Marvel Gamer Path
MARVEL: GAMER PATH Chapter 16 - CHAPTER 16
1 CHAPTER 1
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
This is the rewrite of my first Marvel Gamer story, I changed the plot, timeline and a bunch of different things, also, I hope you all can enjoy this, and have a great time, as I did writing it, with love, the one and only corn.
--
I woke up naked, face down in the grass. Something I was not expecting at all, since I had gone to sleep on my own bed after a marathon of Resident Evil movies. Taking a deep breath, I rolled over and sat up, trying to think how I had ended up here, I mean, I was not a heavy drinker, and I didn't consume any drugs. Unless I had some kind of stroke or or some other kind of issue, then this wasn't some elaborate hallucination.
On a slightly more positive note, I was feeling better than usual. My body felt full of energy, and my back didn't hurt at all, which was a very rare occurrence in my life considering my many, many spine problems.
"So… someone roofied me, and fixed my back?" I muttered with a chuckle, though likely at such an idiotic idea.
With a sigh, I pushed myself up and started assessing my environment, my gaze looking around the green decor of what I could only assume was a forest.
"Trees, grass, and nothing else." I sighed, feeling rather uncomfortable, I mean, if there was one place you didn't want your dick out was a forest, with all the parasites and mosquitoes around… well, let's just say it's not ideal, also, running is rather hard naked.
As I continued to look around in hopes of finding a note that said something along the lines of, you are being pranked, I heard a howl.
"Bloody hell, wolves!" I hissed under my breath, this was not how I was supposed to go down. No, I either go down on fucking Scarlett Johansson or I don't go down at all!
Thankfully for all the nearby wildlife and my rapidly declining sanity, a handy message decided to appear right at that time.
[New Quest = *Where am I?*
You have awoken in a place you do not know, what can you do? Explore the forest to find more information about your whereabouts!
Objective = Explore the forest for clues, and find where you are!
Reward = 100 EXP
Accept = Yes/No]
The message itself was akin to a hologram, a blue box of text that made me question my sanity as a whole.
"This can't be right," I muttered, looking at the floating text in front of me, for wherever I turned the text would follow my head, taking a deep breath, I sat down in the grass, trying to make sense of this situation as a whole.
"A gaming hallucination…okay, it could certainly be worse, not gonna lie."
Trying to brush off some of my previous concerns, I cautiously moved my hand to the Yes option and smashed the non-existent button and sighed.
"Might as well see where this crazy train takes me."
[Quest Accepted!]
With a chuckle hiding my worry, I stood up, and as I did I wondered, how far my hallucination would go. Thus, that led to probably the most obvious thing to check.
"Stats?" I mumbled in an attempt to see how my mind was operating right now. Surprisingly enough, as soon as I spoke, a new holographic window appeared in front of me.
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 1
EXP = 0/100
HP = 100/100
MP = 100/100
STR = 10
VIT = 10
DEF = 10
DEX= 10
INT = 10
CHA = 10
WIS = 10
WILL = 10
PER = 10
LUK = 5
]
So, this atleast confirms wherever I am operates on game logic. Now normally this would probably cause the average person to freak out, since stats are usually reserved for MMORPG games and most casual players can't handle that kind of thing. Me on the other hand.
Well let's just say I'd lost more than my share of rent money thanks to my very active Steam account and leave it at that.
Mulling over the stats, for the most part it seemed a bit clear. I mean, some were obvious, but others… not so much. Fortunately for me, the text I was seeing seemed to have some sort of hover text, meaning if I hover my hand over them, I would get information.
PHYSICAL STATS
Strength (STR) = A measure of how physically strong a character is. Strength often controls the power and/or damage of melee attacks, the maximum weight the character can carry, also some weapons might also have a Strength requirement to use them.
Vitality (VIT) = A measure of how sturdy a character is, vitaly influences hit points, and resistances for special types of damage like poisons, illness, heat, fatigue and such. The higher the Vit, the more the character can run, and such.
Defense (DEF) = A measure of how resilient a character is. Defense usually decreases taken damage by either a percentage or a fixed amount per hit.
Dexterity (DEX) = A measure of how agile a character is. Dexterity controls attack and movement speed and accuracy, as well as the chance of evading an opponent's attack.
SOUL STATS
Intellect (INT) = A measure of a character's problem-solving ability. Intelligence often controls a character's ability to comprehend foreign languages and their skill in magic. The higher the Int, the more skill points per level.
Charisma (CHA) = A measure of a character's social skills, and sometimes their physical appearance. Charisma generally influences prices while trading and flirting. Under certain circumstances, this skill can negate combat actions between two individuals.
Wisdom (WIS) = A measure of a character's common sense and spirituality. Wisdom often controls a character's ability to cast certain spells, communicate to mystical entities, or discern other characters' motives or feelings.
Willpower (WILL) = A measure of the character's mental resistance against pain, fear, and other types of ailments when falling victim to mind-altering magic, torture, or insanity. The higher the will, the harder it is to break.
Perception (PER) = A measure of a character's openness to their surroundings. Perception controls the chance to detect vital clues, traps or hiding enemies, and might influence combat sequence or the accuracy of ranged attacks.
Luck (LUK) = A measure of a character's luck. Luck might influence anything, or nothing, with lady luck, anything is possible! But remember, lady luck is a very picky lover.]
Well that summarized things up pretty well.
"Ok, since there's no Off Button or switch, guess I'll just have to play this by ear. Guess it's time to explore the forest… naked," I groaned at being reminded of my currently exposed state.
Again, deciding to push my concern aside, I took the first step into what I could only say was the start of something terrifying.
--
After about eight hours of walking like I was Adam from the Garden of Eden, minus the fig leaf, I came to a conclusion. I was lost. And not lost like a kid in a mall, no, I was lost like a penguin in the fucking Sahara desert.
"So much for doing the quest my clearly deranged mind asked me to do."
Taking a deep breath, I sat down against a tree, and then I remembered I was naked, and stood up, ants and balls do not go well together.
That realization, along with a sudden breeze sending me into a fit of shivers made one thing clear to me. "Probably should find myself some clothes before I go on any actual quests."
As I stood up from the tree, the sound of tree branches in the ground, breaking were heard, and soon after a shout.
"If ya mowve i'll shoot ya!!" Oh great, a redneck. I recognize that particular intonation anywhere. Immediately I threw my hands up, silently praying this guy wouldn't blow me away before I could get a word in.
"I am lost!" I replied, hoping the unknown redneck would believe me.
"That so? Why are ya naked?" The unknown man inquired before his eyes narrowed. "Are ya gay!?"
Even if I was, which I am not, with that tone of voice, and a gun on my back, I would never answer him truthfully, and besides.
"No… just, some bad people stole my clothes, and threw me into the forest to die, sir," I replied, trying to formulate a plan should the man decide to shoot me...and came up with nothing.
Lucky for me the guy seemed to buy it.
"Ay see, whel. Come on, ay have some clothes faw ya, I don't want to see your chili dog hanging, so come!" Chilli d… why, nevermind.
"Thanks, really appreciated," I nodded, turning around. The man in front of me was both fat and skinny, and had a stench so vile that I could barely keep a straight face. Coupled with the greasy overalls, the long beard, visibly missing teeth and trucker cap, all he needed was a jug of moonshine in his hand.
[John McCloud LV 5
HP = 78%
MP = NULL]
[VIT HAS RISEN 1]
Jesus, smelling the man gave me a stat point, holy shit. Also good to know HP is a percentual value on others.
"The name is John McCloud, ay hate blayk folk ayn' gays folk, do ya like any of them?" Racist and homophobic, well ain't he the package.
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head, reminding myself my morals were not above my need to survive. "Thanks for saving me sir,"
"Ay do what I can," the man smiled, taking the compliment, almost making me forget how much of a stereotypical bigot he was.
Following the man to his hut, I took the clothes he offered me as his wife cooked us dinner. How he went from almost shooting me to inviting me to eat was beyond me, but I was not going to complain. That being said, I had to admit, putting the clothes he gave me was a challenge.
Despite being told they were clean, the smell wafting off them was awful. Like a raccoon farting after chugging Mountain Dew, chillI and hot garbage. How's that for a mental image? Thankfully I pushed past that and once I was clothed moved onto the next matter at hand.
"Sir you happen to have a map so that I can find my way back home?" I asked, avoiding the food his wife had served me, it looked like vomit, smelled like vomit, and had the texture of guess what… oatmeal surprisingly, which kinda resembled vomit.
"Ay think there is one on thay ...err newspaper," John McCloud nodded, nodded, giving me a very old looking newspaper.
Taking the newspaper I noticed something odd. The date read January 1992, meaning either I'd somehow pulled a Marty Mcfly and went back in time or this guy was bad at staying up to date "I… do you have anything newer?"
"That one is frawum yesterday," the racist, homophobe replied.
Deciding not to ask anymore questions I started to read the newspaper, until I stopped a certain part of the paper. The article was an obituary...for one Howard and Maria Stark.
So like most people over the age of ten in the 2010s I was a big MCU fan and knew that in spite of the many crazy promotions Marvel did, especially after being bought by Disney, they never released newspaper replicas. And the guy next to me didn't strike me as one who frequented conventions, outside of maybe a gun show.
However, as I tried to piece everything together, a message appeared in front of me.
[Quest Completed!
LEVEL UP!]
"Aren't ya gonna eat!?" the man barked, seeing my plate full.
"My bad," I smiled, taking a mouthful of that awful diabolical concoction.
[VIT HAS RISEN 1]
--
After a long meal, which included a few stats points and a quick trip to the bathroom, I walked out of the house with a map that somehow got absorbed into my being after a pop up option appeared. This in turn opened a minimap on my peripheral view, which was good cause I didn't know how to read a map, so this was my saving grace.
As for the quest and the gamer thing, well…. I was still operating under the idea this was a bad drug trip, but if it wasn't well. Long and short of it was I was apparently the world of Marvel, though the jury's still out on whether it's the MCU or some other Marvel universe, of which they have a lot of. While that might sound exciting, there were more than a few fucked up realities I was praying I wasn't in, especially Marvel Zombies...yikes.
Taking a deep breath, I shook my head and continued my journey hoping I would soon reach civilization. And well, let's just say games lied to us. Instead of a five minutes journey, like in most games, it took me eight hours to walk my way out of the forest into the nearest road, where I would use my charisma skills to get a ride, aka I would beg for one.
Here I painfully discovered being a man was a weakness in the hitchhiking business, so I waited and waited for hours, until a truck came by, and offered me a ride.
Unlike my last encounter this guy looked considerably more well kept and friendly enough. Heck he was offering me a ride without a gun to my face so that was a plus.
[Roman Wallace LV 5
HP = 100%
MP = NULL]
"So, what were you doing in the forest?" Roman, who had yet to properly introduce himself, inquired.
"I got lost and well here I am," I didn't elaborate since trying to be more detailed would just make me sound crazy.
"Well, I am glad I can help, the name is Roman by the way," Roman smiled, giving me a firm handshake. "I have some burgers in the back, and water in case you want some."
I looked at him and nodded, after that terrible, terrible, terrible thing I ate, some actual food sounded positively heavenly. "Thanks," I smiled.
"Ha, don't thank me yet, I will need a favor though."
And there goes my good mood. I swear if this fucker asks for anything remotely sexual, I will jump out of this truck.
"At the truck stop, I'll need your help cleaning this baby, consider it a pay for the ride."
Oh….that was totally fair and completely reasonable. .
"Sure," I nodded, cleaning a truck, easy enough, I did that shit in college for extra cash.
--
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 2
EXP = 0/300
HP = 240/240
MP = 100/100
STR = 11
VIT = 14
DEF = 11
DEX= 11
INT = 11
CHA = 11
WIS = 11
WILL = 11
PER = 11
LUK = 6
]
2 CHAPTER 2
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
This is the start of a mass release to get the novel approved for search and stuff, now webnovel has a policy where you need to have around 5k words to appear on the search, so I decided to get to the 15k words to from once appear on the rankings, so here it is, the mass release.
--
The ride to New York was bumpy and the seats were very uncomfortable but the cool night air at least made the trip bearable.
The road to the city cut across several farmlands and fields that colored the trip with a bit of entertainment, not that I didn't have plenty to think about. If nothing else, the long trip gave me plenty of time to ponder over my situation as a whole, discovering and accepting a few things of it all.
First, I came to accept this was no dream or hallucination, that much had become clear after a while and that scared me a bit. The implications of not being in my own world, and now being in one I always thought to be fictional was also a bit shocking.
Second, my gaming system or power clearly operated off of MMO rules, I suppose is to be expected with the thematic and all. Least I wasn't left out to dry in this new world without some kind of perk.
Last but not least, I had no idea what I was going to do now that I was here. Believe me, I know this is a situation many fantasize about, hell the Japanese have an entire anime genre based around the idea, but I never exactly expected it to actually happen.
Still like my grandpa used to say, fuck the doubts and fears in the ass without lubrication, for there is no point of stagnanting because of them.
Laughing at his old saying, I changed my focus from those suffocating thoughts to now focusing on the bright side of my situation. I was in the Marvel Universe, again the jury's still out on which version, and I had a power that was awesome. More importantly, I had options to grow, I mean, it could've certainly been worse, I could've been a human with no powers in here. And a guy with no powers in any Marvel verse, unless I was planning to rob some tech genius or try my luck with some form of radiation or mutagene, didn't have many options in the power department.
Speaking of my gamer power, like I said before it operated like a video game, in its entirety.
"Menu," I thought as I yawned, leaning my head against the cold window of the truck, waiting to arrive where I would get off.
Oh, on another note, I discovered the power worked with mental commands, meaning I didn't have to look like a crazy person talking out loud. Speaking of which.
[Interface]
[Character]
[Quest System]
[Inventory]
[Map]
[Skill List]
Some of these options were currently useless to me, like inventory since I literally had nothing but the still filthy clothes on my back., Skill List, also nothing, Quest System, since the last quest nothing else showed up… but out of all of them, Interface was the best one, it had the option to put music in the background.
What can I say, if I ever get into a fight, I would love to hear a good song while I kick some ass.
"We're almost there," the truck driver reminded me, which again, brought about another problem.
In a few minutes I would be in New York without papers, without money, and without a fucking idea how to get any of them. Maybe working on construction was…those places always seem to hire people without legal documentation. Eh, one thing at a time.
"Thanks," I smiled, my eyes going back to the menu.
Opening the map, I chuckled as I noticed something, like a video game map the bulk of the area obscured and marked as undiscovered. The only unveiled portion was the small section I had absorbed from the newspaper and what I had 'discovered' on my trip to New York. Using mental commands I zoomed into the discovered area, seeing that the map worked better than I imagined, having icons and such giving me a general idea of what is what and where is where, for example, the coffee shops had a coffee mug as an icon.
With a smile, I zoomed out, seeing where I was going. According to the map, I was close to Queens, ha, Spidey here I go… wait is Spider-Man a thing yet?
And again I'm reminded of how I have no clear clue on what Marvel universe I'm in and just how many insane possibilities there could be. Still, no need to panic just yet, for all you know, this world is the Marvel cinematic universe, or another less dangerous iteration. Maybe one of the 90s cartoons, no ever dies in those.
"We're here," the driver said, tapping me in the shoulder, again breaking me from my inner monologue.
Looking around I noticed we were in the middle of the street, not in the last truckers stop, "Here?" I asked and he nodded.
"I can't let my supervisor know I let people ride with me," he chuckled, though at least looked somewhat guilty for just dumping me. "So here is as far as I can take you."
Oh that made sense, any supervisor would be mad at this clear breach of security, I mean, for all he knows I could be a serial killer or something.
"Understandable, appreciate the help regardless," I thanked with as much sincerity as I could.
"Here," Reaching for his wallet, he pulled a few bucks and handed them to me, "You look like you need a headstart, and I know what that is… so, consider this my blessing to you."
[You have received 200$]
Impressed with this unexpected gesture, I took the money and smiled, "I don't know what to say."
"You could say thank you," The trucker laughed, again seeming totally cool he just handed two hundred bucks off to a stranger. "It's okay kid, we all need help sometimes, and I am glad I got to help you. Now, go find a job and pay taxes!"
"Haha, thanks." I laughed, getting off the truck.
"See ya around!" And with that, he left. What a nice guy, giving a complete stranger money, this shit only happens in movies and ga… games, huh. Wonder if this will become a thing.
————————————————————————
It didn't take me long to find a place to stay. Yeah, forgot that while $200 wasn't much in 2021, in 1992 where everything is a lot cheaper, you can do quite a bit.t. I didn't find a fancy place, but found a room I would have to share with someone for 150$ a month, no background check, no security deposit, which while not ideal was doable for the time.
Only downside was my roommate, who looked like he was on some kind of illegal substance...probably because he actually was.
[ Aaron Leman / Drug Addict = LV 3
HP = 23% / 100%
MP = NULL]
Sharing a room with a drug addict obviously would put most people on edge but I had nothing for him to steal. the money was in my inventory, and so would be all my future shit, at least while I lived here. So long as he did try selling my blood or organs I think I should be safe.
In the meantime things seemed to look up as my menu finally showed a new quest.
[New Quest = *Read some books*
Read a few books and learn a few helpful skills to help you in your day to day life!
Objective = Learn at least five skills 0/5
Reward = 175$, 300 exp, Tutorial Book]
And here I was thinking there would be no other quests.
"Time to find a library!" I declared, forgetting there was literally someone right in the room with me.
"Library huh. I know where it is… I can tell you for… some cash," Aaron smiled a toothless smile, thanks to all the crack he had consumed in his life. Granted he still had a few teeth, though they were yellow and looked about ready to fall out.
"Yeah, sorry Aaron I don't have any money if I had… I wouldn't be here…" I reminded him for the fourth time since I got here
"Well… fuck you!" And like the other three times, he stormed out of the room, oh no, whatever shall I do.
—————————————————————————
Finding the library was easy enough, I just walked up to a cop, asked him, and he took me to the library. Why did I approach a cop without legal documentation, risking my possible stay in the states? Well, if there is something I have learned about not having documents is… to not be suspicious, the more relaxed and calmed you look, the less deportable you look. Also helps that I wasn't doing somewhere where documentation was required.
Once I was at the library, my hunt for skills began. Some books had requirements I had yet to meet, but others had none, like the world map I consumed like a hungry hippo, take that Google Maps!
I also learned some martial arts, Marksmanship, survival skills, and others, finishing the quest with ease, effectively leveling up to level three. Of course I didn't stop there, I mean, finishing the quest was my primary objective, but why leave when I could learn shit instantly.
So I stayed, and continued to consume the books without anyone noticing. Though when I say consume I don't mean that literally as that would obviously draw a lot of unwanted attention. Really, I would just tap them, and boom, knowledge is instantly downloaded into my brain.
In short, I continued doing this book consumption thing for hours to no end, until….
"The library is closing." The Librarian approached me, tapping me on the shoulder.
[Mary Wolowitz - LV 4
Librarian
HP: 100% / 100%
MP: NULL]
"Oh, I'm sorry, I got carried away." I chuckled, apologizing to the lady, "I'll be out of your hair."
"It's okay, come back soon!" She waved at me as I left the library.
Such a nice lady makes me really sad that libraries will basically become obsolete in about a decade.
————————————————————————
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 3
EXP = 0/450
HP = 240/240
MP = 100/100
STR = 12
VIT = 15
DEF = 12
DEX= 12
INT = 12
CHA = 12
WIS = 12
WILL = 12
PER = 12
LUK = 7
STAT POINTS = 20
]
[SKILL LIST
Cooking LV8 - Passive = A skill that allows the player to cook delicious meals. 8% increase in cooking efficiency.
Swimming LV 5 - Passive/Active = Passively increases movement speed when swimming by 5% = 2.2 miles per hour.
Running LV 12 - Passive - Active = Passively increases movement speed when running by 12% = 10 miles per hour.
Martial Arts LV 1 - Passive/Active = Passively increases hand to hand combat damage, when used actively it allows for total concentration in combat. Damage buff 1%.
Marksmanship LV 1 - Passive/Active = Passively increases accuracy and attack damage with long range weapons by 1%
]
The skills that are high level are because he knew how to use them prior to learning the skill in this life, so that transfers to here.
3 CHAPTER 3
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
It took me eight days, eight days to be kidnapped, how? Well, allow me to explain.
After my sudden… arrival in this world, and what followed after that, I was ambushed by some agents of Hydra, why? Well, apparently the fuckers have someone with the handy ability to detect mutants, and apparently my fun new ability apparently qualifies as a mutant power, right?
Anyway, I was on my way to the library, you know, to learn more skills and stuff, when all of the sudden, boom, three Hydra agents leaped out of a dark street corner and beat the crap out of me. Complete waste of time by the way as I would've gone with them without much resistance, they were all level twenty five, so… I knew from the beginning there was no point in trying to fight highly trained agents with my level one hand to hand combat.
If something good came out of this it probably was that… I had gained a few skills from the prison beating they gave. Mainly physical endurance, so it was a semi-beneficial asskicking.
Anyway, after their merciless beat down, I woke up in a cell where I was almost immediately dragged into an office where a Hydra agent enlightened me about what was going to happen.
Long and short, the very creepy nazi essentially said I'd be broken mentally so they could condition me to service their organization and naturally help take over the planet. You know, usual bad guy stuff.
From there, I started to plan. One, I needed to find a way to escape from this ghastly situation. Two, I needed to find the mutant they had on their command, if that bastard was able to track other mutants then he or she, inclusion above all, had to disappear. If nothing else I did not want to go through this shi again.
I'm not gonna lie, I am super scared, being inside a prison cell, at the mercy of a bunch of nazi loving bastards was probably the most stressful thing I'd ever experienced and it was taking all my willpower not to cry, for what crying would do.
Though I was quite certain I was assuredly gonna cry once the torture started. Powers or not, I'm still just a kid ripped from his own reality, I'm not freaking John Wick and not gonna shrug off whatever they have planned. Regardless of that, I knew I had to survive, and I had to escape.
"Good morning," A man dressed in a black tux entered the room where my cell was located with a wide smile on his face.
He was old, in his sixties maybe, with a scar that ran from his white eyebrow to his neck. Ironically, despite being old his body was fit, way more than mine, and his hands were full of scars. Already I could tell I wasn't gonna like this guy, made all the worse when I looked into his eyes. Why you may ask...because his eyes lacked any spark of human empathy.
"My name is Edward," He said with the same blank smile across his face. "and I will be your trainer."
[Edward Muller - The Hydra Trainer - LV 31
HP: 100%/100%]
I gulped at his statement, "My trainer?"
"Yes," Edward smiled, slowly cracking the joints in his hands, loosening them up to begin "I am him to properly indoctrinate you into Hydra. Whether you choose to cooperate and give into the pain is entirely up to you."
He punctuated that sentence with a crack of the knuckles, not to subtly making his intentions all the more clear.
"Okay, look I don't know why you guys picked me up, but I'm telling you, you've got the wrong guy ," I said, though not sure why I bothered. No way I could bullshit my way out of this and fighting...it'd be like using a toothpick to fight against a samurai.
"Hm," Edward chuckled, taking his jacket out, further revealing his heavily muscled body. "Deception, not a bad trait to have. Sadly it is a waste of time to lie to my boy. Our hound has confirmed that you are indeed a mutant and not only that, but one with exceptional potential. Thus, here we are."
"I see," So that's why they had targeted me…probably should've figured that out myself. The question now, how the fuck did the hound manage to find me so soon.
Entering my cell, Edward approached me, and putting his hand on my cheek that left me with uncomfortable sensations and a silent prayer he was only gonna kick my ass., "I know that look, I have seen it a lot of times before… how did they find me so fast?"
He figured that out just from a look. Seriously?
"I… yes," I admitted, there wasn't much to deny anyway, and so far he had been very forthcoming with all the information. Sadly that was about the only concession he would grant.
Slapping me with enough strength to break two of my teeth, throwing me into the ground like a crack whore, he smiled.
"Well… more than not, it's because we target some zones, and list the possible candidates for our cause, but with you? It was mere luck, or bad luck, depending on how you look at it."
Still on the floor, hand clutching to my bleeding mouth in pain, I glanced at him, trying to understand what he was saying.
"It was luck that drove you to that truck," The… driver.. But if that was the case, I would've seen it, my powers would've allowed me to see who he was… granted by that point I was still skeptical with all this shit, but still, his name had nothing to do with Hydra!
"So you have powers that help you identify people," Edward whistled in something akin to approval. "Yes, that will be quite useful to our cause."
I looked at him again, shocked, wondering if he had read that by my body language or my mind.
"To answer your question, no I can't actually read your mind," Edward chuckled again at my shock. "True that statement seems contradictory but really I just took a wild guess. Considering your surprise when I said it was the truck that led you to us, your reaction gave it away. Still, if it's any consolation, it wasn't the driver, he is but an unsuspecting fool that helps us without knowing."
"It might be the pain of that bitch slap you gave me," I sighed, standing up to look at him better. "But, would you care to elaborate, I am sure after that… you'll beat the crap out of me anyway. So why not help a broken man understand?"
With a smile, he took a step forward and struck me in the face with a quick jab. "I suppose I could, after all the aim is to break you both mentally and physically. You see, our hound was being transported back to New York."
"I see…" Last time I EVER get a ride with anyone.
--
[6 MONTHS LATER]
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 3
EXP = 0/450
HP = 500/500
MP = 100/100
STR = 12
VIT = 20
DEF = 12
DEX= 12
INT = 12
CHA = 12
WIS = 12
WILL = 51
PER = 12
LUK = 7
STAT POINTS = 20
MONEY: 0$
]
Six months of every form of abuse you can imagine...except for the one a lot of people are probably thinking about. Thank god for small miracles. Yeah, things like that and my power are about the only thing keeping me going.
If there was any kind of upside to this crapfest it was my skills improving. Physical Endurance, and my Willpower, both had jumped to the point I can shrug off most of the things Edward does.
If I have to be honest, the worst was during the first week, now most of his training in obedience is really nothing, at least compared to the first week. Boy did I suffer that first week, bastard one day thought it would be fun to break each of my fingers with a hammer. I actually ended up begging him to stop when he talked about moving onto my genitals. Powers or not, I doubt I could've handled that.
But unbeknownst to him the ball breaking idiot had given me the tools to survive Hydra and their brainwashing techniques. For one, I discovered how my stats worked, more in depth that is, for after a certain amount of stats you would get an achievement, a perk for that stat.
In my case, Willpower, and Vitality have given me two very useful tools to survive this place, a few perks that made my stay painful, but a pain that I could handle.
"Skills." I thought, as the skills and perks window opened.
[Physical Endurance LV 41 = The body's durability increases, allowing for less damage taken. 41% decrease in damage taken by attacks.
Will of Stone! *PERK* = Pain and Suffering always come, but as long as my will stands, nothing will break me down! = Eases the mental pain of one's body immediately, erasing the lingering sensation of pain by a 15%, you know what they say, pain is an illusion and your mind controls it.
Unbreakable Will! *PERK* = My body and mind won't fall into the depths of madness, for my will stands like my beacon of hope! = Eases the mental pain of one's body immediately, erasing the lingering sensation of pain by 35%, you know what they say, pain is an illusion and your mind controls it.
]
Those three things made my entire stay here a walk in the park. Yes it still hurts being beaten down by Edward, but… it was manageable. Really I'd effectively taken high level military torture and reduced it to a short beating from a middle school bully. Painful, but hardly crippling.
"I am truly impressed," Edward laughed, taking a seat on the floor, as I hung to the wall, hooks piercing my skin. "You were so vocal at first, yet it seems my usual tactics aren't working anymore. Perhaps a result of your mutation?"
So he had noticed, then again when you're a torture expert, picking up on things like that is expected.
"So now what?" I asked, spitting one of my last teeth. I wonder if Hydra has a good dentist that I can borrow.
"Now… you go to the next stage," Edward sighed as he placed his jacket back on, devoid of his usual glee. "If only my training had worked… you would not have to endure the next stage, I almost feel pity for you."
Training? All he did was beat the crap out of me on a daily basis, that shit is not training, not even close. "Pity, that's funny coming from the man that used me like a punching bag,"
"I suppose it is," Edward nodded, casually wiping some leftover blood off his knuckles. "Oh well, you are not my problem anymore, you are hers…" he added, finally exiting the room without another word.
Hers, well ain't that ominous as fuck.
"Well Edward, what can I say other than it was fun. Hope to see you again."
Obviously what I meant to say was that the next time I saw him I'd be the one beating the shit out of him until he was shitting out his teeth and most of his internal organs. Sadly, it would seem that I had other things to think about right now.
"So you are the unbreakable puppy," a seductive sweet yet dangerous voice commented as a new figure entered my room, or cell, room sounded less depressing.
[Romania Fitcher - LV 30 - The Hydra Mother
HP = 100%/100%]
The Hydra Mother? Not gonna lie, concerned about the mother title on her title thing.
"I wouldn't say I am unbreakable, more like there were two ways torture could've ended."
Smiling, the woman looked at me, and asked, "And what were those two ways?"
"Well, one, you manage to break me, or two, I get into it, and well, that's another problem alone altogether. There was a time I wondered why some men paid for this type of shit, and well… now I know," I replied with a toothless smile, my crack addict roomie would be proud.
"I see," Romania said, her smile not empty like Edward's but I could tell there was something off about it., "Good thing I have other methods to train you, don't you think?"
I pouted, "And here I thought you were going to spank me."
"Keep talking and I might," huh, kinky.
"So now what?" I asked, completely ignoring the blood dripping from my toothless mouth.
"Now we fix you up," Romania declared, snapping her fingers as two strangers entered the room.
[John John 072 - Hydra Puppet - LV 35
Hp = 100%/100%]
[John John 121 - Hydra Puppet - LV 33
Hp = 100%/100%]
I have a bad feeling about this woman, "Well, and here I thought Hydra was going to leave me toothless and naked, like a crack addict." What is up with me with crack jokes, I need to stop cracking them jokes, haha, get it?
"Oh no, after all, what use do we have for a broken tool?"
Well woman, your organization has been sending me mixed messages with all the shit you guys are doing, first we are going to break you, then not, then yes, make up one of your minds…. Hahah, get it? Cause Hydras have multiple heads, oh boy I am on a roll!
4 CHAPTER 4
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
After Hydra was so kind as to replace my teeth, I didn't bother to ask how they did it. I was relocated to a new place. Surprisingly instead of a cell, I was given a room. Yeah technically a cell is a room, but this one didn't have bars or anything, plus some decent furnishings, though the door to the place was locked. Only other consolation I had was from Romania, who claimed nothing would be done to me, for now. Thus that just left me with a fair amount of free time, which I fully intended to use to hopefully make myself strong enough to get out of here.
I knew such imaginary goals were by no means close to achievable right now. According to my power, 0-20 was the normal amount of STR in the average human, 20-50 the average amount in a trained human, like a cop, 50-70 the average amount in a very well trained human, like a pro boxer, 70-150 peak human condition, meaning the average peak of what a normal human could achieve, beyond that, I didn't know, I had to reach at least 50 STR to know what followed after that last tier.
Of hand, I reckon it's something along the lines of minor superhuman strength, or something. Probably what Captain America has.
"Training I see," Romania said, her voice echoing in my room through the radios at the top.
"Well, I don't have anything else to do, so why not?" I replied, not much point in lying after all. "Worry not, in a few months, you'll have plenty to occupy your time with, I assure you," Romania replied, her tone promising something that was already giving me PTSD..
"Looking forward to it." I had no idea what her plan was, but it didn't mean I was gonna give her any kind of satisfaction. As long as there was a will, there was a way to get out of this situation. .
"In the meantime," Romania chuckled, as the doors of my room opened. "Feel free to use the gym in the facilities. After all, just because you're trapped here doesn't mean you can't have a little fun."?" What games was this woman playing?
"You're opening the door… what a good captor you are," I replied, my body tensing at the sight beyond the door.
"Well, I aim to please," Romania said, her clear smirk obvious even if it wasn't visible. "Besides… you know it's impossible to escape, and you know what will happen if you try… so I trust you to be a good boy and behave."
"I will," I replied, if she was really letting me use the facilities then I'd play my part, and be obedient. At, least until I had enough power to break out of here, until then… I will follow the rules, dear captor.
"Wonderful," Romania replied, "Then enjoy the facilities Hydra has to offer, Mr. Walker."
--
[2 MONTHS LATER]
The facilities Hydra had were magnificent to say something, it was honestly kind of insane the amount of stuff they could cram into each installation. Sadly, my access was pretty much limited to their Gym and Library.
Of course I was making sure to make full use of each location, spending ten hours in the Gym, and ten hours in the library, and resting for four. I know it was a tight schedule, but it was the only way to gain sufficient skills and stats to hopefully break out.
Amidst the long cram and exercise sessions, I am afraid to admit, I was somewhat scared of what Romania was preparing for me. She seemed so… confident she would break me, that it ignited a few red flags inside of me. Even Edward before he left was confident she could bring me to heel, which really said a lot about her without actually saying anything. Sadly, I didn't have much else to do given my situation and could only focus on the current task at hand.
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 6
EXP =3875/4125
HP = 3500/3500
MP = 3700/3700
STR = 45
VIT = 35
DEF = 30
DEX= 45
INT = 37
CHA = 17
WIS = 22
WILL = 52
PER = 19
LUK = 12
STAT POINTS = 50
MONEY: 4500$
]
Yes, I had yet to use my stat points, for now they were my ace, my secret move to escape. At the moment, I was still debating where to invest those babies, maybe DEF, or INT.
As for my skills, well, I knew that if I experimented enough I would be able to create mana skills, I mean I had a good amount of mana, but… for self preservation reasons, I decided not to learn anything flashy yet. Hydra had cameras all over the place, if they suddenly saw me doing mystical shit, well, they would tighten my shackles, and for now, I liked my slave collar how it was.
For now I would continue doing the only quest I could, a repetitive quest that appeared after my first visit to the Gym and Library, [Both Body and Soul] It was like the quest in the library I had first gotten. Thankfully, it was one of those redoable quests, meaning I could do it over and over and over again, getting the same rewards at a consistent pace, hence how I was able to jump a few levels so fast.
"Mr. Walker, I was looking for you," Romania announced as she walked into the library with a wide smile.
"Well, hello there." I waved, smiling as I imagined shocking the life out of her.
"So cordial, wonderful. Well, you'll be pleased to hear that I finally have what I need to start with you," Romania said confidently, snapping her fingers as she did. Soon after, a man entered the room carrying a little girl in his arms, by the looks of it, the girl was unconscious.
As I looked on stunned, Romania looked ever confident. "Her name is Emily, and she will be in your care."
[Emily Smith - Orphan - LV 1
HP = 100%/100%]
That was her master plan? Making me a babysitter? What was that supposed to do? "I… could you elaborate?"
"Happily. Put simply, your life and hers are now effectively tied together.. If she dies, you die… if you disobey, she gets punished, and if you do what you are told… well, she gets to live… Simply don't you think?" She punctuated that last word with a more sadistic grin that left my skin crawling and my blood boiling.
So that was her plan, to appeal to my human side, by giving something or rather someone to take care of.
"You talk as if I care about the girl." I hated myself for saying that, the little girl had no fault in this. I also hated that her plan was already working to a degree, for I was questioning what to do now, how to play my move.
"True," Romania responded casually, tossing me a knife, "Then kill her."
The room went utterly silent as I stared at the knife, then back at her, my mind slowly trying to process what was said. "...What?"
"Kill the girl," Romania repeated, a sinister grin back on her face. "You're absolutely right. This girl is just some stranger you have no attachment to whatsoever and thus owe her nothing. Thus you should have no issue killing her."
I thought of protesting only for Romania to cut me off. "Also, just know that we'll simply kill her ourselves if you don't. Just something to keep in mind.""
Well played Romania, for now, you have the upper hand, "You got me," I chuckled bitterly. "I'll take care of her, I still have a heart."
"Wonderful," Romania lightly cheered to herself, looking all too pleased with herself. "Though, I wouldn't get too comfortable as there are some stipulations. Namely,Mr. Walker, if you disobey, she explodes, if you talk back, she explodes, if you don't perform like we ask you to do, she explodes."
Explodes? The kid has a fucking bomb in her? Well that's just great.
"Naturally you are free to refuse anytime you wish and we won't raise a finger against you. Just know that after she dies, we will assign another child to you, and another, and another until you either break down and obey, or we have to fill an entire cemetery. Are we clear?" Romania smiled.
"Yes," I nodded, glaring at her, barely containing the abhorrence I was feeling.
"Good, and before I forget, the children in question, they aren't some random orphans we picked up off the street. No, we made sure each and everyone of them have still living and loving families. So keep that little detail in mind ," Romania added with a sweet smile full of poison. "Now… I will let you and your new charge familiarize with each other… I will be in contact for your training." with that said and done, she left.
[New Mandatory Quest! = Escape Hydra!
Objective = Your plans to escape Hydra are already in motion, but even then you have to be careful, Hydra has ears everywhere, and will do it's best to keep you down.
Bonus Objective = Escape with Emily, the poor little girl shoved into your life.
Reward = 500000 EXP, 50000$
Failure = Death]
As if I needed more reasons to leave this place.
--
Emily woke up three hours after that, and was understandably scared of me, and everything, giving me more reasons to hate Hydra, then again I don't know what I was expecting from a terrorist organization.
"Where is mommy?... Where's daddy?"
"I don't know," That was a lie, I knew… I simply didn't know how to break such news to her, what was I to tell her, she looked like she was four, or five, I had no experience in this field.
"I don't want to be here," Emily said between tears, using my blankets to cover herself.
"That makes two of us," I replied with a sigh. "Don't worry, I'll make sure we both get out of here. Promise."
5 CHAPTER 5
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
After having Emily pretty much chained to me, I only had a week to adjust before being thrown into training. Over the next two months I was little more than their dog. They point and I obey.
In turn I was encouraged to perform more than a few unpleasant acts. These included torture, interrogation, and assassination work, or rather putting me in a room with some random person who I was then ordered to kill. It really was a lose lose situation since I either kill someone directly, or I let Emily die. Needless to stay I spent many days curled up trying not to have a panic attack after all the shit I was forced to do.
The only kind of solace I could take from any of this shit was thatI was getting stronger by the day. Yeah, as disgusting as it was, the missions they had me doing were giving me the necessary experience to buff myself up. Kind of like randomly killing NPC's in a video game, except with actual PTSD. Fun. At this point the only things keeping me sane were the desire to get payback on these freaks and….
"Hi," Emily waved at me, hidden in the blankets of my bed, as I entered the room after one of the missions Hydra had sent me to do.
That little bundle was the only other thing keeping me sane, knowing that at the very least I was keeping her safe was helping me move forward.
"Hi," I half heartedly waved back pulling out a small bag of Doritos I had bought while out and about. One of the few concessions that heartless bitch Romania gave me.
Like one of those boxes with a cat that steals a coin, Emily snatched the Doritos from under her fort, "Thanks…"
"Don't worry about it," I said, visibly exhausted as I took a seat on the floor. Despite the improved accommodations the only furniture in my cell was the bed Emily was occupying. By the way, sleeping on the floor is awful.
"I'm scared of them…" Emily muttered, the sounds of munching from the tiny hole of her blanket.
"I know, but don't worry. As long as I obey you'll be okay and I promise I won't let anything happen to you. What a bitter sentiment, the freedom of one, the life of another. And yet, it was a decision I would stick with, no matter how much it killed me to do so, I knew it was right.
"Well," I chuckled, as I pushed myself up back to my feet. "I have to go and train, in the meantime..." I slowly reached into my backpack and pulled out a coloring book, which I dangled in front of the bed. "I got you something."
Once again, she snatched the coloring book, and thanked me, with a barely audible sound.
It wasn't much, but that was enough to motivate me to walk back out into whatever crazy missions came my way. As long as I can keep that little girl safe, I'm good.
--
After five hours at the gym, I was permitted to spend some time at the library. Of course, what I was doing wasn't related to any of the crap Hydra wanted me to do, but a personal matter….how to remove the bomb from Emily's body.
Lack of medical license aside, it was pretty much the only way to take the proverbial bullet out of Hydra's gun and that was a good enough motive for me. Funny enough, when I took this decision, a new quest was created.
[Quest: Save Emily]
The quest like the one to escape Hydra was a high risk, high reward quest, meaning failure would result in the death of Emily.
Sadly, my study time came with one obvious little hiccup. "You really have taken interest in the human body, Mr. Walker."
Yup I had a chaperone, pretty obvious given the situation, but would've at least been nice if it was some random goon instead of the head bitch herself. Thus I pretty much needed to bullshit my way out whenever I could.
"Well, before you kidnapped me, I wanted to be a doctor." Ironically that part was true, at least prior to this bullshit., "And, well, we both know that dream is rather impossible to reach now, so I am happy with reading and you know."
"How is young Emily doing?" Romania inquired with an infuriating smile.
"Good, a bit scared of me, but she at least talks to me. I mean, I have followed all of your orders without a question, that alone should explain why she's still in one piece," I replied, putting the book on human anatomy I was reading down.
"Yes, yes, my loyal, loyal dog," Romania smiled, pleased with my answers, going so far as to lightly pat my head to get her point across.
"I aim to please," I spoke through gritted teeth, fantasizing about the many ways I would make her suffer after I regained my freedom.
"Talking about pleasing," Romania said, taking a seat in front of me, "We have yet to discover your mutant ability, and we need to run a few experiments to see what power you have."
I looked at her, already knowing what kind of shit would happen if they tried to experiment on me, so I thought up a plausible lie. "I already have an idea of what my power is… I just can't focus, not like my father used to."
"Your father, interesting, you never spoke of your family… not even during torture," Romania spoke with mocked intrigue, giving me a gesture with her hand to continue.
"We can shoot energy from our hands, at least my father and mother did, not so sure about me, I would have to practice," I said as convincingly as I could, praying she'd buy it. This would give me the chance to practice my mana skills, and trick them into thinking my mutant ability was only that.
"Hmm, energy manipulation I suppose, interesting." Romania clapped her hands in excitement. "Get to it, if by the end of the month you have no results… Well, you know what will happen."
"Yes." I nodded, looking solemn while patting myself on the back for again bullshitting my way out of a seemingly unwinnable situation.
"Good," Romania smirked with a small wave as she turned around. "Bye~"
I waved back before my hand turned into a fist, mentally wishing I could shove it through her head.
--
So in the month that I had to train my possible mutant ability , I had to fake struggling with it. Hopefully just showing them some results would avoid them thinking I was hiding my abilities. And thankfully, I had two skills to work with [Mana Bolt] and [Mana Arrow]
[Mana Bolt - Active - LV 5 = Focusing your energy, you fire a bolt of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 50 mana. Damage based on INT and level of skill. Damage = INT * skill level = 135 * 5 = 675]
[Mana Arrow - Active - LV 9 = Focusing your energy, you fire an arrow of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 200 mana. Damage based on INT and level of skill * 1.5. Damage = INT * skill level = (135 * 9) * 2 = 1823]
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Sub Occupation = Hydra Agent
Level = 23
EXP = 13875/25170
HP = 7000/7000
MP = 13500/13500
STR = 108
VIT = 70
DEF = 65
DEX= 115
INT = 135
CHA = 34
WIS = 75
WILL = 80
PER = 36
LUK = 29
STAT POINTS = 220
MONEY: 14500$
]
With those two skills, I was able to one shot normal humans, and more importantly, was enough to get Hydra off my back for the most part. Thankfully, they didn't know I was using the weaker version of said abilities. God only knows what they'd have me do if they knew what I could really do.
--
[6 MONTHS LATER]
Sorry to keep skipping ahead but a lot of stuff happened over the last six months.
Probably the most crucial thing was I managed to more or less get Emily to trust me. She's still a little intimidated to be around me, but at least now she knows I'm here to help her so that's a plus.
More importantly, I'd naturally gotten much stronger thanks to all the extra missions and such. I'm pretty confident I'll be able to escape soon. I just need to complete my medical knowledge to operate on her properly. According to the scans I ran with my newest skill, [Mana Scan] I was able to see where the bomb inside Emily was located. Sadly the bomb was small, and it was attached to her heart, like a peacemaker.
If the bomb were to be in any other part, I would simply use [Aport - Active - LV 4 = It allows the users to take small objects toward them from a distance [4 meters]. Cannot be used for objects that cannot be grasped using one hand.] But considering I had no idea what would happen to her heart should I use [Aport] I decided against it.
But not to worry, my medical skills thanks to my Gamer power were looking quite promising. However, to learn the necessary removal procedure, I needed three things, 120 INT, 90 WIS, and 80 PER. And lucky for me, these were all things I managed to acquire during these six months leveling under Hydra.
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Sub Occupation = Hydra Agent
Level = 33
EXP = 13875/25170
HP = 8000/8000
MP = 14500/14500
STR = 118
VIT = 80
DEF = 65
DEX= 125
INT = 145
CHA = 54
WIS = 110
WILL = 90
PER = 80
LUK = 39
STAT POINTS = 300
MONEY: 24500$
]
My stats were on point, and so were my skills, skills I had hoarded for this occasion.
[ SKILL LIST
Physical Endurance - Passive - LV 60 = Increases the body's durability, allowing for less damage taken. 60% decrease in damage taken by attacks.
Doctor/ Cardiothoracic surgeon - Passive/Active - LV 55 = You are a medical doctor who specializes in surgical procedures of the heart, lungs, esophagus, and other organs in the chest.
Hand to Hand Combat Specialist - Passive/Active - LV 42 = You are a master in mixed martials arts, you know how to hit, and you know how to kill with your bare hand! = 42% damage increase in hand to hand combat.
Mana Bolt - Active - LV 20 = Focusing your energy, you fire a bolt of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 200 mana. Damage based on INT and level of skill. Damage = INT * skill level = 145 * 20 = 2900
Mana Arrow - Active - LV 19 = Focusing your energy, you fire an arrow of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 380 mana. Damage based on INT and level of skill * 1.5. Damage = INT * skill level = (145 * 19) * 2 = 4132.5
Sooth Pain - Active - LV 17 = Using your HP and MP as sources of balance, you eliminate the sensation of pain in you or your target by a 17%, if you are higher level than the target you are using this, then you can add 3% per level ahead of the target to this, if the target is higher level than you, then the percentage remains the same. You lose HP and MP while this is active.
Mana Scan - Active - LV 11 = Focusing your energy, you scan your surroundings, or someone in particular getting information about something specific. This only works, if you know what you are looking for. It needs physical contact if you are scanning a person.
Mana Heal - Active - LV 5 = Focusing your energy, you transform a part of your mana into health, healing you or a target of your selection for a fixed amount. 1000 MP = 250 HP
Aport - Active - LV 4 = It allows the users to take small objects toward them from a distance [4 meters]. Cannot be used for objects that cannot be grasped using one hand.
]
With all this in mind, it seemed I was finally ready to royally fuck up Hydra. Or atleast, I would expect I still needed one thing...a distraction, and unfortunately for them, I had acquired such a thing during my last mission, an EMP bomb that I had stolen from Stark Industries.
Interesting little piece of tech, just a little bigger than a ping pong ball yet powerful enough to shut down their systems for a long while, giving me the time I needed to operate on Emily. Then, without the bomb, I would bust out of here, killing all those bastards.
"And… done…" I declared with a smile, finally the last book I needed to read to have all the knowledge to complete the operation was complete. Before this book, the chances of her surviving were 51%, but now they went up to 72%.
Oh yeah, I was able to see my percentage of possible success in things like medicine, cooking, and mathematics. The higher the level my skills were for those blocks, the higher the chance of succeeding in those blocks, like with cooking, my cooking was LV 12, good enough for simple food, but not chef like food, you get the gist of it.
With a sigh, I walked back to my cell, opening the door to find my little charge laying with her toys. Hearing the door, she turned around and smiled.
"You're back!!!" Emily giggled, tackling me into a hug. To think a few months ago, she was too scared to look me in the eye.
"I am," I nodded, though looking slightly glum at what came next. With a single chop to the neck she was out like a light as I pulled the EMP bomb out. . "Time to escape this hell."
6 CHAPTER 6
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
The surgery was a success, the bomb had been successfully removed, meaning Emily was safe from the grasp of Hydra, and I was free from their shackles once and for all, eight hours it took me to remove the bomb, all while Hydra tried to figure out what or who was attacking them with the EMP, little did they know it was me who had brought the EMP bomb inside.
Not that I judged them for not knowing, because during my unwilling stay here, I never revealed my inventory or the true nature of my powers, I kept that in secret, even when they tortured me, I knew… this was my only way out, and I had to keep it quiet.
"Time to kill some Nazi bastards," I chuckled, delighted with how things were playing out for me, finally I was free from this bastards, "But first…" I muttered as I gazed at Emily who was still sleeping on the bed I had operated on her. She looked so fragile, so breakable, I wonder if this is how it feels to be a dad. Chuckling, I put my hands around her back, and carried her, then I opened the door and walked out of my room, as if nothing had happened.
Right now, it was phase two of my plan, reaching the dungeons with Emily safe. My reason for going to the dungeons was to get a dog cage and to leave something above the big tank of gas in the dungeon that supplied the entire base with heating, two small tasks, but the most important was the cage, that place had many, for Romania would use them to keep the children without agents in place, right now there were no kids, but… there were cages, and those babies were quite durable, with Emily inside one of them, I would be able to move freely.
"Where do you think you are going?" One of my superiors hissed, his name, [Jurgen Weber - LV 21] "We are under attack, get back to the main floor, and wait for--" before he could finish his sentence, I slit his throat with the scalpel I had used to operate Emily. Jurgen was shocked, his eyes told me so, and as he fell to the ground, I continued walking, leaving the man to drown in his own blood.
Inside the dungeon, I went straight to the dog cages, grabbing one as I woke Emily up, "Time to shine baby girl~" I tickled her.
"Stop!" Emily giggled, yawning as she stretched her arms around my neck, "Where are we?" she asked, looking around. Seeing her so lively, so happy, made me sigh with relief, the operation had not only been a success, but my healing had left her without any post surgery side effects.
"We are in the dungeon," I answered, while very innocent, she wasn't stupid, she knew the people that held us were bad, and that we were both their prisoners.
"Did we do something wrong?" Emily asked in a worried tone, and I chuckled.
"No," I shook my head, ruffling her hair as I did so. "But it is about time we leave this awful place, so I will ask you a favor, I need you to get inside this cage, and don't make a sound, for what is coming next I need total concentration," I added, pointing at the cage.
"I can do that," Emily nodded, with adorable resolve.
"Good, now get in," I chuckled, giving her a pair of noise cancelling headphones as she scurried inside the small cage. While I connected my ropes to it in knots so that I could carry the cage as a backpack. Once I was done, I looked at her in the cage, and reminded her not to make a sound. "Let's go…"
--
[Romania POV]
Someone had attacked our base with a powerful EMP that had only left us with the emergency radio system, and it had taken all of our assets to keep things in place, now the question was… who had attacked us, no one knew about this base, none of my operatives were disloyal, and those who were a flight risk, were under a tight leash, like Mr. Walker.
{We need reinforcements!} someone cried over the coms, their voice full of worry and fear.
Grabbing one of the radios, I pressed the button and said, "Do we have visuals on the target!?"
{It's… my leg!!! Ahh!!} The com was cut short.
"I need to know who is attacking us!" I roared through the coms, slamming my fist to my desk.
{No need to shout, Romania...} that voice, Mr. Walker.
"Do you have visuals on the target?" I asked, if someone was competent, and as long as I kept the leash around his neck tight, there was nothing he could do.
{Well... all I can say is that he is extremely handsome, and very very angry with what you guys did with him…} It… couldn't be… he would not let Emily die, his one weakness was his emotional attachments, he would not kill her with his actions.
"I will assume this was an ill judged attempt at humor, Mr. Walker," I hissed.
{Oh, no… this is just the opening act} He laughed, {I am the one you are looking for, I am the one that attacked the base, and I am the one that is going to kill you with a fiery end, ending my act, closing the curtain of this unique tale}
"You do realize I hold Emily's life in my hands right?" I reminded him.
{I know… by the way… I love your new outfit, it highlights your eyes...} My outfit, but… I haven't seen him today… Turning around, I looked at the window in my office, to see him smiling at me, on his back, one of the cages I used to keep children and animals, and on his hands a gun.
"If you move, I will explode her!" I hissed, hoping he would believe this lie, for the EMP had fucked most of our equipment, meaning I didn't have the power to actually kill her by exploding the bomb at her heart.
Breaking the window that was supposed to be anti bullets with one hand, he hopped into the room with a wide smile, "With no power, how do you pretend to do that?" he hummed, "The way I see it… you don't have the power anymore…."
"Then what? You'll kill me?" I scoffed, even if he did, the moment we recovered power, Emily would die, and we would hunt him down, shackling back to his cage, "And here I thought you were smart… but don't worry, soon you will be retrained."
"Adorable," He chuckled, "But… I didn't come here to kill you… I came here to rip your hand off, the elevator needs your fingerprints, so… you know…" he winked.
Before I could reply to that statement, he slammed his hand against my neck, and with a serrated knife started to cut my right hand off, while keeping his lock on my neck so tight, I couldn't even scream…
"Well, off I go~" he whistled, hopping out of my office as I screamed in pain, he would die for this… he would! He would regret leaving me alive!
--
[Alex Walker POV]
You know the best part of having a minimap? That you know where your enemies are, at all times, especially if you know the place, which is the reason I had been able to find Romania so easily, and now with her hand, all I had to do was wait for the power to come back on, use the elevator and be free.
On my way to the elevator, I killed a few Hydra Agents, most didn't even have the time to react, mostly because none of them expected me to attack them, but sooner or later Romania would tell them it was me the one they had to hunt, but I was ready for that.
After killing around fifteen agents, I reached the elevator, where I took a seat in the ground and waited for the power to come back on, if my calculations were right, and if Stark Industries didn't lie about the duration of their EMP, in about three to two minutes the power would be back on, after all, this EMP was part of their products for small missions or something.
"I suppose my next plan will be getting the citizenship… or some semblance of legal paperwork… then again, having papers mean having tracks… maybe--" Before I could finish that idea, the power came back on, fucking Tony, lying to his customers, the EMP effect didn't last nine hours, it lasted eight and fifty minutes, I will demand a refund… then again, I didn't pay. With a chuckle I stood up, and pulling Romania's hand, I opened the elevator, "Thank you for handing me a hand Romania~" I laughed at my own lame joke. Inside the elevator, I pressed the button that would lead me to my freedom, as I danced to the elevator music, "This is my Jam~"
It took the elevator a few seconds to reach the top, where I for the first time in some time, took my first step as a free man, and ten started running, Usain Bolt style, for things were about to get… hot.
--
[Romania POV]
As soon as the power came back on, I knew what I had to do, Alex would die for his disobedience, but first he would see the child he came to care about die in a bloody mess, first he would feel the pain of losing a child! Grabbing the control remote to explode Emily, from the cameras in my office, I watched as he danced in the elevator with a goofy smile, fool he would see I was not to be messed with.
Granted he had cut my hand, probably thinking I would die out of blood loss, but I knew how to avoid death by such wounds, and here I stood, as powerful as ever.
I continued watching as he danced, and felt as if he had won, and all I could think of was… how sweet it would be to see him suffer after having a taste of freedom.
In a matter of seconds, the elevator opened at its destination, and with a hasty step, he ran out of the elevator, faster than I have ever seen him run.
"Time to die!" I laughed, smashing the button, but instead of Emily exploding, a loud noise coming from the dungeon was heard, followed by a fiery inferno of death that engulfed us all, so that's what he had done… well played...
--
[Alex Walker POV]
Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit shit! That was the only thought in my mind as I ran like a fucking madman, I knew the moment I stepped out of the elevator, Romania would detonate the bomb she thought was still inside Emily. But instead was now about the most explosive thing in their base, the big, massive, gas tank used for heating and other things.
And just as I had predicted, a few moments after I ran out of the elevator, she pressed that button, I mean if the fire coming out of the "antique shop" was anything to go by, oh yeah, apparently that was the cover for their base, an antique shop.
Anyway, the shop blew up, in a fiery show of death, it was quite satisfying.
[ Mandatory Quest Completed! = Escape Hydra!
Objective = Your plans to escape Hydra are already in motion, but even then you have to be careful, Hydra has ears everywhere, and will do it's best to keep you down.
Bonus Objective = Escape with Emily, the poor little girl shoved into your life.
Reward = 500000 EXP, 50000$
Failure = Death]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 55
EXP = 13875/25170
HP = 10000/10000
MP = 16500/16500
STR = 128
VIT = 100
DEF = 85
DEX= 145
INT = 165
CHA = 74
WIS = 130
WILL = 110
PER = 100
LUK = 59
STAT POINTS = 500
MONEY: 74500$
]
Holy shit, ten levels in one go, I feel like a cheater, which is good, I enjoy getting easy shit, "Well.. I better find a car, so that I can get the hell out of here…" I whistled, as I looked over my stats.
7 CHAPTER 7
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
Finally free from the shackles of Hydra, I stole a Ford Taurus parked a few blocks away from the base, and drove away without looking back, letting Emily get out of the cage. Of course, there was no need for her to be inside the cage now.
"Where are we going?" Emily asked from the back seat, as I drove.
I hummed at that, it was a very good question, where would we go? I really had no idea, I guess the world was our oyster now, I really didn't have a preference.
"I don't know… any suggestions?" I asked.
"Disney?" Emily offered with a giggle.
I chuckled at that, "Why not, Orlando seems like a reasonable place."
"Are you my dad now?" Emily asked all of the sudden, making me choke on my own saliva. "I know what the bad guys did, and… I was just wondering… you take care of me, and mommy used to say that's what a dad does, take care of you."
Well, it seems she knew more than she let on, "I… would you want me to be?" I replied.
"I don't know," Emily replied, her tone soft and vulnerable, "I know they are dead… that lady made sure I knew that…"
"Well, then let's not put titles to our relationship yet, just consider me your guardian for the moment being," I offered with a smile.
"That works!" Emily smiled.
I smiled at her through the rear view mirror of the car, "Orlando, here we go!"
--
[R. Keller POV - Director Of Shield]
The news spoke of a terrorist attack in Texas, an explosion without precedents that killed many, but I knew better than that, this was no common terrorist attack, something else was brewing, and I couldn't help but feel it was of great importance.
"Fury, I see you got my message," I said, as Nick Fury, one of my best agents entered my office.
"I have, sir." Fury nodded.
"Have you seen the news?" I asked, and he nodded.
"I have a feeling there is more to this attack than it meets the eye," I added, taking a seat on my office chair, as I served some whisky for me and Fury, "I need you to investigate this affair, whoever did this… is dangerous, and I need to know everything about them."
"You can count on me, sir." Fury replied.
"Good,"
--
[Alex Walker POV]
From Texas to Orlando, a one day drive to the place where magic exists, figuratively, I am talking about Disney World. "Are we there yet?"
I chuckled, "Nope, we still have quite some road to cover."
"Can we eat something?" Emily asked, and I nodded.
"WcDonalds? or Burger Duke," I asked with a chuckle.
Emily giggled at that, "Those places don't exist,"
"I know," I laughed, "Let's get you a happy meal."
As if on cue, a sign with the M of McDonald's pointed out I was half a mile away from a McDonalds. "Look! We are close to your meal."
"I want big fries!" Emily nodded eagerly, it would never cease to surprise me, that she was so innocent with everything that had happened to her.
"I want some too," Hydra had awful food, really awful food.
With a smile, I continued driving until I reached the McDonalds, and ordered our food, then we parked and started to eat, all while I was wondering what to do next, I mean, one thing was for sure, I had to level up, one does not simply stay idle with a power that lets you grow, but the real question was, what was my goal now.
Become a hero? A mercenary? I didn't know, I didn't know what motivated me now that I was free, I mean, in a way, I suppose I would never be truly free, Hydra was still out there, and would most likely hunt me down.
I guess that's a good goal, eliminating Hydra as a whole.
[ New Quest Created! = Eliminate the Hydra!
Objective = Destroy all the Hydra bases in the world, bringing down Hydra once and for all. 0/25 Bases
Bonus Objective = Do it without SHIELD figuring out who is doing it.
Reward = 1000000 EXP, 700000$
Failure = Death or Prison]
I laughed as the quest appeared, if I didn't know if I wanted to hunt those bastards down, now I know, that reward was quite tasty, and it would bring me immeasurable pleasure to see them die. Heck, I might even save the Winter Soldier in the process, just for kicks.
[ New Quest Created! = Dead or Alive!
Objective = The Winter Soldier is Hydra's most powerful weapon, you have but two options, killing him… or saving him, the choice is yours, the point is that dead or alive, he won't serve Hydra anymore.
Bonus Objective: Don't Get Captured.
Reward = 2000000 EXP, 700000$
Failure = Death, Brainwashing]
Dead or Alive, what a grim, but understandable concept, I highly doubted I was on a level where I could take the guy on, if his feats in the movies and comics were anything to go by, but unlike him, I am not frozen in time, and I can grow, I guess these two babies will have to wait, wait until I reach a level where I can actually do those quests, because none of them were at my current reach.
First, if I started attacking Hydra bases like a sexy badass, they would send him the Winter Soldier, so no, I wasn't looking for the thrill of having my ass kicked by a super soldier, not just yet, so the best plan at hands was, training and farming
Second of all, I needed to find a safe enough place to make my base, a place where Emily and I would be able to sleep without worrying Hydra Agents would pop out like porn ads on every website.
Three, I needed to find a way to level up without risking my life so fucking much, all my quest were like DO IT OR DIIIIIIEEEE, I mean, I like DarkSouls, but chill those edgy tits gamer power.
"Can I get some ice cream?" Emily asked, snapping me out of my trance.
"Yes," I nodded.
8 CHAPTER 8
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
Already in Orlando, I rented a two bedroom apartment close to the beach, and went to the nearest Room To Go to decorate Emily's room. What can I say, being a dad apparently is like a disease, it only gets worse, as for Emily, I was debating whether or not to put her in school, considering I still had no idea how safe we were.
Also, I had no papers so I didn't know how that would work. Maybe I could hire a private tutor to homeschool her. That could work.
"Can we go to the beach later?" Emily asked, using the most lethal weapon in a kid, her puppy eyes.
Fortunately for me, I was immune to that. "No, unfortunately we have to keep a low profile for the moment being, I have no idea if Hydra is tracking us, and I rather avoid open places for a while."
Emily nodded in understanding, "Then I will watch TV," she added, with a smile.
"Go ahead," I smiled.
As Emily went to the living room to watch some cartoons, I laid down on my bed and started to think, to plan, I needed a way to get levels without so many death flags on my back, a dungeon would be nice right about now, but I had no idea how to find one, or if my gamer skill had that function at all.
Maybe it was like in those games, like vanilla wow for example, where to access a dungeon you wanted you had to go where the dungeon in question was located and find the entrance, maybe that was the answer to my plights.
If that were to be the case, getting a map would be essential, because in those games the only way to find the entrance to a dungeon was through the map. I mean, either way I needed to complete the map in my system, I only had a very small part 'discovered' so regardless of the dungeon system, a map was my top priority, but not any map, a world one.
--
Leaving Emily in the house watching some Tom Jerry, I left for the nearest library in the zone to buy some maps, and maybe consume a book or two in the process if I saw something that caught my fancy, on the way, I kept an eye open for any Hydra agents, fortunately I saw none.
But along the way, I noticed something, most of the people walking around on the streets, or driving were between level one and level five, with kids in general being level one and level two, and the adults being between level three and level five.
Nothing important really, just a nice little bit of information, for if I ever saw someone above those levels, I knew to be… careful, for it was quite probably something was going on.
"Will this be all sir?" Tom, the sales associate of the bookstore I was currently in, asked.
"Yes," I nodded, paying him and leaving the store.
Once I was outside anyone's view, I consumed the maps, expanding the explored area of my map, from 0% to 100%, and I was glad to say, I was right. Orlando alone had two dungeons, I could see them on the map in my head, their icons were white skulls and if I hovered over them it would say Dungeon, heck one of them was very close.
"I'm gonna have some fun," I chuckled, getting inside my new car, oh yeah, I bought a car after I ditched the other one in a really, really, really abandoned area.
--
I drove to where the supposed dungeon was located, and immediately a pop up appeared saying the following.
[DUNGEON = ZOMBIE APOCALYPSE
RECOMMENDED LEVEL = 5-25
INFO = Be it by magic, or man made creation, you will face an apocalyptic event of catastrophic proportions. The plague had taken everyone, and with it, the world. Nothing is like it should be, so be aware that life as you know it has ceased to exist.
REWARD = By completing the dungeon you are given access to this dungeon at any given time through your menu. 1000$, 5000 EXP
ENTER = YES/NO]
Level 5-25, it probably means the dungeon scales depending on one's level, even then… I am sure I will one shot every undead inside, but it will be a great place to practice my abilities, maybe develop new ones, and finally decide what I want to be, a warrior, a mage, or maybe a battle mage, who knows.
With a smile, I smashed the YES button and immediately the world around changed, and I found myself in a place very similar to the starting place of LEAF 4 DEAD 2, at the top of a building, with some guns laying on a table.
[M1911 Pistol - Common]
[Machete - Common]
"If this place has a fucking Boomer type Zombie I will lose my shit," I shuddered, I hate the fat exploding bastard more than the Witch, his whole concept was disgusting, close second came the Spitter.
Taking a deep breath, I grabbed one of the guns left for me, alongside a machete, machete's were badass, not very functional, but badass. "Time to end this," I erupted in a giggle fit, this was probably every man's dream, to be in a zombie apocalypse without consequences, I mean, I was thirty levels above the max, this shit was going to be like a super realistic zombie game, and I couldn't wait.
Grinning in anticipation, I opened the door in front of me, and walked down the stairs, so far it was a carbon copy of L4D2, at the bottom of the stairs, there was another door, and once again, I kicked it.
Behind that door, several Zombies stood and started to walk towards me, and I grinned, blowing their brains out with my gun, and cutting their heads off with my machete, but as I was enjoying this, my fears came true, a fat monstrosity with short black hair wearing a navy blue shirt and brown pants stood at the end of the hall burping bile out, his clothes were stained with sweat and puke and were very stretched to breaking point around the his enormous gut.
"Fuck.." I shuddered in disgust, he looked like a giant pimple, and that was disgusting.
Turning around, the boomer lookalike started to run towards me, or the equivalent of what he could do, all while I took it like man! I… threw my most powerful attack at him in panic, vomit and Alex don't mix, I ain't gonna let anyone vomit on me. "Ooff sav--" before I could finish this sentence, a gooey pus-filled substance fell into my face with a loud splash like sound, the substance was sticky and smelly, smelling somewhat acidic, it did almost no damage, but… mentally, I was scarred, because some… of it, got in my mouth. "I'm gonna kill every last one of you." with a battle cry, and a mask in my mouth, I rushed into battle, for these Zombies had wronged the wrong gamer, for I was vindictive.
9 CHAPTER 9
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
[Nick Fury POV]
When I was given the mission to investigate what happened in Texas, I thought I would be dealing with your run of the mill terrorist attack, a normal day of work, my average motherfuckering monday, not that I would find out about something that should by all means be death, long forgotten, and buried under the past, Hydra.
The Antique shop that had exploded, destroying many other places around, was nothing but a cover, the real deal was inside, under the store. A massive base with five floors, one that I assumed was the place where those bastards lived everyday, the other ones, for research and data storage.
"You see this?" the agent assigned to help me, Tom Rimick asked, as I turned around to see what he was pointing at. His hand was pointing to the server room.
Hundreds were dead, most of them permanently stuck in eternal fright, burnt to a crisp, making out of them statues of the expression of pain, but the one thing that had survived was their server, well.. Barely, the thing was mostly coal by this point, but I have seen our techs work with worse things and get some info out of it.
"Whoever did this, must hate Hydra as much as SHIELD during its founding years," I whistled.
"Don't we also hate Hydra?" Tom inquired, with a confused tone. Does this motherfucker doesn't understand a joke?
"Yes, but it is an inherited hate, I mean… until today I thought these motherfuckers were extinct, or close to extinction, but I guess these bitches stick to the mythos, hard to kill, hard to deal with." Humoring him, I answered, walking to the exit, "Tell the recovery group I want this server and any document that was not burnt in our base by the end of the week."
"Where are you going?" Tom asked, why was I partnered with such a slow man, I swear I'm about to slap his white ass if he keeps making stupid questions.
"Whoever did this shit, planned this shit to happen how it happened, and I refuse to believe whoever took an entire based of fully trained soldiers died with them, so I will go out and investigate," I answered, "If I were him, I would've stolen a car, something common to not get any unwanted attention, something like a Ford Taurus, I hear is quite popular these days, and cheap."
"I see," Tom smiled.
"Remember I want every piece of information in this fucking base in our base by the end of the week," I reminded him, as I walked out of the room.
--
[Alex Walker POV]
The two dungeons in Orlando were low level dungeons, nothing that would help me level up fast, but it did help me to level up my skills, and it did give me some new skills, two those things to be honest are almost as important if not more important than your level itself.
[Mana Bolt - Active - LV 25 = Focusing your energy, you fire a bolt of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 200 mana. Damage based on INT and level of skill. Damage = INT * skill level = 165 * 25 = 3300
Mana Arrow - Active - LV 24 = Focusing your energy, you fire an arrow of pure mana at your enemies. Costs 380 mana. Damage based on INT and level of skill * 1.5. Damage = INT * skill level = (165 * 24) * 1.5 = 5940
Focused Strike - Active - LV 23 = Focusing your physical might, you charge your fists, legs or any other part of your body with great power, delivering a mighty blow to your opponent, the longer the charge the higher the damage output. Damaged Based on STR and level of skill, fully charged Focused Strike hit 30% more. Damage = STR * skill level = 131 * 23 = 1000 - 3013 30% buff = 3916.9
Charge Time = 0 - 4 seg.
Beast Strike - Active - LV 12 = The user lunges at the target with great speed, punching them to deal them 120% STR 120% DEX 120% VIT, healing for the amount dealt. = 445.1
Cooldown = 3 seconds.
The Hunt - Passive - LV 7 = The user senses all enemies around him in a two mile radius who are below or nearing their 50% of their maximum health, giving the user 17% buff of movement speed when running or heading towards the target and a 7% damage boost against them.
Life Strike - Passive - LV 5 = Every third basic attack heals for 50% of STR VIT = 120.
]
So far those were my offensive kills, not many, but I was happy with them. As I pondered about how happy I was with all of this, something happened, the camera I had installed in my door flashed with movement, as someone neared the door, two men, one in a wheelchair, and a girl.
"Emily, go to your room, now." I ordered, and immediately she did as I said.
From the cameras, I couldn't see their levels, so I had to act carefully. Taking a deep breath, and my gun, I approached the door, and looked through the peephole, and what I saw surprised me.
[Charles F Xavier LV 160] - [Jean Grey LV 151] - [Scott Summers LV 54]
What were the X-Men doing here?! Not that this is necessarily bad, but… it certainly unexpected. "We are not here to hurt you, Mr. Walker,"
I pondered over my options, and decided to open the door. I might as well be friendly, "Can I help you all?" I asked with a smile.
"We are the ones that want to help you," Charles Xavier, aka Professor X, looked like he was in his fifties, though his baldness was still there.
"That's quite the statement," I sighed, as I moved out of the door to allow them passage, "In what way, Mr.?"
"I know you know my name," Charles smiled, rolling his chair to my living room.
Fucking mind readers, "What a grand discovery," I smiled.
"I apologize, but if it's any consolation, I can't read beyond your surface thoughts, your mind is quite the maze... I reckon it would take me days to access anything, not that I will…" Charles chuckled.
"Professor!" Jean hissed at him as if he had embarrassed her with his behavior.
"Don't worry Jean," Scott chuckled, "The professor is just trying to be funny."
"Look, not that I don't enjoy the social visit, but… why are you here?" I asked, trying to get them back to the point.
"We know you are a mutant," Hurray, another person managed to track me based on my DNA smell or something. I am thrilled that everyone with a bit of money and resources can track me. I guess after this visit I will start seeing houses in other states.
"Yes, I know… I already had some… difficult circumstances because of it," I chuckled.
"You're in pain," Charles replied, shaking me out of my game, "Believe me, I am trying not to read your mind… but your pain is so big… I can feel it without even trying… so is the pain of the little girl that lives with you…"
"I suppose," I shrugged, "These days I am more concerned with other things… I really don't have the time to get all emo and stuff, so… yes, I am in pain, but that won't stop my sexy attitude,"
"Sexy?" Scott snorted, "Someone needs a mirror."
"Look laser tag boy, zip it before I give you pink eye," I challenged with a smirk.
"Scott, please don't antagonize him," Charles sighed.
"Fine," Scott chuckled, he knew I was playing, that's how friendships start, by threatening each other, ahh, high school.
"Would you like to hear our offer?" Charles said, and I sighed.
"Sure, why not." I nodded, taking a seat.
10 CHAPTER 10
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
I heard what Charles Xavier had to say, he wanted me to go to his school on the grounds I was a mutant, an offer I politely declined on the foundation it would only hurt me in the long run, I knew based on how Charles looked, and how Jean looked, that the X-Men would disappear in a few years, after the events of Dark Phoenix, and I really didn't want to meddle in those cosmic affairs at least not yet, God knows how powerful the Phoenix Force is.
But, that wasn't to say I didn't see the good on his offer, it just didn't work out for me how it was planted. So I made him a counter offer of sorts, I would let him 'help me' once a month if he offered Emily sanctum in his school, why did I propose this? Well, with Hydra possibly hunting my ass, there was no school in the world safer than his in terms of battle power, I mean, mutants are quite the powerful beings.
Happily he accepted, mostly because he thought with time he would convince me to go full time, so we sealed the deal, and hours later, I moved to a house close to his school, one that he owned and rented to me, it was like two blocks away, quite convenient to pick up Emily after school and stuff, though more than not, she would stay in the school in a room of her own while I leveled up.
"So now we are babysitters, great," Scott sighed in annoyance. "She's not even a mutant."
"That's it," It took me eight hours, to get tired of his annoying behavior. At first I tolerated his stupidity to some extent, but in a matter of hours, I changed from tolerating him, to wanting to pepper spray him.
"What?" Scott scoffed, as I proceeded to pepper spray him. He would regret taking his normal glasses today. "AHHHHHHHHH! YOU BASTARD!"
[PEPPER SPRAY ATTACK DEALT CRITICAL DAMAGE]
"Scott!" Jean rushed to him, as he suffered from my attack, turning at me, she growled, "What is wrong with you!?"
"Look, I deal with bullshit on a daily basis, and your basic ass boyfriend has pushed me long enough… I don't care why he thinks acting like an eighties teenager is cool, and I don't care the fact he doesn't like me, heck, the feeling is mutual, but if he thinks he can annoy people without consequences well, he's wrong, very wrong."
"You are annoying me… a lot… so can I also act on it?" Jean hissed.
"Hey, be my guest," I shrugged. "He's been acting like an animal trying to contest for an alpha spot or something, my conclusion? He's probably so insecure he thinks I represent a threat in terms of dating… and because of that has been poking me with a metaphorical stick, so… do your worst."
"You will pay for this," Scott who had finally recovered growled, as he stood from the ground ready to fight.
"Children stop!" Charles' voice boomed in the area, fucking telepathy.
"I was defending my honor, and my daughter's honor, I regret nothing." I chuckled, as I saw the professor approach on his wheelchair.
"Why are we even bothering with him?" Scott sneered, "He's not even committing to our cause like the rest of us, and still we have to babysit his non-mutant child?! What are we now? The X-Babysitters?!"
"Scott, first of all, you are not babysitting anyone, the staff is." Charles sighed, "Second, Mr. Walker has things he has to deal with before feeling safe within our walls, things he can't share, things I won't force him to share, things I don't know, but I know are important, and third… the X-Babysitters, it has a nice ring to it… also, why is her non-mutant state a problem on this equation?"
Scott, visibly shocked at the Professor's answers, took a step back, "It's not… I just… I don't like how he's using us…"
"Need I remind you… you guys came knocking at my door?" I chuckled.
"That is also true, you see Scott… I am fascinated with the reads I got from his powers… one of a kind, really… I don't even understand them… and besides, I feel like taking care of little Emily will do good for us, planting a seed of love and care in the heart of a human… it might spread, she might in the future be the human to bring mutants and humans together…" Charles smiled.
"Emily for president huh?" I hummed, "I liked it," I nodded in approval, my child would be president, yes she would.
"Adorable," Jean chuckled.
"Jean!?" Scott muttered.
"What? I am angry at him, but he does act adorable when it comes to Emily," Jean chuckled.
"He does," Charles nodded.
Adorable? Me? Men are not adorable, men are handsome! Badass, and sexy.
--
After that altercation with the laser tag boy, I left Emily in her room in the X-Men facility and explained to her what was happening, that I needed to take care of the bad guys that had hurt us, and that as soon as there were no bad guys to hurt us, I would come for her.
As for what I would do now that Emily was relatively safe, well, I would grind my way to the top, I mean, I already had an idea of how powerful some people were, with Jean Grey, and Charles Xavier being above the 130s, so I had a goal already in mind.
The question now was, what would I build? Mage, warrior, summoner, what would define my path to the top, that was a hard decision, and the reason why I hadn't spent my stat points yet, I needed to find something that worked for me, a build that I would be comfortable with.
"Maybe I should take inspiration from Skyrim, or Final Fantasy, DD?" I hummed, deep in thought, imagining the endless possibilities of this endeavor, how fun… I could hardly wait.
11 CHAPTER 11
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
[TWO MONTHS LATER]
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 59
EXP = 3875/194512
HP = 10000/10000
MP = 16500/16500
STR = 138
VIT = 110
DEF = 95
DEX= 155
INT = 175
CHA = 84
WIS = 140
WILL = 115
PER = 105
LUK = 69
STAT POINTS = 540
MONEY: 54500$
]
Soon after I left Emily with the Professor, I left to explore the states doing any dungeons I found along the way, the majority of them being below my level, but one or two had been just right, level wise, which was the sole reason I had been able to level up a few times during this short amount of time, heck I even learned a new skill, [Telekinesis LV 10]
Today, I was on my way to meet with Charles Xavier, for my monthly therapy session with him, as per our agreement. I was also going to see Emily, it had been around two weeks since I saw her, and I had promised to take her to the park after my session with the professor.
"Well, here goes nothing," I sighed, as I saw the X-Mansion ahead, turning the turn signals to the right, I took the path into the mansion, parking a few meters away from the entrance.
"I was waiting for you, Mr. Walker," Charles said telepathically as I entered his school, never going to get used to that, it's… it feels weird.
"Charles, please use your outside voice," I reminded him with a slightly annoyed tone, as I made my way to his office, walking past the mutant students without stopping.
"Mr. Walker, there is no need to feel annoyed, think of this as a better telephone, than the actual telephones," Charles chuckles echo within my mind as I opened his office.
"Telephone?" I snorted, "I suppose you two share the same values, privacy wise," I chuckled, taking a seat in one of the many chairs of his office, close to his desk.
"That's just hurtful," Charles smiled, serving me a drink, whisky on the rocks.
"My therapist giving me alcohol," I smiled, "This is the type of therapy I like." Taking the drink, I took a sip from its contents, savoring every moment of it. If there was one thing the professor was good at, it was having good alcohol. I guess rich people have access to the best stuff after all.
"Let's start our session shall we?" Charles smiled, moving his wheelchair around, settling in front of me.
"Ask away doc," I nodded, putting the whisky on the table to my right.
"Why do you think killing Hydra will set you free?" During our first session, I had told him about Hydra, not because I wanted to, but because Emily was in danger, and as their guardians when I was not around, they needed to know.
"Well, because that's quite literally the case," I sighed, "I worked for them, against my will for a while, you know that…" At this I scratched the back of my head, remembering my time with them, "They probably think I am dead… but the moment that belief breaks… I will be forced to run, for they will hunt me."
"But would killing them set you free?" Charles asked once again, his eyes locking into mine, "I understand the reason why you must or feel like you must kill them, believe me I do, I have… had a friend that would wholeheartedly share that sentiment with you, and to a degree I can understand the need of your quest, but… my quest is, would killing them set you free? Free of your pain… your hate… your suffering?"
I laughed, "No, I suppose it would not, what they did to me will forever be a part of me, but don't think I will let that define me, I will kill them not because I feel it will set me free, but because they need to die," I sighed, "They are monsters Charles, real monsters… they experiment on humans and mutants alike, tearing them apart, piece by piece, rebuilding them in their image… they are the worst facet of humanity as a whole…"
"Such a terrible fate," Charles sighed, "You know, Mr. Walker, I am… very much against killing, I feel every time we kill someone, we take a step back in our evolution, a step back in our long journey towards acceptance… but, this goes beyond that… right?"
"Sometimes, killing is the only option," I sighed, rolling my eyes at his greater good bullshit, "They are a disease, and I am the cure."
"I suppose in a way, that is also true," Charles sighed. "But at what cost?"
"Do get all sad," I chuckled, "If I kill Hydra the government will love mutants, they hate Hydra more than they hate us, well… that is if I reveal myself to the public, otherwise they will never know it was me."
"I know, it's just that I don't want people to accept us for such reasons, it would set a bad precedent, some would love us… others would fear us, and some would see us as simple weapons," Charles replied.
"Did you get your title out of a cereal box?" I snorted, "That's already the case, some love us, some hate us, and some only see us as weapons, you are really out of touch with what is going on in the world right?"
"Perhaps I am, but I know what this usually leads to. I saw a friend walk down the same path you are walking… and he didn't accomplish anything… but isolation," GOD. FUCKING. DAMN IT, when will this bald fucker stop comparing me to Magneto, I do not want to kill humanity as a whole, but Hydra, who the fuck loves Hydra, who the fuck cares about Hydra.
"Look… I am not Erik," I replied much to his surprise, "Yes, I know who he is, and frankly I am insulted you compare me to him, unlike him, I only want to destroy those who will destroy me if don't destroy them first, and frankly I know this is but our second session, but… I don't think you are in any position of telling me what is or what is not morally right… considering you do nothing to help those who are really suffering,"
Insulted, Charles took a deep breath calming himself, "I do what I do, for the sake of our kind!"
"Where were you when they torture me for months, breaking my bones, spirit and more, where were you and your high standing?" I asked, "Where were you when hundreds of our 'kind' were killed on their bases?" I sighed, "I don't blame you for not saving me, or them… but please get out of that high horse, life is not as black and white as you think it is… there are grey lines… where people like me have been forced to reside… and in those lines, there is no other option but to fight, or die."
"What will Emily think?" Charles asked, "Would she understand what you are doing?"
At this, I growled as I slammed my fist into the chair, breaking the wooden chair in half, "You think yourself so smart… you think yourself so righteous about the truths of the world, and yet you try and use my own child against me? By all means keep walking down that path, Hydra did… I wonder how that worked for them…"
"There is no need for threats, Mr. Walker," Charles replied.
"That was no threat," I snorted, taking my whiskey, "But seriously, until you actually have a solution to my problems that doesn't require killing, please do shut up, so far your self righteous bullshit is nothing but political propaganda, all talk with no results."
"Very well, at least you, unlike Erik, are open to other paths, albeit reluctantly," Charles muttered, "I will try to find a path that ensures your safety, and Emily's…"
"Charles!" Before I could reply, the door to Charles's office was opened in a violent mode, as Raven entered the scene, "We have a call from the president!"
[ Mandatory Quest = The Phoenix Force
Objective = The X-Men are about to face their most formidable and powerful foe, cosmic forces come into play, and the very fabric of reality is at a risk. Help the X-Men during this mission, fight for the sake of the world!
Reward = 5000000 EXP, 500000$, ????
Failure = Death, Earth's Destruction]
"GOD DAMN IT!" I muttered.
"What?" Charles muttered confused at my reaction.
"Look, I know it is your time with him but…" Raven started, but I stopped her midway.
"I will help you guys with this mission," I hissed, pretending to be happy.
"How do you know?" Raven muttered, already assuming I knew.
"My power… don't question it, I can see the future, yeah let's go with that," I replied, avoidable no the truth, well, not completely, I mean, I knew the outcome if I didn't help, so… kind of? "And I saw myself helping, and not helping, and you know what happens if I don't help?"
"You die," Charles answered for me, "If only I could read more from your mind,"
"For the last time, no, I won't let you read beyond my surface thoughts, and that's because there is no ad blocker for your probing," I knew he could read beyond them, but it would take him some effort to do so.
"Charles?" Raven pressed.
"He can help," She had yet to… oooh, sometimes I forget he reads minds of everyone else.
"Can he? We don't even know what powers he has, beyond possible fortune telling," Raven replied.
"I can do lots of things, like hearing you for example," I chuckled. "Consider me an intern for this mission only."
12 CHAPTER 12
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
If you want a mass release, UwU vote. The Dark Phoenix arc ends in chap 19!
--
One thing led to another with my new quest, and in the blink of an eye, I was in the X-Men Jet on my way to space to help a bunch of astronauts, cool right? I mean, I knew the only reason why Charles had let come in this mission with his special group of mutants was because he wanted to convince me of joining the X-Men for a reason I had yet to understand, no other reason, and I also knew he thought that if I saw how much good his little group did for the world, I would perhaps be persuaded to join him on his quest of mutant equality.
Sitting on the chair assigned to me, I laid my head on one of the only windows on the Jet, and witnessed as we soared into the sky leaving a column of white smoke on our wake as we neared the atmosphere, feeling the powerful engine of the plane roar with might with every passing second.
"Out here, you follow our order newbie," Scott said in a rather condescending tone.
To which, I ignored him.
Soon enough, the X-Jet started to shake, probably because we were leaving the earth's atmosphere that was desperately trying to keep us on our planet.
"I think this is not as much fun as I thought it would be!" Nightcrawler muttered, his tail twitching nervously. [Kurt Wagner - Nightcrawler LV 51]
Inwardly chuckling at that, I focused my attention on someone I didn't know how to explain, Quicksilver, [Pietro Maximoff - Quicksilver LV 101] he was here, but if that was the case, where was Wanda? Were there two Quicksilvers? Or was the other quicksilver an imitation of this quicksilver, fuck so many questions, and so little answers. Heck, they even shared the same name.
Then again, Hydra was supposedly involved in the making of both Wanda, and Pietro, MCU wise, perhaps they cloned them? It would be plausible, or perhaps they captured them after the events of X-Men, and brainwashed them to think their origins were different… fuck it, I suppose I won't get my answers staring at him.
"You scared buddy?" Quicksilver asked, glancing around nervously.
"Not really," I answered, lying through my teeth. I was about to come face to face with the Phoenix Force, and I was understandably scared.
"You lie," Jean said, holding Scott's hand.
"Mind reading?" I chuckled.
"Surface level," Jean nodded, gripping the strap of her seatbelt with her free hand.
"I will start thinking of porn if you keep doing that," I winked, getting a glare from Scott. "My mind my rules,"
Turning my attention back to the window, I noticed as the X-Jet reached the darkness of space with a final violent shake, seconds after the X-Jet thrusters stopped firing as Beast stopped pushing the pedal, leaving us floating above the planet in an motionless manner as ice crystal started to form in all of the windows, including the windshield.
"Is… that a solar flare?" Raven muttered. [Raven LV 71]
"I've never seen a reading like this before," Hank replied, [Hank - Beast - LV 69]
"Let's save the astronauts and let's get out of here…" Quicksilver muttered, as the X-JET floated gently towards the spinning USA space shuttle.
All the while, I started to wonder why the universe hated me, couldn't they wait for me to be level… I don't know, a thousand?
"Kurt, can you get in there?" Raven asked.
"I can't it's spinning too fast, I can't see inside," Kurt replied
"Scott, I need you to blast that thruster," Raven sighed, turning to Scott. "Slow down the spin,"
Nodding, the seat where he was seated moved, to a room underneath the one we were currently in.
"Is it wise to blast an already broken spacecraft?" I muttered.
"We don't have any other choice," Raven replied.
Soon after she said that, a laser was shot into the shuttle, effectively slowing its spinning motion down.
"Kurt take Peter, go!" Raven ordered, and immediately after, Kurt and Pietro teleported out of sight.
"The space shuttle is losing oxygen," I said, I mean… the thing looked like a party balloon dying.
"Storm, seal those cracks!" Raven nodded.
Taking a deep breath, [Ororo Munroe - Storm LV 102, did as she was told, her eyes turning white in the process, creepy.
Two seconds later, both Kurt and Pietro reappeared with the astronauts. Gotta love super speed, it sure is handy. "That was fast," I whistled, wondering why I had come to this mission, I mean, in retrospect this was not the event I had to stop, I could've skipped this.
"I know," Pietro nodded with a smirk, strapping his seatbelt on.
"Strap in, we are heading home," Raven sighed, happy the mission had gone well, little did she know there was someone still inside.
"I can still feel someone inside," I announced.
"I thought your power was premonitions or something," Scott said.
"It's… complicated, but yes, there is someone inside," I repeated.
"He's right, our commander is still there," A female astronaut said, confirming my point. [Anna Love LV 15, "He's on the airlock, working on the thruster."
"I don't like being the ass, but that cosmic storm is already disintegrating the ship… going back would be quite literally a suicide," Nothing against the guy still on the spacecraft, but… part of Jean's downfall was dying on that ship thanks to the Phoenix Force, if I can avoid that, perhaps I can finish my quest without unnecessary effort.
"He's right, the heat signature is rising fast," Beast nodded.
"I can't hold it any longer," Storm muttered, her body trembling.
"I'm sorry…" Raven muttered, "But we gotta get out of here… strap in."
Yes, Raven has a brain! Before I could actually rejoice in things going my way, mister high horse invaded our minds, "No, Raven. No. We're not leaving anyone behind, remember our duty."
"Surviving is also important," I hissed with a strained smile, "Nothing against their commander, but we saved the majority!" I don't know why I said we, I have done nothing but watch.
"Alex is risk, going back is a suicide, and I am not putting this team in any more danger," I am loving Raven more and more by the passing second.
"I know he has a point, but what about their team?" Fucking manipulator, I swear to god, I will slap him, "Jean and Mr. Walker can hold that shuttle together…" say what now?
"How did you…" I muttered, I had learned that a month ago inside a dungeon, how to move things with my mind, how the fuck did he… that bastard is watching me.
"I know you have telekinetic powers Mr. Walker," Charles added, "You can help Jean… you can save lives."
"I can also shove a boulder down your throat for spying on me," I hissed.
"That for later… but for now, please help Jean save that man," Charles said and I sighed, if something happened, I would simply teleport inside one of my dungeons, but then again, why risk it.
"You overestimate my powers, I can at much lift a single person. I am versatile but nowhere near as powerful as Jean," I replied, dismissing the idea of helping her.
"You know you can do anything you set your mind to," Yeah, that's not how things work you bald bitch.
"But you can tell me where he is…" Fuck you Kurt.
"Fine, but if I die, I am haunting your asses," I sighed, "Also, I am gonna stick with you," I knew Kurt managed to escape the Phoenix Storm, so with him I would stay.
"They have a minute!" Beast shouted, and in the blink of an eye, Kurt teleported us to the breaking shuttle.
As Jean started to reassemble the ship with her powers, Kurt looked at me and asked, "Where?"
"Down there, thirty meters to the left!" Eager to leave this place, I answered my hand planted on his shoulder.
Nodding, Kurt teleported to where the commander was, and grabbed him, teleporting us back in front of Jean, but before he was able to grab her, the cosmic storm suddenly moved faster reaching the spacecraft in less than a second, blasting Kurt, the Commander and I against one of the walls, and for a brief moment before Kurt teleported in panic back to the X-JET I saw it, [Phoenix Force LV ???]
"I hate you all," I muttered, gasping for air, that little love tap the fucking cosmic being had delivered on my body had depleted me of my mana and some of my HP.
"Where is she?!" Scott demanded, and once again I ignored him, for apparently the Phoenix Force wanted Jean, I mean, why else would it suddenly double its speed.
"I'm sorry…" Kurt apologized, his claw pointing to the spacecraft.
"Brace for impact!" Beast shouted, while I drank a mana potion, ready to leave this place into a dungeon should the necessity come to happen.
But before the Phoenix Force came to claim our booties… their booties, the flare coming our way changed course to the USA spacecraft. Standing up, I focused my attention on the spaceship, as I saw Jean's HP begin to drop non-stop, the entire cosmic storm tearing her atom by atom, and when her HP reached the 0% percent, the entire spacecraft exploded.
Perhaps this was one of those absolute points in time What If Marvel said, Jean becoming the host of the Phoenix Force.
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 0%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 1%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 3%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 7%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 15%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 33%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 57%]
[Jean Grey LV 151
HP = 76%]
And so it begins, awesome…. I feel like a golden fish about to square up against a fucking shark… maybe I can be a shocking hazard to this cosmic shark.
13 CHAPTER 13
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
After my live action recap of the beginning of the Dark Phoenix in space, I was left to think what would I do next, in space, I decided to simply be a spectator of this unique event, someone to observe the circumstances evolving without interfering, because I knew I couldn't really interfere, I mean what was I supposed to do? The Phoenix Force was a sentient cosmic being, a God with powers beyond my comprehension, had I actually interfered, and avoided Jean going there and absorbing that, the Phoenix Force would've simply followed us, because it wanted her, from birth she was already connected to the Phoenix Force, and with this, her connection had grown, turning her into the one and only host of this particular cosmic entity for this universe.
"What am I supposed to do," I sighed, reading the quest over and over again, I mean how the fuck was I supposed to avoid the end of the world, all of this was well beyond my paycheck, and to make matters worse, the quest was really vague, like, what was my role, what part did I had to take part in.
As I tried to make sense of this and find answers in my issue, someone tapped me in the shoulder, turning around, I saw no other than Ororo standing behind me with a smile, "You seemed stressed," [Ororo Munroe - LV 102]
"That's selling it short," I laughed.
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Ororo asked.
"Not really," I sighed, "So… whatcha doing here?" I asked changing the subject.
"Well, we are having a party to celebrate our success, and I thought you might want to come." a party right now, I don't think that's a good idea.
"I don't know, maybe?" I replied.
"Come on, you helped us, you were part of the group," Hardly, with or without my intervention the events that unfolded would've had happened, I was simply a spectator. "Come on, everyone wants to know the single dad of such an amazing little girl," weaponizing Emily, well played.
"Fine," I chuckled.
Smiling, Ororo grabbed my hand and started to walk towards the party outside the mansion, when all of the sudden the shockwave of an explosion that came from outside the X-Mansion knocked us down, "I will assume that was not the shockwave of your killing speakers." I groaned on the floor, already knowing who was the responsible one for this, Jean.
Ororo looked at me worried, and exclaimed, "We must be under attack!"
"Hardly," I sighed, "I know that psychic push, it was Jean…"
"Are you sure?" Ororo asked, the worry on her face still there, albeit lower, and I nodded.
"Let's go," I said, standing up and running to see how Jean was doing, all while I pondered, if I should let them know what we were dealing with, or not. After all, I had no idea what sharing that information would do in the great scheme of things.
--
I saw as they took Jean to her room, unconscious, her level already fluctuating, a few hours ago, she was [LV 151, now she was [LV 191, her powers, her connection to the cosmic was evolving, soon, no one would be able to hold her down, not anymore, and that frightened me, for once she truly breaks free, she would have in her hands the power to end the world with a move of her hands.
For a moment, I even considered killing her, right there… when she was at her weakest, but the fact remained I didn't know if she could be killed at all, the Phoenix Force was called that for a reason, it could destroy and rearrange atoms at will, and there was a big chance the cosmic entity would save her, and a even bigger chance she would kill me afterwards.
"Is she okay?" I heard Ororo ask Scott, who nodded in worry.
"She's… stable, according to Hank, but… I'm still scared something is wrong with her, maybe that flare did something to her…" Scott said, as I inwardly chuckled, if only he knew how fucked we were, and that our destiny all depended on how good a fragile teenage girl would take all of this.
I guess there is a good side to this, if I survive, fighting the likes of Thanos will feel like a summer day in a spa, at least he is no God, on a Titan, a Mad one..
"Da- Alex," the sweet little voice of my adopted daughter got my attention, she was in her pajamas, holding her teddy bear tight, and judging by her expression, she was scared, probably the shockwave of Jean's tantrum woke her up.
"Is everything alright sweety?" I asked, walking up the stairs to her.
"I heard an explosion… and thought they were coming for us, so… I hid until I could find you," Well now that breaks my heart, "Are we safe?"
"We are," I lied, carrying her in my arms, "Now, let's go to your room."
"Ok," Emily nodded.
"Well that's just precious," Ororo commented.
"I suppose," I chuckled, running my fingers through Emily's hair.
"Hey, don't feel bad, chicks dig that, the loner type with a heart of gold, I might even be at risk here," Ororo chuckled.
"Haha," I laughed, "Funny," with that I left to Emily's room to read her a story.
"Alex," Emily muttered.
"Yes?" I replied with a smile.
"Is she your girlfriend?" Not gonna lie, I almost choked at that.
"No, besides, I would never get a girlfriend without letting you do her background check," I winked, "I can't date anyone without your seal of approval." I added with a small smile.
"Well… I like her, she reads me stories, and does magic for me, like drying my hair with her hands or making ice for my soda," Emily smiled, as she started to go into detail why Ororo was the best, alongside Raven, not even seven and she's already trying to marry me to someone, they sure grow fast.
14 CHAPTER 14
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
Next morning, I was awakened by Ororo Munroe to help them retrieve Jean, who had run away during the night. Taking a deep breath I decided to help them, this time for good. Maybe if I stopped Raven from dying in the following events things would change, I needed them to change, I was not ready to die or have Emily die on me.
Inside the X-Jet, I began to plan for every possible scenario, and how I could act upon it, I knew Jean was stronger than me, even without her connection to the Phoenix Force, meaning right now she was totally out of my league, but even in my own weakness, there were still things I could do to achieve my own personal quest, saving Raven, that was my only reason for being here with them right now, I mean… retrieving Jean? Laughable, right now she was at a level she could take us all.
"You know something," Charles said, getting my attention. "Your mind… is agitated… I can feel it…"
"I am understandably stressed," I shot back, "Jean is powerful, and now according to you, beyond your control, so… you can understand my agitated state." I added, reminding him of what he had told the team before getting in the jet.
"No… you know something we don't, I can feel it!" Charles pressed, getting everyone's attention on me.
"How about we focus on what you did and know, that Jean herself doesn't know?" I growled, this conversation was getting out of hand.
"What do you know?" Scott demanded.
Rolling my eyes, I ignored him, when all of the sudden, I started to get a headache, and from my side view saw Charles staring at me, his left hand on his temple, "I don't know what you know… but if it can help us save Jean, I need to know, so open your mind to me… and this won't hurt." Each passing second, the pain I was feeling started to grow stronger and stronger, to the point I felt I was back with Edward in that lone room within Hydra.
"You think," I hissed, pain throbbing in my head like a knife on the heart, bleeding with each passing second, "That I will… bend to you? I didn't bend to Hydra old man! I will not bend you!" angered, I started to make my way towards him.
"I'm sorry, but this… this all goes beyond my promise to you, I need to help her… and I know you know more… I can feel it…" Before he could continue, before I could reach him, planning to stab the man on the eye, Raven stood up, and slapped him with enough power to shake him off my hand, heck she even drew some blood.
"Charles, that's enough!" Raven said, her tone cold and angry.
"After we solve Jean's situation, I am gone," I growled, feeling Charle's grasp on my mind disappear, "And thank the gods I don't want to kill you, not because I don't want too, but because you are not worth it."
"As if you could," Scott scoffed.
"I was trained to kill, not to fight brat," I smiled, "All it takes is one single moment, and he's dead… but I am beyond that, I promised myself my time in hell would not define me… besides like I said, he is not worth it," I hissed.
Scott growled, and before he could do anything, Raven slapped him, loving this woman more and more by the second, "Is this what we are now?"
"Raven, I can feel he knows something," Charles muttered, trying to convince her, "He is hiding what he knows… and it could help us!"
"I will admit, I do know more than any of you about all of this," I stated, getting everyone's attention, "But… my knowledge of what is happening it's at best a cup of water of the sea of information we need to help her… so yes, I know things, but no… none of those things can help Jean, only Jean can help herself," I swear to God I will castrate that crippled bastard by the end of this ridiculously difficult mission.
--
The rest of the trip was spent in silence, all while I fought the urge of wanting to kill Charles, if all but body he had tried to * me, to violate the santity of my mind, my knowledge, did he really thought I was so selfish not to share, the only reason I didn't share was because I knew nothing I knew would help at all.
The information on the Phoenix Force I had was useless, all I knew was that the cosmic entity inside Jean was beyond our power, and that she was her host, nothing more, nothing less, that didn't help, but it could certainly make the situation worse.
"Is it true?" Ororo asked.
"What?" I asked.
"That nothing you know can help her?" Ororo elaborated.
"Yes, believe me, if I could help her… if there was a way to solve all this with a snap, I would," Well, the infinity stones could do that, but that was also beyond my pay grade, for now.
"I believe you," Ororo smiled.
"Well, that makes you the only one," I chuckled.
"We are here," I heard Beast say, his tone carrying a lot of weight.
"Well… let's see how it goes," I sighed, mentally preparing for combat.
Outside the Jet, I could see Jean standing outside the porch of what I assumed was her dad's house, her eyes changing colors for a brief second for her natural color to orange. [Jean Grey LV 227]
"You shouldn't have come here," Jean said, in a dangerous tone.
"Why is that? We've only come to bring you home, Jean." Charles replied.
"I don't have a home… you made sure of that." Jean hissed.
"I know you are mad, believe me, he tried to mind * me a few minutes ago, but… you do need some help," I said, if I was to be here, I might as well take an active role on this shit.
"What do you know about helping others?" Jean laughed, "I mean, just last night… you were debating if you wanted to kill me or not…" what in the actual fuck.
"He might not be able to read your mind, but I can… at least better than him," Jean growled, "You fear me… you fear the power I have in me… and the truth is… you should."
"You were debating what?!" Scott roared.
"Now is not the time!" I hissed at him.
"Jean, don't trust him.. Trust us…" Charles said, changing the focus back to him, "We only want what is best for you…"
"Like with my father?" Jean hissed, her eyes shining with power. "You only ever wanted me for my powers!"
"Jean… you don't have to trust me, but please… read me," I knew this was risky, but if letting her know the nature of her power could help, then maybe just maybe we would skip all of this.
"No," Jean replied, and with a move of her hand, pushed me into the air for Kurt to catch me.
"Jean, this is not you!" Scott cried.
"The police are coming," I announced, seeing the cops on my minimap.
"Scott… I…" Jean muttered, but before she could finish her reply, the police cars I had felt approaching started to approximate her, which in turn trigger something inside her, and with a loud wail of anger, and her powers getting out of control she exploded sending a powerful telekinetic wave, "STAY AWAY FROM ME! ALL OF YOU!"
15 CHAPTER 15
If you want to read up to 30 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
--
Everyone froze at her roar, and for a brief moment, time seemed to stop, when all of the sudden, Beast roared, "We have to stop her!" a futile endeavor, but what choice did I have. Soon after his command the X-Men rushed into battle, all save Scott.
Taking a deep breath, I attacked her with a few mana arrows that exploded against her barrier doing no damage whatsoever, hissing under my breath, I decided to change my approach as I quickly closed distance between us dashing towards her while the others kept her attention in place, once I was in front of her, I tried to strike her with a focused strike, but once again it had no effect thanks to the telekinetic shield around her, it felt as if I had punched a piece of metal, two of my strongest attacks, and even then, the barrier around her felt unbreakable, her barrier absorbed the shock of both of blows without and problem, heck she didn't even flinch.
"Jean no!" Before I could even wonder what that shout was meant to avoid, I felt Jean grab me with her telekinesis and throw me into a car parked near her, then before I could process that, I saw an entirely different car falling on me.
"Fuck," I hissed, as I used my own telekenisis to move myself out of harm's way, which was frankly the only option I had, after all, I knew fighting her telekinetic hold was way beyond my current power, so with her it was best to avoid.
"That's enough Jean!" Ororo said, throwing a few lightning bolts at Jean, who effortlessly deflected them to the sides, destroying two houses.
"Insurance here must be hella high," I chuckled at my own joke, firing a few mana arrows at her.
"Jean, this is not you!" Raven shouted, tears threatening to fall from her eyes.
"Leave me ALONE!" Jean screamed, sending everyone around her flying with a powerful telekinetic shockwave.
Crashing against the X-Jet, I sighed as I looked over my HP, she truly wasn't trying to kill us, which was good. If she was, I would be dead by now, but so far… I have received more damage during my Hydra escape than here, then again if the car sandwich move she was trying to pull had been successful… Well, let's not think about that.
"I have a clean shot, I'm taking it!" I heard Beast growl as I jumped off the X-Jet, but before he could actually take the shot, Charles froze him, meaning Raven's death was coming.
"I'm sorry Hank, but I want Raven to have a chance…" Charles sighed, paralyzing not only Hank, but also the cops that just now were about to try and do something.
"Jean, please come back home," Raven started.
"I told you to stay away!" Jean said, looking at her with pleading eyes.
"I am never going to go away…" Raven replied with a small smile, "That's what a family does…"
"If you keep doing this… I will end up hurting you guys…" Jean muttered, her voice breaking.
"I am not afraid of you Jean, I will never be…" Raven replied, approaching Jean.
At this, I started to move without anyone noticing it, nearing the two individuals, while hiding under the debrief, from afar, there was no way I could save Raven, I needed to be close, I needed to be able push her out of harm's way.
"Just… leave me alone… please," Jean begged, tears forming on her eyes as she gripped her head in pain. [Jean Grey - LV 234, [Jean Grey - LV 235[Jean Grey - LV 238, [Jean Grey - LV 245].
"Jean… just focus on my voice," Raven said in a soothing tone as she stepped closer. "We're going to get through this together… because I will never give up on you… never Jean, this is what a family does, we take care of each other.." Toretto will sue her, I inwardly snorted at that, destroying any sharp piece of wood on my path to avoid the future impalation.
"STOP!" And it happened, with a violent wail full of pain and agony, Raven was sent into the air flying like a test dummy to where I was waiting for her.
Taking a deep breath, I used my telekinetic powers to slow her down, but this did close to nothing, as Raven crashed against me, and we were both sent flying through several houses, stopping at… I would like to say the fourth house.
"Jean…" Raven muttered, her body without signs of impalation, yeih.
"Yeih…" I groaned, coughing a mouthful of blood.
"Alex!" Raven muttered, her eyes fixed in my stomach.
"I got impaled didn't I?" I asked with a painful chuckle, my eyes drifting to my abdomen, seeing a metal bar protruding from it, "I think it's maybe the shock of it all, but I don't feel as much pain as I thought I would…"
"Don't move… don't talk, or you'll bleed out!" Raven muttered, her hands shaking.
At that I chuckled, "It's okay… I am quite durable," I smirked, looking at my HP, 486/11550 and dropping, not as bad as I thought, good thing mobs in dungeons drop HP potions, otherwise the bleeding effect would kill me eventually. "Now, help me move so that I can heal…"
"You have regenerative powers?" Raven inquired, helping me unimpale myself.
"Kinda…" I answered, grabbing a few potions from my inventory. [Healing Potion - Poor = Regenerates 50 health every 0.5 seconds over 15 seconds, restoring a total of 1500 health.]
"Raven!" Beast shouted, his tone full of despair.
"The Beauty is okay Beast," I shouted, consuming the potions, "God, I am glad I didn't use this…"
"What is that?" Raven asked, seeing in shock as the wound of my abdomen disappeared.
"My abs?" I asked, tilting my head.
"No… the red stuff you just drank…" Raven elaborated.
"Kool-aid," I replied with a smirk.
"You just got impaled… and the first think you do is drink Kool-Aid?!" Raven inquired, and I nodded.
"A man is entitled to drink whatever he wants after that," I chuckled.
--
[Healing Potion - Poor = Regenerates 50 health every 0.5 seconds over 15 seconds, restoring a total of 1500 health.]
Quantity = 23