Chapter 2: 2. Ruins
Yes, the silver-haired man in front of him was one of the famous mutant in Alex's memory - Quicksilver.
But at this moment, his appearance was miserable. His hair had begun to become tangled due to not being combed for too long, and he had a beard on his face. No one would have guessed that he was just a nineteen-year-old boy.
The most surprising thing was the empty sleeve on his right side. His right arm had been cut off by someone, and the injury was not bandaged properly. He just did it to stop the bleeding, which also caused his right arm to be not be able to properly recover. Even if his wounds were healed at super speed, they still looked extremely hideous.
Alex met Pietro a week ago. At that time, he was fighting for food with a dog. He had been hungry for a long time. The high speed brought with it, a high metabolism. If he hadn't met Alex, he would have starved to death. If he fell unconscious, other beggars will not care about his life or death.
Pietro was wary of Alex at first, but after getting familiar with him, he slowly let go of his wariness. He told Alex some of his experiences, such as how he was imprisoned in the mutant prison by President X and how he escaped from it.
The first time he tried to escape from prison, his arm was chopped off when he was captured.
Alex took out a loaf of bread and two bottles of beer from the bag, he kept one bottle for himself, then handed the things to Pietro, and then continued.
"Listen, Pietro, I don't know how powerful President X is. I know that as soon as you use your powers, he might detect it.I don't want to wake up and find myself surrounded by a bunch of people. I believe you've escaped with great difficulty, you don't want to be captured again, do you?"
Hearing this, Pietro also thought of his previous encounters. He didn't speak and sat quietly. He stood down, opened the beer with one hand and took a sip.
Seeing this, Alex also sighed, this damn world, while not giving a way for people with super powers to survive, it also doesn't give a way for ordinary people to survive.
In the context of the economic crisis, all countries have been greatly affected. USA is naturally no exception, which is why President X wants to destroy the Avengers as soon as possible.
Prices are skyrocketing, many people are homeless, and every state is in chaos. It is estimated that a world war will happen again soon. But now, the world has begun to linger, and it is just asking who will fire the first shot to put the nail in the world' s coffin.
There are rumors that the world is going to end, that the end is coming, and only those mutant lunatics can survive it.
Indeed, in this world, the vast majority of superpowers do not actually have superpowers, such as the old man who claims to be the reincarnation of Thor, and there is no vibranium deposits in Wakanda. Black Panther is just the name of a gangster.
As for the magic, Alex searched for three days and three nights in New York but could not find the legendary No. 177A Black Street. That place was supposed to be the New York Sanctuary. 177A in this world is a nightclub that is about to go bankrupt.
As for the superhero Iron Fist, who inherited the power of 'Chi,' Alex couldn't find any information about him. Perhaps he had long perished in some accident, just like the lawyer Matt Murdock, who was killed in a car crash.
It seemed that this world might not have any so-called supernatural abilities at all. There were only ordinary people who died in various accidents and those 'mutant monsters' with genetic mutations.
However, even those who did obtain superpowers weren't that powerful. Instead, genetic mutations brought them uncontrollable disasters rather than blessings.
Magneto's superpower had turned into a passive skill, where he constantly emitted magnetic fields. To counteract this, he had to wear a demagnetization device. But a decade ago, an accident occurred at the airport. An agent accidentally damaged his demagnetization device, causing several planes to be attracted to his magnetic field, killing Magneto on the spot.
Similarly, Mystique could transform into anyone but would also be influenced by their personality, leading to multiple personality disorders. Any slight mistake could result in her dying on the streets.
Thinking of this, Alex glanced at Pietro across from him. Perhaps he was the only one who was somewhat fortunate. Quicksilver's abilities included superspeed and enhanced cognitive abilities.
In the comics, Quicksilver's superpower was hard to define. He even had the ability to slow down time around him while increasing his own speed, much like the scene in the movie where Quicksilver saves people while listening to music. He could slow down everything around him and perform rescues.
But here, Pietro didn't have such great capabilities. He was merely a mutant with super speed. Alex even doubted if Pietro could dodge bullets with his speed.
"What's the situation outside?" After a moment of silence, Pietro asked.
"War is imminent. Many people have started jumping off buildings in groups. President X has been quiet, probably planning something big. The gang activities across the nation are also increasing."
"And the Avengers?"
"They're all dead. Even the old man, who claimed to be the reincarnation of Thor was killed. The rest, if they're not dead, are in hiding. I don't have the means to find them. If I keep gathering their information, I'll be targeted."
"Do you think we can really succeed?" Pietro asked with some concern. At his age, he should have been in school, but now he was a fugitive.
"We can," Alex said firmly. "If we don't believe in ourselves, we won't achieve anything."
"I heard there's an uprising in Texas, and there's unrest at the Mexican border. Maybe this is our chance. If we succeed, we can leave this damned world. But only if what you told me is true."
"What I said is true. I wouldn't lie to you," Pietro retorted immediately, clearly frustrated by Alex's mistrust.
Alex didn't say much more. He knew that the chances of Pietro lying to him were almost zero because this was something Pietro had discovered unintentionally, and there was no way he could know what it was.
Quicksilver had been imprisoned for theft. He didn't just steal from businessmen and the wealthy. Perhaps because of his youthful, recklessness or his belief that he couldn't fail, he boldly broke into President X's secret chamber, intending to steal the 'treasures' inside.
That secret chamber, personally created by President X, housed numerous secret treasures and trophies from his victories over the Avengers. However, perhaps because there was no supernatural energy in this world, most of those treasures were just grand-sounding names without practical use.
For example, there was the Darkhold obtained from the Inquisition of heretics and the Book of the Vishanti taken from Doctor Strange. But those were basically all decorative and had no practical application, like the ramblings of a madman. No one could learn any spells from them.
But among Pietro's descriptions, one item in the secret chamber caught Alex's attention.
It was a small yellow box, about the size of a mobile phone, exquisitely crafted. It was clearly not made on earth. Interestingly, inside the box was a small orange round cookie with hands and feet that could only laugh.
No one knew what it was, but Alex did.
That wasn't just any orange cookie; it was Miss Minutes, a product of the TVA (Time Variance Authority). And that phone-like device was likely a time controller.
In the TV series 'Loki', the TVA was a organization created by Kang to maintain the sacred timeline and prevent multiversal wars. They had powerful abilities, including traveling between different universes and pruning timelines to prevent paradoxes. This was evident from the drawer full of Infinity Stones in the first season of 'Loki'.
Although this organization didn't appear often in the comics and had few appearances in major events, serving mostly as background filler, this was great news for Alex.
Although he didn't know why this world had changed so drastically, as long as he could get that time controller, he could escape this apocalyptic wasteland. Alex didn't think he could survive the upcoming world war III.
Finishing his beer, Alex looked at Pietro, who had already finished his bread, and said, "Get ready. We're moving out tonight."
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3. The Plan
4. Nick Fury
5. The Damned World
6. The Next Stop
7. The White Queen