Doorman (MCU SI)

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DoorMan #85

Ta-Lo [February 18, 2008]

–Jin'Ya–

He was standing right outside the room, looking for any changes and the second the void that separated it from outside was removed, he moved in. Within a fraction of a second, he blocked the space all around the room. Realistically, that would not have been enough to stop the Ancient One from leaving if she wanted to but this was not about trapping her, this was about stopping her from leaving, a message that they needed to talk.

Just as he expected, he felt just a single poke against his spatial barrier before the Ancient One materialized before him. The Red Matron had long since abandoned her post, feeling secure in the fact that the Ancient One was right there with Colin, so her contract would not be void with her leaving Colin defenseless.

"I assume you have something you want to say to me?" The Ancient One prompted but before he could get a word in, another party joined the meeting as the scenery around them blurred, before they were in a small spherical chamber, with water and fish outside, with a magical projection from the Water Dragon appearing in front of them.

"I would like to be a part of this conversation as well. I assume this is about Colin and the way recent events have been carried out?" He nodded at the unasked question.

"Will his hands be healed?" He asked, to both the Ancient One and the Water Dragon, because he had never seen any of his injuries stick for so long, no matter the damage done to them. Hell, he had seen burnt bones, so brittle they could break with a touch, heal with the help of Chi, returning Colin to his healthy form.

Seeing injuries that remained for days without changing much was really a first for Colin.

It was not the Ancient One who answered but the Water Dragon, "I am not optimistic about full recovery."

A small magical projection appeared in between them, showing a human body with the arms glowing red with the rest of the body appearing fine. There were veins of red criss crossing across the torso section that were rapidly being eliminated by a yellow wave.

"I have seen Colin's condition and the damage done by his powers was not limited to his arms, it spread to every part of his body but as you can see, his innate healing has wiped out most of the damage, save for his arms. I believe that being the areas where most of the energy was channeled through, both of these arms are just beyond healing, at least for Colin."

The news, while disheartening, was not the end of the world. He knew that Colin knew about many things that could either create replacement limbs like prosthetics or outright grow him new ones.

Turning to the Ancient One, he said, "The damage is not in the soul, it is just physical." If it was, he would have been the first one to feel it, and his mental inspection, however brief it was, showed him that Colin's soul was intact.

The Ancient One nodded.

He seized the opportunity, "So he can regrow them? We can amputate these ones and then have him regrow new ones? I am sure he knows if not the how then the where we can find someone who can do so."

"I assume you cannot use the Eye to reverse time on his arms?" The Water Dragon questioned the Ancient One while he tried to remember if the Extremis could heal Colin's arms, especially at this stage. Bruce Banner had taken the research to another avenue, where it could be used to stabilise patients first, then treat injuries, then move on to treatable diseases, then terminal diseases and in the very end, make Extremis capable of regrowing limbs.

That was the flow of the Extremis Research that everyone involved agreed upon and at the time, it was fine but now? Now they might just have to change the course of the research.

"No," The Ancient One replied, "The eye cannot be used to reverse time for this, not because I don't want to but because the energies involved are too complex to do it safely. We might just end up harming Colin more than his arms if we do it. As the Guardian of the Eye, it is my duty to safeguard reality as we know it so that is out of the question."

"So, what was all this for? Why let Colin go through all of this? Was there even a point?" He asked her, finding it hard to keep the anger out of his voice.

She nodded, "Yes, there was. This was all an outcome, stemming from Colin's own actions. A series of steps, small on their own, resulting in a catastrophe."

"It was the Door opening, wasn't it?" He asked her, mentally rewinding every single one of Colin's decisions that led to him coming here, despite his next appointment for the Chi infusion being months away.

"No, actually," He looked up at her, "It was when he decided to casually reveal his identity, instead of hiding it. I get that it was his choice but just like butterflies, that single choice led to him coming here, with someone who could not defend themselves, during a time he should have been in the Red Hearth, safely opening the Door, with proper safety procedures."

"It is fact that Colin opened a Door, a dangerous procedure by any stretch of his imagination, within visible range of a Demonic Seal, and then proceeded to tour areas, as if they were a picnic spot, that had been deemed dangerous by you," She pointed at the Water Dragon who looked sufficiently chastised.

"This is all a series of decisions, and yet, I let it happen. Why? Because it is one of the better timelines. I have seen where Colin never made it out of his soul being overwhelmed. I have seen ones where he was ambushed by invisible predators and killed because he was not paranoid enough. I have seen him get burned from inside out, and die in that place before he could open a portal.

I walk a fine line between letting people have free will, and having to guide events to a better future. I won't let people who trust me become dolls, beholden to my will, my version of time but at the same time, I can't let people make decisions that will obviously, to me, lead to their doom."

The Ancient One took a deep breath before replying, "The burden of bearing the eye is heavy and I would not wish it on anyone and yet, I have to prepare Colin to take it, because I have to prepare for every single outcome possible."

She turned around as a portal opened in front of her, "Colin's soul is intact. The energy within that Door is now infused with his cells, mutating them beyond healing. Now, it is his choice to do with the mutated hands as he pleases. Know this, this was the better outcome, for all of us, for all of reality."

With that, she entered the portal as he was safely brought out of the Great Lake, and deposited right in Colin's room as he slept peacefully. The hands were charred beyond recognition and he could feel the energy within the hands.

It was nothing like the usual Chi cycling that Colin's body did on its own. It was something entirely different, something so dense that it crushed Colin's hands and barely saved his soul because he was using so much of it.

"I assume the lifegiver will be using this energy in the future, even to his own detriment?" The Water Dragon asked him mentally.

He nodded, knowing that Colin would use everything in his arsenal if he had to, "Yes, but I don't think it will be that big of a problem later on. It was the same with his other Doors, just on a lower scale of damage. Once he gets enough practice, I think he can do good modulation over the power flow."

"Will he be alright? Mentally?"

He shrugged, "I hope so."



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