1 Year Later!
Over a year had passed since Maxim had tested the limits of his power against Hela, and in that time, a-lot had changed. The biggest change in Maxim's life was the standing of Madripoor.
Over a year ago, Madripoor was a chaotic mess, a lawless haven of criminals and corruption where the weak had been bullied and suffered, but now all of that had changed.
It had been a peaceful year for Maxim, as since he had already solved the Winter Soldier problem, there wasn't any canon MCU events he needed to involve himself in. This allowed him to focus on the personal development of himself and his nation.
Now, it stood as a shining beacon of progress, wealth, and order, a nation on the cutting edge of technology, luxury and stability.
Previously, Madripoor was a single urban sprawl of HighTown and LowTown, with little settlements throughout the rest of the large island, but Maxim had changed that.
( Check Chapter 54: 'Dawn of a New Era' for map displaying the size of the island nation )
Recognizing its potential, and using his vast array of powers and resources, Maxim had developed multiple cities, each of them being a hub of its own flourishing with infrastructure.
Each city had state of the art hospitals, schools, luxury shopping districts and entertainment complexes.
With such a massive change, it was natural that stores would be flooding to set up, and tourists would be eager to come check out the city, and Maxim made sure they were all entertained
...and would spend all their money.
All of the various roads were pristine, maintained by autonomous maintenance drones created by A.N.G.E.L. Streets were lined with neon banners and holographic billboards, showcasing the vibrant atmosphere.
With superheroes becoming well known and especially Tony ramping up his technology, Maxim was allowed to be more loose with the level of tech he showed off.
Public transport was perfect, maglev trains were the main mode for intercity travel. For travel within the city, various unemployed citizens had been suitably trained for various jobs, two of them being as bus and taxi drivers.
The police force was mostly made of Black Widows who worked alongside A.N.G.E.L's vast surveillance network to drop crime to as low as possible.
Things like littering had been made illegal with notable punishments, which helped to widely lower pollution when combined with the nation's advanced energy sources and Maxim's research in eco-restoration technology.
The beaches were constantly cleaned, alongside the coral reefs maintained and the marine ecosystems regulated using Maxim's technology. All of this, combined with social media had made the nation the world's new hottest tourist attraction, especially for those with hefty pockets.
The Capital City was where the most important people, like the X-Men and Maxim's crew stayed, and within the High Table headquarters, Maxim was in his private training chamber, deep in meditation.
Golden energy crackled around his force as he hovered above the ground, his eyes closed with absolute focus. For the past year, without major battles or incidents, Maxim mostly took to sparring with Hela and personal training to improve his power.
His mind stretched across the astral plane, tapping into the unseen threads of power woven throughout the world. He could sense everything, every whisper of thought, every shift in the cosmic balance.
Compared to one year prior, his control over the Mind Stone had definitely vastly improved. His array of abilities had grown massively, as had his control over them.
It wouldn't be hyperbolic to say the Maxim of today could pummel the Maxim of last year easily.
The heavy door to his chamber swung open without a sound. Only a couple of persons could do that without triggering his defenses.
Hela.
She strode into the room with the same unshakable confidence she always carried, her black and green armor subtly shifting as she moved. Her emerald eyes gleamed with curiosity and something else—anticipation.
"You felt it, didn't you?" she said.
Maxim didn't open his eyes, "Of course."
Hela leaned against the nearest wall, crossing her arms, "It's ancient. Older than most things I've encountered in this realm."
Maxim exhaled, his golden aura dissipating. His eyes opened, glowing faintly before settling back to their normal state, "Very ancient, soon it's time."
Hela smirked, "Then I assume we're not just going to sit here and wait?"
"No." Maxim stood, rolling his shoulders before lifting a hand. His form shimmered, shifting seamlessly into a new attire, midnight-black combat gear woven with interlaced streaks of gold, an elegant high-collared coat flowing behind him.
He turned to Hela. "Get ready."
Without another word, reality twisted around them as they teleported away.
***
London, Abandoned Storage Facility
The air was heavy as rain drizzled down from the overcast sky, soaking the entire environment. Police Officers were littered around the area, one of them busy arresting a guy with a hoodie.
While that was happening, another Police Officer had a pair of handcuffs as he was talking to a lady,
Jane Foster.
"Ma'am, I need you to—"
The words never finished, as he touched her arm, a crimson pulse erupted from Jane's body, a surge of raw power rippling outward in a shockwave. The officer, the bystanders, everyone was sent flying backward as the air crackled with energy.
~BOOM!~
Even the surrounding walls groaned, warping under the sheer intensity of the burst, and the car had flipped over due to the power.
Maxim and Hela arrived just in time to witness it.
Hela let out an amused chuckle, watching the unconscious officers groan in pain. "Well. That was impressive. I never thought I'd see this on earth, let alone with that hammer wielding idiot's lover."
Nearby, Thor, who had been speaking with Darcy Lewis a moment before, turned at the explosion. His eyes widened as he saw Jane collapse to the ground.
"Jane!" He rushed forward, kneeling beside her, his hand gripping her shoulder with concern.
Thor immediately began to attend to Jane, all the while Darcy hurried nearby and the police officers standing around started to slowly get off of the ground, cautiously looking towards Jane as they began to comprehend what just happened.
Thor slowly made sure Jane was okay and picked her off of the ground, but as he looked up, he spotted Hela and Maxim standing nearby.
"Hello, little brother," Hela said with a sly smirk on her lips, leading both Jane and Darcy to look at Thor with a bit of shock and confusion on there faces.
"Not only did you disappear for two years but you have a sister you didn't say anything about." Jane whispered, despite the fact everyone could still here her.
"Technically, I only recently met her myself." Thor barely managed to interject before Jane slapped him out of annoyance again.
"Besides that, what are you doing here?" Thor asked.
"Well, you didn't think we'd miss such a party would you? Your girlfriend there seems quite special." Hela said, looking at Jane which caused Thor to immediately place her behind him protectively.
"I need to get whatever this thing is out of her." Thor said, "Can you help?"
"Well maybe, but how about we go home, I think it's finally time I met that bastard of a father." Hela said, and Thor hesitated.
"Are you worried I'd kill him? He's dying soon anyway, bastard's basically on his death bed." Hela said and Thor just sighed.
"Do I actually have a choice in this matter?" Thor asked, to which Hela and Maxim shook their heads no.
"Well...let's go. Bifrost." Thor shouted, and a massive beam of light crashed to the ground around them
When the beam vanished, the four of them were gone.