For a moment, Lock hadn't moved at all—so Quicksilver had assumed he wasn't good at high-speed combat, that he was just standing there waiting to be outpaced.
But when Lock suddenly appeared beside him without warning, all Quicksilver's confidence evaporated.
He immediately veered off and accelerated, wind screaming past him as he tried to break away.
Lock didn't rush to strike him down. He had just learned a new technique and was toying with his opponent—testing, refining, adapting.
Yet no matter how Quicksilver zigzagged or shifted speeds, Lock was always there. A shadow. A ghost. Never more than a few steps behind.
Quicksilver's face twisted in disbelief. Fine. If you can match me over short bursts, let's see you handle this!
He bolted straight ahead, unleashing his full power.
Lock vanished after him.
Twin streaks of light—silver and blue—shot through the Hydra compound, cutting trails of wind in their wake.
Before now, Lock's speed would have shattered the air with sonic explosions, each step detonating like a cannon blast. Effective for battle—but hardly subtle.
Now, thanks to Quicksilver's "borrowed" method, his motion was almost soundless.
Quicksilver pushed harder.
Twice the speed of sound…
Three times…
Five times…
He blurred into a pure line of motion, no turning, no hesitation. The world stretched into streaks of color.
But despair crept in.
No matter how fast he went, that calm, dark-haired man stayed beside him—smiling faintly, as if out for a stroll.
For the first time since gaining his powers, Quicksilver felt slow.
He didn't realize how close he had come to dying.
When Lock first arrived at the base, he had sealed off a sphere of space nearly a kilometer wide—cutting it cleanly from the rest of reality.
At Quicksilver's velocity, he could have hit that invisible boundary within seconds—an impact at Mach 5 that would have turned his body into vapor.
Lock had quietly opened a gap ahead of him, allowing the boy to run freely within the isolated pocket.
Quicksilver never noticed how narrowly he'd escaped death.
When he finally realized he couldn't shake Lock, he swerved and doubled back.
Fine. I'll need Wanda's help for this one.
With her power restraining him, Quicksilver thought, maybe he'd find an opening.
He arrived beside Wanda in an instant, the air still shimmering from his return.
Her long auburn hair fluttered in the wake of his arrival.
From the moment he had dragged her away to now, barely ten seconds had passed—yet to Wanda it felt like the world had turned upside down.
Lock slowed his pace, stopping ten meters away, and began walking toward them.
Quicksilver tensed. "Wanda! Trap him with your magic! I'll finish him off!"
He said it with all the passion of a hotheaded youth—but without real malice. His nature was fiery, but his heart wasn't cruel.
Lock could tell—and that was why he indulged him.
"Brother," Wanda groaned, rolling her eyes, "do you even know who that is?"
"Didn't you say he's from S.H.I.E.L.D.? People from S.H.I.E.L.D. are all tied to Stark—they're definitely not the good guys!"
Wanda crossed her arms and enunciated carefully: "He is your idol—King Lock."
"Wh-what?"
Quicksilver froze.
His mind blanked.
Shock and awe collided in his chest like twin explosions.
Since the Battle of New York, Lock had become the Earth's living legend—the man who turned the tide of war. He was humanity's symbol of power and hope.
And Quicksilver… was one of his biggest fans.
But unlike ordinary admirers, Quicksilver was a mutant. He had powers. He had always dreamed of using them for good—helping people, fighting villains, maybe even saving the world.
In his imagination, he'd stood beside his idol, defending Earth shoulder to shoulder.
Reality, of course, had been far less kind. Hydra had locked him up before he ever had a chance to be a hero.
Now he'd just attacked the very man he worshipped.
And lost. Completely.
If Lock had even thought about killing him, he wouldn't have survived a heartbeat.
Quicksilver's voice cracked. "Uh… Idol, sir—I'm sorry! I didn't know it was you!"
Lock's lips curved faintly. "Strange. I thought you disliked S.H.I.E.L.D.? I'm part of it."
"Uh… well…" Quicksilver glanced helplessly at Wanda, silently begging for rescue.
Though he was technically the older twin—by twelve minutes—Wanda had always been the more mature one.
She sighed. "I'm sorry, Don. My brother's… impulsive. He didn't mean to cause trouble."
Lock waved it off. "It's fine. Actually, I learned something from him. I should be the one thanking him."
Quicksilver blinked. "R-really?"
In ten seconds, his idol had learned something from him?
That had to be a joke.
No, he realized bitterly, I'm the one who learned something—from getting humiliated.
He'd learned that patience might actually be a virtue.
But then Lock smiled at Wanda, and Quicksilver's expression twisted.
Wait. That look… No. It can't be… He wouldn't—would he?
Is he trying to be my brother-in-law?
Bah—no! Brother-in-law!
Lock and Wanda exchanged a puzzled glance, oblivious to the nonsense swirling in his head.
Lock said mildly, "Truly. Your speed force is fascinating. I copied it—and it works quite well."
Wanda and Quicksilver both stared, dumbfounded.
They thought he was being polite. But he wasn't joking.
He had actually replicated Quicksilver's speed—within seconds.
Not ten seconds—less. He'd already done it the moment he started keeping pace. The rest of the "chase" had just been practice.
To learn an ability that took a mutant a lifetime to master—within moments—was terrifying.
Quicksilver swallowed hard. "I… uh… Idol, I—"
Lock raised a hand. "No need for titles. Just call me—"
"Brother-in-law!"
The words shot out faster than thought—straight from Quicksilver's mouth, bypassing his brain entirely.
Silence.
Lock blinked. Wanda's jaw dropped.
Quicksilver froze, horrified. Did I just say that out loud?!
Wanda's face flushed crimson. Has Hydra scrambled his brain? What is he even—
And then it hit her. Wait—did he just say brother-in-law?
No—worse. Brother-in-law!
Bah! Bah!
She shook her head furiously, trying to fling away the embarrassment—and the image that came with it.
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A/N: Advanced Chapters Have Been Uploaded On My Patreon
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