During the time Gamora was hailing the Arcadia ship, the Earth, or more specifically, the United States was in turmoil from the recent incident.
[HERE IT IS FOLKS. THE PROOF THAT WE WERE ALL WAITING FOR. No one other than the US wants to go to space! To Improve Lives! Incident upon Incident have fallen, for people wanting to steal OUR spaceship designs! Continuing war instead of ENDING IT! I support Mr. Knight in his endeavour. We need to be united before we go outside our planet. Otherwise, I'm sure that our infighting will bring calamity to the Earth.]
J Jonah Jameson was shouting as usual from the large screen in the middle of the city. But for the residents there, they agreed with what he was talking about.
The information about the war on space had spread to the entire world. On the first day, the media had been calling Ryan Knight a conqueror, a tyrant who wanted to enslave humanity, and notorious other labels were stuck with him.
His action of keeping the news about the Earth's fleet away from the other members of the government was seen as an act of distrust, prompting retribution. Until, Ryan secretly leaked out the details of the highly confidential world summit and the discussions among the countries involved.
The prospect of peace between the species lingered in peoples mind's day and night, making their daily lives full of smiles. The Governments however, were under crushing pressure after the details leaked, as the interest of the citizens and the government didn't align together in Ryan's new Era.
They tried to smear and push Ryan's reputation down, however the things they wanted to break had already soared from Earth into the universe.
"The people were afraid of the power that was already theirs."
Ryan commented about the situation of the world, causing massive shockwaves all over the Earth. People started to riot above their oppressive governments, making Ryan's reputation increasingly notorious among the people in power.
"Ryan, do you have time to talk?" said Natasha Romanov as she knocked on his office door.
"Come in Nat. This is rare... For you to come and meet me." Ryan replied with a bright smile on his tired face.
Natasha was stunned for a second after seeing his face, especially the dark circles and the redness in his eyes. "When was the last time you've slept?"
"7…8 days ago? I think…Time, I lost track of it."
She hid her worries for him, and struggled internally about whether to add to Ryan's list of burdens.
"Where is Gwen?"
"She is swinging along New York city, trying to find the Intelligencia bastard that had been attacking She-Hulk and other female superheroes online." Ryan replied, his attention turned back to his papers.
"Hehehe." Ryan suddenly let out a chuckle .
"What's so funny?" Natasha asked with curiosity.
"Well, because my slogan is to achieve world peace, some governments were trying to get me to share the spaceship blueprints with them as a condition for attending the world summit."
"That's…bold. Are they moving on their own?"
"You think?" Ryan smirked softly. The ones who demanded the precarious condition were puppetted by a larger country. Ryan knew about all of them, but he couldn't do anything about it. The countries were searching for his bottom line, heading to a suicidal attempt and self destruction on their own.
Natasha waited for a while for Ryan to finish up his work.
But suddenly, Ryan asked, "Okay, now can you tell me why you came here?"
"I…Steve and Tony, they…"
"They fought huh."
Natasha nodded. "Tony got angry and started to throw punches towards Steve, although none of them hit because he wasn't wearing his suit.
"Tattletale." Ryan teased. He scrunched his face. "What is Tony doing back anyway? I thought he was on a private island?"
"About that. Thor and Hulk went after Fin Fang Foom like you said, and they chased him onto a deserted island…which was…"
"Got it." Ryan interjected. The world couldn't let Tony rest, even if it's only for a week. The island was destroyed after Iron Man, Hulk and Thor battled the dragon together, causing Tony's honeymoon to be cut short.
"And, the question you have for me is?" Ryan said knowingly after Natasha was silent for a while.
Natasha took a deep breath and asked, "Why did Tony seem fearful when he talked about your…burden? I can see that there is something you guys are hiding from us."
If she knew about it, then she could defuse the tension between Tony and Steve.
{Flashback The Fight}
Steve walked into the Avenger tower and briefed Thor and Hulk for their next mission.
"Steve, We need more people." Tony said suddenly, after skimming the towering stacks of missions they need to do.
"I am working on it. Anyway, Go enjoy your honeymoon." Steve said dismissively.
"I don't think I can anymore." Tony said with a wry smile on his face. "I found a few super-powered people with good personalities. We can build a new team-"
"Tony. Ryan gave you the month off. Go and be with Pepper." said Natasha who came in to take her next mission.
"Nah. I already talked to Pepper. And I got her permission to do it."
Being with Pepper for a while, he saw that a pregnant woman's whim was always changing. They were impulsive and emotional, and needed a lot of care. After a while, he noticed that dealing with Pepper was like….dealing with him.
'I was behaving like a pregnant woman all my life. How could I'd done that!' Tony thought secretly. He vowed to change himself, and become more dependable for those around him. Especially for Pepper, the baby, and his close friend.
In his first act to become more dependable, he decided to disclose a major secret with Pepper. She cried after listening about it, and pushed for Tony to get back to work – for him to help his friend that was burdened by a great responsibility.
The ones who knew about it were Tony, Banner, Peggy, and Steve.
"Tony, You should know. Ryan already planned for the additional member. However, without proper training, they will do more harm than good. They also could lose their life rushing into the fire without readying themselves." Steve said.
"We have the training room. We have experienced members that could help guide them." Tony tried to explain himself. "Ant-man. Rhodes. Your friend, the Falcon. The Devil in Hell's Kitchen. If we-"
"Tony. before the superhero registration act-"
"Could you let me finish? We need people, Rogers.. Desperately. The burden on him is too big. We need more variables to make his work easier."
"Or. We will make his calculation more difficult. Just stick with plan-"
"That is the problem. The PLAN. Do you know how hard is it to maintain the plan? The calculation that no AI could help him do, was done by him all alone. Adding to the new things popping out everyday, he can barely move on. I did it for 2 days. And I passed out and almost went crazy. So did Banner. He-"
Natasha stopped in her tracks after hearing Tony shouts.
Steve replied with a stern look on his face , "It is …his choice. He wants to do this. I don't know how, but he already predicted you would react this way. And I told him that I will stop you when the time comes."
Tony suddenly lunged to punch Steve in the face. "What is the use in saving the world? If he loses his life doing so!?"
Steve dodged his fist by moving slightly, "We don't know that will happen."
Tony kept punching at him, and Steve finally lost it and grabbed his fist.
"You're sure you want to do this? Did you forget who you were swinging at?"
"Yeah. Captain Bloody America. The one who can abandon his friend to save the world. I guess that is true right, even with Bucky, and now Ryan.."
That started the fight between them. Ayala, Barton, Banner, and Thor rushed quickly to break up the fight.
{Flashback end}
Standing at the front of Ryan's desk, Natasha looked him in the eye filled with determination.
"(Sigh) If you must know." Ryan let out a sigh. Natasha smiled softly and watched Ryan taking out a thick book that had traces of heavy use.
"This is… a formula…based on an Anthropic and Copernican principle. It can predict the downfall of humanity."
Natasha widened her eyes after hearing about that. "WHAT!"
"Calm down. This is unlike you." Ryan said playfully again. "It turned every action of a leader, every article that was posted on the internet, every celebrity that broke up, and everything that made humanity…human… into a variable on an equation."
"HOW…" Natasha takes a deep breath to calm herself. "...How long did we have?"
"Now? 89 years before total extinction."
"Even with paving ways to the universe?" Natasha asked, gripping her fist tightly until her hand was pale white.
"Yes. before that. We only had 30."
Her fist shook violently after understanding the burden that Ryan carried. She finally understands why Tony feared Ryan going crazy. AI couldn't understand how to change the variable of human's action to mathematical figures – at least not the AI in this Era.
Although Ryan's AI has passed this world's technological capabilities, like Tony said, he had handled the calculation by himself. He developed Psychohistory, a method of predicting future events using statistics. Natasha glanced at the book Ryan took out, and all of it was just bits and scribbles for her.
"Why are you doing this? Do you perhaps feel responsible for the Red Rain?" Natasha asked, revealing that she knew about Ryan's other identity. – Tarot. After hearing what M.O.D.O.K had said, she investigated a bit about the incident, and her leads did point to Tarot and Ryan being the same person. It's only circumstantial evidence, but it was proof for her regardless.
Now, she finally understands his motive to do that. He needed to save the world by destroying the current one. Fury understood his action without even knowing about the calculation. That's why he arranged the talk with Ryan on the Skrull's mothership. To ensure that Ryan would step down after he achieved what he was aiming for.
Ryan stopped doing his work and relaxed his back on the chair. Natasha sat down next to him, waiting for him to speak. "You know. I don't feel responsible for it now. And that's what's scary."
"The deaths haunts me. But I can't do anything about it. Nat, why do you think a hero rises up?"
"It's to do the right things," Natasha replied.
"True. But it was also to inspire hope in the people. A Hero ALWAYS has to do the right thing. However, despite my calculations…and I calculated it for a long time…There isn't a right way for a hero to change the world without breaking it. And that makes them…a villain."
"Because when the hero saw that what the government, the people in power were doing, wasn't the right thing to do in the first place. To step down on others for them to rise in power, and to abandon their morality for profit. In fact, a lot of heroes were accidentally created to fight against the oppressive system imposed upon them."
"The Hero registration act. It will be hard to do in the current government. As people don't trust their own leader. If I don't change it, believe me, there will be a civil war between the heroes." Ryan said with a chuckle.
Natasha gritted her teeth. She felt helpless in this matter. She thought that becoming an Avenger, she could do something more for the world. And now, she could only watch her friend suffer, without being able to do anything about it.
"Thank you Nat. I don't think that I could talk to someone about this." Ryan said.
He didn't even tell Gwen about it. For the fear that him being a villain will cause her to hate him.
"Hey. Do you remember the favour that you promised me?" Natasha asked.
"Yeah. I do. One absolute request. Anything you want. Just wish as if I'm your genie." Ryan replied. He could promise Natasha the favour as he knew she wouldn't go overboard with it. But he forgot to place the reaction people have when they saw his burden to the equation.
"I want…Power." Natasha said, finally deciding the best course of action to help her friend.
"What?"
…
After a long talk, Ryan finally took out a serum for Natasha to use. He placed a purple colored liquid on the table, and explained it to her.
"This is called Compound V. The serum was the closest one to your wish for an immediate power. However, I can't control the power you will get. You can turn into a giant tongue, or become a pool of water. You could also control light, and shoot beams from your eyes."
Natasha held the purple bottle in her hand. "Is there any method to control the randomness? I really don't want to turn into a giant tongue."
"Well. Don't worry about it. I will create a serum to turn you back if you turn into a tongue." Ryan said playfully.
Natasha smirked and put the bottle down. Then, she unzipped her widow's suit, revealing her chest area.
"What?" Ryan was flabbergasted when she suddenly stripped in front of him.
"Well. I don't want anyone to know if I failed the transformation. So just keep it between me and you for now." she said as she revealed her bare upper body. Then, she turned her back against Ryan.
He took the serum and an injector. Slowly, he injected the serum into her spine.
"Urk-" Natasha let out a grunt as her body was slowly heating up. Stabbing pains appeared all over her body, and she fell to the ground. The pain grew inhuman, and all of her cells were being torn apart and restructuring themselves, her DNA was being mutated as it added new properties inside itself to manifest the upcoming changes.
However throughout the transformation, she didn't let out a scream. Living in constant pain in all of her life had trained her to handle the most inhuman torture a human could inflict on another. Ryan stealthily helped her ease the pain through the use of magic, allowing her pain to slowly change into a warm feeling as if she was inside a mother's womb.
Then, she split into two.
Literally.
She split into two.
"" What the hell!"" Both Natasha exclaimed at the same time.
"Damn, Duplicate type ability." Ryan exclaimed, visibly excited by the power Natasha had gotten.
The Natasha's turned against one another and started to study the new power she had gotten.
"This is freaky. This is me. And not me at the same time." The main Natasha said. She could control the other body through a Hive mind.
"I know what you are feeling." Ryan said ambiguously. Natasha held her arm and started to grope the chest of her clone. "Even the sensitivity is the same. But the elasticity…"
Ryan raised his brow seeing Natasha molesting herself. "Could you wear your clothes back?"
She smirked and held both of Ryan's arms, one naked Natasha in each. They whispered in his ears. "Thank you. Do you want a reward for your generous gift? O great genie."
"I'm engaged bitch." Ryan scoffed and shook her grip, offended by her teasing. She giggled and started to put on her clothing. She knew he wasn't that type of man, and he knew she wasn't that type of girl (except during her mission). After she finished playing around, Natasha let Ryan run a few tests on her new power.
Suddenly, Ryan took a gun and shot Natasha's chest. She was startled, but the bullet didn't go through. "Superhuman durability . Scans also show heightened senses, and increased strength inside your muscles."
"You shot me."
"There is also your duplication ability. Is two your limit?"
"You shot me."
"You also gained the ability of a parrot after being injected with the serum. It might be the side effect."
Natasha held her anger inside and started to feel the duplication power she has. Then, the two Natasha turned into four, and then into eight.
She felt that she could do more, but when she turned into six-teen people, her transformation became unstable and variations of herself started to appear. A fat Natasha, a lanky Natasha, a loli Natasha, and more.
"So, eight is the limit for a stable duplication for now." The loli widow said.
" I see. You can…What Nat where are you going?" Ryan asked after Natasha retracted all of the duplicates inside of her.'
"Doing missions of course. Now. I can do 8 missions all at once. And the number will grow in the future."
A blissful feeling emerged inside of her as she could finally contribute to Ryan's plan to save the world. What she didn't realise was, Ryan's emotional state had stabilised greatly after having the talk with her. He could finally move away from the guilt gnawing at his heart, and refocus on his mission. The talk created more impact than Natasha being as strong as Homelander in Marvel — not that her ability was as same as him physically.
Aboard Ryan's Vice President office, Gwen was sitting on the rooftop, listening to everything Ryan and Natasha talked about through the enhanced senses her Iron Spider suit provided for her.
It would be impossible for Ryan to not know that she was there. But, a certain bald headed woman in a monk robe had interfered in the matter as a repayment for picking up after her slacking.
"Stupid. Idiot. Baldy." Gwen cursed multiple times after understanding what Ryan had done. She can deduce by the conversation that Ryan was Tarot. She felt betrayed for a while, but after listening to why he had done it, her heart felt as if it was twisted.
She wiped the tear stain on her eyes and jumped down to confront Ryan about the matter. Ryan even got a slap from her, but not because she felt that he was a villain, but because he didn't share his troubles with her.
" I don't care. If you want to become a villain, do it. If you want to become a hero. Then do it. If you want to abandon everything and run away. Just do it. I will always be there by your side no matter what. My love for you is.. Unconditional. Don't hide this type of thing from me again."
Gwen said while hugging Ryan and pulling his head onto her chest. He listened to her heartbeats, and he knew everything that she said was straight from her heart. He closed his eyes and he grabbed her tightly, not wanting to let go of the only thing that made sense for him in the entire world.
…
Mythic: Long time no see. ¬‿¬
Hydra: Shut up. It's only been 3 days.
TheDoctor: Have the Guardian plot started yet?
Hydra: Artificially, but it has started.
GreenWitch: You know you skipped the whole Skrull war/Secret Invasion arc right?
RedWidow: @Greenwitch you still couldn't let that go huh?
GreenWitch: I was looking forward to that! @Hydra you owe me a conspiracy arc you son of a bi-