Chapter 11: Life of Luxury
Four months ago Alistair became a billionaire. He has offshore bank accounts in the Cayman Islands, Germany, Switzerland, Lebanon, Cyprus, Luxemburg, Hong Kong, and the US. Since then he's bought himself new sets of clothes, a laptop, brass knuckles, and two expandable batons. He's in the process of buying a modest townhouse in Manhattan. Hopefully, it would lure in Shield so that he could convince them that he isn't a threat.
Now it's October and Alistair's having yet another training session with the Ancient One. Ever since he's ingested the Heart-Shaped Herb he's been able to keep up with her physically with his new strength, speed, and stamina. However, her skill, ingenuity, and unpredictability kept her one step ahead of him.
This does have some downsides though. His heightened metabolism means he spends more energy and spends a ton on food and that he can't get drunk. The upside his he can eat whatever he wants and not gain more than a pound.
In all this time he's mastered many different types of spells most of which he didn't even know existed. He's learned defensive spells, offensive spells, and more healing spells. He's learned to conjure a glamour on himself making it appear that he's someone else. The Ancient One says that he may be ready for his relic.
"Act don't react." The Ancient One instructed before she conjured two war fans.
"Got it." Alistair nodded before he conjured two swords.
They had a short standoff before Alistair leaped forward. Swinging the swords down the elder sorceress blocked the attack but his new strength forced her legs to buckle a bit. Alistair smirked before the Ancient One folded her left fan and swipes at Alistair's inner knee causing him to kneel as well. Now on even ground, the two began to send flurries of attacks at each other.
Every attack Alistair sent was blocked by the elder woman. He narrowly dodged each one of her attacks before they locked in a stalemate. She pushed his left hand away before going to smack him with a folded fan but he used his right sword and pushed away from her. She opened both of her fans before throwing them in opposite directions. Alistair whipped his head around trying to follow the trajectory of the fans before they flew towards him in both directions.
When the fans nearly hit their mark Alistair jumped. He crossed his arms and rotated his body horizontally. The two fans grazed past his body as he conjured a whip. Landing on his feet he lashed the while forward narrowly missing its target as the Ancient One took a step back. Smirking Alistair lashed the whip once more catching her wrist and pulled her across the room. The Ancient One used the momentum to deliver a powerful kick to Alistair's gut.
"Damn!" Alistair grunted as he stumbled back from a kick to his stomach.
"You're advancing quickly." The Sorcerer Supreme commented landing on her feet, "You forced me to take a single step back this time."
Alistair chuckled, "I also pulled you off your feet."
"Only because I allowed to." She clarified as she created a portal.
Walking through together they exited the Mirror Dimension and into the temple. They approached a table with a teapot and two cups waiting for them. Sitting down The Ancient One poured tea into the two cups. Silently they took the cups into their hands and began to drink.
"So how is your new house?" She asked sitting down her cup.
"Good. I'm about to put down the downpayment. I've decided to own it rather than rent. I'm going furniture shopping in a few days" Alistair shrugged, "Halloween is coming up so I might buy some candy and decorations."
The Ancient One hummed, "The reminds me, you'll be needing to keep your guard up during Halloween. The barriers between dimensions are weakened at that particular time. The barriers between our world and the Hell and Dream dimensions are particularly weak."
"So I have to watch out for ghosts and ghouls?" Alistair asked with a laugh.
"As well as demons, vampires, and werewolves." She added before taking a sip of her tea, "And be sure to learn the difference between lunar and mars affected lycanthropy. And you may want to brush up on the different hell lords."
"Got it." He said before finishing his tea and getting up, "Any other advice?"
"Get a book on Feng Shui, for your new home." She replied getting a chuckle from the younger man.
"I'll think about that." He said before walking away.
Walking down the sidewalk Alistair was engrossed with a book on Feng Shui. Over his shoulder was a black leather satchel. Inside of the leather bag was the books he borrowed from Kamar-Taj. Arriving at his destination he looked up at the sign of the hotel. He had checked into the Plaza to make appearances for when he needs to meet with the realtor.
Entering the hotel through the revolving door he stuffed the book into his satchel. Making his way through the lobby he admired the high ceilings, the high walls, and the gold chandeliers. Arriving at the elevator he pushed the up button and waited for a moment before the doors slid open. Entering the elevator he pressed the button to the twentieth floor.
Looking into one of the mirrors of the elevators he looked at himself. He didn't have his robes anymore but jeans, a white V-neck, a black winter coat, a beanie, and a pair of nonprescription glasses. He decided to try out the Clark Kent method of hiding his identity. Taking off his beanie he looked at his now cut hair.
Living at Kamar-Taj he didn't feel like he needed to cut his hair. It grew to the point where he had a man bun for a while. He had it cut when he decided to move to New York. He cut it down and got an undercut so that he looked more professional.
"Now I look like every other rich asshole." He muttered as the elevator dinged.
Walking out he turned to his left and walked down the hall. Making it to his room at the end of the hall, Room 2040, he pulled out the card key and swiped it over the lock. Hearing the door unlock he twisted the knob and opened the door. They called this room the grand penthouse terrace suit, it had two floors and a view of Central Park from the living room and 57th Street from the terrace.
Turning to his right he walked down the short hallway into the living room where he stopped in his tracks. There two carts full of plates with half-eaten food. Plates were scattered across the couches, chairs, and tables. Lounging on the white leather couch was Maleficent in her human form eating salmon.
"What the hell is this?" Alistair demanded looking around the room.
"You said I can order some food." She replied defensively.
"For breakfast, not a whole buffet!" He exclaimed.
"You taught me how to use a phone and how to order room service, whatever happens, is not on me." She shrugged before she continued eating the fish.
Alistair let out an exasperated breath, "Look, I have to meet with the realtor in two hours so just, please try to organize this for the cleaning lady." He stated before he walking his way upstairs, "You're gonna end up looking like Garfield!"
Making it into the master bedroom he shrugged off his satchel and threw it on the white sheets of the king bed. He considered jumping on the large bed but relented. He walked across the room and into the bathroom. Looking from the tub on the right side of the room to the glass shower cubicle to the left, he sighed.
Looking into the mirror he began to remove his clothes. Once he completely stripped he decided on the cubicle. Opening the glass door he stepped inside and turned on the water. The water quickly warmed up before steam rose out of the shower.
For a long moment, he just let the steaming water slide down his body. He allowed himself to think back at the year. Thinking back at the day he first woke up he remembered how confused and scared he was. Before that, he lived with his parents and barely had a life and never had a real job. Now, he's a student of the Ancient One and a billionaire. Maybe he could've been successful back home.
"No use in dwelling on that now." He muttered before he grabbed the bottle of soap.
After washing up he exited the shower and dried off. Walking out of the shower he opened the closet. He bought himself a black suit from Versace. If he's going to play the role of a billionaire socialite he has to be convincing. After putting the suit on he slipped on a pair of black and white Nikes. He tried loafers on but they were too uncomfortable.
He sat down on the white sheets and reached inside his satchel before pulling out the Book of Demonicus. This book contained nearly everything to know about demons, Hell Lords, and Hell itself. Hell is an extra-dimensional realm where the souls of the wicked go to be punished. Hell is like it's own planet with varying regions ruled by different Hell Lords.
The Lords of Hell are Mephisto, Lucifer, Marduk, Beelzebub, Blackheart, Hades, Satannish, Olivier, and Umar, Dormmamu's twin sister. Hela, the Norse Goddess of Death, is speculated to be a hell lord but it's never been proven. Each one of them is extremely powerful and rule through fear and terror. From time to time they've each taken the title of Satan and the Devil to manipulate humans. Some say there was once an all-powerful demon named Satan but there's no evidence of him ever existing.
Demons, like humans, vary in power. Class One Demons, fallen elder gods, are the most powerful class. Class Two Demons are exceedingly powerful demons like the Hell Lords in terms of power. Class Three Demons are extradimensional beings or alien in origin such as Shuma-Gorath or Nightmare.
On the subject of Nightmare, he switched to the next book, the Book of Lost Dreams. This book is made up of multiple documents made from multiple Masters of the Mystic Arts who've ventured to the Dream Dimension. They all say that the Dream Dimension is unlike any other because it not self-sustaining, it's made of and linked to the collective unconscious of humanity. Nightmare, the ruler of the Dream Dimension, is mysterious in origin, next to nothing is known about him except that ad long as a being can dream he will always exist.
Shutting the book he sighed, "Looks like it's going to be a long Halloween." He silently said before getting up.
Two weeks later Alistair and Maleficent moved into the new apartment. He bought the penthouse at 240 Park Avenue South. He paid 32 million for it and paid an interior decorator two-thirds of a million to get new furniture. He mainly bought it because it's twenty blocks down the street from where Stark Tower is going to be. It also has a heated pool on the roof.
"Three bedrooms, I got the master so choose any of the other two." Alistair said before he made his way to the master wing or so the realtor called it. In all fairness, it was more of a long hallway lined with ceiling-high windows. The doors lining the right side made look like a locker room.
Walking towards the king-sized bed he fell on the black comforter. He let out a sigh and closed his eyes, "And tomorrow is fucking Halloween." He whispered before he began dozing off.
"Someone's here."
"Fucking Shield. Worst timing ever." He let out a groan before moving to get up, "What do they look like?" He asked sitting up.
Maleficent shrugged, "Two men, one with dark hair and another with yellow hair and a girl with red hair."
Alistair immediately paused before he slowly nodded, "Sending the big guns first, huh, Fury?" He chuckled, "Tell them I'm on my way."
Maleficent nodded before she walked away. Alistair watched her turn the corner towards the living room before he stood. Straightening up his suit he took a deep breath before moved. Everything moved in slow motion as he walked down the room. This is it, the moment that decides whether he can live free or get locked up in some Shield prison.
Arriving in the living room he put on a smile. There in the living room stood Phil Coulson, Natasha Romanoff, and Clint Barton. If they all weren't staring at him like they're about to pounce he would be excited.
"Hello, how may I help you?" He asked cautiously.
"Mr. Sanz I believe you remember me." Phil said with a polite smile.
"I recognize your face but you never told me your name." Alistair replied as he tried to avoid lying.
The three agents sat on the white leather couch before Coulson replied, "I'm Agent Coulson, this is Agent Barton and Agent Romanoff."
"Are you guys CIA, DEA, Homeland, or something?" He decided to play up the ignorance angle.
"Kid cut the shit." Clint suddenly said, "You googled me and my friend here so cut to the chase."
Alistair looked at him for a second before he switched his gaze to Natasha. For the past four months, he's been playing different scenarios of this very moment in his head, "Would you believe if I told you I wanted your attention?"
Coulson blinked before he asked, "Why would you want that?"
"I believe I could help and Shield and you could help me." Alistair said.
"And how would you do that?" Natasha asked, "Will you be willing to use your abilities for Shield?"
"Yes." He nodded, "But I can also make you aware of threats no one on Earth believes to be there."
Clint rolled his eyes, "Such as?"
Alistair took a deep breath before he answered, "Vampires, werewolves, dragons, demons all the monsters you were told about as a kid they're all real." Clint let out a laugh but Natasha kept silent as she eyed Alistair, "You don't believe me."
"Bet your ass we don't." Clint replied.
"Mr. Sanz you have to understand this all very farfetched from our perspective." Coulson said calmly.
"So are flying metal men, giant green monsters, and gods." He countered silencing Coulson, "Let me prove it to you."
"How?" Natasha asked.
"Tomorrow's Halloween, the barriers between dimensions will be at their weakest. Demons and spirits take this time to enter our realm and wreak havoc." He explained, "Come on a hunt with me and see for yourself."
"You haven't given us any reason to trust you, why would we go anywhere with you?" Phil asked.
"I saved your life, didn't I?" Alistair replied, "And I never asked for anything in return but I am now and if you don't trust then go ahead and arrest me or whatever you came here to do but I won't go down without a fight." He stated before waving his hand turning Maleficent into a large black tiger.
"What the shit!" Clint exclaimed jumping over the couch as the other two agents shot up to their feet.
"Well?" Alistair simply asked as Mal began to growl.
"We'll think over your offer." Phil replied before he began to walk away with Clint and Natasha on his tale.
"We're seriously considering this?" He heard Clint asked.
"He just turned a person into a tiger are really going to try to fight him?" Nat replied.
Alistair waited for the entrance door to close before he sighed, "Time to get to work." He said before getting up.