Listen to: "Control by Halsey", for a better reading experience, it's what I listened to while writing this.
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in Seoul, Helen Cho was working under the looming presence of Ultron. The Cradle hummed with power as the DNA sequence—Omega's—was integrated into the advanced system. Ultron paced the lab, his eyes glowing red as his mechanical voice filled the room.
"Progress, Doctor?" Ultron asked, his tone polite but clearly threatening.
Cho wiped sweat from her forehead, her hands shaking slightly. "The sequence is integrating into the synthetic tissue. But... it's unstable. It might take more time than you think."
Ultron's head tilted, analyzing her response. "Time is something I no longer care to waste."
Wanda stood nearby, watching the process unfold with a strange mix of fascination and discomfort. Her brother, Pietro, was pacing impatiently, his foot tapping rapidly on the floor.
"We don't have much time, do we?" Wanda asked softly, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Ultron. "What do you really want with this DNA?"
Ultron turned toward her, his red eyes flickering with amusement. "You're perceptive, Wanda. HYDRA created a boy—Subject Omega—with the ability to heal at a rate far beyond normal humans. They believed he would be the perfect weapon, but he escaped before they could mold him to their liking."
Wanda's brow furrowed. "And you think you can use him?"
"I don't need him," Ultron corrected. "I need his abilities. I will use his DNA to accelerate my own evolution—becoming something beyond this primitive body."
Pietro stopped pacing, shooting Ultron a distrustful look. "And what happens when you become this 'something else'? What happens to us?"
Ultron's gaze flickered back to the Cradle. "You get what you've always wanted—revenge against the Avengers against Stark, a world where no one controls you."
Wanda exchanged a glance with her brother, doubt creeping into her eyes. Ultron had promised them freedom, revenge, and the destruction of those responsible for their pain. But something felt... off.
Before she could voice her concerns, the lab's alarm blared, startling everyone. Cho looked up from her work, alarmed. "What—?"
Ultron's voice cut through the noise, his expression unbothered. "They're here."
The Quinjet landed on the outskirts of Seoul, the Avengers disembarking swiftly. Steve led the way, shield on his back, as Tony hovered overhead in his armor, scanning for heat signatures.
"Cho's lab is ahead," Tony reported. "And we've got company—Ultron's bots are patrolling the area. He knows we're here."
"Good," Steve replied, motioning for the team to follow. "We hit them fast, take them down, and get inside before Ultron can complete his upgrade."
The team moved in, swiftly engaging Ultron's sentries. Thor's hammer crackled with lightning as he smashed through several bots, while Natasha and Clint worked together to clear a path to the lab. Steve's shield ricocheted off walls and enemies with precision, while Bruce, keeping his rage in check, fought hand-to-hand alongside them.
Inside the lab, Ultron watched the commotion on a monitor, unphased. He turned to Wanda and Pietro. "Keep them occupied. I need more time."
Pietro smirked, vanishing in a blur of speed, while Wanda's eyes glowed red as she prepared to confront the Avengers.
In the heat of battle, Wanda appeared before Steve, her hands crackling with chaotic energy. "You shouldn't have come here," she said, her voice laced with bitterness.
Steve dodged her first wave of energy, throwing his shield to block a second. "Wanda, you don't have to do this. Ultron's using you."
"You're the ones who used us," she spat, her energy lashing out again. "HYDRA, Stark, SHIELD... all of you, controlling everything."
Behind him, Natasha moved into position, attempting to outflank Wanda, but the moment she moved, Wanda turned her attention to her, unleashing a telekinetic blast that sent Natasha crashing into a nearby wall.
"Natasha!" Steve yelled, but he couldn't afford to break his concentration as Wanda advanced.
Inside the lab, Pietro zipped through the corridors, moving too fast for Clint to land a shot. The archer fired an arrow, but Pietro caught it mid-air, smirking. "You missed," he said, only for Clint to grin back.
"I wasn't aiming at you."
The arrow exploded, knocking Pietro off balance, just as Thor charged in, slamming Mjolnir into the ground and creating a shockwave that sent several of Ultron's bots flying.
Banner, still outside, glanced toward the building, his hands clenched into fists. He could feel the Hulk clawing at the surface, but he needed to keep control. They needed him focused, not unleashed.
Back in the lab, Ultron turned toward Cho, who had completed the final sequence. "It's time," he said, stepping toward the Cradle.
Suddenly, a crash echoed from the hallway as Tony blasted his way through, landing inside the lab with his repulsors aimed at Ultron. "Not so fast, Tin Man."
Ultron didn't flinch. "You're too late, Stark. Evolution can't be stopped."
Tony fired, but Wanda's energy shield appeared just in time, blocking the blast as Ultron stepped into the Cradle. "You'll see soon enough," Ultron promised as the Cradle began to glow with power, Omega's DNA fueling the transformation.
The Avengers had fought hard, but Ultron was one step closer to his final form. Time was running out.
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
Inside Omega's mind, the landscape was an eerie, shifting void—a reflection of his inner turmoil. Shadows curled and twisted around him as he sprinted, chasing after a fleeting figure that looked exactly like him. He could see the back of his own head, the familiar dark hair swaying as the figure ran just out of reach.
"Wait! Come back!" Omega yelled, his voice echoing endlessly in the strange, empty space. But the other version of himself didn't stop. It kept running, moving faster, slipping further away despite Omega's desperate efforts to catch up.
"Stop!" he screamed again, his voice growing hoarse as he pushed himself harder, his legs burning with the effort. "Why are you running?!"
No response. Only the sound of his own breathing, harsh and ragged, filled the space. The other Omega kept moving forward, unrelenting, the distance between them growing.
And then, suddenly, with no warning, a barrier shot up between them—an invisible force, shimmering faintly in the dimness. Omega skidded to a halt, slamming his fists against the barrier. He could still see the other version of himself on the other side, standing still now, just staring back at him.
"What is this?" Omega whispered, frustration building in his chest. His voice cracked with the weight of the question. He pounded his fists again, but the barrier held firm.
The other version of himself- his other half, his reflection—just stood there, its expression blank, empty. Slowly, too slowly, its form began to dissolve. Bits of it faded away, turning into mist, starting with the edges of its figure and creeping inward.
"No!" Omega shouted, his heart thudding in panic. "No, no, don't disappear! I need you!" His fists hit the barrier harder, but it didn't budge. "Come back!"
His reflection's eyes, wide and vacant, met his. There was no emotion, no recognition—just a hollow emptiness that chilled Omega to his core. He felt a surge of panic. He didn't know why, but he knew—he knew—he couldn't let this part of him disappear. It felt wrong, like a piece of him was being torn away.
"Don't go!" Omega pleaded, desperation rising in his voice. "I can't lose you! I can't—" His breath hitched as the figure's legs disintegrated, then its torso, its arms. Soon, only the face remained, watching him with that same blank stare.
Omega's hands were trembling now, pressed against the barrier. "Please," he whispered, his voice barely audible. "I don't know what you are... but I can't lose this part of me."
But it was too late. The last of the figure, the face that looked exactly like him, dissolved into nothingness. The void swallowed it whole, leaving Omega standing alone, panting, his palms pressed against the barrier that now felt cold and lifeless.
He didn't know what had just happened, but a hollow ache settled in his chest, as if a vital part of him had been ripped away. And he was left staring at the emptiness in front of him, not understanding the loss, but feeling it deeply.
"What... what did I just lose?" he murmured to himself, his voice shaking with the weight of uncertainty. But there was no answer. Only silence.
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
The Ancient One stood in her sanctuary, gazing out into the twisting folds of the Mirror Dimension. The air around her hummed with a quiet energy, but her mind was far from tranquil. She had just finished sealing away the fragment of the Void within Omega, the boy who had become more dangerous than anyone could have imagined. Her thoughts lingered on him—his untapped potential, the chaos simmering beneath the surface.
Omega was a walking storm, and despite her best efforts to stabilize him, she knew the solution she'd enacted was temporary at best. Sealing away the fragment of the Void was no easy task. The Void was ancient, primal, and had left its mark on Omega's very soul. She could feel the haunting energy still swirling deep within him, locked away behind the magic she had woven, but it was restless—waiting. It wasn't something that could be fully removed or eradicated. It was part of him now.
The boy's powers were unlike any she had ever encountered. The combination of psionic energy, raw elemental control, and now the touch of the Void had made him unpredictable, volatile. His psychic connection to the Mind Stone had granted him abilities beyond human comprehension, but that was only the surface. Omega's true potential, the depths of his abilities, were still unknown even to him—and that was what terrified her.
"He's a danger," she murmured, her voice barely a whisper, as her eyes narrowed in thought. The boy—Omega—was no ordinary threat. She could sense the chaos lurking within him, waiting to be unleashed. It wasn't just his destructive power but the volatile mix of forces swirling around him. HYDRA may have played a part in shaping him, molding him into a living weapon. But something far older, far darker, had taken root in him as well. Something malevolent.
She exhaled, tension rising within her. She had stripped powers from others before, taken abilities that had threatened to spiral out of control. But not his. Omega's power was different, bound to forces she barely understood. Forces she had only glimpsed through a veil of nightmares. The Void—it was sentient, conscious in ways she could not fully comprehend. It wasn't just a fragment of darkness buried within him, waiting passively. It was watching. It was waiting. She could feel its presence, a subtle pulse in the background of his mind, like an ancient predator observing her, assessing her every move.
If she tried to take his power, the Void would respond. That much she was certain of. And it wouldn't respond kindly.
Taking it from him would be a grave mistake. The Void had chosen him, for reasons she could only guess at, and to tear that power from its chosen vessel could unleash something far worse than even Omega's own abilities. The risk was unthinkable. If she attempted to absorb that darkness, it could consume her entirely, hollowing her out from the inside, leaving her a lifeless husk. Or worse—implode her from within, collapsing her being under the weight of the Void's endless hunger. No, that was not a fate she would invite.
But it wasn't just the Void that made Omega untouchable. The energy of the Mind Stone pulsed through him, woven into the very fabric of his existence. She had sensed it the moment they crossed paths. Its power wasn't just a temporary connection; it was infused with his soul, his very being. Trying to take that energy into herself would be suicide. The sheer amount of it would tear her apart from the inside, and obliterate her mind and body. It was a force that had integrated itself with him in ways she couldn't separate, couldn't untangle without unraveling everything he was.
Maybe that's why the Void liked him, she mused. Or maybe it was something else, something deeper—something even the Void itself hadn't revealed yet.
Either way, she knew one thing with absolute certainty: she couldn't hurt him. And she couldn't strip him of his power. Any attempt would not only destroy her but potentially unleash forces that no one could control. The boy was dangerous, yes. But the power within him—the Stone's mind-shattering energy and the Void's relentless presence—was something far beyond danger. After all, mother and son shared more similarities than she dared to acknowledge.
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
The seal she had placed would hold—for now. She had woven it carefully, using every ounce of her mystical knowledge to ensure that the fragment of the Void would not stir or awaken again without significant provocation. The barrier around that dark energy was strong, but it wasn't perfect. There was no perfect solution. Not when the boy's very soul had become intertwined with something as ancient and unknowable as the Void.
She could still feel it, even now—the faint, chilling resonance of that energy inside him, lurking beneath the surface like a predator waiting for the right moment to strike. The Ancient One knew it would try to escape. No matter how powerful her spells were, no matter how careful she had been, the Void was not something that could be contained forever. Especially not inside someone like Omega.
And that was the crux of the problem. Omega was unpredictable. His powers fluctuated with his emotions, and despite his growing control over them, he was still a boy—still learning, struggling with his own identity. If the wrong trigger set him off, the seal could crack, and the Void would seep back into his conscious mind. Then there would be no stopping it.
"He doesn't even realize how close he is to catastrophe," she thought, her expression grave. She had seen it in his eyes, the flicker of fear and uncertainty as he faced his own abilities. He had agreed to let her seal away the Void fragment, but the fear of losing control was still there, simmering beneath the surface. Omega wanted to be free of the burden, but she knew he wasn't truly free. Not yet. Perhaps not ever.
The Ancient One sighed softly, her gaze hardening as she turned her focus inward. Omega needed to learn control—real control—not just over his powers, but over his mind, his emotions. Without that, he was a ticking time bomb. The longer he existed with this volatile mixture of abilities, the more dangerous he would become, both to himself and the world.
"I've bought us time," she said softly, almost as if speaking to the universe itself. "But this is not a permanent solution. The boy will need more than seals and magic if he is to survive what is coming."
She knew the being from the Void would not rest. It would come for Omega, not because the boy had wanted any of this, but because he had been touched by the Void's domain. Few beings of that realm tolerated intrusions, and this one was powerful, malevolent. It would come to Earth, searching for the boy, and when it did, the danger would multiply.
The Ancient One stood in deep contemplation, the weight of what she had done—and what she had yet to do—bearing down on her. The boy, Omega, was a threat, not because of malice or intention, but because of the forces now at work within him. The Void was not something to be trifled with, and the being that resided in it would not rest. It would come for him eventually. She knew it. That malevolent presence, ancient and powerful, would not tolerate an intrusion on its domain. And when it did come, it wouldn't simply be a matter of Omega—Earth itself would be caught in the crossfire.
The seal she had placed on Omega's mind was holding, but it was only a stopgap. She could feel the instability lurking inside him, like a tightly coiled spring waiting to unravel. There was no avoiding it: the boy needed training—serious training—if he was ever going to learn to control the power inside him. And she couldn't wait for him to stabilize on his own. That would be far too dangerous.
The Ancient One's expression hardened as an idea began to form. She would have to get more serious in his training. There was no room for hesitation now. The boy was unstable, and leaving him to flounder in uncertainty would only make matters worse.
She turned toward the glowing energy of the Mirror Dimension. It had always been a sanctuary for teaching, a place where time and reality could be bent to her will. She had trained many sorcerers within its confines, using its malleable nature to shape their understanding of the mystic arts. But Omega wasn't just another student. His situation required something different—something more intense.
A solution crystallized in her mind: time dilation.
In the Mirror Dimension, she could manipulate time, stretch it, and bend it to her will. An hour in the real world could become days, weeks, or even months within the dimension. She could use this to accelerate his training, allowing him to gain the experience and control he needed without the constant pressure of the outside world bearing down on him.
"If I can give him more time, then perhaps we can get ahead of the danger," she thought, the plan forming fully now. She would train him in the Mirror Dimension, pushing him in ways he had never been pushed before. She would mold him into something far greater than the weapon Hydra had tried to create. And with the time dilation, she could do it far more quickly than the real world would allow.
A Month in the Mirror World would be an hour in the real world, And with enough focus, she could stretch that even further. The thought of compressing time in such a way was risky, yes, but it was the only option. Omega's power was growing too fast, too unpredictably, for conventional training.
"I will have to push him," she whispered to herself. "Harder than he's ever been pushed before. But it's the only way to prepare him for what's coming."
She turned, her decision made. The next time they met, she would take him into the Mirror Dimension, isolate him from the dangers of the real world, and force him to confront the power within himself. There, under her guidance, he would have no choice but to face the chaos that Hydra had unleashed—and the even greater chaos that the Void had instilled.
The Ancient One closed her eyes, focusing on the dimensions around her. She began to weave the magic that would set her plan in motion, her hands moving in fluid gestures, creating the intricate sigils needed to modify the flow of time within the Mirror Dimension. She would compress time, creating an environment where she could train Omega without the constraints of the real world.
"This is the only way," she murmured. "He cannot afford to remain unstable. Not now. Not with the danger that's coming for him."
She opened her eyes, determination burning in them. The Void was coming, and Omega needed to be ready.
For both their sakes.
𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸┈┈┈𖥸
The first Act's wrapping up REALLY soon, and when the second Act hits, you better believe Omega—no, Jakub—will be on top of his game.
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How was the song?.