章 54: Accident?
Liam contemplated for a moment before answering. "What I did wasn't a permanent cure, more like a temporary solution. I don't think I am personally capable of curing you either—not now, at least."
Seeing the glimmer of hope in her eyes, she asked, "Someone else might be able to cure me?"
"Yes, I'm almost certain someone can. But I don't know if it's possible at this moment," Liam replied cautiously.
"What do you mean 'not possible now'?" she asked, with desperation in her voice.
"Well, she's... quite a unique person," Liam admitted. "And you work for an organization like SHIELD—an organization she doesn't want any association with."
"I can leave SHIELD," she said, her voice filled with anger. "They've been promising me a cure for 12 years now, and they've done nothing. Ever since I got this sickness when I was six, I just wanted to be normal. Please, help me."
Liam's gaze softened as he considered her plea. 'This might work. I think? I should probably ask the Ancient One first,' he thought. His reasoning wasn't purely out of pity—'If anyone can cure her in one go, it would be the Ancient One. But knowing her, she'll likely have Ava learn magic and try to find her own solution instead. That could create another powerful ally in the future.'
Then there was the problem of SHIELD. 'They won't just let her leave; she's too valuable. The perfect assassination weapon. But maybe I can work something out with Fury later.'
"Are you sure you're willing to go through with this?" Liam asked again. "I still need to ask her, and even if she agrees to help, chances are you won't be able to leave that place for months—maybe even years."
"Please, ask whoever can help me," she pleaded. "The pain I endure feels like I'm being ripped apart and put back together when I phase. Without my suit, the phasing is uncontrollable. I haven't been able to live a normal life since I was six. Even if it takes time, I can't stand living in this hell anymore."
Liam nodded. "Alright." He pulled out his phone and looked up a location. "Let's meet here tomorrow. In the meantime, I'll ask my teacher if she can help you."
He showed her his phone, and she nodded. "Thank you," she said sincerely.
"Don't thank me yet," Liam said. He knew there was still a chance the Ancient One would decline, given Ava's history with SHIELD.
Without another word, Ava turned invisible, phasing out of sight. 'If it weren't for my Eldritch Sight, I'd have no idea where she went,' Liam noted. He could sense the quantum energy she used to disappear which left him to question what exactly the quantum realm is.
Like Liam said, he genuinely had no idea how to cure her. 'Maybe anchoring her to this dimension would work, but that's not a permanent solution. Anchoring requires constant energy. A true cure? Without Hank Pym or Janet, I have no idea if it's even possible.'
He watched as she phased through the gate, then continued his walk. 'When will these Hydra people come after me again? I doubt they've given up so quickly.'
Liam strolled along the bridge, his thoughts went back to the conversation with Fury, when he felt the same hostile intent as before. It was approaching quickly.
'A car,' he realized as he started jogging into the city. He took a sharp right into a side street, but the car followed him closely. It was a gray Ford. Looking ahead, he noticed a white sedan turning into the street as well. He could feel the hostile intent from both vehicles.
'So, one car behind me and one in front. Likely two to four individuals per car,' he assessed. 'I've been walking slow enough after talking to Ava—they might've sent more after me.'
He kept a close eye on the cars, both now about 200 meters away. Their behavior puzzled him. 'They'll probably just track me for now,' he thought, but something felt off. As the cars accelerated, his suspicion grew.
'They can't really be thinking...' The thought cut off as the cars, now less than 100 meters away, showed no signs of slowing.
Liam summoned Incursio around him just as the vehicles crashed into him from both sides.
The collision had quite the amount of force, but his armor absorbed most of the impact. The sound of the crash echoed faintly in his head. It didn't hurt, but the sheer audacity of the attack shocked him.
'What the fuck are they doing?' he thought, looking at the wreckage. The drivers hadn't even attempted to swerve.
Civilians had stopped to film the scene, their phones raised as they made pictures and took video's of the destruction. Liam cursed silently. 'In broad daylight, in front of all these people. What the fuck were they thinking?'
He examined the vehicles. Inside the crumpled gray Ford, a man in casual clothes was slumped over the steering wheel—unconscious or dead, Liam couldn't tell. In the white sedan, an older man lay impaled by a piece of metal from the car frame. He was definitely dead, looking at the bloody mess which used to be his lower body.
'No weapons, no gear. Nothing to suggest they're anything but ordinary people,' Liam observed, though he knew otherwise. 'This has to be Hydra. Coincidences like this don't happen.'
More troubling was the crowd of civilians filming the incident. 'Damn it, I didn't want to reveal myself to the world like this. Especially not like this.'
The sound of distant sirens broke his off thoughts. 'No time to stick around, I don't want to make this scene any bigger than it already is. There's no way I can explain this to the police either,' he thought, deciding it was best to leave the scene.
He pushed the wrecked cars aside, giving himself room to escape. With a final glance at the unconscious driver, Liam ran to a nearby alley. Finding a spot with no one around, he opened a portal back to the Sanctum and stepped through.
Inside his room, Liam unsummoned Incursio and sat down to think. "What was their plan with this?" he murmured to himself.
The more he thought about it, the more it made sense. 'If they bugged Fury's room, they would've known I joined the avengers and will help Fury out in the future. An attack like this right after I leave SHIELD would make me suspicious of Fury . Especially after some of the things he said.'
Still, something didn't add up. 'I sensed six tails. Assuming the two drivers were among them, where are the other four?'
Deciding he needed help to cover this up, Liam picked up his phone and dialed a familiar number.
"Coulson?" he asked when the call connected.
Meanwhile, on the scene.
Multiple police cars came to a halt at collision site. Officers exited their vehicles, assessing the scene. Multiple agents rushed to the crumpled white sedan and grey Ford. One officer leaned into the sedan, feeling for a pulse.
"The victim in the white sedan has passed away, no chance on revival." He reported, stepping back from the bloody mess inside the car.
"Over here! This one's still alive!" came a shout from the Ford.
More officers and emergency responders hurried to the wreck. As an ambulance pulled up, the senior officer on site shouted out orders. "Make a way for the paramedics to get to him—carefully!"
Three officers worked together to pry open the already mangled door. The damaged metal gave way with a groan as they dragged the door open. Two responders immediately checked the injured driver.
"Clear out! Let the paramedics work!" the senior officer called again, waving his team back.
As the medics stabilized the man, other officers began barricading the area, setting up a perimeter to control the growing crowd. Civilians gathered along the edges, some recording videos or snapping photos of the wreckage the monster figure had left behind.
Witnesses began approaching the officers, eager to share their accounts. Some civilians showed short clips of the aftermath, while others shouted accusations.
One man, his voice louder than the rest, drew particular attention. "I saw it all happen! I saw it all happen!" he yelled, waving his arms dramatically.
A nearby officer turned to him. "Sir, calm down. What did you see?"
The man pointed toward the crash site. "A normal man wrapped himself in some kind of armor and stood in front of two speeding cars! This was no accident! That monster did it on purpose!"
People in the crowd began to murmur.
The officer raised an eyebrow but remained composed as he wrote down notes. "Your name and address, sir?"
The man eagerly provided his information, his tone still heated. "Someone has to stop him! He's dangerous!"
Nearby, other officers worked to piece together the sequence of events, while civilians whispered amongst themselves, each saying something different.
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I will try to release a large amount of chapters all at once around Christmas. I need some opinions before I start on them however.
First of all, I am not planning to merge the x-men world or whatever into this one. There is pretty much only one character whom I actually really like and would make a lot of sense for her to be somewhat here I guess? (won't spoiler), which would be Magik (Illyana Rasputin). So tell me what you think about her. (I will add a picture for reverence.)
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