POV: Baldur.
Utopia City, Planet Hope.
Four Hours After the Conversation with Xavier.
"Welcome to Utopia, my friend," Magneto greeted me after I crossed the portal to reach Planet Hope.
Instead of his typical red armor, he was wearing an all-white one that gave a more majestic air to the view behind him. The only city built on Planet Hope, Utopia. I must say, the mutants did an incredibly impressive job building a city like this in such a short time. I never doubted their abilities and potential, but this was already ridiculous. In comics, mutants had some of their own cities, what I always found unrealistic about them was the speed at which they managed to build them. But here I was, facing a metropolis that was built in just a few years.
The city was as extensive as the largest cities on Earth, but unlike them, Utopia seemed to perfectly balance urban landscape with nature. It was a perfect union between the silver of its constructions and the green of nature that gave everything an incredible charm. And like every city has its own unique feature, Utopia's was the buildings floating in the air throughout the city.
Something they achieved using magnetic repulsion technology. In Genosha, we used this for other purposes, but here they gave it the use to make all the buildings float in the air. Even though their movement speed was almost nonexistent, it was still possible to move them slowly. It was almost like having several mobile fortresses.
"Sorry for the last-minute notice, Erik, but the matter at hand is urgent," I apologize for coming so quickly.
Utopia was a nation and a world, so I treated them as such. I fulfilled my promise to Magneto by not getting involved in any mutant affairs. In fact, this is the first time I've come to this city. A visit from one king to another nation should be reported in advance, but since Galactus doesn't wait, I only warned them an hour ago.
"Our only ally will always be welcome, but let's talk at my place," he says, smiling.
I approach him, and the platform beneath our feet begins to levitate. Using his powers, Magneto swiftly moves us across the city towards the coast. Near the ocean and atop a cliff, there's a simple silver house. Instead of entering the house, the platform takes us to the back, overlooking the sea, where we both sit at a table facing each other.
"A beautiful house, Erik, but a bit simple for the first president of this world," I say to him.
The political system of Hope is still being created; at the moment, Magneto holds the position of council president. The council is chosen by vote, just like its president.
"Occasionally, I need to step away from the noise; this is where I come to do that. But going straight to the point, what is the emergency situation you want to tell me about?"
And once again, I explain the whole situation we're in. Magneto listened attentively, and only then did he speak.
"So you're asking mutants to help you deal with this threat not only because there are still mutants on Earth, but also because we may be next since we're relatively closer."
"Correct."
"But if this threat is indeed as great as you've reported, do you think we stand any chance?"
"There's always a chance, of course, I'm taking precautions in case of a disaster."
"And what about the other humans?" he asks.
"Even with my vast resources, I can't move all the people on Earth, but I'll do my best to save as many as I can. But my people and allies will always be the priorities."
It's a somewhat ugly way to see things, but my responsibility as King has always been to my people. If the world comes to an end, that won't change. Genosha has always had contingency plans for events like this because of me; we even have facilities built on another planet away from Earth to start over if necessary.
"Of course, I'll help my friend, Planet Hope will help you, but our resources are limited. We have several mutants with diverse abilities, but few of them are fit for a fight like this," he says.
The population of Hope is different from Xavier's school; here they are not trained to fight. Of course, Magneto has his Brotherhood, but none of them is omega-level, except him and his daughter.
"I just need your help, and your daughter's," I declare.
Magneto alone is an omega-level mutant; he is one of the most powerful beings in the world. I already have almost a plan formed in my mind; he will be the key piece.
"Of course, I will help, but I'm not sure if Wanda can assist you; she has potential but little training."
"Don't worry, I know exactly who can train her," I say to him with a smile.
So we bid farewell, and I return to Earth, this time with Wanda and Pietro with me. When I explained the situation, she didn't hesitate to help. Her brother came along as part of the package. I considered going to Asgard to seek help from my father. If Thor, Odin, and I fought together, our chances of victory would increase. Even if we didn't win, I'm sure we could repel Galactus. But after some thought, I abandoned the idea. My father would expend too much energy battling Galactus, and he'd likely be forced into Odin's sleep to recover, which would essentially be the end for him, especially with Ragnarok looming. I'm uncertain how Ragnarok will unfold in this reality; my father is weakened, but he's not near death as depicted in the movies. I know it will happen, but not how it will start.
I've informed Thor; he's already returning to Earth. However, I won't be able to rely on my father or Asgard's help. This is the only way to ensure he stands a chance of surviving Ragnarok.
"Welcome to Kamar-Taj, Pietro and Wanda Maximoff."
When we arrive at Kamar-Taj, we're greeted by the Ancient One herself, who leads us to a small room where we sit on the Persian rug.
"She's the teacher you mentioned, the one who will teach my sister to use her abilities? She doesn't seem like much," Pietro says, looking at the Ancient One, who steps away to fetch a tray of tea.
"The woman you say isn't much is the most powerful being on Earth," I say simply to him, leaving him shocked and silent.
Referring to her in this manner is correct in my eyes. While I know my own power, strength isn't just about how much or how easily you can destroy something. I excel at destruction, but she possesses the versatility that only magic can provide. Every mage is versatile, but she is the Sorcerer Supreme; the number of spells she has mastered and commands is unimaginable, not to mention her magical power, which she can wield in ways that could harm me.
"I was expecting you a bit earlier, but as always, I can't see your movements, King Baldur," the Ancient One says as she serves the tea.
"So you already know why I'm here?" I ask.
"I know you'll need my help, and I also know a great event is looming, but I don't know the details," she responds.
"Galactus," I say simply.
She understands and sets down her tea cup.
"I understand. What do you need?"
Mages are responsible for protecting the world from mystical threats, but that doesn't mean they can't help when Earth is on the brink of destruction.
"Two things. The first, Amora will tell you about later. The second is her," I say, looking at Wanda, who has been silent since our arrival.
"I am a good teacher, King Baldur, but I cannot train her in such a short time," the Ancient One says, understanding my goal.
"She doesn't need to become a master, just to perform one move with her full potential."
I don't intend to use Wanda in my plan; she'll be my last resort. If the main plan fails, she'll be my ace in the hole.
"That may be possible," the Ancient One agrees.
After the brief war against Hydra, I had some free time to study the event where Wanda easily broke through my light barrier. The answer I found is that the magic she naturally uses has a destructive ability, even against energy. I consulted Amora about this; she also agrees with me and mentioned that Wanda is connected to a special type of magic: chaos magic.
This means that, like in the comics, Wanda is a ticking time bomb, even more so in this reality. Since she never had a teacher to teach her control and learned to use her powers on her own, I couldn't allow a bomb like her to walk around unable to control her powers. In the future, this could cause a disaster, so I thought of the one with the greatest knowledge of magic.
"I agree to train the child. Your brother can stay here too, if they wish, of course."
"If the Viking keeps his promise, I'll stay," Wanda says, speaking up for the first time.
She agreed to help me but didn't want to come here to learn. So, I promised to restore her country to its former glory. In addition to distributing supplies, as I've been doing, I will also provide doctors and rebuild the city's systems that were destroyed during the chaos caused by Hydra.
After leaving the siblings with the Ancient One, I returned to Genosha, more precisely to my personal laboratory beneath the royal castle. It's the same place where I extracted the Aether from Jane.
"Alice, please isolate the laboratory."
"Isolation Complete sir," she says shortly after.
I already had a plan to stop Galactus, though it wasn't overly elaborate. Essentially, I'll just hit him with everything I've got and more. Xavier is a crucial part of making this happen, but even with his brain boosted powers, causing damage to Galactus is seemingly impossible. So, I'll amp up his power even more by using the Mind Stone. However, I don't have complete confidence in Xavier to entrust him with one of the stones, and I'm not skilled enough to use it myself. Amora will be busy with another part of the plan, alongside the Ancient One, so I'm lacking trusted telepaths or powerful magicians.
"Alice, begin Project Vision."
The laboratory floor opens up, a silver chamber emerges, and stands before me. The chamber is constructed with high-tech materials, utilizing all the metals at my disposal, even those I used in building my Vision, the one that will solve my problem.
"Initiation in progress, 10%, 40%, 80%, 95%, 100%. Initiation complete, sir, all systems functioning perfectly."
The chamber doors open, revealing the bald, red humanoid in front of me. He was still dormant. Since I created him, he wasn't just a synthetic being made solely of vibranium, but also Adamantium and Uru. The blend created something new, yet he was still a lifeless robot.
I didn't embed a stone directly into his construction; it would bind him to it and cause complications later when trying to separate them. Instead, I used the magical properties of Uru to engrave the Othala rune on him. Just like my weapons are powered remotely by my dimension, Vision will be too.
"Notify me if your sensors detect any readings outside of what was shown in our tests."
"Yes, sir," Alice responds.
The body was ready, but it still lacked a soul and consciousness, something only an Infinity Stone could provide. The Mind Stone was hidden at the center of my dimension. With a thought, it appears in my hand, and I gently place it at the center of Vision's forehead.
The yellow gem immediately adheres to his head, and rays of energy of the same color seem to spread throughout Vision's entire body. He was definitely drawing a lot of energy to awaken, but that's fine; he was being fueled directly by the sun beneath Genosha.
Waiting for him to wake up, I couldn't help but play around. I shouted as loud as I could, "Rise, my glorious creation, RISE!"
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