creating a 25-story skyscraper with a penthouse on the top floor in Washington D.C. As far as I recall, aside from occasional mutant attacks, not much happened in this city, however, I hoped to change that and bring some chaos into the lives of the locals.

The funniest part was however that the penthouse offered a panoramic view directly into the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s office. Admittedly, his windows were reflective, and normally, we wouldn't be able to see anything, but with our perception, it won't stop us from observing him.

The fun part about using Existence in conjunction with Relativity was that it ensured that the company and its headquarters were well-known, and existing for quite a while. Everyone knew or had at least heard about it—everyone except Fury.

I was by choice, and I could barely contain my amusement, picturing his confusion upon noticing a new skyscraper next to his office building, right where he used to park his car for years. His additional bewilderment when questioning others about the building or company, which to his knowledge didn't exist yesterday, and discovering that it had been there longer than anyone could remember, fueled my anticipation.

With Nick's paranoia and trust issues, I was aware I'd have S.H.I.E.L.D. agents applying for jobs or possibly breaking into the base, and I couldn't wait to have some fun with that.

In preparation for a potential clichéd vent event, I had walked around my building and enchanted the air vents. If entered with the intention of gathering information, or any ill intentions, they would stretch on forever, ensnaring any spy until I deemed they had enough. Additionally, I planned to add Wards, a defense system I had yet to use, to the building.

"Hmm... Perhaps I should make the penthouse unplottable or even cast Fidelius on it." I hummed to myself, scratching my chin as started redesigning the interior of the penthouse. Simultaneously, I ordered about a thousand mental instances, using my collective knowledge about magic from different worlds, to start developing a ward system of our own.

Thanks to knowledge acquired from both Voldedork and Dumb-Dumb, I possessed extensive information about the Harry Potter variant of wards. While those wards were excellent at their purpose, they were immobile and inflexible, which is why I had never delved into them, up until today.

Traditional wards were essentially enchantments tied to a wardstone, an object, or even a place. They are projected into the environment in a specified shape and radius, creating a defendable or observable perimeter. They required geological data and star charts in their creations, making them almost impossible to move. Thankfully, as a God of Magic and with the help of [Arcane Arts] those limitations can be disregarded.

There were numerous types of wards, some capable of attacking, others defending, but the most useful, in my opinion, were those focused on the mind.

My plan was straightforward: devise and place defensive wards to prevent any if not all, potential harm to the building. These wards would not only safeguard the structure but also surveil and repel anyone with harmful intentions toward the inhabitants of the premises.

Since instructing the creation of the new ward system, my mental instances have already generated a few original designs.

Progress on this front was swift. However, I intended to integrate this world's magic into my ward system once Aly entered this dimension and I updated the Akashic Records tome.

If memory serves me right, this world's magic was a type of geometrical system with a touch of imagination-based spellcasting. Hence, it's certainly worthy of exploration.

Nonetheless, the establishment of a warded area will have to be temporarily postponed, though, that didn't prevent me from experimenting and simulating them within my mind.

Surprisingly, and not truly, the same information manipulation I did earlier not only created the company, it also populated it with employees who had been working there for years.

Reality didn't favor blanks, swiftly filling them in. Otherwise, it would be odd to have a colossal office building running for more than a few decades without staff or products.

Amazingly, the same process also generated products for the cheekily named company, which were mostly kitchen appliances, however, I was planning on changing that as soon as I started playing around.

I was almost tempted to commend reality for a job well done, almost.

Done with the swift interior redesign, making the place comfier and lively, I nodded in satisfaction and warped the dimension, opening a direct gateway to Mai's realm, then called out.

"Alright girls, I'm done with the prep work. You can come over!", a loud 'Shaa!' resounded in the background and a chorus of giggles resounded, making me roll my eyes and reply, "Yes Fluffy that means you too..."

[Phil Coulson's POV]

"Coulson!" I was met with his shout the moment I entered the office. "Explain!" he added, gesturing towards the... window?

His brows were scrunched, and I was unsure what made him so livid this time...

Hopefully, it isn't another instance of his shades being 'wrong,' or, god forbid, another 'ghost' incident of 'someone' moving his pen by an inch while he wasn't watching. I'm pretty sure S.H.I.E.L.D. cannot survive another one of those, even when the security cameras, logs, and DNA analysis proved it was his elbow...

"Umm... That's a window, sir. It's made of some kind of glass, I presume bulletproof. It's mainly used for-" Before I could continue my explanation, I was unceremoniously interrupted.

"I know that, motherfucker!" Nick Fury, my boss, slammed his hands on his table and gestured towards his window once again, "What is that building there!"

"Which one sir?" I tilted my head, unsure which one he was gesturing towards, being that the skyline was filled with them.

"The big fucking one right in front of us!" He said standing up and pointing at it, while his eyes squinted, probably attempting to burn the offending building down only with his vision.

My shoulders sagged, and I hoped this was simply a joke. There was paranoia, and then there was this...

"Is there something wrong with the QuackWare Innovations headquarters?" I asked playing along, squinting my eyes at the aforementioned building, yet not noticing anything out of the ordinary.

"Where did they come from?!" He shouted, turning his head back at me, his face a shade of red from his namesake.

'That reminds me what kind of surname is Fury? Does it have German origins?' I was pulled back from my musing by a stapler, that impacted the wall, a few inches to my right. "Right... Excuse me." I straightened up, "From what I know about them, they were owned by a businessman who recently passed away." I replied trying to recall his name and failing miserably, "I'm not sure about his name, but let me check it" I explained pulling up my datapad and swiftly searching for the information, "Oh... The company is going through a small transition. His son took it over just today." I pulled up the document and shared it with my boss.

"That's not what I meant!" Fury, having a little tantrum, slammed both his hands on his desk, cracking the glass top not even looking at the information.

'This will be the third tabletop this month.' I thought to myself, while my expression remained unchanged.

"Where the fuck did that building come from? It wasn't here yesterday?!"

"I'm unsure what you mean sir." I replied carefully while searching and bringing up the document about the building then sending it over to him, "That company building has been here longer than S.H.I.E.L.D. has existed."

"No fucking way!" He denied it, and if I didn't know the man better, I would assume he had some form of dementia. "That's where I used to park my car, and you know it!"

"Sir," I threaded carefully, "You've been using the reinforced parking space just below this building for years. Don't you remember it? It was your own request, with titanium reinforced walls, retina scanner, and other security measures. It's more secure than some prisons, if I have to say, and it cost us a good fortune." I said with a grimace.

"Bullshit." He mumbled, falling back into his chair and squinting his eyes. "Send over a few agents and check them out. No wait, where is Natasha?" He asked locking eyes with me.

"Currently on a covert mission observing the green guy."

"Pull her back, I want her in that building yesterday."

"With all due respect sir. May I ask why?" I tilted my head in confusion, "We ran background checks on all the nearby companies and their employees monthly. And except for a few rare occasions, nothing came up, wasting additional resources and personnel would be a... waste."

"Coulson," he said calmly his eyebrows scrunched, and that meant he was serious, "That building wasn't here yesterday."

"Are you entirely sure?" I said my expression mirroring his own.

"Completely." He replied with a grim tone making me believe that there was a possibility his words were entirely true.

"Alright, a building doesn't simply appear out of nowhere." 'Especially in memories.' I said, even if I remember it being there for... ever? 'That's strange...' I hummed deep in thought, "Why did we even build a national security headquarters right next to a small tech company? I understand covert things and all, but weren't there more secure locations? Also, why is your office placed on this floor? If not for the reflective outside coating, one could spy on you with ease." I squinted my eyes and nodded, "This IS strange, and I can't believe no one noticed it till now. I'll put a team on it and even pull back Natasha." I said agreeing with his observations, realizing that there truly was something bizarre about this.

'How come no one noticed the strangeness up until now?' I tilted my head, my eyes locking on the image of the new owner, "I'll request a meeting with this Thompson kid." I mumbled waving as I walked out of the office, while my fingers danced on the datapad touch screen.

[Scott Summers POV]

"Sc0tT g3T th3 je7 re4dY~" I mimicked the professor's voice, irritated. "What does he think I am? An errand boy? For heaven's sake, I'm the team lead!" I grumbled while rechecking the landing gear. "Why doesn't Hank do the preflight checks? Not like he's been doing anything but sitting in his lab these days."

"Scott, stop whining like a little bitch and do your job!" came a shout from the other side of the jet.

"Fuck you, Logan!"

"Ha! You wish, Laser-eyes!" he countered with a hearty laugh, making my eye twitch.

"Fuck this shit, it's fine!" I gave up. "Let's just say we did it and get on with the mission."

"Can't do kiddo." He walked out from behind the engine, cleaning his greasy hands with a cloth and shaking his head. "Magneto did a number on this girl last time." He gave the steel bird a little pat. "We can't dismiss that." I opened my mouth to point out that it had been fixed, but he beat me to it. "I know she was fixed up, but there is a chance something was missed, something is leaking, or simply not connected. You don't want to blow up while flying, right?"

Even though he had a point, I didn't like that he was right. "It's a five-minute flight!" I grumbled. "Nothing will go wrong."

"It'll hurt like a bitch, but I can survive the explosion and the fall," he shrugged, then gave me a grin. "Though, I'm pretty sure you or the rest can't." He walked up to me and hit me on the back with more force than necessary. "So go and fucking check the altitude controls, while I check on the fuel injector."

"Gah, fine," I grumbled and made my way to the cockpit, to start the annoying switch flipping.

It took us another half an hour to complete the preflight checkup, and lo and behold, nothing was wrong.

"I told you it was a waste of time!" I complained when he joined me in the cockpit.

"You did, buddy, but that doesn't change the fact that it's required." He hummed. "Though, what's your real deal? You're not known for whining about missions or simple tasks, Laser-eye." He pointed with a wry expression.

"...It was my day off," I admitted with a sigh. "I had today planned out," I added with a wry smile. "A ride on the motorcycle, romantic dinner, walk on the beach right under the moonlight."

"Gaaaay~" He snorted, and I continued while ignoring him.

"And the professor just so happens to detect not one, but three Omega-level signatures right next door."

"Tough luck." He shrugged. "It's not like you won't have other chances."

"Yeah, you're right," I said with a wry smile. "Also, Jean has been acting weird all day long."

"Weird? How?" He asked quirking a brow.

"I found her spacing out a few times." I shrugged. "She was washing a plate for a good five minutes while looking through the window at nothing specific. I've checked."

"Strange, but maybe the plate was extra dirty." He snorted. "Or maybe you did something she didn't like, and she's mad?" He joked, poking me with his elbow.

"You think?" I asked hopefully.

"Who knows, women are strange creatures." He nodded sagely.

"Gah, I can't understand them."

"Welcome to the team, Laser-eye."

"Troubles in paradise, Scott?" Storm interrupted our manly bonding as she entered the plane. She flashed me a warm smile and added, "Want me to talk with her, see if I can learn what's troubling her?"

"I don't appreciate you eavesdropping," I squinted my eyes at her before sighing and accepting her offer. "But thanks, that would be helpful."

"Don't mention it." She waved it off, taking her seat.

"Alright, people, let's head out. We don't have too much time," came the professor's hurried voice as Jean pushed his wheelchair into the plane.

"You're also coming with us, Professor?" Ororo asked, surprised.

'Hmm... Seems like even she didn't know about this development.' I contemplated internally.

"I am," he nodded. "With that enormous spike, I detected with Cerebro, it's simply too risky to send only you four alone." He added as Jean secured his wheelchair. "Thank you, Jean ."

"My pleasure, Professor," she replied, flashing him a warm smile and taking her seat before strapping in.

"Everyone buckled up?" I asked, and after receiving affirmatives, I started the engine and opened the hatch, then pressed the push-to-talk button. "Alright, ladies and gentlemen, welcome aboard the fastest rollercoaster in the sky!" A collective groan resounded in the back, and I couldn't help but chuckle. "If you look out your window, you'll see absolutely nothing because this flight is yet to lift off." Ororo chuckled. "In case of turbulence, just think of it as Mother Nature's way of giving us a little shake to wake us up from this blink-and-you-miss-it journey - so Ororo, please be gentle." She gave me a glare. "Sit back, relax, and enjoy the in-flight snack, which is just this one bag of peanuts because someone forgot to go on a snack run."

"We got peanuts?" asked Logan, perking up, and it threw it at him before continuing.

"And remember, the exits are wherever you want them to be because we'll be on the ground before you can say 'Are we there yet?'."

And with that, we blasted off, reaching supersonic speeds in a fraction of a minute. There was no need to control it; the autopilot and guidance systems would take care of it, so I turned around and asked, "So what's the plan?"