My diary system in Marvel

'Inner dialogue/thoughts'

"Normal dialogue"

[System]

[Diary entries]

(Word Count: 1,991)

~ One week later with Wanda, in the Peach Blossom Café ~

"So, tomorrow's your big day, huh? You nervous?" Luke asked.

It had been a week since Luke had agreed to allow Crystal and Pietro to use the café spaces to host the Maximoff sibling's birthday party, and today the upper floor had been cordoned off so as to not ruin the surprise. Thankfully, Luke never really needed the upper floor to maintain his café and had already taken all the important documents required back to his apartment.

Wanda sighed, "More like worried. Pietro's never really done any sort of events planning, and from the way he's been acting recently, I think he may be punching up his weight class a little."

"I wouldn't worry too much about him on that, he's got Crystal to help him." Luke reassured, shaking his head as he noticed Crystal and Pietro heading up the stairs of the café whilst attempting to hide the obvious speakers and mic stand.

"It would help me feel better if he just let me help with the preparations. . ." She revealed, "Right now, I just feel like a passenger princess."

"Then it wouldn't be a surprise, would it?" Luke smirked, "Besides, you know they've already 'cordoned' off access to the upper floor. Once we got all the tables and basic stuff they needed, they said they could take it from there and told us to just wait for tomorrow. So, that's what I'll do."

"I know they mean well but I just-"

However, Luke interrupted as he gave her a reassuring gaze and took her hands in his, "Wanda."

". . . You're right. I'm overthinking this, Pietro's been looking forward to tomorrow for a long time now and I shouldn't ruin it." She said begrudgingly.

Luke smiled, giving her hands a gentle squeeze before releasing them. "Now then, how are you doing? Are the nightmares going away?"

Another event that happened during this period was Wanda coming to Luke for help. She had been having 'nightmares' since the Battle of Los Angeles, and in one of the Other Wanda's visits, she had suggested for her to ask Luke if he could help with any calming or mental techniques that could help her.

In actuality, these 'nightmares' were simply her visions into the life of the Other Wanda's life with Luke. She did not tell Luke of the real 'nightmares', and simply said that she had trouble sleeping due to the battle a few weeks ago. In return, Luke had shared with her the technique he had used for his daily meditation to assimilate his diary experiences into his reality.

Unbeknownst to Luke, this meditation technique was exactly what Wanda needed. "You are a life saver." Wanda spoke as she tilted her head to the side and softened her eyes, "You have no idea how much help that meditation has been. Those nightmares aren't even a bother anymore."

Luke stood up as he gave a bow, "Anything for milady. I'm just glad to be of help."

Wanda felt her cheeks heating up at Luke's choice of words. 'Milady. It sounds kind of nice to hear it from him.'

Not one to outdone, she returned the embarrassment. "Oh? I'm 'milady' now, am I? Even though you've never really asked me out before?"

This time, it was Luke's turn to feel his cheeks heating up. "Well, you know. It's just a figure of speech, you don't have to call me out on it. . ." Luke muttered as he sat back down.

Wanda chuckled at his reaction. She had realized long ago that the only reason why Luke did not want to pursue a romantic relationship with her was due to his own fears. She could understand that she resembled and was basically a parallel version of his Wanda, which would cause him to hold back.

But at the same time, she was her own person. She had spent a few months reading his diary entries, allowing her some surface insights into his personality and character. Subsequently, she spent close to a month of close proximity to him and had spent majority of her time getting to know him personally.

Wanda had concluded that even if she never knew that Luke was from a different world and that there was a different Wanda who had been his wife, she would have still ended up developing feelings for him because he made her feel like she never had to hide herself from him. Sometime down in the future, she knew that she could open up about herself and her powers to him completely, and hoped that one day, he could do the same.

Seeing that Luke was not going to make the first move, Wanda gathered the courage as she had had enough of waiting. "You know, there's a party going down tomorrow, and they said I needed to bring a plus one if I wanted to go. . ." She said as she faced away from Luke's wide-eyed surprised look, a soft blush gracing her cheeks.

In response, Luke looked around to see if she was talking to anyone else, and after confirming that she was giving the hint toward himself, he took a few deep breaths to calm his nerves. 'What the hell is happening here? Am I nervous? ME? I FACED A GIANT, FUGLY SONNAVABITCH ONE ON ONE, AND YET I GET NERVOUS BY THIS?!'

Luke could not believe the irony of his situation. On the hand, his reply to Wanda would settle the internal struggle he had been feeling regarding Wanda. Indeed, he had not made any further moves because he was scared. He did not know if the feelings he had for Wanda were genuine, or if they were imposed onto him by the system.

However, before he could continue to debate himself, he glanced towards Wanda. The resigned look that appeared on her face at his hesitation had given him all the answers he needed about his feelings. Taking a few fake coughs to get her attention, Luke finally made his decision.

"You know," He started, standing up and walking to kneel beside Wanda, who watched on in surprise, "I've been invited to a birthday celebration tomorrow night. It's apparently going to be a huge deal for the birthday girl."

He then reached out his right hand with his palm facing upwards, "And it would also be a huge deal to me if you would do me the honour of being my date for her big day."

One second, two seconds, three seconds, four. The seconds ticked by, yet time stood still for the two of them as they stared into each other's eyes. Feeling the sincerity and heartfelt emotions in his words, Wanda had to hold back the sudden urge to tear up from joy.

She slowly placed her hand onto Luke's, "The honour is all mine."

Both Wanda and Luke remained in place, seemingly unaware of the stares that they were receiving from both the café employees and customers. Both were lost in their own world, happy to have finally released an unknown weight that had weighed them down. The atmosphere surrounding them was serene.

Until a loud, bubbly and clearly excited female voice broke the silence. "FINALLY!"

~ At the same time with Stane, in an unknown location ~

"Finally, it is complete." Stane smiled.

After his release from custody, Stane had gone into hiding. While he was released thanks to those who supported him in the dark, they had also abandoned him thereafter. Although he had accepted this outcome, it did not mean that he had to like it.

Moreover, Tony had personally confronted him just after his release regarding his alleged crime. And while Stane had pleaded his innocence, Tony remained unconvinced. He had tried to use the familial bond that he had built with Tony, but timely intervention by Pepper had caused his plan to fail. With all the failures he had experienced, he was desperate for a win. And a win he received.

He had received word from the organization that he hired regarding the suit of armour that Tony had built to escape in. He then had his men to retrieve the armour and erase all loose ends, and that has led to the current moment.

"The armour has been rebuilt, and we've even upgraded some of the specs and weaponry. I must say sir, whoever built this is years ahead of time. The hardware appears so medieval, yet so advanced for even the brightest minds in our current time. I dare say, maybe only Tony Stark could create such an armour that could rival the one here." An engineer reported.

"Good work, how soon can we get this mass-produced?" Stane asked.

"Mass-produce? Sir I don't think you understand, this is a one-of-a-kind suit of armour. Unless we have a blueprint, there's no way we can build this from scratch. Even if we wanted to reverse engineer this, we risk the possibility of destroying it completely." The engineer argued, baffled at Stane's simple-minded nature.

However, Stane did not accept such an answer. Turning around, he looked straight into the eyes of the engineer as his tone dropped. "If you can't be useful and figure out how to build this armour, then what's the point of having you around?"

The engineer gulped facing the threat, "E- Even if we could, we still have a glaring issue, sir."

Stane held his stare, indicating for the engineer to continue speaking.

"The power source required to power such a suit of armour is going to be astronomical. There isn't a single invented piece of battery or generator that is strong enough nor small enough to be fitted into the armour."

Stane raised an eyebrow, "Small enough?"

"Indeed," The engineer nodded, walking towards the armour and pointing to the middle of the chest plate, "From what we have deduced, this small compartment here is where the power source is meant to be placed. The only thing that could possibly give off enough fuel to power this armour is the Arc Reactor that Stark Industries created.

But even that is way too big. We'd have to find a way to miniaturize such a reactor, but with the current technological means we have, it's near impossible." He revealed.

"I HAVE SEEN IT BE DONE! TONY STARK HAS DONE THE IMPOSSIBLE!" Stane shouted, he had enough of the engineer's perceived incompetence. "Tony Stark built this armour in a cave using a box of scrap, without a sliver of the advanced technology that we have, whilst simultaneously miniaturizing the Arc Reactor in the same cave. Yet you claim it to be impossible?"

This time, the engineer had a mixed look of awe and fear as he replied slowly, "I'm. . . not Tony Stark."

Stane took a moment to contain his rising frustrations. 'Indeed, you are not.'

"Prepare the armour for use." Stane announced as he began walking away.

"But sir, like I said, we don't have a power sour-"

"You let me worry about that. If you want to live through the following day, I suggest you start making the final preparations for the armour to be in working order by the time I get back."

As he walked away, Stane reminded himself of his destiny as the head of Stark Industries, his ambitions clouding his judgement. It was time he ended his relationship with Tony.

- End of Chapter 86 -

Next time in *C87 - Surprise!

"For the last time, sis, me and Crystal's got this handled. If you arrive now, it'll only ruin the surprise." Pietro sighed as he reiterated his reasonings. "Besides, didn't Luke make a whole spectacle in the café yesterday about taking you on a date to your own birthday party?" He added with a teasing smirk.