After returning from Monaco, Juggernaut drove off immediately in his reinforced SUV, engine roaring through the night.
Karl dropped Tony at his residence before heading back to the manor.
The moment he stepped inside, he sensed something was wrong.
Wanda and Pietro sat on the sofa, heads lowered.
May and Raven sat beside them, expressions serious.
Karl paused.
"What happened?" he asked calmly. "School again?"
May exhaled slowly.
"They awakened their powers today. In class. A few students were injured."
Her voice carried worry — not anger.
She feared exposure more than discipline.
Karl's expression did not change.
He looked at the twins.
"What manifested?"
Wanda looked up first. Her eyes were red from holding back tears.
"Things started moving," she whispered.
Red energy shimmered faintly around her fingers — unstable, chaotic, flickering rather than flowing smoothly.
The glass of water on the table lifted into the air.
But the movement wasn't simple telekinesis.
The liquid inside warped slightly, as if probability itself had been distorted.
Karl's eyes narrowed.
This wasn't mere object manipulation.
This was chaos energy.
Pietro moved next.
A gust of wind tore across the living room.
He vanished.
In less than a blink, he appeared beside the refrigerator, grabbed a soda, placed it in front of Karl, and returned to his original spot.
The movement was not teleportation.
It was raw super-speed — likely early-stage acceleration without full biological adaptation yet.
Karl nodded slowly.
"Good."
He crouched to meet their eye level.
"Wanda — your power isn't just moving objects. It's manipulating energy and probability. Right now it's unstable. You need control, not force."
He looked at Pietro.
"When you run — does your perception slow down?"
Pietro hesitated.
"…Yes. Everything feels slower."
"Good. That means your neural processing is accelerating with your movement. But your body isn't durable enough yet. Don't push to full speed."
He stood.
"When you're older, you'll receive the enhanced gene serum. And I'll have Stark fabricate reinforced suits. Until then, control and restraint."
Wanda swallowed.
"…Will we get in trouble?"
Karl smiled gently.
"You're family. Trouble doesn't reach this house."
Bang. Bang. Bang.
The television screen flickered to life.
Yelena appeared via surveillance feed.
"Boss. Perimeter breach attempt neutralized. Multiple military vehicles approaching. Heavy equipment confirmed."
The camera feed showed armored carriers and tactical units forming outside the estate gates.
Missile launchers.
Heavy machine guns.
Karl's expression hardened.
"Understood."
He turned to Raven.
"Stay inside. Protect May, Peter, Wanda, and Pietro."
He stepped toward the door.
Outside the gates—
William Stryker stood at the head of a military convoy.
In the comics, Stryker was obsessed with mutant eradication — religious fanaticism twisted into government-funded experimentation.
In this version, his anti-mutant agenda remained intact.
When he heard reports of two young superhumans emerging in Manhattan — children of a Stark-affiliated household — he immediately suspected mutants.
And his Weapon X division always required fresh subjects.
He had hesitated briefly when learning of Karl's Stark connection.
But rumors of military dissatisfaction with Tony Stark emboldened him.
If Stark's influence weakened—
He saw opportunity.
Karl stepped out onto the front path.
Behind him—
Panels in the manor walls shifted.
Automated turrets unfolded.
Missile pods rotated into firing position.
Energy cannons aligned.
All Stark-designed systems, upgraded and integrated by Extreme Speed.
Several Jericho missile platforms extended visibly.
The soldiers froze.
They recognized those weapons.
Everyone in the military had seen footage of a Jericho detonation.
Sweat formed instantly on more than one forehead.
Stryker forced his voice steady.
"Karl Zhang. We are not here to arrest you."
Karl tilted his head slightly.
"No?"
"Your two children are mutants. Their abilities are dangerous. They must be placed under federal custody."
"Custody?" Karl's voice dropped a degree colder. "You mean a lab."
Stryker did not deny it.
Karl's eyes hardened.
"I don't care what genetic label you assign them."
His gaze swept across the armored column.
"You brought military vehicles into Manhattan. Onto private property."
Behind him, targeting systems locked.
Several soldiers instinctively raised their rifles.
Jericho launch bays hummed audibly as they powered up.
Stryker's composure cracked slightly.
"If you resist federal authority—"
Karl interrupted calmly.
"Federal authority does not extend to abducting minors from private property without warrant."
He stepped forward slightly.
"In this state, unlawful armed entry onto my property authorizes lethal self-defense."
The Jericho pods rotated precisely toward Stryker's command vehicle.
Karl's voice turned glacial.
"Do you want to test that?"
The soldiers hesitated.
They had orders.
But they also understood blast radius calculations.
If those missiles launched—
Nothing in this convoy would survive.
Even the armored carriers.
Stryker felt the weight of the standoff.
He had expected resistance.
Not this level of firepower.
Not strategic-class weapons aimed at his men.
And unlike a mutant raid in secrecy—
This was Manhattan.
If Karl fired, the legal argument of self-defense would be very difficult to challenge publicly.
Stryker's jaw tightened.
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