Victor blinked at the chaos around him. Times Square was slowly returning to normal, but his heartbeat still thumped like a drumline gone rogue. The anomaly above Times Square had receded… for now. But Victor knew better.
AETHER's first words of the morning:
"Congrats, genius. You didn't die immediately. That's a win. Sort of."
Victor muttered under his breath, "Sort of? I nearly vaporized half the city…"
Tony's eyes were still fixed on the holograms.
"You, uh… just touched a multiverse fragment. Do you understand the catastrophic potential?"
Victor shuffled his feet. "Um… sorta? I mean… I touched it and it shrieked? I think that counts as understanding?"
AETHER: "Nice humility, genius. You'll need it, maybe next time show off by blowing a full city."
Tony crossed his arms, tapping the holograms impatiently. "You're lucky I'm feeling generous today. Or that I don't have time to explain why your existence is… problematic. A lot."
Victor: "Yeah, I get that a lot."
Perfect moment to add your own joke or sarcastic thought here.
Tony gestured to a holographic map of the city.
"See that red pulse? That's residual fragment energy. You can't just wave your hands around and… whatever you did. It destabilizes everything."
Victor raised an eyebrow. "Oh. So I am banned from superhero touchy-stuff. Got it."
First Hero Reactions
Steve Rogers stepped closer, hand on Victor's shoulder.
"You have no idea what you're doing, but…" He paused, thoughtful. "There's potential. I've seen it."
Natasha whispered, unimpressed, "Potential doesn't keep people alive."
Hulk grunted. Spider-Man swung around, doing a quick 360.
"Okay… new guy. Who let you in? You just rearranged the physics of half the city!"
Victor: "Long story. Do you want the short or long version? Spoiler: it's messy."
Training / Experimenting With AETHER
Victor decided—reluctantly—that the system wasn't just for showing off. AETHER projected his interface: energy readings, fragment control, and combat simulations.
"Touch it wrong, you might rip the universe apart. Touch it right, you might not die," AETHER said cheerfully.
Victor took a deep breath. "Step one: survive Tony. Step two: not die again. Step three: figure out how to use you without annihilating everyone."
Tony snorted. "Good luck with that.
Suddenly, a small rift flickered near the Avengers Tower rooftop. A fragment anomaly had stabilized temporarily, glowing with eerie energy.
Spider-Man: "Uh… something's coming out of that. And it's not friendly like the friendly not friendly type."
Victor: "Of course. I was hoping for a calm day."
AETHER: "Calm is boring. You're going to thank me later… maybe you can get a vacation after this."
Victor cautiously raised his hand, channeling AETHER's fragment module. Energy crackled around his fingertips. He focused. The anomaly shimmered and pulsed violently, but stabilized.
Steve whispered: "Impressive. But don't get cocky. One misstep—"
Hulk stomped. "HULK NOT CARE. HULK SMASH BAD THING."
Victor muttered: "I'll take that as encouragement, ok hulk let's smash."
Post-Anomaly Reflections
Victor stepped back, heart racing.
"Okay… surviving my first battle… check. Not being thrown out by Tony… check. Avoided Hulk smashing me… check."
AETHER: "Congratulations. You passed the introductory chaos level. Tomorrow, it gets worse."
Victor groaned. "Tomorrow? Great. Can't wait."
---
A new alert flickered across Tony's hologram screens. Another fragment anomaly was forming in Midtown. But this one was different—bigger, darker, and humming with energy that warped reality around it.
Victor froze.
"This… is not gonna be a calm day, is it?"
Spider-Man Peter Parker swung overhead. "Welcome to your second lesson, newbie. Try to survive this one."
AETHER whispered: "Lesson two: chaos loves company. And kid… the multiverse has your number."