Chapter III:
"Time Variance Authority?" Wanda repeated.
If looks could kill, hers was genocidal.
"The Time Variance Authority prevents the multiverse from threats." The first soldier said, to answer her question.
Harry's wand remained pointed at the soldier closest. "Multiverse? Threats?"
There were plenty of times that he had been labeled a threat in his life. This one, he had to say, was the most surprising of them all.
The first soldier stared at the wand as if it was little more than a children's toy. "Yes to both. You two have been found to have created a multiversal event with a high potential of becoming destructive."
"Destructive?" Wanda questioned, still flustered. "And define high potential."
"Well, Ms. Maximoff," the soldier, who Harry now identified as C-42 from his helmet, started, "I think we are all well aware of what you are capable of doing. The same goes for Mr. Potter. And after your recent altercation, the TVA can no longer afford to allow you two to coexist."
It took Harry longer to parse through what C-42 said than Wanda, who took steps toward the brutish soldier.
"I'm only going to ask you once to leave." She declared forebodingly, "And go back to where you came from."
The soldier laughed, in his hands now a baton, the end alighting with an orange hue identical to the portal.
"I'm going to only say this one time as well, Ms. Maximoff. You and Mr. Potter can either follow us through the portal back to the TVA, or we can do this the hard way. Either way, this timeline is being reset, along with you."
Wanda made hard eye contact with Harry, clearly not having taken a liking to the soldiers. Fine by him, he definitely did not appreciate how the word reset sounded. In no way did it feel like a good thing. Neither did the idea of them seemingly knowing everything about him.
"I think we'll take whatever your hard way is, thank you very much." Harry spoke for both of them.
An overly smug grin appeared on soldier C-42's face as he sank into a stance. "Suit yourself."
The soldiers moved first, their batons firing off with pulsars that both Harry and Wanda countered with ease. Not wanting to cause permanent harm, he resorted to stunning spells, sending them faceplanting to the floor.
To his left, Wanda was levitating her batch of soldiers, sending them colliding with each other before flying them back through the portal. A move that looked excruciatingly painful. For Harry, it was just nice to see somebody else other than him on the receiving end of her insane arcane.
More soldiers poured through the orange rectangle, firing shots that forced both of them into defensive casting. He had no clue what one shot might do to him, nor did he have any intention of finding out
"Are we just going to keep fighting these guys forever?" Harry asked between spell-cast breaths, "Or do you have a plan to get rid of that portal?"
"I was just thinking about that." Wanda muttered with a thicker accent than before, as she manipulated her hands cruelly.
Like a virus, her scarlet energy surrounded the portal, the orange light fighting back, flickering once, twice, before dying out.
Realizing they no longer had a means of escape, a few soldiers bull-rushed the raging woman, only to be met with a knockout blast for their efforts. In a twisted heap, they crumpled to the floor.
She was certainly being more violent than he was. Then again, these were just more intruders in the world of her cherished memories. She reserved the right.
"Confringo!"
The bar floor beneath ruptured as Harry knocked out the last of the soldiers attacking him. At the same time, Wanda raised her last up in the air. The soldier's squirming feet left the ground as his hands found themselves clenched around his neck.
Her volatile emotions controlled the way she fought, that much was clear, and Harry saw fit to make her stop until another portal appeared.
With violent force, Wanda threw the choking soldier against the wall as the newcomer appeared in full, stepping through with a higher air. Immediately, Harry could tell something was different about the man. Not because of the way he dressed, but also by the beaming smile glazed across his dark complexion.
"What a wonderful place!" The man dressed in colorful robes and flashy pants exclaimed, addressing the strewn bodies of the soldiers with no change in emotion. "You made this yourself, Wanda?"
Harry's wand raised in accordance with Wanda's hands. There seemed to be no end to introductions in his second wind of life.
"And you are?" He approached, feeling like it was his turn to ask.
The man's smile grew impossibly wider. "Me? My apologies, I've forgotten to introduce myself, haven't I!" All the while he talked, he walked in circles, like a predator corralling its prey. "I'm sorry this is just wild. Never did I think I would ever see the two of you together. It's a little unnatural, but wow. Wild. Wild!"
Harry, for one, was thrown off-kilter by the man's overzealous demeanor. Wanda, on the other hand, sent a blast straight at the man's chest.
What should have been a direct hit, however, missed completely. The man stepped out of the way with impossible speed. As if he had glitched, or teleported within the blink of an eye. Instead of standing just before them, the man was now behind, leaving them to swivel on their heels to face him again.
"The name's Kang!" The man declared with a booming voice and smile to match. "And I'd advise you not try to kill me, I can be very patient, but also not whenever the mood hits."
For a night of firsts, this man topped the list.
"You care to explain what's going on here?" Harry asked, choosing not to lower his wand.
"I can, yes! I can explain everything." Kang mused, eyes twinkling, "We can talk in my office! If you would just follow me back through that portal right there."
Kang took a step in that direction, but neither of them moved to follow.
"You're crazy if you think I'll follow you through that thing." Wanda sneered.
"Wanda," Kang sighed. "It seems that we all have gotten off on the wrong foot with each other. I promise to explain everything."
"Promises mean nothing to me," she answered, acerbic undertones rife in her voice. "I won't leave this place. Not for anything. I don't care what you have."
Harry's eyes flitted back and forth, his brain hurting from trying to comprehend everything. Having to deal with blending two different versions of himself, while also accepting the deranged complexity of this new universe he had spawned in, was a recipe for a migraine. He wished to call a timeout on it all but reckoned that one was not in the cards.
"Isn't it just a figment of your imagination?" Kang asked, spinning around. "This bar, this town? It'll be here waiting for you, if you choose to come back."
"No." Wanda glowered.
Kang tried to look to Harry for help but got nothing in return.
"Well, I guess I should pull up a seat then."
With a snap of his fingers, an armchair appeared behind Kang, who promptly sat, crossing his legs with his hands over his knees. Harry almost laughed.
"It's been a long journey for the both of you, hasn't it." Kang said, his golden eyes split between them. "Lot of running, lot of pain, for the both of you."
Wanda lashed out with scarlet again, angered at the thought that Kang knew who they were. But once more, Kang simply and impossibly teleported, this time moving a meter to the side, leaving her energy to fizzle out into the floor.
"We're still doing that, huh?' Kang grunted. "It's a nice trick though, the moving around?"
"How do you do it?" Harry could not help but ask. Kang looked terribly average, with no physical indication of supernatural abilities.
"It's simple, I know everything. I know it all. I know how everything is going to happen. And I've seen it all!" Kang laughed an eccentric laugh as he stood up,
"That fight that you just had before I came? Between yourselves and these soldiers. The conversation you had in the middle. I knew it was all going to happen! Wanda talking about how Thanos took everything away from her, you Harry telling her that you understand her pain. I saw it coming! It was all touching stuff!"
Harry wished to conjure a storm, a buzz numbing his fingertips. "What's your point then? Are you part of the TVA? You're with these soldiers?"
"I am, yes." Kang smiled knowingly. "You could say I'm kind of like the… headmaster of the Time Variance Authority."
Harry's teeth grated against each other. If there was one thing he hated, it was people with too much hubris, and Kang's was unmatched. Not even a Malfoy could compete.
"And what is that, exactly?" He asked.
Kang's smile refused to waver. "That is something that would best be explained, by showing you."
"You can try with words, first." Wanda said.
"My dear Wanda," Kang sighed like an impatient father. "What if I told you there were an infinite amount of universes out there."
"Everybody knows about the multiverse." Wanda remained unimpressed. Harry wanted to object.
Kang smiled, rubbing his hands like this was all some sort of big reveal,
"And what if I told you, Wanda, that every universe, every possibility, every you, is accessible at the press of a button."
-Ω-
If there was anything Harry despised, it was worshiping. And everybody in the TVA treated Kang like a god.
Hesitantly stepping through the portal, Harry and Wanda found themselves in an endless city within a star. From where they stood, buildings extended upwards to inconceivable heights that seemed impossible. Below them, more stretched downwards to depths that defied mortal logic. Beyond and in between these were roads and bridges, all coming together to form a beautiful labyrinth that satisfied the eye. It was like gazing into the internals of a muggle computer, everything with a futuristic polish that screamed eminence, awe and wonder.
What stood out amongst it all though, were the statues. Tens, hundreds of them all strewn about. Carved out of stone, all in the shape of the man parading them around.
"I created this place, the TVA, all the people working here, to protect the proper flow of the multiverse." Kang narrated, as he led them down a network of ornate hallways. "To make sure everybody can coexist in harmony."
"Is that why your soldiers attacked us?" Asked Harry with disdain, doing his best to ignore those that were bowing as they passed. "Were we interrupting your harmony?"
"Yes, and no." Kang answered with a shrug. "We only interfere with the mechanisms of the multiverse when there is a potential threat that can damage multiple timelines. You two definitely were causing quite the ruckus. But at the same time, I knew my soldiers would be no match for you two. For me, I wanted to see if I was getting the real deal! I was testing you, you know?"
"You expected your soldiers to fail?" Harry questioned in disbelief, failing to see the logic.
"Yes of course!" Kang grinned, opening another door that led to another hallway.
"Have they ever failed before?"
"I don't believe in failures, only chances to learn and progress!"
Even a mandrake made more sense than Kang right now.
"They mentioned 'resetting' us," Wanda said. "What does that mean?"
"Ah, we in the TVA possess the technology to revert Time itself. We can roll back certain instances to repair damage that somebody may have done to another universe. And like so, we can also do the same for people! Putting everything back where it's supposed to be."
Again, everything being orchestrated did not sit right with Harry. He hated higher authority more than anybody.
"And what gave you that right?" Harry asked. "Who gave you that power?"
"Myself!" Kang exclaimed. "You see, my friends, I originate from a different time. A time when the multiverse was unregulated, where trillions of people were deleted from existence on the regular. I put an end to all of this when I created the TVA. I rose above it all, created a reality where everybody can exist together in one, sacred multiversal timeline."
Harry stared skeptically at the man, unconvinced that he alone could have accomplished all of this,
"And who are you exactly, again?"
Kang put his hand to his chin in thought. "Oh I've gone by many names. He Who Remains, the Chosen One, Kang the Conqueror… But now, I like to go by just Kang."
"And you wanted us?" Wanda muttered, equally as distasteful with her delivery. "Why?"
"Because, I wanted to grant you guys this opportunity."
They had arrived at a pair of golden doors, which upon opening, revealed a room that looked not so different from the headmaster's office in Hogwarts. Flanking each wall were daunting bookshelves, above them windows that seemed to give glimpses into the cosmos. An astronomer's dream, a botanist's worst nightmare.
"She's pretty nice, huh? My office?" Kang said with a flourish, walking forwards in an almost dance.
Harry knew better than to believe it to be a coincidence that there were two seats waiting in front of Kang's desk. With the scenario playing out as it had before, Kang seated himself before his guests.
Kang's massive chest leaned across the table as he spoke. "In all my years, centuries, millennia, eons of existence, I have never come across two people quite like you."
"If you're trying to flatter us, it's not working." Wanda coldly stated.
"Believe me, I'm not trying to flatter you." Kang laughed. "But here's the thing. The little scuffle you two had back there? That was not good for the health of the multiverse, but that's okay! It can easily be fixed, in fact, it already has! But I have brought you two here today to offer you a choice."
Harry sighed. "Let me guess, there's a good and a bad one."
"Oh I don't believe in the good and bad, those are just silly concepts." Quibbled Kang, "There is only the guided and misguided. You're leading me off track, though."
On the desk appeared a line of light, glowing white like a patronus, moving continuously like a stream of water.
"While the TVA does a superb, perfect job at protecting the sacred multiversal timeline, that has not been the case recently." Kang continued. "As of late, there have been people that have been wreaking utter havoc, threatening everybody's existence."
Kang's fingers touched the stream of light, immediately turning it black, with odorless smoke rising from all sides,
"Like so."
Harry's arms folded. "Okay? What's that got to do with us specifically?"
"I'm getting there," Kang said excitedly, "Boy you're an impatient one!"
Harry saw where this was going. This was the same speech he was given when he was first recruited to become an auror. Looking over at Wanda, she appeared to be arriving at a similar conclusion.
With another finger, Kang returned the light back to its original white tincture. "For one reason or another, these people have evaded our capture completely! So, I, Kang, am asking you two for your help to track these perpetrators down, to stop them from putting an end to the multiverse as we know it."
"And what happens if they do put an end to the multiverse as we know it." Wanda asked, her voice sounding tired and worn.
"Existence itself crumbles," Kang dramatically declared, "with only chaos remaining."
Harry groveled over the man's words. "And if we choose not to help?"
"Then I will bring both of you back to your own original realities. Fully repaired, without the memories of ever meeting each other. It will be like nothing ever happened! Everything will be just as you left it."
Harry's brow furrowed further. "And you'll find somebody else to help you?"
"In such a scenario, yes." Kang admitted. "But it is with great hope that I believe you'll take me up on my first offer!"
Appropriately, Harry's gaze met Wanda's.
He knew that he was getting played. Manipulated. That Kang was pulling at all the right strings to make him feel like he had no other choice than to accept the first offer.
He did not know what upset him more, the fact that his life was only seen as a tool, a weapon, or the fact that he was actually considering what Kang had said.
It was not like there was anything waiting for him in his old life. Harry had already done everything there was to do. He had lived a full life. Did he really want to go back to that? Life as an old man? No. But at the same time, he had finally found peace. He had fought for decades, had spent nearly all his formative years fighting, running, and he only just now had his peace. He had seen enough death and bloodshed for one life. To make it two lives worth? Was he ready to do that? For another lifetime of possibly the same?
The fire that sprouted in the pit of his stomach answered his questions. The addictive seizing of his chest from a mere drop of adrenaline, the tingling sensation that swept over every face of his body. Yes, living in a state of contentment and peace was nice, but it could be boring as well, awfully boring. And this was why he had gotten himself into this situation in the first place. Using the time-turner to feel that sense of thrill again.
He was reborn anew, with an opportunity presented in front of him to do even more. To achieve, apparently, the greatest good possible.
He blamed it on the Gryffindor still rooted inside of him. The part of him that loved the thrill that action gave him, that was addicted to the swooping sensation in his heart at the prospect of a new adventure.
The words of Kang ran through his mind again.
If everything the man had just spoken was true, there were people at risk of dying. Supposedly in this case, literally everybody. And if there truly was a looming evil threatening to end all of existence, that was something that Harry did not think he could ignore. Hermione always joked about him having a complex, but Harry liked to think that he just did not like bullies. He was of the opinion that if someone is born with tremendous power, they should use it to try and protect those who cannot protect themselves.
And he most certainly would have power. If Kang was everything he propped himself up to be, Harry did not doubt that there was more to learn from him.
Finally, then there was the idea burning at the back of his head wondering that if not him, then who else? If he allowed somebody else to take the mantle, did he trust that they could do the job as well as he believed he could? And what if that said other person failed? What would his conscience say to him then? What would he do if the worst were to happen, and he had the opportunity to stop the evil and had chosen not to intervene?
He would never forgive himself.
He came to a decision.
"I accept your offer… to hunt whoever it is down." Harry uttered slowly, allowing the full weight of the words to sit on his tongue.
Wanda exhaled, her eyes flashing with purpose, "I… also accept the same offer."
Kang's face erupted with happiness. "That is excellent news!"
At the conclusion of Kang's words, a shift could be felt in the room. Gradual at first, before building into a roar at the back of Harry's mind. There was no paper signed, but a contract had most definitely been made.
Wanda shifted uneasily in her chair, her knuckles bled white on the armrests. "So you don't know who we're going after?"
"Oh, I do." Kang said deliberately.
A terrible sensation replaced the excitement in Harry.
"Who?" He dared to ask.
Kang's smile erupted with glee as his arms spread widely,
"Yourselves, of course!"
Author's Note:
Hope you enjoyed :) If you didn't know, the TVA is a concept from the Loki TV Show. But as you can see, I'm putting my own spin on it.