Dante's POV
John and I floated in deep space, hundreds of thousands of miles away from Earth. The planet was barely a speck, even to my ridiculous perception.
The newly minted super-soldier blinked owlishly at first, then panic flooded in. He clawed at his throat, mouth opening and closing in silent terror.
"Hey, John," I sent telepathically, "I know this, uh… looks bad, but it's for your own good. You're safe."
My reassurances had the opposite effect, amplifying his fear until I could feel it churning violently through the tether I'd formed between our minds.
"You need to calm down, John," I said slowly. "You don't need oxygen to breathe. Not anymore. Try counting down from te—"
John Walker's golden aura flashed white and ripped reality apart. Time slowed as I activated TimeWarp and brought up Wall just before I teleported away. The shockwave of energy still hit me hundreds of miles out, tearing through most of my shield before my energy absorption kicked in. Eventually, it overwhelmed the destructive light and the blast faded, leaving parts of my shield and armor cracked and weakened.
Most of the damage repaired itself almost instantly, and a swift teleport put me back in front of John. He was unconscious now, lazily drifting through space, looking more yoked than Arnold Schwarzenegger in his prime.
The golden aura was gone, but everything else about him had changed. His dark brown hair had turned gold. His features had sharpened into something timeless. And the energy pouring off him in waves—it was like standing beside a thousand suns.
"So, you're him, aren't you?"
Sentry.
I let out an exasperated groan. Never a dull moment, is there? What's worse, the time stone hadn't seen this coming. Him coming. I had no doubt it was some other bullshit, reality-warping sub-ability unique to Sentry.
To think John Walker, of all people, would become Sentry. I expected the other guy, Robert, but it seemed reality had different plans.
Some part of me worried about the danger of someone like him. His abilities far exceeded mine. Suddenly, I wasn't the biggest fish in the pond… and I was honestly relieved.
He's Fury and Cap's monster. They made him. They can deal with him as soon as I get him to calm down. As for the Novans? They don't strike me as insecure enough to sabotage a potentially galaxy-saving mission out of jealousy or spite.
We all wanted Thanos dead.
Folding my arms, I hovered there in space, watching him for several long minutes until he finally stirred and… initiated a telepathic link.
Jeez. He got it on the first try, after seeing me do it once.
A halfway competent Sentry is terrifying. I would not want to be on the wrong side of that.
"I—what happened?" he asked, looking around with unfocused eyes. They darted wildly in every direction. "Where are we?"
"Space, Johnny boy," I sent back. "You took to the serum better than we estimated. A lot better."
"You're…"
"Yup," I said, striking a pose. "Fury had me on duty to make sure everything went according to plan."
"And I…" He looked down at his hand, golden energy trailing off his fingers. "There was so much of it. I couldn't hold it in anymore."
"And you didn't. You released an explosion big enough to wipe out an entire state."
Horror crossed his face, and I could tell it wasn't just about the scale of destruction. It was everything. The body. Surviving the vacuum of space. The power. It was all crashing down on him at once.
"I don't—will you help me?" he asked quietly.
"Sure thing."
We talked for a long while, and I got a better sense of John. He was fresh, polished, without the baggage the alternate version of him carried. I hoped he would stay on the right path, but ultimately that choice would be his, because you cannot realistically force Sentry to do anything.
My only real option against him would be to throw him into an alternate dimension, and even then… there are no guarantees.
I just hoped Fury hadn't doomed us all.
—
"You sure we can head off to space with everything happening?" Rin asked, his enchanted travel bag slung over one shoulder. He had grown in the few weeks since he started routinely meditating with the Time and Space Stones.
We stood on the underside of a Novan vessel purchased with the profits from selling the Kree ship I retrieved from the demon world.
I had already taken the time to remove anything remotely valuable, including duplicates of their enchanted armor, weapons, and a strange energy storage crystal. I had not yet gotten around to tinkering with them, but I supposed I would find the time during our trip.
My new vessel had been outfitted with conventional lasers and missiles and enhanced with a bloodline augmentation, using Rin's DNA, Kitty's, Scott's, Pietro's, and even Wolverine's. It was probably the best living ship in the universe. It ran on so much energy that each charge could bankrupt a small town, but energy was practically infinite on a cosmic scale.
"It's Fury's responsibility to handle," I said. "He wanted the super-soldier. He can babysit Superman while I'm gone."
"Who?"
I opened my mouth, then shut it. "That's a different conversation for another time."
Rin shrugged. "I still can't get used to your new get-up. Or the face. Are you sure it's really necessary for you to look that different?"
"Yup," I said. "It defeats the whole point of the mission if I don't." I nudged him with a grin. "Don't worry. We won't stay incognito for long, and we'll pop back every night or so to say hi to the girls."
Rin looked up at me, narrowing his eyes. "Did you—"
"Come on. I don't need to read minds to see it's got you by the throat."
"What?"
"Love," I said.
He scoffed, though there was the faintest hint of a pout. "Don't act like you're any different."
I climbed up the ramp of my ship, whistling. "I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about."
"Uh-huh."
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