"Any ideas?" Tony asked Steve.
To support the Avengers' new initiative, they planned to bring in an additional group of superheroes. The goal was to show the public that joining the team was possible, not some unreachable dream. They needed to seem accessible. While their image as saviors worked in their favor, it also created a sense of distance, as if they were higher beings, impossible to reach.
"Just a few," Steve said, shaking his head. Finding undiscovered heroes was proving harder than expected.
So far, the only candidates were S.H.I.E.L.D. agents. Not a real obstacle, but not exactly ideal either—it didn't set the right example for regular citizens.
"What about Scott?" Tony asked.
"He refused. He doesn't want to be a superhero," Steve replied.
"Not everyone has to want that," Tony said, understanding.
Though he usually acted carefree, he knew the weight of that choice. He himself had taken on the role out of guilt, as a form of redemption for the deaths indirectly caused by his weapons. He wasn't going to push someone to carry the same burden if they didn't want to.
"I know. After everything he went through, he just wants to enjoy life with his daughter, without complications. According to him, when he was forced to take part in all this, what he missed the most were the simple moments. He realized he could lose them at any time," Steve explained, recalling Scott's words.
"Sounds like the guy had his full character arc," Tony joked. "So, we've got no one else?"
"Natasha is looking, but it's hard. Those just getting started aren't ready yet, and those with experience… they're used to living in the shadows. They won't be easy to find."
"Maybe we should just ask Leonardo for help and call it a day," Tony suggested jokingly.
Steve, however, replied seriously.
"If we relied on him even for basic things, the very foundation of the Avengers would be flawed."
"True," Tony nodded.
Their goal was to share responsibility on a global scale. Depending on one person went against all of that.
---
Elsewhere in the tower, Leonardo and Gwen were also talking.
"So, will you finally tell me what you've been so busy with?" Gwen asked, pouting slightly.
Contrary to what she expected, Leonardo nodded with a small smile.
"Actually, yes."
Then he raised a glass and tapped its rim with a spoon like a bell, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
Once all eyes were on him, he began to speak.
"First of all, thank you for coming. I know we're in the middle of major changes, and many don't want distractions. But that's exactly why today is a good time to relax and enjoy a little."
He walked over to a wall and pressed a button. A screen emerged and began to light up as he continued speaking.
"You're probably wondering why I gathered you here. The answer is simpler than you think: to watch a movie."
The group was surprised. No one really knew the purpose of the meeting beyond discussing the Avengers, and the first to react—as usual—was Tony.
"Wait, are you serious? A movie?"
Leonardo gently pushed him toward the sofa that appeared in the center of the room, courtesy of the tower's tech, and replied,
"Sit down, Tony. This movie is special. I made it myself."
After hearing that, the group fell silent. They decided to go along with it. They were already there, had no plans for the evening, and the more perceptive among them already suspected that a movie made by Leonardo couldn't be anything trivial.
While everyone watched intently, Leonardo thought only of the massive amount of experience he was gaining.
After causing and preventing the Age of Ultron, he realized the event had been far too significant not to capitalize on it for XP. So he decided to share it with the world.
A painting made no sense. All his works showed the future, and that future no longer existed. That's why he chose to make a movie based on the events.
It wasn't live-action, but it wasn't 2D animation either. It was realistic 3D animation: a sequence of his own paintings layered frame by frame. Of course, he didn't paint the entire movie by hand. Just a small part of each frame, then used the Time Stone to complete the rest. While that drastically reduced the XP earned per frame, the total accumulation was still significant. Roughly the equivalent of ten paintings.
And there was another benefit: a movie contained multiple scenes. Unlike a painting, which only granted XP once, here he could gain experience from every moment that emotionally impacted the viewer. One person watching this film gave him the same as fifteen people observing an individual painting.
Still, it took time. He couldn't paint anything else during that period. And he couldn't reveal the whole truth. He omitted key details: Jean, Strange's time travel, Wanda's involvement (to avoid revealing she was alive and didn't intervene), and, of course, the existence of the Time Stone.
From the film's perspective, the Age of Ultron was a dystopia where Ultron ruled humanity. The heroes fell one by one until Strange found a way to warn the past.
In the public version, that warning allowed Leonardo and Wanda to defeat Ultron in the past. It was made clear that Ultron had really been Zola, so the public wouldn't view Vision with suspicion for being an AI.
Though the story could have ended the moment Strange sent the message, Leonardo animated the rest to portray Wanda as a hero, to help clean her image a bit, especially since in the future, no one even mentions where she was. He also wanted to ensure everyone knew that Zola was dead and that Vision could be trusted.
The general public would enjoy the story. But governments, S.H.I.E.L.D., and the world powers would be watching for something else: Wakanda, Black Panther, Kamar-Taj, Stephen Strange, future technology… and every fragment of information that, even though Ultron had been defeated, still existed.
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(just delete the hyphen)
80 power stones = 1 extra chapter (cumulative)