Wanda Maximoff, having witnessed the impossible display of the Ancient One's power, made her decision: she would follow the Sorcerer to learn magic. However, her protective instincts immediately focused on her twin. She turned to Su Yi with a sincere, if cautious, expression.
"Thank you for this opportunity," she said, her voice laced with the accent of Sokovia. "I won't forget your help."
"You don't need to thank me yet," Su Yi countered, his tone disarmingly honest. "My motive is twofold: first, you are intensely beautiful, and that attracts me; second, your potential is immensely powerful, and this World desperately needs people who can handle such power responsibly."
Tony Stark, who was still brooding about the whole "I'm not the villain, but I made the villain's toys" debacle, rolled his eyes dramatically.
"Su, you are such a smooth liar. You said the exact same thing to me just last year: 'You are the smartest person in this World, and this World needs you.' We're all just tools in your cosmic toolbox, aren't we?"
Su Yi chuckled. "Of course, this World needs you, Tony. But the premise is that you stop being so extreme in your solutions. You're always one step away from trying to wrap the entire Planet in a technological security blanket, sacrificing freedom for safety. That's an extreme stance."
"Extreme? Me? I am the reasonable one!" Tony protested, gesturing wildly. "I'm the guy who pays for everything and cleans up the mess! Extremism is believing that a mystical power can rewrite reality, which, by the way, is exactly what you're enabling right now!"
Wanda, though she saw the sense in Su Yi's perspective about control, still disliked Tony. She interrupted the billionaires' squabble.
"Tony Stark," she warned, stepping closer, her eyes radiating a faint, scarlet light. "I am giving you a chance to find the truth and present the evidence. If you fail, I will be the one who comes for you. And trust me, you will pay."
Tony looked at Su Yi, a silent, betrayed plea in his eyes. "You just sold out your friend for a girl with magical powers! Not cool, man!"
"Go ahead, Tony. Dig up the evidence," Su Yi advised, patting his friend's shoulder. "Otherwise, with one well-placed spell, she can make sure you never sleep well again, ever."
"Jarvis, prioritize the forensic analysis of all Stark Industries munitions sold through Stane's channels ten years ago, specifically tracking the Sokovia inventory," Tony commanded the AI, his competitive spirit overriding his panic. "And look up 'anti-magic countermeasures'—I need a patent filed by the end of the day."
Wanda gave Tony one last intense look, then turned to her brother, Pietro.
"Pietro, don't cause trouble. Wait for me to come back," she instructed, taking his hands.
Pietro pulled his hands away, disgruntled. "I was born before you! I'm the older brother! I should be telling you what to do." Despite his words, he nodded curtly. "Be careful of that Easterner. His intentions are not pure."
"I know," Wanda confirmed, acknowledging Su Yi's complex motivations.
Su Yi, ignoring the open suspicion, turned to his newly acquired agent. "Natasha, why don't you take Pietro back to the Villa? Start his training."
Natasha scrutinized Pietro, her expression utterly dismissive. "I'm not interested in this sort of unseasoned greenhorn. Even if I train him now, it'll take decades for him to manage anything beyond dealing with petty street thugs."
Pietro, already seething from the humiliation of being webbed, felt his blood boil at the scorn. "I only agreed to stay. I never said I would follow your arrangements. I don't think you can teach me anything, Agent."
Natasha's boredom vanished, replaced by a subtle, dangerous intensity. "Is that right, kid? Come here."
Pietro, relying entirely on his innate super-speed, decided to show off. He dashed toward her in a blur—but before he could cover two meters, Natasha moved. It wasn't about speed; it was about anticipation. She had already calculated his vector and trajectory the moment he twitched.
She side-stepped his charge, delivering a quick, debilitating jab to his kidney, followed instantly by a swift ankle sweep.
Pietro's unrefined speed became his own undoing, turning him into a disorganized projectile. He hit the ground with a painful thud, and before he could even process the humiliation, Natasha had her knee pressed firmly against his back, his arm twisted painfully behind him in a perfect lock.
It took less than three seconds.
"Unfair!" Pietro gasped, trying to shift his weight. "You ambushed me!"
"Ambush?" Natasha scoffed, applying just enough pressure to make him squeal. "If I were truly ambushing you, you wouldn't have even felt a change in the air pressure before you were dead. You're fast, but you're undisciplined and predictable. You run in a straight line, which is the easiest thing to counter." She stood up, dusting off her hands. "Still think I can't teach you anything?"
Pietro, smart enough to recognize a superior combatant, stayed silent.
"Pietro, you are the older brother," Su Yi said, sensing the moment to strike. "Do you want to be Wanda's weakness? You need to become strong enough to protect her, not slow her down. Following Natasha is your only chance to gain the discipline and skills needed to survive in this new world of superpowers."
Tony, witnessing the swift, brutal takedown, was utterly mesmerized. "That woman is terrifying. I need to make her a consultant. And maybe build a robot to fight her." He was also growing deeply irritated by the sudden explosion of meta-humans.
"Why does everyone else get cool powers? I have to rely on a complex suit just to be competitive." The competitive fire was now blazing into an inferno.
Pietro, faced with the shame of his performance and the fear of being a burden to his sister, had no choice.
"I agree," he mumbled, pushing himself off the floor. "I'll train. But no Agent outfits."
Wanda then asked the difficult question. "How long do we have to be apart?"
"Not long," Su Yi assured her. "Once you master the Portal spell, you can visit Pietro during his training, or come back anytime. It will take a few months for Tony to get the information you want."
"As for Pietro," Su Yi continued, looking at Natasha, "how long until he meets a 'passing standard'?"
Natasha didn't mince words. "Without superpowers, it will take at least ten years of constant, grueling effort for him to reach the standard I require."
"I don't need ten years!" Pietro cried out in dismay.
"Then prove it," Natasha challenged coolly. "Start by learning to use those fast legs for something other than running away."
With a silent gesture, the Ancient One opened a Portal. The shimmering gold ring stood in Tony Stark's living room, revealing a glimpse of the stark, snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas beyond.
"Mr. Su, I have a few matters I would like to discuss with you," the Ancient One said.
"Understood, Sorcerer. I have to escort the two new recruits back first. I'll find you shortly," Su Yi replied.
The Ancient One nodded, then stepped through the Portal. Wanda, giving her brother a long, serious look—a silent promise to return—followed.
She stepped out into Kamar-Taj, a serene, ancient complex nestled high in the mountains of Nepal. The air was thin, the silence profound, and the contrast to Tony Stark's opulent, coastal mansion was absolute.
"Where is this place?" Wanda asked, feeling an immediate connection to the grounding energy of the temple.
"This is Kamar-Taj, a sanctuary high in the Himalayas," the Ancient One explained calmly. "You traveled across the Planet in a brief moment."
Wanda looked around, seeing other men and women in simple robes practicing complex hand gestures that left trails of light.
"They are all Sorcerers," the Ancient One explained. "They study magic, monitor multiple dimensions, and protect the world from external threats and inter-dimensional disasters. We do not interfere in the internal, worldly disputes, like your conflict with Mr. Stark. Those are for mortals to resolve."
"I understand," Wanda said. The scale of what she was seeing was immense, putting her previous concerns into a new perspective.
Wanda paused, turning to the Ancient One. "Sorcerer Ancient One, why did that man call you, and you appeared instantly? Can you see what's happening anywhere in the world from here?"
The Ancient One smiled gently. "He is a person of formidable, non-mystical power. I am not certain if his presence is good or bad for this World's natural trajectory, so I have been observing him closely. So far, his actions, while chaotic, appear to favor positive outcomes."
Wanda's initial impression of Su Yi was validated: he was powerful, mysterious, and operated outside the normal rules.
"And Tony Stark? What kind of man is he, truly?" Wanda pressed.
The Ancient One's smile softened further. "People are complex, my child. Whether they are good or bad depends entirely on the standards you use to measure them. I could tell you he is a brilliant mind whose ego nearly destroyed his own world, or I could tell you he is a man of unparalleled sacrifice. Both are true, depending on the day."
"No matter what I say, it will be useless," she concluded. "You must form your own judgment."
As Wanda absorbed this piece of wisdom, the air around them suddenly warped. There was no familiar gold spark, no sound of tearing reality—Su Yi simply Teleported from one point to another, appearing instantly, as if he had just stepped out from behind an invisible door.
Wanda, unaccustomed to such instantaneous, raw display of power, gasped, clutching her chest as her emotions spiked and her heart hammered against her ribs.
"My apologies, Sorcerer," Su Yi said, ignoring the startled Wanda. "Took care of the brother-in-law."
The twin siblings are now officially separated, beginning their respective training arcs under the Ancient One and Natasha. Su Yi has joined the Ancient One in Kamar-Taj.