"Strange. Aren't Omega-level Mutants supposed to be about equally strong? How come you're so much weaker than my brother?"
Valeria pulled up her personal terminal and took a close look at the information on Emma Frost. It was a little database her dad, Mister Fantastic Reed Richards, had put together for her.
It allowed her to ask nearby people for help in an emergency when she was out, and to identify who they were and what they could do.
Emma Frost said nothing, though her face had grown a little flushed. She sensed Valeria's mental and emotional fluctuations and confirmed that the girl really didn't know; she was simply curious why the gap between Omega-level Mutants was so large.
She silently made a note of it and didn't snap back at the little girl. It definitely wasn't because her brother could casually create universes.
"All right, Ms. Frost, I'm sorry. I don't usually go out much. I mostly do research in Franklin's lab and in the universes and dimensions he creates. I really didn't know the gap between Omega-level Mutants was so big."
Valeria's apology was completely sincere.
To Emma Frost, though, it sounded more like unconscious bragging.
"It's fine. I, Emma Frost, am not that petty."
"First, tell me what equipment you need. I'll see about sending people to look for it in Knowhere."
Valeria tapped rapidly on her personal terminal, bringing up a list of materials. Her tone was as matter-of-fact as if she were listing groceries:
"It's simple. I need three kinds of things.
"First, high-purity energy cores. Spaceship reactors, Kree technology batteries, Skrull energy blocks, even energy fragments from the remains of Celestials will do, as long as they store enough energy.
"Second, neural conduction alloys and biocompatible chips, to analyze your Mutant Gene and build a circuit to amplify mental power.
"Third, spacetime substrates left over from the multiverse. Knowhere is full of time fragments discarded by the TVA. Just pick up a few stable ones."
She paused, then added:
"They don't need to be very precise. I'll take them all apart and rebuild them anyway.
"What's garbage to other people here can be a top-tier laboratory for me if I piece it together."
Emma Frost glanced at the Hydra Squad beside her.
Hydra Captain Steve wasn't surprised the task had been assigned to him. After all, they were the ones who had begged to join. There was no question that little errands like finding things would be left to them.
"Oh, right, this is roughly what those items look like. Take a look. They don't need to be identical, just close enough. Of course, identical would be best."
Valeria reached out and tapped her personal terminal again. Soon, it projected images of the three different items she needed.
"All right, I've got it. Bucky, Ophelia, let's go!"
The three quickly checked their equipment and headed off into the distance under Hydra Captain Steve Rogers's lead.
"So which of you took down Cassandra?"
Gamora, who had been treated like she was invisible this whole time, spoke up.
"It was Thor."
Blade Erik was a man of few words as well as a cold one.
"Thor? Let me see."
Valeria swiped through the assortment of supervillains and superheroes again, finding Cassandra and Thor. She read the profiles and breakdowns of their abilities from her universe.
"This Cassandra is also an Omega-level Mutant. Her abilities are Telepathy, mental manipulation, telekinesis, cognitive contamination, and genetic recombination. She's essentially a mass of mental energy in physical form. She was once defeated by Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, and others..."
"Thor, the second prince of Asgard, one of the only two powerhouses on the Avengers. His divine power is normally at the Highfather Level. His usual weapon is Mjolnir. His domains are thunder and storms. Every time he appears, he changes the local weather. He has defeated Surtur, Hela, Galactus, an avatar of Dark Phoenix..."
"His longtime partner is Sif, the love of his life is Jane Foster, and he's been entangled with Enchantress Amora for a long time..."
Before Valeria had finished reading, Emma Frost walked over and began looking through all the information on Thor.
Betsy came over too, and the others grew curious when they saw what was happening. They wanted to know about the life of the legendary Thor as well.
"This girl is a walking database."
Erik made the remark out of the blue.
"Yeah, I just saw myself in there too. It feels like we don't have any secrets from her."
Elektra nodded in agreement.
Emma Frost quickly finished browsing and returned to her spot.
No wonder Thor had known so much about her earlier. Now it seemed there was most likely a version of her in his universe.
But now they had the same information. She knew a lot about Thor too, and once Valeria figured out how to strengthen her powers, it would be time for her to wipe away her past humiliation!
"Achoo-!"
Thor suddenly sneezed. He opened his eyes, glanced around, and muttered, "Which bastard is talking behind my back again? You'd better hope I don't catch you, or you'll be in for it!"
With that, he went back to absorbing and comprehending the Infinity Stones.
"So what should we call you? You haven't introduced yourself yet, have you? And your brother is so powerful. Can't he just find you, take you home, and get us out of this hellhole while he's at it?"
Gambit Remy poked his head out and looked at the girl in front of him, who only came up to his chest.
"Right, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Valeria Richards. My dad is Mister Fantastic, Reed Richards. My mom is the Invisible Woman, Susan Stone Richards. My brother is that Omega-level Mutant, Franklin Richards."
"Franklin is powerful, but even he can't find me without my coordinates. Besides, I actually snuck out. Dad, Mom, and Franklin never let me go out. They're always saying the multiverse is dangerous, but I don't think it's dangerous at all!"
Valeria counted on her fingers as she introduced herself, complaining about how strictly her family kept tabs on her. She had finally found a chance to sneak out, so she was definitely going to stay out for a while.
Everyone present exchanged looks. Do you even hear yourself?
With a brother that powerful, it'd be a wonder if you ever felt like you were in danger!
Someone probably only has to think about coming after you, and your brother would follow the trail back to them and grind their bones to dust!
Even Kid Loki was a little lost for words. He often called himself a god and was always talking about killing Thor. He had thought he was already impressive enough.
He hadn't expected someone even more impressive, who could casually create pocket universes and pocket dimensions. He seriously doubted whether the gods of Asgard, or those of the various pantheons, could even be called true gods.
Perhaps Franklin was, in some sense, a god in the truest meaning of the word!