The Old Hydrokinetic (MCU AU) : #26

Commissioned by [Thykindhunter] on P*treon.

Disclaimer - All the usual Yada Yada Yada. I don’t own any rights to any characters in this fic save for my OCs. Don’t sue me.

Anywho, without further ado - read on.

Earth-6161 [May 2012]

Stark Residence, Malibu

–Tony Stark–

His eyes fluttered open, blinking a bit as the bright ceiling lights seared into them, but not for long as within a few seconds, he was completely aware of everything around him, which was most certainly odd for a man of his age and body.

At least that was true up until a few weeks ago, when one Samantha Weber flicked a teardrop at him, not only healing him but turning him into a veritable superhuman.

“Tony! Are you alright? Do you feel any different?” Pepper was instantly by his side, apparently just waiting for him to wake up to pester him with questions.

“Pep, just, relax. I am fine. It was just a scan,” He tried to reassure her, despite being in a hospital bed himself. Which was not exactly true because they were in his lab, and he was very certain that if the government found out what he was doing here, he would have to surrender all the medical equipment he had hacked together in the past week or so to more accurately gauge his condition.

“But you were asleep for 2 hours, and then Jarvis said that he had found something he did not know previously. I thought you were–” He immediately hugged her, knowing that no matter what he said, she would be worried sick for him.

Noticing the bags under her eyes, he told her, “You should go get some rest. I’ll join you in a bit,” He added after she had the look in her eyes, the same stubborn look he mostly had on his face.

He sighed in relief once she left. After a minute, he pressed his finger on the side of the bed, and turned it into an upright position. Waving his hand, he said, “Jarvis?”

A holo display appeared in front of him, showing his entire body to be red, which brought his mind to a halt, “Um, Jarvis? What am I seeing here?”

He asked, despite knowing what it was. They already knew that he was different from the day he woke up after coming through that portal, something that gave him shivers even now. Hell, he could tell the difference almost immediately, as the little pains, scars and ticks he had all around his body just disappeared. It was not until he was back in his lab that he realised that he was just about as strong as Cap now, if the publicly available stats were real anyway.

Even then, they did not have the equipment necessary to get the full picture and the ones that most probably had them, like SHIELD or the US Government, were the organisations he wished to avoid with all his might. So, he had to build his own. 

Thankfully, he was well known for his penchant for ordering random high value stuff and then dismantling it to make his own so hopefully no suspicion arose on his orders of advanced medical equipment.

He waved his hand, the display swivelling to reveal multiple graphs, showing the bone density, muscle density, heart rate, and more. All of it was in the extreme ranges, except his heart which was beating at a measly 50bpm, something that was more likely to be seen on a lifelong marathon runner, instead of a middle aged inventor who, up until very recently, lived a very indulgent life.

“Huh,” was all he could say as he realised that, pending any new surprises, he was just as strong as a Super Soldier now. The rate of healing was increased as well, including a reduced need for sleep now, as he barely needed 3 hours of sleep before he woke up, all refreshed.

Granted, he had days where he had the same amount of sleep before he became this, but then again, he would always wake up completely out of it once he crashed after multiple all nighters. Now? Now he could do the same every day, as if it was a part of his routine.

Though, the nights when he woke up before Pepper, simply because he could not sleep any more did put a damper on the mood but then he shrugged, knowing that he made up for it in other ways. His increased stamina and strength came in handy many times.

So, he continued reading through the reports, moving into the genetics section which actually did not show much change, even though the human genome was not completely cracked yet. He had fears of him now somehow being connected to Weber but his DNA was the same and he had scanned his brain multiple times, even while he was working to create a baseline sample size.

As far as he and Jarvis could find, his brain activity was just elevated, across the chart but nothing suspicious could be found. He had totally irrational fears of mind control as well, right up until he realised that Weber would not need to go through any of these underhanded means.

Chuckling, he stretched, “Jarvis? Destroy everything. Leave no trail. Dismantle the machine, melt down the parts and pour them in the foundation of the lower levels.”

Yup, he was building an entire new area right below his house, to house the next generation of Iron Man suits he was going to build.

Because if there was one thing his brief time on the other side of that portal taught him, it was that humanity was woefully unprepared and undefended from those threats. While people like Weber would most certainly help defend the planet since they lived on the same planet, humanity as a whole could not rely on so few people for the protection of billions of humans.

____xx____

Maldives

–Samantha Weber–

Jumping out of the water, she lightly landed on her feet on the beach, a flex of her powers drying her off as she took the offered clothes from Eric and, within a split second of using her powers, changed her clothing.

It always amused her to see Eric turning around whenever she changed her clothes, even though he knew that she used her Water Form to do that, absorbing the clothes within her body and then donning them when she returned to her human form. 

Dumping the wet clothing in the laundry bin nearby, she walked into the shack that had been built for her and after popping open a cold beer, she sat on the bed, with a view of the ocean. 

She liked this, to go on a swim in the middle of the ocean in her human form, interacting with the ocean life below. It was always amusing to just wait and watch as predators or fishes she simply went too close to, began biting down on her. The confusion in their eyes when nothing of note happened was always worth it.

A slight hum brought her attention to the top of the shack. Right at the centre column, was the sceptre, just hanging there. It was odd, that sceptre. When she tried to wield it, immediately, she could feel a presence, a mental presence, not akin to thought but akin to a parasite or virus of sorts, trying to burrow its way into her mind. It was trying to incite feelings or rage and anger in her, that much was clear.

It also meant that Loki was not completely of sound mind when he committed those atrocities but she was not going to be the one to defend him.

Over the few weeks that it had been with her, the frequency of that humming noise had only increased. As soon as she was within view of the sceptre, it would continuously hum, and then there was the glow.

It had been her idea to hang it on top of the shack, creating a subtle yellow glow when night came. It glowed all the time but became brighter whenever she was nearby, like right now. She wondered what would happen if she tried to break it, something that might become a certainty in the future if it continued to annoy her with that humming noise.

It had already been disciplined once. She had noticed its energy spreading throughout the island after a few days of remaining in her custody, somehow affecting Eric as well, who was nearing the sceptre with a blank look in his eyes.

She had knocked out Eric instantly and taken the sceptre within her hands, and instantly, all that energy began converging on her, as if the sceptre was laying down a trap. That had….irked her. 

So, she gathered a ball of water, infused it with her energy, making it glow, then began rotating it at a very high speed before just jamming it near the gem in the top, creating a shrill noise. 

That had been enough for the sceptre to stop its corrupting influence on Eric, as it now bore marks on the top, but apparently not enough to somehow beg for her attention. 

Gulping down the rest of her beer, she threw the bottle into one of the trash cans nearby, before closing her eyes. Eric should be gone now, to make her lunch so she decided to close her eyes and take a nap, despite no need for it.

For now, she would let the sceptre be, for it worked as a decent overhead lamp. Once its irritation surpassed its usefulness, she would break open that container and see what the fuss was all about that gem.

Until then, she would enjoy the view from the island she had carved out for herself.