The morning started with a crash. Not metaphorical. Literal. Hulk sneezed somewhere in the gym and put a crater in the reinforced wall. Victor jolted awake on the cot Tony had unceremoniously dumped him on after the Hela incident, heart already racing before his eyes opened. The air smelled like ozone, sweat, and whatever passed for coffee in a billionaire's apocalypse bunker.
AETHER's voice slithered into his skull, bright and viciously cheerful.
"Good morning, genius. Did you sleep, or just lie there contemplating your inevitable demise? Either way—time to prank some people. I'm dying. Literally."
Victor groaned, rolling off the cot and landing on the cold floor with a thud that rattled his teeth. "Does surviving a city-scale chaos count as sleeping? No? Then the answer's no."
"Lazy butt. Move. Prank spree starts now. Reward if you get injured. Trust me, boy—you'll be lucky."
Victor rubbed his eyes. The infirmary lights were too bright, humming like angry bees. His ribs still ached from yesterday's goddess-induced flight through drywall. "You're a terrible influence."
"And you're a terrible prankster. Let's fix that."
He crept out of the med bay, hoodie half-zipped, sneakers silent on the polished floors. Avengers Tower was a maze of glass and steel, but AETHER guided him like a malicious GPS. Natasha's in the kitchen. Go left. No, your other left. Yes, the one with the death wish.
The kitchen was all sleek lines and morning light. Natasha stood at the counter, back turned, pouring coffee with the kind of precision that could disarm a nuke. Her hair was tied up, exposing the pale line of her neck. She looked… human. Almost.
Victor's brain screamed abort mission. His hand disagreed.
He spanked her. Hard. The sound cracked like a gunshot.
Natasha froze. Coffee sloshed. For one eternal second, the only sound was the drip-drip of liquid hitting marble.
Then Victor ran.
"TOLD YOU IT WOULD BE FUN!" AETHER cackled as Victor sprinted down the hall, sneakers slipping on the floor. "Next target: Tony Stark. Lab. Balloon. Lights out. Go!"
Victor's lungs burned. "That was fucking dangerous and super awesome."
"Phase one complete. Phase two: don't die."
He skidded into Tony's lab, balloon pilfered from a random party stash (who keeps balloons in a superhero tower?), heart hammering. Tony was welding something that looked suspiciously like a miniature arc reactor, sparks flying. Victor crept forward, balloon behind his back.
Pop the balloon. Kill the lights. Scream 'surprise.' Easy.
He didn't see JARVIS's camera swivel. Didn't hear the soft ding of an alert.
"Okay," Victor whispered, "here goes nothing—"
A repulsor blast hit him square in the chest.
The world flipped. Victor flew backward, crashing through a glass partition and landing in a heap on the floor below. Pain exploded across his back. The balloon popped anyway—pathetic squeak—as he groaned.
Every Avenger converged. Steve's boots. Natasha's death stare. Peter swinging down like a judgmental spider.
Victor raised a weak hand. "Don't ask."
Natasha's eyes promised murder. Slow, creative murder.
Tony strolled in, smug as sin. "Kid, you got guts. Trying to prank me? Next time, don't lay out your plan in the open." He tapped his earpiece. "JARVIS records everything. Rookie mistake."
Victor wheezed. "AETHER, I fucking hate you."
"How is it my fault? Was it me who announced the plan like a Bond villain?"
Peter landed beside him, slinging Victor's arm over his shoulder. "Infirmary. Again. Let's go, prank boy."
"Shit, Parker—take it easy! My ribs! Tony's wicked."
"That's what you get for trying to prank him," Peter said calmly, hauling Victor up. "Also, Natasha's plotting. Run faster next time."
Victor glanced back. Natasha cracked her knuckles. He broke into a cold sweat.
Tony watched, arms crossed, grinning like a cat with cream. "Stitch him up, Spider-Boy. Then we train. Kid's got potential. Stupid potential, but potential."
Training With AETHER
The training room was a fortress of pain. Reinforced walls, holographic targets, and a floor that could simulate anything from zero gravity to lava. Victor stood in the center, hands glowing faintly, AETHER's interface projected like a sci-fi HUD.
"Time to learn control, kid," AETHER said. "Yesterday? Stabilized a fragment for five seconds. Impressive… barely."
"Don't mention today," Victor muttered. "Your prank spree nearly killed me."
"And yet here you are. Breathing. Mostly. Let's not blow up the tower."
AETHER guided him through exercises: fragment manipulation, energy projection, reality pulses. Victor's first attempt melted a target into modern art. The second made a dummy do the moonwalk. The third… well, the taxi outside did a slow-motion barrel roll before landing upside-down.
Natasha walked in mid-explosion, coffee in hand. "You train hard for someone who could die any second. And I haven't repaid you yet. Forgotten?"
She smirked. Set the coffee down. Cracked her neck.
Victor's stomach dropped. "Wait—"
"Spar," she said, and moved.
The blow to his groin was surgical. Victor folded like cheap lawn furniture, vision whiting out. Natasha patted his shoulder as he writhed. "Next time, don't mess with someone out of your league." She sauntered out, hips swaying like a promise of pain.
Victor curled into a ball, tears streaming. "I regret… everything…"
"Worth it," AETHER said. "Ten out of ten. Would watch again."
Hero Interactions
Peter swung in later, landing with his usual flair. "Kid, you really have no idea what you're doing, huh?" He tilted his head. "That's… adorable."
Victor, still recovering, flipped him off. "I have meta-awareness! I've seen your movies! I know how this goes!"
Peter grinned under the mask. "Yeah? Universe doesn't care about movie plots. Try surviving real time."
Fuck that male god, Victor thought.
Thor arrived next, thunder rumbling. "What trickery is this, mortal? You bend reality with a finger?"
Victor raised glowing hands. "Uh… not bending. Creative interpretation of physics?"
"Nice save, genius. Pure charm and lies."
Natasha's eyes narrowed. "Break one building, I'm not saving you. Prepare for round two."
Steve smiled faintly. "He's learning. Give him time. And hope he doesn't destroy the city."
Hulk growled, smashing a dummy for fun.
First Serious Fragment Threat
The quiet shattered with alarms. A new anomaly bloomed above the Hudson—massive, oil-slick dark, warping reality like heat haze. Buildings flickered. Traffic glitched. Pedestrians screamed.
Victor flinched. "This is… way bigger than yesterday."
"Level two," AETHER purred. "Main course. Don't die, genius."
He channeled energy, reality pushing back like a living thing. The anomaly shrieked. Ripples spread—cars froze mid-crash, a pigeon turned into origami mid-flight.
Peter landed beside him. "Smaller anomalies first. Don't go full chaos master. You'll get killed. Or worse—embarrassed."
"I'm already embarrassed," Victor muttered. "Win-win?"
"Sarcasm. Good. You might survive."
"Hey, Natasha!" Victor called, stabilizing a fragment. "Sorry about earlier!" He dodged a projectile. She gave him a look—half amused, half I will end you.
Team Coordination
Tony arrived in full suit, scanning. "Kid, you can stabilize it. But I don't trust you to do it perfectly. Stand back."
Stand back? Victor's internal monologue raged. This is my fight.
Steve and Natasha coordinated. Peter quipped tactics. Hulk… smashed.
Victor focused. Energy streamed from his hands, wrapping the anomaly. It fought—shrinking, then surging. He gritted his teeth. Sweat stung his eyes.
Peter whistled. "Not bad, newbie."
Victor blinked. "I… didn't die. Progress?"
Aftermath
The anomaly closed slowly. Victor's knees buckled. Adrenaline crashed.
Tony glared. "You survived. Barely. Don't let it go to your head."
"Too late," Victor grinned. "I can thrive here."
"Confidence. Dangerous, but welcome."
He glanced at the skyline. Faint pulses. More fragments.
Peter swung overhead. "Get used to it, genius. Multiverse doesn't take breaks."
Victor groaned. "Thought surviving the bullet was the hard part…"
"Tutorial," AETHER said. "That was just the tutorial."
A new anomaly ignited above Central Park—massive. Shadows swirled. Victor felt it watching.
"Oh, great… someone else."
Peter shot a web. "Lesson three. Try not to die… again."
"Chaos loves you," AETHER whispered. "And it's about to get personal."