Chapter 179: Chapter 180: Raid on Thanos' Lair!
In the shadow of a giant walnut
"At the end of each episode, you will realize that everything is just a nightmare, nothing is real." Young Maximoff stared at the dripping bomb and slowly reached out his hand towards it.
"Did you stop the bomb?" After watching for a long time, Agatha Harkness asked adult Wanda Maximoff.
"What?" Wanda Maximoff was still a bit confused.
"You used a Hex." Agatha Harkness said.
"No, I... it just never exploded." Wanda Maximoff was hesitant to admit that she had stopped the bomb herself. "It was a dud. We didn't know. We were trapped."
"How long have you been trapped?" Agatha Harkness asked.
"Two days." Wanda Maximoff replied.
"So much trauma, yet you two are safe like kittens." Agatha Harkness walked around in the ruins. "So, all I see is a little witch in your eyes, obsessed with sitcoms, needing years of therapy, which also doesn't explain your recent madness." Agatha Harkness paused and asked seriously, "Where did your powers come from, Wanda?"
As Agatha Harkness' voice fell, a new door appeared in the room.
"I don't want to go back there." Wanda Maximoff looked at the door and said.
"I know, but bitter medicine is good for you, darling." Agatha Harkness said, hugging herself. "To move forward, you have to look back."
Crack!
The lock of the door opened by itself. Wanda Maximoff stepped in step by step.
This was a laboratory. Two experimenters sat in front of a computer, and in front of the computer, a transparent glass wall separated a new sealed room.
"Ah, Wanda, during the period of the Rebel Alliance." Agatha Harkness put her hands in her pockets and curiously said to the young Wanda Maximoff on the side, "Quick question, quick answer: in response to your civilian family being bombed and your parents being killed, did you join an anti-freedom terrorist organization?"
"We wanted to change the world." Wanda Maximoff said, then she walked towards the glass room emitting a violet light.
"Don't be afraid, everything you've experienced is real." Agatha Harkness said from behind.
Crunch!
The door of the glass room opened, and Wanda Maximoff walked in. But it wasn't the present Wanda; it was the past Wanda who came in to do the experiment. She was wearing a simple white dress, and her complexion was very poor.
Everyone could see clearly that there was an exceptionally dazzling blue light in this room, and that was the Mind Stone.
"Is this Stark's place?" Seeing this, Tony Stark said, "Wanda was experimented on at Stark's place."
"I'd love to see how they experimented with the gem." Nick Fury widened his eyes.
"Strucker really has a way with brainwashing. Despite being the sinister Hydra, he managed to make Wanda believe in him." Phil Coulson said, "Change the world? Huh, their 'change' should mean destruction, chaos, disaster."
The video continued to play. Wanda Maximoff in the white dress walked carefully step by step towards the Mind Stone emitting a violet light.
"Record required, Miss Maximoff. Can you state your name and confirm your status?" A voice came from a horn inside the glass room.
"Wanda Maximoff, voluntary participation." Wanda Maximoff spoke mechanically, like a soulless puppet.
"Begin the experiment." Outside the glass room, a man in a lab coat holding a pen and notebook said.
"Doctor, forgive me for being blunt, but no test subject has survived direct..." A bald man sitting next to the doctor, by the computer, looked worried, but before he finished speaking, the doctor interrupted him and said directly to Wanda Maximoff, "Touch the sample."
"So... I just need to..." Wanda Maximoff seemed lost and clueless, like a lost little girl.
However, before she could get closer to the Stone, it began to shake, and the Mind Stone on it actually separated from the staff and flew out directly.
It flew in front of Wanda Maximoff!
The gem hovered there, emitting a dazzling blue light, covering Wanda Maximoff's body, adding a touch of divinity to this haggard and desperate girl.
As if feeling a certain calling, as if seeing an unseen old friend, Wanda Maximoff slowly reached out her hand, trying to touch the Mind Stone.
But when her fingers were still some distance from the gem, the blue light seemed to be swept away by a hurricane, and was instantly replaced by a yellow light.
Then the gem began to release a bright light, and in an instant, a strong yellow light shone, like a small yellow sun suspended there, shining so brightly that people couldn't open their eyes.
Thunk! Wanda Maximoff was
After Wanda Maximoff was isolated, the doctor and the bald man reviewed the experiment recording and discovered a bizarre scene.
On the surveillance screen, Wanda Maximoff stood there and suddenly fell to the ground, and the way she fell was extremely strange. In one moment, she was standing, and in the next, she was lying on the ground, without any process of falling.
As for the scene where the Mind Stone flew out of the staff and appeared in front of Wanda with a dazzling yellow light, all of those scenes were missing!
"This doesn't make sense." The bald man played the video in reverse repeatedly, trying to understand what was happening in the video.
"What happened inside?" The doctor also looked puzzled.
"Stop, you'll upset her."
"She doesn't have emotions, there's only sawdust or pieces of cloth inside her body."
"Now I can't even blow the carduzzo."
While the bald man and the doctor were studying the surveillance, White-Dress Wanda Maximoff was in another room watching a sitcom.
The next moment, Agatha Harkness and the real Wanda Maximoff appeared in the room.
"So, little witch Wanda got close to an Infinity Stone, which enhanced the you that should have disappeared." Agatha Harkness analyzed the recent experiment, addressing Wanda Maximoff, "Your past fragments are gradually coming together, my dear. I have a hypothesis, but I need to see more."
Saying this, Agatha Harkness waved her hand gently, and another door formed on the wall.
The space darkened, and the video ended there.
"Are you kidding me!" Pietro Maximoff almost cursed, "How can it end here? What's behind that door?"
"Yeah, what happened behind that door?" Wanda Maximoff was also curious, "Although the answer to this question says that my abilities are innate and later enhanced by the Mind Stone, this video seems to suggest more than that?"
"Perhaps there's more, but the 'primary cause' of Wanda's abilities is likely the Mind Stone enhancement." Stephen Strange looked at Wanda Maximoff, "But I still don't understand. Witch? Are you a witch? Didn't the question say you have superpowers? Why are you a witch? What does your ability have to do with witches?"
"My impression of witches is that they recite spells, creepy folks. Well, my impression comes from movies and TV shows, so it might be far-fetched. But the woman who was with Wanda in the video was reciting spells when she used magic." Tony Stark spoke up, "Compared to Wanda, that woman looks more like a witch."
"That woman imprisoned Wanda and 'revisited' her past. It seems she's trying to find something from Wanda." Steve Rogers said.
"The 'plays' shown behind the first two doors are related to the cause of Wanda's abilities..." Bruce Banner pondered, "So, perhaps the 'presumed witch' is trying to find the source of Wanda's abilities?"
"She can imprison Wanda, and she can perform this incredible magic of sending others back to the past. It seems she's even more powerful than Wanda. Why does she want to uncover the source of Wanda's abilities?" James Rhodes said.
"Perhaps she's not as powerful as Wanda, despite imprisoning her. That doesn't necessarily mean she's stronger. Maybe she's using some sort of conspiracy, like threatening Wanda with her children. So, she covets Wanda's power." Sam Wilson also joined in the analysis, "Perhaps she's trying to figure out why Wanda can use magic without spells!"
"Yes, that woman releases magic by reciting spells!" Natasha Romanoff said, "I find this kind of magic ridiculous. Will someone wait for you to finish reciting spells in a battle? But Wanda is different. She doesn't need spells; her magic is 'instant'. That woman probably wants to know the secret of Wanda's spell-free magic, and I think that's highly likely."
"Didn't anyone notice Wanda's children?" Phil Coulson looked at Wanda Maximoff strangely, "Wanda! Children!"
"What are you looking at me for?" Wanda Maximoff said, "I'm a woman. Although I don't have any plans to get married right now, is it abnormal for women to have children?"
"Wanda, it's not strange for other women to have children, but you, your partner is a robot!" Phil Coulson said, "You and Vision, how could you have children? It's physically impossible."
"Coulson, what's so strange about this?" Nick Fury said matter-of-factly, "Didn't Vision sacrifice himself in the fight against Thanos? Wanda and Vision had a deep connection. Maybe she'd be heartbroken, maybe she'd lose weight, but the passage of time is the truly terrifying factor. As time goes on, the people who were once heartbroken and tormented become blurred memories. Then, new people enter Wanda's life, this time, a normal person..."
"Maybe you're right, sir, but I don't think Wanda is someone who can be easily forgotten." Phil Coulson said.
"This segment of the video is somewhat unclear, to be honest. Right now, I'm still quite confused about what happened in that laboratory." Thor said, "The Mind Stone flew to Wanda and emitted a strong light. Did that really happen? Why can't we see any of that on the surveillance?"
"It definitely happened." Bruce Banner said, "We all know that Wanda's abilities were enhanced by the Mind Stone. This enhancement probably requires close proximity to the stone, right? It sounds a bit far-fetched for it to be enhanced just by glancing from a distance."
"But why didn't we see any of this on the surveillance? Why did Wanda just fall to the ground?" Thor asked.
"That's not clear." Bruce Banner said, "Perhaps the power of the stone affected the surveillance, or perhaps Wanda unintentionally influenced it. Who knows."
"Question nine begins, please be prepared."
"Among the following characters, who proposed the idea of raiding Thanos' lair?"
"A. Thor, the God of Thunder"
"B. Captain America, Steve Rogers"
"C. Iron Man, Tony Stark"
"D. Hulk, Bruce Banner"
"If you answer this question correctly, you will be rewarded with the jutsu 'Shadow Imitation Technique'. If you answer incorrectly, one year will be deducted from your lifespan."
"Raiding Thanos' lair?" Phil Coulson couldn't help but speak after reading the question, "That's really bold."
"Exactly, Thanos is so powerful, invading Asgard, invading Earth, yet someone proposed the idea of raiding his lair." Steve Rogers also said, "That kind of determination is admirable."
"Whoever this person is, I give them a thumbs up." Thor raised his thumb high.
"While your thumbs up is very nice, I think you can be the first one to be excluded," Stephen Strange said to Thor, "This kind of plan isn't something you would come up with."
"...!" Thor was speechless, "Stephen, you have to explain to me why I can't come up with this kind of plan? Why am I the first one to be excluded?"
"Because you are Thor," Stephen Strange said, "Hammer smashing, axe chopping, those are what you're good at, and they're all you're good at."
"No, I'm also quite strategic," Thor said, "It's just that for most things, I only need to swing my hammer to solve them."
"Somebody who has been tricked by Loki time and time again, and by the same trick each time. I can't really associate the word 'strategy' with him." Stephen Strange shook his head.
"Except for Thor, the other three options all seem possible." Clint Barton said, "But if we're talking about who understands war better, Captain has experienced World War II, has far more combat experience than anyone else, he understands strategy, understands the big picture. When Loki and the Chitauri invaded, he was the 'commander', directing the other heroes in battle against aliens and ultimately achieving victory. So I think it should be Captain."
"Forgive me for being straightforward. While Captain's leadership is excellent, the key to defeating the Chitauri was Tony." Natasha Romanoff's opinion differed from Clint Barton's, "Tony blew up the Chitauri's mothership, and one by one they fell. It seems Captain's strategy had much less impact than Tony's."
"So you think it's Tony?" Clint Barton asked.
"That's right, I think it's Tony," Natasha Romanoff stated her reasons, "When we mention Thanos, we think of invasion, but it's Thanos invading others. However, this strategy is about invading Thanos, which is extremely bold and crazy. It shows a very active and wild way of thinking, which sounds like Tony's style."
"I agree, this kind of wildly imaginative and crazy idea is most likely to come from Tony." Bruce Banner and Natasha Romanoff shared the same opinion.
"Bruce, aren't you going to 'vote' for yourself?" Stephen Strange asked, "You have so many degrees, and like Tony, you're one of the smartest people in the world. Haven't you considered that it might be you who came up with this?"
"It's probably not me." Bruce Banner smiled and shook his head, "I'm different from Tony. He can control his battle suit at will, but the Hulk is completely uncontrollable. I spent quite some time evading XZ, afraid that he might come out accidentally and hurt others. Because of that experience, I'm actually relatively 'conservative', so it's more likely to be Tony who came up with this crazy idea."
"Why do all of you think it's Tony?" Scott Lang expressed a different opinion, "I think it should be Captain. While Tony is a superhero, fighting crime and wiping out gangs in the city is different from war. Thanos' invasion is a war, a grand war that affects the entire universe. Captain is the only one who has experienced a real war, so I believe the person who could come up with this kind of war strategy is Captain."
"That sounds reasonable too," Stephen Strange said.
"Do you want to vote?" Phil Coulson glanced at everyone, "Raise your hand if you think it's Captain." Then he raised his own hand first.
"Voting doesn't really matter; the most crucial thing is to see who the person answering the question thinks it is." Tony Stark said.
"Exactly, voting is indeed meaningless." T'Challa said, "Even if all of us vote for Tony, if the person answering the question insists it's Captain, they'll definitely choose Captain. Voting has no effect."
"This question has four options: Thor, Steve, Tony, Bruce. So, this question involves these four individuals, and it should be one of them who answers." Nick Fury said, "Who is it?"
"I'll pass on answering this one." Thor was the first to withdraw from answering, "I've already gained two jutsus before, so I'll leave this Shadow Imitation Technique to someone else."
"I'm not that interested; I'll answer the next time there's something related to technology." Tony Stark also chose to withdraw.
"I have the Hulk." Bruce Banner said.
"No, Bruce, I think you can't always rely on the Hulk." Steve Rogers said, "The Hulk isn't always available. Remember, in the previous video, the Hulk didn't appear at all. What if someday in the future that situation actually happens? Then you'll be an ordinary person, defenseless against those threats. You still need some means of self-preservation."
"Captain is right." Tony Stark agreed with Steve Rogers on this point and said to Bruce Banner, "Banner should also have some means of his own."
"Alright then, I'll answer." Bruce Banner said, "I choose C, Tony Stark!"
"Correct answer! Reward issued!"
After the reward was given, Bruce Banner himself didn't show any abnormalities, but his shadow on the ground suddenly twisted for a moment, then returned to normal.
"Speaking of which, this place is really strange. It's clearly a black space, without a light source, but it doesn't affect visibility at all, and even the shadows are still present." Stephen Strange, seeing the abnormality in Bruce Banner's shadow, couldn't help but ask, "Shadow Imitation Technique, what kind of jutsu is that exactly?"
"I can connect my shadow with your shadow." As he spoke, Bruce Banner formed hand seals, and immediately, his shadow on the ground elongated like a snake, crawling on the ground and onto Stephen Strange's shadow.
"My body!" Suddenly, Strange was startled, "My body is not under my control!"
"As long as the shadows are connected, the other person's body belongs to me. Whatever action I take, they have to mimic it exactly." Bruce Banner raised his leg, and Stephen Strange also synchronously lifted his leg, matching both the angle and height.
"This jutsu is quite practical!" Tony Stark's eyes lit up, "If you connect the other person's shadow, then they become a live target, right?"
"If we use this technique to immobilize Thanos when he comes..." Steve Rogers immediately thought of using the Shadow Imitation Technique against Thanos.
"I thought of that too, but for someone as powerful as Thanos, I really can't say whether the Shadow Imitation Technique would work." Bruce Banner said.
"In any case, while this jutsu might not have much attacking power, it's invaluable as a combat aid." Thor spoke up, "Who would pay attention to the ground's shadows? This technique is truly an unforeseen and silent defense."
At this moment, light started to fill the space, and the video began to play.
At the beginning, it was on a bus, Peter Parker was looking down, but suddenly, all the hairs on his arm stood on end. He quickly turned his head to look out of the window, and saw an immensely huge metal ring hovering in the sky above the city.
"Ned." Peter Parker immediately knew something was wrong. He patted his friend in the front seat, "Help divert everyone's attention."
"Holy shit!" Ned also saw the gigantic metal ring outside the window, and immediately exclaimed, "Everyone, run for your lives! The monster ship is here! We're done for!"
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