◉◉◉◉◉
Inside the lab, Janet was still anxiously asking Hank Pym about Nolan's true identity. But Hank, frowning, countered with his own question:
"Who exactly is Kang?"
Janet went quiet for a long moment before answering.
"Thirty years ago, when I fell into the Quantum Realm, I thought I'd never return. Down there… I met someone. A man who claimed to be trapped just like me."
Her expression hardened. "That man was Kang."
She explained how Kang had told her that while experimenting with multiversal travel, his Traversal Device malfunctioned, stranding him in the Quantum Realm.
Once he learned who she was, he promised that if they rebuilt the machine, he could send her home with ease.
"We spent thirty years gathering resources, scavenging from the Quantum Realm, slowly repairing his so-called Traversal Device," Janet continued. Her voice shook, and a look of guilt crossed her face. "But when it was finally finished when I touched its power core, I saw… visions. Memories. Countless universes Kang had destroyed."
Her voice broke. "It wasn't an accident. He wasn't stranded he was exiled. He had used his machine to annihilate universes, branching timelines, and entire realities. The number of lives he's ended… I can't even count them."
The room fell silent.
Only Max, the newcomer, looked stunned; the others already had some awareness of the multiverse. Hank's face tightened not just at the revelation, but at the knowledge that his wife had spent decades beside another man. Still, his focus was on the larger threat.
"And then?" he pressed.
Janet clenched her fists. "I realized I'd become his accomplice. So I sabotaged his power core using my Wasp suit and escaped. After that, I bonded with Scott through quantum entanglement, and the rest… You know."
She looked at the others. "Your boss doesn't stand a chance against Kang. Even stripped of his empire, his science is still centuries ahead of us."
Hank shook his head. "You don't know him like I do. He's more powerful than you can imagine. Kang may call himself a conqueror, but compared to Nolan… Kang is nothing."
Before Janet could protest further, a ripple of space shimmered. Nolan appeared before them, and beside him floated a complex, chair-like construct humming with chronal energy.
"Boss," Hank and the others greeted him.
"This," Nolan said, resting his hand on the device, "is Kang's Multiversal Traversal Machine." With a wave, stacks of research files materialized in the lab. "And these are his scientific notes, salvaged from his city."
Janet stared in shock. "Where's Kang?"
"One variant killed himself before me," Nolan replied casually. "Another fled. Who knows where he ended up?"
"He… killed himself?" Janet whispered. The thought of Kang, the master of timelines, ending his life so abruptly felt surreal.
"That isn't the point," Nolan said firmly. He gestured to the machine. "This is. This device is our first step toward wielding true multiversal power."
He turned to Reed Richards. "Look familiar?"
Reed studied the intricate design. His eyes widened. "Yes… It's remarkably similar to my own concepts for a Traversal Machine. But this is far more advanced."
"That's because it is yours," Nolan said.
Reed blinked. "Another version of me built this?"
"Exactly. One of your multiversal counterparts. The design bears your signature methods engineering patterns you always use. Kang stole it… or rather, inherited it."
Nolan's tone grew cold. "Kang's true name is Nathaniel Richards."
The room froze. Everyone turned to Reed, whose own last name was Richards.
"My father's name… is Nathaniel Richards," Reed muttered, visibly shaken.
"Correct," Nolan said. "In one universe — Earth-6311 humanity fell into a dark age during the 30th century. War erased morality and buried scientific progress. But Nathaniel Richards from another reality used time travel to intervene. He guided that broken Earth, gave them knowledge, technology, and peace. To them, Nathaniel Richards was a savior."
Reed swallowed hard. "So one of my descendants… became Kang?"
Nolan nodded. "Yes. Kang is only one of many Nathaniel Richards. The Council of Kangs was formed when these variants discovered each other and began traversing timelines. At first, most sought to help their universes. But eventually, the odds caught up. Corruption spread. Bad Kangs emerged. And once there was one… more followed. They wanted to rule, not guide. War broke out. A multiversal war."
Nolan's eyes darkened. "In the end, one 'good' Kang prevailed. He established the Time Variance Authority to enforce the Sacred Timeline."
As Nolan spoke, Janet's face turned pale. She had lived beside Kang for thirty years, but Nolan's knowledge dwarfed her own. Kang had never told her any of this. Nolan, however, seemed to know his entire history.
Reed stood frozen, horrified. My own bloodline… becomes a destroyer of universes?
Hank muttered under his breath. "So… are we living in a rebooted multiverse already?"
Nolan gave a half-smile. "Let's just say… you're not the first iteration. And you won't be the last. Kang isn't the only one capable of forcing a reset. There are other beings powerful enough to reshape or even restart the multiverse entirely."
The room fell silent again as the weight of his words sank in.
◉◉◉◉◉
~Support with 200 PowerStones = 1 Bonus Chapter
◉◉◉◉◉
For early access to advanced chapters on P-atreon:
P-atreon/iamxeno
(Just remove the - hyphen to access Patreon normally)
Thank you so much for your support and for reading!