[A/N: Anyone order a chapter? No? Well, have one anyway. Enjoy the story, you story-addicts!]
[2011 – September]
Pulling back my spear from Abomination's skull, I ignored the scared and shocked looks of the surrounding people.
The reason I came here and confronted the Abomination was a bit more complex than simply denying the military the research and the opportunity to create more of them. Even though it was always a pleasure to interfere with their plans, this had been more of a test to see if I could kill the Hulk if necessary.
Turns out a spearblade that can cut through Vibranium easily is enough to pierce Hulk-like skin. Of course that was only the case, if I acted before his rage made him even stronger, but I was generally the type to strike with lethal force without giving my opponents the chance for retaliation.
But that wasn't only a test for me, it was also for SHIELD. With me killing Abomination easily, they would now be a bit more aware of how much power I had. Something that was necessary for the future. How effective of a demonstration it truly was, would have to seen though.
Seeing a SUV approach rapidly from the alley that Abomination had come from, I engaged my Superspeed to grab the cut-off limbs and threw them to the rest of Blonsky's corpse.
Disengaging my Speed-Mode, I transformed my spear into its braclet form and pointed my palms in the direction of the corpse.
'Ignition', I whispered in my mind, as I lifted the hold on my inner fire, directing it towards my palms and expelling it from my body.
The carcass turned to ashes in mere seconds due to the unbearable heat of my flames.
The surrounding people all took several steps back, the proximity to my flames too much for them to endure.
Reigning in my fire, after only ashes were left of Abomination, I saw two soldiers disembark from the SUV. Their guns raised and aimed at me.
"Hands in the air! You are..."
I didn't even listen to the rest, as I simply leaped up into the air and once again guided my inner fire to be expelled from my body. This time though the flames shot from my feet in a small concentrated beam of extreme heat and force. The flames not even being a foot long and their width only at the size of my palms.
Still, these flames were more than enough to propel me into the air at incredible speed, especially so when I upped the power and simultaneously used my hands.
Like a meteor I shot across the sky, a flaming blue trail left behind me.
Through a lot of time spent training, I have finally figured out a viable way to fly. But this was only the first step, because while I was fast, I knew that if I managed to combine my flight with my Superspeed, I would become the undisputed ruler of the sky. Though there was a lot of training to be done to achieve such a thing.
I could have stayed and taught those soldier a simple lesson in common sense, about how one doesn't try to antagonise the person that just cut-down a literal abomination. But honestly, my time was much better spent snuggling with Wanda.
Landing on a nearby rooftop, I engaged my Superspeed and simply jumped from roof to roof until I was sure no one would be able to follow my trail.
Sitting down on the edge of the roof, I waited for Wanda to arrive, feeling her already being near.
My thoughts driftng towards Banner, as I waited. Through my interference he didn't manage to escape from General Ross grasp, which meant he would probably, in the best case scenario, be sent to the Raft. And in the worst, they would treat him like a lab rat and experiment on him to gain something from this whole mess.
Well, in the second scenario, Bruce would probably turn into the Hulk and be able to escape his captors.
Escaping from Raft in his Hulk form should also be rather easy for him, the only question that remained would be, if he would let himself turn into the Hulk.
An interesting question indeed: Between the longing for freedom and the unwillingness to turn into a monster, what was stronger in the heart of Bruce Banner?
Well, I suppose the answer to this question would reach my ears sooner or later.
Speaking of reaching my ears, my thoughts were interrupted by Wanda landing behind me and wrapping her arms around my shoulders, while her lips were pressed against my ears.
"Let's go home, Pietro.", she whispered, while giving my earlobe a playful bite.
Taking a step back, she gave me room to stand up and turn around. Before she took hold of my hand and directly used her telekinetic powers to fly us home.
…
Two days later, the world was still in turmoil about the events that not only happened in Virginia, but also Harlem, New York.
The Hulk had proven himself to be an almost unkillable green titan in his battle against the SOCC in the battle on the Culver University Campus.
While the happenings in Harlem seemed a lot more calm and less destructive, it had drawn the attention of the public even more.
Especially with the anonymously released background information about these two incidents.
The fact that the newly dubbed Abomination, official name Emil Blonsky, had been a member of the SOCC, who had turned rogue at the prospects of powers similar to the Hulk's, had greatly damaged the Task Force's and Army's reputation.
The video footage of him killing the two officers in their vehicle, had made it clear that Abomination had no doubt planned to unleash death and destruction upon the city.
Still, it was neither the Hulk nor Abomination that had captivated the public's attention as much as the newly-dubbed Silverfire and Scarlet Witch.
The footage of the Scarlet Witch destroying the lab with her magical fire and then just flying off, had been watched nearly a quarter-million times in less then two days. Though it paled in comparision to the recordings of Silverfire wielding his spear, while cutting down the Abomination, incinerating the body and than just flying off like a shooting star.
Discussions about their appearance, abilities and motives were all over the internet.
Someone had even managed to link them to the happenings at the Stark Expo, where some mysterious helper had destroyed the horde of drones and protected the visitors from their self-destruction.
…
"SILVER, did you release that information to the public?", I asked her, after watching another discussion about our acts on the TV.
"Yes, father.", SILVER answered honestly, not being capable of deceit.
"Why?", I inquired curiously.
I hadn't given her any such instruction and hadn't planned to. The fact that she acted out of her own volition on such a scale was surprising.
"How else would they know about your strength, father? Wasn't your goal to show them what you and mother are capable off? I thought it only logical to release that information and add a new perspective, so they would have an easier time in realising your strength... It also made you look very cool.", SILVER reasoned, while saying the last part in a quiet voice.
'Is that her equivalent to bragging about her parents to her friends?', I questioned in my mind.
As much as SILVER was my creation, she was also a being with her own personality, which meant that she had her own views and wants. I may have influenced the direction of her development greatly, but she was very much her own person. That also meant, that sometimes it was impossible for me to predict her actions.
Still, the release of that information wasn't really that important, but it reminded me of these facts.
"Did I do something wrong, father?", SILVER inquired quietly.
"No, no you didn't. It is my fault for not giving you proper instructions. Just remember to not release any kind of information to the public without my consent in the future.", I reminded her, with a quiet sigh.
"Yes, father.", her child-like voice sounded out.