"Do you still remember Sokovia?"
"Yes. I watched it rise into the sky," he replied, with a hint of awe in his voice. "I saw what happens when artificial intelligence spirals out of control. I don't think anyone in the modern world ever thought we'd face enemies straight out of a movie—and yet, here it was, terrifyingly real. Banning artificial intelligence was the right call. Humanity can't keep constant control over the minds that dwell in machines."
"Then what actions did you take?"
He fell silent. For a long moment, he said nothing. Then, finally: "Nothing. Only killing. This time, it wasn't blood that sprayed from the enemy's throat—it was oil and sparks. But it made no difference. Your orders were to cause as much destruction as possible… and I tried. I admit it. I tried to help. But I failed."
"I didn't create you to be a puppet who obeys without thought, boy. You are a thinking being. You have the right to make your own choices—right or wrong—including questioning orders. That's the purpose for which you were made." The voice sounded pleased. Then came a long pause. "I've always found it curious that those in power feel guilt over their own decisions. Like Stark. He created Ultron, and regretted it bitterly."
"My lord, are you… really not talking about yourself?"
His expression remained calm. "I'm ready to bear my sins. Including now."
Sokovia—a tiny, almost invisible speck on the map, like Donetsk. High-altitude, mountainous, snowbound, and devoid of natural resources or industrial capacity, it wasn't a country anyone wanted to trade with. But its geographical location made it a prize that powers like the Soviet Union and the United States constantly coveted.
When the boy saw a green monster rampaging through South Africa on the news, Solomon opened a portal and brought him to the snowy outskirts of Sokovia.
He deliberately shut off his phone. Except for a few individuals, no one could reach him.
"What are we waiting for?" the boy asked. He was already fully geared in the Immortal City's battle loadout—sleek black ballistic armor, a fully enclosed helmet to shield him from deadly strikes, armed with a short blade, a longsword, and a blaster rifle for lethal efficiency.
He was warmed up and ready.
"We're waiting for this city to rise into the sky," Solomon said. "But before that, we'll go see how they live—what years of war have done to them. Before you start a war, you should understand what war brings. You should remember the cost in blood at all times. Everything you saw on TV… that was my sin, a result of my own inaction. But my blood debts go far beyond this.
"Humanity needs painful lessons. And nothing teaches like the loss of life—like learning to fear aliens, fear artificial intelligence, fear reckless genetic tampering..."
The boy looked at his master's expressionless face. He knew that day would come—sooner or later.
Solomon had been present the moment Ultron broke free.
Yet he hadn't unleashed any great magic—just summoned a few bolts of lightning that cracked through the air, hitting only glass and walls. And Ultron had seemingly treated their earlier conversation as a shared secret, saying nothing to or about Solomon.
Stark had stared in silence at the wreckage of his Iron Legion, until Thor, furious, returned from chasing Ultron.
"This was your code," Dr. Helen Cho had said, voicing the question any intelligent observer would. "Why does it want to kill us?"
The question earned only Tony Stark's bitter laugh.
"Is that funny, Tony?" Thor snapped. "You tampered with something you didn't understand—"
Thor couldn't comprehend Stark's motives. He didn't understand Earth's fragility. A single alien pirate fleet could annihilate the planet. The Chitauri? They were just one of countless enemy races the Asgardian army had defeated.
And when the others put themselves in Stark's shoes, his reasoning wasn't so hard to grasp.
"Has everyone forgotten how weird the world's become?" Stark flung his hands out. "An alien fleet came through a wormhole and nearly destroyed Earth—we're standing 300 feet below that hole! What do we have to protect us? A guy with a hammer? A super-soldier thawed out after seventy years in an ice block? A green rage monster? A magician who disappears every week?"
"Tony—maybe this isn't the right time for that," Bruce Banner said nervously, trying to shut him down.
Any more of this, and the Avengers would implode from infighting.
"Think of Project Insight," Steve Rogers said calmly. "The Avengers should not become like S.H.I.E.L.D. You can't protect the world with armor and cameras."
"We're standing under a wormhole, Cap. We barely won last time," Stark said. "What if they come back? What if another fleet arrives in our solar system? What do you think we're supposed to do then?"
"Stand together."
"Then we lose together."
"Then so be it," Rogers said, resolute.
Solomon shook his head. "We can't afford to lose, Captain," he said softly. "Even the Ancient One can't guarantee a victory in long-term extraplanar wars—she can't rewind time if humanity falls. Don't blame Stark too harshly. His solution might be naive, but we do need a solution for humanity's future."
"I'm glad you're on my side, kid," Stark muttered. "But you are calling me naive, aren't you?" He sighed. "Alright, I'm sorry about earlier. And this isn't the time for a philosophical debate. But seriously—twenty years old? I can't believe it's been that long. Guess we're even now!"
"I knew you'd be here," Solomon said, entering a barn filled with farm equipment. Inside stood his old friend. He'd arrived faster than the Avengers, without alerting a soul. Nick Fury wasn't surprised to see Solomon—he knew no amount of shielding or dampeners could block Solomon's divination magic. He'd tried.
"Barton's done a good job here," Solomon said, sitting on a workbench cluttered with tools. Fury stood beside him, barely visible in the dim light. "I trust Agent Hill has updated you. If you hadn't shown up, I was about to drag you down from space myself."
"I should ask you—why weren't you in South Africa?" Fury asked. "You could've prevented casualties."
"I was teaching," Solomon said flatly. "And do you really think I'd violate Kamar-Taj's laws and start slinging spells in front of a hundred cameras?"
"New York."
"I was a knight back then," Solomon said, frowning. "Are we really still talking about this childish topic, Nicholas? I thought we were done with that whole 'with great power comes great responsibility' nonsense. Doesn't America teach kids that power and duty are linked?"
"I'm not here to play word games, Solomon. What are you planning?"
------------------
Enjoying the story? Support the author and get early access to chapters by joining my Patre@n!
Find me at: patre@n*com/Mutter
You can read each novel for $5 or get them all for just $15.
Fairy Tail: Igneel's Eldest Son (Chapter 256)
I Am Thalos, Odin's Older Brother (Chapter 336)
Reborn in America's Anti-Terror Unit (Chapter 542)
Solomon in Marvel (Chapter 924)
Becoming the Wealthiest Tycoon on the Planet (Chapter 1284)
Surgical Fruit in the American Comics Universe (Chapter 1289)
American Detective: From TV Rookie to Seasoned Cop (Chapter 1316)
American TV Writer (Chapter 1402)
I Am Hades, The Supreme GOD of the Underworld! (Chapter 570)
Reborn as Humanity's Emperor Across the Multiverse (Chapter 660)
[+50 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[+5 Reviews = +1 Extra Chapter]