"This is insane!" Killian was momentarily stunned by Whitehall's words, eyes wide with disbelief.
He looked like a small-town boy seeing Times Square for the first time. In his mind, one thought echoed: Big boss moves in ways I can't even comprehend.
Compared to Whitehall, his own plans and ambitions felt like a child's game. No wonder the fifth-level meta from Academy City had mocked him, calling him nothing more than a mouse.
But just as Killian was caught up in the surreal spectacle, the mysterious organism that had been absorbing energy from the artificial sun began to tremble—and then, it leaked.
Didi Didi~! Alarms began to blare, echoing through the lab.
"Sir! Subject No. 084 is destabilizing. Do we terminate the experiment?" a nervous technician ran up to Whitehall, clearly panicked.
"No," Whitehall replied calmly, waving a hand. "Not this time."
"But sir, if it continues to spiral—"
Whitehall cut him off, his eyes now locked onto Killian. "I need a drop of your blood."
Killian blinked. That wasn't what he expected. But without protest, he drew a knife, slicing across his arm.
From the wound spilled not normal blood, but a high-temperature, magma-like liquid.
He collected the molten substance in a reinforced vial and handed it off. Whitehall inserted it into a containment feeder beneath the plant's root structure.
Immediately, the roots slithered toward the container with eerie sentience. They wrapped around it, wriggling greedily until they absorbed every drop. In response, the plant's outer layers pulsed with renewed brightness.
BOOM!
An energy burst surged from Subject 084—but it wasn't destructive. The shockwave dissipated quickly, causing no significant damage.
As the dust settled, Whitehall and Killian saw the organism had grown.
Rapidly.
Now standing over three meters tall, its limbs extended upward and began reaching for the artificial sun.
Despite the damage to the magnetic containment field, Subject 084's own energy signature stabilized the artificial star.
The plant had morphed into a sort of living Dyson sphere, greedily consuming solar radiation.
"Power up the secondary reactors," Whitehall ordered. "Maximum output."
Engineers obeyed. Machinery thundered to life.
Hidden compartments in the lab opened, revealing additional mini-suns, which were promptly ignited.
Subject 084 reacted instantly. Its tendrils split and slithered toward the new suns, ensnaring them as well.
"Release the field dampener. Open the containment chamber."
"Sir, doing that might—"
"Enough. I'll do it myself." Whitehall shoved the technician aside and manually engaged the sequence.
The force field collapsed.
The massive containment chamber opened.
Floating in the center was Subject 084, now nearly ten meters tall. Despite its size, it hovered midair, seemingly unaffected by gravity.
Its roots didn't touch the floor—they drifted in the void.
Nine artificial suns encircled the plant. Golden-red energy pulsed through its glowing branches.
Each sun was wrapped in root-like filaments. The scene looked like a solar system orbiting a tree of life.
"It's... beautiful," Killian breathed, captivated.
"This is just its embryonic state," Whitehall said, eyes gleaming. "But to bring it to its final form, I need your help."
Suddenly, one of the artificial suns dimmed. With a quiet hiss, it collapsed into a ball of plasma and was consumed entirely. The plant swelled slightly in size.
"See that? In just one moment, it consumed enough energy to power a city of a million people for an entire year." Whitehall sighed, but there was no regret in his tone. Only purpose. Hydra's future depends on this.
Whitehall knew what he was doing would reshape everything—and possibly complete the ultimate Hydra doctrine.
If he couldn't finish it alone, then he'd rally the other Hydra heads. Especially the one embedded in S.H.I.E.L.D.
Unbeknownst to him, that very head had defected long ago—and now worked with Academy City in secret.
·······
At Academy City's Institute for Meta Research, a confidential meeting had begun.
Cyclops, Storm, Beast, Emma Frost, and General Ross sat around a long conference table.
They were council members now, far beyond their days of simple heroics.
Ethan stood at the head of the room, giving a briefing. "SHIELD's outreach this time is unusually sincere," he said. "They're willing to cooperate, and they've even exposed Hydra movements."
General Ross, arms folded, gave a half-nod. "Didn't expect Peggy Carter to awaken powers at her age—especially something as rare as enhanced longevity."
He seemed conflicted, his tone softened by admiration. Carter had been a war hero when Ross was still a green recruit.
Emma Frost smiled faintly. "Her return is a good sign. It brings SHIELD and Academy City closer than ever."
Ethan agreed. "Some of SHIELD's agents—especially those awakening late—are starting to empathize with the meta community. Their training can only suppress so much. Awakening changes a person."
He glanced at Polaris, who had once told him a story about a federal prosecutor.
The man had zealously pursued metas until the day his own son and daughter awakened.
In a heartbeat, he switched sides, becoming an advocate willing to risk his life for their protection.
"SHIELD wants us to send a team," Cyclops finally said. "Strong metas. A mix of muscle and mental types. They want mind-readers to root out any Hydra remnants hidden deep inside SHIELD."
"Then we'll assemble a task force. Ross, pull from law enforcement. I'll handle the Academy. Emma, you'll lead the team."
Emma gave a subtle nod. Her icy expression didn't betray her thoughts, but she understood the importance.
The group raised their hands in agreement, and the vote passed.
·······
After the meeting, Storm caught up with Ethan.
"Hey, where you heading?" she asked.
Ethan turned. "Something up?"
"Professor wants to see you—in the counseling room." Her expression was... strange.
"The counseling room? Charles? Why?" Ethan muttered, half to himself.
Still, it seemed like a good time to check in. Xavier and Magneto may have stepped back, but they remained the Academy's intellectual spine.
He opened the counseling room door—and blinked in disbelief.
Two elderly men sat at a table, hunched over math worksheets like grumpy schoolkids.
Between them, a tiny black-haired girl stood on a sofa, hands on her hips.
"Are we seriously doing these questions again?" Magneto's voice rumbled.
"You've both passed the prime window for power evolution," the girl scolded. "You're lucky I'm even trying to help you break into Level Five. Honestly, your academic foundation is worse than a third-grader from Atlantis!"
Ethan froze.
"Ethan Hunt!" the girl snapped. "Don't just stand there. You've got class too!"
With a loud thud, she dropped a stack of textbooks in front of him.
"…I definitely opened the wrong door," Ethan mumbled. "Can I still close it?"
...
"So that's how it is. You guys did a great job." While sipping tea and listening to Ethan's explanation about Professor X, a warm, satisfied smile appeared on the old man's face.
Choosing retirement and handing the future over to the younger generation had been the right decision.
Though still rough around the edges, these kids were full of life, energy, and a sharp adaptability that suited this ever-evolving world.
"This kind of life is definitely peaceful... but I can't shake the feeling that something's missing." Erik stared into his teacup, his gaze distant. Comfort didn't come easily.
Of course, Erik wasn't the type to make a quiet return. He was a man of action — when he came back, the world would know.
"Professor, Magneto," Ethan suddenly put his pen down and looked at the two elders seriously, "after everything I've told you, I think you understand how crucial the situation with S.H.I.E.L.D. is."
"I'm worried they won't be able to handle it properly. If anything goes sideways, it could mess up our plan for globalizing meta abilities. I want to take direct control of it."
Just as Ethan's tone turned heroic and world-saving, a bare foot smacked against his cheek.
"I want to go outside! Did you finish 'One Lesson, One Practice'? Did you review 'Three-Year Advancement, Five-Year Breakthrough'?" Selene, the Black Queen, had just put down her game console and was glaring at him from the couch.
"This isn't fair! Why am I stuck doing homework while the Professor and Magneto sit there drinking tea and playing chess?" Ethan protested, feeling extremely wronged.
He was busy all day — how did a level-five meta with plans to save the world end up trapped in homework and grounded until he finished it?
Hearing Ethan's grumbling, Professor X set his teacup down with a chuckle. "Ethan, Erik and I already graduated elementary school — we're working on middle school now."
It sounded absurd, coming from someone as dignified as Charles Xavier, but it was the harsh truth.
The knowledge of supernatural powers had been lost for generations.
The handful of "power-illiterates" had only managed to scrape together a basic framework after decades, while ancient civilizations had accumulated millennia of learning.
Compared to them, the modern era was still stuck at a grade-school level.
"Whatever they're doing doesn't matter to me. I was just bored and pointed them in the right direction. But you — you're my knight. You can't be half-trained," Selene said firmly, turning to Ethan with an impatient look.
"Can we at least balance work and rest? I've been catching up on a full week's worth of material." Ethan groaned.
The worst part was that S.H.I.E.L.D. was suspiciously quiet, leaving him with no valid excuse to skip study sessions.
"Why don't we switch things up today?" Ethan pulled a lollipop from his pocket and held it out with a hopeful smile.
Taking the candy, Selene rolled her eyes, set the game console aside, and hopped off the sofa. "Theory needs practice. Come with me."
As Selene led Ethan out of the room, Professor X and Erik exchanged glances. Something unspoken passed between them until Erik finally broke the silence.
"Charles, what's your take on this so-called royal bloodline from the ancient civilization?"
"Based on what Apocalypse shared and the encounter in Atlantis, I built a personality model of the 'god' from Greek and Roman mythology. But after meeting her, the discrepancy was obvious," Professor X said, watching the direction Luna had gone.
"What does she seem like to you now, Erik?"
"A carefree kid," Erik answered without hesitation. "I can't see how someone who's lived 8,000 years would hand over ancient knowledge for candy and a game console."
"More like a carefree princess," Professor X corrected with a smile. "After collecting all available data and reversing my personality model, I got better results by treating her like an infant-stage consciousness. Her intellect and knowledge may be intact, but she's been mentally reborn."
Given Selene's identity and immense power, no one could feel comfortable just letting her roam free in Academy City — which was why Charles and Erik came to meet her in person.
"Charles, I agree with your take," Erik nodded, picking up the game console Selene had discarded.
He glanced at the paused screen — a simple puzzle game called 'Candy Crush.' The idea that an ancient deity active for millennia would enjoy something so mundane felt... surreal.
Meanwhile, Ethan and Selene arrived at the training field.
"Remember the demonstration I gave you in Atlantis?" Selene asked, lollipop between her lips, her head tilted upward at a 45-degree angle.
"You mean when you manipulated gravity?" Ethan frowned.
The memory of Selene grabbing his arm and slamming him into the ground with a hundred times the normal gravitational force was still fresh in his mind.
"It's not hard to explain how gravity manipulation works," Luna said, summoning a small orb of flame in her palm.
"But that doesn't matter. What you lack isn't power — it's structured learning. Like a tech tree. Abilities should be developed in stages. Jumping ahead creates instability."
"Take a typical fire-type meta. A beginner might just support combustion. Later, they control flames, then generate them, and finally achieve full elemental transformation. Your talent is off the charts, so you skipped steps and went straight to advanced stages. That sounds good, but skipping the basics holds you back from reaching even higher levels."
"So what should I do?" Ethan asked.
"First, do you even understand the essence of your ability?" Selene countered.
"Manipulating vectors," Ethan replied instantly.
"That's your problem." Selene shook her head. "If a third-level pyrokinetic controls flames, is their ability 'flame control'? At level four, they can create fire. At level five, they become fire itself. So is their power 'control'? No. The essence of their power is flame."
"So you're saying…" Ethan trailed off, realization dawning.
"Exactly. Your power's essence is manipulation itself. Vectors are just your current medium. You haven't even grasped gravity control yet. But your potential isn't limited to vectors alone."
"Start from the fundamentals — master the four core physical forces: gravity, electromagnetism, and the strong and weak nuclear forces. Then slowly expand your control range. Step by step. That's how you evolve your ability."
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Word count: 2155
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