When Chaos Answers
"Well… basically your power has fully awakened. It seems the energy in your body has finally reached its limit, and now it can be expelled outward. That's generating invisible impulses that affect both your body and the environment… something like vector shockwaves. Although…" Banner spoke with a worried tone, surrounded by screens and samples inside the VITAE laboratory.
Owen listened in silence, his expression serious.
"Just say it. I know something strange is happening. I'm getting weaker, my body isn't regenerating like before… and I'm so hungry I could eat an elephant," he said bluntly, arms crossed.
"What's happening is that once your ability activated, your cells started releasing energy constantly, as if there were no off switch," Banner explained seriously.
"It's like a water tank with a leak… or like walking around with your fly down all the time," Owen replied, using absurd examples.
"Uh… yeah, something like that," Banner muttered, ignoring the comparison. "The problem is that your body is evolving in real time, replacing cells as the energy is expelled. But at the same time, it's consuming resources at an incredible rate. In theory, once the evolution finishes, the expenditure should stabilize."
"Right… assuming it doesn't kill me first," Owen replied with a cold look.
"If you're already feeling so many effects from just a slight change in the sole of your foot, I don't want to imagine what will happen when your whole body starts transforming," Banner warned.
"Even the nutrition bars aren't enough. I could eat one every minute and still feel empty inside," Owen growled, irritated.
"That's because the energy from food is consumed instantly. You're basically in a constant deficit of vitamins and minerals," Banner explained. "I'll try to make stronger bars, but even food has its limits."
Owen clicked his tongue and waved his hand dismissively. "Fine." Without adding more, he turned and left.
…
When Wanda and Pietro returned from the mission, they found Owen sitting in the same place as always, a soda can in his hand.
"Oh? You're back. How did it go?" he asked calmly.
"Easy," Pietro replied without enthusiasm. The mission had been more boring than he expected: moving rocks, clearing debris, making sure everything didn't collapse. Wanda had done most of the work, holding the structure up with her power, while he simply pulled the trapped people out at high speed.
"I see. Good job," Owen said simply. "You've got the day off, then."
"Great." Pietro vanished instantly, like a prisoner suddenly granted freedom.
"Wow, rare for the instructor to be in a good mood today," Wanda said with a slight mocking smile.
"It's just that today I'm feeling lazy," Owen answered shamelessly.
"Thought so," she replied softly, smiling before walking away.
Left alone, Owen opened another nutrition bar and ate it without appetite.
"Ah… I really should have just hidden in a bunker and lived quietly there. When did everything go to hell? Well… I know when. What nonsense," he muttered bitterly. Then he sighed with irony. "If I were the protagonist of a novel, I'd just eat an Infinity Stone and be done with it."
…
Later, Owen walked into the VITAE lounge. He was constantly moving between the Avengers' base and this facility, as if trying to live in two worlds at once.
The moment he entered, he noticed the tension in the room. Nicolás, Tony, Banner, and the General were sitting there, all watching him with serious expressions.
Owen stopped, raising an eyebrow. His gaze shifted to Banner, who raised his hands in apology.
"Sorry. The General receives reports of everything that happens in the lab when it concerns your health," Banner explained.
Owen let out a heavy sigh and dropped onto one of the sofas.
"So… what's the solution?" the General asked, looking at Tony and Banner.
"It's not exactly my field," Tony admitted, folding his arms. "I know a lot about energy, sure, but not about biological energy. Unless he wants to eat an arc reactor…" he joked, though his tone betrayed concern.
"Impossible," Banner denied quickly. "Owen's body generates energy through normal metabolic functions, though at a nearly absurd level. His fuel is still vitamins, proteins, minerals… not an external battery."
"In short… he needs a super meal for the super soldier," Nicolás concluded, not fully understanding.
"Exactly," Banner nodded. "Or, alternatively, someone capable of transferring metabolic energy directly, in absurd amounts. An energy-type ability on a massive scale… or some sort of super battery strapped to his back."
He finished the sentence with a slight smile, though his eyes were still filled with concern.
"How exactly would using someone to transfer energy work?" Owen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Well… if we built a machine that connected two people, we could do something similar to a blood donation. But instead of blood, it would be energy. The problem is that your body could consume any person in just seconds," Banner explained seriously. "It could work with Hulk… though you'd also run the risk of evolving into something like him."
He forced a smile, but his tone was anything but encouraging.
"That's why the ideal solution would be to find several people with large amounts of energy, or one person strong enough to keep you stable. The problem is, once we begin, your body will demand more and more… and if we don't have enough energy, you risk devouring yourself."
Owen, however, barely listened to the last part. In his mind flashed the faces of certain people he knew, each one with overwhelming power. He could reach out to them… though that would mean interrupting their paths, revealing things too early, and disturbing their fates.
He stayed silent for a few seconds, then exhaled sharply and thought: to hell with it, time had already gone off the rails long ago.
"You thought of something, didn't you?" Nathaniel asked, watching his expression.
"Yeah," Owen said calmly, resting an elbow on the table. "That redheads are really dangerous in our world."
He explained no further, while Tony and Banner continued debating designs for the machine that might help him.
…
"Owen, I heard what's happening. Are you alright?" Steve asked as he approached the training yard, his brow furrowed.
Owen turned his head toward Nicolás, who was sitting nearby pretending to hide behind a magazine. In truth, he had started hanging around the Avengers' base mostly to escape his father… but over time, he had also grown somewhat familiar with Steve.
"I'm fine. Tony and Bruce are working on something to help me," Owen answered casually, as if it were nothing.
Nearby, Wanda and Pietro, who had overheard the conversation, came closer with worried expressions.
"Instructor, are you alright?" Pietro asked. Wanda, however, studied Owen closely, as if trying to sense something strange in his aura.
"Yes. Just a vitamin problem," Owen replied with a simple smile.
Steve, however, pressed on. "I don't know if I should suggest this, but you could ask S.H.I.E.L.D. for help. They've got hidden resources—something might be useful." His tone was serious, though the memories of fighting Hydra agents disguised within S.H.I.E.L.D. still weighed on his voice.
Owen smirked with irony. "Pass. I don't want my DNA ending up in one of their labs and then falling into Hydra's hands."
Steve lowered his gaze and nodded. "You're right. Still… it seems they've cleared out quite a few spies. I had to fight some agents myself who turned out to be Hydra."
His phone buzzed. The Captain took the call, and after a brief exchange, said his goodbye: "If you need anything, ask." Then he hurried off.
Wanda and Pietro stayed behind, still watching Owen with worried faces. After all this time under his instruction, both of them had grown attached to him. He had been the first to treat them well, even if his training was tough.
"Don't look at me like that. I just need a little energy, nothing serious," Owen said calmly, giving Pietro a light tap on the shoulder. He did the same with Wanda—
But in that instant, his hand was trapped. A red aura wrapped around his arm, binding it to Wanda's shoulder. The chaotic energy within her erupted uncontrollably, bursting outward in a shockwave that hurled Pietro and Nicolás several meters back.
Wanda's eyes widened in shock, unable to understand what was happening. Her pupils burned crimson, glowing with a strange light.
Owen tried to pull his hand away, but he couldn't. He felt the energy pouring into him, flooding his body in mere seconds. Agonizing pain lit him up from the soles of his feet, spreading through him like unrelenting fire. He froze, staring at her.
"Oh no…" he muttered with a bitter grimace. He had just screwed up. And in that moment, he realized something else: his body hadn't awakened this new ability by chance. It had all started the day he began training Wanda.