Pietro froze for a moment when he heard the suggestion, clearly caught off guard by how casually Ethan proposed it. After a brief pause, Ethan smiled and spoke again, his tone relaxed but firm. "Since you're so sure about it," he said, "then let's just go to the moon and find her."
Pietro blinked in disbelief, trying to process what he had just heard. After a couple seconds, he finally managed to speak. "Ethan… you actually have a way to take me to the moon?"
"I can't do it alone," Ethan replied calmly, shrugging slightly. "But I know someone who can."
Traveling through space wasn't exactly something Ethan was built for. In theory, he could surround himself with a massive sphere of air using telekinesis and survive in the vacuum for a short period of time. The problem was that doing it while protecting another person would be extremely difficult, especially for a long trip.
And even if he managed it, there was another issue entirely. No one knew exactly where Attilan was located on the moon. The city of the Inhumans was hidden and hard to find, so searching blindly through space would be a nightmare.
"I want to go too!" Wanda suddenly said, her eyes lighting up with excitement. She leaned forward with obvious curiosity written across her face. "I want to see the girl who dumped Pietro."
"Wanda!" Pietro protested immediately, his face turning red. "I told you already, I didn't get dumped!"
Wanda crossed her arms and looked at him skeptically. "Then why hasn't she come to see you?" she shot back. "Don't forget what Ethan said. She can teleport instantly. Even if she's busy, you're telling me she couldn't spare two or three minutes to visit you?"
Her logic was sharp enough to leave Pietro momentarily speechless. He opened his mouth, then closed it again as if searching for an answer that didn't exist.
"Maybe… maybe she's sick," Pietro muttered weakly. "Maybe she can't use her powers right now."
The excuse sounded less like a rebuttal and more like an attempt to convince himself.
Wanda raised an eyebrow. "You can't use your powers when you're sick?"
"They're not the same as us," Pietro insisted.
Still unconvinced, Wanda turned toward Ethan and asked directly, "Ethan, can Inhumans lose their powers if they get sick?"
"Of course not," Ethan replied without hesitation.
The answer was immediate and completely confident.
Wanda instantly looked back at Pietro with a victorious grin. "See? I knew it. You definitely got dumped."
"I… I didn't…" Pietro stammered, struggling to defend himself.
But even he wasn't sure anymore.
Maybe he really had been dumped.
"Alright, Wanda, that's enough teasing," Ethan said with a chuckle, stepping in before the argument escalated. "Why don't we just go to the moon and ask her ourselves? Then we'll know what really happened."
"Yes!" Pietro said quickly, grabbing onto the idea like a lifeline. "Crystal must have a reason."
"Fine," Wanda replied, shrugging slightly. She was clearly still amused but didn't push the topic further. After a moment, she asked, "So how are we getting to the moon?"
"We'll get Tony to make some space armor," Ethan explained. "Once we have that, I'll carry everyone using telekinesis. That should work. Wanda, open a portal to Tony's place."
One obvious question was why Wanda couldn't simply open a portal directly to Attilan. The answer was simple: the portals used by Kamar-Taj sorcerers weren't all-purpose gateways.
Wanda had never seen Attilan before and had no mental reference point for it. Without a clear concept of the destination, opening a portal there was impossible.
"Got it," Wanda said.
She raised her right hand and began tracing glowing circles in the air. Sparks of golden energy formed instantly, swirling into a blazing ring that opened into a portal.
Ethan stepped through first without hesitation, and Wanda and Pietro followed closely behind.
They emerged in Tony Stark's mansion.
Tony himself wasn't in the living room.
"J.A.R.V.I.S., where's Tony?" Ethan asked.
"He is currently in the underground laboratory," the AI replied politely. "I have already informed Mr. Stark of your arrival, Mr. Ethan."
"Thanks, J.A.R.V.I.S."
"You're welcome, Mr. Ethan."
At that moment, footsteps echoed from the staircase. Tony appeared a few seconds later, walking up from the lower level.
The first thing he said when he saw Ethan was, "Ethan, did you finally come to teach me magic?"
Ethan rolled his eyes immediately. "You're a complete Muggle," he said bluntly. "Just forget about learning my magic."
Instead of obsessing over magic, Tony should be focusing on developing new armor.
After a short pause, Ethan added, "Although in a few days I'm heading to Kamar-Taj. You might actually be able to learn something there. Wanda learned her magic from that place."
"Is that how Wanda uses portals all the time?" Tony asked.
Ethan nodded.
"In that case, I'm interested," Tony said thoughtfully. "Even if I don't believe in the mystical side of things."
Only then did he notice the two people standing behind Ethan.
"Oh, Pietro. Wanda."
"Hello, Uncle Tony," Wanda said cheerfully.
"Hello," Pietro greeted politely.
Tony immediately frowned when he heard the word "uncle."
"Wanda," he said with obvious dissatisfaction, "Ethan and I are friends. You don't need to call me uncle."
"But you are an uncle," Wanda said seriously. "You're already that age."
Tony had turned forty-two earlier that year. Despite the fact, he had always refused to admit he was getting older.
Getting hit with the truth from a teenager clearly hurt his pride.
Since he couldn't win the argument, Tony quickly changed the subject.
"So Ethan, what brings you here today?"
Ethan briefly explained Pietro's situation.
After listening, Tony looked confused.
"Wait a second," he said slowly. "You're telling me there's a hidden civilization living on the moon… and Pietro managed to get a girlfriend from there?"
"Yes," Ethan said with a nod. "That's basically it."
Tony stared at Pietro with clear envy.
"Nice job, kid," he said. "When I was young, I always fantasized about dating an alien. Never actually pulled it off though."
"Crystal isn't technically an alien," Pietro said with a frustrated sigh.
Tony waved dismissively. "What even counts as an alien? If they're not from Earth, they're aliens. Anyway, leave the armor to me. I'll prepare four suits."
Ethan suddenly had a bad feeling.
"Wait," he said slowly. "Tony… what do you mean four suits?"
"Well, there are four of us," Tony replied casually. "Unless Wanda isn't going?"
"You're planning to come with us?" Ethan asked.
"Of course," Tony said immediately. "Something this interesting is happening and you want to leave me out? Come on, man. I'll bring the armor, so I'm definitely coming."
Ethan sighed helplessly.
Even if he refused, Tony would probably sneak along anyway.
"Fine," Ethan said at last. "If you want to go, then come with us."
It didn't really matter in the end.
They already had Wanda with them, and she could open portals anytime. Bringing Tony along wouldn't change much.
"Great!" Tony said excitedly. "I'll modify the armor right now. Come back here tomorrow and we'll leave from the lab."
Before anyone could respond, Tony had already rushed back down to the underground laboratory.
Watching him disappear down the stairs, Ethan felt like Tony was even more impatient about the trip than Pietro was.
"Wanda, open another portal," Ethan said. "Let's head home."
Wanda nodded and quickly created another glowing portal.
The three of them stepped through and returned home.
The next day, they gathered in Tony's laboratory.
Four Mark-7 suits stood in front of them, each painted in a different color.
Tony proudly gestured toward them.
"Allow me to introduce the Mark Moon Armor," he announced. "They're modified versions of the Mark-7. I installed a life-support module that allows us to survive in space for up to 168 hours. The outer coating has radiation protection, and I also added laser weapons. In space environments, lasers have a huge advantage… well,"
....
Join my P@treon and get 60+ advanced chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/0LordSilvere0 (Remove the *)
Free members get 2 chapters free.
Join Right Now