MARVEL: GAMER PATH Chapter 66 - CHAPTER 66
47 CHAPTER 47
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
If there was something I had learned about this entire ordeal with Hive was one thing, my enemies were ever evolving, and I needed to keep up. That day when I defeated Hive a few weeks ago, the solution was simple, because Hydra once again had underestimated the reach of my abilities, but one day, my quick thinking would not be enough, one day I would face enemies that would not underestimate me. That day, had I not connected the dots with Hive, well, I would've lost, as simple as that, a parasitic being that seemed impervious to normal damage was something I was not entirely equipped to deal with, not yet.
This experience had also made me understand that I needed both magic and brawn to face this world. Not one, without the other.
As for Ulysses, I handed him to S.H.I.E.L.D, not after drying his bank accounts to an overdraft state, milking his liquidity for around ten billion dollars, most of that thanks to Hydra, effectively bankrupting the man.
[Cash: 10.008.007.023$]
What can I say, I think it's morally right to steal from thieves and murderers.
As for the Vibranium I had stolen, well I had yet do anything with, I was still on the hunt for my last ingredient, Adamantium, in an ideal world, I would get some Uru too, but for now I would be happy with those two metals, but surprisingly, finding the whereabouts of the recipe for Adamantium had been, a bit difficult, all I knew was that the government, the USA govern had the recipe somewhere, and I wasn't sure if S.H.I.E.L.D knew, not that I was going to ask Fury for it, it would be a bit too much.
So, for now, I would focus on an old task, I had yet to finish, eliminating Hydra.
During this past few weeks, I had focused on finding a terminal solution to the cancer that Hydra represented in my life, perhaps I would never kill them for good, the gods knew that as long as one man remained, a kingdom could be rebuilt, but, I could make it so they would become irrelevant, inconsequential beings in the great scheme of things, in the end, my mission was not eliminating Hydra, but turning Hydra into a joke, from the most terrible organization the earth had seen, to nothing.
And for that, I needed one person, Fury, for it was time to test my hypothesis about my power connecting to things I owned, and Fury was the guy I needed for this task, he had contacts in the government, and with his help, I buy a satellite, get the permits I needed for it, and launch into space.
I certainly had the money for the experiment, so why not.
Grabbing my phone, I dialed Fury's number, and at the second beep, he answered.
"What motherfucker are you hunting now?" Was the first thing Fury said as he picked up the phone.
"None of that," I chuckled, "I actually need a favor,"
Fury remained silent for a moment, "In what can I be of assistance?"
"I need you to help me… in getting a satellite into space," I replied.
"Huh, that is surprisingly the most normal shit you have asked of me," Fury snorted, "Can I know why?"
"That is something, I think it's better if I tell you in person," I replied.
"Very well, open a portal," Fury said.
"Now?" I asked.
"Yes, now motherfucker, I am quite curious why you want to spend the money you stole from Ulysses on a satellite," Fury chuckled.
"Satellites are not that expensive," I chuckled, "I mean, at least not the type of satellite I want," all I needed was a satellite to map the earth, and in the process, map all the Hydra bases, I… mean, if my theory worked.
"Ok," Fury replied, "Now come, I have two cold ones, waiting for you, they are not infinite like your holy mug, but they are good nonetheless," without needing any more reasons to visit him, I opened the portal to his house, where I found Fury sitting on his couch.
"I bought this place last week," Fury commented, tossing me a beer, "I know I won't be here much, but a man needs his place,"
"I agree with that sentiment," I nodded, taking a sip of the beer he had given me.
"So, why do you need a satellite?" Fury asked, beer at hand.
"To eliminate Hydra," I replied without missing a beat.
"Enough has been said, let's get you a fucking satellite," Fury replied after a long second of silence.
"You won't question me more?" I chuckled.
"Bitch please, I have learned not to, every day you get weirder and weirder, I ain't playing these games with you," Fury grinned, "Besides, eliminating Hydra, well, that's S.H.I.E.L.D's wet dream,"
At that I made a face, "Ew,"
"So, what type of satellite do you need?" Fury asked.
"One capable of making maps, accurate maps," I replied.
"S.H.I.E.L.D has a few, we often sell them when we have no longer need for them, I will see if we have one that fits that description," Fury said, as he walked over to his kitchen, "Do you want something to eat, I have… nothing, but I can order some chinese,"
"Sure, why not," I smiled.
"Why not? Bitch, it is a privilege to eat with Nick Fury," Fury laughed, getting a chinese menu from his kitchen to call for delivery, "So, what do you want?"
"Hmm, orange chicken if they have, and ribs," I answered.
--
[5 MONTHS LATER]
Five months later, I was at NASA, seeing how they prepared the satellite I had bought from S.H.I.E.L.D with a wide smile. Fury and Talos by my side, I'll be honest, I had forgotten Talos was working with Fury and such.
"Are you ready?" Fury asked, handing me a bag of popcorn.
"Popcorn? Really?" I snorted.
"I love corn," Fury shrugged.
And with a boom, my satellite was launched into space, and now it was all a matter of waiting, waiting to see if the two hundred million dollars I had spent would work, in any case, it would though, I would find the satellite a use, but I was really hoping it would work.
In the midst of such an important event, my phone rang, ~I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign, Life is demanding without understanding, I saw the sign and it opened up my eyes, I saw the sign, No one's gonna drag you up, To get into the light where you belong
But where do you belong?~
"Is that your ringtone?" Fury started laughing, "That's the whitest shit I had ever seeen!!"
I rolled my eyes at him and took the call, "Walker speaking,"
"Mr. Walker, it's me, Charles," Charles called me, that only has one possible explanation, Bucky. "Mr. Barnes, is ready." At this I heard Charles hand the phone to someone.
"Bucky, I presume." I said.
"You saved me," Bucky replied.
"That I did," I chuckled.
"I want in," Bucky replied.
"On what?" I already knew, but I wanted to hear him say it.
"On taking Hydra down, I want in… they took everything from me, only by destroying them, I can start to atone for what I did," Bucky replied, his voice sounding full of guilt and self hate.
"Then, welcome to the team," I replied, as a smile spread over my face, not because of Bucky joining, but because my satellite had reached space, and like porn ads, Hydra bases were appearing in my map, their demise was now within my hands.
48 CHAPTER 48
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
After Charles' call, I opened a portal to where the old doctor was, to find him and Bucky talking about the old days. At my arrival, Charles tensed, and so did Bucky, but in a different way. Unlike Charles that looked at me with a sense of guilt, Bucky looked at me like he was afraid of judgment.
"Hello there," I greeted with a warm smile.
"Mr. Walker," Charles smiled, an empty smile at that. "I did what you what you asked me to do, Mr. Barnes is now clean of Hydra's programming, and is by all means a free man,"
"Thank you," I honestly was grateful he did what he did, without his powers, it would've taken me a long time to free Bucky.
"I heard.. I remember a lot of you," Bucky started, "Hydra… they were planning your demise with a bio-weapon they were developing,"
I looked at him, "Hive?"
"Yes," Bucky replied, eyes wide as he came to a realization, "You killed Hive,"
"Yes," I nodded, "It was both hard, and easy to do," it was basically an environmental kill.
"Good," Bucky nodded, "Then for what you came, I want to destroy Hydra, so that I can start to atone for what I did," his eyes were full of determination, and pain, so much pain, to think if things were different, if I didn't have this ever changing power, that could've been me.
"Well, about that," I smiled, "You won't need to do a thing, I mean, I can leave a base without destroying if you want to have your fun,"
Bucky blinked, clearly confused by my statement, confusion that soon turned to anger, "I don't understand, what do you mean I don't have to do a thing, it's the only way I can atone, that I can…"
"Bucky, Hydra is no longer a threat, and it will never be, not anymore," I grinned. Since my satellite launch Hydra bases had not stopped appearing, one by one, sealing their fate. By the end of the day, I estimated I would know where every single Hydra base was.
"They will always be a threat, Hydra is a disease, one that needs to be stopped, they took my life, they took Emily's, they took yours!" Bucky growled.
"I know," I nodded, a cold air rushing through my face, "And I am taking everything from them,"
Taken back by my declaration, the Winter Soldier took a step back, "I still don't understand,"
"I will soon know where every Hydra base is located, and… you know," I winked.
"You will do what you did for the others," Bucky replied, "That won't work on all of them, some are close to civilians, you would be killing thousands of innocents, so far the bases you bombed, had no civilians close, but some will," he had a point.
"Shit, you right," I sighed, "Ok, then… let's empty those bases together," I smiled, extending my hand to the Winter Soldier who did the same, giving me a firm old style handshake.
"Let's," Bucky hissed, already imagining himself killing Hydra agents.
--
And so, my quest to eliminate Hydra began with the Winter Soldier by my side. Some bases were bombed, others were eliminated by hand, some were easy to deal with, others not so much, In some bases, we encountered unfinished experiments that made things like the Hive look pleasant, in others, we saw how deep Hydra's connection to the world government ran, and so we took names, and then their lives, each day nearing us closer to a Hydra free world, well, as free as it could be.
In some raids S.H.I.E.L.D aided us, not because we needed it, Bucky and I were more than enough to deal with most things, but because I was helping Fury get some flashing recommendations for his future promotion, and what better than a young agent leading the charge into Hydra's base, but I ain't gonna lie, the other reason I was… revealing myself to the government was rather simple, I was still missing a piece, an ingredient to start crafting my armor, and to find it, I needed to work the system from the inside out.
It didn't matter anyway, if they knew or not about me, the only reason I ever hid was because of Hydra, and they don't scare me anymore, they can't hurt me anymore.
In a way, I was pulling a Tony Stark, telling the world I was here, and I didn't give a fuck about people knowing it, it was a power move, one that I know had the power to back it up.
"This is the last base, right?" Bucky asked, reloading his weapon, as the hundreds of Hydra agents came at us shooting.
"No, there is still one left, but it has no living beings inside," If I had to take a guess, it was the base where Arnim Zola's mind was.
"I still can't believe these bitches had so many properties around the world, instead of world domination the fuckers should've gone to real estate, by this point the world would've been theirs," Fury commented, throwing a grenade into a group of incoming soldiers.
"Hydra's Real Estate? Yeah, no," I snorted.
"I refuse to acknowledge that ill attempt at comedy," Bucky replied with a serious expression.
"Did the cryogenic chamber took your sense of humor too?" Fury chucked.
Bucky remained stoic, though in the left corner of his mouth, I could see he was almost smiling, "Let's end this, I promised Emily I would let her braid my hair,"
"I am suddenly glad I shave bald style," Fury chuckled.
"I don't think she would ever ask to braid your hair," Bucky replied, in the kind of tone kids used to say things like, she likes me better than you.
"Do you believe this bitch?" Fury turned to me, as I created a shield around us.
"Well, he does live with me for the moment, and Emily has taken to him like an uncle," I chuckled.
"Ok, that's it, I am taking time off next week," Fury declared. "I will not let grandpa popsicle over there outshine me,"
I laughed, to think Emily would grow so much on them. Then again, it was one of the reasons I reintroduced Emily to Bucky, she was therapeutic to him.
"Let's end this," I chuckled, rushing at the few Hydra agents left, with Bucky and Fury on my back, what a day.
49 CHAPTER 49
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Life after Hydra had normalized, without them trying to eliminate me at every turn of my life, things went back to normal rather quickly. Well, as normal as they could be. Emily was now going to two schools, a normal one, for the normal human things during the morning, and the one in Karma-Taj with the Ancient One in the afternoon.
As for the Winter Soldier, well, Bucky was working for me, as my bodyguard, he wanted to thank me for what I did, and well, I offered him a job, and he took it.
Without Hydra being as powerful as it was at one point, I now had the time to focus on other matters, like building an empire, I wanted to be rich, filthy rich, and with that in mind, I founded, Walker's Corp, a company focused on the development of the humankind through the research of genetics, physics and other sciences.
Right now, Walker's Corp was small, with a handful of scientists that Fury himself recommended working for me, but with time it would grow.
In the meantime, as my little empire grew one step at a time, I was doing something else, hunting the Adamantium I so desperately desired to start working on my armor. So far, working with S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken me nowhere with this little quest of mine. Granted, my access was somewhat limited, so I had taken a new approach so to speak, by learning how to hack S.H.I.E.L.D.
This task was by no means easy, just learning how to code took me a month or so, and then I had to practice a lot until my success rate hacking shield was beyond 90%. This brought back some memories, because ever since Emily's operation I had never seen my success rate before for anything, perhaps it was a random occurrence.
Anyways, after six months working for S.H.I.E.L.D., my skills in the art of programming were high enough to infiltrate their old systems without being discovered, and so, my real quest for the Adamantium began.
With the power to hack and access every file within S.H.I.E.L.D. I soon learned the secret behind the Adamantium was so classified that not even Shield's director had complete access to it, in fact the file needed five encrypted keys to be open, and Shield's director only had one.
A remarkable discovery, and for many and very big setback, but not for me, while it was true hacking the file was beyond my current capabilities, finding the other keys was not, Shield was too overconfident in their system's capabilities to stop unwanted eyes, meaning anything beyond a certain level of access was rarely well-kept, what did I mean by this? Well, Shield was fiercely protecting the file that had everything I needed, but it was not protecting those who had the keys as well as the file.
And because of that, it took me less than an hour to find who had the keys, and where to find them. With portals and a bit of patience, I managed to visit every key holder, eventually gathering the codes I needed to break the file open.
Had Shield or the government protected the location and names of those who held the keys as good as they protected the file, well, it would've probably taken me a year or two to find what I needed, so I suppose in a way I should thank them for their negligence.
Now, with the file in my hands, all I needed to do was visit the place where my last ingredient was.
Grinning, and barely containing my excitement, I opened a portal to the ultra secret base that kept the formula for the adamantium as well as some adamantium in it, and hid, the last thing I wanted was to make an enemy of the government, which is why I was using a disguise and an illusion to cover my entire being, I mean, at one point they would discover I was here, and I didn't want no arrows pointing at me.
Using [Sight] I traversed through the base with little to no difficulty, the base was basically a Hydra base with a few extra things here and there, but like every Hydra base I had visited it was rather easy to avoid being detected if you knew how to move through the place.
Eventually, I reached the holy grail of the base. I could barely contain my excitement as my eyes laid on the Adamantium I had been looking for, grinning, and wasting no time. I stole the base dry of the metal, as I opened a portal to one of the many control rooms in the base. If the recipe was around here, I would find it.
Knocking everyone out before they could even see me, not that it mattered I was wearing a disguise, with a sigh, I connected to the main computer and searched for the recipe to find it was located on a floor that was below the base by a few hundred meters, a floor that only one entrance, and one exit, both having only one key, fortunately for me, I had no need for keys.
Once again, I opened a portal to the floor below, to find myself in front of a massive safe, it was as big a house, a three story house to be precise, with thick impenetrable walls. "I guess another portal?" I guess portals were becoming my old reliable method of solving problems. Inwardly chuckling at that, I opened a portal inside the safe, this time, finding a hard drive in the middle of the safe.
"No guns? Or lasers, it's like the government wants to be robbed," Smiling at my own comment, I reached for the hard drive putting in it on my inventory, effectively completing my quest, though as I rejoiced on that little fact, the alarms of the base went off.
"Escape is impossible," I heard a deep voice declare through the coms of the building, it seemed the safe had some speakers inside, as well as cameras, not that it mattered, I was hiding beneath a disguise and an illusion.
"Well, then I'm about to do what is called a pro gamer move," I replied, opening a portal to Portugal, why Portugal you might ask? Well, if they can see the portal, they can see where I am teleporting, ergo, I don't want them having any clue where I am going. "Bye~" and so, my quest was completed, and now, a new chapter of my life began, a forging one.
50 CHAPTER 50
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
With all the ingredients I needed at my disposal, I started the process of creating earth's mightiest armor. First, I started with the design, taking inspiration from one of my favorite games, Dark Souls.
Then when that was ready, I started the process of forging my armor, using a combination of several skills, mana forging, a skill I had developed during one of my first Hydra raids, and some of my other blacksmith skills to back that up.
The hardest part was making my forge go up to 5475 degrees Fahrenheit, as it was impossible for any normal forge at the time to go to such temperatures. But the Ancient One helped there with Magic and such, it was really difficult matter all together, for one, Vibranium needed more heat than the Adamantium itself making the numbers clash, and for two, once out of my inventory I needed to keep my Adamantium above 1500 degrees Fahrenheit, for if it hardened it would be impossible to melt again.
It was a completed affair, both metals were extremely different, and operated under vastly different sets of rules, so to create an armor using both metals was by no means an easy task.
But it's like they say, when there is a will, there is a way.
And my will was strong.
Three months later, by April of 1995, I had finally done it, with the help of the Ancient One I had created my armor, an armor to help me face what was to come, my very own masterpiece, an armor made of a unique alloy of Adamantium and Vibranium, unbreakable by any normal means.
And with the help of Magic, I increased the capabilities of the armor quite a bit via enchantments, and some protection spells the Ancient One added into the mix as a way to make the armor even more resistant to damage.
But even with all that, the armor was far from finished, I still needed to add some little adjustments here and there, to avoid being killed under the most ridiculous circumstances.
Like for example, meeting another person with magnetic powers, yeah, take a moment to process that, if I ever encountered anyone like Erik, I would be fucked beyond comprehension, so I needed to make the armor resistant to such events, otherwise I would die a rather gruesome death.
~As I walk through the valley of the shadow of death
I take a look at my life and realize there's nothin' left
'Cause I've been blastin' and laughin' so long that
Even my momma thinks that my mind is gone
But I ain't never crossed a man that didn't deserve it
Me be treated like a punk, you know that's unheard of. You better watch how you talkin' and where you walkin' or you and your homies might be lined in chalk!~
In the midst of my creative inquisition, my phone rang, "Hello?" I said taking the call.
"Alex, I need your help," Fury spoke through the other end of the line.
He sounded serious, was he perhaps gonna ask me to help him find who stole the Adamantium, that would certainly be a bit awkward, "Is there anything wrong?"
"Well, I guess it depends on what you measure as wrong," Fury chuckled, a strained chuckle at that, "To give you the short fucking version, our friends the Skrull and I used the word friend very lightly, have been keeping secrets from us, and in short have been fucking lying to us."
Oh the events of Captain Marvel were finally here, intriguing, "Could you elaborate on that?"
"The fuckers never abandoned the plans of colonizing our asses," Well that I didn't expect, I would've thought our… alliance with the Skrull would make them less likely to try and betray us.
"I never fully trusted them, so I put mics all around their quote on quote base, and I am glad I did, for I heard the fuckers talking, something about, and I am quoting, that this was their only shot, something about them not having any other choice at all, that this planet was their best and only path avoid someone they call the Kree," Fury sighed, huh, so Fury spied on Skrull, well, he ain't The Spy for nothing.
Though this made me wonder, "Do you have mics on at my house?"
"Do I look like I want to die?" Fury snorted, "Your weird ass powers make it impossible to do shit like that,"
True, "So, the Skrull betrayed our alliance, well, I'll be honest, that is not something I expected."
"Well, I did," Fury stated, as I snorted in response, "What? I don't even trust your ass, why would I trust theirs?"
"Fury, you wound me," I chuckled.
"Bitch, I know you hide stuff," Fury chuckled. "Anyway enough chit chat, I need your help, can you help me? You know what, fuck that, you owe me after your drunk ass blew up my house during our last reunion,"
[New Quest Created: Captain Marvel and the Kree
Captain Marvel, a human turned into an extraterrestrial Kree warrior by chance, who finds herself caught in the middle of an intergalactic battle between her people, who she thinks are her people and the Skrulls.
Kree, Humans and Skrull, and cosmic forces come into play, pick a side, or pick none, either way the war is coming.
Rewards: 50.000.000 EXP, ???, ???
Optional Reward: The Space Stone.
Accept : YES / NO]
Optional reward… a fucking infinity stone?! "Yes, of course I'll help you, what are friends for," I replied as I smashed the yes button, that was a reward I would not turn down.
"Good," Fury sighed, "Now, open the door," at this I heard a knock at my door, "I am staying with you ass, until I know who I can trust and who I cannot, also until I can explain to my insurance and realtor what happened to my house… I still have yet to find a lie believable enough for them to believe,"
"I'm sorry," I chuckled, opening the door.
"I am sorry my ass, you melted my rosewood desk with a fucking Magic beam, a mysterious bald lady had to teleport your ass before you melted the entire complex, my neighbors think I made a satanic ritual, you know how hard is to buy a house when people think you worship the devil?!" Fury ranted with a small smile on his face. He wasn't truly angry.
"Ok, ok, you can stay for now," I chuckled, maybe the cup of infinite spirytus vodka was a bad idea, I really don't remember any of that.
51 CHAPTER 51
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Fury was right, the Skrull were planning to double cross us from the very beginning. An idea I didn't approve of, but didn't care enough to retaliate back, especially since my focus was solely on Captain Marvel, she had arrived to the planet just like in the movie, four hours ago, and was currently close to a radio shack close to my house according to my maps, if my memory serves me right she was trying to contact the Kree.
"What are we going to do with the Skrull?" Fury asked, as he petted Goose.
Oh yeah, Fury had no idea I didn't care about the Skrull at all at the moment, my main concern was the Kree. "I don't know." I replied.
"Very helpful." Fury sighed, rubbing his eyes, when all of the sudden he got a text message. "I'm gonna get some coffee, you want some?" he asked after a second of silence.
"Yeah, anything it's good." I nodded.
"Roger that." Fury replied, grabbing the keys of his car from the kitchen table before leaving the apartment.
Once I was alone, I started to try and connect the dots of the events occurring around me, if I remembered correctly, Talos was supposed to arrive at earth around the same time Captain Marvel did, but he didn't he arrived almost a year earlier, meaning one of two things, one the events of Captain Marvel in the movie were off, or my presence here had fucked something the timeline as I knew it.
This also brought up the question, were the Skrull bad in this reality, I mean, in most comics they were villains, and perhaps in this reality they were too, I mean, for all I knew some of the MCU material I knew was not really canon.
Oh well, I suppose I shall give them the benefit of the doubt, if they do happen to be a threat though, well, I will eliminate them.
"Time to say hi, to Carol Denvers." I chuckled, opening a portal to where she was, well, to the radio shack she crashed into.
Walking out of the Radio Shack, I saw Carol in the phone booth across the street just like in the movie, talking with someone, her commander. [Carol Denvers - Vers LV 219 [SUPPRESSED] ]
Suppressed, well that's the first time I saw a tag like that, smiling, I walked up to the booth, and knocked at the glass. "Hello." I waved as she turned, turning off her connection to her commander.
"Hi." Carol smiled, trying not to look suspicious, but I mean, she was dressed like a cosplayer in the middle of nowhere, so yeah, she was suspicious by definition.
She was a few levels higher than me, and if the movie was anything to go by, she was stubborn, so I had to tread carefully. The last thing I wanted was to kill one of the big shots of this universe. "My name is Alex Walker, and we need to talk."
"I would love to, but… as you can see, I am busy…" She really was a frontliner, her acting skills were painfully bad.
"I am sorry, Vers, but we need to talk." I smiled, shocking her, for why would a human know her Kree given name.
"Skrull!" Carol hissed, punching me in the face.
"First of all, auch, second, I am no Skrull, you bitch." I blinked twice, Fury was rubbing off on me.
"Yeah, right!" Carol hissed, jumping into the air, her fist glowing.
"Ok, you want to do this the hard way, let's." I sighed, opening a portal as she descended on me, teleporting her aggressive ass to the antarctic tundra.
"You lying bitch." I heard someone say with a chuckle, that someone was Fury.
"Fury, hey bud, where is that coffee at?" I waved at him.
"You knew something was happening here, and you didn't tell me?" Fury chuckled.
"You didn't tell me either." I pointed out with a knowing smile, I knew the text message he had received was about the radio shack incident.
"You are basically all seeing, besides, you are my heavy hitter, don't want to tire your ass with detective work, more than not these missions are nothing but an old lady with an overly active imagination." Fury replied.
I laughed. "Ok, well… I am off to try and speak with a very aggressive lady."
"I assume she is the one that fucked that Radio Shack?" Fury pointed to the radio shack in question.
"Indeed." I nodded.
"Can you tell me more, I mean… anything at all?" Fury sighed.
"I will in a bit, but first, I need everything you have on Carol Denvers, if she killed a bug and was recorded I want it, ok?" That information would help Carol to understand she was being used, I hoped.
"Ok." Fury nodded.
"Just like that?" A new voice asked, startling me, it was no other than Agent Coulson. "He is unknown, shouldn't we question him too?"
"Question him, ha! Be my guest, in fact, let me get some popcorn." Fury snorted, "Question him funny."
"God, I didn't even notice he was behind you all this time, he needs a bell on his neck or something." I chuckled.
"Sir, do you know this man?" Coulson inquired.
"No Agent, I just befriended a random stranger on the street, now get your ass back in the car, he outranks you in SHIELD anyways." Fury replied with just the hint of a smile.
"He works for… my apologies Sir." Coulson bowed, why was he bowing though?
"I am… a consultant of sorts, but SHIELD decided to give me a title, above most normal agents like you, anyway, I have a very aggressive blonde to talk to, and little time to do it." The last thing I wanted was for Carol to discover she could fly.
"Ok, while you talk with the possible threat, I will get the files you requested." Fury nodded.
"Carol Denvers had a best friend, don't remember her name, all I know is she's alive, so bring her to my apartment and text me, I will keep miss bitch on the tundra until you do." I replied.
"Miss bitch?" Fury snorted.
"She punched my face, ergo, she's a bitch." I believed in equal rights, and lefts, and knees.
"Well, I am off to help your ass, and get some coffee too." Fury chuckled, walking with Coulson to his car, as I opened the portal to where I had dropped Captain Marvel.
52 CHAPTER 52
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
I opened a portal to the Antarctica, where I found Captain Marvel walking aimlessly into the nowhere, cursing like a sailor as she did so. "Ready to talk? Or you will try to punch me again?" I said, announcing my presence to her from above.
Hearing my voice, Captain Marvel halted, turning around baring her teeth like a wolf ready to attack its prey. "Try? I got a pretty good hit last time." she hissed.
"While I was saying hi, congratulations, you punched a guy saying hi, want a medal?" I shot back, frowning at her.
"Your tears would be enough, I need no medal." Captain Marvel sneered, her eyes on me as she did so. Her fists glowing in a dim yet threatening amber color, letting me know she was getting ready to fight.
"Look, I don't like you, the punch pretty much sealed that. But, I know something you don't, something you want to know, and need to know, like why are you having those dreams, about that person." I stated, my eyes cold as I stare at her. "I also have the power to trap you here, forever if need be, so how about we have a civilized talk."
Captain Marvel tensed, as if weighing her options. "We can talk." she said after a few seconds of consideration, her mouth forming a thin line as she did so.
"Good." I nodded.
[New Quest Created: Convince Captain Marvel
Carol Denvers, also known as Captain Marvel is a powerful woman lost in the threads of manipulation. Lies, trues, and misdirection, she lives in a world built above her grave, can you free her?
Objective: Convince Captain Marvel the Kree are using her.
Bonus Objective: Convince Captain Marvel the Kree are using her, in under 24 hours.
Rewards: 10.000.000EXP, 50 LUCK, 50 DEFENSE, 50 CHARISMA
Optional Rewards: Captain Marvel - One Time Summon, a crazy night, a spaceship.]
Now quests gave stats? Well, that's new. Though I am worried about the crazy night reward. "Ok, I'll start the only way I know, from the beginning, your name is not Vers, is Carol Denvers." I chuckled, realizing something. "Den-vers, see what the Kree did there?"
Carol stared at me, her gaze unreadable, for a moment I even thought she was about to attack me, jump at me, ready to break my spine Bane style, but she did not, instead she looked at me in the eye, and commanded. "Speak."
And so I did, after all, there were commands I had no problem following.
--
[Nick Fury POV]
Being friends with Alex meant you were bound to do weird shit, the motherfucker was crazy, but boy was he efficient, so I was glad to assist him, after all, he brought the results I wanted, and was careful enough not to leave any trails that could implicate him in anything.
Finding information about Carol Denvers, easy enough, finding her best friend, easy as well.
"Why am I here?" Maria Rambeau asked.
"A colleague of mine needs you, Ms. Rambeau." I replied, as I dialed to call Alex.
"That doesn't answer anything. All I know is that you basically kidnapped me because a man I don't know, asked for me. Which is seriously troubling." Maria said, staring at me.
"It has something to do with Carol Denvers, who according to our records was close friends with you." I replied, cursing Alex for not answering his motherfuckering phone. I bought the bastard a satellite phone just for this shit, and he still doesn't answer.
"Carol died a long time ago." Maria hissed, her eyes telling me enough.
"That's what her file said, but then again, when was anything according to file." I replied, showing her the pic the cameras of Radio Shack had caught. "Does she look like your friend?"
Maria stared at the pic, her eyes going wide. "Impossible…" she mumbled.
"Meh, improbable maybe. But impossible? In the world we live in? Haha, no." I replied, calling Alex again, that bitch was about to get a slap, nobody ghosts Nick Motherfucking Fury.
"Sir, do we even know where he is?" Coulson asked, god Alex was right, Coulson was invisible at times.
"Oh god, I had forgotten all about you." I chuckled. "Yes we know, he is talking with a woman in the Antarctica."
"Is that woman… carol?" Maria asked, not daring to hope.
"Chances are, she is. Otherwise, why would Alex ask for you?" I replied.
--
[Alex Walker POV]
Our conversation started pretty civilized, but soon turned into a brawl. Let's just say she didn't agree or believe some of the stuff I had shared with her, and was now trying to… well, kill me?
"You think I will believe that?" Carol hissed, punching me in the face, as I whipped the bitch to an iceberg with a magical whip.
"If only you could wait, you would see I am telling the truth!" I shot back.
"You want me to believe I… that all my life was a lie?" Carol asked, her voice sounding tired.
"Not all of it, just the last decade." I replied.
"What proof do you even have?!" Carol growled.
"If you let me answer my phone, I can get you that proof!" I growled back.
"You have thirty seconds!" Carol roared.
"Eat a dick!" I roared back, calling Fury, who answered immediately.
"Finally, bitch! I have been--" Before he could finish that sentence, I cut him off.
"Fury, I do not have the time. Do you have what I asked for?!" If he didn't I was about to punch Carol amnesic, fuck the quest.
"I do." Fury replied.
"Good, then buckle up."
"Buckle up for whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?" Why did he scream like a little girl? Well, I opened a portal in front of his car, and well… he went right through it, and now was falling into an iceberg. Of course before he did, I stopped the car with my telekinesis.
"Is that your proof?" Carol said, glaring at me.
"It is." I replied as dryly as possible.
Slamming the door of his car open, Fury came out, as white as the Antarctica itself. "You… crazy… bitch!"
"Enough about that, where are the files, and Maria Rambeau?" I asked, only to hear a woman mutter.
"Carol…"
53 CHAPTER 53
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
[Yon-Rogg POV]
Vers was not replying, and in her mind there were already doubts about our people. Doubts the Skrull had reawoken within her, with their mind probing machines, releasing dreams and memories into her head that should have never been released to begin with.
She was our greatest weapon, our nuclear deterrent, our key to conquest, and now she was in doubt.
Our mission was clear now. We needed to retrieve her from Earth, and connect her to the Supreme Intelligence for reconditioning.
Or kill her, both paths were okay. For if we couldn't have her, no one would.
"The Supreme Intelligence summons you."
I turned around to see a soldier standing at the door with the summons of our great leader. "Understood." I replied, for whatever the supreme intelligence wanted, I would provide.
Walking out of my station, on my way to the supreme intelligence, I started to contemplate about what path I would actually have to take, killing Vers would certainly prove to be difficult, and wasteful, but if it was what the Kree empire needed, then I would.
But, without her. We had no weapon against the Mad Titan. So and all and all, it was a complicated affair altogether.
Sighing, I opened the door to the Supreme Intelligence and connected myself to the matrix.
"Yon-Rogg…" The Supreme Intelligence said, appearing as the person I admired and loved the most, me. "You lost her."
"She will return, doubts she might have, but… I trust in our training. I trust she will believe us, over those inferior beings called humans." I replied, if not, she would die.
"Naive, as always, Yon-Rogg." The Supreme Intelligence sighed. "Humans are emotional beings, fragile creatures, weak… but is that weakness that will make her our enemy, she will believe, and she will come to us, as our enemy."
"Then, I will kill her." I declared, which made the Supreme Intelligence laugh.
"No, we need her alive, for now. We need to extract the source of her power, once that is done, once we successfully extract the core from her, then we will kill her." The Supreme Intelligence said.
"Understood." I nodded.
"Good, now go… and bring me the girl."
--
[Carol Denvers POV]
Years living a lie, years serving what Alex described as an authoritarian regime whose sole objective was conquering the known universe, for years I thought I was fighting on the right side of this war, but in reality, I was nothing but a fool, being used by others.
"So, now what?" Fury inquired.
"I don't know." I replied, for I really didn't know what to do right now. Well, I did, but I just didn't want to say it out loud, not yet.
"So where is the guy that almost gave me a heart attack?" Maria asked, looking at Fury.
After showing me all the proof I needed to believe him, he teleported us to Maria's house, and left, no one knew where he was, or what he was doing, which had us on edge.
"Don't look at me, that guy is impossible to keep tabs on." Fury chuckled. "But wherever he is, he is planning something."
"How did he know about me though?" I asked, getting Fury's and Maria's attention. "I mean, I remember you Maria, I remember Mar Vell, but… him, I don't."
"I don't know him either." Maria added.
"I doubt you girls knew him." Fury replied. "He is a mystery, one that happens to work with us, but all I know about him, is at best on a surface level, he has no prints on this planet, no documents connected to him, what he has, what little paper trail he has, is because of me. But in truth, he is a ghost by human standards in terms of information."
"Maybe he's an alien?" I offered, I mean, humans didn't have power according to Kree files, then again, I had powers, so perhaps he was like me? An enhanced individual.
"Hmm, it is a possibility. But, I highly doubt that's the case." Fury replied, opening a can of pepsi from Maria's fridge.
"Well, as long as he's an ally, nothing to worry about right?" I chuckled.
"He is more than an ally, he is earth's mightiest hero but that's just my opinion." Fury chuckled.
Before I could ask Fury to elaborate on that, the bell on Maria's house rang.
"Get ready." I said, ready to break some bones if need be.
"Calm down, lantern girl." Fury chuckled, seeing my fist glow. "I know who's outside." At this he opened the door, letting in a man with a metal arm come inside.
"Alex told me you guys needed my help." The unknown man said, looking at everyone around the house, with a look I was all too familiar with, a look soldiers, trained soldiers had. He was assessing who was the biggest threat in the room, and he did so spectacularly, for his eyes eventually locked on me.
"I am your ally." I said with a smile, ready to fight if he was.
"Alex would beg to differ." The man replied with a cold tone.
"I suppose Alex has his reason, but for now, we are allies." Fury said with a smile. "So for now, don't start anything. James."
"I won't start anything." James replied, his eyes on me. "But if push comes to shove, I will finish things."
"Don't mind him, he's a little protective of Alex, and Emily." Fury chuckled.
"I owe him my life, it's the least I can do." James replied, without missing a beat.
"He saved mine as well, I think." I replied.
"Brainwash?" James inquired.
"Apparently." I nodded.
"I get the feeling then." James said, his tone getting colder.
"Adorable, but where the fuck is Alex?" Fury asked, getting everyone's attention.
"He said he had something to do, he didn't elaborate on what, and I didn't ask." James replied.
"Ok… I guess we wait then." Fury said.
"Is that a Hello Kitty sticker?" I snorted, pointing at James' metal arm.
"It is, any problem with that?" James challenged with a cold gaze.
"None." I replied, with a small chuckle.
"Emily did that to my gun last week." Fury chuckled. "All agents on district seven were laughing at my ass for it."
54 CHAPTER 54
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Life in the Marvel Universe was complex. But, this time I was prepared for what was to come. So after leaving Bucky and Fury with the Amnesic Captain Marvel connecting with her long lost friend, I went on a mission of my own. Hunting for the tesseract.
I mean, why wait when I can get the Space Stone right now.
My goal was rather simple. The more stones I had in my power, the higher my chance to stop Thanos from snapping his fingers in the future.
Which is why I was currently in space, looking for Mar Vell's ship.
How was I in space? I am glad you asked, magic.
Yes, that's all I am going to say, because it's really all you need to know. Magic can do wonders, though I would've liked to use the spaceship I was promised on my last quest for this, but that reward had yet to arrive. Perhaps it would take some time, I mean, the quest did say it had a time limit of 24 hours, perhaps that reward would arrive after that frame of time.
"There it is!" I said to myself, grinning under the space suit I was using to breathe in space, at the sight of the ship I had been looking for the last eight hours. But I wasn't only grinning because of finding the ship, which was a great accomplishment of its own, but mostly because I did it without having a clear idea where it was, I mean, I basically came to space blind, in truth. I only had a rough idea where the ship was, and by rough I mean I knew it was in space, orbiting the planet. The point is, I was happy I had found the ship without having to wait any longer.
[Mar Vell's Ship - DAMAGED]
Using [Sight, I looked inside the spaceship that was now within my minimap range to look into, and saw that the ship was currently being inhabited by a large group of Skrulls.
Nonetheless, none of them were a threat, so I simply opened a portal to where the Tesseract aka the Space Stone was.
In fear, the Skrulls inside froze, staring at me in anticipation.
"I have no interest in any of you." I said, trying to calm their nerves, as I approached the Tesseract.
[The Space Stone
As the Infinity Stone that represents and governs over space, the Space Stone grants the wielder absolute control over space itself. It is primarily used to open portals to other locations and can even allow interdimensional travel. But that's just scratching the surface, for the limits of this stone have yet to be tested.
Recommended Level: LV 230
Use of this item before the aforementioned level can cause the following: Death, teletransportation to a new planet, Astral Imprisonment, Super Death, and other lethal and non lethal destinies. ]
"Stats," I inwardly said.
[STATS
Name = Alex Walker
Occupation = The Gamer
Level = 154
EXP = 38751/2945123
HP = TBD
MP = TBD
STR = 750
VIT = 712
DEF = 625
DEX= 689
INT = 612
CHA = 351
WIS = 389
WILL = 352
PER = 345
LUK = 269
STAT POINTS = 100
MONEY: 9.075.042.052
]
Ok, I was a bit under leveled, but I could still safekeep the shining rock. Sighing, I grabbed the Tesseract and put in my inventory, for now it would do.
"Are you… a kree?" Someone asked, a child by the sound of the voice. [Veranke LV 2]
"No." I replied, turning around with a soft smile.
"Will you hurt us?" Another one asked. [Ratonque LV 29]
I shook my head. "How about we make a deal people, I take you all to earth, and you help me rationalize with Talos about not taking my planet, deal?" I offered a smile on my face.
"How can we know you mean no harm to us?" Another Skrull asked. [Lemuria LV 23]
"I mean, I can leave you guys here if you want." It really made no difference to me, I mean, besides feeling bad for the little Skrull girl, I had no emotional investment in them.
A female Skrull approached the little Skrull girl, and held her tight as she asked. "Do you know where Talos is?" [Soren LV 28]
"I know he's on earth, and that he lied to me. But worry not, if need be, I can find him in less than a day." I replied, having a satellite connected to your map did wonders, god I love my powers.
Looking at each other, the Skrull started to whisper among themselves in their native tongue.
"You guys don't need to whisper, I do not understand your language, so feel free to talk bad about me in it." I winked at them, waiting for their answer.
"I will come, alone." Soren replied after a second of silence.
"Ok." I shrugged, opening a portal to Maria's house, where Fury, Carol, Bucky and others were at the moment. "Go ahead." I said, pointing at the portal, as Fury stared at me from the other side.
"Where the fuck have you been?" Fury asked.
"Collecting stuff." I replied, still waiting for Soren to walk through the portal. "Girl, I don't have all day, I have a possible Kree invasion to stop." I said, looking at her.
"Sorry." Soren apologized, as she walked through the portal only to jump back in fright as she saw Carol.
"Kree!" Soren cried in fear, as the portal closed on her as she tried to get back on the ship.
"She is, or was…. How are we, on that?" I asked Carol.
"Not Kree anymore, that's for sure." Carol replied, avoiding Soren's eyes as she did so. She was feeling guilty, well that's interesting.
"So, wanna go back to the ship and clarify to your people I didn't kidnap you? I mean, the last thing they heard before the portal closed was your cry for help." I said, looking at Soren.
"I.. I would, yes." Soren nodded, her eyes on Carol.
She was still afraid, less, but still.
"Ok." I smiled, opening a portal to the ship, letting Soren clear out the situation.
"So, can we know why were you on the Skrull ship?" Fury asked, and I shook my head, as Carol looked at me with a knowing look, fuck. She knew. Well, it's not like it was a secret, but it was a conversation I wanted avoid, like the sex talk with Emily.
55 CHAPTER 55
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
With Soren on Earth with us, all I had to do was find Talos, and try to convince him not to be a bitch, which was easy enough thanks to my satellite, and my knowledge of his actions in the movie. I mean, the guy had replaced the director of SHIELD by now, which made my search way easier and shorter. Anywho, once I had his location, I teleported to him with Soren, and slapped him for lying to me.
With the bitch slap out of the way, I proceeded to offer him a deal of sorts. He would start being honest, and I would help him fight the Kree.
With Soren on his arms, he accepted, albeit he was a bit reluctant to do so.
"How can I know you won't hurt my people?" Talos asked, his eyes on me.
"You can't. But know this, if you plan on invading Earth, well… you will face terrible consequences, so don't lie… again." I smiled, sending him a very clear message, try something out of our agreement, and the Kree will be the least of your problems.
"I apologize for breaking your trust, but I would do it again, if it means helping my people." Talos replied, holding Soren tight.
"I can respect that, but know I would do the same. I am helping you out of my human decency, but if I have to pick… Well, you know the answer." I winked, opening a portal to Maria's house.
"I know." Talos nodded, walking into the portal without hesitation, alongside Soren.
On the other side of the portal, Captain Marvel greeted the two Skrulls with a rather awkward smile. "Greetings, Talos."
"Vers." Talos replied in an understandably dry tone.
"I go by Carol now." Carol replied, scratching the back of her head. "It's a long story." she added, seeing the look Talos was giving her.
"Ok." I clapped my hands, getting everyone's attention. "We all hate each other, and that's cool, but we have a Kree invasion to stop. So, ideas on the table."
"Yon-Rogg is probably tracking me as we speak." Carol said as she took a seat.
"We all hate each other? Bitch, I gave you a starbucks gift card." Fury said, narrowing his eyes on me.
"Fury, head on the game please." I chuckled.
"Next birthday, you are getting a pair of socks." Fury mumbled.
"The Kree have an army capable of leveling planets, what does earth have?" Talos asked.
"I… hmm, I…. we have him?" Fury pointed at me.
"They have me." I nodded. "And Bucky over there." I pointed at Bucky, noticing the hello kitty sticker on his arm. "Haha, that's adorable." I chuckled looking at the sticker.
"You have one on your back." Bucky smirked, tossing me a mirror he had beside him.
"Hmm, when did she do this?" I muttered, looking at the sticker on my back that said, I am a lovely kitten purr.
"Look, adorable or not we have to focus on the task at hand." Maria sighed, rolling her eyes. "I do not want to die so young. Especially not to space Hitlers."
"Hitler?" Talos inquired.
"It's a long story, we don't have the time, but know this, it is an insult." I explained.
"The only way to stop the Kree is by stopping the supreme intelligence." Carol said.
"Well, you can do that." I said.
"Not really, before the supreme intelligence, I have no powers…" Carol sighed.
"What part about they brainwashed your ass is still not clear." I sighed.
"I already know that." Carol shot back, sending me a glare. "But that doesn't change a thing, my powers come from the supreme intelligence, the moment they confirm I am a traitor, my powers are gone."
"Then use that old and rusty brain of yours. If they had the power to grant others the power you have, the Kree would be unstoppable." I replied. "They didn't give you the power you wield. They suppressed it."
Carol looked at me, as if trying to catch a lie, when all of the sudden she growled. "They never gave me anything, they only took from me…. Those bastards!"
"That chip on your neck?" I pointed to her chip. "It's a regulator, it basically limits the power you can use, without that. You alone could fuck the entire Kree empire."
"She could… what now?" Talos inquired in clear shock.
"She was powered by one of the strongest artifacts in the universe. Her power level is to be expected." I wanted to say over nine thousand, but it felt cheap.
"Do you know how to remove the chip then?" Carol asked.
"No." I shook my head. "I know you can fry it though, by letting your power flow free, but how can you do that? No idea."
"Let my power flow free…" Carol sighed. "All my life I have been teached to control it, to reign it in… and to top it all, the chip has always been there… I don't think I know how to let it go." oh no, frozen flashbacks.
"Are you okay?" Fury asked, looking at me.
"Yes." I nodded.
"For a moment there you looked like you were about to have a stroke." Fury commented.
"I'm fine." I reassured him.
"Ok, this is the plan… you." I pointed at Captain Marvel. "You try to fry that chip. Bucky, Fury, the Skrull and I, will buy you some time, and you." I pointed at Maria. "You know her better than anyone here, so find a way to help her."
"I can't let you guys fight my fight alone." Carol shook her head.
"Fine." Well if she wanted to do this the canon way, I would be happy to oblige. "Then, we all go and fight together." I kinda felt Captain America right now.
"Sounds good to me." Bucky nodded, cocking his gun.
"I suppose dying in a star wars remake it's as good as any other death." Fury sighed, putting on his sunglasses.
"I am not going." Maria declared, fucking the moment.
56 CHAPTER 56
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
With our pseudo avengers team ready, or as I like to call them, the Beta Avengers, or would be Alpha? Anyways, with the beta avengers ready, I opened a portal to Mar-Vell's ship, where our enemies were already ransacking her ship looking for the tesseract.
"The Kree!" Talos hissed, as I looked around, assessing their levels. None of them were above level 40, this would be easy.
"Let's do this." Bucky said, smiling ever so lightly as he jumped into the fray, gun at hand, killing a few Kree with relative ease.
Cracking my neck, I smiled at the Kree as they tried to stop Bucky, who proved to be superior to them in every possible way. "Let's." grinning, I summoned a pair of whips using [Eldritch Whip] and grabbed two random Kree by the neck, then I proceeded to slam them against the walls of the ship until there was nothing more than a puddle of blue blood to remember them.
"Holy fuck, that was brutal." Fury whistled, taking cover behind me as he did so.
"Why are you behind me?" I asked, with a smile. "I'm not bulletproof."
"Bitch you are." Fury snorted. "And even if you are not. I don't give a fuck." at this I laughed.
Meanwhile, Captain Marvel and Maria started to gather the Skrull in a single place for me to evacuate as we planned.
"How about you guys surrender?" I asked, as Bucky snapped a random Kree's neck with his metal arm, as if the alien was a very brittle cracker.
"How about you do that?" [Yon-Rogg LV 61]
"We just killed eight of yours guys in less than a minute." Fury replied. "Why would we surrender?" We just killed? He must mean Bucky and me.
"Because if you don't.." Yon Rogg smiled, pointing his blaster to a little Skrull his man had captured, [Veranke LV 2]. "She was hiding in the closet, how adorable." That was a very short fight, very disappointing.
"Please." Talos and Soren begged me at the same time. Did they really think I was about to let a little girl die just because. I wasn't that much of an ass.
"Fine." I sighed, it really didn't matter, as soon as they lowered their guards I would kill them.
"You are a monster." Carol hissed, glaring at Yon-Rogg, as she tried to activate her powers, but failed miserably.
"A monster you loved two days ago." Yon-Rogg said, turning to his men. "Take them."
"I hope you have a fucking plan, I do not want to die in space." Fury whispered.
"Relax." I muttered, as I allowed the Kree to put their cuffs on me.
With a satisfied smile, Yon-Rogg gave one last order. "Take them to the ship. There we will deliver punishment."
--
Inside the Kree ship, we sat awaiting our judgment. Or so it looked, I was actually waiting for Carol to break out of the Kree's control, this time with all her power.
As for Carol, she was nowhere to be seen. If memory served me right, she was already talking with the Supreme Intelligence.
"So… what's the plan?" Fury whispered, as the Kree scanned us with a weird looking scanner.
{Human…
Threat… Low to None}
"This can't be right." One of the Kree muttered [Han'po LV 32, as he scanned Bucky over and over again. "He killed five of us, in under a minute, how can his threat be low to none."
"Scan the other one." [Rume-ra LV 29] she pointed at me.
{Human…
Threat… Low to None}
The female Kree hummed, completing the result. "It must be broken." she concluded.
"Alex, please tell me you have a plan." Fury asked again.
"I do." I nodded.
"Which is?" Fury pressed.
"We wait for a signal." As if on cue, Yon-Rogg came into the room we were being held in.
"Who here has the core?" He hissed, seething in anger.
"The core of what?" I asked.
Yon-Rogg glared at me, pointing his gun at Soren. "Where. Is. The. Core." he asked with a snarl. And the threat was clear, say something I don't like, and she dies.
"He has it!" A random Skrull shouted, pointing at me.
I looked at the Skrull who had ratted me out and sighed. "I do, I have it."
"Good, now where is it?" Yon-Rogg pressed, this time his gun on me.
"Well, if you want it. You will legit have to wait 24hours." I lied.
"Why?" Yon-Rogg hissed.
"Well, I put the core in a pocket dimension I can only access once a day." I replied, breaking Bucky's cuffs with my telekinesis, thank all the gods he was behind me, which made this entire thing easier, for no one was watching him.
"Would that fact remain the same, even if I kill every single person here?" Yon-Rogg growled, glaring at me with flaming anger.
"Yes. But… And hear me out! How about instead of doing that." I hummed, slowly creating a shield around everyone around us, "You avoid the punch coming to your face?" I said.
"Wh-" Getting his signal, Bucky jumped at Yon punching him.
"Kill them!" Yon-Rogg hissed.
At his command, all the Kree started blasting at us. But the shield I had prepared while buying some time, was more than enough to stop the incoming blasts.
"Now what?" Bucky asked, as I handed him a weapon from my inventory.
"Now we kill them." I said, giving Talos, Fury and Maria a weapon.
"Where do you keep this?" Maria asked.
"Questions for later, my magic shield won't last much longer." I cut her off, for at the pace the Kree were shooting, my shield was nearing its limit. But before we could start fighting the Kree, an explosion was heard in the distance, an explosion I was all too familiar with. I mean, I got punched by said explosions a few times in the Antarctic, although they were much weaker than this one. "It seems Carol has finally broken free." I chuckled.
"So… we kill those motherfuckers? Or…" Fury asked.
"Oh sure." I nodded, as we once more jumped into the fray, this time however they had nothing to stop us, no little girl to use as leverage, no nerfed Captain Marvel, nothing.
57 CHAPTER 57
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Free from the feeble restraints that once hold us, I smiled as I walked up to Yon-Rogg with a rather condescending look as he stood up from the ground. "Well, I think it's safe to assume Carol broke free from your Skynet wannabe."
Yon-Rogg hissed, baring his teeth at me like an animal in dismay.
"Is that all? A hiss, frankly I expected something more eloquent as your last words." I chuckled, punching the Kree general on the face with enough strength to send him flying across the room. "Though I suppose a hiss has its charm." I added.
"I will kill you, and then Vers." Yon-Rogg growled, standing up from the ground as he did so.
"Good luck with that." I said, cracking my knuckles.
"I need no such thing." Yon-Rogg smiled, aiming his arms at me, and it wasn't after a second after that I realized what he was doing. "Die." With that said, Yon-Rogg used his gravity gauntlets to blast me into the wall with moderate strength.
However, the attack did way, and I mean way less than he expected, for I simply stood up, brushing my clothes. "You know. I've been wanting to try my armor for a while, wanna be test subject one?"
Angered by my attitude, Yon-Rogg took a blaster from one of the few men he still had alive and started to shoot at me.
"Want me to kill him?" Bucky asked as he snapped the neck of a Kree with shocking ease.
"Nah, I got it." I smiled, equipping my armor as I did, it was time to test my masterpiece. "Ok, now, go ahead and attack me as much as you can." I said, armor on, ready to experiment.
However, before I could even get hit by the Kree general, a violent roar was heard at the distance, the sound slowly approaching with each passing second, making the intensity of the roar grow exponentially. "Yon-Rogg!!!"
"I guess I won't get to test my armor." I sighed in disappointment, as Carol blasted through the walls like the Kool-Aid man, coming into view.
"I am free Yon-Rogg." Carol grinned, glaring at her former mentor with pure unadulterated anger. [Carol Denvers- Captain Marvel LV 270]
Level 270, that was quite a jump on power, though I expected her to be stronger, perhaps with time her level would increase.
"So, you got this?" I asked Carol.
"Nice armor." Carol complimented.
"I know." Of course it was a good set of armor, I made it! "Well if you are gonna kill him, then I'm off."
"Evacuate everyone." Carol said, turning to look at Yon-Rogg.
"You heard the lady, let's go." Fury agreed.
Not gonna lie, I was a bit disappointed I didn't get to test my armor and such, but all and all, the Kree were cannon fodder for me, all I was doing here was buying Carol time to deal with Windows XP to unlock her powers.
Now that my mission is complete. I had no real reason to care for the Kree.
"Fine by me." I nodded, opening a portal for everyone.
"I am too human for this shit." Fury sighed, as he watched the Skrull walk through the portal. "Even your fucking cat is better equipped to deal with shit like this."
"To be fair, he is an alien cat." I chuckled.
"I'm a human, and you don't see complaining." Bucky said, with just the hint of a smile.
"Same here." I nodded.
"Hell nah, you are a fucking super cyborg." Fury pointed at Bucky, then he turned to me. "And you, I don't even fucking know what you are, a magical mutant that pulls powers from his ass when the time calls for me, or something."
"But we're still human." Bucky grinned.
"I hate you both." Fury sighed, rubbing his temples.
"We love you too buddy." I chuckled.
"That we sound like a lot of people." Bucky said with a snort.
"So, you think she will win?" Fury said, pointing at Carol, who was now currently beating the ever living shit of Yon-Rogg. "Forget I asked. I almost pity the bitch, but my pity lake is pretty much empty, so…"
"Are we missing anyone?" Talos asked, being the last Skrull still in the ship.
Checking my minimap, I confirmed he was the last one and pushed him Spartan style. "So… ready to go back to earth?"
"Yes." Fury nodded. "By the way, since when do you have an armor suit?"
"Since a few months ago." I replied.
"Looks sturdy." Fury tapped the armor, narrowing his eyes at me. "Too sturdy…" his eyes narrowed even more. "On a scale of one to ten, how illegal is this?"
"Zero." I replied with a smile.
"A twelve it is then." Fury sighed. "You are a pain in my ass!" With that said, Fury walked through the portal, followed by Bucky and then me.
————————————————————————————-
[Two hours later]
Two hours after leaving Captain Marvel on the Kree ship, she arrived at earth with two things at hand, one a ship and two a cocky smile.
"The Kree won't bother anyone anymore." Carol stated, hovering above the ground.
As for us. Well, as soon as we got back to earth I started a barbecue, inviting the Skrull, Maria, Fury, Erik, Bucky and the Ancient One.
"Dad, who's the shining lady?" Emily pointed at Carol as I flipped a burger.
"I don't know." I shrugged.
"You know I can hear you, right?" Carol said.
"Oh Carol, sorry. I didn't see you there." I waved at her with a smile.
"So, while I fought to the death… against an army. You guys started a barbecue." Carol asked, her eyebrow raising as she looked around.
"That would be an accurate assessment." The Ancient One nodded.
"I could've died." Unlikely.
"He was ready for that outcome." Erik grinned, levitating the black flags I had under my truck.
"Who are you two anyway?" Carol asked with a chuckle.
"I'm Erik, a friend of Alex." Erik replied, going back to his station. The beer tossing station.
"I'm the Ancient One." The Ancient One replied.
"And that is supposed to answer my question." Carol pressed.
"Not really, but it is all I am willing to share." The Ancient One smiled ever so lightly.
"Fine by me, anyway. This is for you." Carol sighed, tossing the ship in front of my grill.
"You almost ruined my burgers." Nothing gets between a man and his meat.
"Sorry, but I thought you would want the ship, as Fury said you were interested in space and such. So here you are." So that's how I got my ship reward, odd but I'll take it. "Now, for the other matter at hand, I need the core." I knew this time would come, just not this sooner.
"Yeah, no." I replied, flipping my burgers.
"I wasn't asking." Oh shit, here we go again.
58 CHAPTER 58
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
I eyed Captain Marvel as I sighed, turning my grill off. "I won't give you anything." I said, getting ready for the worse.
"And I said, I wasn't asking. You have no idea the power that thing has, it needs to be in the right hands." Carol said, her tone bordering the lines of a threat.
"I'll put it in terms you understand." I smiled. "Not even in death, I will give you the core as you call it."
Captain Marvel looked at me, giving me a long scrutinizing look as she did so. "I can make you." she grinned.
"Go ahead." I challenged her. "You are stronger than me, at least now you are. So go ahead, beat me up, I will put up a fight, but considering the power you now wield. I will lose, but no matter how much you punch me, the core stays with me."
"Sorry, Fury here." Fury said, getting our attention. "The fuck is the core?"
"An item of unimaginable cosmic power." Carol replied. "In the wrong hands, could bring the end of the world."
"Which is why, I am keeping it." I added.
"I said you are not." Carol said, glaring at me.
"What's that? Sorry, I couldn't hear you over how much I don't give a fuck about your opinion." I replied.
"You really want to fight me?" Carol looked at me, with a smug smile on her face.
"If I have to, I will." I shrugged.
"You already know what will happen if we do." Carol said, her fists glowing, but before she could take another step, Erik shut her up by throwing my truck at her, blasting her into the ground.
"I was getting tired of the conversation." Erik said, looking at me. "How strong is she?"
"Stronger than Vuk, weaker than Jean." I replied, equipping my armor.
"Great." Erik sighed, turning to look at where Captain Marvel was with a worried look.
"That was cute." Carol chuckled, blasting the truck off her, then cracking her neck, she levitated towards us. "One last chance, give me the core."
Why was she so obsessed with the core, in the canon timeline she let Fury keep it. "No."
I had barely finished my sentence when Captain Marvel instantly charged at me, with blinding speed. However I predicted her attack, which allowed me to block her first blow with my right arm. But even with that, the sheer force behind the attack sent me flying across the field like a ragdoll, only to be stopped by magneto using his magnetism on me. Had I not been using my armor, that attack would've hurt a lot.
"You can't protect the core. I can." Carol said, floating above me.
"You sure have a funny way of showing that." Fury said, getting her attention. "Perhaps you are right, perhaps you can protect whatever my friend here took." At this he pointed at me. "But if you keep doing this, we will fight you, and we will stop you."
"What he said." Erik nodded, glaring at her. "I don't know you, ergo, I don't trust you. But I trust him. So whatever he took, in my eyes, is safer on his hands."
"I understand he's your friend bu--" before she could finish that sentence, the Ancient One appeared behind her, tapping Captain Marvel in the back and in the process taking out her spiritual form.
"Normally, I don't like to interfere in such affairs. But I suppose Mr. Walker has been a bad influence on me." The Ancient One chuckled, as she turned to look at Captain Marvel's spirit floating around her body. "Now, I understand your concern, I really do." she paused, probably thinking about the time stone. "But, believe me when I tell you, he is destined to hold, that what you wish to take from him."
"Is… she okay?" Erik muttered, for in his eyes, the Ancient One was talking to an unconscious Carol.
"She is talking with her spirit." I replied.
"That… answers nothing." Erik sighed.
"Shouldn't we take this chance to kill her?" Bucky asked.
"No. We might need her in the future." I replied.
"Dad! I brought you Goose!" Emily, who had disappeared before the battle even began, ran towards me, Goose in her arms. "He can eat her." look at Emily, planning for the team.
~~Fine…~~ Carol's spirit sighed.
"Good, now please behave." The Ancient One smiled, putting Carol back on her body.
"I suppose the core doesn't need my protection, not when you have all these friends." Carol said.
"I pity the man that ends with you." Erik said, glaring at her. "Or the woman, I don't judge. I just pity them."
"So… Can I get a burger?" Carol asked.
Before I could reply, Fury took a step forward. "Sure, just let me untie Maria."
"Why did you tie her?" I asked him.
"She was about to help her. So I tied her up." Fury replied.
"Hmm." I chuckled.
--
After that short lived battle with Captain Marvel, we had the most awkward barbecue ever. After said uncomfortable Barbecue was over, Carol gave Fury and me a beeper, to call her in case of an emergency.
"Well, I am off." Carol said, giving me a look. "Take care."
I looked at her, and smiled, if only because I was polite. "Same."
"I can feel the love." Carol chuckled.
"I hope next time we see each other, you won't be trying to kick Alex's ass." Fury said, as he came to say his goodbyes to Carol.
"Who knows, I kinda enjoy fighting him." Carol grinned.
"Ok, I am not emotionally invested in this, so I am off to do literally anything else." I said, opening a portal to Italy, where Bucky, Erik and Emily waited for me, for it was pizza day.
"It's pizza day?" Fury asked, and I nodded.
"Hm." Fury smiled, turning to Carol. "Take care, bye~" and with that he walked through the portal.
"Until next time." Carol said.
"Let's hope it's not too soon." I chuckled, for if she was ever needed here, it would be for the likes of Thanos, or other big threats.
59 CHAPTER 59
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Peace was a rare occurrence in the Marvel Universe, or any universe for that matter, even the one from where I came. But with the events of Captain Marvel already behind me, peace was finally here. For at least a decade that is.
I remembered a few things about the MCU, one was that I had until 2004 to plan and become stronger, for in 2004 the events leading to END game would begin, with the birth of the Hulk.
From that point, I would have around fifteen years to prepare for Thanos and his army, meaning this decade without important events was the decade of my making, a decade I would use to become the strongest I could possibly be.
My plan? Dungeons, Dungeons, and more dungeons. In short, I would travel around the world collecting dungeons, and doing them, in a grindy manner. All while I came back home to be a dad. Portals were sure handy when it came to that, for no matter where I went, I had access to my home at any given time.
"Ten years." I chuckled, looking at the sky as I did so, from the window of my penthouse in New York. "Ten years to prepare for what is coming." Ten years before MCU phase one really started, ten years before the threat of the Mad Titan became a real shadow looming above us.
In reality, I had a bit more than twenty years to prepare for the events of Infinity War, and End Game. If things went well, I would be ready. But for now, my timeline was that, ten years, or 9 years and 6 months to be precise.
"Dad." Emily said, getting my attention. [Emily Walker LV 35]
I looked at her, and I couldn't help but feel proud of how strong she already was, of how strong she would be. "Yes sweetie?"
"Can we watch a movie tonight?" Emily asked, with puppy eyes activated.
"Sure, but first clean your room." I winked.
"Okay!" And with that, she ran towards her room with a happy smile on her face.
"Ten years." I chuckled. "More than enough time." I chuckled. "More than enough time to become the Mad Titan's killer."
--
Next day, I woke up to start my long prep for what was to come. Of course, first I took Emily to school, and then I went to my day job, which was basically supervising my company and my investments. After that, I would go and do some dungeons I had found before the events of Captain Marvel that were around my level.
One more reason to love my satellite, it shows me where every dungeon and raid is in the entire globe, giving me easy access to them. Lamentably enough, raids are way above my current level, heck the earliest raid is level 250, but eventually I would get there, I was after all, level 157. Heck some of the raids were even level 500 and higher, I can only imagine how hard those babies are, I will probably need a group for them, like one does in a normal raid.
Anyway, back to what I was doing, working and making some money.
"Time to work." I smiled, opening a portal to my office in my company.
--
Working as the CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER for my own company was incredibly dull, and bland. But life was not always full of thrill and excitement, so in the end, I was happy with a bit of monotony.
I mean, a few years ago I used to be a college student watching movies with his friends, and now… now I am a dad, a warrior, and in a way, a prophet.
Though, regardless of my love for the new shade of monotony in my life, I needed to find someone to take care of my company if I wanted it to actually grow, a CEO capable of running the train without my constant supervision, someone making money for me.
Perhaps I could steal Pepper from Tony… nah, she is much too young right now to be leading a company, also I need someone with knowledge in physics and other sciences.
"Sir." My secretary knocked at the door of my office.
"Yes?" I replied, looking at the door as I did so.
"Hank's Pizza is here." Oh my lunch was here… wait a minute… HANK, HANK PYM, he can be my CEO, he's smart, and fills all the criteria boxes.
"Keep the pizza, I have something to do!" I replied as I pulled my phone from my pocket to call Fury.
--
[Nick Fury POV]
Two weeks in hawaii, and I lose a fucking eye to one of them terrorist bitches, I didn't lose the fucking eye to Hydra, nor to the space bitch patrol, but to humans, Alex won't ever let this die down, and what's even worse, Bucky now has material to work with. "Coulson, you do the paperwork, I have shit to do." I ordered, as I walked to my quarters.
If there was any consolation to this, it was that at least, soon enough I would have no need for doing such missions, with the current Director of SHIELD retiring, and naming my ass as he successor and all, I would be the one giving the missions.
~A bitch it's calling, answer the phone~
Alex is calling huh. "Hello." I said, taking the call. Already imagining what came next, ~Fury I need your help.~
"Fury, I need your help." Haha! Fucking nailed it.
"What is it this time?" I asked with a chuckle.
"I need to know where Hank Pym lives." Alex replied, sounding rather excited about all of this.
"I think I can find that information, but can I know why?" I asked, curious as to why he wanted to know where an ex-agent of SHIELD lived.
"I need a CEO with knowledge in genetics, physics, and other sciences to help me out with my company, and well, Hank is probably my best choice!" Alex replied. "Funny enough, if he says no, I will try and hire the furry version of Hank, both work just fine."
The furry version of… I really won the lottery with this brother. "Sure, I will find you the address, but you owe me one." and that one would be not making fun of my eye situation.
"Sure." Alex replied. "So… how is work?" he asked after a second of silence.
"Good, nothing as exciting as stopping an alien invasion, but enough to keep me busy." I replied with a chuckle.
"I like that, not having to deal with constant lethal threats." Alex replied, with a long tired tone, one that I could fully comprehend.
"I know how you feel… but it is what it is, we have the curse of caring, and the knowledge to do something about it, so here we are, two man fucking the world." I replied with a sigh, my hand on where it used to be my eye. "At least you have power though, I be fighting monsters with a gun." I added with a chuckle.
"I suppose it's true." Alex chuckled. "Well… I have to go, text me with the address."
"Sure, take care. And remember, movie night with Emily tomorrow." That little girl was terrifying, somehow she had managed to guess my passcode to my calendar, to add my dates with her on it.
"I know." Alex chuckled. "I have twenty two reminders on my phone, and ten on my fridge."
"Haha." I chuckled.
"Okay, take care." Alex sighed.
"Bye." I smiled, hanging up the phone.
60 CHAPTER 60
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Within a week, Fury found the information I needed, and so I embarked on a small journey to meet with Hank Pym. At the door of his two story house, I knocked at the door, and waited, wondering if he would even accept my offer.
Opening the door, a man in his fifties greeted me, his eyes giving a wary look as he did so. "What can I do for you?" he asked. [Hank Pym LV 30]
"Hello Mr. Pym, my name is Alex Walker, and I… Well, I have a proposition to make." I said, extending my hand for a handshake.
"I am not interested." He almost growled.
"Why is that?" I asked, I mean, he had yet to hear my offer.
"I know what you want, this is not the first time THEY try something like that." He scoffed, getting angrier by the second. "I won't give anyone the formula."
With a smile, I shook my head. "I don't work for them, and even if I did, I have no interest in your formula Mr. Pym." I grinned. "All I want is some… help with my company, nothing more, nothing less."
He stared at me, as if trying to find the lie within my words. "You say you don't work for them, but you still know about them… excuse my skepticism but, I don't believe you." he snarled, throwing the door in my face. But as he did so, I opened a portal behind him.
"I really have no interest in your Pym particles." I said, startling the man who in turn punched me in the face out of instinct. The punch did nothing.
"How did… Nevermind, get out of my house!" He roared, his eyes piercing me like two spears.
"Mr. Pym, I need a scientist to lead my company, not your invention. I assure you, if you give me a minute of your time, you will see all I need is a CEO, one with experience being a scientist." I said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.
"One minute. And then you're gone!" He sighed, gesturing to me to go into his living room in a rather angry manner.
"Thanks, and sorry for the troubles." I smiled, walking into the living room.
Taking a seat, Hank glared at me and said. "Speak, you have one minute, make it worthwhile."
"I have a company that is barely starting out. It specializes in genetics, nanotechnology and human enhancements, as well as molecular and atomic studies. But as of now, it's a money funnel for me, because while smart, I am no scientist, but you are." I said, taking a seat on one of the chairs in his living room. "You are correct to assume I worked with SHIELD, but it was more like an alliance of sorts, we shared the same enemy, and we both teamed up to destroy it."
"What enemy?" Hank asked.
"Hydra." I replied. "They kidnapped me, and tried to… well break me, but in the end, it was me who broke them. In a way." I chuckled.
He stared at me, processing all the information I had just unloaded. "And your partnership with them ended?" he eventually asked.
"I suppose it did. I no longer help them." I replied, for Fury didn't count as SHIELD helping me for me, he was my bro.
"Let's say I believe you." He said, his eyes on the floor. "Let's say that you really don't want my formula, what is it that you want me to do?"
"Help me become a billionaire?" I chuckled. "Look, your formula, your magnum opus, it's yours, what I want it's not only to become a rich man, a very rich man, but to help humanity in the process."
Hank looked at me, and in his eyes I could see a spark of something akin to wishful thinking, like he really wanted to believe me. "Does SHIELD know you're here?" he asked.
"Yes, but worry not. I was clear on my demands, that you were to be left alone." A demand Fury was not happy with, but considering SHIELD considered me an asset bigger than Hank Pym, they complied.
"And you believed them?" He chuckled in a dark tone. "You must be a fool."
"Perhaps." I nodded. "But I am a fool with the power to destroy SHIELD, should they prove to be a nuisance." I smiled. "I alone killed thousands of Hydra bases, SHIELD wants me more than it wants you, and it fears me more than it fears you, as long as I help them every now and then, they will help me every now and then, besides, they know they can't lie to me, my powers make than an impossibility."
"Your powers?" Hank asked with a bit of interest.
"I can… see where everyone's true alliance lies with, so no matter how good a spy is…" I grinned.
"You can see it…" He finished for me. "Remarkable."
"Look, as of now, all of my employees are ex-SHIELD scientists, but should you take this job, you would be free to hire and fire everyone you like." I said.
"If I take this… job, there are some ground rules we need to discuss." Yes! He was giving in! "One, no SHIELD for me, you can keep your alliance with them, but keep them as far away as possible for me."
"I can do that." I nodded.
"Two, my work, my magnum opus as you accurately described is mine, and mine alone, you don't talk about it, you don't ask about it, you don't research about it, understood?" He said, with a tone of finality.
"Of course." I nodded, once again.
"And last, but not least, if I am to be your lead scientist, your CEO, I want to be your partner, not your employee." He finished.
"That can be arranged." I nodded, I mean, I was already prepared to offer him a partnership.
"Then, let's talk business, kid." Hank said, with just the hint of a smile. He was like an onion, with many layers of shit, but a soft center.
"Gladly." I smiled, looking at the clock. "Would you look at that, you gave me four minutes."
61 CHAPTER 61
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
After two hours discussing with Hank Pym about stocks and how much I could offer him, we came to an agreement for a ten percent of the company on the grounds he would stay until his retirement, which was more than good for me.
After that, we discussed his salary and benefits, and closed the deal with me showing him the company, and him firing all my scientists. Not that I cared really, there were your run of the mill scientists, while Hank Pym, was a god tier scientist.
After that, I left Hank to his own leisure, where he would find and recruit his own group of people, people he trusted, while I went back home, to continue on my research of the super soldier serum.
Later I would do some dungeons, but right now. Right now, I wanted to focus on my research, especially now that I had a genius in my company devising ways to make me money, meaning I had more free time. "Let's see." I muttered, as I went over the blood samples I had in my personal lab, when all of the sudden, my phone rang.
~It's me motherfucker, it's me!~
I turned to look at my phone knowing very well who was calling, Fury. "Hello?" I said, taking the call.
"Alex, I need your help." Fury said, his tone sounding serious.
"What is it?" I asked.
Promptly Fury began to explain what was going on, seemingly some enemy spies had infiltrated the country without SHIELD noticing and all with all the events happening right now, and had stolen some cognitive data from the North Institute, a S.H.I.E.L.D. base that was once secretly run by Hydra a few hours ago. And he needed me to track the spies, and recover the date, for the spies had burned the place down.
"Sure. Count on me." I replied, after he finished his explanation.
"I know I can." Fury replied, sounding a bit happier.
--
Opening a portal to North Institute, I stepped into a scorched view. They really had burned the entire place down, taking a deep breath, I started to look for some clues, something that would lead me to the spies.
Using [Sight] with my satellite, I focused on finding the closest red dots on the world map, in relation to the base, for it would inevitably lead me to my targets. Two minutes in, I found three red dots somewhere in the suburbs of Ohio, two were relatively close, a few meters away, while one was driving towards them. "This feels… familiar." I muttered, as I felt the distinctive feeling of dejavu crawling down my spine.
Shrugging the feeling off, I opened a portal close to their location, in a rather desolated area, the forest nearby.
Stepping out of the portal, I whistled in appreciation. The trees, the smell of the earth, the birds chirping, and the feeling of total solitude, brought back some memories. "It's like the day I came to this world." I chuckled, granted, that time I was naked, and felt helpless, now, helpless would be the last word I would use to describe myself.
Getting out of memory lane for the moment being, I went back to focus, for I had a mission to do. "Now, let's pick a red dot and see what's this is all about." I muttered to myself, eventually deciding to pick the closest red dot to me.
Walking out of the forest, I entered the residential area without raising any suspicion, from the oblivious people living around, as the nurturing rays of sunlight bathed my eyes with blinding love. "God, I need to stop working on the lab so much, or at least I need to do more shit during the day, I feel like a vampire." I hissed, my eyes burning at the sudden change of light. "Ok, time to find the spies, and recover the data." I sighed, walking towards the moving red dot that was conveniently moving towards me at a moderate speed.
Eventually the red dot reached my location, and to say I was surprised was an understatement. The red dot was a girl about ten to eleven years old, cycling down the streets of the suburban area with her bike, without a care for the world as she smiled at everyone around, a smile I knew as fake, fabricated, a trained smile. "A girl is my target…" I muttered, inspecting the girl. At a simple glance as she passed by me, I could tell she was wearing shorts, and a yellow and white top. Her hair was brown, with the majority of it being dyed to pale blue. [Natasha Romanoff LV 17] It wasn't until the girl had passed by, that I had finally noticed her name, Natasha freaking Romanoff.
"Fuck." I sighed, already knowing I would get invested, emotionally speaking with all of this.
--
I followed Natasha through the area, hiding in the shadows as I did so. While I thought about how to approach this, eventually as I pondered about this, Natasha cycled into the driveway of a home, where the other red dot was.
Hiding on the top of a tree, I used [Sight] to see what Natasha was doing, for the moment I would simply observe.
Putting her bike down, she smiled as she walked into the yard of the house, whistling, and then it clicked me, I had seen this… before, which now explained the sense of Dejavu, the girl, aka Natasha, the base being burned, all made sense now, this was the origin story of Natasha, a movie I never got to watch till the end, just the beginning, ergo why I felt so lost.
In the yard of the house, a younger girl around four to five years old played on the swings, smiling as she heard Natasha whistled, eventually whistling back at her.
[Yelena Belova LV 1]
Well, that confirms it, these are the events of the Black Widow movie, or at least the beginning. And more importantly, I was about to fuck canon, if there was something I had learnd from my time in Hydra was… that everyone deserved a choice in life, so I was going to lend the girls under the red room a helping hand, I was going to fuck the russian government.
62 CHAPTER 62
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
From the top of one of the many trees outside little Natasha's house, I waited, hiding in the shadows, as I formulated a plan to deal with this whole situation. All while Natasha and Yelena played around like two little kids, it was like seeing two sides of the same coin, one was obliviously happy, and the other, well, not so much.
Normally, I wouldn't need a plan for such a situation, I was vastly overtrained for this little raid, but my mission had changed the moment I had discovered kids were on the line. In truth, before today, I had completely forgotten about the Red Room, but now that I had remembered, well, I just couldn't let things play out as they should, so for now, Fury and his data would have to wait.
Sighing, I turned my attention to the house.
Inside the house, there was a woman, the other red dot in the area, she was level 29, and was currently cooking some dinner, playing her role perfectly. The typical suburban middle class wife, waiting for her husband.
"Girls let's come inside, dinner's ready." [Melina Vostokoff LV 29]
"Food!!" Yelena exclaimed, with a toothy smile.
"Did you make the corn we bought yesterday?" Natasha asked, with a significantly lower amount of enthusiasm, but even then, her eyes laid on Melina with love, she cared for her, even if this entire thing was a lie.
"Yes, now, come on, dad is about to get home." Melina repeated, pushing both girls inside the house delicately.
Well, this made my whole bursting through the window plan go to shit. If she cared about Melina, I had to play this carefully, hurting Melina would scar both girls for life, making them my and by connection Emily's enemies.
Though for now, even if I didn't care about making enemies out of them, doing a Kool-Aid move was out of the window, as ironic as that is, because I was still waiting for that last red dot, that was now a mile away.
Shrugging those thoughts for the moment, I jumped out of the tree as I casted a low tier illusion spell around me to render myself invisible. Then, I walked behind the girl like Hydra had taught me, making no sound as I followed them inside the house. God, I felt like a creep.
Inside the house, I started to scrutinize the rooms one by one, while keeping tabs on everyone around, surprisingly the inside of the house was rather normal, with the normal amount of weapons expected in an American household.
"Here it comes." I muttered to myself, as the last red dot finally arrived.
"Dad!" Yelena shouted filled with excitement, the cry of happiness was so hard, I heard her from the second floor of the house.
Sighing, I walked out of the room I was inspecting and walked into the kitchen, as the fake family started to gather around.
The man, who was the last red dot, was nervous, his whole body language said that much, something, not only I, but Natasha and Melina noticed, leaving only little Yelena in the dark.
[Alexei Alanovich Shostakov LV 95]
Well, ain't that interesting, the guy level is close to the hundreds, well, not that it matters.
Knowing what would happen next, I walked out of the house through the front door the man had graciously left open, and hopped above their SUV, where I comfortably took a seat atop of the car, using my telekinesis to avoid making a mark on it, also to hold onto it.
Five minutes later, the family walked out of the house, all in a hurry, with Natasha and Yelena being the first ones to enter the SUV, then on the garage both Alexei and Melina stood still, having a conversation about the mission for what it looked like, with the man showing Melina a floppy disk.
At times I forget the USB has yet to come, such dark times we live in.
--
Soon after their short lived conversation about their mission, Alexei and Melina hopped into the car and drove away with both me and the girls, as multiple police cars came into the scene driving into their house, their sirens wailing, which made me curse internally, for every single police car was under shield, meaning it was all a facade, which also meant, Fury had discovered something after our talk and hadn't say shit, our prior our talk, though who really cared.
"Where are we going?" I heard little Yelena ask.
"Home." Melina replied with a rather somber tone, perhaps she was worth saving, something to debate on later.
"Mommy you're silly." Yelena giggled. "We just left home." such is the innocence of the youth, such a fragile treasure.
--
Three hours later, the sun was already down, and I was still sitting above their SUV, cursing their slow method of transportation. At least the air was nice, I can see why dogs like to feel the air on their faces.
Eventually the SUV turned into a corn field driving towards a bunch of hangards.
Needless to say, I jumped off the car, the illusion still in play as I walked towards the play hiding beneath one of the hangards, as multiple SHIELD agents approached the scene, by my calculations they would be here in a minute or two.
So far, everything was playing according to the small part of the movie I had watched, though from this point on, I had no idea what would happen next, but considering there was a plane, I assumed they were about to fly that shit up, so once again, I use my telekinesis to cling into the plane without actually letting weight affect the plane, as I stood above the plane.
"Get in, get in!" Alexei said in a hurried tone, turning around as many cars started to arrive in the area. As for me, well, I took this chance to levitate the floppy disk he had stolen out of his pocket into my inventory, replacing the thing for a drink coaster of the same size Bucky had gotten me from a gas station, sneaky, sneaky.
Floppy Disk, disgusting really.
With Everyone but Alexei in the plane, Melina started the plane, as Alexei ran towards the metal trailer blocking the way, effortlessly flipping the thing over, and now I understood why his level was so high, he was a super soldier, god damn it, it seems they now sell the serum in your local market shop or something.
Maybe I should also get a blood sample for him, it could help me in the long run.
With the plane running, the action started with SHIELD that had just arrived, and Alexei shooting at each other, with me slightly deviating the bullets that came my way with my telekinesis.
I had to admit, so far, Alexei was doing great, keeping up with the plane at foot, while shooting his rifle with incredible precision.
The real question now was, what to do. I could interfere, capture them all, and offer both Natasha and Yelena assylum, or I could see where they were trying to escape and get the man responsible for the entire Red Room situation.
I mean, I knew that with my satellite I could eventually locate them, the problem was that all of fuckign Russia was red in my minimap, which would make the hunt considerably tiring.
"AHHH!" Melina screamed, breaking me out of my long reverie.
On one of the wings, Alexei clung into the plane, shooting at the SHIELD agents coming their way.
I really had to stop daydreaming about my plans, a lot of shit happened, and I didn't notice.
--
With Melina slowly dying, Natasha had no other option but to grab the wheel and fly the plane to Cuba, which took a long ass time. Again, I think I was getting pampered by the portals.
"Medics!" Alexei shouted, carrying the wounded Melina in his arms, as both Natasha and Yelena followed their fake mother with tears in their eyes as their fake father laid her on a stretcher.
After that, Alexei walked back to the plane as a few soldiers walked towards Melina to treat her wounds.
"Forgive me mom…" Natasha said in fluent russian, tears falling from her eyes in pure pain, she was not acting, she really cared about Melina, she really loved her.
"The Red Guardian returns." I heard someone say, drawing my attention.
With Alexei, a rather fat man walked to Alexei with a smile on his face, his arms stretched as he approached the Russian super soldier to hug him, then with two kisses on the cheek, he grinned at Alexei.
[General Dreykov LV 22]
"Please general, no more undercover jobs." Alexei sighed. "I need to get back in the action, I need my suit." he added, with a tired smile.
"Did you get it?" The general asked, his eyes on Alexei like two piercing hollow windows with no emotion.
Alexei smiled, handing the general the drink coaster. "What…?" he muttered, realizing what he had given to the general.
"Is this a joke?" The general asked, his tone dangerously low.
"I.. I know I have it." Alexei replied, checking every pocket on his jacket.
As this hilarious event happened, the soldiers took Melina into a truck, making Yelena cry, who in turn rushed to her father figure looking for some type of comfort only to be stopped by one of the soldiers, who grabbed the little girl by the hand like a sack of potatoes.
Angry at this, Natasha ran towards the man, kicking the hand holding her sister, while also disarming the soldier with surprising ease.
"Get away from her!" Natasha growled, aiming the gun at everyone around, her eyes gleaming dangerously. "I will kill you all, don't touch her!" she roared once again.
With sigh, I walked towards Natasha, the illusion still in place as I equipped my armor, for it was the time to intervene.
"Honey." Alexei called, as he approached Natasha who in turn aimed her gun at him. "Hand me the gun."
Natasha looked at him, her eyes watering even more. "I don't want to go back there." she cried, looking at Alexei with pleading eyes. "I wanna stay in Ohio."
"You know you can't." Alexei replied, slowly walking towards her.
"You can't take her… she's too young." Natasha muttered, feeling hopeless.
"And they won't." I replied, breaking the spell, as I stood in front of the girls.
63 CHAPTER 63
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
My sudden appearance shocked the people around me, who in turn changed their focus to me, as Natasha and Yelena looked at me with a vast array of emotions.
Immediately the Russian soldiers started to circle me, as Natasha aimed at me with her gun. In her eyes, I could see she was scared, terrified, not only of me but of everything around.
"Sorry girls, but this is a non-compliance rescue." I boomed, making sure everyone around heard my voice.
"Who are you?" Alexei asked, his eyes like daggers wanting to pierce my heart.
I looked at him, tilting my head slightly to the right, my eyes gleaming with fake enthusiasm. "I am a man out of this world." I chuckled.
"A man out of time, that's what you are," Alexei snarled, and as if on cue, the soldiers around started shooting at me.
However, their bullets never reached me, not because of the armor; that was just a show, made to create fear. But because my telekinetic shield stopped the projectiles from reaching me.
"Girls. Time to sleep." Ignoring the Russian soldiers and their bootleg version of Captain America, I turned around, patting Natasha on the head, who simply froze at my touch. "Sleep," I muttered, using my magic to put them to sleep.
"You bastard!" Alexei roared, springing at me.
A fruitless attack, one that I stopped by taking a step forward, shoving my hand to his throat, immobilizing him with a death grip. "Me? The bastard? You help your government force children into slavery, and you call me the bastard?"
Alexei gagged, his hands clutching the arm that pushed him down with all his might as he tried to reply. Still, my hand around his neck made the entire ordeal an impossibility.
"You are... the Baba Yaga..." I heard someone mutter in realization, and much to my shock, it was General Dreykov, who was looking at me like I was the devil himself.
"Baba Yaga?" I snorted. "I ain't no John Wick. But I can see why you make that connection." I chuckled, tossing Alexei into one of the planes like a rag doll.
"I heard about you... the man that destroyed Hydra... the demon with human skin." That was what the Russians were calling me? The Baba Yaga? Terrible name, but I suppose it's best to be feared than loved by those people.
"That's... not untrue." I nodded, opening a portal to one of the safe rooms in New York to keep both Natasha and Yelena safe and away from Emily, for now.
I didn't trust Natasha not to try and kill Emily out of fear or shock.
"I won't let you hurt them!" Alexei shouted, jumping out of the plane I had hurled him into.
Enraged by that comment, I pulled his body towards me with my telekinesis as I jumped towards him, digging my left hand into his torso, piercing him with relative ease.
"Hurt them? You did that yourself, you lied to them, you took away their lives, their freedom, you could've saved them... but you didn't, all for the sake of this accursed man? Pathetic, really." I snarled, pulling my hand out of his guts as his body collapsed to the ground with a look of shock on his face.
As I did this, the General made a run for it, trying to escape me.
Turning around, I walked away from Alexei's body as the blood from his wound started to make a pool, reaching the girls to gently levitate them into the safe room. Then, I closed the portal and turned to the general, who was now barely reaching the car.
But as he tried to open the door, I levitated the whole thing throwing it into the sea, then I started walking towards him, snapping the necks of those around me with my telekinesis as I slowly made my way towards him. "I will give you one chance and one only. Tell me everything you know about the Red Room, and I may be lenient granting you a quick death."
"Baba Yaga or not... I won't betray my country!" The General roared his hands, shaking with fear as he pulled his gun, aiming at me. Then, with a grin, he moved the gun to his head and pressed the trigger. Alas, nothing happened.
Smiling, I clapped my hands as I continued my stroll towards him. "I respect that; I really do."
Fear sipping into the little courage he had gained, he started to press the trigger of his gun over and over again, but each time, the gun did nothing but a cute little click sound.
"What is going on?" He muttered.
"Oh well, you know how it is." I chuckled, tossing a few bullets into the ground, bullets I had stolen from his gun using [Aport]. "Without those, a gun is nothing but a piece of art or paperweight."
"Impossible." He muttered, taking a step back as I neared him.
"Improbable maybe, not impossible." I smiled, putting my hands on his shoulders. "Now... let's have a one on one." I grinned. "Let's hear you sing, little bird, for I want to know all your little secrets." and so, I dragged the man to a room I would never allow Emily to see as long as I could avoid it, the room that showed how much Hydra had changed me, the room that proved a part of me was a monster, my torture room.
--
[Natasha Romanoff POV]
After that armored man put us to sleep with a simple command, I woke up in a room with a single door and a TV with Yelena by my side. And a part of me wondered, was this really the escape I had been wishing for, the escape from that life, or was that man a bigger monster I needed to fear.
"You can come out if you want." I heard someone say from the other side of the door. "Alex sent you here to keep you safe, so don't worry." don't worry, that was something I didn't have the privilege of doing.
"Who are you?" I asked, glancing at Yelena.
"My name is James Buchanan, but everyone calls me Bucky." He replied, opening the door. "Now come, I made you some food."
"I'm not hungry," I muttered; the man looked strong, very strong, just like this Alex that rescued us.
"Then don't eat." He shrugged, closing the door.
64 CHAPTER 64
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
[Torture LOG - TIME = 0:01:09]
The subject woke up in my torture room with a disoriented look on his face, fear and anger being the two emotions he presented. His heartbeat was above the average levels of a man of his age, which was a good indicator for what I was about to do. Granted, the elevated pressure could also be attributed to his unhealthy lifestyle.
I think I will start him with a simple method of torture. Beating him up.
[Torture LOG - TIME = 0:35:15]
The subject has yet to reveal anything; he had a relatively strong will, most humans would've broken by now, doing anything in their power to stop the pain, but he was not, he was afraid yes, but he was keeping his mouth shut, it was almost admirable.
Changing the method of torture to amputations this method promises better results; it usually works best on men.
[Torture LOG - TIME = 4:01:09]
I have amputated the subject's arms, legs, and reproductive parts, slicing them like ham while keeping him conscious. Remarkably the subject has yet to break.
Perhaps asking Charles to read his mind would be best, but... a part of me didn't want this game to end; it was empowering. The lines between the kind dad and the monster I was forced to become blurry in this room.
Changing method of torture to boiling.
[Torture LOG - TIME = 8:41:59]
Boiling the subject for four hours whilst barely keeping him alive with my powers worked; I suppose the constant input of pain did wonders for his stability, finally breaking him down.
Pleading for his death, a quick one, he sang with detail about the Red Room operation, telling me everything I needed to know.
A quick check with my satellite map to the locations he gave me proved he was being truthful.
I even completed a quest that had started during his torture, [Find out the Red Room locations and how they operate, I even got a few levels on torture for what I did to him, a rewarding day of work.
[Log end.]
--
[Alex Walker POV]
Eight hours of torture later, and I finally had the information I needed. So, I acted accordingly, visiting each base and killing the operatives in cold blood. It was easy; unlike Hydra, the Red Room had a few bases, a dozen, so killing all the soldiers and the workers made for an easy quest.
However, while eliminating the red room had been an absurdly easy task, what came next was not; for now, I had a few dozen girls, some as young two years old and others as old as seventeen.
It was a rather difficult situation, sixty-one girls, some utterly loyal to their government, others happy for what I did; it was a very delicate situation.
So, I did the only thing I could, allowing those who wanted to be enslaved, be slaves, for only those who crave freedom can truly attain it.
Which left me with, in its majority, with the youngest girls.
Fifty-one girls.
Not a bad exchange, with only ten girls leaving to serve their oppressors; as for the ones that stayed with me, well, I had to be honest, I had no idea what to do with them.
So, empty of ideas, I bought an empty orphanage in England with the help of Fury, where the girls would reside for now until they were adopted. The orphanage would be run by SHIELD and me to avoid the girls becoming SHIELD's slaves, well, not that they had much to offer, for the majority, their training hadn't even started.
Needless to say, I would pay for the whole thing and would continue to pay until all the girls were safe. Giving the girls a normal life, at least as normal as they could get on the orphanage, as to why it was on England, well, it was to avoid Russia blaming the USA for the attack I had orchestrated.
Not that they would, SHIELD was not on top of that; I had to cash a few favors to have them be in charge though, the current director was not happy with my course of action, but was happy with the results, for no Red Room meant no super spies, according to him.
"The girl wants to talk with you," Bucky said as he entered my office.
"Which one?" I asked, looking at him.
"The big one," Bucky replied, as I gave him a look that said, humanize them, give them a name. "She doesn't want to share her name."
I suppose, in a way, a name holds power. "Ok." I sighed, opening a portal to their room. "Hi."
Yelena looked at me in fear, while Natasha looked at me like she was still trying to figure out how she felt about me, though considering she still appeared like a red dot on my map, I think it's safe to say she is not my friend yet.
"Why did you do that?" Natasha asked, her eyes scanning me like a cat looking for the right moment to strike.
"Enter the room with a portal? Or saving you?" I knew very well what she was asking, she wanted to know why I had saved her, but I wanted to make small talk.
"Saving us... me." Natasha replied as Yelena clung to her tight.
"I was once like you, well... not like you." I started trying to put words to what had happened to me. "I was kidnapped by an organization much like the one you used to belong to, but unlike the Red Room, mine was arguably much worse. I managed to escape; I managed to win my freedom back. So, I suppose you can say I sympathize with you."
"What will happen to us?" Natasha asked after a moment of silence.
"You could stay here and live a normal life if that's what you want," I replied, with just the hint of a smile. "Or, you could go with your sister to my orphanage and wait to be adopted; I really don't know, the choice is yours; that's the beauty of freedom."
"What happened to Da- Alexei?" Natasha asked, her voice going soft.
"We fought," I replied, scratching the back of my head; this was a tough topic; how do you tell someone you impaled the closest thing they have to a dad.
"You killed him," Natasha muttered, which made Yelena cry.
"No... he was still alive when I left the area, and considering his constitution, he will live," I said, trying to placate the girls; I mean, I really didn't know if the guy had survived, perhaps he did, perhaps he didn't; it all came to how good was his super-soldier body.
"I don't want to be here... I want to be with mommy and daddy." Yelena cried.
How to explain to a child his mommy and daddy had sold her to slavery. "The choice is yours, Natasha; whatever it is you pick, I will support you."
"Could I really... live a normal life?" Natasha muttered, looking at me with hope, fragile hope.
"Normal is... a wide range." I sighed. "Life in this world is never truly normal, but... we can make the best of it."
Natasha sighed, "I won't ever be truly free of them. Right?"
I looked at the eleven-year-old girl and said. "We are never truly free of our demons, but know they won't ever control you again; I mean, they would have to kill me first, let's face it, very few can accomplish that, and none of them live in Russia."
"I wanna stay... for now," Natasha muttered, and just like that, her dot changed from red to yellow, aka neutral.
"Then, welcome to the family."
65 CHAPTER 65
If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer
Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz
--
Destroying the Red Room in Russia was just step one. Organizations like these usually had roots all over the world; that much had become evident when I tortured the General. And while a bit of extra torture would've made him more... chatty about the operations outside Russia. I had no need for him anymore.
After all.
I had all the data I needed to update my search parameters with the information he had shared during our one-on-one and with what little I had collected through my raids in their bases.
Eventually, I would kill them all, but I didn't have to do it by myself.
Bucky had taken this mission after hearing the facts and was raiding a base a day.
It was easier than hunting Hydra; that much was a given, for one, the Red Room didn't have as much global presence as Hydra, and they weren't in every country, just some, like Cuba, North Korea, China, Italy, and others.
The point was, I was leaving the clean duty to Bucky, as in cleaning the other countries from that despicable organization.
As for me, well. I was trying to connect with the girls. One distrusted me because of her training, the other, well, because in her world, I had ripped her from her parents, making me a monster in her eyes.
But time would fix that, or one day I would wake up to see Yelena trying to kill me; I suppose I will see.
"What do you want, Natasha?" I said, feeling her presence behind my slightly open office door.
"Nothing." She eventually replied.
"It can't be entertaining to watch me read documents," I replied with a chuckle.
"What can we do?" She asked, coming into my office.
Looking at her, I put the documents I was reading on the desk and asked. "What do you want to do?"
She froze, contemplating the question.
"I told you, you are free now," I winked. "Well... as free as a child your age should be," I added.
"Can we go to school?" she asked, her voice soft.
"You can, Yelena. Well, I don't know." I sighed; a girl shouting I had kidnapped her would certainly break my public persona.
"She will forget them. Eventually." She replied, as I gave her a look that said, really? "Maybe."
"Look, if you want to go to school, I can enroll you." I sighed. "But, Yelena is.. she another matter altogether."
She looked at me and, with a low tone, muttered. "I know."
"I really don't know what to do with your sister. For her, life was normal before me; the realities you lived are foreign to her." I sighed; this entire thing was a broken mess.
"I will tell her." She stated. "She has the right to know what would've happened had you not been there." she paused, her gaze turning down. "Had you not interfered."
"Well, if she's gonna believe someone, I bet it's you." I smiled. "So... about school, you really want that?"
"Yes." She nodded shyly.
"Ok," I replied.
She looked at me and allowed a tiny smile on her face.
"So, next order of business. Your training." I said, looking at her.
At this, she tensed.
"Don't worry, I don't mean like the Red Room; I mean like you need to be able to defend yourself." I clarified.
"I would still be allowed to have friends?" She asked.
"Nat, but of course, you can have as many friends as you like." I chuckled. "We can even plan some sleepovers." I winked. "The self-defense training is only to help you be truly free."
"Truly free?" She asked.
"Those who are weak and good tend to be the prey of those who are strong and bad. The only way to escape that cycle is by climbing that ladder, in short. Those who hold the power, hold the cards of their own destiny." I answered.
"So to be free. I need to be strong." She stated.
"Yes, I mean... look at those who we call normal," I said. "They can become rich, they can become poor, they can be doctors or cops, but at the end of the day, people like Hydra, or SHIELD, or even the Red Room, are the ones pulling the strings, the ones that get to decide what happens." I sighed.
"They don't have control over their own lives, and they don't even know it." She added in understatement.
"Yes, in a way that is true." I nodded. "At any given time, those at the top could simply end them, which is why power is such an important part of freedom. With power, you can truly be free."
She looked at me, giving me a long scrutinizing look. "Are you free?" she eventually asked.
"I suppose I am." I chuckled, by the earth power ladder, I was free, but outside the earth power ladder, well, I was not.
--
[Melina Vostokoff]
I woke up to find Alexei on the bed recovering from what the doctors described as impalation. Not only that, but the one who had impaled him had kidnapped Natasha and Yelena and had seemingly wiped the Red Room out of Russia.
"Alexei," I muttered, approaching his bed. Doctors were saying that even with his super-soldier body, the chances of him surviving were slim.
"He was right, you know." Alexei coughed.
"What?" I asked, holding his hand.
"We claimed to love them, and yet we allowed our country to hurt them." Alexei chuckled with a hoarse tone.
"It is our duty," I replied.
"I suppose as long as we say that, the bodies of children piling behind us won't matter, won't it?" Alexei chuckled. "I almost died, and perhaps I will, and almost dying helped me see, it granted me an epiphany of sorts, how can we claim to love someone, when we only hurt them?"
Our duty to our country, our love for them, two different things playing at once. To die for duty or to die for love. "I don't know." I eventually replied.