Marvel Gamer Path

by Srtyi

One moment I was in my world, the next, well... not there anymore, at least I was given something to survive.

4. 66 - 92

MARVEL: GAMER PATH Chapter 93 - CHAPTER 92

66 CHAPTER 66

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

It took me a week to get all the papers I needed to enroll Natasha in the same school Emily was attending; it was a bit complicated. I was never a big guy on paperwork, but Fury helped. So there she was, Natasha Walker going to the most prestigious school in all of New York.

Of course, to do this, I had to introduce Emily to Natasha, which went as one would expect, with Emily being the social butterfly she was, immediately taking a liking to Natasha.

Natasha, naturally, was a bit uncomfortable with the open display of friendliness Emily presented went I introduced the two.

But, all and all, she was okay with it, I think, just not used to it. I mean, she was used to kids liking her without knowing her past because she was trained to make others like her, but Emily? She knew of her past and still liked her.

Granted, Emily likes everybody.

Anyway. Emily was in grade two, while Natasha was in grade five, and both had a few extracurricular activities before going to their... other activities to prepare them for what was to come.

As for Yelena, she was in therapy; thankfully, my connections with SHIELD granted me the help Yelena needed, help I couldn't provide. After all, I was a demon in her eyes.

"Knock, Knock." I heard someone say outside my office that someone was Fury.

"Come in, Fury." I inwardly chuckled as he opened the door.

"So, how have you been?" He asked, taking a seat on my imported Italian chair.

"Good, working on my company and other little projects," I replied with a smile.

"I need a favor." He eventually said, his one good eye giving a long scrutinizing look.

"Sure, I am here to help." I nodded, giving him the green to proceed.

"I need you to steal some data from a very particular individual." Fury replied, handing me a file with a name in bold letters. [William Stryker]

"Isn't he a government operative?" I asked my eyes on the file.

"He is." He nodded. "But I have my suspicions the guy is doing some shady stuff. Stuff, I want to know, and considering you already have a record of stealing from the government and getting away with it, well, I knew you were the man for the job."

I eyed Fury for a brief moment before I started chuckling. "Since when?"

"A month after you did your thing." He replied with a chuckle. "I mean, you stole the government's greatest treasure, at least one of them, I was bound to find out."

"And you are not arresting me, how kind of you." I chuckled.

"Bitch, I am not suicidal. Besides, the government is dumb as fuck. So much potential, yet they hide it on a bunker, at least in your hands; I get something out of it." He replied.

"I honestly thought if you did find out, you would be a bit... angrier," I admitted.

"I can see why you thought that." He chuckled, "But considering all the good you have done for the world with Hydra's elimination, and the Red Room's well, I think SHIELD can look the other way with a crime of two, I mean, the only ones you are hurting are the dumb ass motherfuckers that thought hiding one of our greatest weapons was the best way to use it."

"Fair enough." I chuckled. "So, what do you want me to do with this... guy?" I pointed at the file.

"Stryker is a possible threat. Our sources say he's been trying to get economic support for his little projects outside the USA, and while normally, we wouldn't care. He has been seen talking with the enemy." He replied with a sigh.

"Let me guess, he got out of hand," I said.

"His hate for mutants is a... problematic situation. At first, SHIELD allowed his little projects to go on, for, in reality, we needed a way to stop mutants should they rise against us, but now... well, his projects are no longer aligned with SHIELD's interests." He nodded.

"And what do you want me to do?" I asked.

"Capture him, alive if possible." He replied.

"Why me, though, I understand the importance of this mission, but I'm sure a few agents could do just fine." I inquired.

"Because of this." He said, putting a small device on my desk, one that started to show a video, where a dozen agents were killed by no other than Sabertooth himself. "We believe he has more mutants under him, which is why you are our best bet."

"I see." I sighed as a blue block of text appeared in front of me.

[New Quest Created: The Hunt for Project X

William Stryker is desperate; he wants to wipe all mutants out of existence and will stop at nothing to obtain such a goal.

Objectives: You must capture Stryker alive if possible.

Bonus Objectives: Capture Sabertooth, Capture Weapon X Subjects.

Rewards: Weapon X research DATA, Abraham Cornelius Super Soldier Research DATA, ????, ????, 25.000.000EXP

Failure = Possible Death, Capture, ????

Accept: Yes or No]

"So, are you in?" Fury asked.

"Yes, yes I am." I nodded; the rewards were certainly interesting.

--

[Natasha Romanoff POV]

Alex Walker was a weird man, his daughter was weird too, but I guess I was okay with that; they know about me, they know about my past, and yet, they welcome me; it feels strange.

I do miss Alexei and Melena from time to time. Well, rather, I miss the fake life we had in Ohio, but as cruel as it sounds, being free outweighs my sentimentalism.

I was still getting training, this time from SHIELD, but it was not forced; I was free to live a life, to not be a slave, though perhaps that was a fictitious sentiment.

Perhaps I was yet to be free; who knew. But, at least I was freer now.

"Nat, let's play something!" Emily, the daughter of my warden, said in a rather happy tone.

I couldn't help myself but envy her; we both had a similar upbringing; we were both shoved into another's life, we both had parents that were not our own, but unlike me, her pretend parent actually cared for her; he actually loved her enough to give her more than she was supposed to have, he actually loved her enough to become her real dad, he loved her enough to turn a lie into a reality.

It was a bitter sentiment that ate me away at times; why didn't Alexei and Melena love me as much as Alex loves Emily? Why was she so lucky? When I never had any luck.

I knew it was childish, but who could really blame me.

"Sure." I nodded; Emily was not to blame for my luck; in the end, I was rescued, so perhaps my luck was turning for the better.

67 CHAPTER 67

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

According to Fury's file. Stryker was somewhere in Africa, hiding while he tried to make deals with some African warlords in exchange for monetary assistance for his little projects. The problem now was, Africa was massive, so I had to update my search parameters to find him with my satellite.

Which took an hour in which I focused solely on finding him.

Once, I had located Stryker somewhere near the border across the sea, well. I opened a portal nearby to assess the situation, and by nearby, I mean a few hundred miles away from him.

If this guy really had Sabertooth, being near him would give away everything, with his super sense and all.

Anyway, a few hundred miles away from them, I started to focus on the enemies around him as I looked over my skill list.

"Let's see how many enemies there are and plan accordingly."

[STATS

Name = Alex Walker

Title = The Gamer

Occupation = Scientist.

Level = 162

EXP = 15735/3945123

HP = 255.000/255.000

MP = 220.200/220.200

STR = 800 (520) = 1320

VIT = 800

DEF = 725

DEX= 789

INT = 750

CHA = 351

WIS = 500

WILL = 452

PER = 445

LUK = 369

STAT POINTS = 250

MONEY: 8.548.142.752

]

[~STR PERKS~

Strength of the Chosen (50) = It boosts your strength permanently by 5%. It stacks with other buffs.

Force of a thousand (200) = It boosts your strength permanently by 20%. It stacks with other buffs.

Might of Heracles! (800) = It boosts your strength permanently by 40%. It stacks with other buffs.

Total perk buff = 65% STR

]

[~VIT PERKS~

Life of the Willing (50) = The user regenerates「 1.5% of his maximum health every 5 seconds. 」it stacks with other health regeneration-based buffs = 3825HP every 5 seconds.

The Blessing of Persephone (200) = The user regenerates「5.5 % of his maximum health every 5 seconds. 」it stacks with other health regeneration-based buffs = 14025HP every 5 seconds.

The Perseverance of the Gods! (800) = The user regenerates「10.5 % of his maximum health every 5 seconds. 」it stacks with other health regeneration-based buffs = 26775HP every 5 seconds.

Total Perk regen = 17.5% HP every 5 seconds for 44625HP, or 3.5% HP every second for 8925HP.]

[~DEF PERKS~

Stone or Skin? (50) = The user takes 5% reduced damage from every instance of physical damage. The user also takes 2% reduced damage from every instance of magical damage. It stacks with other DEF buffs.

One-man Fortress (200) = The user takes 15% reduced damage from every instance of physical damage. The user also takes 8% reduced damage from every instance of magical damage. It stacks with other DEF buffs.

Total DEF buff = 20% Mitigation of Physical Damage and 10% Mitigation of Magical Damage.]

[~DEX PERKS~

Perks require not only the user to have the required amount of stat points to unlock but a certain experience.

Before Dawn = -LOCKED-

Momentum = -LOCKED-

]

"Hmm, I really need to figure out how to unlock the other perks." I hummed, closing my perk window. So far, I only had the perks for WILL, STR, and DEF. "Anyway, with what I have, I think I should be okay as long as I don't do something stupid." I sighed, opening my map to check how things were moving with Stryker.

Nevertheless, I still needed to get closer. While I could see the red dots that represented Stryker and his people, I couldn't see levels or who was with him beyond Sabertooth; I mean, Sabertooth alone was something to worry about, but what about the rest, I needed to know before moving forward, lest I wanted to be overwhelmed in numbers, or in the best-case scenario, lose the element of surprise.

The problem was, I had no idea how far Sabertooth's senses extended; the movies were never clear, nor were the comics, which made approaching Stryker all the more difficult.

Unless I used bait.

If Sabertooth was really in charge of making sure Stryker didn't kick the bucket, then he would be at all times alert, which means, no matter who approaches his range of detection, he will react.

Meaning, I needed a sacrifice to determine his range of detection.

The question now was, where to find said sacrifice.

"I suppose I could few warlords and throw them into the fray, each one at a different distance. Eventually, one of them will trigger Sabertooth and will give me the information I need to approach accordingly." I hummed, thinking how to kidnap the sacrificial Warlords without getting my scent on them.

--

[Stryker POV]

Soon the world would see the error of its way.

"Stryker. She felt someone." Victor said as he came into my tent.

"Where?" I asked.

"A few hundred miles away, close to the coast," Victor growled, grinning.

"Is this unknown a threat?" I asked.

"She says whoever it is, he or she is powerful." Victor grinned filled with excitement.

"Get the team then." I ordered.

"What are our orders?" Victor asked.

"Capture this unknown, we after all need more soldiers." I answered.

"Gladly." Victor smirked as he walked out of my tent.

"Alive Victor, I want this unknown alive." With him it was better to confirm.

"You take the fun out of hunting!" Victor shouted in an annoyed tone.

—————————————————————————

[Alex Walker POV]

As I planned who to kidnap I felt something, a feeling of uneasiness creeping up my spine.

[A new skill has been created by an specific action = Extra Awareness

Extra Awareness LV 1 = Whenever someone or something is looking at you, you feel unease and can't relax, this effect of uneasiness won't go away until whoever it's watching you stops.]

"Well there goes the element of surprise." I chuckled, whoever was watching me was probably working with Stryker. That or the watcher, but I doubt he is currently looking at me. Or that I can detect him to be honest.

Well I guess it was time to move, with Portals and a bit of creativity I might not even need to fight.

—————————————————

PERKS explanation have been updated, for the perks to be unlocked you need not only to have the stats required for said perk but accomplish something related to said perk.

Like the WILL perks he unlocked all thanks to the torture he received.

Some perks are harder to obtain than others.

68 CHAPTER 68

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

With the new skill that had been created out of nowhere telling me I was being watched, I started to move as I formulated a plan to capture Stryker and his colleagues.

According to my map, only one of the many red dots surrounding Stryker was on the move.

If I had to take a guess, that one moving enemy was Sabertooth.

The question now was how to deal with him; his regeneration was undoubtedly a problem.

"I suppose I could out-damage his regeneration," I muttered as I stopped moving in front of a clearing full of animals that looked at me in fright.

I had to admit, Africa was beautiful, the animals, the relatively clean air, the animals; it was really a shame I was always here for business, not for pleasure.

Taking a deep breath, I opened a portal to a place nearby the moving red dot, and after passing through the portal, took a seat on a rock, waiting for Sabertooth to arrive.

It was a shame, really, of all the enemies I ever expected to face; Sabertooth was one I didn't want to meet, not because I was scared or anything, but because he was one of my favorites.

"Well, fuck it." I chuckled, looking at my map, which said he was around a hundred and thirty meters away from me.

Meaning I had at best a minute or so before I had to face the guy. So, it was time to list my options. For an enemy like him, his regeneration was a problem, but if the movies were anything to go by, drowning him would work just fine.

But to drown him, I would have to immobilize him, maybe cut his arms and legs.

"There you are." Someone growled, that someone being Sabertooth. He sounded excited, thrilled to meet me, or rather to hunt me.

"I know where you are, hiding really makes no difference." I said, greeting the hiding beast with a smile as I stood up from the rock I had been sitting on.

"I suppose you are right." Sabertooth replied, jumping out of the shadows with a wild grin. [Sabertooth LV 161]

Well this is new, usually enemies are a few levels ahead of me, not on my level. "So, is there any way you would let me go and capture Stryker?"

Sabertooth snorted, baring his teeth at me in a rather animalistic way. "Time to die."

"I thought as much." I sighed, equipping my armor, similar level or not, I was not going to let the kitty cat scratch my body if I could do something about it.

With a roar and a wild grin, Sabertooth charged at me. As I stood in place with a defensive stance, which allowed me to parry the hunter's first blow with my right arm.

Surprised by the lack of damage with his attack, Sabertooth threw a flurry of attacks with his claws trying to rip my armor off, but with a bit of grace I took a step back blocking each and every single attack.

Countering by digging my claws into his abdomen.

Unmoved by his bleeding stomach, Sabertooth jumped above me after, landing behind me with a feral growl, as his injuries started to heal at an alarming rate, and in the blink of an eye, his injuries were no more.

"This will be fun." He grinned, licking some of the blood I had drawn from him from his bare fingers.

"Please don't make this sexual." I replied, weirded out by his rather explicit excitement about this fight.

Growling at my comment, Sabertooth ran at me on all fours, leaping mid way like a tiger to its prey.

But before he could reach me, I used my telekinesis to slam him to the ground, as I jumped above him digging my hands into his spine.

If there was something I had learned during my less than willing time on hydra was how the human body worked, and immortal or not, Sabertooth was a human, meaning the entire mobility of his immortal body depended on his little spine.

Hissing in pain, the Hunter made an attempt to throw me off him, but my grip on his spine and my telekinesis made it so it was impossible for him to move.

"Under normal circumstances, you would've probably won this match. But.." to make a point I cracked his spine, momentarily leaving him paralyzed. "These are not normal circumstances, are they?"

"I will kill you!" He roared, as I withdrew my bloodied hands from his spine.

"Maybe, but not today." I replied, opening a portal to one of my contain zones, which had been gracefully provided by SHIELD. "See ya later." I smiled, kicking the Hunter into his prison.

With Sabertooth out of the way, things were bound to be easier. "Let's see where the others are." I muttered looking at my map to see I was surrounded by three red dots.

"I told that animal to wait for us." I heard a rather femenine yet somewhat sadistic voice comment as she came into light. [Kimura LV 149]

"You know him, he rarely listens." Another femenine voice commented, as she came out of the shadows. [Copycat LV 148]

"We will punish Sabertooth later, for now. Let us capture this subject." This time the one who spoke was a man, an armored man. [Ajax LV 160]

"Hmm." I hummed, looking at the three, and then looking at the map, we all were a few miles away from Stryker, which meant… I had no need to fight them. "I just realized I do not need to fight your asses, so… bye~" I waved at them with a smile under my helmet as I opened a portal to where Stryker was, leaving the three hunters alone rushing but failing to stop me.

At the other side of the portal, I encountered Stryker sitting on a wooden chair with a wide welcoming smile on his face.

"I was waiting for you." He claimed, which made me feel uneasy.

69 CHAPTER 69

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

Surprises in this universe were a thing I was used to, but this... this was unsettling, for the last thing I expected was encountering Stryker with a calm demeanor sitting on a timber chair with a broad welcoming smile on his face.

[Stryker LV 31]

"I was waiting for you." He smiled, which made me feel all the more uneasy. As a general rule, an enemy welcoming you to his lair is never a good thing, not like this.

I looked at him, trying to formulate a response; as I inspected my surroundings, he had to have a trap, something. "I see," I replied.

With a grin, Stryker began to clap as he stood up from his chair. "I must admit, I had my doubts as to who you were when Victor told me an enemy was nearby. But, seeing as you are here." he smiled. "Well, I am glad I was correct."

I had to admit; I was lost in this rather bizarre scenario; I mean, he was happy I was here. In fact, he seemed delighted.

"I think this is the first time I see someone so happy to be captured," I replied, eyeing the minimap every now and then; he had to have a trap, an enemy powerful enough to give him this peace, something.

"Well, I am a realistic man." Stryker chuckled. "Besides, you won't capture me."

"Your compliance is not a factor on this." I snorted, walking towards him, ready to end this mission once and for all, when all of a sudden, he tossed a file at me.

"Read that." He smiled, walking towards a small fridge on the ground. "And after that, we can talk about my capture."

I looked at the file and froze; it was a SHIELD file about me. "I see now." I chuckled, grabbing the file with a sigh, "This file is supposed to make me change sides, right?"

"In a way." Stryker nodded.

I looked at the file again, and I started to read the information within the file with a sigh; I had to admit, I was curious about what could be within the file that could make Stryker think I would switch sides, I was to say something, skeptical about the whole thing.

However, soon enough, I found out why he was so sure of this as I read the file more and more, beginning to finally understand why Stryker was giving me this; the file was nothing more than a contingency plan to stop me should I become evil.

It went into great detail how Emily was my main emotional weakness, and how exploiting her would bring me to my knees.

"SHIELD is not your ally." Stryker began, but before he could continue, I started to laugh. "You find that file amusing?"

"This?" I waved the file at him, burning the thing down with my mana. "Nah, it annoys me a bit, sure, but otherwise, I'm okay with it." I chuckled.

"They are planning ways to kill you, and you laugh?" Stryker replied.

"SHIELD is free to plan, just like I am." I winked. "Besides, this is just the report of a random agent stating the obvious."

"Which is?" Stryker inquired, his eyes on me.

"That a father's weakness is his child." I smiled under my helmet.

"I had a feeling you would react this way." Again, Stryker smiled, and once again, I felt uneasy.

"Enough," I stated, pulling his body towards me with telekinesis. "I don't know what game you are playing, but I ain't playing these games."

"Good." He grinned.

Even at my mercy, he was confident, but of what, if the file was not enough, what was his actual plan? "Well, bye." I sighed, my patience running thin, as I opened a portal to throw him into Fury's office, but before I could do that, a magical blast of eldritch energy blasted me into the ground.

"Took you long enough," Stryker commented.

"We had to make some... preparations." I heard someone reply.

Brushing off the dirt of my armor, I stood up as I looked to see who had struck me down with Eldritch magic, only to find a group of women flying in literal brooms above me.

The first woman to the left was a blonde beauty that had what I like to call the no-no eyes, meaning her eyes gave you a feeling of uncertainty like she would stab a man mid-fuck for what he said two years ago. [Adrth'a Lomen LV 151]

The one in the middle looked innocent, inviting, like a trap waiting to strike its prey; it was unsettling, though this one was a brunette, unlike the one to the left. [Royth's Lomen LV 149]

The last one was an Asian beauty, her pristine skin and exotic charm vibrating with her rather revealing clothes; she looked both innocent and dangerous at the same time. [Permf't Lomen LV 150]

"The Lomen Coven," Stryker said, his index finger pointing at them with a cocky smile. "They are my plan to you."

"Those the Ancient One knows you work for him?" I said, cracking my neck.

"Foolish boy." Adrth'a hissed. "We do not answer to that sorceress, for we are witches!"

Witches huh, I wonder if they are related to the witch that at one point will try to steal the dark scepter from the ancient one in the future.

"But you answer to a man with no powers or magic, good to know." I chuckled.

"Laugh while you can, little sorcerer." Royth's grinned. "Soon, we will be the ones laughing."

"Okay... well, time to go," I muttered, considering these three were around my level, and the enemies around the camp and those who I had left in the middle of nowhere were drawing near; I would soon be outmatched in numbers at least, so it was time to do what people call a tactical retreat.

However, as I tried to open a portal, nothing happened.

It felt like something was blocking my magic altogether.

"Runes... and a claimed space, the nightmare of every magic caster, don't you think?" Permf't winked, flying towards me in a rather seductive manner. "You are powerless here."

Runes, this bastard was buying time... meaning the witches were otherwise occupied creating a runic space to block all but their magic, well fuck, Stryker just outplayed me.

"You learn a lot from videos and such." Stryker grinned as Ajax, Copycat and Kimura arrived, walking towards him all with smiles on their faces. "I knew SHIELD would eventually send you, so I invested a lot of time and money into hiring these resourceful witches."

"Well... fuck..." I sighed; it seemed like I would have to get out of this with my hands and my hands only. Suddenly I'm glad I have an almost indestructible set of armor protecting me; I feel like I'm about to get a lot of hits today.

70 CHAPTER 70

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

[Unknown POV]

In the center of the military camp, a bitter frosty chill permeated the hot air of Africa, sending shivers down Alex's spine as he studied his situation, full of people; an unnatural silence covered the camp as they all stared at Alex, who made no move. Everyone knew what was going to happen, but even then, the tension was palpable.

Stryker smiled at the sight of the unmoving foe that was Alex; for him, Alex was trapped, powerless to face what was to come, but the reality of the situation was another.

"I have to admit; you are probably the first person to prepare so much for me." Alex addressed his foe with a smile under his helmet, "But, like everyone else before you, you didn't prepare well enough." he declared.

"I could say the same about you," replied Stryker with an air of absolute confidence, "You are a mutant, a magical one, a reckless killer who leaves a trail of blood wherever he goes. What did you think would happen here? Did you really think everyone would fall for the same tricks? Fool... You are overconfident, trusting your skills so much you never bothered to hide your silly trail, and now here we are."

Alex looked at him, almost laughing at Stryker's bravado. And while deep down Alex knew what Stryker had said was partly true, he was in no way powerless as the man thought he was; in fact, one could say he was even more dangerous now that he didn't have the luxury of trapping his opponents as he had done with Victor Creed.

"Capture him," Stryker ordered his people, and soon, everyone around started to move according to his orders.

"All right then," Alex announced, cracking his knuckles, "shall we?".

With a roar, Kimura lunged at Alex with trying to kick the armored warrior on the head, but in a fluent motion of speed and agility, Alex dodged her attack with minimal movement, and then before she could react properly to what had happened, he grabbed her leg and swung her like a weapon to Ajax who was sneaking behind Alex during this time.

Crashing the two, Alex jumped into the air as Ajax and Kimura laid on the ground, and pulling a pair of knives from his dimensional inventory, he landed on the ground on a crouch, almost as if mimicking a cat.

Then in his crouching position, he kicked at the ground as hard as he could. Darting towards Stryker with great speed.

But before he could reach him, Copycat, who had been observing the exchange so far from the shadows, quickly closed the gap between the two, lunging toward him sending a flying kick in the process. However, Alex was well aware of her presence thanks to his mini-map and caught her foot as it came towards his chest, only to receive a blast on his back before he managed to punch Copycat away.

Alex knew this battle would be hard, the witches, the mutants, and the soldiers would make sure of that, but even then, his will was unwavering; he would survive, just like he had done until now.

The soldiers under Stryker circled Alex as he looked around, inspecting their techniques and finding holes in their defenses. Right now, the man known as Alex was no more; his training was overriding every emotion, no mercy, no hesitation, no survivors, so it's the way of the Apex predator.

Growling, Ajax jumped at Alex, being this the last mistake the man would ever make, for Alex turned around allowing Ajax's attack to connect just to get the man in range, Alex was well aware of how fighting worked, and he knew most creatures would tend to lower their guards after a successful hit, it was an instinct warriors would dedicate years of training to erase, for it was a weakness.

A weakness Ajax found out it existed too late, as Alex took advantage of that brief moment of weakness, digging both of his adamantium knives deep into his skull, each one protruding from the opposite end of the penetration point with blood and bits of brain, killing the man in the blink of an eye.

"You told us he was heavily reliant on magic." Copycat hissed.

Now everyone was double guessing how to approach the man who killed one of them and looked like nothing had happened.

"It seems my information was incomplete," Stryker growled. "Change of plans, kill hi--" it was here where Stryker found out Alex had more than just physical might to match for his lack of magic; he also had other powers, powers strong enough to kill the man from a distance, like he had done right now, crushing Stryker's head like a grape with his telekinesis.

"What..." In shock, the Lomen coven turned to see their contractor on the ground on a pool of his own blood.

"You bastard!" Kimura, at the sight of her boss dead, ran towards Alex, punching him in the face.

Punching the woman in the face with enough force to blow a human skull, Alex found out one thing; his attacks were doing no damage to Kimura, something he had noticed earlier but had discarded, for the time being, thinking his first attack had been too weak to damage the woman.

Considering the information he had and the attacks the woman was throwing at him, he knew he was physically stronger than her, but somehow her body seemed to be as resilient as his armor.

"I will rip your eyes out!" Kimura growled, kicking Alex away.

But as she tried to follow that up, Alex tackled her to the ground, burying her face on the ground, his intentions clear, if he could not harm her, he would let her own body kill her by suffocating her.

Noticing this, Copycat transformed into Ajax and started to punch and kick Alex as Kimura struggled for her life, trying desperately to scratch the man off her, but no matter how many attacked him, he didn't move.

Using his superior physical might and telekinesis to hold tight, becoming an unmovable force by human standards.

Five minutes later, Kimura stopped moving, her dark skin now pale, her heart finally stopping, her last moments on earth staring at the black nothingness inside the soil of her base.

Without saying a word, Alex stood up, turning to see his next target, the Copycat, who, in terror by his cold, emotionless gaze, lost control of her transformation, going back to her original form.

"We were not paid enough for this!" One of the three witches hissed, the other two nodding in approval.

"You can't leave!" Copycat hissed at them, but they paid her no heed, and with a move of their hands, teleported out of sight, taking with them the runic limitation that kept Alex trapped in place.

Fear creeping up her spine, Copycat looked at Alex, who moved towards her as the soldiers around shoot at him, wasting bullets on an armor that would never break.

"I give up!" Copycat exclaimed, thinking that perhaps if she showed submissiveness, he would spare her.

However, she was barking at the wrong tree; right now, Alex was not the normally amiable man he normally was; right now, he was in the zone, right now he was an assassin, a soldier with a mission, for him everything right now was kill or be killed.

Realizing she had no hope of escaping a fight, she did what she thought was best, a foolish endeavor, trying to transform into Alex; in her mind, the only way to kill the monster that stood in front of her was becoming him, after all, she would get all his powers by transforming into him.

"Now, let's--" that was all Copycat managed to say in Alex's form, her transformed body freezing in place, before she started to convulse violently, blood seeping out of every hole in her body, eyes, ears, noses, even her hair follicles were bleeding. "I DIDN'T KNOW! PLEASE DON'T!" she begged as her body turned back to normal, but to who? "I DIDN'T--" the answer to that question died with her, for her death came in a rather gruesome manner by having the poor girl throw up everything within her until she wasn't nothing but a lifeless husk.

Even Alex seemed shocked by her death; after all, why did transforming into him brought upon her such a gruesome death, and to whom she was apologizing for doing so.

71 CHAPTER 71

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

[Alex Walker POV]

I stared in shock as Copycat's husk of a body lay on the ground. I had no idea what had happened or how it had happened; one second, I was about to fight her, the next she transformed into me, and then, she died. It was all so fast, so sudden, and so... frightening that I didn't know what to think.

What struck me the most was not just the way she died but her screams for mercy. They were screams of pure and utter fear.

By the time I managed to come out of my state of shock, the camp, once filled with soldiers and others, was empty, with dozens of red dots fading away on the mini-map.

And the truth was, I had no energy to pursue them, emotionally speaking.

[Quest Completed: The Hunt for Project

Rewards: Weapon X research DATA, Abraham Cornelius Super Soldier Research DATA, 25.000.000EXP

By killing Stryker and not capturing some X-Subjects, some rewards have been eliminated.

]

With an ironic laugh, I sighed, sitting down on the ground.

It made sense; I had killed Stryker and eliminated almost everyone I was supposed to capture.

With an exhausted sigh, I opened a portal to Fury's office, just noticing that my magic was no longer being blocked. "I guess the witches decided to live to fight another day," I commented.

Fury, upon seeing me enter his office, smiled, "I wasn't expecting you today."

"I finished doing what you asked me to do," I said, getting straight to the point.

Fury, being who he was, read the underlying subtext of my expression. "I'll take care of cleaning this up." the super spy declared.

"Ok," I replied, opening a portal to my house; I needed a bath and a nap to erase some of what I experienced today.

Killing people was already usual for me, torturing the same. But how Copycat died, to see her vomit her whole being, her organs, her bones, her... everything, I wasn't totally prepared for that.

--

After a hot bath and a two-hour nap, I got ready to pick up Natasha and Emily from school as I had promised them a week ago.

"Daddy!" Emily said, getting into the car with a smile, followed by Natasha.

"Mr. Walker." Natasha greeted me with considerably less enthusiasm compared to Emily.

"How was your day, girls?" I asked as they put on their seatbelts.

"Well, I got an A on my math test," Emily replied proudly, showing off her test.

"Congratulations!" I smile at her, giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"My day was, uh, pretty normal," Natasha said with just the hint of a smile.

"Well, since you both had a normal day full of routine, who wants ice cream to celebrate?" I smiled, glancing sideways at Natasha as I started the car to leave the school.

"YES!!!" Emily replied, basically screaming.

"I wouldn't mind." Natasha smiled, looking at Emily.

"Ok... so, Gelato, here we come!" I declared enthusiastically.

--

After a delicious ice cream-filled afternoon, Natasha and Emily went to their respective after-school classes, Emily with The Ancient One, or bald granny as she calls her, and Natasha with a pair of former SHIELD agents I had hired to teach her how to fight.

Which left me alone, with not much to do; Hank was managing the company, the girls were busy, and I didn't want to do dungeons at the moment.

"I guess I can stick to my super soldier serum project for the time being," I said to myself as I sank into my five thousand dollar couch. "I should stop spending on Italian stuff; they are too comfortable."

Using all my willpower to get up from the couch, I walked to my lab, pulling out the data I had gained from my last mission out of my inventory.

Abraham Cornelius Super Soldier DATA.

Maybe with that, I would be able to finish deciphering the formula.

Or maybe nothing would happen, the chances were unpredictable, but for my own sake, I would not stop until I succeeded, I mean... Russia succeeded, Hydra succeeded... it would be sad if I was the only one that didn't.

Absorbing the data I had obtained. So many of the questions and problems I had had so far with the formula came to an end.

But even so, the formula was still not clear, but now, unlike before, I could see more of the picture, the image, the painting of the formula in its splendor.

I had to admit, Abraham Cornelius was a genius. His research had saved me a couple of years on my side, to the point that I could almost taste the complete formula; I could feel it brushing against my fingertips.

And to think that a single scientist managed to create this complex formula, one I was still struggling to decode, but he simply created during such a sad technological time, and during the WW2 to add salt to the injury, geniuses like him were one in a billion.

"Well, time not to sleep to see if I make progress on anything," I said with a renewed enthusiasm. With this leap of information, I felt I was closer to my goal.

"Meow?" Goose meowed, startling me a little.

"What are you doing here?" I said, grabbing the cat off the floor, "You ate my back door again, didn't you?"

Goose purred, looking proud that she had eaten my back door.

"Goose, that's bad; I've already changed forty-seven doors this month," I said with a laugh.

Goose simply purred louder, looking even more proud than before, as if smiling at the number of doors she had devoured this month only, in the end, alien or not, a cat was a cat.

"Let's go before you start throwing up door pommels on my lab." I chuckled, walking out of the lab with Goose on my arms, who continued to purr at my touch.

Maybe I could try and feed her more tuna; perhaps if I doubled her rations of premium exported tuna, she would stop eating my lab doors; who am I kidding? She just hates my lab is the only room in the house that is always closed, and cats have a thing for closed rooms; they just can't accept them being closed.

72 CHAPTER 72

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

It had been a month since my last mission with Fury, and during these last thirty days, I had focused on my lab work, but still, the vibrant memories of Copycat and her death haunted me in the darkest corners of my subconscious.

I didn't understand why death was something I had already seen in large numbers to the point that I no longer saw any difference between slaughtering animals for food or killing a human to complete my goals.

Her death, although brutal and painful, shouldn't affect me.

What bothered me was not her death as such; it was her look of dread after transforming into me, after trying to use my powers against me.

Her screams for mercy.

I had to be honest with myself. What really kept Copycat's last moments on earth in my mind was the doubt she had awakened in me. Where did my powers come from?

I wasn't so blind not to notice similarities in what happened to Copycat and what happened to Betelgeuse when he tried to possess Subaru. And even though my only sample comparison came from an anime, it was the only thing that made sense to me.

Either that or my immunity to psychic attacks killed her. But I really didn't have much to go on; I had no idea if Copycat's power was psychic in nature, never read much about her.

All I knew was that she was like Mystique, but somewhat better.

Maybe I just needed to focus on my work even more.

Taking a deep breath, I turned on the lights in my lab and began to work, when suddenly, I noticed something.

Two red dots were currently approaching my house. By the looks of it, they were roughly four miles away from the neighborhood.

"I don't get a day off." I sighed, opening a portal to my kitchen to make a sandwich, considering I had like ten minutes before they were dangerously close.

"Care to make me one?" Natasha said as she walked into the kitchen with a small smile on her face.

Little by little, she was warming up to me, with Emily on the other hand; they were super tight, like real sisters. It's surprising how fast Emily manages to capture the hearts of others.

"Sure." I nodded.

"Extra ham on mine; I am a growing young lady after all." Natasha grinned.

"Aye." I chuckled.

"Dad!" Was the last thing I heard before Emily tackled with a portal hug, which is basically her opening a portal behind me to avoid possible escapes; not sure why I would never deny her a hug.

"Sup champ." I smiled, ruffling her hair. "Want a sandwich?"

"Yes, I do." Emily nodded, jumping off me to sit beside Natasha. "Extra cheese and lettuce!"

"Coming right up!" I nodded.

Moments like this really take a huge weight out of me; who would've thought I would come to crave normality.

"Princess Goose also wants one, but with tuna," Emily said.

"Princess Goose?" I raised an eyebrow at that as I turned around to face Emily, just to see her and Goose with a cat-sized tiara on her head. "How?"

"I made it," Emily replied proudly.

"Once again... how?" I asked as Natasha started to giggle under her breath.

"With magic." Emily grinned.

"Meow." Goose purred, her chest puffing proudly; she obviously liked the tiara.

"I also made her a dress, but I'm still trying to convince her to let me put it on on her." Emily pouted.

"I'm sure Goose will eventually let you dress her up," I replied, getting a small narrow glare from Goose. "Oops, I mean, Princess Goose." at this, she purred. She was really getting into her new role.

"I also made Nat a tiara, but she refuses to wear it in public." Emily pouted, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Natasha.

"I have a reputation to uphold." Natasha defended with a small smile. "Kids think I'm the tough girl, can't tarnish that."

"Princesses are tough!" Emily defended, with Goose nodding at her side.

"Ok, ok. Enough about that, let's eat." I chuckled, giving the girls their sandwiches, extra cheese and lettuce for Emily, and extra ham for Nat.

"Meow!" Goose complained.

"I apologize, your highness." I bowed with a smile, giving her her tuna sandwich.

--

After giving the girls and her royal highness their sandwiches, I teleported to where the red dots currently were, a two-star cheap motel. Apparently, they change course to the closest motel to camp the night.

"I am very insulted; now they don't even pay my enemies good hotels, but hour motels." I chuckled, kicking the door to their room open.

When I kicked the door of the STD farm known as the hourly motel, I expected many things, one burning my boots after finishing the enemies, two rats, maybe?

But Alexei and Melena were not something I expected.

"Sir, this is our room," Melena said as Alexei approached her, looking at me with a warm smile.

Oh yeah, he didn't know how I looked.

"Didn't I impale you?" I asked, pointing to his stomach. I mean, he looked fine, fucking super soldier cheat.

What happened next took two seconds at best, one for them to realize who I was and two for them to draw their weapons.

"Yeah, not gonna fight anyone in STD villa," I stated, pushing them to the wall with my telekinesis.

"We came here to talk!" Melina exclaimed.

"And the guns were your ice breaker?" I snorted. "And I thought I was bad at socializing."

"It was in case we needed to defend ourselves," Alexei added.

"I would've believed that if it wasn't for the fact you two aimed your guns at me after I said hi." I rolled my eyes. "Then again, I would've aimed at me too; I am dangerous after all."

"We truly just want to talk," Melina repeated.

"Then let's." I smiled, tightening their hold. After all, there was more than one way to talk.

73 CHAPTER 73

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

After capturing Alexei and Melena, I transported them to one of my technically inescapable prisons, the same prison I was using to keep Sabertooth out of my life.

Then, as a good host, I allowed them to explain why they had come to New York, or more specifically, why they wanted to talk to me.

Alexei was the first to start talking, telling me that I was right, that he was a coward.

Followed by Melena saying that it took her a while to realize she loved Natasha and Yelena more than her own country, that now she understood why the RED ROOM castrated them.

I could see in their eyes that they were not lying to me.

"Yelena misses you guys," I said with a sigh. "Natasha does too, but she is mature enough to understand it all."

I could see the sorrow in their eyes, the shame, but even so, even knowing that they were not lying to me, I was not going to trust them; I couldn't.

"But... I won't let any of you go near them." I added with a stern look on my face.

"I understand." Melena croaked, tears coursing down her cheeks one after the other.

"I understand that you don't trust us, but here we are, we betrayed our country for them..." Alexei exclaimed pleadingly.

"You betrayed your country?" I laughed, pushing the man against the wall in anger. "They trusted you, they loved you... they still do, and you saw them as nothing more than objects to be used, as stones to be used to cement your glory!"

"I know," Alexei replied without looking at me in the eyes, his whole body in a submissive state of acceptance, not a single muscle tense.

In other words, he was ready to let me kill him without even trying to stop me.

"We'll do anything," Melena said, looking into my eyes as I held Alexei against the wall. "But let us be a part of their lives."

Taking a deep breath, I let go of Alexei.

A small part of me wanted to give them a chance; I really wanted to believe they would not hurt them, but how could I trust them? How could I put Nat and Yelena on this ship again?

"Anything?" I asked, looking into her eyes.

"Yes," Melena replied.

I might regret this in the future, but I would give them a chance to start over. "If you hurt them if you breathe out of line, if you blink without telling me about it, I will find you, and I will kill you, but not without making the two of you suffer."

"Are.. are you giving us a chance?" Alexei muttered.

"Yes." I nodded with a sigh, rubbing my temples. "You two will work for me, and in exchange, you will get to be part of their lives, but keep this in mind. I will monitor your every move."

"We are traitors to our homeland; we have nothing but them anyways," Alexei muttered.

"And I don't care," I replied with a hiss. "My only concern is keeping them safe, and that also includes their emotional safety. So, watch your moves. I don't give a flying fuck if you betrayed Santa on the north pole, but what you do from now on."

"What would we do for you?" Melena asked. "You said we would work for you, but in what?"

"More than not, eliminating organizations like the Red Room," I answered.

"Like you did with Hydra," Alexei added.

"Yes," I nodded. "Though I am not sure they are gone, not completely, at best, they are a street gang now."

"Thank you," Melena said with sincerity. "Thank you for this opportunity."

"Don't get too excited," I said, looking at them. "I won't force the girls to do anything; Yelena could be the only daughter you two still have." with that said, I opened a portal to my house, but before I left them on their cell, I added one last bit. "I will come back in a day or two to talk about our agreement. Enjoy the time to think."

--

The first one I explained what had happened was Natasha, who seemed distressed at the idea, a part of her, was happy, I could see that much, but another part was angry, afraid.

"You are free to give them a second chance, worry not, I will protect you if anything comes to happen," I said, hugging Nat.

"I... don't want to go," Natasha mumbled into my chest; I could tell she was on the verge of crying. "I want to stay here... but I don't want to lose Yelena."

"They won't be far away; heck, they will be next door," I said, patting her on the head. "If you want to stay, you are free to do so."

"But... do you want me to stay?" Natasha mumbled in a barely audible voice.

"What?" I asked.

"Emily said you wanted her to stay, to be your daughter. Is it the same for me?" Nat muttered, looking into my eyes.

"Do you want to be my daughter?" I asked, looking at her in the eyes with a small smile. "Because if you say yes, there is no turning back."

Nat turned, her head looking down as she muttered something I couldn't quite hear.

"What?"

"Yes," Nat said, this time a bit louder. "I want to be part of your family, for real, I want to have what Emily has... I want to... be loved by someone who would burn a country down for me, I love them, I do... but I want what Emily has, I deserve what Emily has!" she finished with tears.

"Then welcome to the family." I hugged her; who would've thought I would have two daughters by the age of twenty-five.

"I'm a selfish person, aren't I?" Nat muttered.

"No." I shook my head. "You crave what every person craves, unconditional love; it's a human condition, and fortunately for you, I have plenty to give," I added with a smirk.

"Do I have to call you dad now... or..." Nat chuckled, using her shirt to clean the tears and snot off her face.

"I mean, you can take your time," I replied, scratching the back of my head. "Emily took hers; you can do the same; I don't mind, I will be happy when you do it, but I won't force it to happen."

"Yelena will be happy with them." Nat sighed.

"And you will be happy here with me, I hope." I smiled, "Like I said, all transactions are final; you have lost your freedom until your college graduation."

"I already am." Nat hugged me.

74 CHAPTER 74

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

Two weeks after sharing the news with Natasha, I went to the prison where I had Melena and Alexei locked up. During those two weeks, I made arrangements to officially keep a very close eye on them and other things, such as Natasha's adoption.

"I have arranged everything for your arrival," I said, staring at them.

Melena shifted slightly, looking at the floor uneasily. "When can we see them?" she asked, lifting her gaze.

"In a moment," I replied. "Yelena is ready."

"And Nat?" Alexei asked, stepping forward.

"She will stay with me," I said in a tone that left no room for debate.

"That's not what you promised us!" Alexei growled, approaching me in an aggressive manner.

Looking at the man in a detached manner, I said. "Think very carefully about what you are going to do, Alexei; it may be the last thing you ever do."

Melena, upon seeing this, moved in front of Alexei. "Stop it!"

"Natasha asked me to adopt her," I said, "And I agreed, by all means, she is my daughter, and if you touch a hair on her head without my consent or hers, it will be the last thing you two ever do."

"Is she happy?" Melena asked.

"Yes." I agreed.

"She hates us?" Alexei asked, his voice a little broken.

"No, but she wants more... she wants to be loved like a father should love his daughter." I replied, "And I'm willing to give her that."

"I understand." Melena smiled a smile of understanding but full of sorrow.

"I'm sorry for my outburst of anger." Alexei apologized.

Sighing, I opened a portal to my living room. "Come in," I said, waving my hand.

Looking at the portal out of the corner of their eyes, Melena and Alexei took a deep breath and began to walk towards the portal with a bit of trepidation.

"I don't have all day; move it," I said this time with a louder tone.

Seeing that I was getting annoyed, Alexei and Melena jumped through the portal, followed by me, who then closed the portal.

In my living room, Natasha and Bucky were waiting for them, sitting on my couch.

"Nat." Melena smiled at the sight of Natasha.

"Melena." Natasha smiled back, though, in comparison, her smile was smaller and not as full of joy as Melena's.

"Hi," Alexei said, approaching Natasha to give her a hug, but before it could come, Bucky stopped him.

"One more step, and I'll slit your throat." Bucky threatened.

"It's okay, Bucky." Natasha smiled, hugging Bucky with a faint smile. "Alexei, long time no see. "

"Is it true you want to stay with him?" Alexei said, pointing at me.

"Yes." Natasha smiled, looking at me.

"I will always love you; I hope you know that," Alexei said.

"Yes, but your love is not enough for me," Natasha replied.

"I know." Alexei nodded.

"Can I hug you?" Melena said, entering the conversation.

"Yes." Natasha smiled, running over to Melena to give her a hug.

"He treats you well?" Melena whispered.

"Yes." Natasha smiled. "For the first time in my life, I feel wanted, desired, loved. He's a good man, a good father."

"I'm glad." Melena smiled.

"Can I hug you?" Alexei said in a weak tone.

"Yes." Natasha smiled as I walked towards Bucky.

"If you breathe out of place, I'll kill you," Bucky commented.

"If I don't kill them first," I replied with a chuckle.

"We can hear them..." Alexei commented.

"So?" Bucky said.

--

After the small reunion with Alexei, Melena, and Nat, we went to Yelena's room, and well, this reunion was a bit different; unlike Natasha, who had some encountered feelings about them, Yelena was happy, happy beyond comprehension.

Which made me wonder, how long would that happiness last? I mean, part of the deal with them was that they had to tell Yelena the truth, how they were planning to enslave her, and such.

I suppose soon enough, I would know.

For now, I would keep an eye on them, which was an entire ordeal altogether.

For one, I implanted a tracker inside their spine with the help of Fury, a tracker that also worked as a taser courtesy of Stark Industries, which would help in case they misbehaved.

The tracker wasn't for me though, it was for Fury and Bucky to keep an eye on their every move, their rules? They were not allowed to leave the city, one step out of New York, and they would need speech therapy after the electric shock they would receive; two steps out of New York, they would need to learn how to use a wheelchair.

Three steps? They would need to learn how to communicate by blinks, and so.

As for Nat, she seemed happy to be legally my daughter; she was a lot more... expressive now, hugging me, smiling more; it was like she was waiting for a paper to say she was my daughter to open up.

As for Emily, well, after I told her about Nat's adoption, well, I had to go to the doctor to get an ear exam; her scream of joy was so loud I think she might have ruptured something inside.

Things were going well.

"Alex, long time no see." Hank greeted me as I entered his office. "I was starting to think you were dead." he chuckled.

"I was dealing with a lot of things," I admitted with a sigh, taking a seat.

"Well, you got here just in time." Hank smiled, giving me a folder. "We have our first investor."

Surprised by how fast he had managed to find an investor, I opened the folder he had handed me to see the project he had been working on during my absence and who had invested in it.

The US government, the project? Clean energy.

"Clean energy?" I asked.

"It was an idea I had from my own masterpiece, as you call it." He smiled.

"Okay..." I smiled, now that I knew it was related to his Pym particles. Well, it was best if I didn't answer.

"It's okay, kid." Hank rolled his eyes. "I know you're not interested in my Pym Particles, so ask away."

And so, I started to ask, I mean, I was quite interested how he came with the idea about clean energy thanks to his Pym Particles.

75 CHAPTER 75

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

After settling Yelena in with her parents and leaving Fury in charge of them, I decided to take a trip to Switzerland with Emily, Natasha, and Bucky for a short getaway to break away from the monotony.

Once in Switzerland, we took a cab to our hotel, and our vacations officially started.

The girls wanted to go to the Matterhorn, and Bucky really didn't care where we went, so without any objection, we took the first train to the mountain with the intention of taking a few pictures the very next day, after our arrival.

"Do you think they will let us ski?" asked Natasha with a smile on her face as she looked at the scenery outside the train.

"I don't really know," I replied since outside of my missions exterminating Hydra, I had never been here for pleasure. "But it would be a waste of touristic cash if they didn't let anyone ski."

"If they do," Bucky replied. "They have several areas designated for that," he added.

"How do you know that?" Emily asked with an excited smile.

"I read it in the pamphlet," Bucky replied, showing said pamphlet. "The seats have one each," he added.

Confirming what he said, I looked under my seat, finding a pamphlet under it, which made me chuckle. "I think I need to pay more attention, haha."

"I can't wait to ski!" Natasha said with a wide smile. "I always wanted to, but... you know." she sighed.

"Well, let's make this first time memorable." I smiled, ruffling her hair as I eyed the view outside the train through the window. It was really beautiful, breathtaking, a sight to behold.

"I wanna make a snowman!" Emily exclaimed proudly, tackling into a hug. "Three, one for you, one for me, and one for Nat."

"I can help and beat you by making mine faster," Natasha smirked.

Emily gasped. "Betrayer!"

Natasha winked, "Let us battle in a snowman sisterhood war." she grinned.

"I will vanquish thee!" Emily giggled.

As for me, well, I was smiling at the sight of the two getting along so well.

--

It took us a few hours to reach the Ski resort thingy, mostly because the girls stopped at every corner to take pictures and throw snowballs at me, which I could handle until Bucky joined, and well, I was at a disadvantage.

After a few all-out wars of snow, where I drowned Bucky on snow more than once, we finally arrived at the Ski resort.

Now, here came the hard part, I had no freaking clue how to Ski, meaning I was about to suck at it; I should've bought a book in skiing, now Bucky will steal the spotlight.

"Now, before we go out and start skiing, I am legally bound to tell you, our gift store at the entrance has a book with clear instructions on how to Ski." That's an odd legal clause, oddly specific, why would-- books!

"Where is it?" I rushed to the guide/guy that was here to make sure we didn't deviate from the safe path.

"The gift shop?" The guide, whose name I hadn't bothered to learn, or ask said.

"Yes." I nodded with a smile.

"Oh sir, there is no need to hurry." the guide smiled at me. "We will have time to go there later."

"I will give you two hundred bucks to shut up and take me to the gift shop." I smiled at him, one of those smiles that said, shut up and do as I command.

"As I said, let's go." The guide smiled, guiding me to the gift shop, while Emily, Bucky, and Nat stared at me, wondering why I was so eager to go to the gift shop.

In a way, I didn't need the guy to tell me where the gift shop was, with my map and all, but I had promised before coming here to detach from my powers for the week, to truly live the experience, reason why I was asking, and yes, I know rushing to the store to buy books about skiing to consume them goes against that, but... I make the rules.

"Here we are." The guide smiled as I gave him the two hundred bucks.

Rushing to the book section, I grabbed three books about skiing, paid for them, and rushed to the bathroom to consume the books.

"I'm ready." I declared, kicking the bathroom door open.

"You didn't know how to ski, didn't you." Bucky grinned.

I sighed, "No."

"And you bought all those books to try and learn, right?" Bucky asked.

"Yes, but enough about that, now I have the skiing skills of a dummy, according to the books." I shrugged.

"Where are the books anyway?" Bucky asked.

"I burned them." I lied, rushing with the girls, Bucky and 404 error name not found guide back to the start.

--

14.28$ I wasted on nothing; here was Bucky looking like he was born with Ski equipment, while I was barely better than the girls. Skiing for dummies volumes one, two, and three, I will buy your company and fire everyone within.

"Don't feel sad, daddy." Emily hugged me. "We all suck together."

"I suppose we do." I chuckled.

"Talk for yourself!" Natasha declared full with determination. "I will learn how to ski!"

"I believe in you!" I smiled.

"It's not that hard; all you need is balance," Bucky said, doing a fucking cartwheel as he turned around us.

"Are you showing off?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Yes, I am." Bucky smiled as he continued to majestically ski around us.

I chuckled, oh well, sooner or later I would learn, that was the nature of my power; it was never an if, but a when.

--

We continued skiing for the next few hours as I passively leveled up my newfound skiing skill.

"I'm hungry," Emily said.

"Same here," Nat nodded.

"Bucky, take the girls back to the hotel; I want to stay a bit longer here," I said, tossing the man my credit card.

"Can you open us a portal?" Bucky asked.

"No!" Emily jumped. "I'll do it!" oh right, she was now a proficient portal user.

"You heard the boss." I chuckled as Emily proceeded to open a portal for them to go back to the hotel room; I wonder if the hotel will wonder why they suddenly appear without going through the main entrance, oh well, if push comes to shove, I'll buy the hotel.

As Emily's portal closed, I continued skiing, finding that I really liked the feeling; it was relaxing, the cold air on my face, the sounds of nature around, it was all beautiful, it really was.

I don't know how long I continued skiing, but eventually, I went off the safe zone, finding a cave; and in my childish curiosity, I stepped inside the cave, wondering if I would find a bear or something.

I mean, I knew no wild earth animal could hurt me, maybe a giant squid could, I don't know, but a bear, or a wolf, heck no, which made this entirely safe mission, fun in a childish way.

However, inside the cave, I found nothing.

It was empty, but as I was about to leave, I felt something, a pull, a magical pull, a very weak one, a very old one.

Now, my completely safe mission had been upgraded to a somewhat dangerous mission. Caves and magic usually lead to intriguing scenarios.

Using my knowledge of the Eldritch arts, I followed the magic signature; it felt like a candle about to go out, very old, and very weak, and very unfamiliar, its magic didn't feel like the Eldritch arts, or like that of witches that attacked me, it was different.

My search for this little ember of magic led me to a dead-end, facing a freezing wall of rock and nothingness.

But even then, I could feel it; behind that rocky wall, the faint ember of magic was there, so I did what any responsible adult in my position would've done, I blasted the wall off.

In retrospect, I should've considered the integrity of the cave as a whole and such, but I was having so much doing this, I forgot for a minute I could've brought the entire cave down on my ass.

With the wall down, I now had access to a new section of the cave, which I entered, once again following the magical signature.

Each step bringing me closer to the magic I was chasing until. Eventually, I reached another dead-end, one that I was about to blow until I noticed the walls had writtings.

Nordic, by what little I could understand.

"Gátt gata at Ásgarðr..." I hummed, reading the runes out loud; from what I could understand, this was at one point a place of worship to the Norse gods, though I wonder why did they write Open path to Asgard, were they trying to open a portal there?

All of a sudden, the runes started to shine in a bright blue color as I cursed internally. "I shouldn't have read these out loud." checking my mana, I noticed a small portion of it was gone, "Yep, definitely shouldn't have read those out loud." I sighed as magic started to engulf me.

76 CHAPTER 76

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

The runes within the cave pulsed with magic as they began to open a portal to another dimension, shrouding me in ancient Nordic magic. Sighing, I decided to put an end to the light show occurring around me, using my own magic to stop the process, deactivating the runes.

"So this is an old portal to Asgard." this little thing would be interesting, for another time, now, now I wanted to get back to the hotel, Asgard would be there tomorrow.

Closing the cave with an eldritch runic illusion, I left the place there for future research as I opened a portal back to the hotel.

In my room, I found Bucky, Natasha, and Emily watching a movie.

"What are you doing in my room?" I asked them as I grabbed a change of clothes from my suitcase.

It was funny seeing the stoic Bucky being such a good uncle.

"Your TV is bigger than ours, and it's movie night." Emily smiled, showing me the movie they had rented. Pocahontas.

"I see, well... while you're doing that, I'm going to take a shower and then dinner, so let me know if there's anything else," I said as I went into the bathroom to take a shower and change into something more comfortable.

--

The next few days, things continued as planned, with me, Bucky, and the girls enjoying our short vacation.

We skied, we bought stuff we would never use, you know, the normal.

Eventually, the time to come home had arrived, and so, we boarded the plane back to the USA, with a lot of memories in our hearts and cameras.

"Can we go to Spain next?" Nat asked, stretching her legs on her seat.

"Sounds like a plan." I smiled; I mean, Spain was amongst the countries I wanted to visit.

"Oh-oh, after that, we could go to Italy or France," Emily added with a smile, closing her eyes at the end of her sentence.

"First, let's see if you girls keep your grades as good as you have them right now, and then... we can discuss all the trips we will do." I winked at them.

"And here I was thinking you were about to give us a challenge," Natasha smirked cockily.

"Keep talking, and I will get creative with my easy challenges," I smirked back.

"I would like to take back my last statement." Nat chuckled.

"Smart girl." I chuckled back.

"Do you guys want anything to eat?" Bucky asked, showing us the menu. God, I love having money.

I hummed, grabbing the menu, "Oh, sirloin steak." I smiled, my mouth watering the thought. "I think I'll take two of these and some whiskey."

"I want a burger," Emily said. "With fries," she added.

"I want the sirloin too, with fries," Nat said. "And a coke."

"I want a Fanta," Emily said.

"What about you, bucky?" I asked.

"A burger, fries, and beer." Bucky, like always having simple demands.

"Ok." I nodded, waving at the flight attendant to get our order.

"What can I do for you today, Mr. Walker." The flight attendant said with the utmost respect.

"We are famished, so we would like some food if your kitchen it's working." I chuckled.

"Of course, our kitchens never fail; worry not." She didn't understand the joke.

"Perfect then, ready for our order?" I asked.

"Yes." the flight attendant nodded.

"Perfect, we would like two burgers with everything, both with fries, one with a Fanta, and the other with a beer." I said, "We would also like three sirloin steaks, fries with them. Whiskey for one of them, and coke for the other two."

"Two cokes?" Nat inquired.

"It for when the whiskey is gone." I smiled.

"Perfect, Mr. Walker, I'll be with your order in a bit. In the meantime, would you like one of our famous appetizers?" the flight attendant inquired.

"Surprise me." I nodded.

"As you wish." the flight attendant smiled, leaving back to the kitchen.

--

After our flight, we drove back home, and everyone went to their respective rooms to sleep; something about food and flying makes one sleepy.

Checking my phone, I was glad to find Alexei and Melena were behaving, doing just as I told them.

"Bucky," I called. A few seconds later, Bucky opened my door.

"What?" He asked.

"I need to work, so I might be gone for a week." I was eager to study the runes in the cave and visit Asgard if time allowed it.

"I'll take care of everything," Bucky nodded.

"You have a credit card with no limits, so keep things running." I smiled.

"Will do." Bucky smiled back.

With that said and done, I opened a portal to the cave I had found during my trip, leaving Bucky in charge of the house and other things.

"Time to see if there's anything more than portal runes in this cave," I said, as the portal behind me closed.

I continued studying the runes within the cave, reading and translating each rune with extreme care, all while ensuring my mana didn't infuse the runes at all. First, I wanted to be sure this portal wasn't a portal to transport criminals back to Asgard; the last thing I wanted was to end in a place where I could not use magic to escape or, worse, in the room of Odin with Frigga inside.

If my calculations were correct, the man was powerful enough to use a fly swatter and oneshot me, so angering him was not on my list of things to do.

On the contrary, I wanted to make an alliance with him, maybe make some friendly ties with Asgard as a whole. It would undoubtedly help me in the future, especially with Thanos coming.

Perhaps even stop Ragnarok while I was at it. I mean, all I had to do was keep the Sultur's crown on my inventory; and he would never destroy Asgard.

Though my main objective with them was getting some Uru, that metal alone was worth the trip to Asgard, where I needed to get the location of Nidavellir, which alone and without help could very well take me years to locate.

"Let's see what else I can learn."

77 CHAPTER 77

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

I continued to study the runes at the cave for hours.

Noticing a few discrepancies in some of the runes, it seemed whoever made the cave as a teleporting post was not exactly well versed in magic.

For one, if anyone with a below-average amount of mana tried to open the portal, well, let's just say not all of him or her would have arrived at Asgard. The portal was so poorly done, that it would activate regardless if the user used the right correct amount of mana or not.

Perhaps they did it in a rush, perhaps whoever did the portal was just running away from something.

Beyond that, the portal was seemingly functional to the best of its broken capability.

As long as the user had a decent amount of mana to compensate for the poor craftsmanship of the portal, the gate would open.

Now the question was, should I open the portal to Asgard, or wait for a bit.

It was a tough decision, for one, I had no idea how was Asgard's policy against visitors.

And considering they had beings like Odin, Thor, Loki, and Frigga defending the place, the last thing I wanted was to start up a fight I knew I couldn't possibly win by appearing out of nowhere.

But on the other side, the upside was so good, it was worth the risk to some extent.

Sighing, I started to weigh my options on a mental scale.

"Going would really open a path for me," I muttered, as I looked at the runes again. "But depending on who I meet first, a fight will be imminent, I mean, Thor is on his idiot phase, he learns to have a brain after the events of Thor, but right now, all he is... Is a muscle head, with serious testosterone problems."

I could always outsmart him, he was all brawn, all I need is him rushing at me without a care for the world, and me opening a portal to the north pole.

"Fuck it." I sighed, sometimes in life, you had to take a risk.

Reading the runes out loud, I infused the place with my mana and this time allowed the place to do its intended work.

The process was painfully slow, which practically erased the possibility this portal was done as a rushed job to escape something. I mean, what is the point of making something fast to escape something if the portal takes a minute to do its thing, you might as well kill yourself and save the enemy the trouble, as a professional courtesy.

Eventually, the portal engulfed my entire body on dimensional magic, finally pushing me out of the cave.

It was somewhat painful, another defect I had just found.

The portal was actively hurting me, taking bits of my hp, not enough to be a concern, but enough to know anyone below level 50 would've died in three seconds or less.

[-2500 HP]

[-2500 HP]

[-2500 HP]

[-2500 HP]

--

Two minutes later, the cave finally teleported me to Asgard. The middle of it, like right on the plaza.

As one would expect, the soldiers that were patrolling the place raised their weapons at me, which was totally understandable, I would've done the same if someone popped into my living unannounced.

"I come in peace?" I offered with a small smile.

"In the name of Asgard and the All-Father, freeze!" A soldier barked. [Harald Eindridisson LV 60]

"Sure." I nodded.

"Who are you?" A female soldier asked. [Asgerd Gæirmundottir LV 62]

"I am a human, I come from earth, or Midgard as you guys know it, and I want a meeting with the All-Father, if he allows it, of course," I answered as the soldiers started to circle me, I knew this strategy, now if I made a move, they had the tactical advantage.

"How did you enter Asgard, human?" a new soldier asked, [Hrodi Vegeirsson LV 59]

"I found a portal on earth, and well here I am," I replied, so far I had no reasons to withhold information.

"You will come with us." Asgerd Gæirmundottir said, with a tone of finality.

"Sure." I smiled. "Lead the way."

--

Understandably they took me to a small cell, one normally used for small offenders as they sorted out what to do with me, I stayed out of my own volition, even without magic breaking out would've been a piece of cake, but I wanted to show them I honestly came in peace.

"So, you are the human that appeared in the plaza." I heard a feminine voice say in a commanding tone.

"Yes, that would be me." I nodded, turning to meet my visitor.

[Sif - The Nordic Goddess of War - LV 139] She was mesmerizingly beautiful, there was a veil of danger around her beauty that made her all the more attractive, it was shocking really.

Huh, I expected that level to be a bit higher, it's high nonetheless.

"Why have you come to Asgard?" Sif inquired, taking a seat outside my cell.

"To talk with the All-Father," I answered.

Sif stared at me as if trying to see if I was lying. "Why?"

"I want to form some friendly ties with him, and maybe get to know this place," I replied looking around.

"I say we let him battle his right to speak with my father." I heard someone shout, as he came into my cell. I didn't even need to see who it was to know it was Thor.

"Battle, huh?" I hummed as Thor came into view.

[Thor Odinson LV 267]

Well, that was problematic if he wanted to fight me.

"Yes, after all, only the mightiest warriors get to see the All-Father." Thor grinned, his hand going to the hammer hanging on his waist.

"And let me guess, you want to fight me?" I asked with an amused tone.

"You guessed correct human." Thor nodded with a smile.

"Sure, sounds fun." I smiled, I was about to get my ass kicked, but I would learn a trick or two, besides, if this helped me get a meeting with Odin, so be it.

"Huzzah!" Thor grinned as Sif facepalmed.

78 CHAPTER 78

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

I happily agreed to battle Thor.

Knowing full well he didn't expect me to defeat him, he just wanted to have some fun.

"So, where do we battle?" I asked, eyeing the god of thunder with just the hint of a smile.

"In the arena, where else?" Thor grinned. "Our battle will be legendary, or boring, last time I checked humans were… squishy," he muttered.

I chuckled. "Most are." I conceded.

"Then I hope you are not." Thor smiled, opening my cell.

"Thor, the All-Father asked me to talk with him, and decide whether or not he is worthy of meeting him." Sif hissed with a tight smile.

"It's okay, Lady Sif." I chuckled. "After the battle, I can come back to the cell if that helps your vetting process, but a workout would do me good."

Sif sighed. "I suppose that could work."

"Huzzah!" Thor grinned. "Then let us battle into bloody glory!" The God of Thunder exulted, pumping his fist in the air in delight.

"So where is this arena you speak of?" I asked.

"Follow me, my friend!" Thor said grabbing my arm like a kid eager to play, how the fuck was this man over a thousand years old, I would never know.

--

When Thor challenged me to a duel, I expected a small affair, not a fucking arena full of people cheering for him.

"Yes, yes, I know." Thor smiled, bathing in all the love and adoration the people of Asgard were giving him.

"God, is he always like this?" I muttered to myself.

"Yes." I heard someone reply.

[Loki Odinson LV 223]

"Hi." I waved at Loki, at first sight, he didn't seem so bad, but that was usually the case with crazy people.

Loki looked at me for a moment, before he finally decided to wave back. "You won't beat my brother with brawn, so do try to use that brain of yours, human," he said, leaving to his seat.

Hmm, I don't know if he was being friendly, or not.

"Now, in case you don't have one, we can provide you with the finest Asgardian armor we have to battle," Sif said as she approached me.

"I'm fine, I have my own armor." I smiled, denying her offer.

"You know you can die here right?" Sif sighed, looking at Thor. "Thor is not one known for his… restraint, he will go all out, especially if he has an audience."

"Believe it or not, I am not as squishy as I look." I smiled. "Though worry not, I'm not aiming for a victory, I can feel he's stronger than me, so all I plan to do is earn his respect through combat. I feel this is how the God of Thunder makes friends."

Sif chuckled. "That or getting drunk, or both at the same time."

"I know this is a long shot but, any tips?" I asked, looking at Thor doing Jojo poses for his fans.

"Hmm." Sif smiled. "Let him lead, Thor usually becomes predictable when you let him be the one dictating the rules of the battle."

"Mighty thanks Lady Sif." I smiled.

"Good luck, human." Sif smiled, going to her seat.

"Father!" Thor shouted, getting my attention.

Turning around, I witness as the All-Father arrived at the arena, looking at Thor with an exasperated look.

[Odin Borson LV 475]

Holy cannelloni, that is a high fucking level, I think the highest I have ever seen.

"I give you this victory father!" Thor shouted with a smile.

I give you this victory, he doesn't even consider me a threat, awesome.

"Inhabitants of Asgard!" An Asgardian soldier said, his voice both grave and sharp. "Today we have a unique event, a warrior of Midgard, will battle the crown prince of Asgard in an epic battle!" oh he was the announcer, cool.

The soldier allowed a moment of silence as Thor continued to flex his muscles.

"I know what many of you think, but he's a human, he will die in less than a second, he is weak, puny, and at best an ant against our prince!" I was going to kill that announcer. "But he is different, he is mighty! The mightiest human!" maybe not, maybe he would live.

The announcer smiled, as the arena was filled with cries of joy and delight.

"You will witness the titanic battle of two warriors from different worlds, different species, the mightiest of their kind, clashing in honorable combat here today!" he continued, getting more cries of joy from the audience.

"Well, this guy knows how to sell some tickets." I chuckled, seeing the Asgardian people shout with joy.

"Without further ado, let the battle of might begin!" the announcer shouted, walking out of the stage.

"Alright!" Thor smiled, cracking his neck.

"Ok." I sighed, equipping my armor.

--

[Bucky POV]

When Alex left me in charge, I expected many things, but one of them wasn't the girls ganging up on me to do me a… makeover.

"Come on, is not that bad." Nat grinned, as she continued doing my hair.

"You should attack your father, not me," I muttered, as Emily painted my nails.

"Daddy will get his, he will not see it coming, but he will get his." Emily smiled an evil smile.

"For now, we only have you." Nat chuckled. "And you will look fabulous."

I sighed. "As long as you attack your father one day, I am all for it." I sighed, at least I was not alone on this today.

"What the fu--fudge are you complaining about?" Fury asked as he narrowed his eyes on me. "At least they didn't put a wig on you!"

"I'm not bald," I replied as a matter of fact.

"Touche." Fury sighed.

"Don't worry, we will only ever take a few hundred pics." Nat grinned.

"That's so evil!" Emily gasped. "I like it," she added with a deep tone.

"I don't feel safe." Fury muttered.

"We need more glitter!" Emily declared, running into her room for the emergency glitter package.

"I never thought playing makeover would be so fun." Nat chuckled as she saw Emily run out of the room.

"Great, glitter…" Fury sighed. "I will look like a stripper when I got back to the office."

79 CHAPTER 79

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

[Sif POV]

The announcer's voice echoed through the audience for the last time as I took a seat beside the Warrior three, Loki, and the All-Father. "Let the battle begin!"

"Do you think the human will last more than a few seconds?" Volstagg asked Frandal.

"Nope." Frandal chuckled.

The announcer had barely finished his sentence when Thor instantly charged at the human with a confident grin on his face ready to slam him with his hammer. The latter taking my advice, was already in a defensive stance letting Thor dictate the pace of the combat, waiting for him, which allowed him to dodge Thor's hammer by just an inch.

"You owe me a beer!" Volstagg laughed, punching Frandal.

"Well, I guess I do." Frandal sighed.

The human took a step back and blocked Thor's next two blows with his forearms, before attempting to blast Thor away with some sort of magic laser, which ultimately failed when Thor started to spin Mjolnir blocking the attack.

Taking a step back, the human got into another stable defensive stance, as he eyed Thor with caution. Grinning Thor quickly continued the assault, throwing his hammer at him, but with a quick circular move of his hands, the human opened some kind of portal redirecting Thor's attack back at him, then as Thor lost his balance thanks to Mjolnir hitting on the head, the human leaped at Thor, punching him in the face with devastating force.

The attack threw Thor, even more, off-balance, and the Human intended to press his advantage.

The human pushed Thor back with a flurry of attacks, each punch and kick being stronger than the last, unfortunately for the human, Thor recovered quickly and with a satisfied smile, punched the human away, recovering his hammer with his other hand.

"This is fun!" Thor declared with a wide grin.

"It is." The human chuckled, as he stood up from the ground.

"Let us continue!" Thor shouted, and in the blink of an eye, he closed the distance between him and the human, pushing him back with a powerful set of attacks, using his godly domain to punish the human.

It was clear what the result of this match was going to be, the Human was quickly becoming overwhelmed by Thor's superior raw force, and adding lightning to that was pushing him even more, and under such conditions, he had begun a slow retreat backwards under the onslaught of incoming blows, blood seeping out of his armor.

"You know," Thor said with a smirk, blasting the Human away with a lightning bolt. "You are the first human I have ever battle that lasted this long, not even Asgardians take such a beating and keep on fighting!" the prince was clearly happy.

"Well, I must admit though, I am nearing my limit." The human sighed with a small chuckle.

Thor chuckled. "Then let us end this? Shall we?"

"Let's," The human nodded, summoning a massive ball of pure fiery inferno on his hands. "Hellfire!" he shouted blasting the ball into the arena.

Seconds later, a pillar of flamers engulfed Thor, and the once cheering audience was rendered mute, even the warrior three had gone silent watching the arena in shock.

"That actually hurt!" Thor shouted, flying out of the flaming pillar with a few minor burns as he rushed towards the human, hammer at hand.

"That was the intention!" The human shouted back, summoning another pillar below Thor.

Grinning, Thor raised his hammer above his head as the fire engulfed him once more, and with the might expected of the crowned prince of Asgard, brought down on the human the might of the Asgardian gods with the clap of a thunder.

Unable to dodge the attack, the human stood still, tanking Thor's thunder, as his fire pillars dissipated.

"I give… up…" The human eventually muttered, going down on his knees.

Thor flew towards him and grabbed the human by the arms. "It was an honorable fight."

"Honor hurts." The Human chuckled, groaning in pain.

"Let me take you to the infirmary." Thor chuckled, carrying the human away.

"And there you have it Asgard! The winner is Thor Odinson!" the announcer declared, and once again the audience was shouting in joy, and in a newfound respect for the human.

"Well, that was unexpected," Fandral admitted.

Volstagg chuckled. "He fought like a true warrior, even though he knew winning was not an option!" he grinned, "Does he has Asgardian blood?"

"I don't know," Fandral replied, considering the thought.

"Why would an Asgardian live on Midgard?" Loki rolled his eyes.

"Well, Asgardian or not, he gave us quite the show," I admitted, never in my long life I expected a human to show such prowess in combat, it pained me to admit it, but I doubted anyone here besides Thor, and the All-Father himself had a chance against him.

"He did." Hogun nodded. "His prowess was rather shocking."

"So now what, father?" Loki said, looking at Odin.

"We give the human an Asgardian welcome," Odin replied with a neutral look.

"Huzzah!" Volstagg grinned. "A feast!"

"Will you ever think with your brain? And not your stomach?" Loki muttered.

"Too much thinking cuts in my eating time." Volstagg defended.

"Well, if you all excuse me, I will go ahead and check how the Human and Thor are doing," I said, taking my leave.

"Send him our regards," Fandral shouted.

"Or you could do it yourself?" Hogun sighed, following me into the infirmary.

"Wait for me!" Volstagg said as he ran towards us.

"Hey! Don't leave me with Loki, we have nothing in common!" Fandral shouted, following us.

--

By the time we arrived at the infirmary, Thor and the human were laughing, both with a mug of beer at hand.

"This human beer is truly magnificent!" Thor declared. "And the mug never empties, truly the best thing I have ever seen!"

"Infinite beer?" Volstagg cried, tears falling down his eyes. "I love this human!"

"I guess that makes him your friend, huh?" I chuckled, looking at Thor.

"He fought with me, he drank with me. He is my blood brother!" Thor declared with a grin.

"What can I say, people, love me." The Human smiled, winking at me.

"Can.. can I get one of those?" Volstagg said, his two index fingers touching in a shy manner.

"Sure." the human smiled, summoning another mug out of nowhere.

Volstagg grinned, like a child grabbing the mug. "This is the day I find true happiness!"

"Hey, don't leave the handsome one hanging!" Fandral smirked, approaching the human.

"You're at best a 5 out 10, but sure." The human shrugged giving him a mug too. "What about you two?" he asked.

"I prefer tea," Hogun replied.

"I don't mind getting one." I smiled.

"A tea mug, and a beer one coming right up." The Human smiled.

"By the way, weren't you hurt a few seconds ago?" Fandral asked.

"He was, but then he drank some red stuff, and was as good as new!" Thor answered for him. "He even gave me one for my burns, it tasted like cherry, or blood, not sure."

80 CHAPTER 80

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

Happy thanksgiving for those who celebrate it!

--

After my battle with Thor, things changed for the better.

I was basically welcomed to Asgard with opened arms, just because I had battled their prince honorably.

Though I was a bit salty I didn't manage to hurt him nearly as much as he hurt me.

I even used on my strongest magical spell, Hellfire.

Which I got from one of the many dungeons I had completed.

Nonetheless, I suppose the result of the match was favorable.

I got my chance to meet Odin, after the feast the King himself was throwing in my honor, which if you asked me it was a bit too much.

But, considering they have at least a weekly feast, maybe is not that important.

"You battled like a true warrior," Sif said, snapping me out of my long reverie.

"Thanks." I smiled.

"So, are now Midgardians as strong as you?" Sif asked with a smile.

"Well, no." I chuckled. "I can count with one hand how many humans are around my level."

"Well, still a surprising feat." Sif nodded. "In my one thousand years, I have never witnessed a human with such prowess in battle."

"Well, you know us, ever-evolving." I smiled.

"I suppose that is true." Sif nodded.

Here goes nothing, "So, while we wait for the feast, care to give me a tour of this wonderful place you call home?"

"Is this how humans court each other?" Sif snorted, raising a single eyebrow.

I chuckled. "Who said I am courting you?" I challenged.

"Fair enough." Sif chuckled. "Let's start this tour human."

Our tour started at the place I was apprehended, the main plaza, which now looked more beautiful without people poking me with spears and stuff.

"Here was where we captured you, which now I know, it would've been a whole more difficult had you not been so cooperative." Sif began.

"Isn't that a general rule, people that don't resist are usually easy to capture," I replied.

"I suppose, but regardless of that, you made our job remarkably less messy," Sif stated.

"So is Midgard bigger than Asgard?" I asked.

"Yes," Sif replied. "Our planet is small compared to Midgard. But, is bigger in other senses."

"Army-wise, I suppose," I replied.

"Indeed." Sif smiled.

"So now what?" I asked.

"Now we go to the market," Sif replied, and so the tour continued.

I had to admit, Asgard was beautiful beyond anything I had ever seen. It was mesmerizing, heck, I was even considering in buying a vacation house here, if my money was any good here, I had no idea what Asgardians considered valuable or not.

Eventually, our tour came to an end at the gates of Odin's feast hall.

"And here we are," Sif said looking at the gates.

"The feast already started?" I asked, hearing the sounds of music and people inside.

"Yes, feasts usually start before the guest of honor arrives, it is considered an insult to show the guest to the party before it begins." Sif nodded.

Huh, cultural differences. "Well, let's not keep the people waiting." I grinned.

"Let's not." Sif nodded, as I opened the gates.

"Human, welcome." Odin's voice boomed through the audience, as I walked inside.

"A pleasure to meet you." I bowed ever so lightly.

"Come, take a seat beside my son." Odin smiled, pointing to where Thor was seated.

"Here buddy!" Thor smiled, waving at me like a kid that had saved his best friend a seat.

"Here here!" Volstagg echoed him.

"Thanks." I bowed once again, and walked towards Thor, as I eyed Loki, who seemed to be side-glaring at me.

"Alone with Lady Sif huh?" Fandral chuckled. "You must have a death wish."

"Unlike you, he can keep it on his pants," Sif replied before I had the chance.

"It was one time! ONE!" Fandral replied in an insulted manner.

"So, how's the food?" I asked, taking a seat beside Thor.

"Delicious, put your feeble Misgardian lips of this mighty Asgardian chicken and see!" Feeble… this bitch.

Ignoring his lack of social tact, I grabbed a piece of chicken and bit into it, it was good, very good, but nothing like out of the park, I had tasted better chicken on earth. "Top five, but not the best," I said.

"Are you saying the mightiest chicken is on Midgard?!" Thor asked, looking at his chicken in shock.

"Indeed." I nodded.

"It settled, I must visit Midgard with you when you go back, I'll stay on your castle!" Thor exclaimed.

"I wanna go too!" Volstagg shouted.

"Same, Midgardian ladies need a bit of Fandral," Fandral smirked.

"He isn't coming," I stated.

"Wise choice," Hogun nodded.

"Hey!" Fandral pouted.

"I concur with Hogun." Sif smiled.

"You guys are mean." Fandral sighed, as he stood up and walked to the drinks.

--

[Odin Borson - POV]

Alex Walker, the apprentice of Yao, now known as the Ancient One if memory serves me right.

I wonder, why is he here?

It has been some time since the last Midgardian came to Asgard, a few hundred years.

Though, I wasn't sure if he was a human.

While I knew he came from Midgard, his spiritual energy gave a different reading, one that I couldn't quite figure out what it was, or where it came from.

But one thing was for sure, whatever I was feeling, it was older than me.

Perhaps older than Asgard itself.

"You've been staring at the Midgardian for quite a while," Frigga muttered into my ear. "Is there something wrong?"

"No." I shook my head. "Just watching him and Thor become friends."

"He's strong," Frigga commented.

"He is," I nodded ever so lightly.

"What do you think he wants? He did say he wanted to talk with you." Frigga said.

"I don't know, but I can't wait to find out," I replied, in all honesty, I had no idea what his motive for being here was, but, I had a feeling it had to do with him possessing the space stone.

81 CHAPTER 81

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

Happy thanksgiving for those who celebrate it!

--

After the party ended with Thor being super drunk.

I was invited to talk with Odín.

Finally, the moment I had been waiting was finally here, I would finally get to talk with the man in charge.

"Greetings." Odin said as I entered the Throne room.

"A pleasure to finally meet you." I bowed, "Alone." I added.

"Did you enjoy the party?" Frigga asked, taking a seat beside her husband.

"It was quite the party." I nodded

"I'm glad." Frigga smiled at me warmly.

"I heard you wanted to talk with me." Odin began, "Well, you are here, so talk."

Straight to the point, I can respect that.

"Well, I wanted to propose an alliance of sorts between Asgard, and me." I replied.

"Asgard already has an alliance with earth." Frigga replied, "We are responsible for Midgard's protection."

"I know to some extent about that, but…" I sighed.

Odin catching on, chuckled. "You think we are not doing a great job with that, right?"

"Yes." I nodded, "Look, nothing against you or Asgard, I know for a fact you can't be babysitting us at every turn."

Odin nodded, "We only interfere if Midgard can't handle the situation."

"Exactly, and that brings us to this talk." I smiled, "I want Midgard to be able to handle anything."

Odin raised an eyebrow, "How?" He asked, his only eye on me.

"As I am right now, I am the second strongest human in the entire universe." I began, a bit salty. Carol was stronger than me, "But even with my strength, I can't defend the earth, not like I want to."

Frigga looked at me, "What could possibly threaten Midgard so much that scares you?"

I chuckled, "Thanks for the compliment, really. But we all know there are beings out there in the cosmos, beings mad for power."

"The Mad Titan." Odin stated.

I blinked in surprise. "Yes."

"He won't make a move for any of the nine realms as long as I am alive." Odin reassured me.

"With all due respect, sir." I sighed, hoping that what I was to say wasn't going to insult him, "The day will come when you won't be around anymore, and we will have more than one problem to deal with. Problems Asgard won't be able to handle."

Odin glared at me, before leaving out a sigh. "Yes, Asgard is not ready to handle her or the Mad Titan for that case."

"Her?" Frigga asked.

"Another threat the universe as a whole is facing." Odin replied, shoving the subject down the rug.

"My point is, none of those threats will make a move as long as you are alive." I continued, "They know you can stop them, kill them, so they will stay back, move without igniting your wrath, but when your final day comes, they will crush everything you have ever protected."

Odin sighed. "You are Yao's apprentice alright."

Yao's? "Who?"

"You know her as the Ancient One." Odin chuckled.

Huh, so she had a name, odd, my power never showed me, perhaps she never saw herself as Yao, at least not anymore.

"So what exactly do you want?" Frigga asked, "If these threats are waiting for my husband to pass away, I am with you, we need to prepare. Though, you will have to excuse me, but… I don't think you will live to that day, we Asgardian have a long lifespan, and Odin still has a few thousand years on his belt."

"He knows that Frigga." Odin said with a sigh. "What he's saying is, I will die during his lifetime."

Frigga looked at me in shock, "What?"

"I had some visions." I lied.

"Can it be avoided?" Odin asked.

"Not sure, but it should be." I replied.

Odin chuckled, "I forgot how cryptic Yao was with her visions, absolute points and all. Is my death an absolute point?" He asked with a smile.

"No." I shook my head.

Frigga looked at me, "Then what can we do to avoid this?"

Kill Loki? If it wasn't for him, Odin's life force wouldn't have faded away, or free Hela, she was also sucking on his life force.

"Not sure, but I will help you avoid that to the best of my abilities." I declared.

"Is that all you can say? Can't you at least tell us how?" Frigga pressed but Odin stopped her.

"Frigga, the future is ever changing. If he saw my demise, and speaks about it, his knowledge and power to stop it goes away with him sharing it. Right now, he knows what could happen, and perhaps has a chance to help us." Odin sighed, giving me a knowing look.

"Will you help us?" Frigga asked.

"Well that's the idea." I nodded, "Though, like Odin said, I'm not entirely sure I can change what I saw."

"So, what exactly do you want from Asgard?" Odin asked.

"Power." I replied, "I need power, training, anything Asgard can offer in my pursuit of self betterment."

"You want Uru equipment." Odin replied, shocking me, how the fuck did he came to that conclusion, I didn't even mention that.

"If possible." I nodded

"Uru is a metal only the gods are worthy to wield," Frigga said.

"You would have to prove you are worthy of being called such." Odin nodded.

"Being called a god?" I chuckled. "Yeah, that's a big red flag on Midgard, no thank you."

"You will get what you desire, when you prove yourself worthy of it." Odin replied.

"Fair enough." I nodded.

"In the meantime, feel free to train and be on Asgard," Odin added.

"About that, is there any way I can buy a house here, for vacacional purposes?" I asked.

"We can provide you with one, if you are willing to pay for it in blood." Odin replied.

"Blood?" Asgard real estate was a bit too edgy for me.

"By helping Asgard in battle." Odin explained, "We have a few battles here and there with the enemies of Asgard."

"Oh, then sure." I nodded.

82 CHAPTER 82

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

I sat cross-legged in the center of the Asgard's arena, my long sword which had been provided by Asgard for the day resting on my knees as I ate the sandwich Emily and Natasha had made me. For the past month, all I had done day in and day out was come here to fight. After checking up on the girls, of course.

As always a cold wind blew over the battle arena, as the sounds of people muttering filled the area, however, that was not all you could hear. In the distance, the clanking of armor and the whisper of a mace cutting through the air started to draw closer and closer.

"Stand and face me," commanded a powerful voice, which was no other than Hogun.

With a smile, I held up a finger as I finished eating my sandwich, priorities first.

Hogun was a powerfully built man, broad-shouldered and thick-armed but at the same time lean for agility. With Asgardian steel armor from head to toe, and as a weapon his trusty mace.

I had never fought against him, against Thor, several times during this month, against Sif, at least a dozen times just this week, but against him? Never.

"I thought you'd never come to fight me," I said licking my fingers, the sandwich had been really good, no idea what kind of sauce the girls added to it, but it was finger-licking good.

"It's time for me to prove how strong you are, human," Hogun said, adopting a fighting stance similar to the Asgardians I had faced before.

"Ok," I said, rising to my feet in one smooth motion. "Let's fight." I cracked my neck as I twirled my longsword around to loosen the muscles in my shoulders. Not that I needed it, of course, but I had been fighting, on and off, for the past six hours so I had to test the waters.

Without another word, the Asgardian quickly closed the gap between us and attacked with precision and skill, but after weeks of fighting in the arena, I noticed something, his attacks were predictable for me, which made the entire ordeal uninteresting, in the end, it seemed I had learned and adapted to the battle pattern in the Asgardian soldiers' way of fighting.

Hogun was fast, strong, and skilled enough to wield his weapon with great proficiency. But none of that mattered if he was predictable.

With a sigh, I parried the first blow, dodged the second, and parried the third, all without breaking a sweat.

Then moving close to him as he attacked, I broke the Asgardian's guard with a sideways blow to his ribs. The metal of his armor twisted and the man dropped to one knee with a grunt of pain.

With a smile, I gave the warrior time to recover, to ease his pain, for perhaps I had punched him too hard.

Seeing me look at him with worry, Hogun smiled and tore off the piece of armor that my attack had bent. "I don't stand a chance." said the Asgardian with a grin, "But that makes it more fun."

"Admirable," I replied with a whistle, as I saw the blood running down the side of his mouth which confirmed, I had punched him too hard.

Finally, on his feet, Hogun took a calming breath as he grabbed the weapon he had dropped on the floor during my previous attack, and with a quick move, he restarted the battle, with a series of lightning-fast attacks that went high and low.

With ease, I dodged each and every single attack, my longsword in constant motion as I deflected the Asgardian's attacks, then when the opportunity came, I took a step forward and planted my fist on his stomach breaking his armor into pieces, knocking the Asgardian out.

"I told him only I could defeat you!" Thor chuckled, walking towards us.

"For now." I grinned at the Asgardian God.

"As if!" Thor grinned back.

"He knew he had no chance, but wanted to test himself against you," Sif said, putting her hand on my shoulder.

"Medics!" Fandral shouted. "He will be out of commission for the day, that punch had to break a few bones at the very least." he shuddered.

"Remembering when he broke your jaw?" Sif grinned at Fandral.

"I had to eat through a straw that day! A straw!" Fandral exclaimed in exasperation.

"For the record, I apologized." I chuckled.

"Grow a pair Fandral." Volstagg cackled. "He tattooed my stomach with his fist, and I don't cry as much as you."

"Unlike you, I care about my personal appearance." Fandral huffed.

"Bah, you are a baby." Volstagg rolled his eyes. "Heck, I wear my scar with pride!" he howled, showing the mark I had left on his stomach.

"You do know the medics could've fixed that right?" Sif inquired.

"Yes, but what's the point? I like wearing my battle scars, especially if they come from a friend." Volstagg nodded with a grin.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but I am tired." I chuckled, breaking their conversation. "So, see ya."

"But the feast?" Thor gasped.

"Thor we do one every week." I deadpanned.

"Exactly, and today's is to celebrate your first month!" Thor nodded.

"First month of what?" I asked with a sigh.

"Of Asgardian badassery!" Thor nodded once again. "One month ago, you were a puny human, but during this last month of you living here, you have bathed in Asgardian glory, which makes you an honorary Asgardian!"

"I'm not sure that's how immigration works, also, I don't live here, I still sleep in my house, with my family," I replied with a smile.

"Give him the jacket, humans love jackets, GIVE HIM THE JACKET!" Fandral whispered, and by whispered I mean shouted.

"Oh right, the jacket!" Thor nodded, giving me a box. "Here you go!" he grinned like a child.

Sighing, I opened the box to find that inside there was a leather jacket that said, the warrior four.

"This is…" by the time I looked up, Thor, Fandral, the Unconcious Hogun, and Volstagg had their jackets on, which like mine said, the warrior four.

"We watched a movie marathon to learn about humans, and jackets seem to be the center of your culture," Fandral stated with a wide smile.

"You guys watched 80s movies…" I snorted, looking at the jacket, "Fine, why not." I chuckled, putting the jacket on.

[You have become a member of the Warrior Four = 75% Asgardian, 25% Human]

83 CHAPTER 83

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

I know normally I post two chapters today, and worry not that will return next week, but the thing is this a few hours ago, around 10 hours or more by the time this chapter gets posted, my moms now ex boyfriend hit her, breaking her nose, and I got into a fight, he broke my lip and a few eye vessels, but your boy corn won, the point being I didn't have time write to keep my stockpile, so as to avoid any possible burnouts I will post one chap today, which will allow me to relax, Patreôn wise.

--

After another weekly feast, I went back to my Asgardian house, to rest, it was Friday after all, and tomorrow I would go back to earth and visit the girls, but for now, I would rest.

"I thought you were going back home," Sif muttered, jumping inside my house through my open window.

"You know there is a door right?" I said with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes, but where is the fun in knocking?" Sif winked.

"I suppose," I chuckled. "Well, to answer your question, is already too late on earth, so I decided to stay here for the night." I didn't want to wake up the girls.

"Thor was very excited you accepted his offer to join his elite group of warriors," Sif commented, taking a seat beside me on my bed.

"He is at times a big child, is he not?" I chuckled.

"He is," Sif chuckled.

"So, what are you doing here, Lady Sif, surely you know how bad it looks for a woman to be with a man on his chambers, alone." I teased with a smirk.

Sif smirked, as she slugged me on the arm playfully. A meaty little smack. "And who will dare to talk about me?"

"Touche," I chuckled. "So, wanna watch a movie?" I asked, I mean, for that reason I had brought a battery-powered TV, to watch movies and chill with my Asgardian friends.

"Sure," Sif nodded, getting comfortable.

--

Watching movies with Sif, or hanging out with her, in general, had become routine, to the point I had begun to consider I liked her, perhaps more than just friends.

"Well, time to go." I sighed as I watched over the clock, it was already morning on Earth.

"Going home?" Sif asked as she approached me.

I looked at her and for a moment I wondered, should I take my shot. "Yes." I nodded, gathering the courage to ask her to come to earth with me, as friends. "Would you like to come with me?" I asked.

"To earth?" Sif asked, taken back by my request.

"Yes. I could show around, and it would annoy Thor." I had yet to bring Thor to earth, and bringing anyone but him first would annoy the God of Thunder.

"Annoying Thor, you drive a hard bargain." Sif chuckled. "Fine, why not."

Grinning, I opened a portal to Earth, and for dramatics bowed. "After you, Lady Sif."

Sif chuckled as she walked through the portal, followed by me.

--

At the other side of the portal, I found Bucky wearing a Hello Kitty apron as he cooked for the girls.

"Nice apron." I chuckled.

Bucky said nothing and continued cooking.

"Hi, my name is Emily Walker!" Emily greeted Sif, running towards her with a welcoming smile. "Are you dating our daddy?"

"If you rush at any potential female for our paternal figure like that, he won't ever get a girlfriend." Natasha chuckled from the kitchen.

"Don't be silly, daddy is super handsome, is he not?" Emily asked Sif who with a teasing smile nodded.

"He is," Sif chuckled.

"See?!" Emily nodded with a satisfied smile towards Nat.

"I never said he wasn't handsome, but your eagerness for him to date will scare any potential females." Nat chuckled.

"So this is a Midgard household?" Sif asked, looking around.

"Not the best example of how they usually look." I chuckled. "I am rich, therefore, my house is way bigger than normal Midgardian houses."

"I would like to see a normal Midgardian house later then, to compare to Asgard," Sif replied, walking to the kitchen. "You must be the sworn shield of the Walker family," she said greeting Bucky.

"Something like that," Bucky replied.

"My name is Sif, the Asgardian Goddess of War," Sif introduced herself.

"A Goddess?" Emily gasped with stars in her eyes.

"I find it disturbing she uses magic for things like that…" Nat commented with a shudder.

"Hey, you got your Kung Fu moves, I got my magic!" Emily huffed.

"Your daughters are warriors like yourself?" Sif asked with a gleam of excitement.

"Yes." I nodded my chest puffing with pride. "Nat here is like you a warrior of arms and weapons, while Emily here is a great sorceress in the making."

"Dad! I'm blushing!" Emily giggled, hiding her head under her shirt.

"We are cool, we know it," Nat grinned with a wink.

"Then maybe they should come to Asgard one of these days?" Sif proposed, "We have classes for children their age."

"I don't know…" I scratched the back of my head, "They have school, and their training…"

"We have Sunday off…" Nat said.

"I suppose I could take them, next Sunday to see Asgard," I nodded.

"So, what first?" Sif nodded. "I haven't been on Midgard in a few, so what is first in our list?"

"Breakfast, then a small tour of New York," I said with a smile.

"I made eggs and toast," Bucky said, "Would you guys like anything else?"

"No, that's fine," I replied.

"Good, cause I wasn't going to cook anything else," Bucky grinned.

--

After a nice breakfast with the girls, Bucky took Nat to her SHIELD classes and Emily teleported to Nepal, leaving me and Sif alone for our tour.

But first, I needed to buy her some clothes, walking with a full set of armor and a sword around the city would bring me unwanted attention.

"Must I wear this?" Sif asked with a huff, for a warrior like her wearing garments like the ones I had provided was nearly an insult.

"Yes, otherwise people will stare at us way too much," I replied, the last thing I wanted was people chasing us and thinking Sif was a cosplayer.

"Feels weird," Sif sighed moving her body around.

"It's jeans and a shirt, a common Midgardian look," I replied with a soft chuckle.

"I even bought you a leather jacket, so people know you are a badass," I chuckled, as she put on her jacket.

"I suppose," Sif smiled. "Now can we tour the city?"

"Yes, let's," I nodded with a smile.

84 CHAPTER 84

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

I walked with Sif around the city, showing her every little corner she wanted to explore.

It was almost adorable seeing such a fearsome warrior like her getting excited by things like a gas station hot dog, and other minor things like that, it was precious really.

I showed her the good, and the bad of the city, I mean, there was no point in showing someone only the good parts, but regardless of what I showed her, she was always excited, grinning like a kid with a new toy to play.

Our tour eventually led us to the Theodore Roosevelt Park, where I took the initiative of setting up a picnic.

I wanted to get to know her better before making any moves, though I suppose a picnic could be considered a move.

The point was, I wanted to see if my attraction to her was more than purely physical, that part was sure, I liked her, she was in peasant terms hot as fuck, but no relationship really lasted if the only thing you liked about the other person was their body.

Also, I wanted to see if she liked me, you kinda need both parties to agree on that.

"Today has been quite the adventure," Sif said, a wide blinding smile on her face as she looked at me.

"Well, considering where you live, I'll take that as a compliment." I smiled back at her.

"It truly is a miracle how Midgardians live, besides you and your sworn shield, they look…" Sif paused for a moment as if trying to find the correct word to describe human weakness.

"Weak? Soft?" I chuckled, getting an odd look from her. "Look don't feel bad for saying it, we humans are weak by an evolution standard point of view. But is that weakness that fuels our greed for more, for improvement."

"Is that why you became so strong?" Sif inquired with a curious look, "For human greed?"

"I suppose in a way? Yes," I nodded, "I also wanted to be the ruler of my life, which was an impossibility as long as I was like everyone else."

"Freedom through power?" Sif gave me a soft smile. "I can relate to that."

"You can?" I looked at her with a curious look.

"If you repeat anything I say from this point on, I will beat you," Sif threatened in a joking manner.

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I promised.

"What?" Sif chuckled.

"Is a human thing, it means I won't say a word," I chuckled back.

"Got to remember that," Sif smiled, "Well, as I was saying, I'm a woman."

"And that's a problem in which way?" I asked.

"That in Asgardian culture, we are often overlooked," Sif replied with a sad smile, "I trained twice… no... thrice as hard as everyone else, day and night I practiced with my sword until my hands bleed, and even then, I continued, pushing beyond my limits, perfecting my moves. I spent centuries practicing without a rest, but that didn't matter… for everyone else only saw me as a woman, my gender alone was the very chain that kept me down."

I looked at her, "I can't say I relate to that, if I did I would be lying, but those that judged you based on your gender are idiots."

Sif laughed, a bitter laugh, "They are, in the end, it was Thor's who showed everyone else I was as capable as the rest of the man in Odin's army, and with time, well, I made a name for myself."

"I have to ask, how can Asgardians be so misogynistic?" I asked, with a frown, "I mean, what about the Valkyries?" weren't the Valkyries an all-woman force? When they existed.

Sif chuckled, "I said the same, but since their demise long before my birth, well, warriors such as myself have been working against the tide."

I smiled at her.

"So I get your feeling," Sif smiled, "Power is sadly the breaker of chains, we all have chains, and only power can break them, be it the chains of one's gender, of the chains of one's innate weakness."

"Wise words," I nodded.

"I have my moments," Sif grinned.

"Well, cheers to our success so far." I chuckled, giving her a cup of wine I had pulled out of my inventory alongside a very expensive wine.

"Wine? by the All-Father, if I didn't know any better, I would think you were trying to court me," Sif smiled, grabbing the cup.

"Who knows?" I winked.

"You are playing a dangerous game human," Sif replied, taking a sip of the cup. "One that you might not wanna play if you are not sure."

"Life for a human in this universe is intrinsically dangerous, so what's a risk or two?" I shot back with a playful grin.

"I can't argue with that," Sif smiled, raising her cup. "To our freedom."

I smiled at her, raising my cup to meet hers, "To our freedom."

--

After a long picnic, and a few teasing comments here and there, we restarted the tour, this time showing her the nightlife of New York, but before we could see or watch anything good, I got a message on my phone, an urgent one.

Sabertooth had escaped.

"Is everything okay?" Sif inquired with a worried look, reading my expression.

"No, a dangerous criminal has escaped," I replied, cursing Sabertooth on my head, couldn't he escape tomorrow, I was making progress here. "And now I have to hunt him down."

Sif's worried expression changed to an excited one, "Then I shall help you with this!" she declared.

"You don't have to," I assured her.

"Of course I do," Sif grinned, "Besides, I want to see what other Midgardians have to offer in the way of combat."

I chuckled, "Okay, I suppose we can hunt him together."

"Now this is a real Asgardian date!" Sif grinned.

"A date?" I asked with a teasing smile.

"Who knows?" Sif shot back with a wink, using my own words against me.

85 CHAPTER 85

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

After changing into our fighting attire, we went out to hunt Victor Creed, which was remarkably easy to do thanks to my satellite, which I used to track Sabertooth to a forest nearby the prison he had escaped from.

"Is this criminal you are hunting, dangerous?" Sif asked with a curious look.

I hummed at that thought, "Yes, he's quite the threat."

Sif smiled, "Good, otherwise, this would've been dull."

I chuckled, "Well let's keep going then."

According to my map, Sabertooth was not moving, he was one mile away, motionless, meaning one of two things, one he had smelled us and was waiting for us, or two, he was waiting for something else.

"Are we getting close?" Sif asked, her right hand gripping on her sword.

"We are," I nodded.

We continued running towards our objective for the next two minutes, finding our target sitting on a rock with a wild grin. He was happy to be found, which I found extremely odd.

"Victor is time to go back to prison, a better one this time," I said, staring right into his eyes.

"But why the rush?" Victor grinned, his fangs showing in a threatening way.

Sif looked at me and then at Victor, and with a smile, took a step forward, unsheathing her sword that shone under the moonlight that covered the forest in a dazzling manner, "We will capture you, dead or alive, your choice."

"You found yourself a mate?" Victor cackled, sniffing the air, "Though you two haven't mated yet, she doesn't smell like you."

"Ok, enough talk," I sighed, turning to look at Sif, "Wanna go at him alone, or?" I asked.

"I wish to try my skills against him on a one-on-one," Sif declared with a smile.

I chuckled, "Go ahead," I said, taking a seat on the ground.

I knew Victor Creed was stronger than her, I knew that, with him being more than a few levels ahead of her, but I wasn't worried about them fighting, I had the skills and the power to stop them both should the necessity arise.

"Letting your woman fight your fights," Victor snorted, "How disappointing," he added with a snarl.

"This woman will cut you to pieces," Sif declared in a challenging manner.

"And I will eat popcorn while she does that," I winked at Victor who growled at me.

"Don't hold back or I'll break you," Victor growled turning at Sif.

Sif shrugged, smirked, and slowly brought one foot back, "Same kitty cat."

With a smile, Sif rushed at Sabertooth. Her blade weaved through the air in a swift motion, and just as she was about to reach him, she jumped into the air and slashed downwards with her sword at him.

Grinning, Sabertooth parried the attack with an attack of his own, clashing his right claw against Sif's sword, creating sparks that flew into the air briefly illuminating the night.

Sif seeing this, was quick to adjust and moved her blade to the side, slashing the feral warrior.

"Not bad," Sabertooth complimented, seeing his injury with a hint of amusement, "But not enough," by the time he had said this his injury had been healed.

"So you heal?" Sif smiled, "That means I can play rough."

"It means, you will die," Sabertooth shot back with a growl.

I coughed, a fake cough, "I'm here kitty cat, which means you will do nothing but go back to prison, one way or another."

Sabertooth growled at me, baring his teeth in an animalistic gesture, but as he turned his attention at me, Sif rushed at him, and plunged her blade into his throat, "Pathetic," Sif scoffed, slashing his throat open.

All while I was keeping my mouth open like an emoji.

"You bitch!" Sabertooth hissed, coughing blood as his throat regenerated, but Sif gave him no chance, sinking her blade on his spine, impaling the mutant.

"Every warrior wants a worthy opponent. There is no glory in fighting the pathetic," Sif said with a cold tone, "You are strong, possibly stronger than me, but you have let your confidence in your skills dull your warrior senses, you could've dodged my first attack, and the second, for Odin's sake, even my last, but you know you can take a beating, so you do just that, you take the beating, and look at you, you can't move, or regenerate with my sword on your spine."

"I will kill you bitch!" Sabertooth hissed, trying to move, but as Sif had said, his spine was severed right now, and he could only move his head, he had been defeated by someone weaker than him, and that probably hurt more than the sword on his back.

"It seems our hunt came to an end," Sif declared turning to face me with a wide smile.

"It sure looks like that," I smiled, opening a portal beneath Sabertooth, sending him back to prison, this time one reinforced with Magic, courtesy of the Ancient One.

"That was surprisingly easy," Sif admitted, "With his power, he should've been able to press me more."

"He was stronger than you, physically, but he lacked your experience," I nodded.

"I noticed that," Sif nodded, "So… will I get my sword back? Or??"

"You will, in a few days, I just want to mess with him first," I chuckled.

"Fair enough," Sif chuckled back.

"So, wanna go back to the city?" I asked with a smile.

"Yes, you have yet to show me the nightlife of Midgard," Sif nodded, and so I opened a portal to my house so that we could change back into a normal attire.

--

Back into civilian clothes, we continued our tour of the city, which eventually lead us to the best part of New York's nightlife, the street tacos near the most dangerous zone in all of the city.

Yes, you could hear a shot or two every now and then, and people would try to rob us every now and then, but in all honesty, the tacos around the area we worth it.

"These are truly delicious!" Sif shouted with a smile for everyone to hear, and by everyone I mean the ten robbers we had so far knocked and tied down.

"They are," I nodded, so far we had eaten twenty each.

"Would you like another dozen, sir?" Miguel the taco truck owner asked with a smile. [Miguel Gonzales the Bringer of Tacos LV 19]

"Of course," Sif answered before I could, "I want them extra spicy," she added.

"You got yourself a keeper Mr. Walker," Miguel chuckled.

"Miguel, why do you even sell your pieces of heaven here?" I asked.

"Well, to help the community, why else?" Miguel chuckled, "I sell my food at a reasonable price, Mr. Walker, and give the people around this area something affordable to eat, something good, I help in my own way… which by cooking, yes I get some that rob me, but the more I come, the less those bad ones come."

"We knocked out ten robbers," I deadpanned.

"Well, it's because they know you, Mr. Walker, you are a billionaire, for them, you are their free out of this dumb ticket, their words, not mine," Miguel chuckled.

I sighed, "I think I will invest some money into these parts,"

"It would help a lot of people," Miguel nodded with a smile, "Anyway, another dozen coming right up!"

86 CHAPTER 86

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

After Sif returned to Asgard, I went back to my routine, which was to continue researching the super-soldier serum.

I was so close to cracking it, I could feel it.

Unfortunately, I was stuck in the middle of nowhere with it, but I was in no hurry, I would soon crack this baby, one day at a time, I would get closer to the perfect formula.

Though I'm not going to lie, it was pretty annoying, to be honest, it was like having 99% of the picture ready in my head, but missing one piece, one little piece that was crucial.

I guess the best way I can describe my current feeling about the formula is like when you forget a word, and you have it in the tip of your tongue, but can't really remember, more than not, you remember the word after you no longer need it.

"Maybe I should get more blood from Bucky," No, that wouldn't work, no matter how many samples I get, the results would be the same, whatever I was lacking, was not on his blood, or in anyone's blood.

I sighed, what else I could do, with how it was, I could make a bootleg Serum, like the one the Russians used, or an improved version like the one Hydra used on bucky, but those still needed something, they lacked something the original serum had.

"Maybe I should learn necromancy," I chuckled. Then again, it wasn't a bad idea, morally questionable, yes, but it would solve a lot of problems if I resurrected Abraham Erskine, and made him finish what I started.

Though I sincerely doubt the Ancient One will lend me a book about the subject, but then again, I don't need her to get something like that, there are a few dungeons with rewards like that one.

"No, I can do this." I shook my head, while it would surely solve my problems, enslaving those who passed away to help me, would make me no better than Hydra.

So this brought me back to square one.

"Always in your lab," that voice, the Ancient One.

"Well, I have things to do, and besides, I am not always here, I go out with the girls, at least twice a week," I replied, without even turning to meet her, there was much work to do, and little time to do it.

"I know what your little project is missing," The Ancient One commented, stopping me on my tracks.

"You do?" I asked, turning around to see her smirking.

"I might not be a scientist such as yourself or Abraham Erskine, but I know lots of things," The Ancient One smirked, taking a seat on one of my tables.

"Considering you haven't offered me the information, I will go ahead and assume you want something in exchange…" I sighed, with her, you could never know.

"You are absolutely right," The Ancient One nodded, "I want something, the question is… can you provide it?" ok… this was creeping out.

"Which is?" I asked narrowing my eyes on her.

"I need you to recover a something from me, from a dark… dark place," The Ancient One began, "The Dark Dimension to be precise,"

"So you want me to die?" I snorted, "I might not be as experienced as you with the mystic arts and all, but I know about Dormammu."

"I know you know," The Ancient One smiled, "I also know, you won't die if you go there, Dormammu can't kill you." can't kill me? "Or rather won't kill you,"

"Elaborate?" I asked, pressing the matter.

"I can't," The Ancient One replied with a sigh, "All I can share is that you will be okay, in fact, you are possibly one of the only beings in existence Dormammu would be reluctant to kill."

Well, ain't that ominous as fuck, "Not that I'm saying yes, but what do you need to recover?" I asked.

"A piece of my soul I left there a long time ago," The Ancient One replied as if that answered anything at all.

I rubbed my temples, "Is there anything else you can share?" I asked.

"No, believe me, I wish I could… but I can't," The Ancient One sighed.

"I will think on it," I replied after a brief moment of silence.

"You know where to find me," with that said, she left, leaving me with much to think about.

--

[The Ancient One POV]

I teleported back to my chambers to find no other than Odin Borson sitting on a chair with a disapproving look.

"Yao, you are playing with fire," Odin warned.

"I know that Odin," I chuckled, Yao, it has been so long this someone called me that, it feels foreign.

"Then why are you risking it?" Odin sighed, rubbing his temples, "He could die there…"

"You know as well I do, Dormammu won't kill him," I replied taking a seat.

"That is just a conjecture you have," Odin stated with a stern look, "Dormammu can kill him as easily as he can kill a fly, you are betting a lot on him not doing it because of where Alex comes from,"

"I have seen the future, many of them, and in the majority of them… he lives, at least nine out ten, Dormammu does nothing but talk with him," I replied looking away.

"I know," Odin sighed, "I might not have the time stone, but I have also checked his future, more than not he survives, is the futures where he doesn't that I don't like."

"He will be okay," I sighed, Odin had a knack to make me feel bad, "I know I'm using him to avoid my future death in a selfish manner by having him recover the piece of my soul I left in Dormammu's dimension… but while this is indeed selfish, it will help Alex understand his origins,"

"Or kill him," Odin snorted, "You know you are in this position because you are stubborn, I offered you a golden apple a thousand years ago, and you declined my offer, and now look where we are."

"I was young, and prideful Odin, as were you," I replied with a small chuckle.

"I was old enough to be your dad, for Bor's bear, Thor's old enough to be your dad," Odin chuckled, before he let a grim expression settle in, "I hope you know what you're doing."

"I know," I replied looking out the window.

87 CHAPTER 87

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

Go to Dormammu's dark dimension, or keep trying on my own with the formula. Decisions that made everything more complicated. However this time, the choice was simple, I would not go, I didn't care what the Ancient One wanted, if I were to die in that realm, Emily, and Natasha would be left alone.

My life was no longer mine alone, it belonged to those who loved me, to those who depended on me, to my daughters, and I could not make such life decisions without considering the possible repercussions that they would bring.

So no, I would not help the Ancient One, she made her decision in her time, the decision to obtain immortality through the power of Dormammu, just as I now make my decision, to protect my family.

"I know you're there," I announced, glancing sideways behind my back.

"Have you made your decision yet?" the Ancient One asked, appearing in my room.

"Yes," I nodded, "And though provocative, I can't help you," I sighed, "You say Dormammu won't kill me, but the truth is that you're not a hundred percent sure and as long as there's even the slightest chance that I'll die, I won't take such risks,"

The Ancient One looked down at the floor with a faint smile adorning her face, "Among the thousands of futures I saw, in only a few of them you said yes to this mission,"

I looked at her with mild surprise, "So you were betting on this being one of those futures in which I decided to help you,"

The Ancient One looked at me and with a smile nodded slowly, "Yes, but I didn't have high hopes for it, as an old friend told me, I was playing with fire."

"I'm really sorry I can't help you, but if I were to die, it would affect not only myself but my daughters," I said with a weak smile.

"I understand," The Ancient One smiled, approaching me, "Take this," she said, handing me a piece of paper, "There you will find what you are missing,"

I looked at the paper, and quickly noticed that it had some coordinates on it, "Is this what I need?" I asked her. "Is this the last piece?"

"Yes, in that location, lays the last piece of your puzzle," The Ancient One smiled.

"But I didn't help you," I said staring at the paper.

"No, you didn't," the Ancient One laughed, "But my help never depended on your help, I just... tried to manipulate you, I hope you don't blame this old sorceress for trying,"

I chuckled, "Thanks,"

"Well, I am off to teach Emily how to access the mirror dimension, a class you skipped," The Ancient One winked, teleporting out of sight.

"I will never understand that woman," I sighed, turning to look at the paper she had given me, reading the coordinates and adding them to my map, "Germany, Augsburg…"

--

[The Ancient One POV]

Well, that was a bet that didn't play out in my favor, oh well, you can't win them all.

"He said no," Odin sighed in relief, "For a moment there I thought I would've had to interfere."

I looked at Odin and smiled, "The All-Father worrying about a human, how times change," I smirked under my breath, the Odin of old would've killed Alex for stepping into Asgard unannounced.

"Don't lecture me about changing, little girl, you of all people know the me of the past, and the me of now are basically two different persons," Odin rolled his eye.

"I meant no offense, Odin," I smiled, conjuring some tea, "I was just making an observation,"

"You're an expert on that," Odin chuckled.

"Well, I might be a little girl to you, but by human standards I am old, and you tend to pick a thing or two," I smiled at him, offering a cup of tea, "Is my secret tea stash,"

"You and your team," Odin sighed, "I suppose I might as well give it a try,"

"I like tea," Tea was.. a way to cleanse the soul, to restart your energies, in more ways than one.

"Well, I like alcohol, if any type," Odin replied, snapping his fingers, transforming the cup of tea into a mug of beer.

"Such a waste of good tea," I shook my head sadly.

"Talk for yourself," Odin guffawed.

"So, about the future," I started, "How's your daughter doing?" I asked.

Odin glared at me for a moment before he sighed, "Trapped," he answered, "for now," he added.

"I can see your power decreasing more and more," I stated, "At this pace, I don't think you will last more than a decade or two holding her back,"

"I know," Odin sighed, "She won't be happy with the changes I made, or about her promised prince falling for another, or in the process of…"

"I can't picture Hela worrying about such things," It was just… so hard to get that picture in my head, and considering I had seen beyond Dormammu's veil, well, it's hard to picture something I can't imagine.

"A warrior worthy of standing by her in conquest," Odin recited with a sigh, "I told her about the prophecy myself… when I was blind to my own mistakes…"

"And you aren't blind to them now?" I asked getting a glare from Odin.

"I do what I do for the good of Asgard," Odin replied with a hiss, avoiding my gaze for a brief moment.

"Perhaps you could learn a thing or two from Alex," I smiled, putting my hand on his shoulder.

"His kids are not immortal gods," Odin scoffed.

"First of all, you are not immortal, you are as we speak slowly dying," I rolled my eyes, "Second of all, sons or daughters, no matter their age, they all yearn for the same, their parents unconditional love,"

"Or the blood of their enemies," Odin sighed.

"And whose fault is that?" I shot back.

"If I wanted therapy, I would've gone to an asgardian therapist!" Odin barked, opening a portal of Asgard, "Goodbye!" And with that he left.

"So old, yet so ignorant to the mysteries of the heart," I shook my head in slight disappointment, "I wonder if you will do better Alex… after all, if you don't learn quickly, your destiny will eat you alive,"

88 CHAPTER 88

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

Augsburg, Germany.

Of all places, the last piece of my unsolvable puzzle was here.

Heck, as soon as I had read the paper, a quest had appeared, legitimizing everything.

[Quest: The Super Soldier Serum - The Last Piece

Description: In the house of Abraham Erskine lays the last piece of the puzzle, the answer to all of your dead ends, the last ingredient to perfect your scientific conundrum.

Objectives: Enter the house of Abraham Erskine and find the hidden piece.

Rewards: The Last Piece.]

I suppose it is poetic in a peculiar sense, after all, Abraham Erskine the creator of the super-soldier serum, the scientific puzzle I was trying to solve, was born and raised here, in Augsburg, Germany.

In a way, everything started here.

"Well, time to find that last piece," I sighed, opening my map, according to the coordinates the Ancient One had given me, the last piece was on a house, quite anticlimatic if you asked me, but who was I to judge.

Closing my map with a blink, I walked towards the location setting a waypoint in my minimap.

I was close, very close, which is why I was taking the scenic route.

I had waited for so long for this last piece, for this last clue, that I wanted to take my sweet time, ironic considering how desperate I was for it before all of this began.

Eventually, without even noticing I reached the house, I suppose my own thoughts burned the purpose of the scenic route.

Taking a deep breath, I knocked at the door.

According to my minimap, there were four people inside the house.

"Was auch immer Sie verkaufen, wir wollen es nicht." [Whatever your selling, we don't want it] a man opened the door growling at me. [Lukas Müller LV 22]

So much for a first impression, "English?" I asked with a hopeful smile.

"An American?" Lukas sighed, "What do you want?" he asked in an exasperated manner.

"I want to check something inside your house, I will pay you for your time…" First there was the friendly approach, if the guy said no, well, there was the not-so-friendly approach.

"Why would I let you inside my house, with my family?" Lukas asked, glaring at me.

"My grandfather used to live here… I just wanted to see the house...," I lied with a smile, "You can follow me if you please, all I want is to connect with my roots, his roots."

Lukas raised an eyebrow at that, "What's your Opa's name?"

"Abraham Erskine," I replied without missing a beat, "He died during the war,"

"How much will you pay?" Lukas sighed, rubbing his eyes.

"How much do you want, it is your house, after all," I replied, smiling.

"5000 Deutschmarks?" Lukas answered.

"That's a lot, but I'll pay it," To be honest I had no idea how much was that, but fuck it.

"Fuck, wasn't expecting a yes on that one," Lukas chuckled, "Come in, I guess."

I smiled at him, whoever this man was, he was not a businessman, after all, you always ask for your money first.

"Thanks," I smiled at him, walking inside the house, where he proceeded to do some quick introductions.

Lukas, the somewhat angry man was a father of two, a girl and a boy, and was angrily married? I couldn't tell.

"Take your time, I want my money before you leave!" Lukas growled as I started to tour the house.

I sighed, searching each room methodically.

Until I reached the attic and found what I was looking for in the form of a shining beacon, my minimap started to blink, and there I realized I had reached the place I had been meant to find.

Following the minimap, I reached a wall in the attic, and with a bit of magic cracked the thing open, finding a journal.

The Journal of Abraham Erskine.

[Quest COMPLETED!!!: The Super Soldier Serum - The Last Piece

Description: In the house of Abraham Erskine lays the last piece of the puzzle, the answer to all of your dead ends, the last ingredient to perfect your scientific conundrum.

Objectives: Enter the house of Abraham Erskine and find the hidden piece.

Rewards: The Last Piece.]

I had done it, finally… I had the last piece, no more dead ends, no more incertitude, in my hands I held what I needed.

"You broke my wall?!" I heard Lukas growl, but I paid him no heed.

"I will double my payment," I said, giving him the money, cash.

"What is that," Lukas asked, glaring at the journal in my hands.

I looked at Lukas noticed his eyes gleaming with greed, "It's what's left of my family," I lied.

"I want to read that," Lukas growled, he probably thought I had a treasure map on my hands, why else I was here right? His mind was racing through a million thoughts, many of them probably related to the diary and the cash I had given him.

"No," I shook my head, putting the journal under my coat, aka my inventory.

"It was in my house, it's mine," Lukas growled, grabbing me by the collar of my shirt.

"You don't want to do this," I warned him with a smile, "I paid you, you made money today, I can even give you a tip… but if you go this route, you will lose that money in hospital bills."

Lukas scoffed, "Kid, whatever your Opa left here, it's now mine, so hand it over," his hand moved to my neck.

I sighed, "I tried to do this peacefully," disappointed with this development, I grabbed the hand holding me, "I told you," and with that, I broke his hand.

So little resistance, it was a horrible feeling, when was the last time I fought a normal human, they felt like crackers now.

"Ahhhh! Verdammter Mistkerl!" Lukas cursed, no idea what he was calling me though, my German classes didn't go so far for me to recognize insults.

"Here," I kneeled to his level, putting more money on his reach, "That should cover the arm," I winked, tapping his head, using Eldritch Magic to erase certain parts from his memory, my fake name, my fake grandfather, and why had we fought.

"Schatz?" I heard his lady wife say in a worried tone.

"He's here," I said, walking out of the attic.

The woman glared at me, which was understandable.

Sighing I approached the woman and with my Eldritch Magic did the same I had done with her husband, erasing certain parts of her memory, and then I left, for them, today was a day with a bittersweet ending, they helped a stranger, they made money, but unfortunately, as the stranger left, Mr. Lukas broke his arm on the way up to the attic, such sad turn of events.

89 CHAPTER 89

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

For those wondering, my mom is fine, recovering from all the shit that has happened, currently living with me.

Momma corn sends love.

--

I had finally done it, after so long, I had finally completed the super-soldier serum.

With Abraham Erskine's journal, I had managed to finally decode and recreate the formula that had haunted me for quite a while, to perfection. And now, in my hands, I held the final product, all there was left to do was test it out.

For that, however, I still needed something else, the last ingredient, figuratively speaking. The Vita radiation chamber in SHIELD's possession, which I had requested from Fury.

[Outside, with your big ass microwave] I won't lie, when I got this message, I basically teleported myself to the door to receive what I was craving for.

"That was fast," Fury commented with a raised brow, "So, can I know why you need this old thing?" he inquired.

"I am testing some stuff," I replied avoiding the subject with a smile, "Basically I am researching about Vita radiation, and the effects on human biology," technically the true.

Fury hummed with a blank look, "Good enough for me," he eventually shrugged.

"You really never question my projects," I chuckled, as the SHIELD agents he had brought moved the Vita radiation chamber into my room.

"Alex, you're like a cat," Fury replied with a chuckle.

"In what way?" I asked, confused by his analogy.

"A cat is happy when left to do his own thing, I don't press on you, and you don't fuck me, as simple as that," Fury replied with a grin.

"Hm," A cat, well, I guess it could be worse.

At this Goose came to the door purring, with her tiara.

"Hello princess," Fury bowed.

At this, Goose purred even louder, as she left the door happy with the respects Fury had paid to her.

"Goose the Princess that eats furniture," I chuckled.

"It's a cat, they do weird shit," Fury shrugged, "Anyway, I have to go, terrorists to kill, agents to train, bitches to slap, you know, the usual."

"See you Sunday for movie night," I waved at him, slowly closing the door.

"See ya then," Fury waved back, leaving his people.

Finally without anyone else in the area, except Bucky and Goose, because the girls were in school, I moved to inspect the Vita radiation chamber. [Vita Radiation Chamber - Broken]

Broken? Ha! Not for long!

"Bucky!" I called.

"You called?" Bucky replied, coming out of nowhere.

"That was fast," I nodded.

"I was waiting behind this wall," Bucky replied without missing a beat, "I was bored," he added after a few seconds.

So he was getting empty nest symptoms during the day… I might need to find the man a hobby, "Ok, well, help me move this to the lab," I pointed to the Vita radiation chamber.

"This was it, right?" Bucky asked, "The one they used on Steve to make him the first super-soldier right?"

"Not sure," I replied, looking at the chamber, "But perhaps," I added.

Bucky smiled, "Let's move this thing," he said with a hint of sadness, I almost felt bad for not telling him Steve was alive.

After a long painstaking process of geometry to move the Chamber to my lab, I started working on the chamber, I had, after all, to fix the thing, which would be easy, barely an inconvenience, considering all the fucking skills I had hoarded for this very moment.

"How long do you think it will take you to fix this?" Bucky asked, he was working as my assistant for today, I needed the extra muscle.

I hummed, cleaning my hands with a towel from the oil and other things, "Well, I say a few extra hours at best, a few days at most,"

"Fury doesn't know, right?" Bucky asked.

"No," I shook my head.

"Smart," Bucky muttered.

"The higher-ups would target me if they caught wind about my projects," I nodded, for the moment the council heard about my secret projects, they would turn on me.

"Not that it would make much of a difference," Bucky snorted, "They can't take on us,"

"No, but like my grandpa used to say, no enemy is too small, everyone can be a threat," I replied with a sigh.

"Wise I suppose," Bucky sighed.

With that said and done, we returned to our work, we still had a few good hours before I had to pick Emily and Nat up from school, six hours to be precise, and I would make good use of them.

--

Six hours later, and the Vita radiation chamber was still not up to optimal conditions, but if I continued working like I was, I estimated I would finish fixing the thing up by the end of the day, but first, I had to pick my girls from school.

"Well, that's enough for the moment," I whistled, cracking my neck. "I'm off to pick up the girls, thanks for the help."

Bucky nodded, "I will order some food, is Chinese good?"

I nodded, walking out of the lab, using magic to clean myself up, and change my attire, "That sounds good enough,"

"Perfect," Bucky replied, grabbing a towel to clean his face.

"Keep an eye on Goose, if she eats the chamber, I will muzzle her for a month!" I shouted for Goose to hear.

"Will do," Bucky chuckled.

--

I picked the girls from school, and like every Wednesday took them to pick some donuts for after lunch.

"A boy was flirting with Nat!" Emily blurted out, getting a glare from Nat.

"Poor parents," I sighed as I shook my head, "To lose their kid so young…"

"Dad!" Nat gasped, which melted my heart, this was the first time she had called me dad.

"What?" I asked with an innocent smile.

"Don't kill him," Nat muttered, "I don't like him, but he likes me, which is not a sin," she stated.

"I wouldn't do such a thing," I replied in amused shock, then again…

"Don't worry, as if I would date a brainless kid," Nat smirked, "I have high standards,"

"He or she has to be stronger than me," I winked.

"So… a nun, that's my future?" Nat replied with a blank look.

"That sounds… not bad actually," I hummed as if I was actually thinking about it.

Nat chuckled before she turned to see Emily with narrowed eyes.

"Don't look at me like that, we promised daddy that we would not date until we were 80!" Emily puffed her cheeks in indignation.

"85!" I chimed in with a chuckle.

"I pity our love interests in the future," Nat chuckled.

90 CHAPTER 90

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

Back at the lab after eating a big ass lunch that included, but was not limited to three house specials, pork, and Teriyaki chicken, I resumed my work, now with newfound energy.

There was no time to waste, I was so close, so close to completing my project, that I just couldn't rest.

"Can you pass me that box?" I asked Bucky, who passed me the box with parts as I levitated the Chamber above me to work under it.

"Telekinesis, such a useful power," Bucky acknowledged as I moved things around me with my mind.

"It is," It was, especially with projects like this.

"So how we doing?" Bucky asked.

"Almost done," I replied, connecting a few cables under the chamber, "It should technically work after this," I added, putting the chamber on the floor, so far, everything looked like it had during Steve's transformation, maybe a bit brighter if anything.

"So now what?" Bucky asked, approaching the chamber with a curious look.

"Now we check if everything is functional," I replied, signaling him to get back as I turned the machine on, checking all the readings I was getting from it, and so far, everything was up to standard. "I think that's it," I grinned with excitement.

Finally, the moment to test my project was here.

"What do I need to know?" Bucky asked, knowing what came next.

"Not much," I replied, "I wired the entire chamber to work with two buttons, one to turn the machine on, and the other to start the process," as to avoid confusion.

"And the buttons are?" Bucky asked, pointing at the control panel, "They all look the same, which is which?"

I hummed, apparently, I had forgotten to color code the buttons, "Give me a sec," I said, taking a piece of tape, "the one with tape is the first one,"

"Ok," Bucky chuckled.

"Now, all I knew to do is get the super-soldier serum," I nodded, going to where I had stacked the serum I had made.

"This will hurt," Bucky stated.

"I know," I nodded, putting the serum where it was supposed to go.

"Are you ready?" Bucky asked as I finished checking everything up.

"Yes," I nodded, triple-checking everything.

"Then let's do this," Bucky replied.

"Let's," I nodded, taking my shirt and pants off before getting inside the Vita radiation chamber, as to have no resistance for the injections of the serum.

"Ready?" Bucky asked once again, closing the chamber.

"Yep," I replied, feeling a bit claustrophobic, huh, you find new things about yourself every day.

Bucky nodded, walking to the control panel, "Here we go," he sighed, pressing the first button, which initiated the process.

At this, the serum was forced into my body in a rather painful way, which was to say something, I mean, with the amount of pain tolerance I had, it was surprising I was feeling pain, a lot of it.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 1%]

It was like someone was grabbing my muscles, and tearing them apart with unyielding rage.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 2%]

It didn't get better, how can people pay for this?

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 5%]

"Press, the second button!" I hissed, this shit was only getting more and more painful as the seconds went by, how the fuck did Steve didn't die with this shit was beyond me.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 10%]

I needed to find a way to reduce the pain, for me it didn't matter, but if I was ever to give this to Emily, and Nat, I needed to ease this part, or I would not go through with it.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 17%]

Maybe, I can modify the formula, or perhaps the pain came from the sudden change of muscle mass, I had to research about it.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 23%]

"I told you it would hurt," Bucky said, I could almost taste the I told you so.

"Eat a dick," I hissed with a chuckle.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 25%]

Each passing second.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 27%]

Was excruciating.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 41%]

Utter pain, as I felt my body gain strength too fast for it to process accordingly.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 55%]

I now understood the saying that said, there is no gain, without pain.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 67%]

I had to admit, I had a newfound respect for Steve, a scrawny kid from Brooklyn, taking all of this.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 71%]

Almost there… so much pain, but almost there. It's almost as bad as Hydra's torture, how ironic.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH 100%]

Finally.

[SUPER SOLDIER SERUM - REBIRTH PROCESS COMPLETED!]

--

I took a moment to breathe, as I slowly walked out of the chamber, noticing the changes, I was bulkier now, noticeably so, kinda like Captain America, but bigger, but I didn't care about muscles, those were for show, no, what I wanted was to see my stats.

[STATS

Name = Alex Walker

Title = The Gamer

Occupation = Scientist.

Level = 163

EXP = 3945008/39451230

HP = 812.500/812.500

MP = 785.000/785.000

STR = 890 1690 (1098.5) = 2788

VIT = 825 1625

DEF = 750 1550

DEX= 789 1589

INT = 770 1570

CHA = 351

WIS = 500

WILL = 472 1272

PER = 465 1265

LUK = 369

STAT POINTS = 250

MONEY: 12.548.142.752$

]

Holy fuck.

The changes were unreal, I… holy fuck.

"Are you okay?" Bucky asked with a concerned tone.

"I am," I nodded, "More than okay," I added with a smile, "I feel awesome,"

"I wonder what are you now," Bucky muttered.

"What?" I asked with a curious look.

"Before this, you were physically almost as strong as me," Bucky chuckled, "Meaning you were in super soldier level already, so what does this make you? Ultra soldier?"

Well, that was a good question. "I don't know, but I certainly am stronger, by a lot…" I smiled, putting my hand on his metal shoulder.

"You should probably avoid physical contact with the girls until you reign your newfound power," Bucky stated, pointing at his shoulder. The metal had twisted under my grasp, holy fuck.

"That was pure titanium," Bucky added.

"I see your point," I nodded, if I had done that with a simple friendly grasp, a hug… he was right, I needed some control training.

91 CHAPTER 91

If you want to read up to 20 chapters ahead go to https//cornbringer

Discord invite: https/discord.gg/XHduApz

--

I was strong.

Very strong, the feeling was unreal, I felt, unstoppable, which was idiotic thinking, I knew there were things outside earth that could kill me, but still, I felt like an entirely different person.

My mind was… I don't know how to describe it, more awake? Things that I didn't seem to understand before, things I didn't even know I didn't understand, I now did.

Everything, from my muscles to my mind was operating on an entirely different level.

It was an odd, yet welcoming feeling.

If I had to depict what I was feeling, I would say it was somewhat similar to being high, but in a healthy and good way. Not sure if one can use healthy and high together, but it was how I felt.

I was elated, but I was also scared.

Before today, I had never had any problems with my physical strength, controlling it before today, was instinctual.

Perhaps it had been easier because before today my gains had been somewhat slow compared to the sudden burst of power I had gotten.

It was honestly terrifying, in just one hour since my rebirth as a super soldier, I had broken no less than eight things, my mind and my might were uncoordinated.

My mind still operated with my previous strength, but my body… my body was beyond that.

I needed training, I needed to adjust.

And what better way to adjust than testing the very limits of my skills.

I needed to grind.

Raids and dungeons, I mean, it was more than clear, I had been neglecting them for quite a while, mostly out of my obsession to complete my little project which was now done.

But now, I had nothing to do.

Yes, I had to be a father a few hours a day when the girls were at home, but that didn't consume much of my time.

My company was making money, thanks to my CEO.

I really had nothing stopping me now, no excuse.

It was time to... As I said, grind.

And what better way to start than by doing some dungeons.

I had one in particular that I wanted to do, the Holy of the Damned, the title was interesting enough, and the recommended levels were 150-165, good enough to test things out.

"Ok, here I go," I said, opening a portal to where the dungeon was located.

--

The dungeon started like any other, with me inside a cave with a creature standing in front of me, with my objectives for the dungeon. The quest for the dungeon though, it was confusing, [Find that which cannot be seen, and kill what cannot be killed.]

No description.

But I paid it no mind, things like that usually were nothing but ridiculous turns of events that I would see somewhere in the dungeon to make it more engaging.

Besides my plans in dungeons were quite straightforward, kill everything inside the dungeon, and hope that counts as completed, so far it had worked in all of the dungeons I had done.

With a sigh, I started the dungeon, by taking the first step into the depths of the cave.

Soon enough, I encountered a few mobs, or patrols as I called them, walking the area, so, I did what any man with newfound power would've done in my situation, I jumped them, punching the mobs with my bare hands, after all, I was here to test my physical might, and to find the limits of said might.

It came to no surprise the monsters barely resisted my assault, monsters of my level, dying with surprising ease, my newfound power made things, easier in the physical sense, it was shocking really.

One punch and I would send a three-meter-tall centaur flying into a wall like I was superman or something.

It was exhilarating.

I felt, like a kid, putting a cheat code on GTA: San Andreas, the one that makes you punch like a god.

That's how I felt, and it was intoxicating.

Maybe I was adorating my new power a bit too much, but can anyone blame me? I worked so hard for the serum, and now the results, they were beyond my wildest dreams.

Granted, I was technically a super soldier in terms of stats before the serum, and the serum changed my entire body on a genetic level to become more than what already was, so it was to be expected that the results would turn out to be better than with Steve and Bucky.

The possibilities right now were essentially endless.

But I wasn't gonna get ahead of myself, for now, I would continue to see where my limits laid, and learn in the process how to control my powers.

The idea of hurting Emily, or Nat, was painful, more so than one could possibly imagine.

So, before the end of the day, I needed to understand, everything about my new self, this dungeon would be my lab, and those monsters, my test subjects.

"Intruder!" A minotaur shouted, running towards me with a spear in my hands.

"That's me," I waved at the minotaur with a smile, the day was young, and I had much to do.

--

[Unknown POV]

Alex's future, it pained me, to know so much about it, but not be able to share it, for like a secret, once the future it's shared, it stops being what it is, it ceases to exist.

So much pain was ahead of him, so much sacrifice, but he had to endure it, for the sake of this reality.

He was the champion of his reality, ignorant to the schemes of the universe, yet essential to its survival, an ironic yet necessary path.

This world, this reality, it would break him… it would shatter him, but from the dust of his pain, from the pieces of his suffering, he would rise to do what he was born to do, to do what he had been chosen to do in this universe.

Unfortunately he had no choice, the moment he woke up here, his destiny had been written.

92 AUTHOR NOTE - READ

I had forgotten how easy it is to rile up people in webnovel, so I'll go ahead and explain.

The one seeing Alex's "Destiny," has no idea Alex is an anomaly beyond his immortal comprehension, right now all the timelines involving Alex are written in sand.

And what is written in sand can be blown away.

—-Corn, why didn't you put a hint or something?

Well, the one seeing his future, thinks his knowledge is infallible, so why would he doubt, as of now, Alex has been walking on the path he had seen, EMPHASIS on as of now.

—- Will there be tragedy?

Not much, the last arc is the one that will have the most tribulations, but beyond that, tragedy will be kept to a normal degree.