Twinkle in Sweet Repose

[The Vision]

After the third smash, Mjolnir had dissipated, as it did before. The Vision glanced at Goku, who stood firmly on the ground in a combat stance. The martial artist was aflame, the blaze burning intensely around him.

“Query: what?”

Willa used the Vision’s distraction to paralyze him with her spell, tossing him aside into the floor. The android pushed himself off the ground and into the air, levitating.

> run “gazerbeam.exe”
Running...

The twin beams shot once more from the Vision’s face. He was unsure of what he was attempting to do. He had simply recognized Willa Ironheart as a threat and responded in kind. However, his scanners were unable to discern a reasonable weak point. He wildly zipped his eyes around her, trying to see what would easily detain her and what fueled her power. Presumably, it was the same source of power as Wanda’s: a genetic mutation which facilitated her use of arcane forces. But how to stop such a thing with the Vision’s current resources?

Also, he would need to index Goku’s supernatural abilities more formally at a later time.

The optical heat generators ceased to avoid overheating. Willa had simply blocked the attack with another crimson wall of fog. Gritting his teeth subconsciously, the Vision hardened his fist and threw the hardest upper-cut he could, breaking through the wall of fog and sending Willa flying skywards. Goku whistled.

“Wow!” the man chuckled respectfully, “You are pretty strong!”

The Vision glanced at him and considered reminding him that this was not the time to compare power levels while in combat. Deciding against it, he took off after the Witch.

The Witch screamed at the Vision, sending another shockwave of horrifying sound rippling through the structure of the hospital. The Vision ignored it and punched her again, sending her further upwards. The Witch responded by holding the Vision again, choking him with a lasso of scarlet mist. She dragged the Vision in closer for the kill. Goku interrupted her with a bolt of some kind of energy, scorching her arms. She shrieked again, and the Vision kicked her aside. The lasso chucked the android’s body to the right, sending him flying through one of the few walls left standing.

The Vision pushed himself to his feet, with more effort this time. The Witch was showing no signs of being injured, but he himself was losing more and more solar power the longer the battle went. He grasped onto a nearby table to lift himself when he noticed the laptop computer on the desk. It was still on, despite the mold growing over its screen. It would normally not pique the Vision’s interest, but the screen, under all that mold, displayed the name “Willa Ironheart.” The Vision, curious, extended several wires from his wrist and plugged into the computer.

Goku, meanwhile, was wrestling in mid-air with the Witch. Every time he came near to pummel her, the Witch would grab him with her magic and toss him back. Now the Witch had taken to levitating some of the falling rubble and slamming it into Goku. The martial artist kicked and punched the floating rubble into even smaller rubble, nearly rendering his orange robes grey. He was clearly frustrated from the lack of progress.

“Vision?” he yelled, throwing another punch before his momentum was used to spin him the other way, “I could use some help!”

“One moment, please,” the android replied.

The Witch threw another boulder at Goku, who flew straight through it. Without skipping a beat, Goku flew another kick at her. The Witch wordlessly gripped him again in her magic and tossed him aside. Goku groaned.

“Vision, she keeps magically grabbing me and throwing me away!”

“Recommendation: move faster.”

“Okay!”

Goku kicked off one of the pillars, destroying it completely with his strength. He threw a punch, but despite his speed, he was still tossed aside once more. This time, he didn’t stop himself, instead spinning around in a loop to move in again. This too was ineffective.

“Come on!” Goku yelled through grit teeth, “Don’t be so scared! Fight me!”

He threw another punch. The Witch simply vanished, reappearing behind him. Goku’s fist landed in a wall, completely shattering the concrete. The hospital was all but destroyed, except for the room where Vision was hacking into a computer.

The Witch shrieked upon noticing the Vision and reached out for him with her hand. The Vision detected the lack of shouting from Goku and turned around.

> run “gazerbeam.exe”
Running...

The lasers seared into the Witch’s chest, blasting her back into Goku’s follow-up punch.

“Haha!” Goku yelled, “Take that!”

He went for another blow, but was once more tossed aside. Exasperated, Goku flew over to the opening in the wall that Vision created when he flew through it. He glared at his android partner.

“Are you gonna fight at all?” Goku shouted.

“In an estimated time of 1 minute and 32 seconds,” the Vision reported, “I am currently downloading information from this computer.”

“What’s taking so long?”

“It is... a very old computer.”

Goku felt a chain wrap around his ankle. Before he could react, he was yanked from the wall and into another, flying straight through it. The Witch moved in on the Vision, but Goku bounced right back and grabbed onto the Witch’s ankle. It was his turn to pull the Witch away. Holding onto her heels, Goku spun in the air a few times before letting go and throwing her downwards.

From the Vision’s point of view, all he saw were the occasional waves of red energy flowing upwards. Sometimes, Goku would be thrown upwards, only to catch himself in mid-air and shooting back down again. There was grunting and shrieking, but for the most part, the Vision paid no attention to the fighting.

ALERT
Download completed
> open “willaironheart.zip”
Please wait...

The Vision unlatched from the computer and boosted his body forward. He intercepted Goku in the air and caught him before he flew too far.

“I am finished,” the Vision said.

“Oh, good,” Goku panted, “It was getting real boring.”

The Vision released Goku, who hovered of his own volition.

“I was unaware you could fly.”

“And me you, buddy.”

The Scarlet Witch lifted herself to be level with the Vision and Goku.

“Query: would you mind if we engaged her simultaneously-”

Vision stopped himself.

“I meant, let’s go at the same time to see if she can grab both of us.”

Goku nodded, eyes twinkling in ecstasy. “Ready when you are!”

The duo both shot forward in a slight arc towards the Witch. She used her magic to grip Goku, but couldn’t stop the Vision’s flight. He hardened his fist and knocked her towards Goku, who in turn grabbed her in a choke-hold, minding the sharp points of the pyramid extending far behind her. The Vision flew in closer, preparing to land a flurry of blows. The Witch jerked her head back, clanging the metal against Goku’s head. Goku released her to grip his head, and the Witch grabbed all the rubble she could find and tried to form a spherical prison for the Vision.

> self.setvalue density 0.000134%
Shifting...

To which the Vision responded by phasing through the rock.

In her frustration, she launched the sphere at the Vision. The Vision, however, was maintaining the density he needed to pass through the rock. Thus, the sphere passed right through him.

> self.setvalue density 21.053990%
Shifting...

He partially solidified again, and dodged another smaller projectile thrown by the Witch. Three more energy bolts flew from below, two skidding past her and causing her to shriek in pain. The Vision positioned himself below the Witch, Goku flying above. The Vision threw another upper-cut, sending the Witch flying up. Goku swung downwards, fingers interlaced, sending the Witch back down. The Vision floated to the side to allow the Witch to rapidly descend to the ground.

Goku and the Vision both floated down to the ground to inspect the damage. When they had arrived, however, the Witch was gone.