'One thing I've learned is that the Ancient One is not one to mess with,' I thought with a hum as I made my way back to my room, wincing with every few steps thanks to the bruises left by our spars.
After the first one where I was put under a genjutsu of cosmic proportions, we decided to continue with a second one where I then went all-out.
I'm also fairly sure she kept on using the Time Stone as she was able to easily avoid my attacks like I was moving at a normal speed. On top of that, every time I thought I was close to landing a hit, she had already anticipated it with a precise counter.
Yet, even as I continued limping through the hallway, I couldn't help the smile on my face. The Ancient One wasn't just a teacher, but also a force of nature and every lesson was just a reminder to me.
A reminder that despite my speed, I was no more than a fledgeling compared to the true celestial demons of this world.
'The Ancient One is powerful, but she is not even the strongest of this universe. There is still beings like the Living Tribunal, the Abstract Beings that reside throughout the Multiverse and who knows how many Celestial beings,' I thought as I paused outside my door before shaking my head with a smirk.
Yeah, I can worry about that later. For now, I need to get some re-
'Wait! I still haven't been on the internet since I got here! Holy shit, I need a phone or something stat!'
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'Well, this is a bit of a conundrum if that's the right word,' I thought with a hum as I held my new phone in hand, one which I had 'bought' just a few seconds ago.
After I had connected it to the wifi of Kamar-Taj, I immediately went to Google, searching slowly through it and making sure I didn't miss a single lick of info.
Firstly, whatever god put me here most definitely didn't care for making things interesting as there was no divergent from the canon that I would recognize. Well, other than Wanda and I running away for HYDRA, but that's a story for another time.
Secondly, the TV shows existed. There were reports of a figure in red tactical leather with small devil horns spotted leaping across rooftops in Hell's Kitchen, blurry footage of a guy with a glowing fist knocking out armed thugs in Chinatown and even a very grainy picture of a guy walking away from a car crash without a scratch.
That means that Daredevil, Iron Fist and Luke Cage were already active vigilantes, which was surprising to me since I'm sure the events of their shows only take place after the Ultron movie…or I guess not? It could also just be a divergent that I was unsure of.
Anyway, thirdly, the Avengers already does exist and from the latest news, they took out some smuggling ring near the north-eastern parts of Europe, which is very close to Sokovia and the hidden HYDRA base there.
However, I also know that with Wanda and I's escape, the group was most definitely in hiding to avoid the heroes. That could lead to some trouble down the line so I should probably go check that out when I can.
Fourthly…Is that even a word? Eh, it is now. Fourthly, stories and reports of Enhanced Beings are all over the internet and from how each one started with the person being exposed to some kind of harmful mist and surviving it, that led me to just one group of people.
The Inhumans, a race of altered human beings as a result of experiments done on their ancestors by the extraterrestrial race known as Kree who manipulated their genetic code by implanting Kree DNA and made them superhuman.
'Just…why?', The usual world was already hard enough and now I had to deal with them too. On top of that, weren't they supposed to be on the Moon or something?
It is times like these where I wish I had watched more Marvel TV series and not just dropped them halfway because I got bored or because I didn't feel like it anymore.
'Fifthly and the final thing, I couldn't invest stocks because I got no money~', One may think I was being stupid, but with my meta-knowledge of most of the big stocks that existed in this universe and my own, I could easily become a multi-millionaire in the next couple of years if I play my cards right.
Unfortunately, that meant I had to put down my legal information out into the internet, which meant HYDRA tracking us down which meant me having to fight them.
While I do enjoy the fact that I could outrun a bullet, there was always and I mean ALWAYS the off-chance of them having someone strong enough to fight me…and I was not going to take that chance.
I'm too much of a bitch to do that.
'Still, hide away like a coward and get a normal job or risk my safety for a couple of million dollars?…Why do I ask these questions when I already know the answer? As much of a bitch that I am, a million is still a million and this is a couple of millions. At least, it will be money that I can use to build my own empire.'
"Hah, I guess I have my plan."
"What plan?", Wanda's voice echoed from behind me and I immediately vibrated in place, stopping in the same millisecond while glaring at the woman in question who smirked at my brief fear.
"Really?"
"You were distracted, brother. That's a rare chance," she answered, flopping down onto my bed beside me like she owned it.
"Uh-huh, well, you're lucky I didn't give you a vibrating punch to the chest by accident."
"Oh yes, a vibrating punch. Doesn't that sound terrifying?", She answered sarcastically, but I knew she was just joking as I laid back beside her and the two of us looked at the ceiling.
"…So, what plan?"
"Nothing to worry about, little sis."
"You are just twelve minutes older. Don't make me throw you into another country."
"Eh, I'd probably be back before dinner," That wasn't even me bragging more than just stating the fact. Before, it would have taken me a couple of days at max speed to run around the world.
Now? I'd say a few hours would be quite easy to do so. Honestly, if it weren't for the fact that I could turn my speed on and off as I pleased, everything would have been dreadfully boring to my mind.
"Come on~ Tell me."
"It was the kind of plan that would make you look at me with that disapproving stare of yours."
"What did you do?"
"See? I didn't even do anything," I spoke with a huff, but Wanda didn't budge as she stared at me with an eyebrow raised and a piercing look in her eyes.
"…Fine. I was thinking of maybe…making some money."
"By robbing a bank?"
"You have that little faith in me?", I asked, surprised at her rapid question and her blunt nod as she smiled.
"Yes."
"Also, no, not by robbing a bank. It's just that…well, I have heard about investing and I just think that with my fast mind, I'd be good at it."
"Oh, that's lovely. Just one problem. Put your name on the internet and HYDRA finds us. If they find us, we'd have to run because I do not want to bother the peaceful people of Kamar-Taj with our problems."
"I know, but running forever isn't a plan either. We'd have to stop at some point and do you really want to leave the place where you accepted with open arms like it was nothing?", I asked, not surprised when she looked at me before shaking her head with a sigh.
"No. No, I don't."
"Exactly."
"Then, what is this plan of yours?"
"Simple. I find a way to make money without making it obvious. In and out with just my speed, smarts and a little creative cheating."
"Creative cheating?", She asked with a frown and I smirked before looking at my phone.
"Give me a few months and you'll see."
"…I'm already regretting this, but…fine. Go ahead and we'll see in a few days."
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"…How long did it take you?"
"About three weeks of watching every Youtube video, reading every tutorial, studying every line of coding that exists and making up a few new ones to help me. Also, you were right. My speed does boost my mind's speed tremendously, though it doesn't boost comprehension. Then again, that doesn't matter much when a second feels like an hour."
"And now you're a master at…what did you call it again? Hacking?"
"Not hacking. It's a mixture of data manipulation, stealthy transactions and cyber-infiltration," I answered, to which the Ancient One hummed as I continued to type away at the three laptops that I had also 'bought' in the past couple of weeks.
Surprisingly, when the Ancient One found out, she only told me to pay the people back the money of the stuff I stole and I did that within the first few days. Also, since I didn't have any practical magic lessons to attend, that left me with hours upon hours of free time where I just watched videos and read through tutorials.
At the end, what came out was a super-cybernetic expert that managed to worm his way through firewalls like they were wet paper, slip into bank records and reroute funds in ways that even the most paranoid accountants would chalk up to a decimal error.
To make it fair, it wasn't like I was draining people's life savings or stealing from someone's grandma. I kept to big corporations, shady shell companies and certain HYDRA-connected accounts as compensation for what they put me through.
Also, this was like a test to me. It was easy to just phase into a bank vault or jewelry store, steal everything and sell them the next day. No, this was a challenge to train my mind just like the Ancient One had asked and after the past three weeks, I had to admit one thing.
It was damn fun.
Unfortunately, my sweet little sister didn't share my enthusiasm despite the fact that she had a new identity and a card that had no limits. Even now as both she and the Ancient One watched me work, she loomed over my shoulder with her usual 'older sister sitcom glare' that she liked to pull out.
"One wrong keystroke and we'll not only have to worry about HYDRA but also the damn IRS coming for you."
"Don't worry. Everything is fin-Crap," I murmured as I deleted everything, phasing the laptop I was using into pieces before racing out of Kamar-Taj and to the next couple of towns away.
Scattering the pieces throughout the towns, I raced back to my room within the same minute, sitting down next to the amused Ancient One as I picked up my second laptop.
"Sorry about -man got through my second firewall so I had to get those away."
"Didn't you say that you had fifty thousand firewalls up, each with the same level of programming and protection as that of Stark's?"
"Oh, that was an exaggeration. Mine are nowhere near his level, but the tax-man breaking through just two of them was enough for me."
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"We lost the signal, sir!"
"Then get it again! Whatever bastard thinks he can mess with the tax man is going to get a big ass-whooping from me personally!"
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"You're that scared of them?"
"Only a fool doesn't fear taxes," I answered with a grave shake of my head, smirking at the Ancient One's giggles and Wanda trying her best not to laugh at my stupid joke.
"Has he always been like this?"
"You mean paranoid? Oh, this is him taking it easy."
"That's correct. Now, just write this and…boom, I'm now the official owner of a couple thousand coin along with being a multi-millionaire that owns his own company."
"…And you did this in a couple of weeks with just a few computers?"
"No, Barry Allen did this in a few years with his ingenuity and his advanced cyber-security firm that he's now the prod CEO of. I just skipped the years of building the infrastructure."
"So, what? You're a businessman now?", The Ancient One asked and I smirked as I looked at the code flashing on screen and typing out on its own.
"Yep, I'm a business-man…that can now also buy an island and maybe even bribe the IRS to leave me alone."
"Lovely, my brother is a con-man."
"Business-man, Wanda. There's a difference."
"And what is that difference?", She asked as I picked up my laptop, placing it next to the one already on the table with a grin.
"I can pay off people to forget my crimes. Now, if you would excuse me, I got some work to do."
"Hmm, before I go. Have you decided to which Sanctum you wished to go to?"
"Wait, he gets to do that/ I get to do that?", Wanda and I asked respectively, my sister being more surprised than I am as the Ancient One nodded.
"Yes. While you are not a Master of the Mystic Arts nor a practitioner of magic, your theoretical knowledge of the many spells that we wield is on par with that of a Master. On top of that, you are skilled enough now to keep up with most sorcerers with just your speed. So, which Sanctum would you prefer?", She asked once more and I frowned as I thought about the three options I had.
Well, going to New York would be the safest and easiest option. I know most of what's going to happen and I know how to survive it. There was just one problem.
That was the boring option. While it would be safe, at least in my eyes, it would be boring to know everything and then just avoid it all.
As a human, I wanted just as much excitement in my life as anyone else and I don't want to go to the place where I knew most of what's going to happen.
That left me with two options, the London Sanctum or the Hong Kong Sanctum.
On one hand, I really wanted to go to London because it's away from everything. There's no chaos there and I could be left in peace. On top of that, I don't think there are any heroes or villains in London which would leave me with as much time to do whatever I wanted.
On the other hand, I needed that excitement as a speedster that would not also be predictable and last I checked, wasn't there a group of assassins that have existed for a long time in China?
'The Ten Rings,' I thought with a frown, remembering the actual group of assassins along with the real Mandarin from the Shang Chi movie.
Man, am I really going to go to another country just to steal another man's rings and run off? Well, I'm already a businessman so I might as well keep the image going.
'Besides, nothing's stopping me from finding the hideout, going in, grabbing them and getting out before anyone could stop me…right?'
A/N: And we end it off here. A quick little info dump chapter that sets up the next arc: Mystical Objects.
Next chapter: I am Speed.
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Ba-Bye~!