Hello, everyone. I am finally here with the sequel to The Hobbit: An Unexpected Alliance.
Of course, this will be covering the events of The Lord of the Rings. Again, it will be a three person team going. I will be going off the movies, but may try and include some details from the books that were not in the movies.
Let's get to it.
Chapter 1- A New Adventure
In an underground hideout in an arid region of Texas, a man, a local crime lord, is sitting at a table with several of his right hand men. All of them are examining an item that they picked up a little while ago. They raided from an old antiquities shop when they robbed it, killing the old owner and two of the young employees there in the process. While they got some interesting items, this one intrigues them.
The item in question is…well, the closest thing they can compare it to is a crystal ball. It's a little bigger than a softball, and is extremely smooth, and of a very dark color. However, it seems to be made of a different material than glass. They know this because one of them accidentally dropped from a good height, and the ball wasn't even scratched.
"What do you think this is?" the crime lord finally says.
"Can't say," one of his right hands says. The man usually has an arrogant or cocky tone in his voice now matter what he's talking about, so the fact he's talking rather calmly right now shows how interested he is in this object.
"The question is could it be valuable. They had this in the basement of the shop, so maybe it's not valuable," another man says.
"I have no idea," the crime lord says.
Suddenly, they hear the sound of gunshots from upstairs. All the men go quiet and look up at the ceiling as they hear more gunshots and yelling from their men upstairs. As the noises die down, the men carefully draw their pistols.
Seconds of silence pass, the anticipation building among the men. Then, they hear a footstep outside the door. Again, there's a moment of silence, then the door is flung open, and before the men can react, what look like several flying knives fly into the room, cutting across their necks, and all of the men collapse to the ground, dead before they hit the ground.
Standing in the doorway is a man. A man dressed in a white uniform, with a long cape flowing behind him. His face is covered by a white mask, with glowing white spots where the eyes would be, and a hood over his head that is pointed right over his forehead. In the center of his chest is a golden crescent. He is the vigilante known as the Moon Knight.
Moon Knight walks into the room, and after a second, his mask and hood disappear, revealing the face of Marc Spector. Spector looks through the room, satisfied with his work. Then, he notices the object on the table that the men had been looking at.
Marc walks over to the table and examines the ball, bending down to look more closely at it. He stares at it for a long time, wondering what this could possibly be. He's seen a lot of stuff in his time, but he's never seen something quite like this. After a long time, Marc picks it up and holds it under his arm, his mask and hood reforming.
As Marc walks out of the hideout, he finds his thoughts directed again and again towards the ball under his arm. Several times, he catches himself glancing down to look at it again. As he nears the exit, he glances down again, and to his surprise, he sees almost what looks like flames rising in the middle of it.
Marc holds it up in front of his face, looking deep into the ball. Sure enough, it looks like flames are burning in the middle, but it almost looks as if he's seeing it from a great distance.
Marc continues looking into it for a moment longer before lowering the ball and looking into the distance, wondering what to do with this. This thing, whatever it is, seems to have magic of some kind. However, it's like nothing he's ever encountered.
Thinking to himself, Marc says to himself, I'm gonna need some help with whatever this thing is. However, he doesn't want to go to Khonshu about it, although there's every chance that Khonshu already knows. Still, Marc isn't sure he wants Khonshu involved with this. He also doesn't want Layla involved in this. Until he figures out what this is, and if it's dangerous, best to keep it away from them.
Finally, a thought comes to them. Maybe one of the Avengers can help me with this, he thinks to himself. However, that will definitely be difficult. It's been almost a year since the so called Avengers Civil War. Most of the Avengers have gone into hiding, and Marc isn't about to go running to Tony Stark, especially not when doing so might get him locked up for not being registered or forced to register. On the other hand, nobody has heard any rumor of Captain America for months.
Then, an idea occurs to Marc. It was on the news a while back that Clint Barton and Scott Lang had agreed to a plea deal in exchange for house arrest. While Marc knows little about Lang, perhaps Clint Barton might be able to help. It may take a while to find Barton's home, but Marc feels confident he can.
(Several days later)
"Catch, buddy!" Clint calls out with a smile as he throws the baseball to Cooper. Cooper easily catches and throws back to Clint, who catches with a big smile on his face.
It's been about a year since the whole Accords situation. With the plea deal he took with the UN, Clint's been confined to his farm ever since. At least he has it somewhat easy. Scott Lang is confined to his townhome back in San Francisco. At least he's allowed across his entire farm property.
"Hey, hon, burgers will be done in a few minutes!" Clint hears Laura call out from the other side of the house.
"Alright, we'll be there in a second!" Clint calls back, catching another throw from Cooper.
"Uh, dad," Clint hears Lila's voice from behind him. Thinking, she wants some help with something, Clint turns around to face her, only for his face to go calm as he sees Marc standing next to Lila, the ball under his arm.
"This man says he needs to talk to you," Lila says, gesturing to Marc.
Clint takes a few steps towards him, hand drifting towards the spot where he has a pocketknife concealed. "Who are you? What are you doing with my daughter?" Clint demands.
"Easy, Barton. I only happened across her when I came onto your property, and she agreed to guide me to you. I'm here because i need your help," Marc says.
"Why my help?" Clint demands.
Marc holds the ball out. "This," he says.
Clint looks confused at Marc. This man is giving him a strange vibe. Trying to school his expression, Clint says, "You're not making any sense, man. And why you?"
Marc sighs. Then, to Lila and Clint's shock, the Moon Knight suit appears, covering his entire body except for his face. Marc then looks at Clint and says, "I'm a vigilante. I'm called Moon Knight. I raided a crime lord's hideout, and I found this. It seems to be some kind of magic artifact. It…also seems to draw in anyone who looks into it. I get a sense of unease from it. I need some help figuring out what it is."
Clint looks at Marc, trying to read his expression and mannerisms as best he can. With his time as a SHIELD Agent and being friends with Natasha, he's gotten very good at reading people. Something just tells him that this guy is telling the truth, and that he is earnest about what he's asking. Finally, Clint says, "Alright." He then looks at Lila and says, "Lila, go with Cooper to lunch. Tell Mama that I'm dealing with something with a…colleague, and I'll be there later." He then looks at Marc and says, "Come in the house."
CLint leads Marc into the house. The two men make their way into the living room, where Marc sets the ball down on the coffee table. Clint bends down to examine the ball, running his hands over it, surprised at the feel of the material it's made of.
"Doesn't seem to be made of glass," Clint says.
"That's what I thought," Marc responds.
Clint continues looking over the ball, then notices something. A glyph carved into the otherwise smooth surface. "What's this?" he mutters, turning the ball so he can see the glyph better.
Marc kneels down beside Clint to get a better look at what Clint has discovered. "Hmm. I didn't see that before," he says. After a moment, Marc says, "I don't recognize it from any writing system I know. Do you?"
"No," Clint says. Right then, he notices something. What Marc had seen before. Flames in the center of the ball, but looking as if there are being seen from a great distance.
"What is that?" Clint mutters, staring at the flames.
"I don't know. I had seen that earlier, but I can't tell what is. But it just reads as something magic to me," Marc says.
"Hmm," Clint says, wondering what it could be. After knowing Thor, and having encounters with the Mind Stone, he no longer disbelieves the existence of magic, and is inclined to agree with Marc that this stone, or whatever it is, may be magic.
"Have you or the Avengers ever encountered something like this before?" Marc asks.
"No," Clint says, still musing on what this could be. Then, a thought occurs to him and he stands up. "Actually, possibly. Last year, after the whole Accords debacle, Captain America and another friend of ours went on a little…adventure. What they told me they encountered was beyond anything I'd ever heard before. And some of it sounds like it could've been similar to this. I'll give them a call and see if they can come take a look at it."
(Two days later)
The feeling is rather peaceful on the Barton farm. Laura had decided to take the kids to the local amusement park. This turned out to be quite well, because a special friend was due to be arriving today to take a look at the object Marc had brought.
Down by the barn, Marc is leaning against a tree, watching Clint, who in the midst of a training regimen. Despite being retired and shunned by the world as a hero, Clint has always intended to keep himself in the same fighting shape. Clint is currently wearing the same suit he wore during the fight at the Leipzig Airport, and is carrying his new bow he crafted himself. He's alternating between practicing hand to hand combat on the dummies around him or firing arrows.
As Marc is watching, he faintly hears something. Looking up, he sees a strange aircraft swooping down towards the barn. The aircraft is making surprisingly little noise, and it sets down very gently.
Clint stops his training exercise and looks at Marc. "That's them," he says. Clint quickly gathers his arrows and returns them to his quiver before he and Marc walk over to the aircraft.
As the two men reach the aircraft, a ramp lowers. Several seconds later, two Dora Milaje, spears in hand, walk down the ramp. A second after the Dora Milaje, T'Challa comes walking down the ramp.
"Your Highness," Clint says respectfully. Marc looks a bit surprised that the king of Wakanda is here, and bows slightly
"There's no need for that," T'Challa says, pointing at both of them. He then smiles a bit and steps forward, offering his hand to Clint, who takes it with a slight smile. "I'm glad you called me. I must say, I was very intrigued to hear your report on what you discovered. Why don't you show me what it is?"
"Of course," Clint says. As he turns to lead T'Challa to the house, he then gestures to Marc, saying, "This is who found it. His name is Marc Spector, and he raided a crime lord's hideout when he found it. So, he brought it to me to get some help figuring out what it is."
"I see. And what is your interest in discovering it's secrets?" T'Challa asked Marc.
Marc is quiet for a moment, formulating a response, then says, "I am empowered by Khonshu, the Egyptian God of the Moon, as his Avatar of Justice. I've encountered mystical artifacts before, but never something like this. And I want to know what it is."
"I see," is all T'Challa says in response.
Clint leads T'Challa into the living room, where the ball is resting. T'Challa walks up to the coffee table and crouches down to examine the ball. "Hmm. Curious. I've never seen something quite like this. I would say at first glance it's made of glass, but that doesn't sit right with me," T'Challa says.
"It's definitely not glass. I tried scratching it just to see if it was, and the knife I used didn't damage it in the slightest," Clint says. He then walks up and turns the ball to where the glyph they found is visible. He then points at the glyph and says, "I discovered that glyph on the surface after Marc brought it to me. It doesn't look like it's from any writing system I'm familiar with."
T'Challa looks at the glyph intently. With the dark color of the object, it's difficult to make out exactly what it looks like. However, it doesn't take T'Challa more than a few seconds to make it out. But when he does, T'Challa's eyes go wide and he gasps out, "Impossible."
"What?" Clint asks in confusion.
T'Challa turns to Marc. "You're sure you found this in a robber's stash?" he asks.
"Yeah. I think it had been looted from the basement of an antiques store. Why?" Marc asks.
"Because…this glyph is Sindarin," T'Challa says.
"What?" Clint and Marc say at the same time.
T'Challa takes a deep breath, then says, "Last year, Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and I were transported to another world, where we spent months assisting new friends of ours with retaking their homeland. This world had a number of species and races that most of Earth would associate with fairy tales, including Dwarves, Goblins, and even dragons. One of the races there were the Elves, a tall, human looking race, but with greatly enhanced strength and other physical attributes, power with magic, and immortality. The main language used by the Elves of this world is Sindarin, and I learned a decent amount of Sindarin while I was there." T'Challa then points to the glyph again and says, "This glyph is Sindarin writing. Since returning home, I have looked for evidence of a connection between ourn world and that one. This is the first I have seen."
Clint and Marc sit there, listening in shock to T'Challa's explanation. Finally, Clint opens up and wonders aloud, "Then what is this doing here?"
"I don't know," T'Challa says, bending over the object again before continuing, "Unfortunately, I have no idea what this object is. I don't remember hearing tales of anything like it while I was in that world. I also unfortunately did not learn this particular glyph while I was there. It looks similar to other glyphs I did learn, but I'm not sure what this glyph means."
Then, T'Challa notices something. The appearance of flames within the center that Marc and Clint had noticed. "What is that?" he mutters.
"Not sure. We'd seen that before, but can't tell what it is," Clint says.
T'Challa looks intently into the ball, trying to make out anything more of what he is seeing in its center. Then, he gently touches it.
As soon as T'Challa touches the ball, the surface suddenly starts to glow. T'Challa stands up, and Clint asks, "Whoa, what's happening?"
"I don't know," T'Challa says, confused.
The three men stare at the ball as the glow continues. Then, a wave of energy seem to shoot outwards from the ball. When it disperses at the edges of the living room, the three men are gone. THe only sign that they had been there is Clint's tracking anklet, miraculously left behind.
When Laura returns home hours later with the kids, she is horrified to find that Clint is gone. At first fearing that Clint had been taken in by the authorities, she finds the anklet, still completely intact and fastened like it should be around his ankle. Seeing this, she realizes that it couldn't have been the authorities. Still, she is feeling very scared about what might have happened to Clint.
She has no idea the adventure her husband is about to undertake.
And, there we go. I will end the first chapter there.
So, after extensive consideration, I decided on the team going to middle Earth as T'Challa, Clint, and Moon Knight. I chose Moon Knight in part because I think he's super cool, he would do well fighting in Middle Earth, and I think his multiple personality disorder would be interesting to see given we already have seen the disorder in Middle Earth in Gollum.
Next chapter will show the team's arrival in Middle Earth. I will confirm that the team will be present for Elrond's council in Rivendell, but I will not say anything more about when they will arrive, or where.
The next chapter for this will be up soon, hopefully within a week or so. Until it is up, please leave a review and give me your first impressions, follow this story, and stay tuned!