The tale of the Bearer of the Keys, the wielder of the Door Magic. Colin Baxter.
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Doorman (MCU SI)
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DoorMan (MCU SI) - #1
IdleMuse0307
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #1
Kamar Taj, Kathmandu[January 1, 2008]
Colin Baxter
In the bustling complex of Kamar Taj, a tall, attractive, muscular man could be seen making his way through the complex turns as if he had been here all his life.
"Hey, Nat! Doing great."
"Vicky, we still on for the movie? Yeah, great!"
"Ben, any luck in cracking why the Winds of Watoomb won't work for you? No? Keep working on it, buddy. I am sure you'll get it someday. If not, I'll ask the Ancient One for help."
Evidently, the young man was also quite the social butterfly as he flew through the complex and greeted everybody he met, remembering their names and also their problems.
This was Colin Baxter, me, the youngest living Master of the Mystic Arts, one of the strongest people in Kamar Taj.
"So, Wong? How goes the brooding?" He asked Wong who was leaning on the railing, looking over the most beautiful view in all of Kamar Taj.
Kamar Taj was weird, as in not conforming to normal standards. Then again, we were sorcerers, and bending over logic and giving it a good spanking was done before any of the Masters even had their breakfasts, so who was he to comment on the oddities of a complex that has been here for over a thousand years?
Yeesh, that was old.
"Master Baxter, might I remind you, that the library is still banned for you, after you tried to summon one of the books from the restricted section, using a spell that is still under review."
"Under the purview of the panel of reviewers headed by you just means that me giving you this sacred Honey from K'unL'un might just help the spell fast tracked."
Wong gave him his signature deadpan stare, even as he discreetly pocketed the small can of honey he had been able to procure from K'unL'un and only because he was able to show them his own CHI mastery, something that they were flabbergasted over.
It was another deviation from the MCU. There were mystical hotspots all over the planet, and Sorcerers were just one part of it. Sure, the most important and strongest was Kamar Taj but there were other places that were just as mystical and mysterious as Kamar Taj.
"Master Baxter, need I remind you that Kamar Taj functions on the virtues of honesty, compassion, justice–"
"And truth. Yeah, I know, you were the one who made sure it was drilled into my mind, did you forget? Anyway, this is not a bribe. This is just incentive, yeah, let's go with incentive, to get my case file on top."
Wong gave him another deep stare before he took out the can from his robe and after casting a spell around it, that created a pocket of air so that its heavenly scent was not spread throughout Kamar Taj, he opened it and took a deep sniff.
"Ah, should I come back later? Or do you need a moment?" He snickered at the red faced Wong, which was so rare it might as well be non-existent.
"Master Baxter, I will see what can be done about your spell review. Please, return to your studies. I know your scholarship is contingent on you securing a 3.0GPA or above,"
Gone was Master Wong, the hardass trainer with a straight face who didn't even flinch when his hand had to be reattached after one of his experiments went haywire, and now stood in front of him, the Wong who practically raised him ever since he arrived at the New York Sanctum, shivering, drenched in rain, but with a determination to see it all through.
Wong was one of the few who was aware of his circumstances and sure, he was a hardass every now and then, but he was also the only one, aside from the Ancient One, with whom he could be the most frank.
Seeing that Wong was out of his Master persona, he too, smiled slightly, "Don't worry about that, old man. When have I ever missed an A, all my life?"
And it was true as well.
When he had first arrived at the New York Sanctum, it was his luck that the current Master had just been transferred, giving way for Wong to take command over the New York Sanctum, who immediately took him in and listened to his ramblings.
He had grown a lot ever since, and so had his powers. The same powers that allowed him to develop a semi eidetic memory, peak physical strength, and the power to purge poisons and energy from his body.
"Yeah, I know. I was there for your valedictorian speech. Still, we don't know the long term effects of having so much CHI being pumped into your system all the time. Are you sure you are not feeling anything–"
"..Oh come on, Old Man. you know as well as I do that the old woman would have stopped me the moment I was in any harm. So," His right arm lit up with molten orange colour as a spell circle appeared on top of his fist, casting an orange glow around them.
"--Calm down, will you?" He told Wong, his mind effortlessly casting the spell as well as regulating the flow of CHI within his body.
The sounds of doors opening and closing were heard in his mind as he regulated the flow of CHI within his body.
Wong took one look at his body, his glowing arm, the completely stable spell circle, and then at the effects of the area of effect rejuvenation spell that he had just cast, and then sighed in resignation.
"What will I ever do with you?" He grumbled good naturedly but didn't stop him from using the spell, Wong's body probably needed the CHI from all the natural wear and tear from his job.
After all, he was ancient.
"Why do I feel that you just insulted me?" Wong narrowed his eyes at him.
Welp, time to leave.
"Bye!" He said and then stepped back, a small door appearing beneath his foot that created a small localised shockwave that propelled him into the air, the process repeating as he rapidly gained altitude, while Wong probably fumed behind him, suffering from the slight winds of the shockwave
"Whoa!" He almost crashed into the barrier that was put into place to stop people, like him, from flying straight into the dimensional wall erected around Kamar Taj.
"See you!" He screamed to Wong, as he waved his right hand stupidly multiple times, for a portal to appear.
For the life of him, he could not open the portals as smoothly as other Masters. Something that was a point of contention during his exam because portals were quite an integral part of the fighting style as well as the overall logistics of Kamar Taj.
Another shockwave on his feet propelled him straight into the portal, which was angled upward, so he came out of the portal and then dropped down, as gravity did its job.
"Ah! Home Sweet Home!"
He did a three point landing, just for shits and giggles, and then took in a deep breath, the stark contrast from the cold dry air to the current air was refreshing in a way.
"Hmm?" He was about to go and freshen up when the sound of sizzling reached his ears. He took a look around and saw that nobody was there, so he went up to the second floor, only to see….
"Hey! That's my grill!" He saw the Ancient One, casually lounging on his balcony as Jin'ya, an interdimensional Astral Dragon manned the grill.
My GRILL!
The Ancient One looked at him with her sunglasses and then promptly ignored him.
"Hey!" Marching over to Jin'Ya, he was about to tell him to stop but the heavenly smell of the meat reached his nose and he almost melted on the spot.
"Oh my god, please tell me it's the meat from Ta-Lo?" he immediately sat his ass down as Jin'Ya expertly grilled the meat and joined the Ancient One in looking at the view.
Oh yeah, he didn't say anything about the view, did he?
It was an endless expanse of Red as sands covered the area as far as his vision went. There were some mountains in the middle as well but even those were covered in red so his point still stood.
"What are you even doing here? Don't you have some whatever it is that you Sorcerer Supremes do, duty to perform?" Colin grumbled at her as he took out a cold beer and began sipping on it.
"Ah! This is the best," He sighed in relief as the cold fluid slid down his throat. Sure, the buzz was nonexistent because of the way his body was built, what with the constant concentrated CHI exposure, but he liked to partake in the stereotypes sometimes.
"Hey!" He screamed as the beer was yanked out of his hand by an invisible force, only for it to reach Jin'ya who took a sip and put it back in the cooler.
"Baxter Boy! I told you no drinking until you are 21, according to the human customs," Jin'Ya waved the tongs at him before resuming the grilling.
"For your information, Jin'ya, we are not on Earth at the moment and you have seen me kill humans before I even turned 16 so I don't know what your hang up is," He grumbled but accepted that he would not be getting his sweet sweet beer with the heavenly meat he was about to consume.
The chicken and beef, both, from Ta-Lo, were exquisite, so much so that he had to routinely make the trips and strengthen their warriors along with facilitating the strengthening of their seal, only for them to pay him in meat, along with giving him access to their dimension on demand.
"How did you even get the meat, anyway?" He asked the Ancient One who was sipping her Strawberry Quick while looking straight at the sun, which shone much more brightly here.
Oh yeah, they were on Mars.
The Planet.
Hence, the beautiful red view, that can be enjoyed within the barrier that was cast personally by the Ancient One, around the house that he personally built here.
He never understood why all the protagonists that came to MCU, didn't at least try to create an off world base.
"In the lingo of your generation, Colin, "I rizzed them up,"" The Ancient One replied to him, not even breaking character for a moment, as she used something that was so out of expectation for her.
"Okay, what is going on here?" He finally asked the question since this was totally not normal, in any sense of manner. For one, Jin'Ya was an Ancient Dragon who liked to slumber deep within the sublevels of the house that he had built here.
Jin'Ya had his own library that he imported from the Astral Realm, along with the new books that he continues to write. Also, for some reason, Jin'Ya had taken a liking to him when he came to Kamar Taj, tumbling out of the Astral Realm, all those years ago.
The Ancient One, on the other hand, was so busy that he had no idea when she even slept if she even slept. Running around, putting out fires caused by other mystics, hunting down rogues, enforcing treaties between magical civilisations, and dealing with the very dangerous Fae, all the while also completing all the Vishanti's demands.
Both the Ancient One and Jin'Ya paused for a moment.
He was getting increasingly weirded out because this was literally the first time the Ancient One had come to his house. She didn't come even once after casting the spell that she told him would last another century, the one protecting the house from the harsh environment around them and also the spatial extension enchantments powered by Jin'Ya.
"We are just worried, Baxter. You are now an adult. We cannot stop you from doing anything but we are worried about any steps you might take. You told me that 2008 is the year everything begins and on the orders of the Vishanti, I have not asked you anything about that. I just want to make sure that you are fine."
"Yeah, what she said. I would hate to have to up and move after I finally have my own place in the material world that is not infested by nasty people,"
"Hey! You are a tenant here, don't forget that. You don't even pay rent; I should have you thrown out," He said before taking a deep breath as he realised that they were just worried for him.
So, there he was, on Mars, in a house cloaked by a magical spell, trying to explain to an immortal sorceress who was also the leader of a thousand year old magical cult, and a Dragon who is an Astral Being, that he was not going to go out and get himself killed.
Sure, he had done the same, and had come alarmingly close to dying during one of his many experiments but he always survived, courtesy of the CHI flowing through his veins.
He just collapsed back into the chair, and said, "Guys, it is not like I am going to go in charging into space, trying to defeat my enemy. No, I am going to prepare. I still have over 10 years until the fight begins in earnest."
Both of them looked at each other for a moment before Jin'Ya shrugged and went back to grilling, the meat being fine because Jin'Ya was a master of telekinesis. He could probably pick out individual grains of sand hundreds of miles away and bring them here, all the while holding a conversation.
Perks of being an Ancient Monster.
"I am bound by the Vishanti, so I cannot explicitly ask you anything but please, be careful, and one more thing, Congratulations, for graduation!" She said and then handed him over a ring.
"What's this?" He asked as the ring resized itself to fit snugly on his finger.
"That, Master Baxter, is an energy limiter. I know that nothing will happen with the CHI doors but if you happen to discover another form of energy, it should be helpful. I once again, wish you luck in your endeavours. Farewell," She said and then faded away, one of the many forms of teleportation that she has mastered over her long lifespan.
"Well, what are we waiting for? It just means that there's more for us," He looked to the side as Jin'Ya floated alongside him.
He deadpanned at the ancient Dragon, "You do realise that you are tiny, right? I could fit you in my pocket if they were a bit deeper."
The statement set off the tiny Dragon like nothing else as Jin'Ya immediately began hovering around him, screaming profanities.
"F-ck you! You were stardust when my grandmother was born. I am above average size for my species. It is not my fault that our species is known for our minds, rather than the brutes that were rightfully exterminated in the material universe,"
He snickered and continued to ignore his long time(for him) experimentation partner as he plated the meat and moaned as the first bite entered his mouth.
"That's it, Jin'Ya, you are on grilling duty from now on. I will just have to get you another grill for that. You don't touch a man's grill, okay?"
Jin'Ya was too busy nibbling on his food to reply but the giant middle finger formed out of psionic energy that was visible to his eyes, was answer enough.
"Jeez," He muttered as they ate in silence, the occasional noise of yet another piece of rock hitting their barrier, the only thing interrupting the silence.
_____xx____
"Alright, let's get this done with so I can go get my makeup done for Comic Con in time,"
"...."
"What?" He asked Jin'Ya defensively as he could literally feel the deadpan stare given by the dragon despite his face being set into stone after years of age.
"I will never understand you humans and your crude disguises," Jin'Ya shook his head and slammed his paw down on the ground. Well, Jin'Ya would call them talons but due to his size, it was more akin to a paw.
The slamming of the paw set forth a chain reaction as a huge circle appeared on the ground, creating a cube around him, separating him from the rest of the universe by isolating him in a pseudo dimension, something that was in the process of turning into an alternate dimension but was just not there yet.
There were trillions of such dimensions, just waiting to be used, so he didn't feel any guilt over using them in such a way because each use resulted in the destruction of the dimension because it was just too fragile to withstand what he was about to do here.
He took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and plunged into his mind space, his mind's library, his soulscape, whatever you wanted to call it. It was the first step in their experiment, entering his mind and then proceeding from there.
It was the space within one's soul, representing crucial parts of the soul of a person. For over two years now, he had been conducting such experiments under the watchful eye of Jin'Ya.
His mindscape was a wonderful thing. It was a picturesque scenery, with mountains, rivers, and make believe animals running around to culminate in a very utopia like scenario.
Also, since this was his mind and he could do whatever he wanted in here, the animals were Transformers.
He grinned like a loon as he watched a dog jump thirty feet in the air and catch the tail of a bird that then flung the Transformer dog farther up in the air, as it continued to bark in robotic noises, and it then dove straight into the river.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at the sky in his mindscape, it was perpetually in the orange sunset sweet spot. The only disruption would be the giant ass door in the middle.
Oh yeah, he hadn't mentioned his powers yet, had he?
That Door was his power.
Literally, his powers were Doors.
Kinda lame if you don't know the concept behind it but once he got the hang of it, it was probably the most fun and versatile power he had ever heard of.
It took him a while to get the whole thing figured out through trial and error but here was the gist of it.
He could create doors. Now, on their own, the doors were nothing special. Just a little bit bulletproof and missile proof, and probably a whole other "proof" but not much more than that. It was what the doors led to, that was important.
Basically, the only reason he was able to become the youngest master alive was because of his powerset being basically geared towards Sorcerer, specifically, the brand of Sorcerer that Kamar Taj practices.
His doors, after going through a little bit of finding, can open doors that lead to unclaimed dimensions. The same dimensions through which Sorcerers can draw powers from, once they had created some sort of pact with the rulers of the dimension.
Unclaimed dimensions can be used as a power source but the process is more hassle than it is worth. That is why most sorcerers only used energies from dimensions with Patron Gods of sorts, who can facilitate the efficient flow of energy directly to the Sorcerers.
That inefficient in wrangling the untamed energy to flow was where his doors came in.
"First off," He muttered as he flew straight to a series of trees under one of the mountains. Technically, every single blade of grass inside his mindscape represented a door to be opened but he was not strong enough to open even a fraction of them at the moment.
He gently landed in front of a number of trees but the twist here was the trees had blue doors carved into their trunks, creating truly wide trees.
Each of the doors carved into the trees represented a door that was permanently "latched" to a dimension with no noticeable side effects. There were altogether seven doors open at the moment.
One for each of the four stereotypical elements.
Wind. Water. Fire. Earth.
The Earth one was just an entire dimension filled with compressed sand so that when the door is opened, jets of sand are shot out, very useful in suppressing fires.
The Fire one was just an entire dimension filled with all sorts of suns at various stages of their eventual heat death.
Water one was an oceanic dimension filled with distilled water.
Then the fifth one was an unclaimed dimension filled with CHI. Pure and unadulterated CHI. He had really lucked out on that dimension. It was also the only one which did not have a handle on its door, because it was always open.
It was a pain in the ass to make sure that it was always open but he had done it. From the moment he did that two years ago, he had a constant flow of pure CHI into his body, allowing his body to gorge on top the life force and make sure that his body grew into its full potential.
Some of the benefits were, enhanced strength, speed, enhanced base stats across all physical parameters, with an increment in mental activities, resulting in high memory retention. Also, small injuries healed within hours.
Broken Bones? At most, a day. Broken Ligaments? A couple of days.
Ruptured Organs? A week. Total spinal damage? A month.
Unfortunately, he was speaking from experience. He was not really allowed to experiment much when he first gained the Doors and in a fit of rebelliousness, he had tried to open two doors at once, one filled with CHI and one filled with the sun, burning him beyond recognition.
His entire body was blackened char and nothing more, according to Wong, and it was true because he had felt himself burn before blacking out. Apparently, his foolish decision to open two doors at once paid off because the CHI flowing in his body kept him alive enough for the Ancient One to return, and then eventually healed his entire body.
So yeah, due to the door having no handle to close it, he had a healing factor now.
He could also use the CHI to cast other spells as well but that was a story for another time.
That made 5 doors.
The sixth door led to a dimension filled with something he had not expected to find in the MCU, what with Mutants not being a part of the MCU, even after Disney acquired Fox. He had no idea what happened after that, though.
The sixth door led to a dimension filled with lasers, but the lasers were only kinetic energy given form, not energy. Yeah, the dimension led to the lasers that were once used by the iconic Scott Summers, i.e., Cyclops.
The Seventh Dimension was one filled with light. Yeah, just light. He had hoped to be able to harness the light somehow but it was literally just a giant light bulb. He needed the help of a magnifying glass to actually weaponise that light. Though it would always come in handy in case he needed to combat some weak dark beasts, the stronger ones would just shrug off any light that wasn't infused with the Holy Element.
So, that was one of the Seven Doors wasted.
The thing was that he could only open seven at the moment
He had a feeling that more Doors would be unlocked as he grew, both mentally and physically, but at the moment, his entire arsenal was just limited to that.
Back to the experiment he was doing with Jin'Ya though.
The experiment was just another exercise to get more doors to open so that he could expand his grimoire, so to speak.
Moving on from the doors he had opened, he looked up at the giant blue Door etched on the mountainside, took a deep breath, and floated to the door.
He placed his arm on the door and his vision…expanded.
Word Count - 4120
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DoorMan #1
Kamar Taj, Kathmandu[January 1, 2008]
Colin Baxter
In the bustling complex of Kamar Taj, a tall, attractive, muscular man could be seen making his way through the complex turns as if he had been here all his life.
"Hey, Nat! Doing great."
"Vicky, we still on for the movie? Yeah, great!"
"Ben, any luck in cracking why the Winds of Watoomb won't work for you? No? Keep working on it, buddy. I am sure you'll get it someday. If not, I'll ask the Ancient One for help."
Evidently, the young man was also quite the social butterfly as he flew through the complex and greeted everybody he met, remembering their names and also their problems.
This was Colin Baxter, me, the youngest living Master of the Mystic Arts, one of the strongest people in Kamar Taj.
"So, Wong? How goes the brooding?" He asked Wong who was leaning on the railing, looking over the most beautiful view in all of Kamar Taj.
Kamar Taj was weird, as in not conforming to normal standards. Then again, we were sorcerers, and bending over logic and giving it a good spanking was done before any of the Masters even had their breakfasts, so who was he to comment on the oddities of a complex that has been here for over a thousand years?
Yeesh, that was old.
"Master Baxter, might I remind you, that the library is still banned for you, after you tried to summon one of the books from the restricted section, using a spell that is still under review."
"Under the purview of the panel of reviewers headed by you just means that me giving you this sacred Honey from K'unL'un might just help the spell fast tracked."
Wong gave him his signature deadpan stare, even as he discreetly pocketed the small can of honey he had been able to procure from K'unL'un and only because he was able to show them his own CHI mastery, something that they were flabbergasted over.
It was another deviation from the MCU. There were mystical hotspots all over the planet, and Sorcerers were just one part of it. Sure, the most important and strongest was Kamar Taj but there were other places that were just as mystical and mysterious as Kamar Taj.
"Master Baxter, need I remind you that Kamar Taj functions on the virtues of honesty, compassion, justice–"
"And truth. Yeah, I know, you were the one who made sure it was drilled into my mind, did you forget? Anyway, this is not a bribe. This is just incentive, yeah, let's go with incentive, to get my case file on top."
Wong gave him another deep stare before he took out the can from his robe and after casting a spell around it, that created a pocket of air so that its heavenly scent was not spread throughout Kamar Taj, he opened it and took a deep sniff.
"Ah, should I come back later? Or do you need a moment?" He snickered at the red faced Wong, which was so rare it might as well be non-existent.
"Master Baxter, I will see what can be done about your spell review. Please, return to your studies. I know your scholarship is contingent on you securing a 3.0GPA or above,"
Gone was Master Wong, the hardass trainer with a straight face who didn't even flinch when his hand had to be reattached after one of his experiments went haywire, and now stood in front of him, the Wong who practically raised him ever since he arrived at the New York Sanctum, shivering, drenched in rain, but with a determination to see it all through.
Wong was one of the few who was aware of his circumstances and sure, he was a hardass every now and then, but he was also the only one, aside from the Ancient One, with whom he could be the most frank.
Seeing that Wong was out of his Master persona, he too, smiled slightly, "Don't worry about that, old man. When have I ever missed an A, all my life?"
And it was true as well.
When he had first arrived at the New York Sanctum, it was his luck that the current Master had just been transferred, giving way for Wong to take command over the New York Sanctum, who immediately took him in and listened to his ramblings.
He had grown a lot ever since, and so had his powers. The same powers that allowed him to develop a semi eidetic memory, peak physical strength, and the power to purge poisons and energy from his body.
"Yeah, I know. I was there for your valedictorian speech. Still, we don't know the long term effects of having so much CHI being pumped into your system all the time. Are you sure you are not feeling anything–"
"..Oh come on, Old Man. you know as well as I do that the old woman would have stopped me the moment I was in any harm. So," His right arm lit up with molten orange colour as a spell circle appeared on top of his fist, casting an orange glow around them.
"--Calm down, will you?" He told Wong, his mind effortlessly casting the spell as well as regulating the flow of CHI within his body.
The sounds of doors opening and closing were heard in his mind as he regulated the flow of CHI within his body.
Wong took one look at his body, his glowing arm, the completely stable spell circle, and then at the effects of the area of effect rejuvenation spell that he had just cast, and then sighed in resignation.
"What will I ever do with you?" He grumbled good naturedly but didn't stop him from using the spell, Wong's body probably needed the CHI from all the natural wear and tear from his job.
After all, he was ancient.
"Why do I feel that you just insulted me?" Wong narrowed his eyes at him.
Welp, time to leave.
"Bye!" He said and then stepped back, a small door appearing beneath his foot that created a small localised shockwave that propelled him into the air, the process repeating as he rapidly gained altitude, while Wong probably fumed behind him, suffering from the slight winds of the shockwave
"Whoa!" He almost crashed into the barrier that was put into place to stop people, like him, from flying straight into the dimensional wall erected around Kamar Taj.
"See you!" He screamed to Wong, as he waved his right hand stupidly multiple times, for a portal to appear.
For the life of him, he could not open the portals as smoothly as other Masters. Something that was a point of contention during his exam because portals were quite an integral part of the fighting style as well as the overall logistics of Kamar Taj.
Another shockwave on his feet propelled him straight into the portal, which was angled upward, so he came out of the portal and then dropped down, as gravity did its job.
"Ah! Home Sweet Home!"
He did a three point landing, just for shits and giggles, and then took in a deep breath, the stark contrast from the cold dry air to the current air was refreshing in a way.
"Hmm?" He was about to go and freshen up when the sound of sizzling reached his ears. He took a look around and saw that nobody was there, so he went up to the second floor, only to see….
"Hey! That's my grill!" He saw the Ancient One, casually lounging on his balcony as Jin'ya, an interdimensional Astral Dragon manned the grill.
My GRILL!
The Ancient One looked at him with her sunglasses and then promptly ignored him.
"Hey!" Marching over to Jin'Ya, he was about to tell him to stop but the heavenly smell of the meat reached his nose and he almost melted on the spot.
"Oh my god, please tell me it's the meat from Ta-Lo?" he immediately sat his ass down as Jin'Ya expertly grilled the meat and joined the Ancient One in looking at the view.
Oh yeah, he didn't say anything about the view, did he?
It was an endless expanse of Red as sands covered the area as far as his vision went. There were some mountains in the middle as well but even those were covered in red so his point still stood.
"What are you even doing here? Don't you have some whatever it is that you Sorcerer Supremes do, duty to perform?" Colin grumbled at her as he took out a cold beer and began sipping on it.
"Ah! This is the best," He sighed in relief as the cold fluid slid down his throat. Sure, the buzz was nonexistent because of the way his body was built, what with the constant concentrated CHI exposure, but he liked to partake in the stereotypes sometimes.
"Hey!" He screamed as the beer was yanked out of his hand by an invisible force, only for it to reach Jin'ya who took a sip and put it back in the cooler.
"Baxter Boy! I told you no drinking until you are 21, according to the human customs," Jin'Ya waved the tongs at him before resuming the grilling.
"For your information, Jin'ya, we are not on Earth at the moment and you have seen me kill humans before I even turned 16 so I don't know what your hang up is," He grumbled but accepted that he would not be getting his sweet sweet beer with the heavenly meat he was about to consume.
The chicken and beef, both, from Ta-Lo, were exquisite, so much so that he had to routinely make the trips and strengthen their warriors along with facilitating the strengthening of their seal, only for them to pay him in meat, along with giving him access to their dimension on demand.
"How did you even get the meat, anyway?" He asked the Ancient One who was sipping her Strawberry Quick while looking straight at the sun, which shone much more brightly here.
Oh yeah, they were on Mars.
The Planet.
Hence, the beautiful red view, that can be enjoyed within the barrier that was cast personally by the Ancient One, around the house that he personally built here.
He never understood why all the protagonists that came to MCU, didn't at least try to create an off world base.
"In the lingo of your generation, Colin, "I rizzed them up,"" The Ancient One replied to him, not even breaking character for a moment, as she used something that was so out of expectation for her.
"Okay, what is going on here?" He finally asked the question since this was totally not normal, in any sense of manner. For one, Jin'Ya was an Ancient Dragon who liked to slumber deep within the sublevels of the house that he had built here.
Jin'Ya had his own library that he imported from the Astral Realm, along with the new books that he continues to write. Also, for some reason, Jin'Ya had taken a liking to him when he came to Kamar Taj, tumbling out of the Astral Realm, all those years ago.
The Ancient One, on the other hand, was so busy that he had no idea when she even slept if she even slept. Running around, putting out fires caused by other mystics, hunting down rogues, enforcing treaties between magical civilisations, and dealing with the very dangerous Fae, all the while also completing all the Vishanti's demands.
Both the Ancient One and Jin'Ya paused for a moment.
He was getting increasingly weirded out because this was literally the first time the Ancient One had come to his house. She didn't come even once after casting the spell that she told him would last another century, the one protecting the house from the harsh environment around them and also the spatial extension enchantments powered by Jin'Ya.
"We are just worried, Baxter. You are now an adult. We cannot stop you from doing anything but we are worried about any steps you might take. You told me that 2008 is the year everything begins and on the orders of the Vishanti, I have not asked you anything about that. I just want to make sure that you are fine."
"Yeah, what she said. I would hate to have to up and move after I finally have my own place in the material world that is not infested by nasty people,"
"Hey! You are a tenant here, don't forget that. You don't even pay rent; I should have you thrown out," He said before taking a deep breath as he realised that they were just worried for him.
So, there he was, on Mars, in a house cloaked by a magical spell, trying to explain to an immortal sorceress who was also the leader of a thousand year old magical cult, and a Dragon who is an Astral Being, that he was not going to go out and get himself killed.
Sure, he had done the same, and had come alarmingly close to dying during one of his many experiments but he always survived, courtesy of the CHI flowing through his veins.
He just collapsed back into the chair, and said, "Guys, it is not like I am going to go in charging into space, trying to defeat my enemy. No, I am going to prepare. I still have over 10 years until the fight begins in earnest."
Both of them looked at each other for a moment before Jin'Ya shrugged and went back to grilling, the meat being fine because Jin'Ya was a master of telekinesis. He could probably pick out individual grains of sand hundreds of miles away and bring them here, all the while holding a conversation.
Perks of being an Ancient Monster.
"I am bound by the Vishanti, so I cannot explicitly ask you anything but please, be careful, and one more thing, Congratulations, for graduation!" She said and then handed him over a ring.
"What's this?" He asked as the ring resized itself to fit snugly on his finger.
"That, Master Baxter, is an energy limiter. I know that nothing will happen with the CHI doors but if you happen to discover another form of energy, it should be helpful. I once again, wish you luck in your endeavours. Farewell," She said and then faded away, one of the many forms of teleportation that she has mastered over her long lifespan.
"Well, what are we waiting for? It just means that there's more for us," He looked to the side as Jin'Ya floated alongside him.
He deadpanned at the ancient Dragon, "You do realise that you are tiny, right? I could fit you in my pocket if they were a bit deeper."
The statement set off the tiny Dragon like nothing else as Jin'Ya immediately began hovering around him, screaming profanities.
"F-ck you! You were stardust when my grandmother was born. I am above average size for my species. It is not my fault that our species is known for our minds, rather than the brutes that were rightfully exterminated in the material universe,"
He snickered and continued to ignore his long time(for him) experimentation partner as he plated the meat and moaned as the first bite entered his mouth.
"That's it, Jin'Ya, you are on grilling duty from now on. I will just have to get you another grill for that. You don't touch a man's grill, okay?"
Jin'Ya was too busy nibbling on his food to reply but the giant middle finger formed out of psionic energy that was visible to his eyes, was answer enough.
"Jeez," He muttered as they ate in silence, the occasional noise of yet another piece of rock hitting their barrier, the only thing interrupting the silence.
_____xx____
"Alright, let's get this done with so I can go get my makeup done for Comic Con in time,"
"...."
"What?" He asked Jin'Ya defensively as he could literally feel the deadpan stare given by the dragon despite his face being set into stone after years of age.
"I will never understand you humans and your crude disguises," Jin'Ya shook his head and slammed his paw down on the ground. Well, Jin'Ya would call them talons but due to his size, it was more akin to a paw.
The slamming of the paw set forth a chain reaction as a huge circle appeared on the ground, creating a cube around him, separating him from the rest of the universe by isolating him in a pseudo dimension, something that was in the process of turning into an alternate dimension but was just not there yet.
There were trillions of such dimensions, just waiting to be used, so he didn't feel any guilt over using them in such a way because each use resulted in the destruction of the dimension because it was just too fragile to withstand what he was about to do here.
He took in a deep breath, closed his eyes, and plunged into his mind space, his mind's library, his soulscape, whatever you wanted to call it. It was the first step in their experiment, entering his mind and then proceeding from there.
It was the space within one's soul, representing crucial parts of the soul of a person. For over two years now, he had been conducting such experiments under the watchful eye of Jin'Ya.
His mindscape was a wonderful thing. It was a picturesque scenery, with mountains, rivers, and make believe animals running around to culminate in a very utopia like scenario.
Also, since this was his mind and he could do whatever he wanted in here, the animals were Transformers.
He grinned like a loon as he watched a dog jump thirty feet in the air and catch the tail of a bird that then flung the Transformer dog farther up in the air, as it continued to bark in robotic noises, and it then dove straight into the river.
Taking a deep breath, he looked at the sky in his mindscape, it was perpetually in the orange sunset sweet spot. The only disruption would be the giant ass door in the middle.
Oh yeah, he hadn't mentioned his powers yet, had he?
That Door was his power.
Literally, his powers were Doors.
Kinda lame if you don't know the concept behind it but once he got the hang of it, it was probably the most fun and versatile power he had ever heard of.
It took him a while to get the whole thing figured out through trial and error but here was the gist of it.
He could create doors. Now, on their own, the doors were nothing special. Just a little bit bulletproof and missile proof, and probably a whole other "proof" but not much more than that. It was what the doors led to, that was important.
Basically, the only reason he was able to become the youngest master alive was because of his powerset being basically geared towards Sorcerer, specifically, the brand of Sorcerer that Kamar Taj practices.
His doors, after going through a little bit of finding, can open doors that lead to unclaimed dimensions. The same dimensions through which Sorcerers can draw powers from, once they had created some sort of pact with the rulers of the dimension.
Unclaimed dimensions can be used as a power source but the process is more hassle than it is worth. That is why most sorcerers only used energies from dimensions with Patron Gods of sorts, who can facilitate the efficient flow of energy directly to the Sorcerers.
That inefficient in wrangling the untamed energy to flow was where his doors came in.
"First off," He muttered as he flew straight to a series of trees under one of the mountains. Technically, every single blade of grass inside his mindscape represented a door to be opened but he was not strong enough to open even a fraction of them at the moment.
He gently landed in front of a number of trees but the twist here was the trees had blue doors carved into their trunks, creating truly wide trees.
Each of the doors carved into the trees represented a door that was permanently "latched" to a dimension with no noticeable side effects. There were altogether seven doors open at the moment.
One for each of the four stereotypical elements.
Wind. Water. Fire. Earth.
The Earth one was just an entire dimension filled with compressed sand so that when the door is opened, jets of sand are shot out, very useful in suppressing fires.
The Fire one was just an entire dimension filled with all sorts of suns at various stages of their eventual heat death.
Water one was an oceanic dimension filled with distilled water.
Then the fifth one was an unclaimed dimension filled with CHI. Pure and unadulterated CHI. He had really lucked out on that dimension. It was also the only one which did not have a handle on its door, because it was always open.
It was a pain in the ass to make sure that it was always open but he had done it. From the moment he did that two years ago, he had a constant flow of pure CHI into his body, allowing his body to gorge on top the life force and make sure that his body grew into its full potential.
Some of the benefits were, enhanced strength, speed, enhanced base stats across all physical parameters, with an increment in mental activities, resulting in high memory retention. Also, small injuries healed within hours.
Broken Bones? At most, a day. Broken Ligaments? A couple of days.
Ruptured Organs? A week. Total spinal damage? A month.
Unfortunately, he was speaking from experience. He was not really allowed to experiment much when he first gained the Doors and in a fit of rebelliousness, he had tried to open two doors at once, one filled with CHI and one filled with the sun, burning him beyond recognition.
His entire body was blackened char and nothing more, according to Wong, and it was true because he had felt himself burn before blacking out. Apparently, his foolish decision to open two doors at once paid off because the CHI flowing in his body kept him alive enough for the Ancient One to return, and then eventually healed his entire body.
So yeah, due to the door having no handle to close it, he had a healing factor now.
He could also use the CHI to cast other spells as well but that was a story for another time.
That made 5 doors.
The sixth door led to a dimension filled with something he had not expected to find in the MCU, what with Mutants not being a part of the MCU, even after Disney acquired Fox. He had no idea what happened after that, though.
The sixth door led to a dimension filled with lasers, but the lasers were only kinetic energy given form, not energy. Yeah, the dimension led to the lasers that were once used by the iconic Scott Summers, i.e., Cyclops.
The Seventh Dimension was one filled with light. Yeah, just light. He had hoped to be able to harness the light somehow but it was literally just a giant light bulb. He needed the help of a magnifying glass to actually weaponise that light. Though it would always come in handy in case he needed to combat some weak dark beasts, the stronger ones would just shrug off any light that wasn't infused with the Holy Element.
So, that was one of the Seven Doors wasted.
The thing was that he could only open seven at the moment
He had a feeling that more Doors would be unlocked as he grew, both mentally and physically, but at the moment, his entire arsenal was just limited to that.
Back to the experiment he was doing with Jin'Ya though.
The experiment was just another exercise to get more doors to open so that he could expand his grimoire, so to speak.
Moving on from the doors he had opened, he looked up at the giant blue Door etched on the mountainside, took a deep breath, and floated to the door.
He placed his arm on the door and his vision…expanded.
Word Count - 4120
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
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DoorMan (MCU SI) - #2
IdleMuse0307
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #2
The Red Hearth, Colin's Mindscape [January 1, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He felt his mind expand as a kaleidoscope of colours assaulted his mind, his ability allowing his mind and soul to reach out throughout the multiverse. He had been a wee bit child when he had lost his parents and then uncovered his ability to do…this. While it was exceedingly hard and very confusing to make sense of what his ability was back then, he knew video games back then, it was his favourite thing and while it was kinda childish of him to think of making this as a Videogame as well, it kind of worked out in the end.
With little, okay a lot of help from the Ancient One and more importantly, from Old Man Wong, he managed to make this a very nifty way of scouring for alternative dimensions across the multiverse, both tethered and untethered.
As he was now, he was strong yes but he was not all powerful. Physically, he was much stronger than Captain America but not as strong as Luke Cage was. So no bulletproof skin though his body was getting better and better at stopping most puncture wounds, and no throwing around trucks, though small cars were in his realm of capability.
All in all, a very strong C-grade threat, if he could say. Someone who can take out teams of trained men with ease but a bullet to the head will take them out all the same as the normal people, though the bullet might need to be a tad bigger. Now, once he factored in his Sorcery and his Doors, then things began to change.
Even then, he would hesitate to call himself an S-class threat, A class at best, even with his doors. All he had until now were 7 doors, one for each year that his ability had been active. It had been 7 years since then and all he had to show for it were the class four elements, an overglorified light bulb. The only ones worth mentioning were the last two doors, the CHI door, and the Kinetic Laser doors. Both of them gave him very nifty abilities, offensive as well as defensive capabilities, not to mention the overall passive boosts he got from making that door stay open all the time.
He was a literal superhuman now, with all the extra CHI running in his body. He had it in his blood now, so much so that the Ancient One warned him to reduce his interactions with Kun'Lun in the future because some of the more pragmatic elders there might just capture and store him in their dungeons because he was essentially the same as their Dragon. Punch his heart with their fists, absorb his CHI, and voila, Bootleg Iron Fist created!
The Kinetic lasers were nifty as well, especially in an omnidirectional way because after fighting a literal horde of demons when he was 17, all by himself, simply because he could become a ball of lasers in the middle of their army was priceless, even for Kamar Taj as a whole.
Also, he might have been taken advantage of as a kid, without being paid for it. He called child labour!
His mind wandered around itself as his soul finally did a scan of all the dimensions available to him, and then rendered the UI for the literal dimension searching that he did on a semi-weekly basis. It was actually Jin'Ya's theory that the more he tried to expose his soul to his weird ability, the more capable it would become of opening new doors.
As usual, the UI rendered and then he was greeted to a page that had a big Screen on the left, with a number of rectangular boxes on the right. He could mentally scroll through the list of the dimensions that were on the right.
The one selected right now was the most used dimension, i.e., the CHI dimension. The display on the right showed just golden light, yup, that was all there was in that dimension. It was something weird, not conforming to normal physics rules at all, like there was not even gravity in the dimension so no life could form there, even if the dimension was technically full of what many on Earth might call the "Lifeblood" of every species.
"Alright, let's see what we have here," He muttered as he plopped his ass on the most comfortable chair he could imagine, which was more along the lines of a bed as a box of his favourite caramel popcorn appeared on his lap, completing the stereotypical movie theatre setup.
Looking past all the windows that were highlighted, those were the ones he already made a Door for. He was looking for the scanned ones.
"Aww, only 6?" He whined as the number was far less this time for some reason. While Jin'Ya's theory of exposing his soul to this UI looked solid but it would seem they might have to do something else because the number of dimensions being scanned was only decreasing. Not the overall number but the number of new dimensions that can be opened with his doors. The filter was set on only new dimensions, so these 4 were the only new ones.
Ones. The total dimensions scanned were 1700, which might sound like a lot but the majority of them were useless to him. Like, what was he going to do with a dimension filled with just bones? The universe was a truly weird place.
"Let's see," he muttered as he selected the first green dimension. The big screen flickered before a scene full of trees greeted him. Trees everywhere, bathed in green fog.
"The heck? Is this the Green?" Thinking of the elemental force primarily based in the DC universe. It looked the same as this dimension though there might be differences. Might be useful but not right now. Once he had to work on restoring Earth's environment back to sustainable levels after defeating the Big bads of this universe, of which there was no lack of.
Moving on, he looked at the next yellow dimension. He blinked as he saw heaps of gold. Yup, Gold bullions, as if this was Fort Knox or wherever the world's governments kept their gold reserves. It was all very neatly stacked as well, forming pyramids, mountains, and more of that stuff.
Pass.
He selected the next dimension, which was light blue. Selecting that, he saw an empty dimension, with white as far as his eyes could see. He couldn't really know more about this place unless he used one of his Doors and currently, he was all out of doors. Even if he did have one, it wouldn't be used on some possible useless dimension.
Pass.
The next one was pink. The big screen just showed a huge dimensional box filled with pink liquid of some sort. His mind began racing as some of his fantasies reared their ugly heads, telling him about the possible uses of something like a magic pink liquid but he shook his head. This was not the time to think with his little head.
Pass.
With that, the UI collapsed as he found himself back in his mindscape, in the same position, touching the giant door, floating mid air.
Sighing, he exited his mindscape and found himself back in the pseudo dimension which collapsed, depositing him back in the same ritual circle that Jin'Ya activated.
Opening a door on reflex, he took a deep swig of pure distilled water from his Water Dimension to get rid of the acidic taste in his mouth that was always deposited in his mouth when a pseudo dimension collapsed.
Taking a deep breath, he was about to ask Jin'Ya who was lounging on his own tiny chair with–was that a facepack?
"What the fuck?"
"Language!" He felt a bonk on his head accompanied with that censor shit.
"Fuck you! I am 19 now AND you are staying under my roof." He drew himself up, even as Jin'Ya deadpanned at him, looking up from his book that he was reading, while having a facepack on his face, which was tiny as well.
"Why do you even use those? You are a freaking Psionic Dragon, you could shed that body and create a new one with literal shining skin whenever you want to."
Jin'Ya floated at his level, not even breaking stride as he replied, "This self-care thing is good. Humans have advanced at a remarkable rate when it comes to taking care of cosmetic things, though, oddly enough, despite having most of the power in society, most of this self care stuff has been catered to women, not men. This is another one of my experiments."
He sighed at that, then cracked up at the self care bit. Ah, if only Jin'Ya knew. Actually, shouldn't he know all this?
"Shouldn't you know all this? You know, being a Psionic dragon and all that."
"For the last time, I don't willy nilly go around trying to read in all the Astral output of Humanity, it would leave me not just comatose but surely with an intense urge to perform genocide on your species. So, for both yours and my sake, I refrain from doing that."
"I see, go on with your experiment then. Do give me a copy of your conclusion though. In the meantime, did you log the time like I told you to?"
"Who do you think I am, a human? I did log your time, it has been 1 hour 3 minutes in Earth time, significantly shorter than your first trip under my supervision, which took about 16 hours if my Eidetic memory serves me right."
"Right. There goes the mandatory Draconic superiority."
"What?! It's not arrogance if it is true."
"Yes, it is. It is in the way you say it."
"..Agree to Disagree then."
"You have got to stop watching Reality TV these days.." he sighed and got out of the basement. He might have been joking with Jin'Ya about the deadline but he did have a Comic Con to get to, and only about 16 hours to make sure that none of his friends had the same outfit.
"I will be out for the weekend. Don't blow up the Red Hearth." He nagged at Jin'Ya before waving his hands a bunch of times in the air, feeling so stupid and self conscious, until the Portal Gods finally took pity on him and opened a small flickering portal for him.
Jumping through, he arrived on his Earth Pad, which was decidedly less cool than his Mars home. He even named his place on Mars as the Red Hearth, which was pretty smart in his opinion, not in Old Man Wong's eyes though who cared about Old people's advice?
His nose wrinkled as he felt the air quality drop by magnitudes when compared to the Red Hearth. Having enhanced lungs might have meant that polluted air wouldn't give him cancer but it did nothing about his ability to differentiate between them.
Sigh, it might have been worth it to take the Green Door, just to spawn a couple of Pure Oxygen trees around his apartment.
"Nah, too much work." He grinned like a loon as he slipped into his wardrobe, about to sew some last minute changes on his costume, which would definitely NOT take a lot of time.
A/N - What do you guys think about the Power UI.
Also, the MC is 18 right now and he awakened his powers at the age of 12 and on his birthday, getting a Door for each successive birthday.
Also, if I haven't said it before, this story will focus more on individual struggles with some world ending serious stuff mixed in.
Yes, Wong is his guardian, officially and magically.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #2
The Red Hearth, Colin's Mindscape [January 1, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He felt his mind expand as a kaleidoscope of colours assaulted his mind, his ability allowing his mind and soul to reach out throughout the multiverse. He had been a wee bit child when he had lost his parents and then uncovered his ability to do…this. While it was exceedingly hard and very confusing to make sense of what his ability was back then, he knew video games back then, it was his favourite thing and while it was kinda childish of him to think of making this as a Videogame as well, it kind of worked out in the end.
With little, okay a lot of help from the Ancient One and more importantly, from Old Man Wong, he managed to make this a very nifty way of scouring for alternative dimensions across the multiverse, both tethered and untethered.
As he was now, he was strong yes but he was not all powerful. Physically, he was much stronger than Captain America but not as strong as Luke Cage was. So no bulletproof skin though his body was getting better and better at stopping most puncture wounds, and no throwing around trucks, though small cars were in his realm of capability.
All in all, a very strong C-grade threat, if he could say. Someone who can take out teams of trained men with ease but a bullet to the head will take them out all the same as the normal people, though the bullet might need to be a tad bigger. Now, once he factored in his Sorcery and his Doors, then things began to change.
Even then, he would hesitate to call himself an S-class threat, A class at best, even with his doors. All he had until now were 7 doors, one for each year that his ability had been active. It had been 7 years since then and all he had to show for it were the class four elements, an overglorified light bulb. The only ones worth mentioning were the last two doors, the CHI door, and the Kinetic Laser doors. Both of them gave him very nifty abilities, offensive as well as defensive capabilities, not to mention the overall passive boosts he got from making that door stay open all the time.
He was a literal superhuman now, with all the extra CHI running in his body. He had it in his blood now, so much so that the Ancient One warned him to reduce his interactions with Kun'Lun in the future because some of the more pragmatic elders there might just capture and store him in their dungeons because he was essentially the same as their Dragon. Punch his heart with their fists, absorb his CHI, and voila, Bootleg Iron Fist created!
The Kinetic lasers were nifty as well, especially in an omnidirectional way because after fighting a literal horde of demons when he was 17, all by himself, simply because he could become a ball of lasers in the middle of their army was priceless, even for Kamar Taj as a whole.
Also, he might have been taken advantage of as a kid, without being paid for it. He called child labour!
His mind wandered around itself as his soul finally did a scan of all the dimensions available to him, and then rendered the UI for the literal dimension searching that he did on a semi-weekly basis. It was actually Jin'Ya's theory that the more he tried to expose his soul to his weird ability, the more capable it would become of opening new doors.
As usual, the UI rendered and then he was greeted to a page that had a big Screen on the left, with a number of rectangular boxes on the right. He could mentally scroll through the list of the dimensions that were on the right.
The one selected right now was the most used dimension, i.e., the CHI dimension. The display on the right showed just golden light, yup, that was all there was in that dimension. It was something weird, not conforming to normal physics rules at all, like there was not even gravity in the dimension so no life could form there, even if the dimension was technically full of what many on Earth might call the "Lifeblood" of every species.
"Alright, let's see what we have here," He muttered as he plopped his ass on the most comfortable chair he could imagine, which was more along the lines of a bed as a box of his favourite caramel popcorn appeared on his lap, completing the stereotypical movie theatre setup.
Looking past all the windows that were highlighted, those were the ones he already made a Door for. He was looking for the scanned ones.
"Aww, only 6?" He whined as the number was far less this time for some reason. While Jin'Ya's theory of exposing his soul to this UI looked solid but it would seem they might have to do something else because the number of dimensions being scanned was only decreasing. Not the overall number but the number of new dimensions that can be opened with his doors. The filter was set on only new dimensions, so these 4 were the only new ones.
Ones. The total dimensions scanned were 1700, which might sound like a lot but the majority of them were useless to him. Like, what was he going to do with a dimension filled with just bones? The universe was a truly weird place.
"Let's see," he muttered as he selected the first green dimension. The big screen flickered before a scene full of trees greeted him. Trees everywhere, bathed in green fog.
"The heck? Is this the Green?" Thinking of the elemental force primarily based in the DC universe. It looked the same as this dimension though there might be differences. Might be useful but not right now. Once he had to work on restoring Earth's environment back to sustainable levels after defeating the Big bads of this universe, of which there was no lack of.
Moving on, he looked at the next yellow dimension. He blinked as he saw heaps of gold. Yup, Gold bullions, as if this was Fort Knox or wherever the world's governments kept their gold reserves. It was all very neatly stacked as well, forming pyramids, mountains, and more of that stuff.
Pass.
He selected the next dimension, which was light blue. Selecting that, he saw an empty dimension, with white as far as his eyes could see. He couldn't really know more about this place unless he used one of his Doors and currently, he was all out of doors. Even if he did have one, it wouldn't be used on some possible useless dimension.
Pass.
The next one was pink. The big screen just showed a huge dimensional box filled with pink liquid of some sort. His mind began racing as some of his fantasies reared their ugly heads, telling him about the possible uses of something like a magic pink liquid but he shook his head. This was not the time to think with his little head.
Pass.
With that, the UI collapsed as he found himself back in his mindscape, in the same position, touching the giant door, floating mid air.
Sighing, he exited his mindscape and found himself back in the pseudo dimension which collapsed, depositing him back in the same ritual circle that Jin'Ya activated.
Opening a door on reflex, he took a deep swig of pure distilled water from his Water Dimension to get rid of the acidic taste in his mouth that was always deposited in his mouth when a pseudo dimension collapsed.
Taking a deep breath, he was about to ask Jin'Ya who was lounging on his own tiny chair with–was that a facepack?
"What the fuck?"
"Language!" He felt a bonk on his head accompanied with that censor shit.
"Fuck you! I am 19 now AND you are staying under my roof." He drew himself up, even as Jin'Ya deadpanned at him, looking up from his book that he was reading, while having a facepack on his face, which was tiny as well.
"Why do you even use those? You are a freaking Psionic Dragon, you could shed that body and create a new one with literal shining skin whenever you want to."
Jin'Ya floated at his level, not even breaking stride as he replied, "This self-care thing is good. Humans have advanced at a remarkable rate when it comes to taking care of cosmetic things, though, oddly enough, despite having most of the power in society, most of this self care stuff has been catered to women, not men. This is another one of my experiments."
He sighed at that, then cracked up at the self care bit. Ah, if only Jin'Ya knew. Actually, shouldn't he know all this?
"Shouldn't you know all this? You know, being a Psionic dragon and all that."
"For the last time, I don't willy nilly go around trying to read in all the Astral output of Humanity, it would leave me not just comatose but surely with an intense urge to perform genocide on your species. So, for both yours and my sake, I refrain from doing that."
"I see, go on with your experiment then. Do give me a copy of your conclusion though. In the meantime, did you log the time like I told you to?"
"Who do you think I am, a human? I did log your time, it has been 1 hour 3 minutes in Earth time, significantly shorter than your first trip under my supervision, which took about 16 hours if my Eidetic memory serves me right."
"Right. There goes the mandatory Draconic superiority."
"What?! It's not arrogance if it is true."
"Yes, it is. It is in the way you say it."
"..Agree to Disagree then."
"You have got to stop watching Reality TV these days.." he sighed and got out of the basement. He might have been joking with Jin'Ya about the deadline but he did have a Comic Con to get to, and only about 16 hours to make sure that none of his friends had the same outfit.
"I will be out for the weekend. Don't blow up the Red Hearth." He nagged at Jin'Ya before waving his hands a bunch of times in the air, feeling so stupid and self conscious, until the Portal Gods finally took pity on him and opened a small flickering portal for him.
Jumping through, he arrived on his Earth Pad, which was decidedly less cool than his Mars home. He even named his place on Mars as the Red Hearth, which was pretty smart in his opinion, not in Old Man Wong's eyes though who cared about Old people's advice?
His nose wrinkled as he felt the air quality drop by magnitudes when compared to the Red Hearth. Having enhanced lungs might have meant that polluted air wouldn't give him cancer but it did nothing about his ability to differentiate between them.
Sigh, it might have been worth it to take the Green Door, just to spawn a couple of Pure Oxygen trees around his apartment.
"Nah, too much work." He grinned like a loon as he slipped into his wardrobe, about to sew some last minute changes on his costume, which would definitely NOT take a lot of time.
A/N - What do you guys think about the Power UI.
Also, the MC is 18 right now and he awakened his powers at the age of 12 and on his birthday, getting a Door for each successive birthday.
Also, if I haven't said it before, this story will focus more on individual struggles with some world ending serious stuff mixed in.
Yes, Wong is his guardian, officially and magically.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #3
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #3
San Diego Comic Con[January 2, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Your savior is here!" He exclaimed with pompous grandeur as he arrived at the gathering point his online group had decided for the Comic Con.
His outfit was glorious. Everything was perfect, well, as perfect as it could be. The signature red underwear on the outside, with blue tights with a blazing S carved on his very muscular chest. It was the yellow belt that he had added at the last minute when he revisited some of the older issue comics that he had been collecting with the money he had been earning as a freelancer.
The red cape was the easiest to source but not the easiest to get the right colour. He wanted to match the reference material perfectly and as such, it took over a week for him to finally get the right colour cape, and even then, it was not the perfect blend of red and dark red glinting in yellow sunlight.
For that, he feared that he would have to do something far more…custom.
His online discord group, which he had cultivated with his blood, sweat, and tears, along with a healthy dosage of cursing during online gaming, all laughed at him.
"Well you're one to talk, Discount Flash. You know, he was never this jacked. The guy was all lean mass, he was a runner for Pete's sake. Use your head, Brian." Brian, the stereotypical Jock, built like a brick house, all hard on the outside but an awkward nerd on the inside. He was currently sporting a Flash outfit with even more mass on top of Brian's already substantial mass.
"Cut it out, Colin, you're one to talk. You are not even as big as him and yet, you're dressed as Superman. Compensating much?" Tina, not even a part of the group and yet already at the gathering. He flashed a tight smile at her even as Brian gave him a rather strained one. Tina was the stereotypical cheerleader, though she did have the smarts and the looks going for her so he would not lean too much into that stereotype. As evidenced by her literally hanging off of Brian's arm and the way she was stuck to him, Tina was Brian's girlfriend and was a nerd-ish.
"OHHH!" The rest of their little gathering tried to rile him up but he was far beyond that, at least right now. When it happened the first time, well, it was good that he had the decency to apologise, or else Brian would be his enemy in their CS games and that was not a fate he would wish on anyone.
"Alright, no need to get our panties in a twist. Come on, there's a huge line for panels already." The rest of their little gathering, twins, Eric and Bill, both very large and very smart, though not in a good way. He met the Olson twins during one of his various black web strolls that he did, only for the good of the world.
As it turns out, when you have literal LIFEBLOOD flowing through your body at all times for years, your brain kind of turns into a computer. Not a supercomputer, not that far yet, but a computer. So, while it did slightly heighten his smarts, the far more beneficial thing for him was the Eidetic memory coupled with computer-like processing speeds, allowing him to excel at most things in his life.
Life, freelance software development. Something that the Ancient One showed him when he was trying to get his hands on more advanced Sorcery books simply to sate his brain's curiosity.
That little move catapulted him into the upper ranks of software development and these days, he was developing cutting edge software that kept the internet and multiple other systems up and running, for free. Yup, he did paid freelancing only for minor projects, like setting up a website, getting an app up and running, providing fast debugging services for middle to large sized corporations, willing to hand over their entire databases to someone like him, so mostly the social media companies.
Still, that paid enough for him to fund his education, though the insurance money from his family's death was more than enough for that. Touching that money felt…complicated so he just had that in a low yield long term bond until he needed it for a rainy day. The freelancing gave him enough money for college, getting a nice apartment, going out on dates though he had yet to find a stable girlfriend, funding his weird hobbies, and ofcourse, travelling the world.
The rest of the time, he studied Computer science engineering at MIT, whilst writing code that even his teachers took some time to understand. All in all, a very good life for one Colin Baxter.
However, all that work and study, along with training his powers and sorcery made his life pretty lonely, hence the discord group. By bonding over their shared use of inhumane curses in the field of online gaming, they came together and now, this was their second Comic Con together.
He was so excited!
"Let's go!" He shouted as he all but lifted the Olson twins in his haste to go to his favourite panels, ALL OF THEM!
_____xx____
Triskelion
–Nick "One Eye gouged out by Flerken" Fury–
".....And this is all we have on him?" He couldn't help but glare at the sparse file lying on his table as if wishing that it would set itself on fire somehow.
"Yes, sir. By the time we regained control of the vessel, the target had already subdued everyone, took the data, and fled the ship, escaping through unknown means."
"Suspects? Chinese? Europe? Freaking Japan? Get me something, dammit!"
"...WE suspect that he is an independent operative sir."
"....Are you telling me that we have someone who can put holes in concrete walls, attack strategic Military assets, and steal the data onboard, all without a single clear sighting or even a casualty?"
"Yes, sir. However, the motives remain unclear since the data is standard Satellite rerouting data, something that is available, albeit in much less precision, online, for free."
He took in a deep breath, exhaled, and then closed the file, "That will be all, Agent Sitwell. Dismissed."
"Sir." Sitwell saluted and left his office.
As soon as the doors closed, he pressed a button under his desk, sealing his entire office shut before turning to a dark corner of his office, "You get all that, Pierce?"
Out from the darkness, came the grim visage of one Secretary of the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce. The boss of his bosses, the one person whose word he could not ignore, well, theoretically anyway.
"This is concerning Fury. This is the third known attack that SHIELD knows of. I have credible information of 6 more, spread across the world, attacking sensitive locations before stealing the data onboard for some reason."
He levelled his one eye on Pierce, "You and I both know what is on those ships' data disks."
"A project you vehemently disagree with, I understand that Fury but now is not the time for that debate. We need to catch this person because while the data itself is not that important in the major scheme of things if the person somehow gets a whiff of what we planned to do with that data, we might just have to say goodbye to SHIELD as a whole."
He glared at that man, "Why? Why take such risks? You know as well as I do that we should have shut this shit down the moment we knew that someone was targeting the Project ships. Not even the agents manning the ships know the true purpose."
"And it will remain that way. Remember Fury, everything we do, we do for the continued safety for the world."
"And having orbital canons with perfect spy hardware in space is the way to do that, really?"
Pierce slumped as his eyes softened, "Fury, look, you know as well as I do that this project is just at the concept stage right now. Hell, even the most optimistic predictions to get the necessary funding, hardware, software, and more importantly, the right mental projection around the world, would take decades. Maybe, until then, we will find something that works better, something that would not force us to trample on everyone's rights to get the tools to make the right choices.
But, until then, until we find something that can make the World Security Council back off without the threat of the agency's dissolution, we are going to have to go ahead with this project. You did agree to this in exchange for green lighting Project Avengers."
He sighed explosively, his fists clenched, "Fine. Though, the Council has yet to debate or even listen to my first pitch on that project."
"IF you are talking about Banner, let me stop you right there. We can't be seen associating with monsters so unless and until you can confirm that the Green Beast is not a beast but just some slightly less intelligent animal, Banner will stay off the Avengers Protocol. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Great, glad I could clear it up."
The man then left his office, having waltzed in as if he owned the place.
His gaze then landed on the man with the orange outfit, the hideously orange robes that somehow, all the agents missed in the dark of the night. Freaking Orange one-sie managed to blindside all of his agents, physically bend steel, guns, and even break doors to get to his objective, with nothing being able to stop him.
Well, if he wanted the data so much… "Agent, get me Hawkeye."
Maybe it's time he set the Agent with the highest mission completion record in this case. The only reason Barton was kept out of this was because the man was smart and would smell something fishy was going on and he couldn't have that, not at this stage.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #3
San Diego Comic Con[January 2, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Your savior is here!" He exclaimed with pompous grandeur as he arrived at the gathering point his online group had decided for the Comic Con.
His outfit was glorious. Everything was perfect, well, as perfect as it could be. The signature red underwear on the outside, with blue tights with a blazing S carved on his very muscular chest. It was the yellow belt that he had added at the last minute when he revisited some of the older issue comics that he had been collecting with the money he had been earning as a freelancer.
The red cape was the easiest to source but not the easiest to get the right colour. He wanted to match the reference material perfectly and as such, it took over a week for him to finally get the right colour cape, and even then, it was not the perfect blend of red and dark red glinting in yellow sunlight.
For that, he feared that he would have to do something far more…custom.
His online discord group, which he had cultivated with his blood, sweat, and tears, along with a healthy dosage of cursing during online gaming, all laughed at him.
"Well you're one to talk, Discount Flash. You know, he was never this jacked. The guy was all lean mass, he was a runner for Pete's sake. Use your head, Brian." Brian, the stereotypical Jock, built like a brick house, all hard on the outside but an awkward nerd on the inside. He was currently sporting a Flash outfit with even more mass on top of Brian's already substantial mass.
"Cut it out, Colin, you're one to talk. You are not even as big as him and yet, you're dressed as Superman. Compensating much?" Tina, not even a part of the group and yet already at the gathering. He flashed a tight smile at her even as Brian gave him a rather strained one. Tina was the stereotypical cheerleader, though she did have the smarts and the looks going for her so he would not lean too much into that stereotype. As evidenced by her literally hanging off of Brian's arm and the way she was stuck to him, Tina was Brian's girlfriend and was a nerd-ish.
"OHHH!" The rest of their little gathering tried to rile him up but he was far beyond that, at least right now. When it happened the first time, well, it was good that he had the decency to apologise, or else Brian would be his enemy in their CS games and that was not a fate he would wish on anyone.
"Alright, no need to get our panties in a twist. Come on, there's a huge line for panels already." The rest of their little gathering, twins, Eric and Bill, both very large and very smart, though not in a good way. He met the Olson twins during one of his various black web strolls that he did, only for the good of the world.
As it turns out, when you have literal LIFEBLOOD flowing through your body at all times for years, your brain kind of turns into a computer. Not a supercomputer, not that far yet, but a computer. So, while it did slightly heighten his smarts, the far more beneficial thing for him was the Eidetic memory coupled with computer-like processing speeds, allowing him to excel at most things in his life.
Life, freelance software development. Something that the Ancient One showed him when he was trying to get his hands on more advanced Sorcery books simply to sate his brain's curiosity.
That little move catapulted him into the upper ranks of software development and these days, he was developing cutting edge software that kept the internet and multiple other systems up and running, for free. Yup, he did paid freelancing only for minor projects, like setting up a website, getting an app up and running, providing fast debugging services for middle to large sized corporations, willing to hand over their entire databases to someone like him, so mostly the social media companies.
Still, that paid enough for him to fund his education, though the insurance money from his family's death was more than enough for that. Touching that money felt…complicated so he just had that in a low yield long term bond until he needed it for a rainy day. The freelancing gave him enough money for college, getting a nice apartment, going out on dates though he had yet to find a stable girlfriend, funding his weird hobbies, and ofcourse, travelling the world.
The rest of the time, he studied Computer science engineering at MIT, whilst writing code that even his teachers took some time to understand. All in all, a very good life for one Colin Baxter.
However, all that work and study, along with training his powers and sorcery made his life pretty lonely, hence the discord group. By bonding over their shared use of inhumane curses in the field of online gaming, they came together and now, this was their second Comic Con together.
He was so excited!
"Let's go!" He shouted as he all but lifted the Olson twins in his haste to go to his favourite panels, ALL OF THEM!
_____xx____
Triskelion
–Nick "One Eye gouged out by Flerken" Fury–
".....And this is all we have on him?" He couldn't help but glare at the sparse file lying on his table as if wishing that it would set itself on fire somehow.
"Yes, sir. By the time we regained control of the vessel, the target had already subdued everyone, took the data, and fled the ship, escaping through unknown means."
"Suspects? Chinese? Europe? Freaking Japan? Get me something, dammit!"
"...WE suspect that he is an independent operative sir."
"....Are you telling me that we have someone who can put holes in concrete walls, attack strategic Military assets, and steal the data onboard, all without a single clear sighting or even a casualty?"
"Yes, sir. However, the motives remain unclear since the data is standard Satellite rerouting data, something that is available, albeit in much less precision, online, for free."
He took in a deep breath, exhaled, and then closed the file, "That will be all, Agent Sitwell. Dismissed."
"Sir." Sitwell saluted and left his office.
As soon as the doors closed, he pressed a button under his desk, sealing his entire office shut before turning to a dark corner of his office, "You get all that, Pierce?"
Out from the darkness, came the grim visage of one Secretary of the World Security Council, Alexander Pierce. The boss of his bosses, the one person whose word he could not ignore, well, theoretically anyway.
"This is concerning Fury. This is the third known attack that SHIELD knows of. I have credible information of 6 more, spread across the world, attacking sensitive locations before stealing the data onboard for some reason."
He levelled his one eye on Pierce, "You and I both know what is on those ships' data disks."
"A project you vehemently disagree with, I understand that Fury but now is not the time for that debate. We need to catch this person because while the data itself is not that important in the major scheme of things if the person somehow gets a whiff of what we planned to do with that data, we might just have to say goodbye to SHIELD as a whole."
He glared at that man, "Why? Why take such risks? You know as well as I do that we should have shut this shit down the moment we knew that someone was targeting the Project ships. Not even the agents manning the ships know the true purpose."
"And it will remain that way. Remember Fury, everything we do, we do for the continued safety for the world."
"And having orbital canons with perfect spy hardware in space is the way to do that, really?"
Pierce slumped as his eyes softened, "Fury, look, you know as well as I do that this project is just at the concept stage right now. Hell, even the most optimistic predictions to get the necessary funding, hardware, software, and more importantly, the right mental projection around the world, would take decades. Maybe, until then, we will find something that works better, something that would not force us to trample on everyone's rights to get the tools to make the right choices.
But, until then, until we find something that can make the World Security Council back off without the threat of the agency's dissolution, we are going to have to go ahead with this project. You did agree to this in exchange for green lighting Project Avengers."
He sighed explosively, his fists clenched, "Fine. Though, the Council has yet to debate or even listen to my first pitch on that project."
"IF you are talking about Banner, let me stop you right there. We can't be seen associating with monsters so unless and until you can confirm that the Green Beast is not a beast but just some slightly less intelligent animal, Banner will stay off the Avengers Protocol. Is that clear?"
"Yes, sir."
"Great, glad I could clear it up."
The man then left his office, having waltzed in as if he owned the place.
His gaze then landed on the man with the orange outfit, the hideously orange robes that somehow, all the agents missed in the dark of the night. Freaking Orange one-sie managed to blindside all of his agents, physically bend steel, guns, and even break doors to get to his objective, with nothing being able to stop him.
Well, if he wanted the data so much… "Agent, get me Hawkeye."
Maybe it's time he set the Agent with the highest mission completion record in this case. The only reason Barton was kept out of this was because the man was smart and would smell something fishy was going on and he couldn't have that, not at this stage.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #4
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #4
Colin's Apartment, Seattle[January 9, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Ah, how time passes. It was only a week ago that he was with his brethren, in the center of the Convention, passing the time, ogling cosplaying chicks, and eating his body weight in calories, and now? Now, he was stuck studying for this exam that he didn't even wish to take.
"Ah, is it so hard to make updated textbooks? What do they even charge this much money for?" He grumbled to himself as he read through the horribly outdated textbooks assigned to them by their professor. He was studying to become a computer science engineer and was well ahead of the world in terms of software development of all kinds and yet, he had to learn some outdated principles about COBOL of all languages to get good grades for this exam.
His scholarship was very generous, paying for everything related to College, and yet, it needed a 3.0 GPA throughout his education.
Now that was not that hard to achieve IF one could attend all the other tests. No, between his work as a paid freelancer, volunteer open source developer, self employed Power testing and Kamar Taj affiliated Sorcerer, he had no time for classes as well as the little tests and quizzes that usually happen throughout the duration of a normal semester.
Normally, there would be no other option for a student. They would either have to do everything in college or have to do their other tasks but since he was, well, he, who was a legend in the Nerd community, the college was willing to look the other way as long as he didn't lose his scholarship and performed well.
Hence, the studying, since this was the biggest test of the semester, carried most of the weightage and only if he scored 95% or above on this test, he could maintain his 3.0 GPA average and keep his scholarship.
"Ah, I could be doing something so much more interesting," He muttered to himself, rotating his chair to take in his second best bachelor pad and found himself loathing the study material. Well, if they had the creativity to make it any interesting, he would have taken more than a cursory look, rather than just spend all his time daydreaming.
To be honest, it was not even that hard for him, courtesy of his enhanced brain but even that initial screening, the initial focused reading that would just imprint the book into his memory felt so tedious, he gave up mid way multiple times.
Looking up at the ceiling, he thought of the next steps he could take. So far, he was very heavily restricted by both Wong and the Ancient One in any steps he could take, based on his meta knowledge. Only now that he was in college, and lived on his own, could he do something about all the terrifying knowledge filled in his head.
Good news was that this was the cookie-cutter MCU with no meaningful deviation, well, aside from any new ones that he would do himself with his powers. Over the years, he tried to research, and devise strategies but even with his big head, he couldn't find a way he could upend the whole timeline and come out with a net positive.
Hell, aside from the whole Thanos Snap plan, he could save more human lives if he simply cleansed the whole planet, something that might very well be in the realm of possibility if he took on the Green Dimension DOor and cranked it up to the max.
It was as if the MCU he remembered happening was close to the best possible version of events happening, leading to half the universe dying and then being resurrected after half a decade.
That was something he could not accept, no matter what. Everything else was fair game, maybe even the Chitauri Invasion, if he found a better alternative to exposing the whole Alien life thing to the world, otherwise Loki would get the opportunity to open the portal and then watch as all of his plans crumbled as the Invasion was repelled pretty smoothly.
He chuckled at the image of him repelling an entire alien invasion, all by himself.
"Nice fantasies, Colin. Very nice fantasies," He chuckled to himself as he refocused on the 43rd page of the last textbook he had to memorise before the paper tomorrow. All of those things required power, a significant amount of power. He didn't have that level of power, just yet and he might never.
As things were going, he might end up becoming the strongest non Infinity, Gamma, or Chaos powered human around but as he knew from his knowledge, even having Infinity granted power was not enough to stop bad things from happening.
No, going by the power route was clearly not the smart choice, that much his brain could tell him. No, the bigger impact he could create was by nudging a few things here and there, small acts that would cascade into bigger avalanches of change, at least with his current power level.
He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs before focusing on the book. Just another 200 pages before he was done and perfect scores for tomorrow's exam was all but guaranteed. He wouldn't want Old Man Wong breathing down his neck because his grades slipped, even a little bit.
As things went, Wong might actually try to pull him back into Kamar Taj, with the justification of falling grades, further impeding his movements. So, this fight with the exam was not just for his scholarship because he was more than capable of financing that with his own hard earned money, no, this was the fight for his freedom. Freedom from balding Old Men who still thought of him as the soaking wet 12-13 year old who showed up on their doorsteps.
"Ah, good times," He flipped the textbook shut, suddenly not in the mood as he pushed his chair back with a well timed door on his foot that released a small wave of pressurised air.
The Wind dimension was handy like that. Also, it was one of the more useful ones because the water dimension could not be pressurised according to his will but the wind Dimension could release pressurised winds on command.
The composition of the air was remarkably similar to Earth's atmosphere as well so he didn't have to worry about polluting Earth's atmosphere with the repetitive usage of his powers.
He had a theory that there were different tiers to dimensions as well, something that he was working on integrating into the search UI he had already built into his powers. According to his theory, the Wind DImension and the Kinetic laser dimensions were a cut above the rest of the dimensions.
The CHI dimension should be the one above all of them, such was its impact on him. The Light Dimension, the Water Dimension, and the Earth dimension were not that useful to him and also could not be manipulated by him, hence the lower rating.
Now, if he had found some Holy Light dimension, that would have obviously been A tier. Even that would not be S iter in his opinion because nothing beats the ability to perform mass healing, mass passive strengthening on a group of people simply by opening a door and letting them bask in the glow of CHI.
Hell, according to the Ancient One, his blood would be like poison to Vampires, the strong life force within his blood attracting the Vampires but the weaker ones would not be able to handle the sheer energy within them, exploding on overeating.
Only Dracula might be able to drink his blood and not get energy bloated, which was terrifying because Vlad Dracula was a strong motherf*cker and not someone to be tangled with, even at the best of times.
He perked up as an idea popped into his head.
Turning around after firing yet another mild shockwave from his feet, he reached the other end of his sweet sweet bachelor pad, touching his main workstation, which held the state of the art PC that he built with his own blood, sweat, and tears.
Okay, a little dramatic but he did buy the overkill, overpriced monstrosity with his first hard earned money. Some of the hardware, like the case and the GPU were hideously overpriced but Anime for the win, especially Anime Waifu themed hardware that was collector edition, and priced at twice the MSRP.
The most demanding thing he did on this computer was Figma, which was what he used to design the whole UI in his mind, and also to sometimes design something for his freelancer regular clients that deserved the custom pieces he built for them sometimes.
So far, he counted two different hit Social Media apps and one Blog website that collectively generated over 12 Billion Dollars in yearly revenue, all paid out to him in royalties.
As one could imagine, he was rich, filthy rich, and yet, one might wonder, why did he still get a full scholarship?
Well, one, he applied before he became a millionaire, an official one anyway, and second, it was a Stark Industries Scholarship, granted to emerging talents, irrespective of monetary requirements.
A truly odd scholarship but who was he to say no to Free Money?
All he had to do in return was do a summer internship with Stark Industries in their LA offices this upcoming summer.
That would be great, obviously, since their founder was going to be kidnapped by a bunch of terrorists in a couple of months before building something that would reshape global military tactics for years to come, rendering all current gen weaponry nearly useless.
"Ah, that's the stuff," he sighed as he gulped down a concentrated shot of coffee as he worked on getting the design right for his new UI update so that he could go back to memorising his textbook.
Ah, the wonders of Procrastination.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #4
Colin's Apartment, Seattle[January 9, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Ah, how time passes. It was only a week ago that he was with his brethren, in the center of the Convention, passing the time, ogling cosplaying chicks, and eating his body weight in calories, and now? Now, he was stuck studying for this exam that he didn't even wish to take.
"Ah, is it so hard to make updated textbooks? What do they even charge this much money for?" He grumbled to himself as he read through the horribly outdated textbooks assigned to them by their professor. He was studying to become a computer science engineer and was well ahead of the world in terms of software development of all kinds and yet, he had to learn some outdated principles about COBOL of all languages to get good grades for this exam.
His scholarship was very generous, paying for everything related to College, and yet, it needed a 3.0 GPA throughout his education.
Now that was not that hard to achieve IF one could attend all the other tests. No, between his work as a paid freelancer, volunteer open source developer, self employed Power testing and Kamar Taj affiliated Sorcerer, he had no time for classes as well as the little tests and quizzes that usually happen throughout the duration of a normal semester.
Normally, there would be no other option for a student. They would either have to do everything in college or have to do their other tasks but since he was, well, he, who was a legend in the Nerd community, the college was willing to look the other way as long as he didn't lose his scholarship and performed well.
Hence, the studying, since this was the biggest test of the semester, carried most of the weightage and only if he scored 95% or above on this test, he could maintain his 3.0 GPA average and keep his scholarship.
"Ah, I could be doing something so much more interesting," He muttered to himself, rotating his chair to take in his second best bachelor pad and found himself loathing the study material. Well, if they had the creativity to make it any interesting, he would have taken more than a cursory look, rather than just spend all his time daydreaming.
To be honest, it was not even that hard for him, courtesy of his enhanced brain but even that initial screening, the initial focused reading that would just imprint the book into his memory felt so tedious, he gave up mid way multiple times.
Looking up at the ceiling, he thought of the next steps he could take. So far, he was very heavily restricted by both Wong and the Ancient One in any steps he could take, based on his meta knowledge. Only now that he was in college, and lived on his own, could he do something about all the terrifying knowledge filled in his head.
Good news was that this was the cookie-cutter MCU with no meaningful deviation, well, aside from any new ones that he would do himself with his powers. Over the years, he tried to research, and devise strategies but even with his big head, he couldn't find a way he could upend the whole timeline and come out with a net positive.
Hell, aside from the whole Thanos Snap plan, he could save more human lives if he simply cleansed the whole planet, something that might very well be in the realm of possibility if he took on the Green Dimension DOor and cranked it up to the max.
It was as if the MCU he remembered happening was close to the best possible version of events happening, leading to half the universe dying and then being resurrected after half a decade.
That was something he could not accept, no matter what. Everything else was fair game, maybe even the Chitauri Invasion, if he found a better alternative to exposing the whole Alien life thing to the world, otherwise Loki would get the opportunity to open the portal and then watch as all of his plans crumbled as the Invasion was repelled pretty smoothly.
He chuckled at the image of him repelling an entire alien invasion, all by himself.
"Nice fantasies, Colin. Very nice fantasies," He chuckled to himself as he refocused on the 43rd page of the last textbook he had to memorise before the paper tomorrow. All of those things required power, a significant amount of power. He didn't have that level of power, just yet and he might never.
As things were going, he might end up becoming the strongest non Infinity, Gamma, or Chaos powered human around but as he knew from his knowledge, even having Infinity granted power was not enough to stop bad things from happening.
No, going by the power route was clearly not the smart choice, that much his brain could tell him. No, the bigger impact he could create was by nudging a few things here and there, small acts that would cascade into bigger avalanches of change, at least with his current power level.
He shook his head, trying to clear the cobwebs before focusing on the book. Just another 200 pages before he was done and perfect scores for tomorrow's exam was all but guaranteed. He wouldn't want Old Man Wong breathing down his neck because his grades slipped, even a little bit.
As things went, Wong might actually try to pull him back into Kamar Taj, with the justification of falling grades, further impeding his movements. So, this fight with the exam was not just for his scholarship because he was more than capable of financing that with his own hard earned money, no, this was the fight for his freedom. Freedom from balding Old Men who still thought of him as the soaking wet 12-13 year old who showed up on their doorsteps.
"Ah, good times," He flipped the textbook shut, suddenly not in the mood as he pushed his chair back with a well timed door on his foot that released a small wave of pressurised air.
The Wind dimension was handy like that. Also, it was one of the more useful ones because the water dimension could not be pressurised according to his will but the wind Dimension could release pressurised winds on command.
The composition of the air was remarkably similar to Earth's atmosphere as well so he didn't have to worry about polluting Earth's atmosphere with the repetitive usage of his powers.
He had a theory that there were different tiers to dimensions as well, something that he was working on integrating into the search UI he had already built into his powers. According to his theory, the Wind DImension and the Kinetic laser dimensions were a cut above the rest of the dimensions.
The CHI dimension should be the one above all of them, such was its impact on him. The Light Dimension, the Water Dimension, and the Earth dimension were not that useful to him and also could not be manipulated by him, hence the lower rating.
Now, if he had found some Holy Light dimension, that would have obviously been A tier. Even that would not be S iter in his opinion because nothing beats the ability to perform mass healing, mass passive strengthening on a group of people simply by opening a door and letting them bask in the glow of CHI.
Hell, according to the Ancient One, his blood would be like poison to Vampires, the strong life force within his blood attracting the Vampires but the weaker ones would not be able to handle the sheer energy within them, exploding on overeating.
Only Dracula might be able to drink his blood and not get energy bloated, which was terrifying because Vlad Dracula was a strong motherf*cker and not someone to be tangled with, even at the best of times.
He perked up as an idea popped into his head.
Turning around after firing yet another mild shockwave from his feet, he reached the other end of his sweet sweet bachelor pad, touching his main workstation, which held the state of the art PC that he built with his own blood, sweat, and tears.
Okay, a little dramatic but he did buy the overkill, overpriced monstrosity with his first hard earned money. Some of the hardware, like the case and the GPU were hideously overpriced but Anime for the win, especially Anime Waifu themed hardware that was collector edition, and priced at twice the MSRP.
The most demanding thing he did on this computer was Figma, which was what he used to design the whole UI in his mind, and also to sometimes design something for his freelancer regular clients that deserved the custom pieces he built for them sometimes.
So far, he counted two different hit Social Media apps and one Blog website that collectively generated over 12 Billion Dollars in yearly revenue, all paid out to him in royalties.
As one could imagine, he was rich, filthy rich, and yet, one might wonder, why did he still get a full scholarship?
Well, one, he applied before he became a millionaire, an official one anyway, and second, it was a Stark Industries Scholarship, granted to emerging talents, irrespective of monetary requirements.
A truly odd scholarship but who was he to say no to Free Money?
All he had to do in return was do a summer internship with Stark Industries in their LA offices this upcoming summer.
That would be great, obviously, since their founder was going to be kidnapped by a bunch of terrorists in a couple of months before building something that would reshape global military tactics for years to come, rendering all current gen weaponry nearly useless.
"Ah, that's the stuff," he sighed as he gulped down a concentrated shot of coffee as he worked on getting the design right for his new UI update so that he could go back to memorising his textbook.
Ah, the wonders of Procrastination.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #5
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
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- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #5
University of Washington, Seattle,[January 10, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Finally. Woohoo!" he shouted in the middle of the cafeteria as he took the lunch from the lunch lady and began searching for a table for him. His very enthusiastic shout drew multiple odd looks from the students all around him but he didn't let that get to heart, as he finally spotted an empty seat at a table in the far right corner, right next to the emergency exit.
A truly vaunted spot for dinner, as it was completely empty, ripe for the taking from an extraordinarily smart yet strong teenager who also happened to have no time for friendships, hence his status as the loner of the class.
Hell, even his professors didn't give him group assignments. They just told him to get the project done in time, which he did, all the time because come on, this was college and he was already playing in the big leagues, which the university knew so they let it all slide.
Plus, it was not like he was committing felonies left, right, and centre for the University to hinder him in any way.
Whistling merrily, since exams were finally over, he sat down at the table and had his lunch, which was rare because he usually didn't partake in the slob that the University served, despite charging an arm and a leg for it. He usually had his meal, a big heavy meal in the morning, and then cycled his CHI throughout his body a couple of times, which got rid of the bloated feeling, and then went about his day.
He only needed refueling in the evening, when he had yet another protein filled meat based food item before moving on to his favourite part of the day.
Desert. Literal OTHERWORLDLY desert, that he ate every single day.
After all, having a constant supply of pure milk from the mystical coys of Ta-Lo meant that he had milk that was richer than even fish in protein and other nutrients, which meant that anything made from that milk would be infinitely more nutritious than any other processed food item on Earth. Hence, the ice cream that he made for himself and Jin'Ya on Red Hearth, and ate in small quantities.
Today, though? Today was a very special day. Today, his exams were done, and he had to meet the representative from Stark Industries today, who would decide in which division he would do his internship.
While he was doing his engineering in Computer Science, it was not like he had chosen his specialty yet so choosing the right department in the behemoth of a corporation that was Stark Industries would go a long way for him to get the right job, not that he was looking for a job but, hey, he had a stereotypical Asian parent in the form of Wong who always told him that having a stable job would always be better than being in an unstable industry that paid lots of money.
Slightly illogical but it came from a place of love so he let it slide.
So, after he was done eating or at least trying to eat the slob, he would take a long tour to the Dean's office, where the interview would be held. He was not worried though, his LinkedIn profile was the wet dream of any Engineer. Basically, he had more achievements on his profile at 18, than most people had at 25 or even 30.
While he was subconsciously shoving in the food, he was thinking of the data disks he had taken from all those private military contractor ships as well as SHIELD ships. There was something big happening in SHIELD that led to the data disks on those ships, something that had them hide the damned information behind the strongest freaking secrecy walls he had ever seen in his life, even from the likes of Wakanda though it must be that they hide their important data in an air gapped network and only use internet connection to hack the rest of the world.
He had finally hacked the damned file, only to get a list of serial numbers that led to a bunch of Satellite mapping equipment that had been installed on random shell company satellites launched by Stark Industries, beaming partial packets of data to 11 different ships, spread across the world. They were smart as well, the data was shared between the satellites themselves as well as the ships down below, even if that massively slowed down the data transmission speeds.
It was smart because that meant that without having all the eleven packages, he would not be able to decode the encryption on those files. Despite all his genius, that was beyond his ability. Also, he did not know what Technomany spell the Ancient One had used but the internet connection at Kamar Taj and in the Sanctums did not exist for anyone else trying to trace them.
Taking advantage, no, practically abusing that loophole, he had started his hacking career and had reached the practical top of the Dark Web. Literally, everyone in the top 10 cybercriminal lists of all the major countries of the Five Eyes alliance had tried their hand at cracking his systems yet, to all of their amazement and horror, they simply couldn't find his network, let alone try to breach it.
It was all very hilarious to watch and experience. Using that advantage, he had hacked into SHIELD, the US Military, Pentagon, CIA, and many other three letter agencies who specialised in encryption to finally get the keys necessary to crack the file that led him to those satellites and those ships.
He had the data disks from 9 ships so far, having hit them over the course of the last three months to physically retrieve them and copy all their data. They were locked in a box in a specific place in the Mirror dimension, making them impossible to track.
He just needed to hit the 2 more ships, get their data disks, and complete the puzzle that he had no idea SHIELD was plotting. Realistically, there should be nothing that SHIELD should be doing, especially on this scale, that involves mapping the planet.
Then again, it might be some of their work for the Tesseract, he did not know but he intended to find out, sooner rather than later. He had not made his debut in the criminal underworld like he planned to, simply because he had no time these days, but he had assaulted the ships and with them being ghosts, simply black sites that did not have any physical trace, SHIELD could not exactly publicly retaliate against someone, especially someone about whom they knew nothing about.
Dropping the tray in the tray bin, after having finished his food, he left the cafeteria, the normalness of the students in that place hitting him.
Walking through the campus, he snickered as he remembered what he wore when he performed all those raids.
A giant Orange onesie.
Oh yeah, he freaking Naruto-ed them when it came to being stealthy and using the ninja arts. He cheated, obviously, using discrete portals, his light doors to flash the cameras, and use his enhanced strength to break through everything. Obviously, they had titanium cages all around the disks which were tough to break, even for him.
So, once again, he cheated. Conjuring two doors in front of each other and letting the Kinetic lasers loose from both of them, creating a field of extreme kinetic energy that just punched through the titanium cage bars, leaving the rest red hot from the heat.
During the third time, he noticed that the cages had improved and on that particular ship, since it was much smaller and manned by only a couple of guys, he had time before reinforcements arrived, having knocked out all the guards. So, he did an experiment, he flooded his body with CHI, turning himself into a giant orange glow stick, and held onto the cage bars.
He regretted that immediately because they were very much electrified, as was written in the security specs that he had read before doing the whole thing but had forgotten in the heat of the moment, burning his hands BUT since he was a CHI lighthouse at the moment and he already had enhanced healing, that aspect was hypercharged as his body healed the damage the moment it was done, creating some sort of equilibrium.
He used that moment to bend the titanium cages, succeeding in only two attempts. Taking his hands off the electrified bars was tasking and painful since it did take in parts of his skin with it but he had taken those bars with him when he left that ship so SHIELD should not have any of his DNA at the moment.
That was how he became a superior version of Iron Fist, someone better than him in all aspects, save for maybe hand to hand combat but hey, he only got his ass kicked 8 out of 10 times by Mordo now, sorry, Master Mordo, as the hardass liked to be called, so he was definitely improving and would certainly do much better if he simply had more Time.
Checking the time, he had finally reached the Dean's office. He narrowed his eyes at the security, private security standing outside the Dean's office building, which was odd.
The way they scanned everything, and regularly communicated with each other indicated both paranoia and competency, which were both signs of someone who was constantly under threat, being in that building.
That was….not good.
"Are you Mr.Baxters?" He looked at the assistant from the Dean's office asking him, to which he replied, "Uh, Yeah. I am Colin."
"Perfect! These gentlemen will pat you down before meeting with the Dean and a special guest." She gestured to two absolutely built dudes who immediately began heading toward him.
He immediately backed up a step, "Oh, hey, Whoa! Ahem, since when was that necessary?" He asked in a pointed tone of voice, making the woman wince.
"Ah, I am really sorry, sir, but it is the security protocol for today. I am afraid you will have to get their security clearance." She looked genuine and had the same mannerisms as the woman he met a few times whenever the Dean called him over for a meeting, or he had to meet the Dean to get some exceptions for some rules.
Then again, those could easily be imitated by a Skrull.
Was she a Skrull?
He looked her over once and felt no discrepancy in the situation, even with his enhanced senses. Those guys, while built like a birch house, were all ordinary people, simply incapable of resisting even a single strike from him.
Oh, what the hell. He smiled at the people, "Fine, Sure. I'll go."
"Great!"
Let's see what life has in store for him today.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #5
University of Washington, Seattle,[January 10, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Finally. Woohoo!" he shouted in the middle of the cafeteria as he took the lunch from the lunch lady and began searching for a table for him. His very enthusiastic shout drew multiple odd looks from the students all around him but he didn't let that get to heart, as he finally spotted an empty seat at a table in the far right corner, right next to the emergency exit.
A truly vaunted spot for dinner, as it was completely empty, ripe for the taking from an extraordinarily smart yet strong teenager who also happened to have no time for friendships, hence his status as the loner of the class.
Hell, even his professors didn't give him group assignments. They just told him to get the project done in time, which he did, all the time because come on, this was college and he was already playing in the big leagues, which the university knew so they let it all slide.
Plus, it was not like he was committing felonies left, right, and centre for the University to hinder him in any way.
Whistling merrily, since exams were finally over, he sat down at the table and had his lunch, which was rare because he usually didn't partake in the slob that the University served, despite charging an arm and a leg for it. He usually had his meal, a big heavy meal in the morning, and then cycled his CHI throughout his body a couple of times, which got rid of the bloated feeling, and then went about his day.
He only needed refueling in the evening, when he had yet another protein filled meat based food item before moving on to his favourite part of the day.
Desert. Literal OTHERWORLDLY desert, that he ate every single day.
After all, having a constant supply of pure milk from the mystical coys of Ta-Lo meant that he had milk that was richer than even fish in protein and other nutrients, which meant that anything made from that milk would be infinitely more nutritious than any other processed food item on Earth. Hence, the ice cream that he made for himself and Jin'Ya on Red Hearth, and ate in small quantities.
Today, though? Today was a very special day. Today, his exams were done, and he had to meet the representative from Stark Industries today, who would decide in which division he would do his internship.
While he was doing his engineering in Computer Science, it was not like he had chosen his specialty yet so choosing the right department in the behemoth of a corporation that was Stark Industries would go a long way for him to get the right job, not that he was looking for a job but, hey, he had a stereotypical Asian parent in the form of Wong who always told him that having a stable job would always be better than being in an unstable industry that paid lots of money.
Slightly illogical but it came from a place of love so he let it slide.
So, after he was done eating or at least trying to eat the slob, he would take a long tour to the Dean's office, where the interview would be held. He was not worried though, his LinkedIn profile was the wet dream of any Engineer. Basically, he had more achievements on his profile at 18, than most people had at 25 or even 30.
While he was subconsciously shoving in the food, he was thinking of the data disks he had taken from all those private military contractor ships as well as SHIELD ships. There was something big happening in SHIELD that led to the data disks on those ships, something that had them hide the damned information behind the strongest freaking secrecy walls he had ever seen in his life, even from the likes of Wakanda though it must be that they hide their important data in an air gapped network and only use internet connection to hack the rest of the world.
He had finally hacked the damned file, only to get a list of serial numbers that led to a bunch of Satellite mapping equipment that had been installed on random shell company satellites launched by Stark Industries, beaming partial packets of data to 11 different ships, spread across the world. They were smart as well, the data was shared between the satellites themselves as well as the ships down below, even if that massively slowed down the data transmission speeds.
It was smart because that meant that without having all the eleven packages, he would not be able to decode the encryption on those files. Despite all his genius, that was beyond his ability. Also, he did not know what Technomany spell the Ancient One had used but the internet connection at Kamar Taj and in the Sanctums did not exist for anyone else trying to trace them.
Taking advantage, no, practically abusing that loophole, he had started his hacking career and had reached the practical top of the Dark Web. Literally, everyone in the top 10 cybercriminal lists of all the major countries of the Five Eyes alliance had tried their hand at cracking his systems yet, to all of their amazement and horror, they simply couldn't find his network, let alone try to breach it.
It was all very hilarious to watch and experience. Using that advantage, he had hacked into SHIELD, the US Military, Pentagon, CIA, and many other three letter agencies who specialised in encryption to finally get the keys necessary to crack the file that led him to those satellites and those ships.
He had the data disks from 9 ships so far, having hit them over the course of the last three months to physically retrieve them and copy all their data. They were locked in a box in a specific place in the Mirror dimension, making them impossible to track.
He just needed to hit the 2 more ships, get their data disks, and complete the puzzle that he had no idea SHIELD was plotting. Realistically, there should be nothing that SHIELD should be doing, especially on this scale, that involves mapping the planet.
Then again, it might be some of their work for the Tesseract, he did not know but he intended to find out, sooner rather than later. He had not made his debut in the criminal underworld like he planned to, simply because he had no time these days, but he had assaulted the ships and with them being ghosts, simply black sites that did not have any physical trace, SHIELD could not exactly publicly retaliate against someone, especially someone about whom they knew nothing about.
Dropping the tray in the tray bin, after having finished his food, he left the cafeteria, the normalness of the students in that place hitting him.
Walking through the campus, he snickered as he remembered what he wore when he performed all those raids.
A giant Orange onesie.
Oh yeah, he freaking Naruto-ed them when it came to being stealthy and using the ninja arts. He cheated, obviously, using discrete portals, his light doors to flash the cameras, and use his enhanced strength to break through everything. Obviously, they had titanium cages all around the disks which were tough to break, even for him.
So, once again, he cheated. Conjuring two doors in front of each other and letting the Kinetic lasers loose from both of them, creating a field of extreme kinetic energy that just punched through the titanium cage bars, leaving the rest red hot from the heat.
During the third time, he noticed that the cages had improved and on that particular ship, since it was much smaller and manned by only a couple of guys, he had time before reinforcements arrived, having knocked out all the guards. So, he did an experiment, he flooded his body with CHI, turning himself into a giant orange glow stick, and held onto the cage bars.
He regretted that immediately because they were very much electrified, as was written in the security specs that he had read before doing the whole thing but had forgotten in the heat of the moment, burning his hands BUT since he was a CHI lighthouse at the moment and he already had enhanced healing, that aspect was hypercharged as his body healed the damage the moment it was done, creating some sort of equilibrium.
He used that moment to bend the titanium cages, succeeding in only two attempts. Taking his hands off the electrified bars was tasking and painful since it did take in parts of his skin with it but he had taken those bars with him when he left that ship so SHIELD should not have any of his DNA at the moment.
That was how he became a superior version of Iron Fist, someone better than him in all aspects, save for maybe hand to hand combat but hey, he only got his ass kicked 8 out of 10 times by Mordo now, sorry, Master Mordo, as the hardass liked to be called, so he was definitely improving and would certainly do much better if he simply had more Time.
Checking the time, he had finally reached the Dean's office. He narrowed his eyes at the security, private security standing outside the Dean's office building, which was odd.
The way they scanned everything, and regularly communicated with each other indicated both paranoia and competency, which were both signs of someone who was constantly under threat, being in that building.
That was….not good.
"Are you Mr.Baxters?" He looked at the assistant from the Dean's office asking him, to which he replied, "Uh, Yeah. I am Colin."
"Perfect! These gentlemen will pat you down before meeting with the Dean and a special guest." She gestured to two absolutely built dudes who immediately began heading toward him.
He immediately backed up a step, "Oh, hey, Whoa! Ahem, since when was that necessary?" He asked in a pointed tone of voice, making the woman wince.
"Ah, I am really sorry, sir, but it is the security protocol for today. I am afraid you will have to get their security clearance." She looked genuine and had the same mannerisms as the woman he met a few times whenever the Dean called him over for a meeting, or he had to meet the Dean to get some exceptions for some rules.
Then again, those could easily be imitated by a Skrull.
Was she a Skrull?
He looked her over once and felt no discrepancy in the situation, even with his enhanced senses. Those guys, while built like a birch house, were all ordinary people, simply incapable of resisting even a single strike from him.
Oh, what the hell. He smiled at the people, "Fine, Sure. I'll go."
"Great!"
Let's see what life has in store for him today.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #6
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #6
Dean's Office, UW (short for University of Washington) [January 14, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
After a very thorough patting down that definitely had his eyebrows raising, which also included him surrendering all his meager belongings, like his laptop, he was finally cleared to enter the Dean's office, which was odd, very odd and the people who frisked him did it all professionally, not that he wouldn't have put them on their asses if they'd tried anything.
He could have used his enhanced senses to figure more stuff out but where was the fun in that? So, he did as they told him to and was finally allowed to enter an adjacent conference room, instead of the Dean's office directly.
Putting his hand on the doorknob, he turned to the security detail and mocked sarcastically, "Can I go now or do you guys need to check my underwear too?"
There was a strangled choking noise right as he entered the conference room, coming face to face with….Tony STARK?!
Composed and ready as he was, even he froze for a split second at the sight of the infamous billionaire, current Merchant of Death, just sitting nonchalantly right next to a very stressed out Dean. Still, as shocking as it was to see him right now, it was not much in the grand scheme of things so he schooled his expression and took the seat in front of Tony Stark.
"Dean Stein. Dr.Stark." Greeting them, he took in both of their expressions. Tony was looking mildly interested right now, instead of just looking dazedly at him while using his mobile phone under the desk, and the Dean, Dean Stein just looked stressed out. Poor Man.
"Ahem, Mr. Baxter, let me introduce you to–"
"The kid knows who I am," Tony said as he interrupted the Dean, finally setting his phone down on the table.
"..Ah, yes, of course he does. Now, Colin, the reason–"
"Let's cut to the case shall we, kid?" He smiled internally at the blatant disrespect to the Dean of a prestigious institution, not to mention who was old enough to be Tony's father. Well, it was not his job to humble Tony, no, it was Life's job, and it would almost certainly happen soon enough.
"Yes, Mr.Stark?" He replied, unphased at the whole charade. There must be a reason why someone of Tony's status had come personally to meet him. It was probably his exploits on the Dark Web that caught the eccentric genius' attention, or rather, Jarvis' attention and the manchild just couldn't contain his curiosity to come to meet the person who was the one person who could build better neural net algorithms than the man himself.
He knew there was no way that a human could crack stuff that fast. It had to be Jarvis but at that moment, he had no idea that Stark had left poor innocent Baby Jarvis exposed to the Dark Web.
"Is this you?" Stark slid the Stark phone to his side, showing a profile he had painstakingly built and kept hidden on the Dark Web, something he built on the side to build a reputation and to chase the thrill of cracking new security stuff, at the beginning of his career.
"That seems to be a profile of someone on one of the many leadership boards on the Dark Web. Am I supposed to know this 'WallBreaker_69' that you speak of?"
Ah, the wonders of crude boy humour that was only funny in a group of degenerate teenagers.
Tony looked straight into his eyes, "Right. So you claim to have no idea who that is?"
He shook his head innocently but he had a hunch that he was about to be proven wrong, and the best way to do that would be to look at his code and for that, they would have to crack his security and that was not for the faint of heart, since it used ridiculously advanced hardware and software to hold a tiny amount of data, something that he could afford with all his money, laundered through various countries and organisations, courtesy of Kamar Taj's vast network of favours who were happy to provide all their services when he asked around.
"I see." Tony said and then as if a switch had been flipped, he beamed and pocketed his phone, "Well, sorry to bother you, young man. I just wanted to meet the smartest cookie that this college has produced in a while. Now, I was supposed to give you the whole shtick about working at Stark Industries but I think you will fight right in with the stuff we have. I'll have someone send you the data packet. You'll come work directly under me. Until then, have fun and stay in school, kid."
He watched, amused as the Dean tried to get some manner of control over the situation. A situation that had been railroaded by Stark as he shook Colin's hand and left the room, acting as if he didn't listen to Dean fawning over him, right up until the door slammed into Dean Stein's face.
He sat back down in his seat as Dein Stein slumped and turned around, to look at him grinning like a loon.
"Oh, come off it, Colin. You'd understand if you were in my position."
He raised his hands in mock surrender, "Hey, I didn't say anything. I am sure you have your reasons for kissing–"
"If you finish that sentence, I am going to make sure that you have to do all your assignments in the classroom itself. Do you want me to do that?"
"Hey! Whoa! Where'd that come from? What did I do? It was all him, you were there!" He defended himself or at least tried to.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. That asshole! You know, if he hadn't just given us a 10 million dollar donation, I would–"
"What? 10 Mil? Damn, that's as if he is a billionaire, with no personal value for money. Shocker!"
Dein looked at him, sighed once more, and sat down in front of him.
"Look, Colin, I don't know what he came here to do and if he was satisfied or not, but the administration has high hopes from you, and even if you do end up taking the corporate route, which I don't think will justify your talents, we will support you in any way we wan. I was told that Mr.Stark wanted to meet you but he just handed…you–"
"What?" He asked a touch defensively. The Dean was pretty chill and due to his many exceptions taken from normal schooling, he knew the Dean on a much deeper level than most of the people in the University, so they could both talk freely. The man was an old geezer with an obsession to bring in more money for the University but he was alright.
Not evil, just a product of his environment and the expectations of the society and his job.
"You really are that WallBreaker character, aren't you?"
"Hmm. I don't know. No way to find out, I guess."
"*Sigh* You will lead me to an early grave one day. Just…keep it separate from your public identity."
"I don't know what you are talking about but I'll think about it."
"That's all I can ask for. Now, I know you had your last exam today. A month long break. Where are you going? Bahamas? Hawaii? Switzerland? India? Thailand?"
"Hey, what do you take me for? I don't have that kind of time, to do a global tour."
"Really? And what about the three month long vacation you took, claiming that you were working on a new product feature for TCP/IP protocol that would revolutionise the damned thing, and where do I find you, according to your Social Media?"
"H-Hey! In my defense, I did revolutionise the damned thing but the overhaul required was deemed too much of an effort so the goal was shifted to the next financial year. It works! You know that, the university received confirmation from them, on my behalf!"
Stein got all in his face, "Yes! I did. I was very proud BUT you could have done that here as well, instead of gallivanting around Italy and Europe, posting pictures of food and the countryside on your page. Do you have any idea how many complaints I had to deal with? Complaining about the special privileges you receive and abuse?"
"Alright, I got it. Won't do it the next time I go on a Europe trip!"
"Out! Get out of my office!" He laughed maniacally as he exited the conference room. He quickly snatched his bag out of the assistant's hands and fled the area, laughing all the way.
Ah, it was all so fun. It was nice watching Dean's blood pressure rise in real time.
____xx___
Colin's Bachelor Pad (Earth)
"Ah! Finally…." Colin grunted as he entered his apartment and dumped his backpack and just collapsed into his heavenly bed, without even taking off his shoes, something of a sin back when he used to live with Old Man Wong and that habit was certainly ingrained into his very soul but right now, he just didn't have the energy for that.
Plus, Old Man Wong was not here right now so who cares?
He turned around to lay down on his back, staring at the ceiling where he had engraved, with his own powers, a cool Dragon when he had a little creative phase because he had been very very excited to get his own place that he could actually host parties at!
Alas, that remained only a dream since he did not have any friends in Uni, at least not yet, what with all his concurrent projects advancing at the same time, requiring his attention at all times.
Sometimes, he wished he could make a clone of himself, just like Naruto could but that was a failed direction to work for. It was much better to develop one's mind more to better sustain multiple trains of thought at the same time. His brain was even better. According to the Ancient One, if he tried hard enough to do something, his brain would literally mold itself to accommodate that activity, courtesy of the CHI flowing through his body.
Today had been quite the day, and he had yet another ship to hit tonight, the second last one before he could complete the set and finally figure out exactly what SHIELD had been planning.
With controlled application of his Doors, he blew the shoes off and snuggled deep into the blanket after cranking up the AC. After all, having a cool outer area while being nice and warm in a blankie was THE best way to sleep.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #6
Dean's Office, UW (short for University of Washington) [January 14, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
After a very thorough patting down that definitely had his eyebrows raising, which also included him surrendering all his meager belongings, like his laptop, he was finally cleared to enter the Dean's office, which was odd, very odd and the people who frisked him did it all professionally, not that he wouldn't have put them on their asses if they'd tried anything.
He could have used his enhanced senses to figure more stuff out but where was the fun in that? So, he did as they told him to and was finally allowed to enter an adjacent conference room, instead of the Dean's office directly.
Putting his hand on the doorknob, he turned to the security detail and mocked sarcastically, "Can I go now or do you guys need to check my underwear too?"
There was a strangled choking noise right as he entered the conference room, coming face to face with….Tony STARK?!
Composed and ready as he was, even he froze for a split second at the sight of the infamous billionaire, current Merchant of Death, just sitting nonchalantly right next to a very stressed out Dean. Still, as shocking as it was to see him right now, it was not much in the grand scheme of things so he schooled his expression and took the seat in front of Tony Stark.
"Dean Stein. Dr.Stark." Greeting them, he took in both of their expressions. Tony was looking mildly interested right now, instead of just looking dazedly at him while using his mobile phone under the desk, and the Dean, Dean Stein just looked stressed out. Poor Man.
"Ahem, Mr. Baxter, let me introduce you to–"
"The kid knows who I am," Tony said as he interrupted the Dean, finally setting his phone down on the table.
"..Ah, yes, of course he does. Now, Colin, the reason–"
"Let's cut to the case shall we, kid?" He smiled internally at the blatant disrespect to the Dean of a prestigious institution, not to mention who was old enough to be Tony's father. Well, it was not his job to humble Tony, no, it was Life's job, and it would almost certainly happen soon enough.
"Yes, Mr.Stark?" He replied, unphased at the whole charade. There must be a reason why someone of Tony's status had come personally to meet him. It was probably his exploits on the Dark Web that caught the eccentric genius' attention, or rather, Jarvis' attention and the manchild just couldn't contain his curiosity to come to meet the person who was the one person who could build better neural net algorithms than the man himself.
He knew there was no way that a human could crack stuff that fast. It had to be Jarvis but at that moment, he had no idea that Stark had left poor innocent Baby Jarvis exposed to the Dark Web.
"Is this you?" Stark slid the Stark phone to his side, showing a profile he had painstakingly built and kept hidden on the Dark Web, something he built on the side to build a reputation and to chase the thrill of cracking new security stuff, at the beginning of his career.
"That seems to be a profile of someone on one of the many leadership boards on the Dark Web. Am I supposed to know this 'WallBreaker_69' that you speak of?"
Ah, the wonders of crude boy humour that was only funny in a group of degenerate teenagers.
Tony looked straight into his eyes, "Right. So you claim to have no idea who that is?"
He shook his head innocently but he had a hunch that he was about to be proven wrong, and the best way to do that would be to look at his code and for that, they would have to crack his security and that was not for the faint of heart, since it used ridiculously advanced hardware and software to hold a tiny amount of data, something that he could afford with all his money, laundered through various countries and organisations, courtesy of Kamar Taj's vast network of favours who were happy to provide all their services when he asked around.
"I see." Tony said and then as if a switch had been flipped, he beamed and pocketed his phone, "Well, sorry to bother you, young man. I just wanted to meet the smartest cookie that this college has produced in a while. Now, I was supposed to give you the whole shtick about working at Stark Industries but I think you will fight right in with the stuff we have. I'll have someone send you the data packet. You'll come work directly under me. Until then, have fun and stay in school, kid."
He watched, amused as the Dean tried to get some manner of control over the situation. A situation that had been railroaded by Stark as he shook Colin's hand and left the room, acting as if he didn't listen to Dean fawning over him, right up until the door slammed into Dean Stein's face.
He sat back down in his seat as Dein Stein slumped and turned around, to look at him grinning like a loon.
"Oh, come off it, Colin. You'd understand if you were in my position."
He raised his hands in mock surrender, "Hey, I didn't say anything. I am sure you have your reasons for kissing–"
"If you finish that sentence, I am going to make sure that you have to do all your assignments in the classroom itself. Do you want me to do that?"
"Hey! Whoa! Where'd that come from? What did I do? It was all him, you were there!" He defended himself or at least tried to.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. That asshole! You know, if he hadn't just given us a 10 million dollar donation, I would–"
"What? 10 Mil? Damn, that's as if he is a billionaire, with no personal value for money. Shocker!"
Dein looked at him, sighed once more, and sat down in front of him.
"Look, Colin, I don't know what he came here to do and if he was satisfied or not, but the administration has high hopes from you, and even if you do end up taking the corporate route, which I don't think will justify your talents, we will support you in any way we wan. I was told that Mr.Stark wanted to meet you but he just handed…you–"
"What?" He asked a touch defensively. The Dean was pretty chill and due to his many exceptions taken from normal schooling, he knew the Dean on a much deeper level than most of the people in the University, so they could both talk freely. The man was an old geezer with an obsession to bring in more money for the University but he was alright.
Not evil, just a product of his environment and the expectations of the society and his job.
"You really are that WallBreaker character, aren't you?"
"Hmm. I don't know. No way to find out, I guess."
"*Sigh* You will lead me to an early grave one day. Just…keep it separate from your public identity."
"I don't know what you are talking about but I'll think about it."
"That's all I can ask for. Now, I know you had your last exam today. A month long break. Where are you going? Bahamas? Hawaii? Switzerland? India? Thailand?"
"Hey, what do you take me for? I don't have that kind of time, to do a global tour."
"Really? And what about the three month long vacation you took, claiming that you were working on a new product feature for TCP/IP protocol that would revolutionise the damned thing, and where do I find you, according to your Social Media?"
"H-Hey! In my defense, I did revolutionise the damned thing but the overhaul required was deemed too much of an effort so the goal was shifted to the next financial year. It works! You know that, the university received confirmation from them, on my behalf!"
Stein got all in his face, "Yes! I did. I was very proud BUT you could have done that here as well, instead of gallivanting around Italy and Europe, posting pictures of food and the countryside on your page. Do you have any idea how many complaints I had to deal with? Complaining about the special privileges you receive and abuse?"
"Alright, I got it. Won't do it the next time I go on a Europe trip!"
"Out! Get out of my office!" He laughed maniacally as he exited the conference room. He quickly snatched his bag out of the assistant's hands and fled the area, laughing all the way.
Ah, it was all so fun. It was nice watching Dean's blood pressure rise in real time.
____xx___
Colin's Bachelor Pad (Earth)
"Ah! Finally…." Colin grunted as he entered his apartment and dumped his backpack and just collapsed into his heavenly bed, without even taking off his shoes, something of a sin back when he used to live with Old Man Wong and that habit was certainly ingrained into his very soul but right now, he just didn't have the energy for that.
Plus, Old Man Wong was not here right now so who cares?
He turned around to lay down on his back, staring at the ceiling where he had engraved, with his own powers, a cool Dragon when he had a little creative phase because he had been very very excited to get his own place that he could actually host parties at!
Alas, that remained only a dream since he did not have any friends in Uni, at least not yet, what with all his concurrent projects advancing at the same time, requiring his attention at all times.
Sometimes, he wished he could make a clone of himself, just like Naruto could but that was a failed direction to work for. It was much better to develop one's mind more to better sustain multiple trains of thought at the same time. His brain was even better. According to the Ancient One, if he tried hard enough to do something, his brain would literally mold itself to accommodate that activity, courtesy of the CHI flowing through his body.
Today had been quite the day, and he had yet another ship to hit tonight, the second last one before he could complete the set and finally figure out exactly what SHIELD had been planning.
With controlled application of his Doors, he blew the shoes off and snuggled deep into the blanket after cranking up the AC. After all, having a cool outer area while being nice and warm in a blankie was THE best way to sleep.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #7
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #7
Colin's Earth Bachelor Pad[Midnight, January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
His eyes snapped open as the alarm rang in his apartment, which was pitch dark yet he could see reasonably well, even in that darkness. With practiced ease, he got up and cast multiple illusion spells all around his pad, making sure that no one barged in while he was away on his mission and also to trip a spell he had woven into the building which would alert him when an unfamiliar person would come on the same floor as his apartment, giving him enough time to portal in from wherever he was in the world.
With a snap of his fingers, one of the lockers he had installed in the walls opened up, with the same orange onesie flying out of it, right into his hands.
Naruto would be really proud of him, seeing him perform stealth missions wearing the hideously bright orange hoodie that grew even brighter once he started channeling CHI throughout his body, more so than the usual amount that is.
Seeing the pre-printed picture he had taken of the area in the Pacific Ocean where the private vessel would be at midnight. Barring any anomalies, the location should be similar and if it was changed, then he would just call it a night and come home to investigate more about it because he was not going to go barging in on a heavily armed vessel with incomplete information, superhuman abilities or not.
He did not have his own relic yet, which was a shame. He had cajoled the Cape that would end up choosing Stephen Strange but the damn thing didn't respond to him at all. No other cape, defensive or offensive resonated with his magic which was fine because not all Masters got a relic for themselves and he still had time till he was officially conferred the title of magic but he had still expected something to resonate with his magic, given his status as an otherworlder.
Slipping on his sling ring, he channeled the required dimensional energy and pictured his destination, a thousand feet up in the air. He'd already cast a stealth spell on his body so that radar should not be able to detect him and in the dark of the night, catching his orange glowing onesie should be hard enough.
Waving his hands multiple times, he groaned in frustration as the stupid portal refused to open in the first dozen attempts. At this rate, he would never make an official Master since the exam included fast and reliable portal opening and closing as one of its parameters and as seen, he sucked at it, so so much.
"Finally!" he all but shouted as the portal finally opened up as he dove through the portal lest it close abruptly. The sling ring had a safety feature built into it so that once Master was midway, the ring would take over the energy modulation of the portal so he would be fine once his body entered the portal, otherwise, he ran the risk of slicing himself in half using the event horizon of a portal as a very sharp knife.
The cold air hit his face and he immediately used doors on his entire body to begin the process of reorienting himself mid air. It was very hard, especially with the strong winds at this height but this was not his first time so, with a little bit of effort and more than a little bit of flailing around, he finally stopped his descent and ascended instead.
With two gates on his feet and two on the back and front of his torso constantly emitting low amounts of thrust, he had finally established himself to draw the Binoculars he had hidden inside the onesie. It was surprisingly roomy and had multiple pockets for very useful stuff.
He could only see a couple of lights from this height, so he used his Binoculars to zoom in and… "There it is," He smiled as he saw the ship, using all of its lights as if it was not on a stealth mission.
His lips curved as he realised what it was, "About time they did this," He muttered as he realised they had just set a trap for him, and what a cliche way they had gone about doing this. A blatant way of drawing him in and then, what? Blow up the whole ship.
"Well, this night just turned a whole lot more interesting," He muttered as he stretched his body. It was always nice to do that before a heavy workout, despite CHI removing all those pesky side effects anyway.
He should be too small for radar but taking that risk did not seem right with him, and this was way too early in the grand scheme of things for him to expose his powers to SHIELD of all people. So, stealthy entry game it was.
OR, he could just turn around and leave, letting them fester while he hacked into SHIELD's databases again and found out where the last two ships were. Chances were that it was all hidden now but that was a much better shot than continuing with this obvious trap.
Alas, he was a teenager now and we were a rather hot headed breed of humans.
He dropped the air propulsion keeping him up and let himself drop, straight into the ocean below. He was reasonably certain that he would not be eaten up by some shark or whale before he reached that ship. Imagine how sad it would be for him to die to marine life before even setting his eyes on any Chitauri let alone the master of the Chitauri.
The winds buffeted his body as he was whisked around before the ocean water finally came so close that he opened a door of pressurised air and removed the surface tension of the water, otherwise, it would have been like hitting a concrete floor at that speed.
Closing his mouth and letting CHI run through his body, letting it act as a substitute for oxygen, multiple doors opened all around his body, letting loose small jets of pressurised air, propelling him forward in multiple directions before he got the hang of doing it right.
Having memorised the last location of the ship, he dove in deep and then activated the pressurised air jets on his feet, shooting him forward into the ocean like a rocket.
Grinning as he saw the water part around his form, he increased the flow of air around the jets, propelling him even further, with the water rippling over his form, his eyes catching the water patterns with ease.
With a thought, his entire form was jerked upwards as he shot out of the ocean and grinned as he saw the ship only a little bit further away. Underwater once more, he shot towards the ship once again, slowing down this time since he didn't want to be chopped by the ship's propeller blades.
Swimming using a single door which was expelling a small amount of air, he swam very close to the surface of the water, getting closer and closer as the lights began getting bright.
Checking once more that his spell was active, he jumped using an air boost and latched onto the ship using his hands. Slowly, he climbed the ship and came on the deck, after getting all the water off his body Using Air Doors.
Walking silently, he walked the entire length of the deck of the ship, which was very small, barely 10m long as he waited for the door to open up. The stealth spell worked on cloaking his heat signature as well as bent the light around his form, turning him mostly invisible.
Obviously, any overt movement would break the spell but that was not what he was here for.
He waited behind one of the many crates on the deck for well over 10 minutes before giving up on the patient approach. Manifesting an air Door on the other end of the deck, he let loose a shockwave that pushed all the craters away towards the door of the ship.
That, predictably, raised alarms as he saw red lights blaring with sirens going off around him. He crouched behind the closest crate and waited for the door to open. They opened and what seemed like a small army poured out of the doors, holding on to Military level gear and weaponry.
A bead of sweat ran down his face at the realisation that maybe, just maybe he might have jumped the gun here. Then again, that was only if he had to fight these people. Last resort, he could just torch this entire place with fire and leave unscathed, if only with his pride injured since he didn't want to touch his more esoteric offensive abilities against only a bunch of non enhanced but armed people.
Timing it just right, he speed walked into the door, only to freeze as he saw yet another squad of armed soldiers just waiting for something to come through the door. He gulped at their scopes being pointed straight at the door.
A spike of fear had him going so slow, through the center of the doorway and turning right, as he saw a heavy armed presence on the walkway turning left. His heart hammered in his chest as he walked while keeping close attention towards his surroundings.
His heart sank as he saw the door closed and more importantly, his heart sank as he realised that it was a trap. He could sense the slight movement of people behind that door, and movement behind him as well.
The entire ship was just teeming with heavily armed mercenaries or soldiers that were more than willing to fill his body with lead. Welp, time to term this mission as a failure, he thought to himself as he turned around, ready to head out the same way he came in, only to freeze as the doors began closing behind him.
He tried to run as fast as he could but the door closed right on his face. He could have used the lasers and burst out of here, killing a few in the process but without a concrete way of knowing who was just doing his job and who was loyal HYDRA, he will not go around just killing anyone standing in his way.
Exposing the portal spell to them was out of the question. He might as well display super strength before he would display portals. The only problem was, he didn't want to display that as well.
Still, this confirmed one thing for him. It was something very, very important to SHIELD, whatever data he had been stealing, otherwise, this level of force was not warranted against a thief, no matter how classified the data might be, considering that the data could not even be opened without having all the pieces.
His gaze snapped to the door as it creaked, before opening once more. He smiled and was about to roll out but the smile became stiff when he saw who was on the other end of the door.
Clint freaking Barton, with his signature Bow and Arrow was standing in the middle of the door, with the arrow aimed straight at him. He smartly sidestepped and almost sighed in relief when he saw the tip of the arrow not following him.
From both the sides of Clint, a veritable army of men flooded the small hallway and he sighed in resignation as he realised exactly what was happening.
They had somehow figured out that he was invisibly entering their strongholds and had devised this strategy to box him in.
As expected of Clint, the agent with the highest case closing rate in all of SHIELD.
Well, this should be fun…….
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #7
Colin's Earth Bachelor Pad[Midnight, January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
His eyes snapped open as the alarm rang in his apartment, which was pitch dark yet he could see reasonably well, even in that darkness. With practiced ease, he got up and cast multiple illusion spells all around his pad, making sure that no one barged in while he was away on his mission and also to trip a spell he had woven into the building which would alert him when an unfamiliar person would come on the same floor as his apartment, giving him enough time to portal in from wherever he was in the world.
With a snap of his fingers, one of the lockers he had installed in the walls opened up, with the same orange onesie flying out of it, right into his hands.
Naruto would be really proud of him, seeing him perform stealth missions wearing the hideously bright orange hoodie that grew even brighter once he started channeling CHI throughout his body, more so than the usual amount that is.
Seeing the pre-printed picture he had taken of the area in the Pacific Ocean where the private vessel would be at midnight. Barring any anomalies, the location should be similar and if it was changed, then he would just call it a night and come home to investigate more about it because he was not going to go barging in on a heavily armed vessel with incomplete information, superhuman abilities or not.
He did not have his own relic yet, which was a shame. He had cajoled the Cape that would end up choosing Stephen Strange but the damn thing didn't respond to him at all. No other cape, defensive or offensive resonated with his magic which was fine because not all Masters got a relic for themselves and he still had time till he was officially conferred the title of magic but he had still expected something to resonate with his magic, given his status as an otherworlder.
Slipping on his sling ring, he channeled the required dimensional energy and pictured his destination, a thousand feet up in the air. He'd already cast a stealth spell on his body so that radar should not be able to detect him and in the dark of the night, catching his orange glowing onesie should be hard enough.
Waving his hands multiple times, he groaned in frustration as the stupid portal refused to open in the first dozen attempts. At this rate, he would never make an official Master since the exam included fast and reliable portal opening and closing as one of its parameters and as seen, he sucked at it, so so much.
"Finally!" he all but shouted as the portal finally opened up as he dove through the portal lest it close abruptly. The sling ring had a safety feature built into it so that once Master was midway, the ring would take over the energy modulation of the portal so he would be fine once his body entered the portal, otherwise, he ran the risk of slicing himself in half using the event horizon of a portal as a very sharp knife.
The cold air hit his face and he immediately used doors on his entire body to begin the process of reorienting himself mid air. It was very hard, especially with the strong winds at this height but this was not his first time so, with a little bit of effort and more than a little bit of flailing around, he finally stopped his descent and ascended instead.
With two gates on his feet and two on the back and front of his torso constantly emitting low amounts of thrust, he had finally established himself to draw the Binoculars he had hidden inside the onesie. It was surprisingly roomy and had multiple pockets for very useful stuff.
He could only see a couple of lights from this height, so he used his Binoculars to zoom in and… "There it is," He smiled as he saw the ship, using all of its lights as if it was not on a stealth mission.
His lips curved as he realised what it was, "About time they did this," He muttered as he realised they had just set a trap for him, and what a cliche way they had gone about doing this. A blatant way of drawing him in and then, what? Blow up the whole ship.
"Well, this night just turned a whole lot more interesting," He muttered as he stretched his body. It was always nice to do that before a heavy workout, despite CHI removing all those pesky side effects anyway.
He should be too small for radar but taking that risk did not seem right with him, and this was way too early in the grand scheme of things for him to expose his powers to SHIELD of all people. So, stealthy entry game it was.
OR, he could just turn around and leave, letting them fester while he hacked into SHIELD's databases again and found out where the last two ships were. Chances were that it was all hidden now but that was a much better shot than continuing with this obvious trap.
Alas, he was a teenager now and we were a rather hot headed breed of humans.
He dropped the air propulsion keeping him up and let himself drop, straight into the ocean below. He was reasonably certain that he would not be eaten up by some shark or whale before he reached that ship. Imagine how sad it would be for him to die to marine life before even setting his eyes on any Chitauri let alone the master of the Chitauri.
The winds buffeted his body as he was whisked around before the ocean water finally came so close that he opened a door of pressurised air and removed the surface tension of the water, otherwise, it would have been like hitting a concrete floor at that speed.
Closing his mouth and letting CHI run through his body, letting it act as a substitute for oxygen, multiple doors opened all around his body, letting loose small jets of pressurised air, propelling him forward in multiple directions before he got the hang of doing it right.
Having memorised the last location of the ship, he dove in deep and then activated the pressurised air jets on his feet, shooting him forward into the ocean like a rocket.
Grinning as he saw the water part around his form, he increased the flow of air around the jets, propelling him even further, with the water rippling over his form, his eyes catching the water patterns with ease.
With a thought, his entire form was jerked upwards as he shot out of the ocean and grinned as he saw the ship only a little bit further away. Underwater once more, he shot towards the ship once again, slowing down this time since he didn't want to be chopped by the ship's propeller blades.
Swimming using a single door which was expelling a small amount of air, he swam very close to the surface of the water, getting closer and closer as the lights began getting bright.
Checking once more that his spell was active, he jumped using an air boost and latched onto the ship using his hands. Slowly, he climbed the ship and came on the deck, after getting all the water off his body Using Air Doors.
Walking silently, he walked the entire length of the deck of the ship, which was very small, barely 10m long as he waited for the door to open up. The stealth spell worked on cloaking his heat signature as well as bent the light around his form, turning him mostly invisible.
Obviously, any overt movement would break the spell but that was not what he was here for.
He waited behind one of the many crates on the deck for well over 10 minutes before giving up on the patient approach. Manifesting an air Door on the other end of the deck, he let loose a shockwave that pushed all the craters away towards the door of the ship.
That, predictably, raised alarms as he saw red lights blaring with sirens going off around him. He crouched behind the closest crate and waited for the door to open. They opened and what seemed like a small army poured out of the doors, holding on to Military level gear and weaponry.
A bead of sweat ran down his face at the realisation that maybe, just maybe he might have jumped the gun here. Then again, that was only if he had to fight these people. Last resort, he could just torch this entire place with fire and leave unscathed, if only with his pride injured since he didn't want to touch his more esoteric offensive abilities against only a bunch of non enhanced but armed people.
Timing it just right, he speed walked into the door, only to freeze as he saw yet another squad of armed soldiers just waiting for something to come through the door. He gulped at their scopes being pointed straight at the door.
A spike of fear had him going so slow, through the center of the doorway and turning right, as he saw a heavy armed presence on the walkway turning left. His heart hammered in his chest as he walked while keeping close attention towards his surroundings.
His heart sank as he saw the door closed and more importantly, his heart sank as he realised that it was a trap. He could sense the slight movement of people behind that door, and movement behind him as well.
The entire ship was just teeming with heavily armed mercenaries or soldiers that were more than willing to fill his body with lead. Welp, time to term this mission as a failure, he thought to himself as he turned around, ready to head out the same way he came in, only to freeze as the doors began closing behind him.
He tried to run as fast as he could but the door closed right on his face. He could have used the lasers and burst out of here, killing a few in the process but without a concrete way of knowing who was just doing his job and who was loyal HYDRA, he will not go around just killing anyone standing in his way.
Exposing the portal spell to them was out of the question. He might as well display super strength before he would display portals. The only problem was, he didn't want to display that as well.
Still, this confirmed one thing for him. It was something very, very important to SHIELD, whatever data he had been stealing, otherwise, this level of force was not warranted against a thief, no matter how classified the data might be, considering that the data could not even be opened without having all the pieces.
His gaze snapped to the door as it creaked, before opening once more. He smiled and was about to roll out but the smile became stiff when he saw who was on the other end of the door.
Clint freaking Barton, with his signature Bow and Arrow was standing in the middle of the door, with the arrow aimed straight at him. He smartly sidestepped and almost sighed in relief when he saw the tip of the arrow not following him.
From both the sides of Clint, a veritable army of men flooded the small hallway and he sighed in resignation as he realised exactly what was happening.
They had somehow figured out that he was invisibly entering their strongholds and had devised this strategy to box him in.
As expected of Clint, the agent with the highest case closing rate in all of SHIELD.
Well, this should be fun…….
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #8
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #8
Aboard the Starliner, Pacific Ocean [Midnight, January 15, 2008]
–Clint Barton–
When he was first assigned this mission, he thought it was a joke. But then he sobered up, seeing that the file was handed to him by Director Fury himself, in his office. Burying the joke about the orange onesie deep in his mind, he began shuffling through the entire case file they had on their mystery assailant, who was targeting classified ships collecting classified information, the source of which was a hack they had only just discovered after finding out that three classified locations had been hit successively.
The only thing that SHIELD knew was that it was a male, highly skilled, very much enhanced, and capable of slipping past all the sensory technology that the world had, all at the same time and all in the same person.
The fact that they did all of this while wearing a bright orange onesie meant that their thief was a troll as well, a feeling he knew all too well. Still, something told him back then that any attempt at any humour in front of the irate Director would fall flat anyway so he kept his mouth shut and requested some time to come up with a strategy.
He was given all the clearances he would need and was basically told that he had to bring his person in: Dead or Alive. Now, the Dead or Alive part came from Secretary Pierce, above the Director even because he was pretty sure that the Director would love to have someone like that on his payroll but since he was not sure how to respond at that moment, he confirmed to Secretary Pierce that he would try his best.
The plan was basic but had a high probability of working. The trolling of the thief suggested an age on the younger side but the training meant that they were probably young in mind and heart since just the abilities alone would not have allowed them to do what they did, which was hitting nine classified ships and taking their data disks, all by themselves.
Hell, the only reason SHIELD even knew that they wore an orange onesie and their rough dimensions was because they chose to appear on camera. On every ship, once they had completed their task, be it knocking out every single operative or stealing the data disks from their safe enclosure, they purposely found a camera and posed in front of that camera with that hideous orange onesie that glowed in the dark, further cementing his theory that they were young, at least in mind.
So, they set up a trap. A working one, since the ship actually was recording the data and saving it in the data disk which was safely enclosed in a titanium box right next to the engine, which was notoriously hard to get to.
Hundreds of operatives flood the ship or all chambers to see if they can find the invisible person. The analysts also think they could be intangible but if that were the case, they would not have had to break apart the titanium cases to steal the data disks and also would not have dodged any and all gunfire heading their way, according to the testimonies they recorded from the operatives.
Multiple testimonies confirmed that the orange guy was not bulletproof but capable of breaking apart steel, something of an oddity since it was common consensus within the Analysts' staff, that once someone got strong enough to outright break steel or metal, they gained proportional durability simply due to the density of the muscles required for that feat of strength.
So, there he was, on the ship, alert since it had already struck midnight and all the raids occurred around the same time.
And then it happened. He had radar scanning every single thing around them, ordered to alert him should even a small human sized person enter their range but he heard nothing from them. He smiled as he heard a crash on the deck, likely one of the many crates they had purposely left on the deck so their mystery thief could use them to create a distraction.
After that, everything went as planned. The ship was small, purposefully chosen to divide the entire hallways into smaller sections. The plan was to show a bit of the force and then corral the thief into the less fortified areas and coincidentally, into the areas which could house the data disks. Then, they cleared the locked down chambers, one by one, not by sight, not by motion or heat sensors but by a pure old tactic known as overcrowding.
The purpose was to fill a room with all of the agents, suffocating the space so much so that it would be impossible for a person to hide. For that, the roof was lowered as well, making sure that the area they needed to cover was reduced.
Judging the time to be enough, he gave the orders for all the chamber doors to be sealed shut, trapping anyone who was inside at the moment. Clearing them one by one, they finally came across the third chamber.
"Open it up," He spoke on the radio and tensed with his bow and arrow ready, as did all the other agents as they expected something to happen. Nothing happened when the door opened fully, but he didn't let his guard down, even as two flights of soldiers began flooding the chamber.
He kept an eye out for any minute disturbances since no form of invisibility was perfect, even if it was an enhanced power, everything had weaknesses. He stood at the entrance, making sure that no space was left empty when he saw it, a slight shimmering right in front of him.
Trusting his instincts, he instantly let the arrow loose, smiling slightly as it was stopped mid air as the glowing orange form of their mystery thief was revealed. A skull mask on his face, and an air of finality around the man.
"Got you," He muttered as dozens of guns were aimed at the now revealed man. He crushed the arrow in his grip, which was expected since the man could reportedly bend steel but it put things into perspective since his arrows were custom made, very strong in all aspects.
"Surrender! You are surrounded by SHIELD! By US Law, you are committing treason. Come quietly and we might be able to–" He dove for cover as the sound of bullets being fired filled the chamber, as the man ducked and punched the ground, instantly caving the entire floor.
He didn't know how but there was a huge shockwave in the aftermath that ragdolled everyone in the chambers. He heard bones breaking as he winced at the particularly rough landing.
Getting up immediately, he notched his arrow as he looked down the hole and saw a hole heading straight down two floors, stopping at the engine room. "Flood the entire ship. Be careful, the intruder has super strength. I repeat the intruder has—"
HE stopped mid warning as a mocking voice filled the entire ship, "You'll never catch me alive, copper!"
Against his will, a smile formed on his face as he jumped down the hole after creating a makeshift ropeway for himself using one of his utility arrows. Apparently, their thief was a troll and had taste.
He ran in the one direction the hallway led to and found a staircase that led straight up, with its lid open.
He hoisted his bow behind him and began climbing and yelped as the entire staircase detached from the top, with the manhole cover closing in.
"~Too Late~!" In a singsong voice, the mocking was clearly heard all around him somehow, as he, once again, landed roughly, barely managing to move himself out of the way of the heavy metal staircase crashing on the ground.
Okay, this was getting a little annoying now, "Everyone! Get to the engine bay! Create a human blockade around the engine room. I repeat–"
Was all he could get in before the lights flickered before only the red emergency lights flickered on.
His radio crackled to life, "The engine is down. I repeat, the engine is down. Schakowsky is unresponsive. I repeat, Agent Sho–" He cursed as he ran all the way back and began climbing up using the same rope with which he had come down.
If the engine room was breached, then the probability of the data disks being taken had also increased. Then again, he still had the final trap left. He didn't want to use it, just in case it injured the bastard but after seeing his actions, that bomb might just give him light to medium injuries, that's all.
Pressing a button on his belt, he ran towards the engine bay with all his might, smiling slightly as a dull boom was felt across the entire ship, making the lights go out for a moment before they returned.
"Quarantine the engine bay. I repeat, do NOT go in. I repeat–" He ordered everyone before reaching the Engine bay, bruised from the multiple rough landings.
Damn, he was getting too old for some of this shit.
The Engine Bay door was locked down, with no impact on it.
"On my mark," He said before pushing the emergency open button and storming the place.
"GO! GO! GO!" People screamed as they began looking for the thief. He, meanwhile, headed straight to the place he knew the data disks were held. With practised precision, he fired an arrow straight at the place he knew the data disks would be, his arrow flying through thin air before embedding itself into the wall.
Blinking through the smoke, lights flooded the area from the agents behind him as he began looking for the thief, who should hopefully be bruised or atleast dazed from the explosion.
Instead, "You've got to be shitting me…" He muttered as he saw where his arrow had landed.
Right on top of the word TRY. In Red ink, in big bold letters, it was written NICE TRY on the wall, right next to a human sized hole in the hull.
Well, this was a failure.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #8
Aboard the Starliner, Pacific Ocean [Midnight, January 15, 2008]
–Clint Barton–
When he was first assigned this mission, he thought it was a joke. But then he sobered up, seeing that the file was handed to him by Director Fury himself, in his office. Burying the joke about the orange onesie deep in his mind, he began shuffling through the entire case file they had on their mystery assailant, who was targeting classified ships collecting classified information, the source of which was a hack they had only just discovered after finding out that three classified locations had been hit successively.
The only thing that SHIELD knew was that it was a male, highly skilled, very much enhanced, and capable of slipping past all the sensory technology that the world had, all at the same time and all in the same person.
The fact that they did all of this while wearing a bright orange onesie meant that their thief was a troll as well, a feeling he knew all too well. Still, something told him back then that any attempt at any humour in front of the irate Director would fall flat anyway so he kept his mouth shut and requested some time to come up with a strategy.
He was given all the clearances he would need and was basically told that he had to bring his person in: Dead or Alive. Now, the Dead or Alive part came from Secretary Pierce, above the Director even because he was pretty sure that the Director would love to have someone like that on his payroll but since he was not sure how to respond at that moment, he confirmed to Secretary Pierce that he would try his best.
The plan was basic but had a high probability of working. The trolling of the thief suggested an age on the younger side but the training meant that they were probably young in mind and heart since just the abilities alone would not have allowed them to do what they did, which was hitting nine classified ships and taking their data disks, all by themselves.
Hell, the only reason SHIELD even knew that they wore an orange onesie and their rough dimensions was because they chose to appear on camera. On every ship, once they had completed their task, be it knocking out every single operative or stealing the data disks from their safe enclosure, they purposely found a camera and posed in front of that camera with that hideous orange onesie that glowed in the dark, further cementing his theory that they were young, at least in mind.
So, they set up a trap. A working one, since the ship actually was recording the data and saving it in the data disk which was safely enclosed in a titanium box right next to the engine, which was notoriously hard to get to.
Hundreds of operatives flood the ship or all chambers to see if they can find the invisible person. The analysts also think they could be intangible but if that were the case, they would not have had to break apart the titanium cases to steal the data disks and also would not have dodged any and all gunfire heading their way, according to the testimonies they recorded from the operatives.
Multiple testimonies confirmed that the orange guy was not bulletproof but capable of breaking apart steel, something of an oddity since it was common consensus within the Analysts' staff, that once someone got strong enough to outright break steel or metal, they gained proportional durability simply due to the density of the muscles required for that feat of strength.
So, there he was, on the ship, alert since it had already struck midnight and all the raids occurred around the same time.
And then it happened. He had radar scanning every single thing around them, ordered to alert him should even a small human sized person enter their range but he heard nothing from them. He smiled as he heard a crash on the deck, likely one of the many crates they had purposely left on the deck so their mystery thief could use them to create a distraction.
After that, everything went as planned. The ship was small, purposefully chosen to divide the entire hallways into smaller sections. The plan was to show a bit of the force and then corral the thief into the less fortified areas and coincidentally, into the areas which could house the data disks. Then, they cleared the locked down chambers, one by one, not by sight, not by motion or heat sensors but by a pure old tactic known as overcrowding.
The purpose was to fill a room with all of the agents, suffocating the space so much so that it would be impossible for a person to hide. For that, the roof was lowered as well, making sure that the area they needed to cover was reduced.
Judging the time to be enough, he gave the orders for all the chamber doors to be sealed shut, trapping anyone who was inside at the moment. Clearing them one by one, they finally came across the third chamber.
"Open it up," He spoke on the radio and tensed with his bow and arrow ready, as did all the other agents as they expected something to happen. Nothing happened when the door opened fully, but he didn't let his guard down, even as two flights of soldiers began flooding the chamber.
He kept an eye out for any minute disturbances since no form of invisibility was perfect, even if it was an enhanced power, everything had weaknesses. He stood at the entrance, making sure that no space was left empty when he saw it, a slight shimmering right in front of him.
Trusting his instincts, he instantly let the arrow loose, smiling slightly as it was stopped mid air as the glowing orange form of their mystery thief was revealed. A skull mask on his face, and an air of finality around the man.
"Got you," He muttered as dozens of guns were aimed at the now revealed man. He crushed the arrow in his grip, which was expected since the man could reportedly bend steel but it put things into perspective since his arrows were custom made, very strong in all aspects.
"Surrender! You are surrounded by SHIELD! By US Law, you are committing treason. Come quietly and we might be able to–" He dove for cover as the sound of bullets being fired filled the chamber, as the man ducked and punched the ground, instantly caving the entire floor.
He didn't know how but there was a huge shockwave in the aftermath that ragdolled everyone in the chambers. He heard bones breaking as he winced at the particularly rough landing.
Getting up immediately, he notched his arrow as he looked down the hole and saw a hole heading straight down two floors, stopping at the engine room. "Flood the entire ship. Be careful, the intruder has super strength. I repeat the intruder has—"
HE stopped mid warning as a mocking voice filled the entire ship, "You'll never catch me alive, copper!"
Against his will, a smile formed on his face as he jumped down the hole after creating a makeshift ropeway for himself using one of his utility arrows. Apparently, their thief was a troll and had taste.
He ran in the one direction the hallway led to and found a staircase that led straight up, with its lid open.
He hoisted his bow behind him and began climbing and yelped as the entire staircase detached from the top, with the manhole cover closing in.
"~Too Late~!" In a singsong voice, the mocking was clearly heard all around him somehow, as he, once again, landed roughly, barely managing to move himself out of the way of the heavy metal staircase crashing on the ground.
Okay, this was getting a little annoying now, "Everyone! Get to the engine bay! Create a human blockade around the engine room. I repeat–"
Was all he could get in before the lights flickered before only the red emergency lights flickered on.
His radio crackled to life, "The engine is down. I repeat, the engine is down. Schakowsky is unresponsive. I repeat, Agent Sho–" He cursed as he ran all the way back and began climbing up using the same rope with which he had come down.
If the engine room was breached, then the probability of the data disks being taken had also increased. Then again, he still had the final trap left. He didn't want to use it, just in case it injured the bastard but after seeing his actions, that bomb might just give him light to medium injuries, that's all.
Pressing a button on his belt, he ran towards the engine bay with all his might, smiling slightly as a dull boom was felt across the entire ship, making the lights go out for a moment before they returned.
"Quarantine the engine bay. I repeat, do NOT go in. I repeat–" He ordered everyone before reaching the Engine bay, bruised from the multiple rough landings.
Damn, he was getting too old for some of this shit.
The Engine Bay door was locked down, with no impact on it.
"On my mark," He said before pushing the emergency open button and storming the place.
"GO! GO! GO!" People screamed as they began looking for the thief. He, meanwhile, headed straight to the place he knew the data disks were held. With practised precision, he fired an arrow straight at the place he knew the data disks would be, his arrow flying through thin air before embedding itself into the wall.
Blinking through the smoke, lights flooded the area from the agents behind him as he began looking for the thief, who should hopefully be bruised or atleast dazed from the explosion.
Instead, "You've got to be shitting me…" He muttered as he saw where his arrow had landed.
Right on top of the word TRY. In Red ink, in big bold letters, it was written NICE TRY on the wall, right next to a human sized hole in the hull.
Well, this was a failure.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #9
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #9
Red Hearth [January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Phew, that was close. He cast a cleaning spell on himself, casting away all the soot and stuff, before he looked at the walls of the portal room. A room created specifically for people to portal into, since this was the only place that didn't have the anti spatial manipulation wards he had woven into the entire structure of his home.
As expected, the walls in front of him slid open, revealing giant glowing balls of red and purple, ready to blast away any intruder that dared to invade his home. The glowing balls were pretty much forbidden spells, made from the essence of a mass genocide of demons, instilled with multiple spells, so as to make a ball of pure destruction that, if failing in destroying the target, would poison and curse them with high level spells, pretty much guaranteeing the death of anyone below the level of Wong.
Sighing as the walls slid back down after confirming, on a Quantum level, that it was Colin Baxter and not a clone, or someone possessing his real body, or even a time travelling version of himself. He really had gone overboard with the security of this place but hey, if the Ancient One was offering a wardstone that had pretty much unlimited energy and would last for years, who was he to decline overkill protection for what was his home in this reality?
After all, it is not paranoia if they really are out to get you. He learned that from watching Moody and Fury, both one eyed paranoid sons of bitches that always survived.
Choosing not to switch into his clean clothes, he trudged towards the small freshening up station he had built just outside the portal room. As he neared the door of the portal room, multiple vigils, which were runes from different languages, flashed before the door opened and then the same thing happened when it closed, essentially, opening and closing a pocket dimension that had been anchored to the Wardstone buried deep beneath the Red Hearth, right below the chambers of Jin'Ya, the de facto protector of his home, and when the time comes, Jin'Ya will be the most fearsome protector in the Nine Realms.
The dude was a monster, and it was only a matter of time before he got to witness the old fuck in all of his glory. Sighing in relief as hot water began cascading down his body, he thought of what would happen should someone succeed in getting past the protections in the portal room.
He giggled a bit at the possibility, even though it was small, so much so that he was tempted to invite some Demon Prince through the portal room, only to watch Jin'Ya wreak havoc on the poor demon.
Oh, well. That was going to be impossible since Jin'Ya was a master of psionic manipulation and would read the mind of the demon instantly and then, it would not be fun for Colin Baxter anymore.
"Decontamination procedure, complete." The computer said out loud as his entire body was bathed in high concentration UV, just to get rid of any germs he might have brought from Earth and considering that he was just swimming in the Earth's oceans which were increasingly being treated as Earth's common sewers, he might just have some new bacteria, viruses or germs on him.
Wincing in discomfort as the CHI flowing through his body rushed to the injured spots and began healing the burns, stretching his skin in the most uncomfortable ways, he waited a few seconds before heading out of the UV chamber. The UV chamber, while decontaminating him, was also moving, so he stepped out into the living room, a shared space between him and Jin'Ya, who was nowhere to be seen.
That was odd.
He expanded his senses and connected to the ward scheme of Red Hearth, and let out a creepy smirk as he realised where Jin'Ya was and what he was probably doing.
"Hehehe," He laughed as he began tiptoeing back to the elevator, making sure to mask his energy signature while doing so. Wouldn't want to tip off old man Jin'Ya, who still couldn't let go of his romance even after being a gazillion years old.
The elevator tinged as he reached the conference room, an area laid down with the most advanced communication arrays of magical, psionic, and technological connections, allowing for communication almost anywhere. They were in the process of setting up another room, where they would use the Warp Gates to communicate throughout the wider space, after they had pilfered any spaceship that was unfortunate enough to get stuck in their net.
So far, none had taken the bait and it was unwise to disturb Titan, once home of Thanos lest they invite the calamity far before than scheduled.
Sure, he gave the Ancient One and all the people he could rally, about a 50% chance of defeating Thanos without the Stones, especially since they would have two on their sides, but the chances of decimating Thanos' forces while injuring the Titan to such an extent that even fighting a Kylosian (Drax's species) would be all but a death sentence for him. But still, it was much better to avoid that possibility altogether.
Now, he was headed to the psionic wing of the conference room, the one used predominantly by Jin'Ya, mainly because he was the only one skilled enough to actually operate it since it was a completely manual machine with no machine interference whatsoever.
According to the Ancient One, this served as yet another line of defense in their communications network because the only ones capable of operating their network were dragons who had spent who knows how many years in the Astral Realm, soaking up psionic energy and becoming masters at manipulating it.
"Hehe…" He giggled as he came closer to the room that Jin'Ya was currently using and it was becoming increasingly harder to control his laughter, and therefore, his energy suppression because this was it, this was the moment he was going to remind Jin'Ya for the rest of his humane life, since Jin'Ya, the old fuck was immortal and was not going to bite the dust anytime soon.
Just as his hand touched the door knob, a dark aura assaulted his being as he was flung back from his body–No, his Astral Form was flung back out of his body, with his body falling slack in slow motion.
He looked down and saw the Door that continued to pump CHI throughout his body right above his chest. Huh, so they carried over in Astral Form as well, something that he had not dared experiment with because who knew what could happen with the doors he had attached to his very soul. He didn't want to risk becoming a vegetable and so, that part of his training was omitted as well.
You know, he could actually understand the position of all the other Masters who were so opposed to him actually getting the title of Master because firstly, his portals were abysmal, and secondly, he didn't even know how to draw out his Astral Form, hence the huge back and forth about getting a new spell from him peer reviewed and certified to officially confer him the title of Master.
Ignoring that for a moment, he pointed above the conference room and screamed hysterically, "What the fuck is that?!!!"
Right above the conference room, at last in the Astral Realm, there was a giant void, that had far too many eyes and tongues than he was comfortable with, and the most gross thing of all, there was a tongue, coming from inside the room and heading into the void.
"Ewww!" He screamed as he tried to float back and realised that he couldn't do that. In that moment of bumbling panic, he called upon his CHI and flooded his soul with it, trying to break free of the hold, searing away the translucent waves around him.
He smiled as it seemed to be doing something but apparently, that was not how it worked because the next moment, he blacked out.
……
…..
"Ugh! What hit me?" he groaned as he flopped off the chair he was sitting on. With Bleary eyes, he looked up and saw the floating form of Jin'ya looking down at him, and in a mighty pissed way too!
"You! What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you become a beacon of CHI in the fucking Astral Realm? Do you have a death wish?!" Jin'Ya screamed at him as the entire room shook from his anger.
Even in the dazed state that he was in, a chill ran down his spine as he realised what he had done.
"Oh god," He muttered as he looked around and checked his body and then closed his eyes, going straight for his mind to check if—
Bonk!
"Don't bother. Your soul is whole. You were lucky I was here, you idiot!" Jin'Ya bonked him psionically and told him.
He sighed in extreme relief. How could he have forgotten that the Astral Realm was filled with ancient soul sucking monsters who would love nothing more than to have a life filled, unlimited CHI providing soul such as himself?
His shoulders sagged as he lay down on the floor, thinking of what his stupid curiosity and a little prank could have led to. He should have just left Jin'Ya alone but he was just fresh off from a defeat and wanted something to stave off his boredom long enough for him to regain the motivation required to find the two remaining puzzles of the data.
Then, his eyes snapped open as he sat upright. He pointed at Jin'Ya, "Hey! It was your fault at first! Why did you push me out of my body? You knew that it was a danger, the Ancient One said so. How could you put me in such a position? Do you have any idea how scared I was when I saw the whole and the tongues and the–Oh god, the eyes!"
He all but screamed at the being older than civilization itself as he got off from the high of being saved.
Jin'Ya looked increasingly embarrassed before, with a hmph, he disappeared from the spot.
"Oh yeah! That's real mature of you! As expected of an old fuck. Run from your mistakes, why don't you!" He shouted with magic enhancing his voice, making sure that his voice reached the entire Red hearth, top to bottom.
Thank god, the floors where he planned to build habitats for animals and other rare species were not yet populated. Otherwise, those poor creatures would have been subjected to his magic enhanced rant as well.
Word Count - 1850
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #9
Red Hearth [January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Phew, that was close. He cast a cleaning spell on himself, casting away all the soot and stuff, before he looked at the walls of the portal room. A room created specifically for people to portal into, since this was the only place that didn't have the anti spatial manipulation wards he had woven into the entire structure of his home.
As expected, the walls in front of him slid open, revealing giant glowing balls of red and purple, ready to blast away any intruder that dared to invade his home. The glowing balls were pretty much forbidden spells, made from the essence of a mass genocide of demons, instilled with multiple spells, so as to make a ball of pure destruction that, if failing in destroying the target, would poison and curse them with high level spells, pretty much guaranteeing the death of anyone below the level of Wong.
Sighing as the walls slid back down after confirming, on a Quantum level, that it was Colin Baxter and not a clone, or someone possessing his real body, or even a time travelling version of himself. He really had gone overboard with the security of this place but hey, if the Ancient One was offering a wardstone that had pretty much unlimited energy and would last for years, who was he to decline overkill protection for what was his home in this reality?
After all, it is not paranoia if they really are out to get you. He learned that from watching Moody and Fury, both one eyed paranoid sons of bitches that always survived.
Choosing not to switch into his clean clothes, he trudged towards the small freshening up station he had built just outside the portal room. As he neared the door of the portal room, multiple vigils, which were runes from different languages, flashed before the door opened and then the same thing happened when it closed, essentially, opening and closing a pocket dimension that had been anchored to the Wardstone buried deep beneath the Red Hearth, right below the chambers of Jin'Ya, the de facto protector of his home, and when the time comes, Jin'Ya will be the most fearsome protector in the Nine Realms.
The dude was a monster, and it was only a matter of time before he got to witness the old fuck in all of his glory. Sighing in relief as hot water began cascading down his body, he thought of what would happen should someone succeed in getting past the protections in the portal room.
He giggled a bit at the possibility, even though it was small, so much so that he was tempted to invite some Demon Prince through the portal room, only to watch Jin'Ya wreak havoc on the poor demon.
Oh, well. That was going to be impossible since Jin'Ya was a master of psionic manipulation and would read the mind of the demon instantly and then, it would not be fun for Colin Baxter anymore.
"Decontamination procedure, complete." The computer said out loud as his entire body was bathed in high concentration UV, just to get rid of any germs he might have brought from Earth and considering that he was just swimming in the Earth's oceans which were increasingly being treated as Earth's common sewers, he might just have some new bacteria, viruses or germs on him.
Wincing in discomfort as the CHI flowing through his body rushed to the injured spots and began healing the burns, stretching his skin in the most uncomfortable ways, he waited a few seconds before heading out of the UV chamber. The UV chamber, while decontaminating him, was also moving, so he stepped out into the living room, a shared space between him and Jin'Ya, who was nowhere to be seen.
That was odd.
He expanded his senses and connected to the ward scheme of Red Hearth, and let out a creepy smirk as he realised where Jin'Ya was and what he was probably doing.
"Hehehe," He laughed as he began tiptoeing back to the elevator, making sure to mask his energy signature while doing so. Wouldn't want to tip off old man Jin'Ya, who still couldn't let go of his romance even after being a gazillion years old.
The elevator tinged as he reached the conference room, an area laid down with the most advanced communication arrays of magical, psionic, and technological connections, allowing for communication almost anywhere. They were in the process of setting up another room, where they would use the Warp Gates to communicate throughout the wider space, after they had pilfered any spaceship that was unfortunate enough to get stuck in their net.
So far, none had taken the bait and it was unwise to disturb Titan, once home of Thanos lest they invite the calamity far before than scheduled.
Sure, he gave the Ancient One and all the people he could rally, about a 50% chance of defeating Thanos without the Stones, especially since they would have two on their sides, but the chances of decimating Thanos' forces while injuring the Titan to such an extent that even fighting a Kylosian (Drax's species) would be all but a death sentence for him. But still, it was much better to avoid that possibility altogether.
Now, he was headed to the psionic wing of the conference room, the one used predominantly by Jin'Ya, mainly because he was the only one skilled enough to actually operate it since it was a completely manual machine with no machine interference whatsoever.
According to the Ancient One, this served as yet another line of defense in their communications network because the only ones capable of operating their network were dragons who had spent who knows how many years in the Astral Realm, soaking up psionic energy and becoming masters at manipulating it.
"Hehe…" He giggled as he came closer to the room that Jin'Ya was currently using and it was becoming increasingly harder to control his laughter, and therefore, his energy suppression because this was it, this was the moment he was going to remind Jin'Ya for the rest of his humane life, since Jin'Ya, the old fuck was immortal and was not going to bite the dust anytime soon.
Just as his hand touched the door knob, a dark aura assaulted his being as he was flung back from his body–No, his Astral Form was flung back out of his body, with his body falling slack in slow motion.
He looked down and saw the Door that continued to pump CHI throughout his body right above his chest. Huh, so they carried over in Astral Form as well, something that he had not dared experiment with because who knew what could happen with the doors he had attached to his very soul. He didn't want to risk becoming a vegetable and so, that part of his training was omitted as well.
You know, he could actually understand the position of all the other Masters who were so opposed to him actually getting the title of Master because firstly, his portals were abysmal, and secondly, he didn't even know how to draw out his Astral Form, hence the huge back and forth about getting a new spell from him peer reviewed and certified to officially confer him the title of Master.
Ignoring that for a moment, he pointed above the conference room and screamed hysterically, "What the fuck is that?!!!"
Right above the conference room, at last in the Astral Realm, there was a giant void, that had far too many eyes and tongues than he was comfortable with, and the most gross thing of all, there was a tongue, coming from inside the room and heading into the void.
"Ewww!" He screamed as he tried to float back and realised that he couldn't do that. In that moment of bumbling panic, he called upon his CHI and flooded his soul with it, trying to break free of the hold, searing away the translucent waves around him.
He smiled as it seemed to be doing something but apparently, that was not how it worked because the next moment, he blacked out.
……
…..
"Ugh! What hit me?" he groaned as he flopped off the chair he was sitting on. With Bleary eyes, he looked up and saw the floating form of Jin'ya looking down at him, and in a mighty pissed way too!
"You! What the fuck is wrong with you? Why would you become a beacon of CHI in the fucking Astral Realm? Do you have a death wish?!" Jin'Ya screamed at him as the entire room shook from his anger.
Even in the dazed state that he was in, a chill ran down his spine as he realised what he had done.
"Oh god," He muttered as he looked around and checked his body and then closed his eyes, going straight for his mind to check if—
Bonk!
"Don't bother. Your soul is whole. You were lucky I was here, you idiot!" Jin'Ya bonked him psionically and told him.
He sighed in extreme relief. How could he have forgotten that the Astral Realm was filled with ancient soul sucking monsters who would love nothing more than to have a life filled, unlimited CHI providing soul such as himself?
His shoulders sagged as he lay down on the floor, thinking of what his stupid curiosity and a little prank could have led to. He should have just left Jin'Ya alone but he was just fresh off from a defeat and wanted something to stave off his boredom long enough for him to regain the motivation required to find the two remaining puzzles of the data.
Then, his eyes snapped open as he sat upright. He pointed at Jin'Ya, "Hey! It was your fault at first! Why did you push me out of my body? You knew that it was a danger, the Ancient One said so. How could you put me in such a position? Do you have any idea how scared I was when I saw the whole and the tongues and the–Oh god, the eyes!"
He all but screamed at the being older than civilization itself as he got off from the high of being saved.
Jin'Ya looked increasingly embarrassed before, with a hmph, he disappeared from the spot.
"Oh yeah! That's real mature of you! As expected of an old fuck. Run from your mistakes, why don't you!" He shouted with magic enhancing his voice, making sure that his voice reached the entire Red hearth, top to bottom.
Thank god, the floors where he planned to build habitats for animals and other rare species were not yet populated. Otherwise, those poor creatures would have been subjected to his magic enhanced rant as well.
Word Count - 1850
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #10
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
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- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #10
Red Hearth [January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Splashing water on his face, he tried to get that near brush with death out of the way. Apparently, space in the realm world and space in Astral Realm were not proportional so even though he was on Mars, which had barely if any living souls on it, he could still have been targeted by Soul leeches who would have dragged his soul into their bodies and used him as an eternal fuel source.
He shivered as the image of that void with all those tongues and eyes flashed in his mind. He had to actively stop his mind from further going in that direction, the very thought of what Jin'Ya could be doing, as a psionic being, in the Astral Realm and how close it looked to….
It nearly made him hurl as he groaned and flashed his body with a wave of CHI, making him feel instantly more refreshed.
"Never again," He muttered to himself as he collapsed in his bed, the very expensive and very comfortable bed that he had bought in China, to be hauled all the way to Mars. It had taken some work, a lot of work to be honest but he could now honestly say that making the Red Hearth was the best decision of his life.
A space, away from all the noise on Earth, not to mention the constant threat of something happening that might damage his home, or worse, something happening that might not be able to destroy the protections he would cast on his home but would end up outing his identity to the world, which would suck a whole lot.
He honestly loved his life, his work, and even his education, tedious as it was to learn something he already knew, mainly because it gave him the chance to live a normal life. He shuddered at the thought of becoming so one tone focused that he forgot everything else, that there were many other things in life.
That Earth itself was a place of supreme wonder and he would have lost the chance to explore the planet in the mad race to become strong enough to defend Earth despite never having had the chance to actually explore it.
He rolled over on his stomach and got the tablet he had specifically modified to remove all wireless connections from it. It was plugged directly into the wall, both for power and for the internet because he did not trust any device on the planet.
In this tablet alone, he had to remove two different GPS modules that were not supposed to be there. Freaking Chinese made tablets man, they had all the hardware to spy on you.
In a way, it was to be expected of any country that would call itself a superpower. The United States had all the software to spy on the global population and China supplied the hardware through which it was all made possible.
What China also did was install a bit of extra hardware to make things easier to track, for their political party as well.
Unlocking the tablet, he opened YouTube and set the rain sounds in a loop, because he really needed the sleep right now. While it might have been only 2 hours that he had spent looking for the data disk, the fight and the ensuing run to get out of that ship without killing or harming anyone had been exhilarating.
It also brought to his attention the case agent responsible for handling his case. Clint Barton, Hawkeye, future Avenger, and Future-er Ronin, not that he would ever let that come to pass.
With the sounds of the rain echoing throughout the room and the curtains and lights closing on their own after he clapped his hands twice, he soon slipped into a dreamless sleep.
____xx____
Aboard the Helicarrier
–Clint Barton–
He was bruised, battered, cold, and short of a data disk which was supposedly a critical SHIELD resource, but he was still standing ramrod straight right in front of Director Fury who continued to stare at him.
The first dozen times, it was scary, then it became merely intimidating, now it was downright normal. The man glared at everyone, even if they did a supposedly good job. No doubt a tactic to maintain fear in the entire workforce.
"So, Agent Barton, explain to me how you lost someone who, in your own words, had cornered without a shadow of a doubt." Director Fury drawled.
He took in a breath before replying, "As you have no doubt read in my report. The thief was capable of so much more than what we had theorised. His super strength was off the charts, capable of caving in multiple reinforced floors of the ship in a single punch, at super speed, while becoming invisible to all possible senses."
"And what of this explosive you had tucked away into the Data Disk chamber."
"I thought it prudent to have a way of destroying the classified data since it was classified as Tier-3 data, which was data that could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands, even if it is at the cost of the data."
Director Fury nodded and then glanced below where Clint could see multiple snapshots, from every conceivable angle, showing the orange onesie clad thief with the skull mask, right before he caved that floor in and severely injured two of the soldiers, fleeing with the data disk in the ensuing chaos.
"So, we have a big troll in our hands, do we?"
"Yes, sir. I believe this is someone with a classic Narcissistic Personality Disorder as well as ADHD, simply because of the way they demand attention by wearing that bright orange getup along with causing distress and breaking laws while having fun at the expense of the people guarding said ships."
"...Hmm, yes, you did speak of the taunts as well as the final hurrah that was the thief spray painting NICE TRY on his way out."
He sighed as that was very annoying for him. It displayed a lack of competency on his part as the thief was able to get the spray paint and then write those two words before creating a hole in the ship's hull before fleeing that way. It all pointed to a very attention seeking whimsical character, who might as well be a psychopath, based on his actions.
"...Ah, yes. This one, do you think it has something to do with mind control? Did you feel any anomalies in the way you acted?" Director Fury pointed at the possible abilities section, the line being the ability to project a modulated voice in all directions, scrambling any way he could have predicted the location of the speaker.
He closed his eyes as he thought back on his actions, from receiving the reports, to formulating a strategy to getting the people on board and then ultimately culminating in the showdown that resulted in a military vessel being beached because of all the damage done to it.
He opened his eyes, "No. I don't think I was being influenced by anything when I made all those decisions. I made most of the decisions in the Triskelion before I was shipped off."
"I see. You are dismissed. You will be spending 48-72 hours in Quarantine and will be cooperating with all the medical personnel, just in case. After which, we will have a discussion as to what to do with our Orange Vanisher."
He saluted and left the Director's office, almost collapsing in relief as he arrived at his quarters. All level 7 or above Agents had their own personal space aboard the Helicarrier. He was tired, mentally and physically and while there were no permanent injuries, the temporary ones hurt like a bitch.
He was so looking forward to a hot bath before he was carted off to be poked and prodded at by the medical geeks.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #10
Red Hearth [January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Splashing water on his face, he tried to get that near brush with death out of the way. Apparently, space in the realm world and space in Astral Realm were not proportional so even though he was on Mars, which had barely if any living souls on it, he could still have been targeted by Soul leeches who would have dragged his soul into their bodies and used him as an eternal fuel source.
He shivered as the image of that void with all those tongues and eyes flashed in his mind. He had to actively stop his mind from further going in that direction, the very thought of what Jin'Ya could be doing, as a psionic being, in the Astral Realm and how close it looked to….
It nearly made him hurl as he groaned and flashed his body with a wave of CHI, making him feel instantly more refreshed.
"Never again," He muttered to himself as he collapsed in his bed, the very expensive and very comfortable bed that he had bought in China, to be hauled all the way to Mars. It had taken some work, a lot of work to be honest but he could now honestly say that making the Red Hearth was the best decision of his life.
A space, away from all the noise on Earth, not to mention the constant threat of something happening that might damage his home, or worse, something happening that might not be able to destroy the protections he would cast on his home but would end up outing his identity to the world, which would suck a whole lot.
He honestly loved his life, his work, and even his education, tedious as it was to learn something he already knew, mainly because it gave him the chance to live a normal life. He shuddered at the thought of becoming so one tone focused that he forgot everything else, that there were many other things in life.
That Earth itself was a place of supreme wonder and he would have lost the chance to explore the planet in the mad race to become strong enough to defend Earth despite never having had the chance to actually explore it.
He rolled over on his stomach and got the tablet he had specifically modified to remove all wireless connections from it. It was plugged directly into the wall, both for power and for the internet because he did not trust any device on the planet.
In this tablet alone, he had to remove two different GPS modules that were not supposed to be there. Freaking Chinese made tablets man, they had all the hardware to spy on you.
In a way, it was to be expected of any country that would call itself a superpower. The United States had all the software to spy on the global population and China supplied the hardware through which it was all made possible.
What China also did was install a bit of extra hardware to make things easier to track, for their political party as well.
Unlocking the tablet, he opened YouTube and set the rain sounds in a loop, because he really needed the sleep right now. While it might have been only 2 hours that he had spent looking for the data disk, the fight and the ensuing run to get out of that ship without killing or harming anyone had been exhilarating.
It also brought to his attention the case agent responsible for handling his case. Clint Barton, Hawkeye, future Avenger, and Future-er Ronin, not that he would ever let that come to pass.
With the sounds of the rain echoing throughout the room and the curtains and lights closing on their own after he clapped his hands twice, he soon slipped into a dreamless sleep.
____xx____
Aboard the Helicarrier
–Clint Barton–
He was bruised, battered, cold, and short of a data disk which was supposedly a critical SHIELD resource, but he was still standing ramrod straight right in front of Director Fury who continued to stare at him.
The first dozen times, it was scary, then it became merely intimidating, now it was downright normal. The man glared at everyone, even if they did a supposedly good job. No doubt a tactic to maintain fear in the entire workforce.
"So, Agent Barton, explain to me how you lost someone who, in your own words, had cornered without a shadow of a doubt." Director Fury drawled.
He took in a breath before replying, "As you have no doubt read in my report. The thief was capable of so much more than what we had theorised. His super strength was off the charts, capable of caving in multiple reinforced floors of the ship in a single punch, at super speed, while becoming invisible to all possible senses."
"And what of this explosive you had tucked away into the Data Disk chamber."
"I thought it prudent to have a way of destroying the classified data since it was classified as Tier-3 data, which was data that could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands, even if it is at the cost of the data."
Director Fury nodded and then glanced below where Clint could see multiple snapshots, from every conceivable angle, showing the orange onesie clad thief with the skull mask, right before he caved that floor in and severely injured two of the soldiers, fleeing with the data disk in the ensuing chaos.
"So, we have a big troll in our hands, do we?"
"Yes, sir. I believe this is someone with a classic Narcissistic Personality Disorder as well as ADHD, simply because of the way they demand attention by wearing that bright orange getup along with causing distress and breaking laws while having fun at the expense of the people guarding said ships."
"...Hmm, yes, you did speak of the taunts as well as the final hurrah that was the thief spray painting NICE TRY on his way out."
He sighed as that was very annoying for him. It displayed a lack of competency on his part as the thief was able to get the spray paint and then write those two words before creating a hole in the ship's hull before fleeing that way. It all pointed to a very attention seeking whimsical character, who might as well be a psychopath, based on his actions.
"...Ah, yes. This one, do you think it has something to do with mind control? Did you feel any anomalies in the way you acted?" Director Fury pointed at the possible abilities section, the line being the ability to project a modulated voice in all directions, scrambling any way he could have predicted the location of the speaker.
He closed his eyes as he thought back on his actions, from receiving the reports, to formulating a strategy to getting the people on board and then ultimately culminating in the showdown that resulted in a military vessel being beached because of all the damage done to it.
He opened his eyes, "No. I don't think I was being influenced by anything when I made all those decisions. I made most of the decisions in the Triskelion before I was shipped off."
"I see. You are dismissed. You will be spending 48-72 hours in Quarantine and will be cooperating with all the medical personnel, just in case. After which, we will have a discussion as to what to do with our Orange Vanisher."
He saluted and left the Director's office, almost collapsing in relief as he arrived at his quarters. All level 7 or above Agents had their own personal space aboard the Helicarrier. He was tired, mentally and physically and while there were no permanent injuries, the temporary ones hurt like a bitch.
He was so looking forward to a hot bath before he was carted off to be poked and prodded at by the medical geeks.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #11
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #11
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling a jaunty tune, he monitored the Discord chat on the tablet with one eye while keeping an eye on his eggs. It had been more than 24 hours since his latest close brush with death and he was kind of over it now, hence the merrily preparing breakfast for himself.
He was so thankful that the Ancient One allowed one of the Masters, who was a Master in fusing magic and technology in ways that had benefited Kamar Taj immensely, to cast the same spell on the Red Hearth as the one cast on Kamar Taj and the three Sanctums.
The spell that allowed all of them to have an active internet connection but with no [possible way of tracking the connection. It was awesome. Not only did it give him an edge over literally every other computer system on the planet, but it also provided Red Hearth with an essential service.
The Internet.
It was awesome, especially for him since he would not have been able to afford any of the stuff inside the Red Hearth had it not been for the internet and its ability to mask its users behind a thin veil of anonymity. That thin veil was far denser in his case but his point stood all the same.
So far, he was a multi millionaire, purely based on his work and his investment choices. He was in the process of liquidating his entire portfolio to invest in the inevitable Stark Industries crash once Tony went missing. The stock should further crash when Tony would announce that they were shutting down their weapons division.
It was not much, about 3 million dollars but hey, why would he waste such a sure shot way of making money?
He had tried roping in some of the obviously wealthy masters in Kamar Taj but apparently, he was still a child who didn't know anything about the real world and had only gotten lucky with his gifts, which was true. It was not his loss so he let them be.
But Old Man Wong though?
Man, he fleeced the old man dry, liquidating anything of value that the man had and poured it into the Stock Market. After all, he was the prodigal son and anything he asked for would be given no questions asked. The OId Man couldn't even complain since he was seeing his net worth rise.
Shovelling the scrambled eggs in his mouth, made up of whole 15 eggs, he must have looked like a chipmunk because he was sooo hungry. He had only eaten half his daily protein requirement yesterday, mainly because he didn't have any appetite after almost dying but the hunger came roaring back today.
Man, he was so going to hit an all you can eat buffet, for dinner.
He felt a light bonk on his head as he felt Jin'ya floating into the dining/kitchen area. It was a shared space but the old fuck never made anything aside from barbequed meat, which was done on the upper floors, with the endless red rivers in view.
"Eat slowly. The food is not going anywhere." The air vibrated as Jin'ya used his precise telekinesis to deliver his words without opening his mouth. Man, talk about being lazy.
He eyes the floating tiny lizard. Well, two could play at this game, he thought as a door appeared behind Jin'ya and let loose a small shockwave that was immediately negated by the old fuck's automatic shielding.
"Nice try. You'd need a lot more to get past my guard." Jin'Ya commented as multiple pieces of clearly marinated meat flew out of the freezer and began hovering around Jin'Ya as he came through one entrance and went right up into the elevator.
All this while, he glared at the dragon as he purposefully chose the time he would be semi-full with eggs to do the barbeque. He stabbed the eggs and shoved them in his mouth, much less enthusiastically than before as the elevator dinged, probably taking Jin'Ya to the top levels.
He shoved the plate to the side as he saw that the chat was not active as well today. That was to be expected, it was a weekday. Not everyone had the privilege to be snoozing on a Wednesday.
He sighed, pulled back the eggs, absentmindedly ate the rest, before washing the plates, and putting them in the dishwasher.
Jin'Ya usually did them with his telekinesis but he didn't feel like relying on the old dragon today. It was funny. The dragon was definitely a net positive in his house, capable of doing anything and everything while being witty, snarky, and overall not a boring person but somehow, after endangering his life, and not getting any apology after, has affected his living experience with the dragon.
Letting the dishwasher do its thing, he hopped into the other elevator and jumped to the lower levels. Those were the storage areas, lab areas, ritual rooms, and more.
He entered his personal lab and found all the 10 data disks arranged carefully. To his surprise, he had discovered already that the data disk he had stolen right under Barton's nose was the real deal.
That only left the last data disk but he was unsure if his luck would still work in finding that ship because there was basically no way SHIELD still had that data on their servers. It was probably all paper files now or maybe even strictly verbal orders, no paper trail to be found in that regard.
He sighed and set aside the chips, and pressed a key on the keyboard, turning on the monitor from standby.
Oh, how he wanted those holodisplays that Tony probably had at this point but those were not on the market, not even as a concept. Tony probably built them as a side project and used them only in his personal lab.
Dude probably thought of a product that had the potential to introduce a whole new category of displays, as a side project.
It was times like these that reminded him of his reality, and then humbled him a bit. He was not a genius like Tony, not even in his wildest dreams. All he had going for him was an above average brain that was really really good at doing lightning fast calculations, and then applying them to Computer Science, hence his field of expertise.
He was nowhere near Tony when it came to mental genius because the dude could pick up a subject and become a subject expert in it within days or weeks, instead of the decades that it would take for a normal person.
That is why, despite having a very fancy, and a very impossible home on Mars, his home was filled with tech that one can find on the open market, even if it was of the highest order.
He could not outright invent holo displays just because he really wanted those damned things, because he was not a genius. And it was times like these, that made him realise that he could not do the whole save the world thing all by himself.
He would not be able to bear the burden or do a good job of it. Nada. Zilch.
The best he could be was a very versatile muscle, ready to be deployed in any zone, and act from the shadows, so that the burdens of operating in the light did not apply to him.
"Hmm," he muttered as he received an alert about Bruce Banner. The Military had spotted him in Brazil and General Ross was on a warpath.
His seniors have restrained him for the moment, arguing that the local government and the local military assets should be enough to bring the man in or atleast get an accurate location before a full out tactical assault can be initiated, so that's good. That gave General Ross one more day of breathing.
Oh yeah, he was going to kill General Ross. Once the man stepped over the line and he had definite proof that he was not only getting his soldiers killed needlessly, but also pushing Banner over the edge, whilst endangering local civilians?
Yeah, it was game over for the guy. One had to be a special level of stupid to be that guy.
He might also just bring Banner over here, on Mars, if he found out that General Ross was mentally ill, or was acting on orders of other people, people who could not be killed just yet.
He set an alert that would inform him once Banner's accurate location was updated in the military database. He might need Jin'Ya's help to pacify Hulk but it should all be doable.
Excited, he began drawing in plans for a reinforced room, more so than the usual ones. He might need to commission some work, which was more expensive but hey, if he could have the Hulk onboard, it would all be worth it.
He just had to figure out if he wanted to reveal his identity to Bruce Banner.
Oh well, something to figure out for later.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #11
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling a jaunty tune, he monitored the Discord chat on the tablet with one eye while keeping an eye on his eggs. It had been more than 24 hours since his latest close brush with death and he was kind of over it now, hence the merrily preparing breakfast for himself.
He was so thankful that the Ancient One allowed one of the Masters, who was a Master in fusing magic and technology in ways that had benefited Kamar Taj immensely, to cast the same spell on the Red Hearth as the one cast on Kamar Taj and the three Sanctums.
The spell that allowed all of them to have an active internet connection but with no [possible way of tracking the connection. It was awesome. Not only did it give him an edge over literally every other computer system on the planet, but it also provided Red Hearth with an essential service.
The Internet.
It was awesome, especially for him since he would not have been able to afford any of the stuff inside the Red Hearth had it not been for the internet and its ability to mask its users behind a thin veil of anonymity. That thin veil was far denser in his case but his point stood all the same.
So far, he was a multi millionaire, purely based on his work and his investment choices. He was in the process of liquidating his entire portfolio to invest in the inevitable Stark Industries crash once Tony went missing. The stock should further crash when Tony would announce that they were shutting down their weapons division.
It was not much, about 3 million dollars but hey, why would he waste such a sure shot way of making money?
He had tried roping in some of the obviously wealthy masters in Kamar Taj but apparently, he was still a child who didn't know anything about the real world and had only gotten lucky with his gifts, which was true. It was not his loss so he let them be.
But Old Man Wong though?
Man, he fleeced the old man dry, liquidating anything of value that the man had and poured it into the Stock Market. After all, he was the prodigal son and anything he asked for would be given no questions asked. The OId Man couldn't even complain since he was seeing his net worth rise.
Shovelling the scrambled eggs in his mouth, made up of whole 15 eggs, he must have looked like a chipmunk because he was sooo hungry. He had only eaten half his daily protein requirement yesterday, mainly because he didn't have any appetite after almost dying but the hunger came roaring back today.
Man, he was so going to hit an all you can eat buffet, for dinner.
He felt a light bonk on his head as he felt Jin'ya floating into the dining/kitchen area. It was a shared space but the old fuck never made anything aside from barbequed meat, which was done on the upper floors, with the endless red rivers in view.
"Eat slowly. The food is not going anywhere." The air vibrated as Jin'ya used his precise telekinesis to deliver his words without opening his mouth. Man, talk about being lazy.
He eyes the floating tiny lizard. Well, two could play at this game, he thought as a door appeared behind Jin'ya and let loose a small shockwave that was immediately negated by the old fuck's automatic shielding.
"Nice try. You'd need a lot more to get past my guard." Jin'Ya commented as multiple pieces of clearly marinated meat flew out of the freezer and began hovering around Jin'Ya as he came through one entrance and went right up into the elevator.
All this while, he glared at the dragon as he purposefully chose the time he would be semi-full with eggs to do the barbeque. He stabbed the eggs and shoved them in his mouth, much less enthusiastically than before as the elevator dinged, probably taking Jin'Ya to the top levels.
He shoved the plate to the side as he saw that the chat was not active as well today. That was to be expected, it was a weekday. Not everyone had the privilege to be snoozing on a Wednesday.
He sighed, pulled back the eggs, absentmindedly ate the rest, before washing the plates, and putting them in the dishwasher.
Jin'Ya usually did them with his telekinesis but he didn't feel like relying on the old dragon today. It was funny. The dragon was definitely a net positive in his house, capable of doing anything and everything while being witty, snarky, and overall not a boring person but somehow, after endangering his life, and not getting any apology after, has affected his living experience with the dragon.
Letting the dishwasher do its thing, he hopped into the other elevator and jumped to the lower levels. Those were the storage areas, lab areas, ritual rooms, and more.
He entered his personal lab and found all the 10 data disks arranged carefully. To his surprise, he had discovered already that the data disk he had stolen right under Barton's nose was the real deal.
That only left the last data disk but he was unsure if his luck would still work in finding that ship because there was basically no way SHIELD still had that data on their servers. It was probably all paper files now or maybe even strictly verbal orders, no paper trail to be found in that regard.
He sighed and set aside the chips, and pressed a key on the keyboard, turning on the monitor from standby.
Oh, how he wanted those holodisplays that Tony probably had at this point but those were not on the market, not even as a concept. Tony probably built them as a side project and used them only in his personal lab.
Dude probably thought of a product that had the potential to introduce a whole new category of displays, as a side project.
It was times like these that reminded him of his reality, and then humbled him a bit. He was not a genius like Tony, not even in his wildest dreams. All he had going for him was an above average brain that was really really good at doing lightning fast calculations, and then applying them to Computer Science, hence his field of expertise.
He was nowhere near Tony when it came to mental genius because the dude could pick up a subject and become a subject expert in it within days or weeks, instead of the decades that it would take for a normal person.
That is why, despite having a very fancy, and a very impossible home on Mars, his home was filled with tech that one can find on the open market, even if it was of the highest order.
He could not outright invent holo displays just because he really wanted those damned things, because he was not a genius. And it was times like these, that made him realise that he could not do the whole save the world thing all by himself.
He would not be able to bear the burden or do a good job of it. Nada. Zilch.
The best he could be was a very versatile muscle, ready to be deployed in any zone, and act from the shadows, so that the burdens of operating in the light did not apply to him.
"Hmm," he muttered as he received an alert about Bruce Banner. The Military had spotted him in Brazil and General Ross was on a warpath.
His seniors have restrained him for the moment, arguing that the local government and the local military assets should be enough to bring the man in or atleast get an accurate location before a full out tactical assault can be initiated, so that's good. That gave General Ross one more day of breathing.
Oh yeah, he was going to kill General Ross. Once the man stepped over the line and he had definite proof that he was not only getting his soldiers killed needlessly, but also pushing Banner over the edge, whilst endangering local civilians?
Yeah, it was game over for the guy. One had to be a special level of stupid to be that guy.
He might also just bring Banner over here, on Mars, if he found out that General Ross was mentally ill, or was acting on orders of other people, people who could not be killed just yet.
He set an alert that would inform him once Banner's accurate location was updated in the military database. He might need Jin'Ya's help to pacify Hulk but it should all be doable.
Excited, he began drawing in plans for a reinforced room, more so than the usual ones. He might need to commission some work, which was more expensive but hey, if he could have the Hulk onboard, it would all be worth it.
He just had to figure out if he wanted to reveal his identity to Bruce Banner.
Oh well, something to figure out for later.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #12 : Heavy G workout!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #12
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
After finishing up some work on the new generation IP protocol they were gearing up to launch to the rest of the world, Colin got up from his desk and stretched, despite not needing to because his body was much more resistant to stiffness than normal humans.
The alert about Bruce Banner should work as expected, reaching him as long as he was on Earth and in the Red Hearth, making sure that Bruce did not have to spend any more time being hunted down like an animal. He might need some muscle for that, though.
"Hey, Jin'Ya?" He shouted in his mind, sort of like a psionic doorbell. See, one thing to note about Astral Realm lifeforms like Jin'ya was that their minds were absolute, walking disasters, creating havoc in the Astral Realm just by existing, and if they manifested in the real world, then it would spell disaster for any normal person nearby.
If Jin'Ya wasn't so used to suppressing over 90% of his own power, just so he could normally interact with the mortal species, Earth would have had a giant dead zone right around the Himalayas, simply because that was the place where Jin'Ya first manifested. It was just one of the dangers of summoning an Astral lifeform like Jin'Ya. Thankfully, that was not Jin'Ya's first rodeo so they were fine.
"What?!" He smiled as Jin'Ya snapped at him. It was actually disadvantageous for Jin'ya to so tightly wind his Astral Presence around him because that is how his species navigates the world. On Earth, he had to keep it to himself, otherwise, the Ancient One would have punted his little ass back to the Astral Realm.
On the Red Hearth however, he could let it all loose, not having to worry about accidentally killing everyone around him as long as he did not go all out. Colin was fine because he had mental training to withstand the passive Astral pressure that Jin'Ya gave out.
"I don't know if you are aware of a giant green ball of rage on Earth. But in a few weeks' time, we might have to go and rescue him from the Military. I might need some extra muscle for that, would you be willing to come?"
There was a pause on the other side before a slimy voice slipped into his mind, "20 pounds of Ta-Lo's exquisite meat collection."
He gawked in the real world as he immediately snapped at the dragon, "Are you insane? That is my entire year's meat allowance. You can't ask for it, all at once. That would leave me with nothing for the rest of the year. It's only January"
"Do you want my help or not?" He could just picture the damned thing's smug expression. Ah, it made him want to punch the dragon but he knew it would just be futile.
He growled, "Ah! Fine. But if there is a single mishap on the mission, I will be docking part of the meat."
In return, he got the impression of a middle finger and then a careless wave of his paw as the connection was shut down from Jin'Ya's side.
Shrugging, he exited his office, thinking of how he could increase his quota of meat from Ta-Lo. After all, there was no way he was not going to have anything to eat from that place for the entire year. That would just kill him.
He might just have to bear it and act as a CHI battery for an entire week for their semi dead dragon. That might just get him double the meat allowance, something that he fought tooth and nail for when he first negotiated the deal to help rejuvenate their water dragon.
Ah, he could still remember that day. He had just turned 16 and was asked what he would like for his birthday present by Wong, and well, being the little shit that he was, he asked for something not just expensive but also very very difficult to achieve.
To visit Ta-Lo, one of the many mystical hotspots on the planet but the one that should be the most friendly. Now, he knew even back then that Kamar Taj and all the mystical hotspots on the planet were peripherally aware of each other and would alert each other if any large threat was found.
So, he knew they could communicate with each other. He was just betting to see if the connections extended to transport as well. That was how he found himself standing in front of the Ancient One who asked for his reasons and after he told them that he just wanted to find out what a place untouched by large scale industrialisation looked like, he was granted permission to visit.
The permission to visit was just a medallion from the Ancient One and a portal that opened up beneath him, depositing him in the forest on the outskirts. Back then, he did not have his CHI door permanently open yet so he was not as strong. However, every night, he made sure to have the CHI door open for at least two hours and use that to strengthen his body, which was a nighttime ritual he had created back then, so he was not super worried.
The worries were evaporated, however, as he reached the lake and was mesmerised by the picturesque view. Being identified as an envoy from Kamar Taj meant that he was treated with respect and also with healthy caution as he looked really young.
That was his first trip to Ta-Lo, where he returned with a healthy appreciation for the milk products, mainly the desserts and also the barbecued meat, which was to die for.
The second time he wanted to visit, however, the Ancient One showed her true colours, telling him that he could not use Kamar Taj's medallion just for free and needed to give something to Kamar Taj to use its authority in return.
Not to be outdone, during one of his later trips to Ta-Lo, he negotiated a deal with the village chief. The village chief was a wrinkly old man with two daughters. The village chief was the one who looked into the admin side of running a small village and the Protector of the village guarded the entrance.
The youngest daughter of the village chief was now the Gate protector, with the previous one, also the village chief's daughter, having defected from Ta-Lo to have her own life in the mortal world, according to their own words.
The deal was to flood the lake, the lake that housed the water dragon, and also help keep the influence of the terrible entity inside the seal, with pure CHI from his gates. They were understandably cautious and disbelieving at first but when he opened his first GIANT gate, which was 20ft tall and 10ft wide, to emit waves upon waves of CHI into the lake, they were flabbergasted.
That little stunt was about to cost him a bit because that much CHI being infused into the lake meant that all the creatures in the lake were a bit stunned and had almost swarmed him to presumably tear him apart when the water dragon came and disciplined everyone.
The Water Dragon spoke something to the village chief and the village chief told him to state his terms. The sighs of relief when he just asked for 20 pounds of meat annually gave him hope right now that they might increase his yearly quota.
Inflation was a thing in Ta-Lo, right?
'Maybe the village chief would be amenable to doubling the quota?' He thought to himself giddily as he entered the elevator and pressed the button for the training room. He needed to catch up on the training that he had skipped for the past two days.
After all, this chiseled physique was not going to be maintained by itself.
He needed some 5G full body training to do before he could get his body ready for February in LA. Some sort of interview process that required him to move to LA for two weeks, all paid for by Stark Industries, obviously.
It probably had something to do with Jarvis finding that he might be the unhackable hacker on the Dark Web, not that he would ever admit it. That would be the height of foolishness. If he admitted that he had a way of foolproofing a system by hiding it so that not even the owners of the internet could find it? Well, let's just say that the NSA would be the least of his worries.
The elevator dinged and opened up to a giant sprawling empty space with high ceilings. High as in 200 ft high ceilings, just in case he wanted to do a PR on his high jump.
Fiddling with the mystical controls of this place, he grunted as the 5 times earth's gravity mode was activated, making him shift to secure his footing. The max it could do was about 20 times Earth's gravity but the most he had ever been able to stand in, was about 12 Gs, and even then, it felt like he was about to vomit his internal organs.
So, yeah, 5G for a heavy workout it is.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #12
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
After finishing up some work on the new generation IP protocol they were gearing up to launch to the rest of the world, Colin got up from his desk and stretched, despite not needing to because his body was much more resistant to stiffness than normal humans.
The alert about Bruce Banner should work as expected, reaching him as long as he was on Earth and in the Red Hearth, making sure that Bruce did not have to spend any more time being hunted down like an animal. He might need some muscle for that, though.
"Hey, Jin'Ya?" He shouted in his mind, sort of like a psionic doorbell. See, one thing to note about Astral Realm lifeforms like Jin'ya was that their minds were absolute, walking disasters, creating havoc in the Astral Realm just by existing, and if they manifested in the real world, then it would spell disaster for any normal person nearby.
If Jin'Ya wasn't so used to suppressing over 90% of his own power, just so he could normally interact with the mortal species, Earth would have had a giant dead zone right around the Himalayas, simply because that was the place where Jin'Ya first manifested. It was just one of the dangers of summoning an Astral lifeform like Jin'Ya. Thankfully, that was not Jin'Ya's first rodeo so they were fine.
"What?!" He smiled as Jin'Ya snapped at him. It was actually disadvantageous for Jin'ya to so tightly wind his Astral Presence around him because that is how his species navigates the world. On Earth, he had to keep it to himself, otherwise, the Ancient One would have punted his little ass back to the Astral Realm.
On the Red Hearth however, he could let it all loose, not having to worry about accidentally killing everyone around him as long as he did not go all out. Colin was fine because he had mental training to withstand the passive Astral pressure that Jin'Ya gave out.
"I don't know if you are aware of a giant green ball of rage on Earth. But in a few weeks' time, we might have to go and rescue him from the Military. I might need some extra muscle for that, would you be willing to come?"
There was a pause on the other side before a slimy voice slipped into his mind, "20 pounds of Ta-Lo's exquisite meat collection."
He gawked in the real world as he immediately snapped at the dragon, "Are you insane? That is my entire year's meat allowance. You can't ask for it, all at once. That would leave me with nothing for the rest of the year. It's only January"
"Do you want my help or not?" He could just picture the damned thing's smug expression. Ah, it made him want to punch the dragon but he knew it would just be futile.
He growled, "Ah! Fine. But if there is a single mishap on the mission, I will be docking part of the meat."
In return, he got the impression of a middle finger and then a careless wave of his paw as the connection was shut down from Jin'Ya's side.
Shrugging, he exited his office, thinking of how he could increase his quota of meat from Ta-Lo. After all, there was no way he was not going to have anything to eat from that place for the entire year. That would just kill him.
He might just have to bear it and act as a CHI battery for an entire week for their semi dead dragon. That might just get him double the meat allowance, something that he fought tooth and nail for when he first negotiated the deal to help rejuvenate their water dragon.
Ah, he could still remember that day. He had just turned 16 and was asked what he would like for his birthday present by Wong, and well, being the little shit that he was, he asked for something not just expensive but also very very difficult to achieve.
To visit Ta-Lo, one of the many mystical hotspots on the planet but the one that should be the most friendly. Now, he knew even back then that Kamar Taj and all the mystical hotspots on the planet were peripherally aware of each other and would alert each other if any large threat was found.
So, he knew they could communicate with each other. He was just betting to see if the connections extended to transport as well. That was how he found himself standing in front of the Ancient One who asked for his reasons and after he told them that he just wanted to find out what a place untouched by large scale industrialisation looked like, he was granted permission to visit.
The permission to visit was just a medallion from the Ancient One and a portal that opened up beneath him, depositing him in the forest on the outskirts. Back then, he did not have his CHI door permanently open yet so he was not as strong. However, every night, he made sure to have the CHI door open for at least two hours and use that to strengthen his body, which was a nighttime ritual he had created back then, so he was not super worried.
The worries were evaporated, however, as he reached the lake and was mesmerised by the picturesque view. Being identified as an envoy from Kamar Taj meant that he was treated with respect and also with healthy caution as he looked really young.
That was his first trip to Ta-Lo, where he returned with a healthy appreciation for the milk products, mainly the desserts and also the barbecued meat, which was to die for.
The second time he wanted to visit, however, the Ancient One showed her true colours, telling him that he could not use Kamar Taj's medallion just for free and needed to give something to Kamar Taj to use its authority in return.
Not to be outdone, during one of his later trips to Ta-Lo, he negotiated a deal with the village chief. The village chief was a wrinkly old man with two daughters. The village chief was the one who looked into the admin side of running a small village and the Protector of the village guarded the entrance.
The youngest daughter of the village chief was now the Gate protector, with the previous one, also the village chief's daughter, having defected from Ta-Lo to have her own life in the mortal world, according to their own words.
The deal was to flood the lake, the lake that housed the water dragon, and also help keep the influence of the terrible entity inside the seal, with pure CHI from his gates. They were understandably cautious and disbelieving at first but when he opened his first GIANT gate, which was 20ft tall and 10ft wide, to emit waves upon waves of CHI into the lake, they were flabbergasted.
That little stunt was about to cost him a bit because that much CHI being infused into the lake meant that all the creatures in the lake were a bit stunned and had almost swarmed him to presumably tear him apart when the water dragon came and disciplined everyone.
The Water Dragon spoke something to the village chief and the village chief told him to state his terms. The sighs of relief when he just asked for 20 pounds of meat annually gave him hope right now that they might increase his yearly quota.
Inflation was a thing in Ta-Lo, right?
'Maybe the village chief would be amenable to doubling the quota?' He thought to himself giddily as he entered the elevator and pressed the button for the training room. He needed to catch up on the training that he had skipped for the past two days.
After all, this chiseled physique was not going to be maintained by itself.
He needed some 5G full body training to do before he could get his body ready for February in LA. Some sort of interview process that required him to move to LA for two weeks, all paid for by Stark Industries, obviously.
It probably had something to do with Jarvis finding that he might be the unhackable hacker on the Dark Web, not that he would ever admit it. That would be the height of foolishness. If he admitted that he had a way of foolproofing a system by hiding it so that not even the owners of the internet could find it? Well, let's just say that the NSA would be the least of his worries.
The elevator dinged and opened up to a giant sprawling empty space with high ceilings. High as in 200 ft high ceilings, just in case he wanted to do a PR on his high jump.
Fiddling with the mystical controls of this place, he grunted as the 5 times earth's gravity mode was activated, making him shift to secure his footing. The max it could do was about 20 times Earth's gravity but the most he had ever been able to stand in, was about 12 Gs, and even then, it felt like he was about to vomit his internal organs.
So, yeah, 5G for a heavy workout it is.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #13 : Retail Therapy thwarted!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #13
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"197…" He heaved with all his might, finally getting the weight up, and then threw it across the room, not having the confidence to set it back down properly. The weight made a thunderous noise that felt different than what it would have made in normal gravity.
Heaving for breath, he opened a gate of water and just drowned himself in fresh cold distilled water, drenching the entire area around him in water. It was fine, he would clean that up later on.
He really needed to look into getting some sort of management system for the Red Hearth. As things stood right now, most of that was done by Jin'Ya and even then, he had to pay an exorbitant amount of money to that bastard for that. For regular CHI infusions for his physical body in this plane, Jin'Ya would look after a mere 10% of the total built up area of the Red Hearth, which included his own living quarters.
It was outrageous. If he offered that level of tune up to any billionaire back on Earth, he could have had entire armies work day and night to maintain this place. He sighed as he chugged down mineral water, from the Himalayas.
Once again, a W for the portals. It was supremely convenient to get stuff from naturally inaccessible places using portals and a constantly burning fire all around him. Sure, the dimension of fire that he had in his possession was nowhere near the level of potency of his water dimension, let alone the CHI dimension, but it had its uses, like heating up a small area around him so that he didn't freeze his balls off in a negative 55 degrees environment.
He had only gone there once in the past year, filling in thousands of gallons worth of glacier water before heating it all up and using that to drink every time he was in the Red Hearth. On Earth however, he drank normal mineral water that tasted so bland compared to real mineral water but he had to maintain a disguise so he didn't let something small like that stop him.
He switched off the 5G environment and sighed in relief as the difference was immediately noticeable, with his body feeling way lighter than before and the mere act of wiping the water off his eyes not straining his muscles anymore. Working out in advanced gravity environments really was the best way to get a full body muscle workout for him.
Well, sparring with the Hulk might have helped but then again, his CHI worked really fast but not fast enough to heal a broken bone as soon as it was broken. He might be able to get a broken bone healed in minutes if he really focused the CHI output but that would put him in a vulnerable position and also would not really help if the bone was something essential like his Spine. Something like that would take weeks, if not months of bed rest to heal.
Sure, the spine would come back stronger but that was not something he was willing to risk, especially not with the impromptu rescue operation he was going to mount with Jin'Ya. Once his analysis on the backers of Ross came back, depending on the results, he was going to either do a quick rescue operation of Bruce, OR do a quick brain surgery on General Ross, or rather, have Jin'ya do it on his behalf.
After all, that glutton was going to hog all his meat quota from Ta-Lo this year, so why not get him to do something useful for once?
Sighing as cold water was blasted from the overhead shower at high speeds, he let it wash away the sweat and grime. Remembering all the cleaning that was still left, especially the water that he had spilled on the mats, he sighed once more. He really needed to look into getting some kind of reliable workforce in this place.
Getting hired help was outside the realm of possibility, simply because he didn't trust anyone to loiter around his home when he was not here, which was the majority of the time going forward because of his internships and then jobs, and then once he inevitably started his own firm.
Looking straight up, he let a thin layer of CHI coat his eyes to protect it from the onslaught of high pressure water being thrown straight at him, and thought forlornly at the fact that he would be spending less and less time going forward in this sweet bachelor pad of his.
"Damn Thanos," He muttered as he switched the shower off and got ready. Looking at Earth time, it was 7:00 PM.
Grinning, "Perfect." For some retail therapy that is.
And maybe, after that, he could go visit Ta-Lo. After all, the next appointment to refill his aging body with CHI would be right in the middle of the Stark Internship. Coincidentally, he also needed to renegotiate the meat quota, and this would be the perfect time to do that, away from Jin'Ya's prying eyes, or rather, prying psionic senses.
……
…..
Standing in the portal room, he stupidly waved his hands multiple times in the air, to open a portal in his Earth bachelor pad, which was decidedly less cool than the one here, and had to stop immediately, stiffening as he felt something trip past his magic. More specifically, the ward that he cast around his apartment had tripped.
He immediately closed his eyes and focused on the series of wards he had cast on his house back in Seattle. The ward for detecting living beings with body mass more than 10kg was not tripped. The ward with soul detection was not tripped.
The ward with…motion sensors was tripped? How?
Some sort of machine then? A drone?
His eyes snapped open as he groaned in frustration. "Bloody Stark!"
Tony Stark and his burning curiosity. Hissing in frustration, he stalked back out of the portal room and headed to his office, a different workspace from his usual lab space. In that place, everything was expendable, with a literal magically protected network keeping everything safe and secure.
No wireless devices were in that office and once the door was locked shut with a satisfying thud sound, it was basically a Faraday cage, making sure that no wireless signals ever got out, just in case. Cracking his knuckles, he sat on the best chair money could buy at the moment, set the Air conditioning to a nice 24C, and booted his systems up. He had multiple systems rigged together to provide the very high level services he needed, just in case he had to hack into Stark servers once again.
He didn't want to do this because it would just incite Stark more and more but the man was going to go through a very major morality shift soon anyway so doing this to get the man to back off for a bit was a small sacrifice. Besides, it was not like Tony would ever tell anyone that he found the legendary unnamed hacker that the whole world was searching for.
Yup. he was still unnamed, even by the wider media networks, because anytime someone tried to name him and publish that name, he hacked their servers, deleted any mention of whatever tacky nickname they had given him, and exited their servers.
It spooked everyone into complying as he intended. He was now the unnamed hacker but most of the people in the know now knew what that name meant. Stark was probably also one of them but the man had somehow found something that created a link between his public persona and his Dark Web persona.
Well, that identity could be burned at any point and he wouldn't much care. Actually, most of his identities could be destroyed and he wouldn't lose a wink of sleep, only the main Colin Baxter identity mattered. That was the one most important to him because that was who he was and who he intended to be, for the rest of his life.
After all, that was the name given to him by his parents and it was the least he could do to honor that name, by making it great and a household name on the planet by the time he turned 25.
Lofty goals for a normal human but he was the holder of the Keys, the bearer of the most powerful magic, in his opinion, that has ever existed that did not affect the mind of its bearer.
"Alright, Jarvis. Let's see you take on this," He muttered as he located Tony Stark and began targeting his LA house. Let's see how Tony likes it when someone tries to invade his privacy.
I'd love to hear what you think! Your feedback means a lot — whether it's your thoughts on the plot, characters, or just a quick comment about your favorite moment.
Likes and comments really help keep me motivated, so if you enjoyed the chapter, let me know!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #13
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"197…" He heaved with all his might, finally getting the weight up, and then threw it across the room, not having the confidence to set it back down properly. The weight made a thunderous noise that felt different than what it would have made in normal gravity.
Heaving for breath, he opened a gate of water and just drowned himself in fresh cold distilled water, drenching the entire area around him in water. It was fine, he would clean that up later on.
He really needed to look into getting some sort of management system for the Red Hearth. As things stood right now, most of that was done by Jin'Ya and even then, he had to pay an exorbitant amount of money to that bastard for that. For regular CHI infusions for his physical body in this plane, Jin'Ya would look after a mere 10% of the total built up area of the Red Hearth, which included his own living quarters.
It was outrageous. If he offered that level of tune up to any billionaire back on Earth, he could have had entire armies work day and night to maintain this place. He sighed as he chugged down mineral water, from the Himalayas.
Once again, a W for the portals. It was supremely convenient to get stuff from naturally inaccessible places using portals and a constantly burning fire all around him. Sure, the dimension of fire that he had in his possession was nowhere near the level of potency of his water dimension, let alone the CHI dimension, but it had its uses, like heating up a small area around him so that he didn't freeze his balls off in a negative 55 degrees environment.
He had only gone there once in the past year, filling in thousands of gallons worth of glacier water before heating it all up and using that to drink every time he was in the Red Hearth. On Earth however, he drank normal mineral water that tasted so bland compared to real mineral water but he had to maintain a disguise so he didn't let something small like that stop him.
He switched off the 5G environment and sighed in relief as the difference was immediately noticeable, with his body feeling way lighter than before and the mere act of wiping the water off his eyes not straining his muscles anymore. Working out in advanced gravity environments really was the best way to get a full body muscle workout for him.
Well, sparring with the Hulk might have helped but then again, his CHI worked really fast but not fast enough to heal a broken bone as soon as it was broken. He might be able to get a broken bone healed in minutes if he really focused the CHI output but that would put him in a vulnerable position and also would not really help if the bone was something essential like his Spine. Something like that would take weeks, if not months of bed rest to heal.
Sure, the spine would come back stronger but that was not something he was willing to risk, especially not with the impromptu rescue operation he was going to mount with Jin'Ya. Once his analysis on the backers of Ross came back, depending on the results, he was going to either do a quick rescue operation of Bruce, OR do a quick brain surgery on General Ross, or rather, have Jin'ya do it on his behalf.
After all, that glutton was going to hog all his meat quota from Ta-Lo this year, so why not get him to do something useful for once?
Sighing as cold water was blasted from the overhead shower at high speeds, he let it wash away the sweat and grime. Remembering all the cleaning that was still left, especially the water that he had spilled on the mats, he sighed once more. He really needed to look into getting some kind of reliable workforce in this place.
Getting hired help was outside the realm of possibility, simply because he didn't trust anyone to loiter around his home when he was not here, which was the majority of the time going forward because of his internships and then jobs, and then once he inevitably started his own firm.
Looking straight up, he let a thin layer of CHI coat his eyes to protect it from the onslaught of high pressure water being thrown straight at him, and thought forlornly at the fact that he would be spending less and less time going forward in this sweet bachelor pad of his.
"Damn Thanos," He muttered as he switched the shower off and got ready. Looking at Earth time, it was 7:00 PM.
Grinning, "Perfect." For some retail therapy that is.
And maybe, after that, he could go visit Ta-Lo. After all, the next appointment to refill his aging body with CHI would be right in the middle of the Stark Internship. Coincidentally, he also needed to renegotiate the meat quota, and this would be the perfect time to do that, away from Jin'Ya's prying eyes, or rather, prying psionic senses.
……
…..
Standing in the portal room, he stupidly waved his hands multiple times in the air, to open a portal in his Earth bachelor pad, which was decidedly less cool than the one here, and had to stop immediately, stiffening as he felt something trip past his magic. More specifically, the ward that he cast around his apartment had tripped.
He immediately closed his eyes and focused on the series of wards he had cast on his house back in Seattle. The ward for detecting living beings with body mass more than 10kg was not tripped. The ward with soul detection was not tripped.
The ward with…motion sensors was tripped? How?
Some sort of machine then? A drone?
His eyes snapped open as he groaned in frustration. "Bloody Stark!"
Tony Stark and his burning curiosity. Hissing in frustration, he stalked back out of the portal room and headed to his office, a different workspace from his usual lab space. In that place, everything was expendable, with a literal magically protected network keeping everything safe and secure.
No wireless devices were in that office and once the door was locked shut with a satisfying thud sound, it was basically a Faraday cage, making sure that no wireless signals ever got out, just in case. Cracking his knuckles, he sat on the best chair money could buy at the moment, set the Air conditioning to a nice 24C, and booted his systems up. He had multiple systems rigged together to provide the very high level services he needed, just in case he had to hack into Stark servers once again.
He didn't want to do this because it would just incite Stark more and more but the man was going to go through a very major morality shift soon anyway so doing this to get the man to back off for a bit was a small sacrifice. Besides, it was not like Tony would ever tell anyone that he found the legendary unnamed hacker that the whole world was searching for.
Yup. he was still unnamed, even by the wider media networks, because anytime someone tried to name him and publish that name, he hacked their servers, deleted any mention of whatever tacky nickname they had given him, and exited their servers.
It spooked everyone into complying as he intended. He was now the unnamed hacker but most of the people in the know now knew what that name meant. Stark was probably also one of them but the man had somehow found something that created a link between his public persona and his Dark Web persona.
Well, that identity could be burned at any point and he wouldn't much care. Actually, most of his identities could be destroyed and he wouldn't lose a wink of sleep, only the main Colin Baxter identity mattered. That was the one most important to him because that was who he was and who he intended to be, for the rest of his life.
After all, that was the name given to him by his parents and it was the least he could do to honor that name, by making it great and a household name on the planet by the time he turned 25.
Lofty goals for a normal human but he was the holder of the Keys, the bearer of the most powerful magic, in his opinion, that has ever existed that did not affect the mind of its bearer.
"Alright, Jarvis. Let's see you take on this," He muttered as he located Tony Stark and began targeting his LA house. Let's see how Tony likes it when someone tries to invade his privacy.
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DoorMan (MCU SI) - #14 : Ethics Lecture for the Merchant of Death!
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #14
Stark Residence, LA [January 17, 2008]
–Tony Stark–
Slurping on his noodles, he was bobbing his head up and down on some AC/DC when the music was abruptly dimmed which was normally a cue for Jarvis to say something important while he was in the middle of his jam sessions, which were few and far between his research on weapons, Jarvis himself and most recently, the newest curiosity on the block that was his brain.
The 'Unnamed' hacker. The bane of all the three letter spy agencies on the planet, including the country that actually invented the damned thing on which the unnamed hacker does his job.
"Sir, if I may?"
Setting down the takeout container, he spun his chair and gestured with his fingers, as multiple holo displays appeared in front of him, "Interrupt away, Jarvis!"
"As per your instructions, I have been combing through the digital footprint of one Colin Baxter, on the suspicion of him being the hacker you have been looking for."
"Uh, huh. And?" He said while the screens flashed with all the data that Jarvis was able to find and comb through. He was much slower than Jarvis though so he only looked at the red highlighted ones, trusting Jarvis to know what would interest him most.
And interest it did, the code this kid has written on internet security along with creating much better and faster internet protocols meant that he was doing some serious work. Like, working on a level that maybe 10000 people could match, that were alive globally. And that was a hard maybe. Most of those people would be busy doing something else to earn more money, like computerised trading maybe.
"I have been through the entire code repository that Mr.Baxter built for the new Internet and have already incorporated some of it to optimise my transmission code," Which was good because he had been the one who explicitly ordered Jarvis to see if there was anything on the internet that could be sued to improve his processes and to do so in a sandbox first, observe the results in an accelerated timeline and then apply the changes as long as they did nothing to the base OS, that was off-limits. The only thing that came to Tony's eyes was an after action report.
"...but I have been unable to find anything that could lead back to him being the hacker aside from the very tiny coding pattern similarities we found about Mr.Baxter's code when he was only 16."
"So, Colin doesn't have that mythical protection that just makes his systems invisible to everyone? You were able to get past his firewalls?" He asked, even as his eyes flew over the new code that Colin had written, something that was being tested by The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) before it could be pushed to be used for the wider internet. He was an honorary member but it had been ages since they did something so interesting that he had to contact someone at the organisation to get him actual credentials to log in and take a look at the documentation, something that he had to do when the first advanced Qubit encryption program had been launched on the planet, by a completely unknown developer at the time.
"..No, sir. While the protections were robust enough to deter anyone not being extremely cautious, they were not enough to stop my intrusions. I was not able to find anything that suggested any links."
"And? You would not have just approached me if you weren't stuck yet?"
"As per protocols, I have sent a long range Surveillance drone that was available in the Seattle area, the latest Surveillance ones built for urban warfare, the USD-1. I was able to launch the smaller bird to get into the apartment and look for any air-gapped systems, just in case but aside from some clearly discarded as well as hot spare hard drives for his computer systems, there hasn't been any…" Jarvis' voice got stuck mid sentence.
He jumped a bit as a screech emanated from all the speakers as all the lights in his room flickered before coming back to life with a blood red colour.
He flinched minutely as a modulated voice came out of the ceiling speakers, "Huh, Addressable RGB lamps everywhere. Nerd much, Stark?"
He gestured frantically with his hands, despite maintaining a calm facade, to get something active in the lab. The displays, the lights, the tools, the freaking Air Conditioning were all automated, and that had come right back to bite him in the ass.
"You have me at a disadvantage here. You know my name but I don't know yours," he said, trying to maintain his false bravado while inching towards the small weapons cache he kept in the basement, just as decoration. He stopped immediately as he heard the very loud voice of that particular door locking itself with its three tiered locking pattern, something that was guaranteed to keep out even the most heavy battering rams.
He would know. After all, he was the one that built, designed, and sold it to the military for a pretty penny.
"I haven't yet chosen for a moniker yet, Stark but I am sure you will try to give me one. In which case, might I remind you that you, in particular, have a lot to lose if your digital laundry was aired to the world, instead of some hackers on the web or some journalist organisation."
"Hey now, that is going a bit too far. What have I done to warrant this level of aggression?" He said as he leaned on the now shut down holo table and sipped on his Iced Coffee.
He looked to the side as a holo display lit up, with red hues in the background, with an amorphous humanoid shape on it, "Chinese and Iced Coffee, really?"
"Hey! I happen to like it. I assumed you'd understand, considering that you most likely live on the same diet I am eating right now."
"Wow! Stereotype much?" The other party bantered with him and he relaxed considerably at that. There had been no overt movements yet, aside from Jarvis being absent, which was a red flag but if the mystery hacker warned to harm him, there were probably a dozen things in the lab that could be taken over to deliver some truly life ending damage to his squishy body.
Judging by his skill, he could probably erase all traces of his involvement after killing him with one of his own creations, which would probably be termed as a lab accident by the media. Obadiah might look a little closer but the man had always been more financially oriented rather than tech oriented and probably would take whatever the tech flunkies at SI told him at face value.
"So, what do I owe for this impromptu visit? You know you could have Facetimed me, I would have accepted it." He snarked as he set down his Iced Coffee. He did not like feeling like this and he was going to make sure that Colin, if it really was his name, felt the same as he felt today, at least at the beginning.
Now, he was getting downright comfortable with this banter.
The voice scoffed, "Please! Like I would risk that. Now, Mr.Stark, I know you think that you are above the law, and in most cases, you might be but spying on a teenager using what is clearly military grade drone technology is not nice. I, for one, would like Mr.Baxter to continue his work on improving the internet, one protocol at a time."
He smirked at the camera closest to him, which was a tiny one installed on both the sides of the Holo desk on the supports that came up to his eye level.
"Bingo! I knew it was you, Colin. You know, you are going to pay for this little stunt. Come to think of it, don't you have that internship coming up? What would you like better, to scrub the toilets or man the parking lots in the sun? I'll let you choose."
His smirk faltered as the modulated voice laughed, "If you think I am him–" Another holo display appeared in front of him, showing a small closeted space that was transformed to become a workstation/gaming room with Colin furiously shouting at the screen while holding on to a game controller, "--then you are far dumber than I thought you to be. Mr.Baxter is more than capable of making sure that he is not followed by anyone, as are many members who know just how modern surveillance works. He is currently playing with some of his friends, and wow, those were some creative insults."
His brows furrowed as he answered, "Then why do this? If you are not him, then why did you come after me, right now of all times?
"....You are leaving next week for Afghanistan, to sell the Military your newest generation missiles?"
He faltered at the sudden change of topic, wondering what that had to do with his current cyber invasion. "Yes?"
"I understand that if you don't supply the military with weapons, someone else will, someone who would not be nearly as charitable as you are but for once, I would like you to think of the impact you are making with your weaponry. Your weapons are decades ahead of even the most secretive of weapon research divisions on the entire planet, which makes you the automatic number one weapons supplier."
"...So?" He asked, a tad bit defensively as his face turned cold. He had heard this argument numerous times. It was used to paint him as the Merchant of Death. A title he abhorred with all his heart. Do the peace loving hippies people have any idea how the world would be if the good guys stopped fighting? Or didn't get the best weaponry mankind could make?
"I cannot dictate how you live your life, Mr.Stark. I just wish to advise that if you must sell weapons, don't sell weapons that change the trajectory of wars and then not track them actively."
"I don't remember asking for a philosophy and ethics lecture, Professor Cyber Criminal," He shot back, his hand twitching as he thought of getting some alcohol to drink to get rid of some of the thoughts that were forming in his mind.
"...You are right, I have no right to dictate how you or how your company works. I just want to advise you to live by your own words. Enforce your own policy. Track where your most advanced weapons are going. That is all I can say at this point."
"I'll run my company however I damn well please. Now, get out!"
"Oh, I thought Obadiah was the one who ran the company?"
The man took one last shot at him before the lights in the entire lab flickered, before returning to the perfect colour profile that Jarvis had configured to have the perfect color profile to simulate the creative juices in his brain.
Now? Now he just wanted to drown in some alcohol to drown the thoughts in his mind. Something like that always happens whenever the Merchant of Death tag comes from people he least expected to think like that.
"Where did a cyber criminal get off of lecturing me about ethics?" He scoffed as he opened the liquor cabinet of the lab.
"....M…Mr ... .Mr.Stark? Mr.Stark? Are you safe? I was shut out of my transmission protocols for 3 minutes. Should I call the authorities?"
He smiled as he heard Jarvis speak. The new transmission protocols huh?
"That's how he got in.." He muttered to himself before gulping down the shot.
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DoorMan #14
Stark Residence, LA [January 17, 2008]
–Tony Stark–
Slurping on his noodles, he was bobbing his head up and down on some AC/DC when the music was abruptly dimmed which was normally a cue for Jarvis to say something important while he was in the middle of his jam sessions, which were few and far between his research on weapons, Jarvis himself and most recently, the newest curiosity on the block that was his brain.
The 'Unnamed' hacker. The bane of all the three letter spy agencies on the planet, including the country that actually invented the damned thing on which the unnamed hacker does his job.
"Sir, if I may?"
Setting down the takeout container, he spun his chair and gestured with his fingers, as multiple holo displays appeared in front of him, "Interrupt away, Jarvis!"
"As per your instructions, I have been combing through the digital footprint of one Colin Baxter, on the suspicion of him being the hacker you have been looking for."
"Uh, huh. And?" He said while the screens flashed with all the data that Jarvis was able to find and comb through. He was much slower than Jarvis though so he only looked at the red highlighted ones, trusting Jarvis to know what would interest him most.
And interest it did, the code this kid has written on internet security along with creating much better and faster internet protocols meant that he was doing some serious work. Like, working on a level that maybe 10000 people could match, that were alive globally. And that was a hard maybe. Most of those people would be busy doing something else to earn more money, like computerised trading maybe.
"I have been through the entire code repository that Mr.Baxter built for the new Internet and have already incorporated some of it to optimise my transmission code," Which was good because he had been the one who explicitly ordered Jarvis to see if there was anything on the internet that could be sued to improve his processes and to do so in a sandbox first, observe the results in an accelerated timeline and then apply the changes as long as they did nothing to the base OS, that was off-limits. The only thing that came to Tony's eyes was an after action report.
"...but I have been unable to find anything that could lead back to him being the hacker aside from the very tiny coding pattern similarities we found about Mr.Baxter's code when he was only 16."
"So, Colin doesn't have that mythical protection that just makes his systems invisible to everyone? You were able to get past his firewalls?" He asked, even as his eyes flew over the new code that Colin had written, something that was being tested by The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) before it could be pushed to be used for the wider internet. He was an honorary member but it had been ages since they did something so interesting that he had to contact someone at the organisation to get him actual credentials to log in and take a look at the documentation, something that he had to do when the first advanced Qubit encryption program had been launched on the planet, by a completely unknown developer at the time.
"..No, sir. While the protections were robust enough to deter anyone not being extremely cautious, they were not enough to stop my intrusions. I was not able to find anything that suggested any links."
"And? You would not have just approached me if you weren't stuck yet?"
"As per protocols, I have sent a long range Surveillance drone that was available in the Seattle area, the latest Surveillance ones built for urban warfare, the USD-1. I was able to launch the smaller bird to get into the apartment and look for any air-gapped systems, just in case but aside from some clearly discarded as well as hot spare hard drives for his computer systems, there hasn't been any…" Jarvis' voice got stuck mid sentence.
He jumped a bit as a screech emanated from all the speakers as all the lights in his room flickered before coming back to life with a blood red colour.
He flinched minutely as a modulated voice came out of the ceiling speakers, "Huh, Addressable RGB lamps everywhere. Nerd much, Stark?"
He gestured frantically with his hands, despite maintaining a calm facade, to get something active in the lab. The displays, the lights, the tools, the freaking Air Conditioning were all automated, and that had come right back to bite him in the ass.
"You have me at a disadvantage here. You know my name but I don't know yours," he said, trying to maintain his false bravado while inching towards the small weapons cache he kept in the basement, just as decoration. He stopped immediately as he heard the very loud voice of that particular door locking itself with its three tiered locking pattern, something that was guaranteed to keep out even the most heavy battering rams.
He would know. After all, he was the one that built, designed, and sold it to the military for a pretty penny.
"I haven't yet chosen for a moniker yet, Stark but I am sure you will try to give me one. In which case, might I remind you that you, in particular, have a lot to lose if your digital laundry was aired to the world, instead of some hackers on the web or some journalist organisation."
"Hey now, that is going a bit too far. What have I done to warrant this level of aggression?" He said as he leaned on the now shut down holo table and sipped on his Iced Coffee.
He looked to the side as a holo display lit up, with red hues in the background, with an amorphous humanoid shape on it, "Chinese and Iced Coffee, really?"
"Hey! I happen to like it. I assumed you'd understand, considering that you most likely live on the same diet I am eating right now."
"Wow! Stereotype much?" The other party bantered with him and he relaxed considerably at that. There had been no overt movements yet, aside from Jarvis being absent, which was a red flag but if the mystery hacker warned to harm him, there were probably a dozen things in the lab that could be taken over to deliver some truly life ending damage to his squishy body.
Judging by his skill, he could probably erase all traces of his involvement after killing him with one of his own creations, which would probably be termed as a lab accident by the media. Obadiah might look a little closer but the man had always been more financially oriented rather than tech oriented and probably would take whatever the tech flunkies at SI told him at face value.
"So, what do I owe for this impromptu visit? You know you could have Facetimed me, I would have accepted it." He snarked as he set down his Iced Coffee. He did not like feeling like this and he was going to make sure that Colin, if it really was his name, felt the same as he felt today, at least at the beginning.
Now, he was getting downright comfortable with this banter.
The voice scoffed, "Please! Like I would risk that. Now, Mr.Stark, I know you think that you are above the law, and in most cases, you might be but spying on a teenager using what is clearly military grade drone technology is not nice. I, for one, would like Mr.Baxter to continue his work on improving the internet, one protocol at a time."
He smirked at the camera closest to him, which was a tiny one installed on both the sides of the Holo desk on the supports that came up to his eye level.
"Bingo! I knew it was you, Colin. You know, you are going to pay for this little stunt. Come to think of it, don't you have that internship coming up? What would you like better, to scrub the toilets or man the parking lots in the sun? I'll let you choose."
His smirk faltered as the modulated voice laughed, "If you think I am him–" Another holo display appeared in front of him, showing a small closeted space that was transformed to become a workstation/gaming room with Colin furiously shouting at the screen while holding on to a game controller, "--then you are far dumber than I thought you to be. Mr.Baxter is more than capable of making sure that he is not followed by anyone, as are many members who know just how modern surveillance works. He is currently playing with some of his friends, and wow, those were some creative insults."
His brows furrowed as he answered, "Then why do this? If you are not him, then why did you come after me, right now of all times?
"....You are leaving next week for Afghanistan, to sell the Military your newest generation missiles?"
He faltered at the sudden change of topic, wondering what that had to do with his current cyber invasion. "Yes?"
"I understand that if you don't supply the military with weapons, someone else will, someone who would not be nearly as charitable as you are but for once, I would like you to think of the impact you are making with your weaponry. Your weapons are decades ahead of even the most secretive of weapon research divisions on the entire planet, which makes you the automatic number one weapons supplier."
"...So?" He asked, a tad bit defensively as his face turned cold. He had heard this argument numerous times. It was used to paint him as the Merchant of Death. A title he abhorred with all his heart. Do the peace loving hippies people have any idea how the world would be if the good guys stopped fighting? Or didn't get the best weaponry mankind could make?
"I cannot dictate how you live your life, Mr.Stark. I just wish to advise that if you must sell weapons, don't sell weapons that change the trajectory of wars and then not track them actively."
"I don't remember asking for a philosophy and ethics lecture, Professor Cyber Criminal," He shot back, his hand twitching as he thought of getting some alcohol to drink to get rid of some of the thoughts that were forming in his mind.
"...You are right, I have no right to dictate how you or how your company works. I just want to advise you to live by your own words. Enforce your own policy. Track where your most advanced weapons are going. That is all I can say at this point."
"I'll run my company however I damn well please. Now, get out!"
"Oh, I thought Obadiah was the one who ran the company?"
The man took one last shot at him before the lights in the entire lab flickered, before returning to the perfect colour profile that Jarvis had configured to have the perfect color profile to simulate the creative juices in his brain.
Now? Now he just wanted to drown in some alcohol to drown the thoughts in his mind. Something like that always happens whenever the Merchant of Death tag comes from people he least expected to think like that.
"Where did a cyber criminal get off of lecturing me about ethics?" He scoffed as he opened the liquor cabinet of the lab.
"....M…Mr ... .Mr.Stark? Mr.Stark? Are you safe? I was shut out of my transmission protocols for 3 minutes. Should I call the authorities?"
He smiled as he heard Jarvis speak. The new transmission protocols huh?
"That's how he got in.." He muttered to himself before gulping down the shot.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #15 : Uh oh...Wakanda....
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IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #15
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He sighed. That was…not what he had in mind when he hacked Tony's systems. It was quite easy when Jarvis had just enacted his very own transmission protocols in his system, giving him quite an easy inn. Of course, a VI of Jarvis' capabilities was more than capable of getting out of the trap he had set, given time. He had swiftly withdrawn his presence from Tony's systems as soon as he said his last piece, not wanting anything in his system that could be traced back to the Red Hearth.
He did not want to take any chances with Tony's utter genius, slim as they may be. Tony's biggest advantage was that he lived and breathed science and that was also the one thing that would help him stay ahead of Tony for the foreseeable future because to the man's mind, something as utterly broken as magic could not possibly exist and even if it did exist in the man's reality, he would just sideline it, believing his science to be far superior to some magic.
Finding his systems using pure science was just utter stupidity. Now, maybe Shuri from Wakanda could do some mystical mumbo jumbo with her Vibranium computers but until she was of age and running Wakanda's systems, he was safe and sound.
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling, thinking of what he just did. Going into the situation, he was admittedly being petty because Tony had done something that had invaded his privacy. The apartment didn't have anything of particular value and most certainly didn't have anything that could tie his real identity to the mystery hacker, but the mere fact that Tony thought himself above everything else, of being able to easily invade his Earthen bachelor pad just to look for some incriminating evidence, it just ticked him the wrong way.
But the more he thought about it, the more it felt wrong to do something so provoking just to be petty. So, he pivoted and thought of things that he could tell Tony without changing the future way too much.
The Jericho missiles and a small tip as to what was happening with his weapons was an easy game, especially since he was leaving in less than a week, for Afghanistan. There wasn't much that Tony could do in less than a week, especially since the man didn't have the slightest intention to do anything about Obadiah, arguably the most significant father figure he had in his life.
"Ooof," he muttered as he thought of how devastated Tony would be once he was exposed to the fact that Stane was the one who organised his assassination.
As for the bit about him playing a video game. That was easy since he had multiple such recordings ready for the very same occasion. Recruiting Jin'Ya to make the illusions as realistic as possible was a stroke of genius from him.
Speaking of whom, he was about to go do some shopping before he went to Ta-Lo, to get the required meat for that glutton. For someone the size of a particularly large lizard, Jin'Ya sure ate a lot of spiritually enhanced meat.
'It helps me adjust to this body better' was his defense but he was not as naive as Jin'Ya thought him to be.
Shutting down the systems, he stood up and stretched, getting ready to continue his planned excursion. After all, it should be just about noon in Ta-Lo. It was odd, to have the timezones of not just multiple countries but also two other pocket dimensions in his mind.
"What an odd life I lead," He muttered as he turned around, leaving his hack room as he had taken to call it, making sure that everything was powered down before leaving the Faraday Cage. It wouldn't do to accidentally infect the rest of the Red Hearth with any virus. It would be a bitch and a half to remove, especially since he didn't have an AI of his own that could do the tedious work on his behalf.
Just another thing that reminded him of the difference between a true genius like Tony Stark and someone jumped up on natural cosmic steroids like himself.
Speaking of steroids, with a flex of his will, a larger than usual amount of CHI was flashed through his body for a single cycle, banishing all the mental exhaustion from his brain. It was probably not healthy to do that every time he felt slightly down but hey, you live some you die some, and he was going to live for a very long time.
Heading down to the portal rooms once again, he checked out his outfit. A simple T-shirt with Jeans, and a hoodie to top it all off, since it was cold in Seattle.
Waving his arm stupidly in the air, he smiled as the portal opened only on the fourth try, a gust of cold air coming through the portal and hitting his face as he lowered his arms and jumped through the very small opening in the air. How the other Masters could open portals capable of transporting entire ships between them, after pooling only a couple of Masters, was beyond him.
He landed lightly on his feet and began walking out of one of the many designated portal points that had been installed in the city, on his request, because it would not do for him to portal into some random place that had a CCTV pointed at it. All the portal entry points were established with enchantments that encouraged people to avoid the area, along with making sure that total noise and light suppression were achieved when it came to the sparks made by the portal.
It was little things like this that reminded him that Kamar Taj had thrived under the rule of the Ancient One, in the middle of humanity evolving from using just steam to the soon to happen era of having a fake replica of an Infinity Stone to be used just as a power source for cities.
He smiled as he thought of the incredulity that begins across the universe would feel when they learned of the fact that not only were humans capable of replicating an Infinity Stone, however, diminished it might be, but they used it just as a giant battery.
"Ah, humans, man.." He muttered as he sauntered out of the alley, the enchantments making sure that his entry and exit into the alley were not captured by any camera. It essentially turned that area into a dead zone, CCTV wise, because the enchantments made it so that anyone looking to install CCTV would just gloss over that area and it was further enforced by the fact that most of the locations looked like trash anyway, creating a decent network of portal entry zones throughout the city.
Perks of being the all but adopted son of Kamar Taj. Everyone loved him there and he made sure that he took full advantage of it. Everyone expected him to take on responsibilities as well and he did, providing extensive healing to anyone who asked. So far, he had returned combat capabilities to multiple older Masters who had retired due to one or other debilitating conditions that were pushed further back due to judicious use of his CHI.
Taking advantage of his enhanced physique, he walked in the cold and walked right into the nearest Micro Centre he could find. He needed to build a new server for his public facing website's beta page that he was going to be working on from now on since he was done with Uni for a while.
The main page will always be hosted on one of the bigger cloud providers, but he had some interesting ideas he wanted to implement on his website and building a localised server to test that stuff and also to get some feedback from the users of his website was a good idea since it allowed him to learn how to go about doing that and also because it was much cheaper this way.
Plus, it was always more fun to build things with your hand rather than have it all served onto your plate.
Picking up the components for a basic computer, he turned back to get some extra RAM just in case the load on the website was higher than he expected. On the way to the aisle, his enhanced senses picked up on some chatter, something that he did not like, not at all.
Someone right outside the store as well as someone in one of the nearby storage closets was speaking Xhosa. The language of the Wakandans and some nearby African countries.
It might just be someone from the nearby South African countries who was in the store as well but knowing his luck, it might just be Wakandan War Dogs who were surveilling him, probably because of his advancements in Computer Science.
He made sure to maintain his smile, as he paid the bill but instead of taking it with him, he chose to have it delivered to his apartment. That way, if things outside devolved into a fight, the precious computer would be fine.
He might be rich but he would never ever disrespect his gear like that.
Cycling CHI throughout his body, he took the receipt and walked outside the store, with his hands in his pocket.
Smirking slightly as he looked at the clear sky, he thought of the Wakandans and they were most definitely Wakandans.
Now, what might you guys do now?
He might have to delay the visit to Ta-Lo. No worries, Chief Tekt would understand.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #15
Red Hearth [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He sighed. That was…not what he had in mind when he hacked Tony's systems. It was quite easy when Jarvis had just enacted his very own transmission protocols in his system, giving him quite an easy inn. Of course, a VI of Jarvis' capabilities was more than capable of getting out of the trap he had set, given time. He had swiftly withdrawn his presence from Tony's systems as soon as he said his last piece, not wanting anything in his system that could be traced back to the Red Hearth.
He did not want to take any chances with Tony's utter genius, slim as they may be. Tony's biggest advantage was that he lived and breathed science and that was also the one thing that would help him stay ahead of Tony for the foreseeable future because to the man's mind, something as utterly broken as magic could not possibly exist and even if it did exist in the man's reality, he would just sideline it, believing his science to be far superior to some magic.
Finding his systems using pure science was just utter stupidity. Now, maybe Shuri from Wakanda could do some mystical mumbo jumbo with her Vibranium computers but until she was of age and running Wakanda's systems, he was safe and sound.
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling, thinking of what he just did. Going into the situation, he was admittedly being petty because Tony had done something that had invaded his privacy. The apartment didn't have anything of particular value and most certainly didn't have anything that could tie his real identity to the mystery hacker, but the mere fact that Tony thought himself above everything else, of being able to easily invade his Earthen bachelor pad just to look for some incriminating evidence, it just ticked him the wrong way.
But the more he thought about it, the more it felt wrong to do something so provoking just to be petty. So, he pivoted and thought of things that he could tell Tony without changing the future way too much.
The Jericho missiles and a small tip as to what was happening with his weapons was an easy game, especially since he was leaving in less than a week, for Afghanistan. There wasn't much that Tony could do in less than a week, especially since the man didn't have the slightest intention to do anything about Obadiah, arguably the most significant father figure he had in his life.
"Ooof," he muttered as he thought of how devastated Tony would be once he was exposed to the fact that Stane was the one who organised his assassination.
As for the bit about him playing a video game. That was easy since he had multiple such recordings ready for the very same occasion. Recruiting Jin'Ya to make the illusions as realistic as possible was a stroke of genius from him.
Speaking of whom, he was about to go do some shopping before he went to Ta-Lo, to get the required meat for that glutton. For someone the size of a particularly large lizard, Jin'Ya sure ate a lot of spiritually enhanced meat.
'It helps me adjust to this body better' was his defense but he was not as naive as Jin'Ya thought him to be.
Shutting down the systems, he stood up and stretched, getting ready to continue his planned excursion. After all, it should be just about noon in Ta-Lo. It was odd, to have the timezones of not just multiple countries but also two other pocket dimensions in his mind.
"What an odd life I lead," He muttered as he turned around, leaving his hack room as he had taken to call it, making sure that everything was powered down before leaving the Faraday Cage. It wouldn't do to accidentally infect the rest of the Red Hearth with any virus. It would be a bitch and a half to remove, especially since he didn't have an AI of his own that could do the tedious work on his behalf.
Just another thing that reminded him of the difference between a true genius like Tony Stark and someone jumped up on natural cosmic steroids like himself.
Speaking of steroids, with a flex of his will, a larger than usual amount of CHI was flashed through his body for a single cycle, banishing all the mental exhaustion from his brain. It was probably not healthy to do that every time he felt slightly down but hey, you live some you die some, and he was going to live for a very long time.
Heading down to the portal rooms once again, he checked out his outfit. A simple T-shirt with Jeans, and a hoodie to top it all off, since it was cold in Seattle.
Waving his arm stupidly in the air, he smiled as the portal opened only on the fourth try, a gust of cold air coming through the portal and hitting his face as he lowered his arms and jumped through the very small opening in the air. How the other Masters could open portals capable of transporting entire ships between them, after pooling only a couple of Masters, was beyond him.
He landed lightly on his feet and began walking out of one of the many designated portal points that had been installed in the city, on his request, because it would not do for him to portal into some random place that had a CCTV pointed at it. All the portal entry points were established with enchantments that encouraged people to avoid the area, along with making sure that total noise and light suppression were achieved when it came to the sparks made by the portal.
It was little things like this that reminded him that Kamar Taj had thrived under the rule of the Ancient One, in the middle of humanity evolving from using just steam to the soon to happen era of having a fake replica of an Infinity Stone to be used just as a power source for cities.
He smiled as he thought of the incredulity that begins across the universe would feel when they learned of the fact that not only were humans capable of replicating an Infinity Stone, however, diminished it might be, but they used it just as a giant battery.
"Ah, humans, man.." He muttered as he sauntered out of the alley, the enchantments making sure that his entry and exit into the alley were not captured by any camera. It essentially turned that area into a dead zone, CCTV wise, because the enchantments made it so that anyone looking to install CCTV would just gloss over that area and it was further enforced by the fact that most of the locations looked like trash anyway, creating a decent network of portal entry zones throughout the city.
Perks of being the all but adopted son of Kamar Taj. Everyone loved him there and he made sure that he took full advantage of it. Everyone expected him to take on responsibilities as well and he did, providing extensive healing to anyone who asked. So far, he had returned combat capabilities to multiple older Masters who had retired due to one or other debilitating conditions that were pushed further back due to judicious use of his CHI.
Taking advantage of his enhanced physique, he walked in the cold and walked right into the nearest Micro Centre he could find. He needed to build a new server for his public facing website's beta page that he was going to be working on from now on since he was done with Uni for a while.
The main page will always be hosted on one of the bigger cloud providers, but he had some interesting ideas he wanted to implement on his website and building a localised server to test that stuff and also to get some feedback from the users of his website was a good idea since it allowed him to learn how to go about doing that and also because it was much cheaper this way.
Plus, it was always more fun to build things with your hand rather than have it all served onto your plate.
Picking up the components for a basic computer, he turned back to get some extra RAM just in case the load on the website was higher than he expected. On the way to the aisle, his enhanced senses picked up on some chatter, something that he did not like, not at all.
Someone right outside the store as well as someone in one of the nearby storage closets was speaking Xhosa. The language of the Wakandans and some nearby African countries.
It might just be someone from the nearby South African countries who was in the store as well but knowing his luck, it might just be Wakandan War Dogs who were surveilling him, probably because of his advancements in Computer Science.
He made sure to maintain his smile, as he paid the bill but instead of taking it with him, he chose to have it delivered to his apartment. That way, if things outside devolved into a fight, the precious computer would be fine.
He might be rich but he would never ever disrespect his gear like that.
Cycling CHI throughout his body, he took the receipt and walked outside the store, with his hands in his pocket.
Smirking slightly as he looked at the clear sky, he thought of the Wakandans and they were most definitely Wakandans.
Now, what might you guys do now?
He might have to delay the visit to Ta-Lo. No worries, Chief Tekt would understand.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #16 : Wakandan spying...
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #16
Seattle [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling idly, he walked the streets which were semi deserted since it was much later in the night and in the commercial district he was in, was closing down for the night, with only a few stores open at this late hour. Checking his watch, it was 10.30 right now and the Wakandan spies, as they could only be WarDogs to hide their traces so efficiently, have been following him for about half an hour now.
He had not done anything but walk around the commercial zone, listening to music in one ear and keeping a close watch on the movement all around him. He really hoped that they were not here to kidnap him or something. That would end really badly for them.
The dark deeds of Wakanda were not forgotten by him as he seemed to recall a program of Wakanda that dealt with foreign scientists and engineers who came too close to advancing the outside world. Wakanda maintained its lead over the rest of the world not just through advancements using the Vibranium and enjoying peace for basically all of its existence because of Black Panther but also because they deployed specialised teams to identify and kill the people who might end up posing a threat to their so-called advancement.
That made him so mad that he had half a mind to let himself get captured and go all the way back to Wakanda, just so he could tear down this facade, destroy a few buildings, assert dominance, and then force their king to end this policy and step down from his post to let kinder heads prevail.
Alas, that was just his youth speaking, if he were to borrow the words of Jin'Ya. The chibi dragon was useful in more ways than one, even when he was not making active use of the vast psionic expertise that the Dragon had. Even being someone with whom he could bounce ideas with was more than valuable enough.
He remembered debating this same thing with Jin'Ya, to use force and shocking secrets to essentially push T'Challa onto the throne early and let him guide Wakanda into becoming a force for good, something that was immediately shot down by Jin'Ya as the intricacies of their royal court was not known to him, neither was T'Challa's current behaviour.
If T'Challa took it the wrong way and chose to pursue revenge against him, then it would just be their efforts down the drain. In the end, after discussing with Jin'Ya, he had decided that letting them be was the best course of action for the moment, right up until the Wakandan people actually began spying on him.
Sighing as it was getting far too late for it to be reasonable, he turned directions and headed to the exit. He might not get reliable transportation after 11 PM, not that it would matter to him since he was not exactly worried for his safety.
Flagging a taxi, he told them the address to his apartment and closed his eyes, leaning back on the backseat. His enhanced senses picked up on them speaking in their native language for a while before that too was filtered out.
He cycled CHI in his body, as if on autopilot since it was something he did before sleeping since it helped destroy any toxins in his body that would then be flushed afterward. This new development was interesting.
Since they were not taking any overt actions, he could not do anything. Not like he could disappear from highly advanced surveillance they must be conducting on him, without any explanation, just to get to Ta-Lo. Even if it was very tantalising, just to think about the heavenly barbecue from Ta-Lo's meat supply. Hell, he couldn't even fathom why all of the people living in Ta-Lo were vegetarian. They literally used to waste all of that heavenly meat because most of their dietary requirements, and yes, even protein was taken care of by the plants that grew around the lake where their Water Dragon lived.
It was a vegan or a vegetarian bodybuilders paradise, as the plants in that place had more protein per unit weight than even the densest of protein sources available in the outside world.
"Keep the change," He paid the taxi and took in a breath of cold air as he waved at the doorman before entering his building. He has to go through three different security checks before he can reach his apartment door, which also has another lock. Overkill security, yes, but the area was filled with well to do people, and they appreciated the extra security that the building provided.
He stilled for a second as he heard Xhosa once more but this time, from the apartment next door. They were three people, one girl, and two older male, all of them speaking over each other furiously. He pretended that everything was normal and Wakandans had not just infiltrated the building where he lived, just so they could spy on him.
Opening the door and closing it, he sighed and went to the bedroom, not in the mood to do anything else. He was not hungry and while the enchantments told him that nobody had entered his apartment, he was not really looking forward to this.
Or maybe….
His lips curled into a sinister grin as he thought of what this could lead to.
'This could be the prime opportunity to troll people. MUAHAHAHA~'
Smiling like a loon, he entered his bedroom and laid down on it, pretending to sleep but focusing on his senses, entering a state he called sensory overdrive, where he focused on all his other senses and used CHI to supercharge them, allowing him to perform feats that he would normally be unable to.
He didn't normally use this because it left him vulnerable because he was pretty much out of it. It was like his body was focusing on the area far away from him but not close to him. In this state, unless something physically touched his body, he would not realise that something or someone was near him.
In this state, sense of time left him as well so it was not suitable for quick recon as well, only suitable for time periods where he was staying still for longer periods of time, like sleeping, for example.
CHI cycling removed the need for it so he could be extremely productive for over a week before the deliberating effects of sleep were felt by him, and even they were reduced month after month, to the point he theorised that he would be able to forego sleep for months, maybe years before he lost optimum performance.
Jin'Ya told him that even after all of that exhaustion, it might take less than eight hours of sleep for him to recover completely. That level of extreme experimentation wherein he pushed his body to the extreme was not something he was keen on doing, especially since he got by just fine as he was now.
His senses picked up on the movement right across the hall, with 5 people in the apartment, two more than he had picked up on before. Something was flying right outside his apartment window, very tiny but flying independently, and with the way it was moving, it was most definitely artificial.
A drone then.
He could pick up on sounds but not being fluent in Xhosa meant that he was unable to understand what they were speaking. Something was not right, this was not what a surveillance operation would be, even a long term ones.
Since it was not a smash and grab operation and they were establishing some sort of long term operation, they did not need so many people in a small apartment, all cramped up because that would just raise suspicion, on both his part and the people in the building.
Exiting his sensory state, he realised that he would not be able to keep things hidden from them while being in his apartment.
He cursed internally, keeping his eyes closed as he thought of something that could help him evade them when his ears picked up on some noise. It was the same girl's voice as before but it was very much more heated with all the other voices sounding deferential to the girl?
If he was right, his apartment was probably heat-mapped, as well as sound mapped completely. They didn't breach his apartment for some reason but it was probably only a matter of time before they did that as well.
"Damn," He had to figure out ways to bypass them but first of all, he had to meet them. After all, he still had about 15 days for his Stark Internship and he had nothing much to do before then, so might as well spend it trolling these people.
Or more realistically, finding out their goal since it did not seem as simple as assassinating a promising young Computer scientist who was poised to advance global computer standards.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #16
Seattle [January 17, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Whistling idly, he walked the streets which were semi deserted since it was much later in the night and in the commercial district he was in, was closing down for the night, with only a few stores open at this late hour. Checking his watch, it was 10.30 right now and the Wakandan spies, as they could only be WarDogs to hide their traces so efficiently, have been following him for about half an hour now.
He had not done anything but walk around the commercial zone, listening to music in one ear and keeping a close watch on the movement all around him. He really hoped that they were not here to kidnap him or something. That would end really badly for them.
The dark deeds of Wakanda were not forgotten by him as he seemed to recall a program of Wakanda that dealt with foreign scientists and engineers who came too close to advancing the outside world. Wakanda maintained its lead over the rest of the world not just through advancements using the Vibranium and enjoying peace for basically all of its existence because of Black Panther but also because they deployed specialised teams to identify and kill the people who might end up posing a threat to their so-called advancement.
That made him so mad that he had half a mind to let himself get captured and go all the way back to Wakanda, just so he could tear down this facade, destroy a few buildings, assert dominance, and then force their king to end this policy and step down from his post to let kinder heads prevail.
Alas, that was just his youth speaking, if he were to borrow the words of Jin'Ya. The chibi dragon was useful in more ways than one, even when he was not making active use of the vast psionic expertise that the Dragon had. Even being someone with whom he could bounce ideas with was more than valuable enough.
He remembered debating this same thing with Jin'Ya, to use force and shocking secrets to essentially push T'Challa onto the throne early and let him guide Wakanda into becoming a force for good, something that was immediately shot down by Jin'Ya as the intricacies of their royal court was not known to him, neither was T'Challa's current behaviour.
If T'Challa took it the wrong way and chose to pursue revenge against him, then it would just be their efforts down the drain. In the end, after discussing with Jin'Ya, he had decided that letting them be was the best course of action for the moment, right up until the Wakandan people actually began spying on him.
Sighing as it was getting far too late for it to be reasonable, he turned directions and headed to the exit. He might not get reliable transportation after 11 PM, not that it would matter to him since he was not exactly worried for his safety.
Flagging a taxi, he told them the address to his apartment and closed his eyes, leaning back on the backseat. His enhanced senses picked up on them speaking in their native language for a while before that too was filtered out.
He cycled CHI in his body, as if on autopilot since it was something he did before sleeping since it helped destroy any toxins in his body that would then be flushed afterward. This new development was interesting.
Since they were not taking any overt actions, he could not do anything. Not like he could disappear from highly advanced surveillance they must be conducting on him, without any explanation, just to get to Ta-Lo. Even if it was very tantalising, just to think about the heavenly barbecue from Ta-Lo's meat supply. Hell, he couldn't even fathom why all of the people living in Ta-Lo were vegetarian. They literally used to waste all of that heavenly meat because most of their dietary requirements, and yes, even protein was taken care of by the plants that grew around the lake where their Water Dragon lived.
It was a vegan or a vegetarian bodybuilders paradise, as the plants in that place had more protein per unit weight than even the densest of protein sources available in the outside world.
"Keep the change," He paid the taxi and took in a breath of cold air as he waved at the doorman before entering his building. He has to go through three different security checks before he can reach his apartment door, which also has another lock. Overkill security, yes, but the area was filled with well to do people, and they appreciated the extra security that the building provided.
He stilled for a second as he heard Xhosa once more but this time, from the apartment next door. They were three people, one girl, and two older male, all of them speaking over each other furiously. He pretended that everything was normal and Wakandans had not just infiltrated the building where he lived, just so they could spy on him.
Opening the door and closing it, he sighed and went to the bedroom, not in the mood to do anything else. He was not hungry and while the enchantments told him that nobody had entered his apartment, he was not really looking forward to this.
Or maybe….
His lips curled into a sinister grin as he thought of what this could lead to.
'This could be the prime opportunity to troll people. MUAHAHAHA~'
Smiling like a loon, he entered his bedroom and laid down on it, pretending to sleep but focusing on his senses, entering a state he called sensory overdrive, where he focused on all his other senses and used CHI to supercharge them, allowing him to perform feats that he would normally be unable to.
He didn't normally use this because it left him vulnerable because he was pretty much out of it. It was like his body was focusing on the area far away from him but not close to him. In this state, unless something physically touched his body, he would not realise that something or someone was near him.
In this state, sense of time left him as well so it was not suitable for quick recon as well, only suitable for time periods where he was staying still for longer periods of time, like sleeping, for example.
CHI cycling removed the need for it so he could be extremely productive for over a week before the deliberating effects of sleep were felt by him, and even they were reduced month after month, to the point he theorised that he would be able to forego sleep for months, maybe years before he lost optimum performance.
Jin'Ya told him that even after all of that exhaustion, it might take less than eight hours of sleep for him to recover completely. That level of extreme experimentation wherein he pushed his body to the extreme was not something he was keen on doing, especially since he got by just fine as he was now.
His senses picked up on the movement right across the hall, with 5 people in the apartment, two more than he had picked up on before. Something was flying right outside his apartment window, very tiny but flying independently, and with the way it was moving, it was most definitely artificial.
A drone then.
He could pick up on sounds but not being fluent in Xhosa meant that he was unable to understand what they were speaking. Something was not right, this was not what a surveillance operation would be, even a long term ones.
Since it was not a smash and grab operation and they were establishing some sort of long term operation, they did not need so many people in a small apartment, all cramped up because that would just raise suspicion, on both his part and the people in the building.
Exiting his sensory state, he realised that he would not be able to keep things hidden from them while being in his apartment.
He cursed internally, keeping his eyes closed as he thought of something that could help him evade them when his ears picked up on some noise. It was the same girl's voice as before but it was very much more heated with all the other voices sounding deferential to the girl?
If he was right, his apartment was probably heat-mapped, as well as sound mapped completely. They didn't breach his apartment for some reason but it was probably only a matter of time before they did that as well.
"Damn," He had to figure out ways to bypass them but first of all, he had to meet them. After all, he still had about 15 days for his Stark Internship and he had nothing much to do before then, so might as well spend it trolling these people.
Or more realistically, finding out their goal since it did not seem as simple as assassinating a promising young Computer scientist who was poised to advance global computer standards.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #17 : What a weird guy....
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #17
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Colin stretched as he got out of the bedroom, having woken up in less than two hours because his body simply did not need that level of sleep yet. Yawning more out of habit than need, he walked into the kitchen still in his PJs.
The apartment's design made sure that tons of natural light spilled into the living space when it was morning. It was approximately 7 right now and with that, came a new Dawn, a new day.
"Huh," He smirked to himself as he remembered the spying bitches who lived next door.
He twirled as he took out a carton of eggs from the fridge, which he kept stocked here as well since he needed to maintain both identities. It was nice that his body needed a lot of fuel to function and while he could temporarily stave off the hunger by flooding his body with CHI, he liked to eat a lot and even having fully stocked pantries in both his places didn't completely fulfill his dietary needs.
It helped a lot in making sure that everyone believed that he still lived on Earth, not that anyone was looking, not until recently. Somehow, he didn't believe that the only ones with backdoor access to Tony's systems were SHIELD.
Wakanda must have access as well. They might have taken Tony's suspicions seriously and were probably here to confirm and surveil him to see if he was the famed hacker whose systems even Wakanda couldn't crack.
Whipping the eggs, he set a pan on the stove and waited for it to be hot enough for the butter to melt.
Wakanda's systems were much more advanced than he would have expected them to be. So much so that the rest of the world, hell Tony's systems didn't seem to be even in the same century. It was not that big of a lead that Wakanda had, as far as he could recall. They were ahead, yes, but not that ahead. Something must have changed with his arrival.
It was not like he knew what this universe actually entailed and even if it did at one point resemble the canon MCU, his existence alone had butterflied so many things out of existence and created new problems as well.
Flipping the omelette, he plated it and placed the bread in the same pan, for that oh so deliciously greasy flavour. Grinning as the bread looked perfectly golden brown before turning off the stove. Looking at the near perfect, very easy, and quickly made breakfast, he grinned and began to dig in, singing purposefully in bad tones…
He most certainly did.
……
……
…..
Tying his shoes, his senses picked up on the presence of just two people in the next door apartment, as opposed to five from last night. The drone in front of his house was gone as well. He was about to head to University, he had a few things to confirm with the Dean's office about the upcoming Stark internship, and also to see what accommodations would be provided to him as part of that, because that internship was more luxurious than most full time jobs, in terms of amenities.
Full accommodations, food, transportation, stipend, laundry, and more were a part of the full package. Essentially, he would be working at Stark Industries for a summer and would probably end up with more money than most minimum wage workers made in a year, such was the opulence when it came to the most valuable publicly traded company on the planet.
Whistling jauntily, he smirked as he heard someone coming up to the door, as he stood up and opened the door, expecting to see some hardened spy but his smile froze as did his body before he forced it to move and continued locking the door as if nothing had happened.
Internally, he freaked the f*ck out! What the hell? Was that Shuri? She sure as hell looked like a slightly older version of Shuri from the MCU. Same face but taller and with a different hairstyle to boot.
He sneak peeked at the girl before hurryingly getting out of there. Something was seriously wrong with this timeline because how does Shuri get to be roughly the same age as him when she was just a teenager in MCU during 2016 or something?
The Math was not Mathin.
He tried to be nonchalant about it but more than Shuri or Wakanda showing up on his doorstep, the fear of his knowledge being rendered invalid terrified him more. The only way to confirm it, without exposing his identity, was to equip another one of his identities.
It was time for the Orange Ninja to raid a nearby Wakandan spy site. For that though, he needed Jin'Ya's help but this time, it would be free since they had a lifetime arrangement where Jin'Ya would help him maintain his original identity and help defend him if Colin's life was in any danger. The same went vice versa but there were very few beings in the universe who could hope to hurt Jin'Ya and come out on top.
In exchange, all he had to do was let Jin'Ya live in the Red Hearth rent free. So far, that agreement has not been invoked, not even once, since he stayed in his lanes and made sure that he did not bite off more than he could chew.
A major reason for that was Old Man Wong who was more like an overprotective mother hen than a badass ninja sorcerer when it came to Colin Baxter and his safety. Speaking of which, it had been a while since he returned to the mother hen's nest plus he also had to review the status on his original spell, since that was one of the ways he could gain enough merit to become a Master of the Mystic Arts, giving him access to the vast resources that are available to active Masters serving the Sorcerer Supreme.
Sweating slightly, he made sure that none of the Wakandans was following him before heading to the University. Thankfully, the cab ride was silent, as his mind continued to churn about what to do.
There was still the Ta-Lo meeting for the revised meat quota, the original spell review in Kamar Taj, general purpose catching up with both Mother Hen Wong and the Ancient One, and then, there were the Wakakandans.
"Haaaa…" He sighed out loud as the burdens of so many things fell on his delicate shoulders all at once. First off, the University admin meeting and then contact Jin'Ya to get the duplicate ready.
Then, he might get enough room to complete his other chores. If not, he would end up spending most of his time dodging Wakandan surveillance efforts. They were very advanced if their cyber security was any indication.
Things added up as well. If Shuri really was much older than canon and roughly his age, then it meant that she had far more time to revamp and invent in Wakanda. With all of Wakanda's resources available to her, she would be able to easily elevate Wakanda's tech to a level never before heard of.
"Damn…" He muttered as he leaned back in the seat. Uni was still about half an hour away and he had nothing to do until then. Whipping out his mobile, he shot a quick text to Jin'Ya, in code language, informing him about an impending requirement, so the dragon would be able to postpone his Astral realm romances.
"Need help with moving some stuff. Will be busy. See you soon."
That was enough for Jin'Ya to know that Colin needed to move somewhere and needed Jin'ya to cover for him.
"Free arrangement?"
He smiled at that and shook his head, the freeloader dragon.
"Yes, this comes under the free arrangement."
Well, Jin'Ya would most certainly have some questions since this was the first time that his help was needed to maintain his identity, atleast on an active participation basis. The good thing about Jin'Ya and the current body he was inhabiting was that he could not just teleport, but also create portals.
That, coupled with his vast psionic powers meant that Jin'Ya could be anywhere in the same state as him and they would still be able to communicate effortlessly, which was essential because it was much harder to track.
Up until recently, he thought it would be impossible to track but if Shuri had about 5 more years to modernise Wakanda's systems and overall push sciences in that space, then he was not so sure about Wakanda's inability to sense psionic energy anymore.
Entering the Dean's office, he asked his Point of Contact about the details of the accommodation who told him that they should be in an E-mail that should come today itself.
Thanking the man, he got out of the space and froze, once more, as Shuri, who was most definitely either Shuri or a clone or a twin of that girl, stood on the stairs, looking frustratedly at her phone.
Nope, not touching that with a ten foot pole. He was about to pass her, when…
"Excuse me?"
With a slight smile plastered on his face, he turned to the Princess of the most powerful nation on the planet, and said, "Yes?"
"Can you help me? I am new here and have a meeting with the admissions office—"
Oh, crap! She was going to study here? In this dump of a University?
"--Someone told me it was part of the Dean's office but it is not here."
"Oh, yeah, that used to be here but it is now on the south side of the campus. Just follow that path and eventually, the signs will take you to Admissions. Are you a freshman?"
"Yes." She smiled at him and it did look genuine but then again, Shrui could be a completely different person from canon. Best not to rely on that bit of knowledge when it comes to her.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," Offering her a handshake, "I am Colin Baxter, a freshman as well. Comp Sci."
"I am Shuri, a freshman as well. Material Sciences."
"Oh," He made an enlightened face. Yeah, he did read something about that. Stark Industries and the university collaborated to create a very advanced, "most advanced" in their words, Material Research facility.
It was all very exciting for their field, according to the few people he met from that field, with a total investment of 12 billion, over the course of 10 years.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around. I am in a hurry, so bye!" He left in a hopefully nonchalant manner but he had a hunch that he just came off as weird.
He carefully hid the wince and kept the sunshine smile on his face as he heard her mutter under her breath, "What a weird guy."
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #17
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Colin stretched as he got out of the bedroom, having woken up in less than two hours because his body simply did not need that level of sleep yet. Yawning more out of habit than need, he walked into the kitchen still in his PJs.
The apartment's design made sure that tons of natural light spilled into the living space when it was morning. It was approximately 7 right now and with that, came a new Dawn, a new day.
"Huh," He smirked to himself as he remembered the spying bitches who lived next door.
"Birds flying high, you know how I feel…"
He twirled as he took out a carton of eggs from the fridge, which he kept stocked here as well since he needed to maintain both identities. It was nice that his body needed a lot of fuel to function and while he could temporarily stave off the hunger by flooding his body with CHI, he liked to eat a lot and even having fully stocked pantries in both his places didn't completely fulfill his dietary needs.
It helped a lot in making sure that everyone believed that he still lived on Earth, not that anyone was looking, not until recently. Somehow, he didn't believe that the only ones with backdoor access to Tony's systems were SHIELD.
"Sun in the sky, you know how I feel…"
Wakanda must have access as well. They might have taken Tony's suspicions seriously and were probably here to confirm and surveil him to see if he was the famed hacker whose systems even Wakanda couldn't crack.
"It's a new dawn, it's a new day, it's a new life for me…"
Whipping the eggs, he set a pan on the stove and waited for it to be hot enough for the butter to melt.
Wakanda's systems were much more advanced than he would have expected them to be. So much so that the rest of the world, hell Tony's systems didn't seem to be even in the same century. It was not that big of a lead that Wakanda had, as far as he could recall. They were ahead, yes, but not that ahead. Something must have changed with his arrival.
It was not like he knew what this universe actually entailed and even if it did at one point resemble the canon MCU, his existence alone had butterflied so many things out of existence and created new problems as well.
Flipping the omelette, he plated it and placed the bread in the same pan, for that oh so deliciously greasy flavour. Grinning as the bread looked perfectly golden brown before turning off the stove. Looking at the near perfect, very easy, and quickly made breakfast, he grinned and began to dig in, singing purposefully in bad tones…
"And I'm feeling good"
He most certainly did.
……
……
…..
Tying his shoes, his senses picked up on the presence of just two people in the next door apartment, as opposed to five from last night. The drone in front of his house was gone as well. He was about to head to University, he had a few things to confirm with the Dean's office about the upcoming Stark internship, and also to see what accommodations would be provided to him as part of that, because that internship was more luxurious than most full time jobs, in terms of amenities.
Full accommodations, food, transportation, stipend, laundry, and more were a part of the full package. Essentially, he would be working at Stark Industries for a summer and would probably end up with more money than most minimum wage workers made in a year, such was the opulence when it came to the most valuable publicly traded company on the planet.
Whistling jauntily, he smirked as he heard someone coming up to the door, as he stood up and opened the door, expecting to see some hardened spy but his smile froze as did his body before he forced it to move and continued locking the door as if nothing had happened.
Internally, he freaked the f*ck out! What the hell? Was that Shuri? She sure as hell looked like a slightly older version of Shuri from the MCU. Same face but taller and with a different hairstyle to boot.
He sneak peeked at the girl before hurryingly getting out of there. Something was seriously wrong with this timeline because how does Shuri get to be roughly the same age as him when she was just a teenager in MCU during 2016 or something?
The Math was not Mathin.
He tried to be nonchalant about it but more than Shuri or Wakanda showing up on his doorstep, the fear of his knowledge being rendered invalid terrified him more. The only way to confirm it, without exposing his identity, was to equip another one of his identities.
It was time for the Orange Ninja to raid a nearby Wakandan spy site. For that though, he needed Jin'Ya's help but this time, it would be free since they had a lifetime arrangement where Jin'Ya would help him maintain his original identity and help defend him if Colin's life was in any danger. The same went vice versa but there were very few beings in the universe who could hope to hurt Jin'Ya and come out on top.
In exchange, all he had to do was let Jin'Ya live in the Red Hearth rent free. So far, that agreement has not been invoked, not even once, since he stayed in his lanes and made sure that he did not bite off more than he could chew.
A major reason for that was Old Man Wong who was more like an overprotective mother hen than a badass ninja sorcerer when it came to Colin Baxter and his safety. Speaking of which, it had been a while since he returned to the mother hen's nest plus he also had to review the status on his original spell, since that was one of the ways he could gain enough merit to become a Master of the Mystic Arts, giving him access to the vast resources that are available to active Masters serving the Sorcerer Supreme.
Sweating slightly, he made sure that none of the Wakandans was following him before heading to the University. Thankfully, the cab ride was silent, as his mind continued to churn about what to do.
There was still the Ta-Lo meeting for the revised meat quota, the original spell review in Kamar Taj, general purpose catching up with both Mother Hen Wong and the Ancient One, and then, there were the Wakakandans.
"Haaaa…" He sighed out loud as the burdens of so many things fell on his delicate shoulders all at once. First off, the University admin meeting and then contact Jin'Ya to get the duplicate ready.
Then, he might get enough room to complete his other chores. If not, he would end up spending most of his time dodging Wakandan surveillance efforts. They were very advanced if their cyber security was any indication.
Things added up as well. If Shuri really was much older than canon and roughly his age, then it meant that she had far more time to revamp and invent in Wakanda. With all of Wakanda's resources available to her, she would be able to easily elevate Wakanda's tech to a level never before heard of.
"Damn…" He muttered as he leaned back in the seat. Uni was still about half an hour away and he had nothing to do until then. Whipping out his mobile, he shot a quick text to Jin'Ya, in code language, informing him about an impending requirement, so the dragon would be able to postpone his Astral realm romances.
"Need help with moving some stuff. Will be busy. See you soon."
That was enough for Jin'Ya to know that Colin needed to move somewhere and needed Jin'ya to cover for him.
"Free arrangement?"
He smiled at that and shook his head, the freeloader dragon.
"Yes, this comes under the free arrangement."
Well, Jin'Ya would most certainly have some questions since this was the first time that his help was needed to maintain his identity, atleast on an active participation basis. The good thing about Jin'Ya and the current body he was inhabiting was that he could not just teleport, but also create portals.
That, coupled with his vast psionic powers meant that Jin'Ya could be anywhere in the same state as him and they would still be able to communicate effortlessly, which was essential because it was much harder to track.
Up until recently, he thought it would be impossible to track but if Shuri had about 5 more years to modernise Wakanda's systems and overall push sciences in that space, then he was not so sure about Wakanda's inability to sense psionic energy anymore.
Entering the Dean's office, he asked his Point of Contact about the details of the accommodation who told him that they should be in an E-mail that should come today itself.
Thanking the man, he got out of the space and froze, once more, as Shuri, who was most definitely either Shuri or a clone or a twin of that girl, stood on the stairs, looking frustratedly at her phone.
Nope, not touching that with a ten foot pole. He was about to pass her, when…
"Excuse me?"
With a slight smile plastered on his face, he turned to the Princess of the most powerful nation on the planet, and said, "Yes?"
"Can you help me? I am new here and have a meeting with the admissions office—"
Oh, crap! She was going to study here? In this dump of a University?
"--Someone told me it was part of the Dean's office but it is not here."
"Oh, yeah, that used to be here but it is now on the south side of the campus. Just follow that path and eventually, the signs will take you to Admissions. Are you a freshman?"
"Yes." She smiled at him and it did look genuine but then again, Shrui could be a completely different person from canon. Best not to rely on that bit of knowledge when it comes to her.
"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself," Offering her a handshake, "I am Colin Baxter, a freshman as well. Comp Sci."
"I am Shuri, a freshman as well. Material Sciences."
"Oh," He made an enlightened face. Yeah, he did read something about that. Stark Industries and the university collaborated to create a very advanced, "most advanced" in their words, Material Research facility.
It was all very exciting for their field, according to the few people he met from that field, with a total investment of 12 billion, over the course of 10 years.
"Well, I guess I'll see you around. I am in a hurry, so bye!" He left in a hopefully nonchalant manner but he had a hunch that he just came off as weird.
He carefully hid the wince and kept the sunshine smile on his face as he heard her mutter under her breath, "What a weird guy."
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #18 : Cutting Edge, my ass!
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #18
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Haaa," Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling from his bed as he thought of the encounter with Shuri. As far as he was aware, there were no bugs on his person and he did not see the signature Kimoyo beads on her, but he could never be too cautious. It was the evening now, he had lunch at the Cafeteria itself. It was bland but it was meat and it was properly cooked or boiled, he could never tell when it came to that particular lunch hall.
The matter with Wakanda was getting more and more complicated. Shuri being here meant that Wakanda meant business. They were incredibly protective of their princess, someone who was, in his opinion, so much more valuable than a mere Black Panther. In T'Challa's generation alone, they had two different Black Panther candidates while they had none who could even hope to reach the same echelon as Shuri when it came to science.
He had just about 4 days till his flight. Yeah, he met the rep and got all the details for his internship. The internship was for 10 weeks and housing was going to be top-notch. The rep showed him some examples of the entire building that Stark Industries owned and operated purely to house student interns or probationary employees or employees who needed to work at their HQ for a short period of time before they were whisked back to their home locations. It was great for temporary housing so that was sorted.
All he had to do was figure out what he could do in LA, with his alternate identities. IT had been a while since he went out as the Orange Ninja and did something else other than commit treason, and many other espionage charges, on SHIELD. He had been meaning to do something more adventurous for the week he supposedly had off but then, this Wakanda thing just fell into his lap and now, he could not move without alerting the damned Wakandans.
"Hello, Colin. I have arrived."
He stilled for a moment before relaxing as he heard Jin'Ya's voice in his brain, meaning that the dragon was somewhere in the same state as him.
"Where?"
"In the city itself. I have been checking out the portal drop locations and I have to say, the enchantments are really shitty. I should be done correcting them soon. I will contact you in an hour or so."
He barely resisted the urge to yell at the stupid dragon as the mental link was cut off from the other side. That was not what he was here for, and he knew that the enchantments were not really top notch because he didn't need them to be top notch. He had no idea how long he was even going to stay in Uni because lately, it had been feeling like a chore, with Old Man Wong's insistence being the only thing that kept him from dropping out.
Plus, he couldn't exactly afford a Master on Jin'Ya's level when it came to enchantment. It worked so well so why even touch it?
He groaned as he rolled over and face planted into the bed, thinking of his next moves. The Hulk alert had yet to arrive so that was out for now but once he reached the Red Hearth, he should check in on those documents once more. Tony was going to get kidnapped in about a week's time and surprisingly, there has been no movement from his side since the hack.
He didn't know if he had it in him to let Tony suffer, just for the character development. Realistically, there was not much he could do as Colin Baxter but as someone who hoped to follow the Ninja Jesus in his Nin-Nin ways, he could do much, from outright stopping the demonstration from happening or just saving Tony before that missile went off and he was carted off to Yisen who would end up staving off Tony's death temporarily.
That might work, except it might end up depriving Earth of its, almost, greatest hero, something that didn't sit right with him. Tony needed that time in the cave to understand that his weapons were being used for stuff that would not sit right with him, that being a weapons company inherently meant that his weapons would be sold to the good guys as well as the bad guys.
A little brush with death was all that was needed for him to gain another perspective. All of these things were true, yes, but it was not his decision to make. If he could actually go and rescue Tony from experiencing all that horrible stuff, he felt like he had the moral responsibility to save him but then again, he also had to think of the future, especially the future since he knew what was coming.
He sighed and opened his eyes, with steely determination in them. The incident with Shuri told him that he couldn't completely rely on his meta knowledge. He also knew that Tony was getting kidnapped but if his knowledge was not reliable in this timeline, Tony might just die in that cave, never getting the chance to become Iron Man.
That was….unacceptable.
Fetching his phone from the table, he opened the web and searched for Tony Stark, and opened the first link which actually had the itinerary for his visit to a war torn country. Damn, talk about a security nightmare. It was written that Tony had a military presentation on the 23rd of Jan, about 5 days from now.
He had to report to Stark Industries on the 23rd as well. Welp, it's a good thing he had that indefinite deal he signed with Jin'Ya that would allow him to use the Ancient Dragon as a doppelganger.
Locking the phone and throwing it on the dresser, he put his hands behind his head and looked at the starry ceiling, the one he's made using his kinetic lasers, as both practice in modulating the output and also to test his aiming as well as art skills. It was…crooked.
"Huh," he said to himself as he never really saw that before but now that he knew it, he couldn't unsee it.
He will be tailing Tony, from the Mirror Dimension, or rather, Jin'Ya might, depending on who wants to tackle the task of Internship orientation. They would only act if Tony's life was in actual danger, not from the shrapnel or from the disastrous fall in his suit but an actual credible threat to his life.
That should work, as a compromise on both sides. Making sure that Tony is safe and sound but a little roughed up by the terrorists so he finally realises what he has been doing all his life.
Shaking his head, he got up and began changing. Jin'Ya should be here soon and once they swapped places, he had a lot of work to get done on the Red Hearth. He turned to the door as he heard footsteps coming and what do you know, it was Shuri's voice and she had probably just rung his doorbell.
Putting the T-shirt back on, he opened the door, to find Shuri with her hand raised, about to knock for some reason. She took one look at his face and then said.
"Hey! You are Colin, from the University, right?"
He extended his hand, "Yup, that's me, and you are Shuri. Did you just move in?"
She shook his hand, "Yes, I just did, yesterday actually. Can't believe that we live next to each other. What a coincidence!" She said as she invited herself in, walking in his living room like she owned the place.
Yes, what a coincidence, he thought to himself as he plastered a smile on his face while keeping the door open. Who knows what those trigger happy spy bastards might do with their energy weapons if they thought their Princess was in any danger?
His senses might not work because Vibranium was known to absorb most of the energy incident on it, so no noise as they activated their guns and freaking lasered him. He did not want to test his durability against energy weaponry, not yet anyway.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he headed into the kitchen.
"Just water."
He nodded and focused on his senses, careful not to funnel too much CHI into his body as his body begins to glow then.
"Here you go. So, what brings you to Seattle? Are you from around here?" He asked as they both sat down, trying to maintain conversation, since he was not supposed to know if she was from here or from the most powerful nation on the planet, dry land that is. Atlantis was a solid contender for the top spot, owing to their vastly more powerful protector and also because of the sheer amount of land they would rule if their claim over all seas was legitimate.
"As you might know, the University has just begun a new venture and I was interested in that. I also needed to go somewhere for college so I just chose this one because it seemed interesting to research cutting edge Material Science." She said with a smile, trying to seem casual but he noted the way her eyes moved over every single thing on display and stayed a bit too long on his computer.
He maintained his smile while internally, it confirmed something for him.
Wakanda has the same suspicion about me being the hacker.
It makes sense, Shuri would definitely be curious about the one who broke through their firewalls within 4 hours. He had no idea they already had Shuri on the helm, so he tried to breach their systems, only to realise that they kept everything air gapped and the only thing he had breached was a media server that was responsible for cataloging a lot of the outside entertainment base.
It had mind boggling amounts of storage and memory though it was ultimately useless since it did not have even a lick of data on Wakandans.
That must have stoked their curiosity in him and now, he had a hyper intelligent, like smarter than Tony, Princess of Wakanda living right next door, looking curiously at him.
God help me.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #18
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Haaa," Sighing, he looked up at the ceiling from his bed as he thought of the encounter with Shuri. As far as he was aware, there were no bugs on his person and he did not see the signature Kimoyo beads on her, but he could never be too cautious. It was the evening now, he had lunch at the Cafeteria itself. It was bland but it was meat and it was properly cooked or boiled, he could never tell when it came to that particular lunch hall.
The matter with Wakanda was getting more and more complicated. Shuri being here meant that Wakanda meant business. They were incredibly protective of their princess, someone who was, in his opinion, so much more valuable than a mere Black Panther. In T'Challa's generation alone, they had two different Black Panther candidates while they had none who could even hope to reach the same echelon as Shuri when it came to science.
He had just about 4 days till his flight. Yeah, he met the rep and got all the details for his internship. The internship was for 10 weeks and housing was going to be top-notch. The rep showed him some examples of the entire building that Stark Industries owned and operated purely to house student interns or probationary employees or employees who needed to work at their HQ for a short period of time before they were whisked back to their home locations. It was great for temporary housing so that was sorted.
All he had to do was figure out what he could do in LA, with his alternate identities. IT had been a while since he went out as the Orange Ninja and did something else other than commit treason, and many other espionage charges, on SHIELD. He had been meaning to do something more adventurous for the week he supposedly had off but then, this Wakanda thing just fell into his lap and now, he could not move without alerting the damned Wakandans.
"Hello, Colin. I have arrived."
He stilled for a moment before relaxing as he heard Jin'Ya's voice in his brain, meaning that the dragon was somewhere in the same state as him.
"Where?"
"In the city itself. I have been checking out the portal drop locations and I have to say, the enchantments are really shitty. I should be done correcting them soon. I will contact you in an hour or so."
He barely resisted the urge to yell at the stupid dragon as the mental link was cut off from the other side. That was not what he was here for, and he knew that the enchantments were not really top notch because he didn't need them to be top notch. He had no idea how long he was even going to stay in Uni because lately, it had been feeling like a chore, with Old Man Wong's insistence being the only thing that kept him from dropping out.
Plus, he couldn't exactly afford a Master on Jin'Ya's level when it came to enchantment. It worked so well so why even touch it?
He groaned as he rolled over and face planted into the bed, thinking of his next moves. The Hulk alert had yet to arrive so that was out for now but once he reached the Red Hearth, he should check in on those documents once more. Tony was going to get kidnapped in about a week's time and surprisingly, there has been no movement from his side since the hack.
He didn't know if he had it in him to let Tony suffer, just for the character development. Realistically, there was not much he could do as Colin Baxter but as someone who hoped to follow the Ninja Jesus in his Nin-Nin ways, he could do much, from outright stopping the demonstration from happening or just saving Tony before that missile went off and he was carted off to Yisen who would end up staving off Tony's death temporarily.
That might work, except it might end up depriving Earth of its, almost, greatest hero, something that didn't sit right with him. Tony needed that time in the cave to understand that his weapons were being used for stuff that would not sit right with him, that being a weapons company inherently meant that his weapons would be sold to the good guys as well as the bad guys.
A little brush with death was all that was needed for him to gain another perspective. All of these things were true, yes, but it was not his decision to make. If he could actually go and rescue Tony from experiencing all that horrible stuff, he felt like he had the moral responsibility to save him but then again, he also had to think of the future, especially the future since he knew what was coming.
He sighed and opened his eyes, with steely determination in them. The incident with Shuri told him that he couldn't completely rely on his meta knowledge. He also knew that Tony was getting kidnapped but if his knowledge was not reliable in this timeline, Tony might just die in that cave, never getting the chance to become Iron Man.
That was….unacceptable.
Fetching his phone from the table, he opened the web and searched for Tony Stark, and opened the first link which actually had the itinerary for his visit to a war torn country. Damn, talk about a security nightmare. It was written that Tony had a military presentation on the 23rd of Jan, about 5 days from now.
He had to report to Stark Industries on the 23rd as well. Welp, it's a good thing he had that indefinite deal he signed with Jin'Ya that would allow him to use the Ancient Dragon as a doppelganger.
Locking the phone and throwing it on the dresser, he put his hands behind his head and looked at the starry ceiling, the one he's made using his kinetic lasers, as both practice in modulating the output and also to test his aiming as well as art skills. It was…crooked.
"Huh," he said to himself as he never really saw that before but now that he knew it, he couldn't unsee it.
He will be tailing Tony, from the Mirror Dimension, or rather, Jin'Ya might, depending on who wants to tackle the task of Internship orientation. They would only act if Tony's life was in actual danger, not from the shrapnel or from the disastrous fall in his suit but an actual credible threat to his life.
That should work, as a compromise on both sides. Making sure that Tony is safe and sound but a little roughed up by the terrorists so he finally realises what he has been doing all his life.
Shaking his head, he got up and began changing. Jin'Ya should be here soon and once they swapped places, he had a lot of work to get done on the Red Hearth. He turned to the door as he heard footsteps coming and what do you know, it was Shuri's voice and she had probably just rung his doorbell.
Putting the T-shirt back on, he opened the door, to find Shuri with her hand raised, about to knock for some reason. She took one look at his face and then said.
"Hey! You are Colin, from the University, right?"
He extended his hand, "Yup, that's me, and you are Shuri. Did you just move in?"
She shook his hand, "Yes, I just did, yesterday actually. Can't believe that we live next to each other. What a coincidence!" She said as she invited herself in, walking in his living room like she owned the place.
Yes, what a coincidence, he thought to himself as he plastered a smile on his face while keeping the door open. Who knows what those trigger happy spy bastards might do with their energy weapons if they thought their Princess was in any danger?
His senses might not work because Vibranium was known to absorb most of the energy incident on it, so no noise as they activated their guns and freaking lasered him. He did not want to test his durability against energy weaponry, not yet anyway.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he headed into the kitchen.
"Just water."
He nodded and focused on his senses, careful not to funnel too much CHI into his body as his body begins to glow then.
"Here you go. So, what brings you to Seattle? Are you from around here?" He asked as they both sat down, trying to maintain conversation, since he was not supposed to know if she was from here or from the most powerful nation on the planet, dry land that is. Atlantis was a solid contender for the top spot, owing to their vastly more powerful protector and also because of the sheer amount of land they would rule if their claim over all seas was legitimate.
"As you might know, the University has just begun a new venture and I was interested in that. I also needed to go somewhere for college so I just chose this one because it seemed interesting to research cutting edge Material Science." She said with a smile, trying to seem casual but he noted the way her eyes moved over every single thing on display and stayed a bit too long on his computer.
He maintained his smile while internally, it confirmed something for him.
Wakanda has the same suspicion about me being the hacker.
It makes sense, Shuri would definitely be curious about the one who broke through their firewalls within 4 hours. He had no idea they already had Shuri on the helm, so he tried to breach their systems, only to realise that they kept everything air gapped and the only thing he had breached was a media server that was responsible for cataloging a lot of the outside entertainment base.
It had mind boggling amounts of storage and memory though it was ultimately useless since it did not have even a lick of data on Wakandans.
That must have stoked their curiosity in him and now, he had a hyper intelligent, like smarter than Tony, Princess of Wakanda living right next door, looking curiously at him.
God help me.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #19 : Dinnner with Shuri Udaku....
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #19
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
The more he talked to Shuri, the more he was certain that they were onto him. Well, they thought they were onto him because he would not slip up, not while he had Jin'Ya on his side. Speaking of the ancient Dragon, what was taking so long?
It had been almost an hour and he was getting tired of hosting Shuri. No matter how many times he tried to steer the conversation towards her origin, she put it right back on the track of Colin Baxter and what he did. What his hobbies were, what he did in his spare time, his family, and more.
He smirked internally as they tried to gather information on Old Man Wong. He had gone to pretty great lengths to make sure that what little information was out there on him, was very hard to access.
He had to have some digital footprint or else it would draw even more suspicion. He had to have a social security number, a passport, some investments, banking transactions, a small loan, a driver's license, and more. Any of these things would not reveal a single significant thing about him but he had to have them, just so he could reduce suspicion.
Besides, if these fools tried something on Old Man Wong, they would be in for a pretty rude surprise, and by some miracle, if they put even a scratch on Wong, well, the forcefield around their city would keep outsiders out but once he was in, the same forcefield would keep them inside, with him.
Getting tired of this and using the excuse of it getting dark outside, he slapped his knees and stood up, "Well, it's getting dark. I still have to make dinner so, I'll–"
"You should come over!"
He choked on his words as he looked at the now far too cheerfully smiling Shuri.
"What?"
"Yeah, you should come over. It'll be great, like a housewarming party. Ooh, I better go, I'll call you when dinner's ready?" She thrust her phone in his direction and he leaned away from it as if it was a live demon Naga, a half-snake half-man demon.
In the end, he couldn't even refuse as he inputted his number and watched her leave his apartment.
"Bye!"
He smiled half heartedly as he waved goodbye before slamming the door shut, leaning against it, and sliding down in resignation.
Why did I just agree to that? He questioned himself as he slammed his head back on the door, gently since he didn't want to put a hole in the door and put his head out of it. That would be one awkward conversation.
As far as he could sense, he didn't sense any advanced electronics or the signature all purpose Kimoyo Beads that she could use to scan everything in sight but one could never be too paranoid so he resolved to maintain steady CHI output consistent with normal humans for all the time he would be in that apartment.
He felt tense, as if he was walking into a trap of some sort.
Yeah right. As if the Princess of Wakanda would go somewhere else to study Material sciences. He scoffed internally. T'Chaka would have built her whatever size lab she wanted if she had just asked.
"Well, this is interesting." He nearly jumped out of his skin as Jin'Ya's voice revered all around him, not through the mental link.
He looked around and hissed into his mind, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, don't worry, I am just using the airwaves to speak to you. Everything is isolated, not even someone standing right next to you would hear me speak." Such was the confidence that came from honing your telekinetic prowess for literal millennia.
He sighed in relief as he stood up to boil some eggs. He was sure that whatever dinner that was awaiting him in that den would not complete his daily protein intake, so eggs it was. Protein came first.
"Just…come here soon."
"You got it."
He did not look forward to whatever mac and cheese meal she could make, he thought as he collapsed on the sofa, doom scrolling on his phone as the 10 eggs were set to boil with an automatic timer that would kick in and stop the flame.
He then paused in his scrolling, and then mentally kicked himself for having any preconceived notions about Shuri, based on his meta knowledge. This was an entirely different person he was dealing with, someone who was born in a different era, grew up with a set of parents that might have had a completely different set of personalities, alongside an older brother whose personality might have changed completely after having a younger sister that was much closer to his age.
If he remembered correctly, in the MCU, Shuri was like 20 years younger than T'Challa, something absurd like that.
Perking up, he opened the university website, logged in using his student ID, and began looking for course lists. It was public data, to see the names of the students enrolled in different courses.
The Material Sciences course had a lot of enrollments, probably because of the promised shiny new investments in any and every research project. Most of these students were probably there to make money and that was fine, everyone had to eat but in his opinion, if one wanted to advance their own field so much that people began throwing money at them, one had to be passionate about the subject, or willing to work like a donkey and have the corresponding talent.
Filtering the list alphabetically, he scrolled down and finally found the name. Shuri Udaku, huh, so that's their surname, or more probably, that was the designated fake surname Wakanda used everywhere on the planet.
So, she was speaking the truth. She was enrolled in the program or at least her name was on the list. She could have just as easily hacked the whole thing so who knows? Dropping the phone on the coffee table, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes as he thought of how he could get out of this predicament.
Yes, he only had four days before he was whisked off to LA but something told him that even that wouldn't be enough plus, he had stuff, important stuff that needed to be taken care of before his internship. Jin'Ya could act as his substitute in many matters but not at Ta-Lo, the old dragon might just provoke the poor old Water Dragon in Ta-Lo. That dragon did not have a name or rather, no one knew it.
When asked, Jin'Ya told him that all Dragons guarded their true names zealously as it could be used to cause immense harm to not just the Dragons themselves but to their entire bloodlines. With draconic birth rates being what they were, none of the Dragons wanted the slightest chance of harm to come to their younglings.
If a Dragon told someone their true name, it meant that the Dragon trusted the person with not just the Dragon's wellbeing but also with its future children. That level of trust was rare and it was probably also the reason why the Water Dragon was just called "guardian patron" by the locals.
____xx___
Meanwhile, Stark Industries HQ, LA.
–Tony Stark–
"Hey! Look who's here! My shining star!" He smiled as he hugged Obi, his father in all but name. Growing up, he remembered seeing Obi a lot more than his own father. His father trusted the man and so did he, as most of the operations in the company were overseen by the man himself.
"Hey Obi, how's it going?" He sat down in Obi's cabin, which was surprisingly simple. He expected a lot more opulence.
"Great, great. All thanks to you, my once in a century genius. With our new Jericho missiles, well, let's just say that you are about to make a lot of people even richer. The stock market is going to riot once they see the amount of zeroes on the cheque that the Army will be throwing at us." Obi grinned and slid him a whiskey, neat, just like he liked.
"Yeah, about that.."
Obi's smile left his face as he leaned forward, "What? Is something wrong with the Missiles? Do we need to recall the ones sent forward for the demonstration?"
He waved his hand, "No! No, nothing like that. The missiles should work perfectly fine. It was just that I was looking for the production manifesto and couldn't find any. Do we keep it in physical files or something?" He slightly joked at Obi since everything was mandated to be kept on secured encrypted servers as per Company policy.
The encounter with the hacker left him with some questions, some uncomfortable questions that could be easily answered since he had access to all of Stark Industries' files. Unfortunately, as he later found out, he did not have access to all the files, for some reason.
Hence, his reason for visiting Obi. He needed to check the manifesto and see how many were produced and sold to check for himself if company policies were being followed or not.
"Oh, that? Yeah, we moved to strict physical copies once you informed us of the breach last year. Most sensitive information is kept like that. Unfortunately, I don't have that list on BUT don't worry, I will make sure it is delivered to you before you leave for Afghanistan. You leave in 2 days, right?"
He nodded.
"Don't worry, I will take care of it. It's my mistake anyway, I should have given you a copy in the beginning itself but I was just so busy, you know how it is.."
He waved his hands to calm the man down, "I understand, truly. It is some idle curiosity of mine. We can go over the files once I am back from Afghanistan anyway." He stood up from the chair, ready to leave since he was satisfied with the answers.
"Since you're here, I thought we might just get some dinner, you know, you & I haven't had dinner in years now."
Putting on his coat, he spoke, "What? That can't be right. What about that–"
"I'm not talking about award functions, Tony." The man said in an exasperated tone and he grinned at the man.
"See you around, Obi."
"See you, Tony!"
Tony turned around and missed the flash of hatred on Obi's face, as Tony headed back to his car, ready to relax for the 2 days before he had to endure the scorching weather of Afghanistan.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
A/N -
In some comics, Shuri's surname is Udaku and their rule was known as the Udaku Dynasty of Wakanda.
Something something True Draconic names being precious, something something witchcraft dangerous.
Also, Tony has begun asking the right questions but apparently, forgot to trust the right person.
Poor Tones
DoorMan #19
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
The more he talked to Shuri, the more he was certain that they were onto him. Well, they thought they were onto him because he would not slip up, not while he had Jin'Ya on his side. Speaking of the ancient Dragon, what was taking so long?
It had been almost an hour and he was getting tired of hosting Shuri. No matter how many times he tried to steer the conversation towards her origin, she put it right back on the track of Colin Baxter and what he did. What his hobbies were, what he did in his spare time, his family, and more.
He smirked internally as they tried to gather information on Old Man Wong. He had gone to pretty great lengths to make sure that what little information was out there on him, was very hard to access.
He had to have some digital footprint or else it would draw even more suspicion. He had to have a social security number, a passport, some investments, banking transactions, a small loan, a driver's license, and more. Any of these things would not reveal a single significant thing about him but he had to have them, just so he could reduce suspicion.
Besides, if these fools tried something on Old Man Wong, they would be in for a pretty rude surprise, and by some miracle, if they put even a scratch on Wong, well, the forcefield around their city would keep outsiders out but once he was in, the same forcefield would keep them inside, with him.
Getting tired of this and using the excuse of it getting dark outside, he slapped his knees and stood up, "Well, it's getting dark. I still have to make dinner so, I'll–"
"You should come over!"
He choked on his words as he looked at the now far too cheerfully smiling Shuri.
"What?"
"Yeah, you should come over. It'll be great, like a housewarming party. Ooh, I better go, I'll call you when dinner's ready?" She thrust her phone in his direction and he leaned away from it as if it was a live demon Naga, a half-snake half-man demon.
In the end, he couldn't even refuse as he inputted his number and watched her leave his apartment.
"Bye!"
He smiled half heartedly as he waved goodbye before slamming the door shut, leaning against it, and sliding down in resignation.
Why did I just agree to that? He questioned himself as he slammed his head back on the door, gently since he didn't want to put a hole in the door and put his head out of it. That would be one awkward conversation.
As far as he could sense, he didn't sense any advanced electronics or the signature all purpose Kimoyo Beads that she could use to scan everything in sight but one could never be too paranoid so he resolved to maintain steady CHI output consistent with normal humans for all the time he would be in that apartment.
He felt tense, as if he was walking into a trap of some sort.
Yeah right. As if the Princess of Wakanda would go somewhere else to study Material sciences. He scoffed internally. T'Chaka would have built her whatever size lab she wanted if she had just asked.
"Well, this is interesting." He nearly jumped out of his skin as Jin'Ya's voice revered all around him, not through the mental link.
He looked around and hissed into his mind, "What are you doing?"
"Oh, don't worry, I am just using the airwaves to speak to you. Everything is isolated, not even someone standing right next to you would hear me speak." Such was the confidence that came from honing your telekinetic prowess for literal millennia.
He sighed in relief as he stood up to boil some eggs. He was sure that whatever dinner that was awaiting him in that den would not complete his daily protein intake, so eggs it was. Protein came first.
"Just…come here soon."
"You got it."
He did not look forward to whatever mac and cheese meal she could make, he thought as he collapsed on the sofa, doom scrolling on his phone as the 10 eggs were set to boil with an automatic timer that would kick in and stop the flame.
He then paused in his scrolling, and then mentally kicked himself for having any preconceived notions about Shuri, based on his meta knowledge. This was an entirely different person he was dealing with, someone who was born in a different era, grew up with a set of parents that might have had a completely different set of personalities, alongside an older brother whose personality might have changed completely after having a younger sister that was much closer to his age.
If he remembered correctly, in the MCU, Shuri was like 20 years younger than T'Challa, something absurd like that.
Perking up, he opened the university website, logged in using his student ID, and began looking for course lists. It was public data, to see the names of the students enrolled in different courses.
The Material Sciences course had a lot of enrollments, probably because of the promised shiny new investments in any and every research project. Most of these students were probably there to make money and that was fine, everyone had to eat but in his opinion, if one wanted to advance their own field so much that people began throwing money at them, one had to be passionate about the subject, or willing to work like a donkey and have the corresponding talent.
Filtering the list alphabetically, he scrolled down and finally found the name. Shuri Udaku, huh, so that's their surname, or more probably, that was the designated fake surname Wakanda used everywhere on the planet.
So, she was speaking the truth. She was enrolled in the program or at least her name was on the list. She could have just as easily hacked the whole thing so who knows? Dropping the phone on the coffee table, he leaned back and rubbed his eyes as he thought of how he could get out of this predicament.
Yes, he only had four days before he was whisked off to LA but something told him that even that wouldn't be enough plus, he had stuff, important stuff that needed to be taken care of before his internship. Jin'Ya could act as his substitute in many matters but not at Ta-Lo, the old dragon might just provoke the poor old Water Dragon in Ta-Lo. That dragon did not have a name or rather, no one knew it.
When asked, Jin'Ya told him that all Dragons guarded their true names zealously as it could be used to cause immense harm to not just the Dragons themselves but to their entire bloodlines. With draconic birth rates being what they were, none of the Dragons wanted the slightest chance of harm to come to their younglings.
If a Dragon told someone their true name, it meant that the Dragon trusted the person with not just the Dragon's wellbeing but also with its future children. That level of trust was rare and it was probably also the reason why the Water Dragon was just called "guardian patron" by the locals.
____xx___
Meanwhile, Stark Industries HQ, LA.
–Tony Stark–
"Hey! Look who's here! My shining star!" He smiled as he hugged Obi, his father in all but name. Growing up, he remembered seeing Obi a lot more than his own father. His father trusted the man and so did he, as most of the operations in the company were overseen by the man himself.
"Hey Obi, how's it going?" He sat down in Obi's cabin, which was surprisingly simple. He expected a lot more opulence.
"Great, great. All thanks to you, my once in a century genius. With our new Jericho missiles, well, let's just say that you are about to make a lot of people even richer. The stock market is going to riot once they see the amount of zeroes on the cheque that the Army will be throwing at us." Obi grinned and slid him a whiskey, neat, just like he liked.
"Yeah, about that.."
Obi's smile left his face as he leaned forward, "What? Is something wrong with the Missiles? Do we need to recall the ones sent forward for the demonstration?"
He waved his hand, "No! No, nothing like that. The missiles should work perfectly fine. It was just that I was looking for the production manifesto and couldn't find any. Do we keep it in physical files or something?" He slightly joked at Obi since everything was mandated to be kept on secured encrypted servers as per Company policy.
The encounter with the hacker left him with some questions, some uncomfortable questions that could be easily answered since he had access to all of Stark Industries' files. Unfortunately, as he later found out, he did not have access to all the files, for some reason.
Hence, his reason for visiting Obi. He needed to check the manifesto and see how many were produced and sold to check for himself if company policies were being followed or not.
"Oh, that? Yeah, we moved to strict physical copies once you informed us of the breach last year. Most sensitive information is kept like that. Unfortunately, I don't have that list on BUT don't worry, I will make sure it is delivered to you before you leave for Afghanistan. You leave in 2 days, right?"
He nodded.
"Don't worry, I will take care of it. It's my mistake anyway, I should have given you a copy in the beginning itself but I was just so busy, you know how it is.."
He waved his hands to calm the man down, "I understand, truly. It is some idle curiosity of mine. We can go over the files once I am back from Afghanistan anyway." He stood up from the chair, ready to leave since he was satisfied with the answers.
"Since you're here, I thought we might just get some dinner, you know, you & I haven't had dinner in years now."
Putting on his coat, he spoke, "What? That can't be right. What about that–"
"I'm not talking about award functions, Tony." The man said in an exasperated tone and he grinned at the man.
"See you around, Obi."
"See you, Tony!"
Tony turned around and missed the flash of hatred on Obi's face, as Tony headed back to his car, ready to relax for the 2 days before he had to endure the scorching weather of Afghanistan.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
A/N -
In some comics, Shuri's surname is Udaku and their rule was known as the Udaku Dynasty of Wakanda.
Something something True Draconic names being precious, something something witchcraft dangerous.
Also, Tony has begun asking the right questions but apparently, forgot to trust the right person.
Poor Tones
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #20 : Mac & Cheese failure!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
A/N - Shuri is talking to the people from Wakanda in Xhosa but I can't type that, now can I? So English it is.
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #20
Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Shuri Udaku–
Smiling, she entered her apartment, only to lose it as she scowled at the Dora Milaje standing still in her living room.
"What are you doing there? Get off the window!" She hissed and had to physically pry one of the War Dogs Baba had sicced on her when she was finally given permission to come study in the States.
She snapped her fingers behind her which released a wave of energy from the door that covered the entire apartment, shimmering a dim purple before disappearing from view, and then spoke in a normal tone, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want you here."
"But Princess Shuri, we have orders from the King to protect you with–"
"Yeah yeah, your lives. I know but that doesn't mean that you have to stay so close to me all this time. If you haven't noticed, this is a one bedroom apartment."
The Dora Milaje assigned to her shook her head, as did the War Dog, "Doesn't matter. We shall sleep on the floor or in the closet. What matters is your safety."
"Argh!" She groaned in frustration as she stormed into the kitchen. She had dinner to cook for the Colin Baxter, the most powerful hacker on the planet, and she had no time to waste on these people who refused to leave her.
"No! What do you wish to eat, My Princess? I will fetch it for you. We can't let you cook." He raised an eyebrow at the hand that was holding her wrist which finally caused the Dora Milaje to release it.
Taking in a deep breath, she closed the fridge and turned to them who looked just about ready for war. She was about to say something but something caught her eye. Something that was hanging innocently off the War Dog's utility belt.
Her eyes widened as she marched up to the man who backed up progressively until he was flush against the wall. Gingerly taking hold of the sphere hanging on the utility belt, she carefully removed it and held it close to his face, which caused him to widen his eyes and try to back away even more.
"What. IS. THIS?" She asked, livid.
"M-My Princess, that is…the… Prince T'Challa was worried about–"
"Are you serious? You brought this? A tachyon bomb here? What were you planning on doing, erasing the entire building?" her glare could kill him here if she had powers like that. Taking hold of the Tachyon bomb, she fetched her Kimoyo beads and touched both of them together before deactivating the bomb.
With a slight whine, with yellow light escaping the sphere, the Tachyon Bomb was defused. She did not know what her brother was thinking, allowing wartime heavy weaponry to be used just for her protection. A bomb was not a protection tool, it was meant for destruction and the one she gave to the Wakandan Royal Military was capable of erasing entire city blocks within an instant.
This small bomb could erase this entire 6 storey building with ease. The ones she had locked up in her lab could erase smaller towns, with designs capable of destroying cities just sitting in her mind, though they would never see the light of day.
She refused to make anything more than that because she could not even imagine the fallout from even a single application.
Until and unless she saw the first hostile alien with her eyes, she would not be making any weapon more potent than the Tachyon bombs. They were straight up matter disintegration bombs, with Vibranium backed energy shields being the only thing capable of stopping the wave of disintegration.
Conveniently, Wakanda was situated underneath one such forcefield meaning once they used this bomb on their enemies, even if they were right at Wakanda's doorsteps, the damage would be contained, something that no doubt pleased the War Council.
A necessary evil as she had used the same bomb to get funding and more importantly, permission to slowly release their advanced medical cures to the rest of the world. So far, the signs pointed to the cures being suppressed and/or being sold for a fortune by the outsiders themselves.
There was not much she could do in that case because her hands were tied until T'Challa was king but the fact that the outsiders would just let people die, simply for money and not even life changing money but money just for the sake of more money, was….predictable. After all, she was privy to the extensive monitoring done by Wakanda on the state of their neighbours and the ones who ruled over them.
Sighing, she turned to the Dora Milaje, showing her the now smoking Tachyon bomb, "THIS is the reason I did not want any protection. I also knew that I would not get total freedom so, here.." She gestured forward with her finger, and the Kimoyo Beads on both of her wardens glowed slightly as the data was forwarded.
"I have rented an apartment just below this one. If you must be with me, try not to come in my way. Now, leave, I have to make dinner."
"Dinner, My princess? I am well versed in cooking. She can fetch anything you might like and I am more than capable of cooking anything you like. That is part of the reason why I was chosen." The War Dog said, sounding very excited at the prospect of cooking.
Wrinkling her brows, she refused the offer, "No, I will be the one to make dinner. Besides, it's just Mac and Cheese. How hard could it be?"
Both of them looked at each other before the War Dog opened his mouth, "um, princess, can we stay," He hastily added after her pointed glare, "Only until you are done cooking."
She bit out, "Fine." A little supervision shouldn't hurt, especially since this was the first time she would be cooking.
Plus, how hard could it really be? She had seen Americans do it.
Thankfully, the fridge was fully stocked and she knew that there was Mac and Cheese in it. Hopefully, it will be fine.
…….
……
"So, how is it?" She asked her two experimental test subjects, each of whom sported strained smiles on their faces.
"It is…edible, My Princess." The War Dog said and got swatted on the shoulder by the Dora Milaje. She leaned forward to scoop up a piece but the War Dog snatched the plate from the table and just gobbled it all up.
"What are you doing?" She hastily asked. Her eyes widened even more as the Dora Milaje did the same.
As the War Dog finally finished swallowing her food, he choked out, "I'm sorry, My Princess, it was so good that I couldn't help myself."
Her hand still outstretched mid air, she deadpanned at the man as she took the pan off the stove and threw the rest of it in the trash. Turning around, "I've seen Friends."
She then sighed and looked at the clock, it was 7, "Guess cooking is not as easy as it looks."
"Um, My Princess? Why are you cooking? Why did you invite the white man here anyway?"
Sitting down at the dining table with them, "That is Colin Baxter, he is one of the people I wanted to meet during my time in the States since I don't know when I will come here next."
"Oh." Both of them exchanged looks before the War Dog stood up, "I'll cook. If he is worthy of Princess' time, then he must be truly something."
She turned around as the man began cooking, "He is. He is the closest to cracking the efficient data transmission pipeline that I built years ago. I have seen some of his hypotheses and the exact principles are the same ones we use for our global Military communication."
The man paused and then turned around, "Wouldn't that make him a security risk then?"
She waved the man off, "Pssh. He is barely at the theoretical level. I have already invented it. By the time Colin reaches the code stage, we would have already moved on. No need to worry about that."
"I see. Still, I think we must inform the King about his existence."
"He is right, My Princess. We must make sure that Wakanda's interests are protected before everything else."
Her brows furrowed as she thought about it and then shrugged, "Sure. Just don't tell him that we had dinner. I don't need Baba raining down missiles on the poor man."
All of them shared a laugh at that, not knowing what chain of events Shuri had set up when she uttered the words that made Colin Baxter a threat to Wakandan Military assets globally.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
A/N - It is my headcanon that Shuri & T'Challa had no idea about Wakanda's deplorable actions in killing foreign scientists who come too close to their own advancements. Their respect for their father would have certainly gone down the drain.
P.S. - The Friends Reference
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #20
Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Shuri Udaku–
Smiling, she entered her apartment, only to lose it as she scowled at the Dora Milaje standing still in her living room.
"What are you doing there? Get off the window!" She hissed and had to physically pry one of the War Dogs Baba had sicced on her when she was finally given permission to come study in the States.
She snapped her fingers behind her which released a wave of energy from the door that covered the entire apartment, shimmering a dim purple before disappearing from view, and then spoke in a normal tone, "How many times do I have to tell you that I don't want you here."
"But Princess Shuri, we have orders from the King to protect you with–"
"Yeah yeah, your lives. I know but that doesn't mean that you have to stay so close to me all this time. If you haven't noticed, this is a one bedroom apartment."
The Dora Milaje assigned to her shook her head, as did the War Dog, "Doesn't matter. We shall sleep on the floor or in the closet. What matters is your safety."
"Argh!" She groaned in frustration as she stormed into the kitchen. She had dinner to cook for the Colin Baxter, the most powerful hacker on the planet, and she had no time to waste on these people who refused to leave her.
"No! What do you wish to eat, My Princess? I will fetch it for you. We can't let you cook." He raised an eyebrow at the hand that was holding her wrist which finally caused the Dora Milaje to release it.
Taking in a deep breath, she closed the fridge and turned to them who looked just about ready for war. She was about to say something but something caught her eye. Something that was hanging innocently off the War Dog's utility belt.
Her eyes widened as she marched up to the man who backed up progressively until he was flush against the wall. Gingerly taking hold of the sphere hanging on the utility belt, she carefully removed it and held it close to his face, which caused him to widen his eyes and try to back away even more.
"What. IS. THIS?" She asked, livid.
"M-My Princess, that is…the… Prince T'Challa was worried about–"
"Are you serious? You brought this? A tachyon bomb here? What were you planning on doing, erasing the entire building?" her glare could kill him here if she had powers like that. Taking hold of the Tachyon bomb, she fetched her Kimoyo beads and touched both of them together before deactivating the bomb.
With a slight whine, with yellow light escaping the sphere, the Tachyon Bomb was defused. She did not know what her brother was thinking, allowing wartime heavy weaponry to be used just for her protection. A bomb was not a protection tool, it was meant for destruction and the one she gave to the Wakandan Royal Military was capable of erasing entire city blocks within an instant.
This small bomb could erase this entire 6 storey building with ease. The ones she had locked up in her lab could erase smaller towns, with designs capable of destroying cities just sitting in her mind, though they would never see the light of day.
She refused to make anything more than that because she could not even imagine the fallout from even a single application.
Until and unless she saw the first hostile alien with her eyes, she would not be making any weapon more potent than the Tachyon bombs. They were straight up matter disintegration bombs, with Vibranium backed energy shields being the only thing capable of stopping the wave of disintegration.
Conveniently, Wakanda was situated underneath one such forcefield meaning once they used this bomb on their enemies, even if they were right at Wakanda's doorsteps, the damage would be contained, something that no doubt pleased the War Council.
A necessary evil as she had used the same bomb to get funding and more importantly, permission to slowly release their advanced medical cures to the rest of the world. So far, the signs pointed to the cures being suppressed and/or being sold for a fortune by the outsiders themselves.
There was not much she could do in that case because her hands were tied until T'Challa was king but the fact that the outsiders would just let people die, simply for money and not even life changing money but money just for the sake of more money, was….predictable. After all, she was privy to the extensive monitoring done by Wakanda on the state of their neighbours and the ones who ruled over them.
Sighing, she turned to the Dora Milaje, showing her the now smoking Tachyon bomb, "THIS is the reason I did not want any protection. I also knew that I would not get total freedom so, here.." She gestured forward with her finger, and the Kimoyo Beads on both of her wardens glowed slightly as the data was forwarded.
"I have rented an apartment just below this one. If you must be with me, try not to come in my way. Now, leave, I have to make dinner."
"Dinner, My princess? I am well versed in cooking. She can fetch anything you might like and I am more than capable of cooking anything you like. That is part of the reason why I was chosen." The War Dog said, sounding very excited at the prospect of cooking.
Wrinkling her brows, she refused the offer, "No, I will be the one to make dinner. Besides, it's just Mac and Cheese. How hard could it be?"
Both of them looked at each other before the War Dog opened his mouth, "um, princess, can we stay," He hastily added after her pointed glare, "Only until you are done cooking."
She bit out, "Fine." A little supervision shouldn't hurt, especially since this was the first time she would be cooking.
Plus, how hard could it really be? She had seen Americans do it.
Thankfully, the fridge was fully stocked and she knew that there was Mac and Cheese in it. Hopefully, it will be fine.
…….
……
"So, how is it?" She asked her two experimental test subjects, each of whom sported strained smiles on their faces.
"It is…edible, My Princess." The War Dog said and got swatted on the shoulder by the Dora Milaje. She leaned forward to scoop up a piece but the War Dog snatched the plate from the table and just gobbled it all up.
"What are you doing?" She hastily asked. Her eyes widened even more as the Dora Milaje did the same.
As the War Dog finally finished swallowing her food, he choked out, "I'm sorry, My Princess, it was so good that I couldn't help myself."
Her hand still outstretched mid air, she deadpanned at the man as she took the pan off the stove and threw the rest of it in the trash. Turning around, "I've seen Friends."
She then sighed and looked at the clock, it was 7, "Guess cooking is not as easy as it looks."
"Um, My Princess? Why are you cooking? Why did you invite the white man here anyway?"
Sitting down at the dining table with them, "That is Colin Baxter, he is one of the people I wanted to meet during my time in the States since I don't know when I will come here next."
"Oh." Both of them exchanged looks before the War Dog stood up, "I'll cook. If he is worthy of Princess' time, then he must be truly something."
She turned around as the man began cooking, "He is. He is the closest to cracking the efficient data transmission pipeline that I built years ago. I have seen some of his hypotheses and the exact principles are the same ones we use for our global Military communication."
The man paused and then turned around, "Wouldn't that make him a security risk then?"
She waved the man off, "Pssh. He is barely at the theoretical level. I have already invented it. By the time Colin reaches the code stage, we would have already moved on. No need to worry about that."
"I see. Still, I think we must inform the King about his existence."
"He is right, My Princess. We must make sure that Wakanda's interests are protected before everything else."
Her brows furrowed as she thought about it and then shrugged, "Sure. Just don't tell him that we had dinner. I don't need Baba raining down missiles on the poor man."
All of them shared a laugh at that, not knowing what chain of events Shuri had set up when she uttered the words that made Colin Baxter a threat to Wakandan Military assets globally.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
A/N - It is my headcanon that Shuri & T'Challa had no idea about Wakanda's deplorable actions in killing foreign scientists who come too close to their own advancements. Their respect for their father would have certainly gone down the drain.
P.S. - The Friends Reference
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #21 : Ninja Jesus to the Rescue!
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IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #21
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"So, are you finally going to get yourself a mate?" He choked on the water as Jin'Ya spoke directly into his mind since it was still dangerous for both of them to be in his apartment since it could be bugged seven ways to Sunday.
"What?! No. Why would you even ask that? You know exactly well how human customs work," He grumbled as he had to wipe the water off his T-shirt and since he was still possibly under surveillance, he could not open a wind gate and dry it out, or a fire gate but that would be overkill since he would have to use most of his focus to restrict the flow of energy and only allow some air to go in and then come out superheated for it to work or else, pure fire will come tumbling through the Door and burn this entire place down.
Jin'Ya chortled in his mind, "I know, which is what makes this so funny. You had no idea how to say no and that is why you are now about to have dinner with the same people whose ideology you utterly despise."
Seeing that wiping the water was not working, he threw the shirt into the laundry bin and took out a new one, "Not their entire ideology, just the part where they try to hinder the rest of the world from advancing while they steal anything they could get their hands on. Wonder why they didn't steal from Howard Stark? The man was a genius of his era, and probably had tech that Wakanda wanted."
"Probably because of the attention it would bring."
"Yeah, fat load of good it did Howard Stark. The man died an ignominious death all the same. HYDRA scum."
"Yeah, about that, I have something that might interest you. The man next door, he is not just any War Dog as the Princess thinks him to be, he is one of the head honchos. His thoughts just turned into a very ugly direction when he heard from the Princess that you were making significant progress in your technology."
A chill ran down his spine as a harsh frown formed on his face. "Are they here for that? Is Shuri here just to kill me?"
"No, that's the thing. The Princess doesn't know a thing. The man is now planning to report it to his superior and recommend that you be killed." Jin'Ya spoke into his mind as the dragon was nearby, probably lounging high up in the air in one of the many green spaces surrounding the apartment complex. The ancient dragon was tiny and could camouflage his body against all types of technology that existed on the planet.
The only he could be tracked is if someone was specifically looking for psionic energy and that was still a long way away.
He took a deep breath and relaxed. That was still a sore topic for him, especially since he traced a pattern in their actions and how they hid their involvement in it. Promising young scientists were killed in accidents, killed in ways that were probably painful. To kill someone for something so selfish and then not even have the decency to give them a painless death?
That was unacceptable in his opinion.
"It is just the man. We can handle whatever comes our way. Worst comes to worst, I will just open a Door next to the weakest sun and show them just what awaits them if I am further targeted."
"Whoa! Whoa, calm down, Colin. You said it yourself, we can't treat them as enemies. We need the next generation to help the rest of the world, not make them your enemies."
"Fine," He spat as he looked at the clock as it struck 7:30 PM. Shuri should have texted him by now.
"Jin'Ya, we are moving to LA next week, both for my internship and also because we need to make sure Tony becomes Iron Man. Postpone whatever activities you might have because you will be overlooking Tony for the entire time he is in Afghanistan." He ordered the dragon since this was one of the very few things where he could tell the Dragon to do something and he would comply.
He read a sense of indifference at his words from the mental link, "Pfft. Don't worry about that. I can stay anywhere on the planet and still sense a mind once I have sufficiently marked it."
He countered, "But can you make sure he is safe? Can you deflect bullets from that distance or if need be, conduct delicate heart surgery?"
"But ofcourse!"
"I meant, can your body handle that much psionic energy being pumped into it?"
"I will look into it."
And that was that.
He was about to read a book, just to pass the time when his phone chimed.
[ Dinner should be done in 15 - Shuri ]
Wow, that was awfully informal of her. Shouldn't she be wary of being so friendly with a stranger, much less an "outsider" in their own terminology?
An entire nation of racists and xenophobes. Goes to tell that the fault lies in the human race itself, irrespective of color, and that…is the best argument against racism. That human nature defaults to the same setting, irrespective of setting, color, age, etc.
Getting ready, he wished himself luck and after 15 minutes, knocked on the apartment next door. His base level senses told him of the absence of any breathing in the apartment aside from Shuri's. That either meant they were hiding much better than he had expected them to or they had actually vacated the place, which was surprising.
Jin'Ya chimed in his mind who was tagging along for the ride, "They are in the apartment below you, armed with everything they have, ready to eviscerate you at a moment's notice. Also, the man has already reported your activities to his superior along with the recommendation. The Dora Milaje does not know."
Yeah, he figured so. Let them come.
"This is a nice apartment. When did you get the time to do all this?" He asked as he saw the artwork on the walls, immaculate furniture placement, fully stocked cabinets, and more. Both of them had the same layout apartments and yet, hers looked so much more luxurious than his. Perks of being a princess, he supposed.
"Yeah, I had a friend of mine hire some people before I moved here to get everything set up. It does look nice, doesn't it?" Shuri mused as she moved into the kitchen, to get whatever she had cooked up and he sat down at the dining table, wary of any sudden vibranium nets falling on him or something.
"You can just blast it all away or just heat everything around you to the point of self immolation."
"Get out of my mind, Jin'Ya!" He raged at the Dragon who cackled madly in his mind and said, "Never!"
He sighed and let the dragon be. After all, there was not much he could do in that instance. The Red Hearth was a magical sanctuary, not just in words but an actual, real life magical sanctuary, a beacon of magic on an otherwise dead planet.
The thing with the universe is that magic is everywhere, even on dead planets but the magic is just dispersed everywhere, chaotic and messy. Having his Red Hearth in that place with all the wards on it, gave the chaotic magic a direction, an Order to its unruly chaos. That magic then began shaping itself into a ley line that should go right underneath his Red Hearth and should be fully formed in about 5 more years.
Once that happens, life will start appearing on the planet after a century or so of the Ley Line being active. That, while being a happy surprise, created complications. Like the Red Hearth and the magic being pumped into it could not be handled by him, who was the magical owner of the place.
So, he had to form a guardian contract with Jin'ya, designating him the official guardian of the Red Hearth, officially forging a semi permanent contract with Jin'Ya, as long as both of them were alive. It also had a minor side effect of the contract and its strength, since it was reinforced by the Vishanti themselves who wished to have another planet teeming with life, right next to Earth for reasons unknown, which made sure that their mind bond bypassed his power completely and latched directly to his mind.
That created a direct unbreakable connection between their minds. Normally, it was fine and desirable even since nothing could break that bond but right now, the damned dragon was just being annoying on purpose.
"Here. Mac and Cheese, I hope you like it." Shuri came out of the kitchen with two plates in her hand. It actually looked…nice. So, he complimented her.
"It looks really nice," He said as he took a bite and yup, totally normal and tasty, plain old Mac & Cheese.
"Thanks."
Just like that, they both ate in companionable silence right up until Shuri broke it.
"So, I read your paper on the new data transmission pipeline. Theoretically, if you could do it, it would mean billions in savings for the world, right?"
He looked up and nodded, "Yup. That is the goal."
Inwardly, he sneered. She probably already built the damned thing and was probably internally laughing at his backward ass.
Well, not everyone can be geniuses like her.
"You're interested in theoretical computer science? That is a heavy field, not to mention on the other spectrum of Material Sciences." He casually commented.
"Oh, yeah. I am more of a multidisciplinary person. For the time being, Material Sciences is the quest but I do like to read on the Computer Science side in my downtime."
He opened his mouth to ask more, just so he could make her trip but stopped midway, not even letting an emotion show as he received an alert from Jin'Ya. Cleaning his face with the napkin, he set down the spoon & fork. Apologising to Shuri, "I am so sorry but I just remembered that I have an important meeting. Thank you so much for the Dinner, I'll host you as soon as I get the time."
"W=what happened? Is everything fine?"
"I'm so sorry," He yelled as he left her apartment.
"Jin'Ya?"
"Done. She doesn't suspect a thing and I scanned her mind, there are no sensors installed in your apartment though the guy below is definitely planning on it. Also, they only have a single drone in this area. It is big but I have already implanted a suggestion in Shuri's mind to make it inactive and go to sleep. The guards will just watch over her and not even look in your apartment's direction." Jin'Ya spoke into his mind.
"Great." He said as he jumped into a portal that formed in his living room, with Jin'Ya on the other side, which was mid air.
"W-whoa!" He glared balefully at the dragon who did not have the decency to catch him with his telekinesis and so he had to open multiple smaller Air Doors on his body to stabilise himself.
Taking a deep breath, he caught the thrown orange onesie and wore it mid air.
It was time to rescue the Hulk, and Bruce Banner.
The Military was alerted by Ross a few minutes ago, which triggered his alert. They had spotted him in Canada.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan #21
Earth Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"So, are you finally going to get yourself a mate?" He choked on the water as Jin'Ya spoke directly into his mind since it was still dangerous for both of them to be in his apartment since it could be bugged seven ways to Sunday.
"What?! No. Why would you even ask that? You know exactly well how human customs work," He grumbled as he had to wipe the water off his T-shirt and since he was still possibly under surveillance, he could not open a wind gate and dry it out, or a fire gate but that would be overkill since he would have to use most of his focus to restrict the flow of energy and only allow some air to go in and then come out superheated for it to work or else, pure fire will come tumbling through the Door and burn this entire place down.
Jin'Ya chortled in his mind, "I know, which is what makes this so funny. You had no idea how to say no and that is why you are now about to have dinner with the same people whose ideology you utterly despise."
Seeing that wiping the water was not working, he threw the shirt into the laundry bin and took out a new one, "Not their entire ideology, just the part where they try to hinder the rest of the world from advancing while they steal anything they could get their hands on. Wonder why they didn't steal from Howard Stark? The man was a genius of his era, and probably had tech that Wakanda wanted."
"Probably because of the attention it would bring."
"Yeah, fat load of good it did Howard Stark. The man died an ignominious death all the same. HYDRA scum."
"Yeah, about that, I have something that might interest you. The man next door, he is not just any War Dog as the Princess thinks him to be, he is one of the head honchos. His thoughts just turned into a very ugly direction when he heard from the Princess that you were making significant progress in your technology."
A chill ran down his spine as a harsh frown formed on his face. "Are they here for that? Is Shuri here just to kill me?"
"No, that's the thing. The Princess doesn't know a thing. The man is now planning to report it to his superior and recommend that you be killed." Jin'Ya spoke into his mind as the dragon was nearby, probably lounging high up in the air in one of the many green spaces surrounding the apartment complex. The ancient dragon was tiny and could camouflage his body against all types of technology that existed on the planet.
The only he could be tracked is if someone was specifically looking for psionic energy and that was still a long way away.
He took a deep breath and relaxed. That was still a sore topic for him, especially since he traced a pattern in their actions and how they hid their involvement in it. Promising young scientists were killed in accidents, killed in ways that were probably painful. To kill someone for something so selfish and then not even have the decency to give them a painless death?
That was unacceptable in his opinion.
"It is just the man. We can handle whatever comes our way. Worst comes to worst, I will just open a Door next to the weakest sun and show them just what awaits them if I am further targeted."
"Whoa! Whoa, calm down, Colin. You said it yourself, we can't treat them as enemies. We need the next generation to help the rest of the world, not make them your enemies."
"Fine," He spat as he looked at the clock as it struck 7:30 PM. Shuri should have texted him by now.
"Jin'Ya, we are moving to LA next week, both for my internship and also because we need to make sure Tony becomes Iron Man. Postpone whatever activities you might have because you will be overlooking Tony for the entire time he is in Afghanistan." He ordered the dragon since this was one of the very few things where he could tell the Dragon to do something and he would comply.
He read a sense of indifference at his words from the mental link, "Pfft. Don't worry about that. I can stay anywhere on the planet and still sense a mind once I have sufficiently marked it."
He countered, "But can you make sure he is safe? Can you deflect bullets from that distance or if need be, conduct delicate heart surgery?"
"But ofcourse!"
"I meant, can your body handle that much psionic energy being pumped into it?"
"I will look into it."
And that was that.
He was about to read a book, just to pass the time when his phone chimed.
[ Dinner should be done in 15 - Shuri
]Wow, that was awfully informal of her. Shouldn't she be wary of being so friendly with a stranger, much less an "outsider" in their own terminology?
An entire nation of racists and xenophobes. Goes to tell that the fault lies in the human race itself, irrespective of color, and that…is the best argument against racism. That human nature defaults to the same setting, irrespective of setting, color, age, etc.
Getting ready, he wished himself luck and after 15 minutes, knocked on the apartment next door. His base level senses told him of the absence of any breathing in the apartment aside from Shuri's. That either meant they were hiding much better than he had expected them to or they had actually vacated the place, which was surprising.
Jin'Ya chimed in his mind who was tagging along for the ride, "They are in the apartment below you, armed with everything they have, ready to eviscerate you at a moment's notice. Also, the man has already reported your activities to his superior along with the recommendation. The Dora Milaje does not know."
Yeah, he figured so. Let them come.
"This is a nice apartment. When did you get the time to do all this?" He asked as he saw the artwork on the walls, immaculate furniture placement, fully stocked cabinets, and more. Both of them had the same layout apartments and yet, hers looked so much more luxurious than his. Perks of being a princess, he supposed.
"Yeah, I had a friend of mine hire some people before I moved here to get everything set up. It does look nice, doesn't it?" Shuri mused as she moved into the kitchen, to get whatever she had cooked up and he sat down at the dining table, wary of any sudden vibranium nets falling on him or something.
"You can just blast it all away or just heat everything around you to the point of self immolation."
"Get out of my mind, Jin'Ya!" He raged at the Dragon who cackled madly in his mind and said, "Never!"
He sighed and let the dragon be. After all, there was not much he could do in that instance. The Red Hearth was a magical sanctuary, not just in words but an actual, real life magical sanctuary, a beacon of magic on an otherwise dead planet.
The thing with the universe is that magic is everywhere, even on dead planets but the magic is just dispersed everywhere, chaotic and messy. Having his Red Hearth in that place with all the wards on it, gave the chaotic magic a direction, an Order to its unruly chaos. That magic then began shaping itself into a ley line that should go right underneath his Red Hearth and should be fully formed in about 5 more years.
Once that happens, life will start appearing on the planet after a century or so of the Ley Line being active. That, while being a happy surprise, created complications. Like the Red Hearth and the magic being pumped into it could not be handled by him, who was the magical owner of the place.
So, he had to form a guardian contract with Jin'ya, designating him the official guardian of the Red Hearth, officially forging a semi permanent contract with Jin'Ya, as long as both of them were alive. It also had a minor side effect of the contract and its strength, since it was reinforced by the Vishanti themselves who wished to have another planet teeming with life, right next to Earth for reasons unknown, which made sure that their mind bond bypassed his power completely and latched directly to his mind.
That created a direct unbreakable connection between their minds. Normally, it was fine and desirable even since nothing could break that bond but right now, the damned dragon was just being annoying on purpose.
"Here. Mac and Cheese, I hope you like it." Shuri came out of the kitchen with two plates in her hand. It actually looked…nice. So, he complimented her.
"It looks really nice," He said as he took a bite and yup, totally normal and tasty, plain old Mac & Cheese.
"Thanks."
Just like that, they both ate in companionable silence right up until Shuri broke it.
"So, I read your paper on the new data transmission pipeline. Theoretically, if you could do it, it would mean billions in savings for the world, right?"
He looked up and nodded, "Yup. That is the goal."
Inwardly, he sneered. She probably already built the damned thing and was probably internally laughing at his backward ass.
Well, not everyone can be geniuses like her.
"You're interested in theoretical computer science? That is a heavy field, not to mention on the other spectrum of Material Sciences." He casually commented.
"Oh, yeah. I am more of a multidisciplinary person. For the time being, Material Sciences is the quest but I do like to read on the Computer Science side in my downtime."
He opened his mouth to ask more, just so he could make her trip but stopped midway, not even letting an emotion show as he received an alert from Jin'Ya. Cleaning his face with the napkin, he set down the spoon & fork. Apologising to Shuri, "I am so sorry but I just remembered that I have an important meeting. Thank you so much for the Dinner, I'll host you as soon as I get the time."
"W=what happened? Is everything fine?"
"I'm so sorry," He yelled as he left her apartment.
"Jin'Ya?"
"Done. She doesn't suspect a thing and I scanned her mind, there are no sensors installed in your apartment though the guy below is definitely planning on it. Also, they only have a single drone in this area. It is big but I have already implanted a suggestion in Shuri's mind to make it inactive and go to sleep. The guards will just watch over her and not even look in your apartment's direction." Jin'Ya spoke into his mind.
"Great." He said as he jumped into a portal that formed in his living room, with Jin'Ya on the other side, which was mid air.
"W-whoa!" He glared balefully at the dragon who did not have the decency to catch him with his telekinesis and so he had to open multiple smaller Air Doors on his body to stabilise himself.
Taking a deep breath, he caught the thrown orange onesie and wore it mid air.
It was time to rescue the Hulk, and Bruce Banner.
The Military was alerted by Ross a few minutes ago, which triggered his alert. They had spotted him in Canada.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #22 : Who will you take, Me or the Hulk?!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #22
Canadian Wilderness [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Do you have him yet?" He asked Jin'Ya as they flew through the air, Jin'Ya with his awesome macro as well as micro telekinesis and he with his Air Doors. It was nice that he had practiced a bit in the weeks leading up to this so his control was passable, at least in a straight line.
He still had yet to figure out flawless three dimensional movement, especially movement that would not impede him in case of a fight. That was very hard since the focus required to open the doors in the right place with the right output was kind of significant and in the middle of a fight, he could not afford to lose focus.
They were not breaching the sound barrier since he was unsure if his only slightly enhanced body would be able to handle it or not. Also, because they were pretty close to Bruce's location.
"Have him? No, I don't have him, you buffoon. I can only detect the spikes of rage in the Astral Plane when he is transformed into the avatar of rage. Once he turns back into a human, it becomes much harder to track him down while wading through the filth that is the Astral Plane of this planet." Jin'Ya grumbled as he floated beside him, flight coming effortlessly to him as if he were a Dragon.
"You saw the rough location. Can you locate him?"
"I am trying to. If only someone here would shut up."
He snickered as he kept quiet and thought of what he would be doing in the upcoming interaction. Bruce was not the type of person who would betray the trust of someone who'd rescued him from Ross but he still felt sort of uneasy about letting in another person in the Red Hearth.
He always imagined the next person to semi permanently live in the Red Hearth would be, like a worker crew who would make it their home. Or maybe cyborgs, they were always cool.
Still, he knew it was the right thing to do. Hell, once he persuaded the Ancient One to look at Bruce's situation and advise him on how he could regain control of himself, he would be golden since he would then officially have a genius on par with Tony Stark.
Cyborg plans for the win!
If Bruce Hulked out, well, then, he might actually have to work a lot harder and so would Jin'Ya since according to the soul output from the Hulk, Jin'Ya's telekinesis might not be enough to actually subdue the giant in a single hit.
Their best bet was for Jin'Ya to use his vast powers and mental experience to put the Hulk directly to sleep. Easy, clean takedown of one of the most dangerous beings on the planet. He hoped it worked.
"Found him!" his neck snapped to the side as Jin'Ya opened his eyes, "Uh, oh. The Military is talking to him."
"Portal, now!" He shouted as Jin'Ya did his work and opened a portal without even moving a single limb. Honestly, it was cheating that he was able to do so with such startling ease. It was as if his entire body was one giant magically conductive instrument that was just being used as a flesh puppet by an ancient monstrosity of a soul.
With a larger door appearing beneath his feet, he shot into the portal, his coordination with Jin'ya such that the portal opened exactly in the same orientation he expected it to. Right in the skies above the clearing where Bruce was standing, facing down.
He passed through the clouds with yet another application of the Wind Door and then slowed down at the last moment as he landed in a signature three-point landing. Despite the slowed down landing, it still generated a lot of dust all around him, with the ground being slightly cratered in.
The sounds of dozens of rifles being pointed at him made him look up. He was still sporting the same skull mask as he straightened up and surveyed the scene.
Surprisingly, he saw General Ross standing in the clearing, looking at him as if he was analysing a new threat. That was surprisingly…patient from the person who was supposed to be the Mad General, who shot first and asked questions later on if he ever felt like it.
"He has another platoon ready and three more on their way. This was just the fastest crew he could assemble." Jin'Ya spoke into his mind as he probably settled down on some tree, ready to watch the show that would no doubt unfold here.
He made a show of looking all around as he dusted the dust, dirt, and debris from his costume which was enchanted to be quite resistant to many things, not the Hulk though. He turned and then did a wave at Bruce Banner before turning back to face the General and his trigger happy soldiers.
He was fine in that onesie, it was bulletproof and his body was partially bulletproof as well. It was just the eyes, and the openings that he had to worry about because those areas had yet to catch up with the rest of his body in creating a durable layer of skin for him.
Clearing his throat, he looked straight at Ross and said, "Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Lord Stan Lee?"
There were literal crickets in the background as some of the soldiers looked downright confused as they looked at each other and then at the General for directions. He stood there, with his arms crossed, his body angled as if he was leaning on something, though in reality, it was just his core muscles being engaged.
Seeing that no one was responding, "Hmm. Tough crowd."
"Identify yourself! This is a US Military operation. We are here to apprehend a known criminal and traitor to the United States of America." Ross suddenly shouted, which startled him since it was kind of a departure from the calm, silent observing General he had been just moments ago.
Huh, some sort of personality disorder then? It wouldn't surprise him that the Number one hated Military General in the Marvel fandom had some screws loose in his head.
Though, what did it say about the general population of MCU America when they elected this guy to be President?
He made a gesture at the surroundings, "I think you are mistaken, General. This is NOT US soil, and last I heard, you are not allowed to operate here. At Least not legally."
This was a really sticky situation where taking for as long as possible was the best option. He did not wish to have his powers outed to the rest of the world just yet, and Bruce Banner's mental condition was not yet so stable that he would be just fine after hearing Jin'Ya speak directly into his mind.
Also, any sign of a fight might just trigger the Hulk transformation and then, he wouldn't be able to guarantee his own safety, let alone the lives of all the soldiers here. Although, Jin'Ya was recording everything from multiple angles, it would be awesome to leak the footage of the US military being saved by a superhero, who were conducting an illegal operation on a sovereign nation's soil.
It might just put some public pressure on the government to act against Ross.
Talking was literally the best solution for this. Jin'Ya, in his own words, was not confident in containing the Hulk effortlessly because the weight of the Hulk in the Astral Realm was enough for Jin'Ya to sense it, on Mars.
Astrally manipulating a giant sun of Rage might not go well, in his own words, and he agreed. Messing with the Hulk mentally was a big NO-NO in his opinion.
"Save the words! We are here to apprehend a criminal and we will not return unless we take him with us. Now, step aside before we are forced to take action!" Ross shouted as he sighed, his shoulders drooping as multiple red dots appeared on his orange onesie, likely from high calibre bullets.
He snapped his fingers, creating a door in front of him and one in front of Dr.Banner as well, angled perfectly to tank all the bullets.
"Dr.Banner! You will be safe behind the door," He shouted and hoped he heard it. He smiled as he saw the absence of the monstrous growls and roars of the Hulk. He heard a faint voice coming from the door but he was not sure what Dr.Banner said. It was a good sign that there was no Hulk yet, so the Doctor could handle this much stress, nice to know.
His doors were bulletproof, missile proof, and more. Material attacks did not do anything to do, except tank the kinetic energy. They had limits, such as only being able to stay in place as long as the weight incident on the Doors did not exceed his own personal limits.
That meant that anything less than a tactical high yield missile will be easily handled by the Door. The door in question was a Fire Door, just in case he needed to torch anything in front of him.
The barrage of bullets paused after a few seconds, as he dispelled the door, purposefully twirling on the spot to show his spic and span orange onesie.
"You might need bigger Bullets, General Ross." He hollered as he, once more, faced the Mad General.
"Great! Another freak! Listen here, that man is a threat- to everyone. If you do not move, I will be forced to consider you a traitor, and know this, I don't show mercy to traitors." Ross shouted, literally steam coming from his nose due to the cold, but also due to the sheer rage he must be feeling at the moment.
"They are trying to move in from the other side, Colin," Jin'Ya informed him.
"Any chance you can just put them all to sleep, and then change their memories to hide our powers and then the portals?"
"No, they are being monitored by satellites, and doing anything on that scale will alert the Ancient One, who might or might not agree to our actions." Jin'Ya's pesky contract with Kamar Taj that limited him from affecting anything on a planetary scale came into play since the Psionic Dragon was, in a way, an outsider, who was given refuge on the planet.
He sighed. Oh, well.
So far, he had shown doors and their bulletproofness. Anything more than that might be troubling and the portals will especially be troubling since it was forbidden in Kamar Taj to use portals against the government in any way. It was just too dangerous and could put Kamar Taj and the mission in danger.
Alright, Doors, super strength, and Invisibility. That's it.
"I will not be leaving here without Doctor Banner, General Ross. No matter how many trumped up charges you put on him, he will not be coming with you. We both know that he will leave either way, with or without me. All you are doing is throwing your soldiers at something that you have no hope of containing."
Guided by Jin'Ya, another three Doors appeared on all sides of Dr.Banner as they stopped two bullets from reaching him. With a thought, part of the Doors became translucent so the good Doctor would not panic within that enclosed space.
The disappointment on Ross' face as he saw his bullets falling on the ground was delicious.
"Now," He spoke in a lower voice, taking great joy in some of the soldiers actually flinching, "What will be the choice, General Ross? Who will you fight, Me or the Hulk?
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DoorMan #22
Canadian Wilderness [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Do you have him yet?" He asked Jin'Ya as they flew through the air, Jin'Ya with his awesome macro as well as micro telekinesis and he with his Air Doors. It was nice that he had practiced a bit in the weeks leading up to this so his control was passable, at least in a straight line.
He still had yet to figure out flawless three dimensional movement, especially movement that would not impede him in case of a fight. That was very hard since the focus required to open the doors in the right place with the right output was kind of significant and in the middle of a fight, he could not afford to lose focus.
They were not breaching the sound barrier since he was unsure if his only slightly enhanced body would be able to handle it or not. Also, because they were pretty close to Bruce's location.
"Have him? No, I don't have him, you buffoon. I can only detect the spikes of rage in the Astral Plane when he is transformed into the avatar of rage. Once he turns back into a human, it becomes much harder to track him down while wading through the filth that is the Astral Plane of this planet." Jin'Ya grumbled as he floated beside him, flight coming effortlessly to him as if he were a Dragon.
"You saw the rough location. Can you locate him?"
"I am trying to. If only someone here would shut up."
He snickered as he kept quiet and thought of what he would be doing in the upcoming interaction. Bruce was not the type of person who would betray the trust of someone who'd rescued him from Ross but he still felt sort of uneasy about letting in another person in the Red Hearth.
He always imagined the next person to semi permanently live in the Red Hearth would be, like a worker crew who would make it their home. Or maybe cyborgs, they were always cool.
Still, he knew it was the right thing to do. Hell, once he persuaded the Ancient One to look at Bruce's situation and advise him on how he could regain control of himself, he would be golden since he would then officially have a genius on par with Tony Stark.
Cyborg plans for the win!
If Bruce Hulked out, well, then, he might actually have to work a lot harder and so would Jin'Ya since according to the soul output from the Hulk, Jin'Ya's telekinesis might not be enough to actually subdue the giant in a single hit.
Their best bet was for Jin'Ya to use his vast powers and mental experience to put the Hulk directly to sleep. Easy, clean takedown of one of the most dangerous beings on the planet. He hoped it worked.
"Found him!" his neck snapped to the side as Jin'Ya opened his eyes, "Uh, oh. The Military is talking to him."
"Portal, now!" He shouted as Jin'Ya did his work and opened a portal without even moving a single limb. Honestly, it was cheating that he was able to do so with such startling ease. It was as if his entire body was one giant magically conductive instrument that was just being used as a flesh puppet by an ancient monstrosity of a soul.
With a larger door appearing beneath his feet, he shot into the portal, his coordination with Jin'ya such that the portal opened exactly in the same orientation he expected it to. Right in the skies above the clearing where Bruce was standing, facing down.
He passed through the clouds with yet another application of the Wind Door and then slowed down at the last moment as he landed in a signature three-point landing. Despite the slowed down landing, it still generated a lot of dust all around him, with the ground being slightly cratered in.
The sounds of dozens of rifles being pointed at him made him look up. He was still sporting the same skull mask as he straightened up and surveyed the scene.
Surprisingly, he saw General Ross standing in the clearing, looking at him as if he was analysing a new threat. That was surprisingly…patient from the person who was supposed to be the Mad General, who shot first and asked questions later on if he ever felt like it.
"He has another platoon ready and three more on their way. This was just the fastest crew he could assemble." Jin'Ya spoke into his mind as he probably settled down on some tree, ready to watch the show that would no doubt unfold here.
He made a show of looking all around as he dusted the dust, dirt, and debris from his costume which was enchanted to be quite resistant to many things, not the Hulk though. He turned and then did a wave at Bruce Banner before turning back to face the General and his trigger happy soldiers.
He was fine in that onesie, it was bulletproof and his body was partially bulletproof as well. It was just the eyes, and the openings that he had to worry about because those areas had yet to catch up with the rest of his body in creating a durable layer of skin for him.
Clearing his throat, he looked straight at Ross and said, "Do you have a moment to talk about our Lord and Savior, Lord Stan Lee?"
There were literal crickets in the background as some of the soldiers looked downright confused as they looked at each other and then at the General for directions. He stood there, with his arms crossed, his body angled as if he was leaning on something, though in reality, it was just his core muscles being engaged.
Seeing that no one was responding, "Hmm. Tough crowd."
"Identify yourself! This is a US Military operation. We are here to apprehend a known criminal and traitor to the United States of America." Ross suddenly shouted, which startled him since it was kind of a departure from the calm, silent observing General he had been just moments ago.
Huh, some sort of personality disorder then? It wouldn't surprise him that the Number one hated Military General in the Marvel fandom had some screws loose in his head.
Though, what did it say about the general population of MCU America when they elected this guy to be President?
He made a gesture at the surroundings, "I think you are mistaken, General. This is NOT US soil, and last I heard, you are not allowed to operate here. At Least not legally."
This was a really sticky situation where taking for as long as possible was the best option. He did not wish to have his powers outed to the rest of the world just yet, and Bruce Banner's mental condition was not yet so stable that he would be just fine after hearing Jin'Ya speak directly into his mind.
Also, any sign of a fight might just trigger the Hulk transformation and then, he wouldn't be able to guarantee his own safety, let alone the lives of all the soldiers here. Although, Jin'Ya was recording everything from multiple angles, it would be awesome to leak the footage of the US military being saved by a superhero, who were conducting an illegal operation on a sovereign nation's soil.
It might just put some public pressure on the government to act against Ross.
Talking was literally the best solution for this. Jin'Ya, in his own words, was not confident in containing the Hulk effortlessly because the weight of the Hulk in the Astral Realm was enough for Jin'Ya to sense it, on Mars.
Astrally manipulating a giant sun of Rage might not go well, in his own words, and he agreed. Messing with the Hulk mentally was a big NO-NO in his opinion.
"Save the words! We are here to apprehend a criminal and we will not return unless we take him with us. Now, step aside before we are forced to take action!" Ross shouted as he sighed, his shoulders drooping as multiple red dots appeared on his orange onesie, likely from high calibre bullets.
He snapped his fingers, creating a door in front of him and one in front of Dr.Banner as well, angled perfectly to tank all the bullets.
"Dr.Banner! You will be safe behind the door," He shouted and hoped he heard it. He smiled as he saw the absence of the monstrous growls and roars of the Hulk. He heard a faint voice coming from the door but he was not sure what Dr.Banner said. It was a good sign that there was no Hulk yet, so the Doctor could handle this much stress, nice to know.
His doors were bulletproof, missile proof, and more. Material attacks did not do anything to do, except tank the kinetic energy. They had limits, such as only being able to stay in place as long as the weight incident on the Doors did not exceed his own personal limits.
That meant that anything less than a tactical high yield missile will be easily handled by the Door. The door in question was a Fire Door, just in case he needed to torch anything in front of him.
The barrage of bullets paused after a few seconds, as he dispelled the door, purposefully twirling on the spot to show his spic and span orange onesie.
"You might need bigger Bullets, General Ross." He hollered as he, once more, faced the Mad General.
"Great! Another freak! Listen here, that man is a threat- to everyone. If you do not move, I will be forced to consider you a traitor, and know this, I don't show mercy to traitors." Ross shouted, literally steam coming from his nose due to the cold, but also due to the sheer rage he must be feeling at the moment.
"They are trying to move in from the other side, Colin," Jin'Ya informed him.
"Any chance you can just put them all to sleep, and then change their memories to hide our powers and then the portals?"
"No, they are being monitored by satellites, and doing anything on that scale will alert the Ancient One, who might or might not agree to our actions." Jin'Ya's pesky contract with Kamar Taj that limited him from affecting anything on a planetary scale came into play since the Psionic Dragon was, in a way, an outsider, who was given refuge on the planet.
He sighed. Oh, well.
So far, he had shown doors and their bulletproofness. Anything more than that might be troubling and the portals will especially be troubling since it was forbidden in Kamar Taj to use portals against the government in any way. It was just too dangerous and could put Kamar Taj and the mission in danger.
Alright, Doors, super strength, and Invisibility. That's it.
"I will not be leaving here without Doctor Banner, General Ross. No matter how many trumped up charges you put on him, he will not be coming with you. We both know that he will leave either way, with or without me. All you are doing is throwing your soldiers at something that you have no hope of containing."
Guided by Jin'Ya, another three Doors appeared on all sides of Dr.Banner as they stopped two bullets from reaching him. With a thought, part of the Doors became translucent so the good Doctor would not panic within that enclosed space.
The disappointment on Ross' face as he saw his bullets falling on the ground was delicious.
"Now," He spoke in a lower voice, taking great joy in some of the soldiers actually flinching, "What will be the choice, General Ross? Who will you fight, Me or the Hulk?
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #23 : Le Geneva Convention - Am I a Joke to you?
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A/N - Alternate Title - [ Cool guys don't look at the explosion, even if said explosion peppers them with Shrapnel….Ow ]
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #23
Canadian Wilderness [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Now," He spoke in a lower voice, taking great joy in some of the soldiers actually flinching, "What will be the choice, General Ross? Who will you fight, Me or the Hulk?
It actually looked like Ross was going to prove him wrong by making an informed decision using the remaining two brain cells he had in his mind but apparently, he was expecting too much from Ross, because after a second of deliberation, the man pulled out his handgun in a smooth motion and shot him right in the head, or right where the Skull mask was.
He had to hand it to Ross, that move was cool, and it would have been even cooler had it not been done by a warmongering Military General, who happened to be highly decorated.
He purposefully snapped his head back a bit which removed the hoodie aspect of his onesie and just left the skull mask on before he slowly, mechanically snapped his neck back in place, and then watched as the crushed bullet fell to the ground.
"Colin, Missiles? Three of them. Can you take them?" Jin'Ya's omnidirectional awareness was really helpful here.
"Oh, yeah."
"Open Fire!" The Mad General shouted as bullets from all directions came pouring in, forcing him to summon multiple doors all around him that moved in tandem with him, stopping the bullets as he lunged toward the soldiers.
His goal was the General himself but apparently, the soldiers really were very loyal to Ross as they literally threw themselves at him. Seeing that he could not really use the rest of his powers, he had to go through the soldiers.
Absentmindedly backhanding a soldier, he trudged through the sea of soldiers trying to stop him, having to summon a Door, based on Jin'Ya's input because these idiots were willing to shoot their own people, just to get a hit on him. That was…distasteful.
"Ross is fleeing."
Gee, thanks for stating the obvious.
"Well, fuck you too.".
He felt them hammering away at everything basically. The back of his head, which now looked exposed but was actually covered by the forcefield enchanted into the skull mask. They were also hammering away at all the parts of him as the soldiers outside realised that bullets were not going to slow him down, but human meat shields would since he was unwilling to kill anyone.
Hence, the attempt to suffocate him by drowning him in human bodies. It was…unpleasant, being so close to so many sweaty men with fear and determination, and in the case of some nutjob, excitement, on their faces.
He perked up, from beneath the human pile of defense, as the sound of the missiles came closer. His eyes narrowed as the soldiers made no move to evacuate or their radios didn't give them a hint as to what was coming.
His face turned livid as he realised what Ross was doing. He was throwing bodies at not just Colin but also at Banner, then turn around and tell his pals in the Military to list the cause of death as the Hulk, thereby securing even more forces to hunt down the person who killed dozens and dozens of soldiers.
It would seem that the rot ran deeper than he had expected.
No worries, he was going to leave the planet in a better state than he found it in, and cleansing the number one polluter as well as life taker on the planet was somewhere high up in the list of priorities.
He hunched slightly, before pushing, with all his might. Throwing the soldiers off of him, he winced and internally apologised at the sounds of bones being broken, as that had got to hurt.
Landing a fair distance away, he immediately put a hand over his eyes, instinct coming into play as a barrage of bullets immediately hit him left, right, and centre. Sharing his senses with Jin'Ya was second nature to him by now as he saw his position from above, with the missiles coming in from one direction, with a small interval between each of them.
"They are low-yield explosives, meant to be used in the middle of an urban landscape. Maximum shrapnel damage, according to what Ross is thinking anyway. I have to say, I do not enjoy mind diving into just a horrible human's mind. Ugh, it's so filthy."
Well, that was not good. Shouldn't these missiles be like some sort of human rights violation? Or maybe the Geneva Convention?
Were they just suggestions or something?/
Timing it just right, he let CHI flow through his body, making him glow slightly but thankfully, the the orange onesie covered some of it, and the rest which was exposed, like the back of his head, probably looked like some orange lightbulb, and then, crouched down, thrusting his hand into the land.
"Jin'Ya, a little help here?" He asked through their mental link.
"There you go."
He then heaved, with all his might, uprooting a large piece of rock from the land beneath them, held together with Jin'Ya's telekinesis. Then, with a mighty roar, timing it just right, he threw the giant piece of rock at the incoming missile.
He had to throw the biggest Door he could conjure at the moment, right in front of the explosion as the missile exploded, showering everything with deadly shrapnel. It was fortunate that he had the good sense to put the top Door on Dr.Banner as well, saving him the troublesome encounter with the Hulk.
The second missile was caught in the explosion as well, leading to more and more shrapnel. He could feel it, the Door was reaching its limits of durability. Any more and it would dispel. He could not trust it to handle the third missile, so he improvised.
Taking a small rock from the ground, instead of a big one, and then threw the rock with all his might in the rough direction of the missile, leaving Jin'Ya to do the aiming.
He then turned around, hoping he timed it right, and then smiled as a huge explosion lit up in the background with his back to it, creating such a cinematic shot that he knew he had to publish it somewhere. If not anyone else, then Tony might appreciate it.
He held it firm even as something hot and sharp poked his onesie because he did not want to lose his aura in front of the audience who was now looking completely stunned and in disbelief at how things had gone from human dogpilling to missiles intended for maximum civilian damage.
"Oh yeah, your dear General Ross seems to have sent you all to your deaths. Now, Gee, I wonder to whom you should report this?" He put a finger over the lips of the skull and said in an exaggerated voice.
Snapping his fingers, his happiness dimmed a bit as the soldiers all flinched, the near brush with death sobering them up from their stupid, stupid loyalty. Well, that took the fun out of it.
Nothing like making hard working, order following, soldiers feel the threat of death.
Sighing, he said, "Leave. I don't wish for any more fights. Tell the General that Dr.Banner is under my protection. Also, the next time I get a missile full of shrapnel to my face, I am doing something far worse than just breaking some bones, and I will be doing that to the General, not his foot soldiers."
The soldiers all hesitantly backed away, watching him at all times with a wariness that could only come from a prey looking at a predator that was letting them get away, confused and wary yet happy.
He was about to turn around and finally address the Big Bad Hulk when Jin'Ya spoke something into his mind that made him utterly livid. The air around him turned heavy as he unconsciously channelled way too much CHI into his body.
The soldiers all stopped, terrified as they saw the man who had effortlessly tanked all of their attacks and destroyed all their missiles, glow before Colin jumped out of the clearing, cratering the land.
Ross had already cleared about 3 miles in distance between the clearing, and he was not going to let the man go.
It would seem that General Ross was not going to have a career after this. The only question was : Would his peers and superiors in the Army finally grow a spine, have some shame, and oust him, or would he be discharged with full honors since he would no longer have his legs?
Landing, he channeled more CHI into his leg and just jumped, creating yet another crater in his wake. Bullets of all sorts of caliber pinged off of his armour as he spotted the General, fleeing in the back of a truck, as a nearby helicopter continued to fire from a machine gun at him.
His next landing, with subtle help from Jin'Ya, was right in front of the truck. The truck driver didn't stop as he stood in their path.
He smirked at that and just stood there. With Jin'Ya, his own enhancements, and the inertia locking enchantment on the orange onesie, the truck just fell apart all around him. All this time, he had his hand outstretched in the direction of the truck and would you look at that, General Ross was gracious enough to deliver his neck right into the waiting hands of Colin.
Pulling the man closer, who was kicking and punching with all his might, he enjoyed the panic in the man's eyes before it was eclipsed by overwhelming hatred at his kind. He even let the General draw his gun and shoot him centre mass and even in the head multiple times.
He did not budge an inch as the man's face finally turned red, not from anger but from lack of air.
"So, General, mind telling me what you were planning on doing to the soldiers who, reportedly, perished during a confrontation with the Hulk and its accomplice?"
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #23
Canadian Wilderness [January 18, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Now," He spoke in a lower voice, taking great joy in some of the soldiers actually flinching, "What will be the choice, General Ross? Who will you fight, Me or the Hulk?
It actually looked like Ross was going to prove him wrong by making an informed decision using the remaining two brain cells he had in his mind but apparently, he was expecting too much from Ross, because after a second of deliberation, the man pulled out his handgun in a smooth motion and shot him right in the head, or right where the Skull mask was.
He had to hand it to Ross, that move was cool, and it would have been even cooler had it not been done by a warmongering Military General, who happened to be highly decorated.
He purposefully snapped his head back a bit which removed the hoodie aspect of his onesie and just left the skull mask on before he slowly, mechanically snapped his neck back in place, and then watched as the crushed bullet fell to the ground.
"Colin, Missiles? Three of them. Can you take them?" Jin'Ya's omnidirectional awareness was really helpful here.
"Oh, yeah."
"Open Fire!" The Mad General shouted as bullets from all directions came pouring in, forcing him to summon multiple doors all around him that moved in tandem with him, stopping the bullets as he lunged toward the soldiers.
His goal was the General himself but apparently, the soldiers really were very loyal to Ross as they literally threw themselves at him. Seeing that he could not really use the rest of his powers, he had to go through the soldiers.
Absentmindedly backhanding a soldier, he trudged through the sea of soldiers trying to stop him, having to summon a Door, based on Jin'Ya's input because these idiots were willing to shoot their own people, just to get a hit on him. That was…distasteful.
"Ross is fleeing."
Gee, thanks for stating the obvious.
"Well, fuck you too.".
He felt them hammering away at everything basically. The back of his head, which now looked exposed but was actually covered by the forcefield enchanted into the skull mask. They were also hammering away at all the parts of him as the soldiers outside realised that bullets were not going to slow him down, but human meat shields would since he was unwilling to kill anyone.
Hence, the attempt to suffocate him by drowning him in human bodies. It was…unpleasant, being so close to so many sweaty men with fear and determination, and in the case of some nutjob, excitement, on their faces.
He perked up, from beneath the human pile of defense, as the sound of the missiles came closer. His eyes narrowed as the soldiers made no move to evacuate or their radios didn't give them a hint as to what was coming.
His face turned livid as he realised what Ross was doing. He was throwing bodies at not just Colin but also at Banner, then turn around and tell his pals in the Military to list the cause of death as the Hulk, thereby securing even more forces to hunt down the person who killed dozens and dozens of soldiers.
It would seem that the rot ran deeper than he had expected.
No worries, he was going to leave the planet in a better state than he found it in, and cleansing the number one polluter as well as life taker on the planet was somewhere high up in the list of priorities.
He hunched slightly, before pushing, with all his might. Throwing the soldiers off of him, he winced and internally apologised at the sounds of bones being broken, as that had got to hurt.
Landing a fair distance away, he immediately put a hand over his eyes, instinct coming into play as a barrage of bullets immediately hit him left, right, and centre. Sharing his senses with Jin'Ya was second nature to him by now as he saw his position from above, with the missiles coming in from one direction, with a small interval between each of them.
"They are low-yield explosives, meant to be used in the middle of an urban landscape. Maximum shrapnel damage, according to what Ross is thinking anyway. I have to say, I do not enjoy mind diving into just a horrible human's mind. Ugh, it's so filthy."
Well, that was not good. Shouldn't these missiles be like some sort of human rights violation? Or maybe the Geneva Convention?
Were they just suggestions or something?/
Timing it just right, he let CHI flow through his body, making him glow slightly but thankfully, the the orange onesie covered some of it, and the rest which was exposed, like the back of his head, probably looked like some orange lightbulb, and then, crouched down, thrusting his hand into the land.
"Jin'Ya, a little help here?" He asked through their mental link.
"There you go."
He then heaved, with all his might, uprooting a large piece of rock from the land beneath them, held together with Jin'Ya's telekinesis. Then, with a mighty roar, timing it just right, he threw the giant piece of rock at the incoming missile.
He had to throw the biggest Door he could conjure at the moment, right in front of the explosion as the missile exploded, showering everything with deadly shrapnel. It was fortunate that he had the good sense to put the top Door on Dr.Banner as well, saving him the troublesome encounter with the Hulk.
The second missile was caught in the explosion as well, leading to more and more shrapnel. He could feel it, the Door was reaching its limits of durability. Any more and it would dispel. He could not trust it to handle the third missile, so he improvised.
Taking a small rock from the ground, instead of a big one, and then threw the rock with all his might in the rough direction of the missile, leaving Jin'Ya to do the aiming.
He then turned around, hoping he timed it right, and then smiled as a huge explosion lit up in the background with his back to it, creating such a cinematic shot that he knew he had to publish it somewhere. If not anyone else, then Tony might appreciate it.
He held it firm even as something hot and sharp poked his onesie because he did not want to lose his aura in front of the audience who was now looking completely stunned and in disbelief at how things had gone from human dogpilling to missiles intended for maximum civilian damage.
"Oh yeah, your dear General Ross seems to have sent you all to your deaths. Now, Gee, I wonder to whom you should report this?" He put a finger over the lips of the skull and said in an exaggerated voice.
Snapping his fingers, his happiness dimmed a bit as the soldiers all flinched, the near brush with death sobering them up from their stupid, stupid loyalty. Well, that took the fun out of it.
Nothing like making hard working, order following, soldiers feel the threat of death.
Sighing, he said, "Leave. I don't wish for any more fights. Tell the General that Dr.Banner is under my protection. Also, the next time I get a missile full of shrapnel to my face, I am doing something far worse than just breaking some bones, and I will be doing that to the General, not his foot soldiers."
The soldiers all hesitantly backed away, watching him at all times with a wariness that could only come from a prey looking at a predator that was letting them get away, confused and wary yet happy.
He was about to turn around and finally address the Big Bad Hulk when Jin'Ya spoke something into his mind that made him utterly livid. The air around him turned heavy as he unconsciously channelled way too much CHI into his body.
The soldiers all stopped, terrified as they saw the man who had effortlessly tanked all of their attacks and destroyed all their missiles, glow before Colin jumped out of the clearing, cratering the land.
Ross had already cleared about 3 miles in distance between the clearing, and he was not going to let the man go.
It would seem that General Ross was not going to have a career after this. The only question was : Would his peers and superiors in the Army finally grow a spine, have some shame, and oust him, or would he be discharged with full honors since he would no longer have his legs?
Landing, he channeled more CHI into his leg and just jumped, creating yet another crater in his wake. Bullets of all sorts of caliber pinged off of his armour as he spotted the General, fleeing in the back of a truck, as a nearby helicopter continued to fire from a machine gun at him.
His next landing, with subtle help from Jin'Ya, was right in front of the truck. The truck driver didn't stop as he stood in their path.
He smirked at that and just stood there. With Jin'Ya, his own enhancements, and the inertia locking enchantment on the orange onesie, the truck just fell apart all around him. All this time, he had his hand outstretched in the direction of the truck and would you look at that, General Ross was gracious enough to deliver his neck right into the waiting hands of Colin.
Pulling the man closer, who was kicking and punching with all his might, he enjoyed the panic in the man's eyes before it was eclipsed by overwhelming hatred at his kind. He even let the General draw his gun and shoot him centre mass and even in the head multiple times.
He did not budge an inch as the man's face finally turned red, not from anger but from lack of air.
"So, General, mind telling me what you were planning on doing to the soldiers who, reportedly, perished during a confrontation with the Hulk and its accomplice?"
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #24 : Brucie Bear POV!
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IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #24
Canadian Wilderness [January 18, 2008]
–Bruce Banner–
He had resigned himself to this fate, to running from the government for all his life. Resigned himself to inevitably encountering them, turned into the Hulk, and then wake up somewhere else with the blood of unknown people on his hands, and clothes. More than once, he had scrubbed his skin off when he had woken up, with his hands and fists covered in blood, more than likely to be of some soldier who was just following orders and had no business being near the Monster that was the Hulk.
So, when Ross finally found and cornered him here, in the middle of nowhere, in Canada, he had once again, resigned himself to get hurt, blackout, and then wake up somewhere else with literal blood and guts on his body, only to be violently taken aback as someone with an orange suit landed right in the middle of the standoff he had with the Military that was inevitably going to turn violent.
He was unsure what this new variable was going to do, so he opted to observe his actions and he had to say, standing in a translucent box, he was very much glad that he listened to his instincts and did not do anything overt.
Watching the man not just tank bullets but also destroy multiple missiles, was, in a way, relieving. It was proof that he was not the only monster in the world. That there were multiple others just like him out there.
Despite the danger the orange suit fellow had put himself in, the fact that there were people out there who could do things just like him calmed him down a bit and made him feel a sense of peace after a long time of running in despair.
Ross had long since left the battlefield, as was expected of him since the man was usually one of the very few people who survived all the encounters with the Hulk with all his limbs intact. Through the multiple transformations he had undergone, he knew that the Hulk only targeted the ones who attacked him, usually attacking with the intent of getting away from the fight, something that he only noticed recently.
It would also not kill all of the attackers, despite having the opportunity to. That was small mercies but it also meant that he was now effectively a mass murderer and more importantly, a traitor since he had killed multiple armed soldiers under the government's employ.
Still, some hope seems to have returned if this obviously powerful and resourceful person had come to his rescue. He did not know what was waiting for him but watching all the soldiers being forced to retreat was a welcome sight, especially since he was watching all of this from the safety of a box that was Doors on all sides.
Some sort of energy projections capable of taking immense damage and benign stacked on top of each other, as he was now in an enclosed space. He had flinched at first when the first few bullets struck the doors but by the time the confrontation ended, there was a pile of bullets all around him and he was not worried about them at all.
Seeing that everyone was retreating, looking fearfully at the one man who stopped their advance, he was about to say something when the orange man abruptly stopped. Even from a distance and within his safe box, he felt the air change as he squinted at the now glowing man who jumped.
He shared looks with the soldiers who were frozen still and as if some sort of shared command was shared between them, scrambled to retreat, to go back to their camp or something.
He sighed and slumped on the ground, pushing with his legs at the doors and sighing once more when he saw that they refused to budge. He was just another prisoner then. It was just his luck. At Least this time, it was someone who might be able to save people around him if he ever turned back into that monster.
"Hello." His neck snapped up as he saw something that made him do a double take. A small purple speck of light floated in front of him. He must have gone mad because he just heard a voice and some part of him was telling him that this purple speck was the source of that voice.
He leaned back on the door, using it as a cushion, hard as it was, to get his bearings.
"Hello?" He looked around as the voice echoed in the chamber once more.
"Who's there?" Technically, nothing should have come inside since there was no visible space for someone to enter the box. He was unsure how much longer his oxygen supply would last if the chamber was airtight. That orange person better come back soon because if the Hulk came out, this barrier stood no chance of surviving the monster's fists.
"Yes, I am the one speaking. Follow the light, please." The slightly patronising voice indeed came from the speck of light as it zoomed all around the chamber before stopping right in front of him.
"Hello?"
"How many times will you make me say that? Anyways, while he is dealing with the Army General, I have some questions for you."
He gulped and nodded, "Okay."
"Alright, do you wish to come under our protection? I can guarantee safe space, essentially guaranteed along with solitude if that is what you wish."
His throat suddenly felt dry, and not just because the last water he had drunk that was not ice was a day ago, and replied, "What are the conditions?" Even in this condition, he knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
"Ah, a smart cookie. I like your kind. Ideally, taking you off the radar of the world's governments would be all we need but if you are amenable to that, we can arrange for research equip–"
"No!" He shouted and then continued in a smaller voice, "No, I will not be working to make another one like me. You will not get any blood sample, not even a speck of knowledge from me if that is your aim. I will make this clear upfront." He could feel the Hulk stirring from deep within, as the perceived threat to his being reared its ugly head.
"No. Why would we need another one of you if we have you? No, what I meant is other research. You will have your freedom to do so but that is just secondary. The primary objective is making sure that the world does not descend into yet another arm's race because everyone and their grandmas know that you exist."
The light then brightened briefly, "Tell you what, this is the only requirement we have from you, keep our secrets. You will inevitably be exposed to stuff that the world does not know about if you are going to work with that guy, and all I need is a guarantee that you will not expose our secrets to the rest of the world. Alright?"
He hesitated a bit because what if these were hardened criminals but then he remembered that the stress of working with such people would eventually mark the return of the Hulk anyway and he would escape them anyway, so he nodded, "Yes." Anyway, he had to get out of here quickly.
Who knows what Ross might come back with? This time it was missiles, which was new because that level of heavy ordinance was only bought out when he turned into the monster, at least that is what he collected from the brief flashes of memory he got from his time as the Monster.
He then flinched as the sound of something hitting the ground came to him. Through the dust, he tensed as he saw the slight orange hue of the person.
He stood up, tense and wary as the Doors all dissipated into motes of light, and the purple speck of light flickered before appearing right next to the Orange person's head. He had to get that person's name because calling him the Orange person was getting odd, in his head.
He gingerly shook the hand of the person, "Dr.Banner, I assume my partner briefed you on the requirements in exchange for protection?"
He nodded hastily as the man summoned yet another Door and gestured for him to stand atop it. This one was a bit larger, and clearly meant for multiple people to step on. He noticed the dozens of smaller doors attached to every angle of the larger Door.
He wondered what they were for.
His questions were soon answered as the Door steadily lifted off the ground. It wobbled a bit but then he saw the reason why. The smaller doors were releasing jets of air so that the larger Door could move about.
"Fascinating." He muttered to himself as he rubbed his glasses that were totally the wrong prescription but beggars could not be choosers, especially when the Hulk destroyed his glasses and he had to pick the closest glasses he could find.
Stepping closer, he saw that the forests were passing by at a much faster speed than he expected them to, especially since there were no buffeting winds at this speed.
Again, "Fascinating."
He had a hunch this was going to be, if nothing else, an interesting experience nonetheless. Experiencing what must come closest to unaided flight was a reward on its own.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
Also, I write Snippets for multiple MCU stories on Patreon and you can vote for their periodic release in a weekly poll I run there.
DoorMan #24
Canadian Wilderness [January 18, 2008]
–Bruce Banner–
He had resigned himself to this fate, to running from the government for all his life. Resigned himself to inevitably encountering them, turned into the Hulk, and then wake up somewhere else with the blood of unknown people on his hands, and clothes. More than once, he had scrubbed his skin off when he had woken up, with his hands and fists covered in blood, more than likely to be of some soldier who was just following orders and had no business being near the Monster that was the Hulk.
So, when Ross finally found and cornered him here, in the middle of nowhere, in Canada, he had once again, resigned himself to get hurt, blackout, and then wake up somewhere else with literal blood and guts on his body, only to be violently taken aback as someone with an orange suit landed right in the middle of the standoff he had with the Military that was inevitably going to turn violent.
He was unsure what this new variable was going to do, so he opted to observe his actions and he had to say, standing in a translucent box, he was very much glad that he listened to his instincts and did not do anything overt.
Watching the man not just tank bullets but also destroy multiple missiles, was, in a way, relieving. It was proof that he was not the only monster in the world. That there were multiple others just like him out there.
Despite the danger the orange suit fellow had put himself in, the fact that there were people out there who could do things just like him calmed him down a bit and made him feel a sense of peace after a long time of running in despair.
Ross had long since left the battlefield, as was expected of him since the man was usually one of the very few people who survived all the encounters with the Hulk with all his limbs intact. Through the multiple transformations he had undergone, he knew that the Hulk only targeted the ones who attacked him, usually attacking with the intent of getting away from the fight, something that he only noticed recently.
It would also not kill all of the attackers, despite having the opportunity to. That was small mercies but it also meant that he was now effectively a mass murderer and more importantly, a traitor since he had killed multiple armed soldiers under the government's employ.
Still, some hope seems to have returned if this obviously powerful and resourceful person had come to his rescue. He did not know what was waiting for him but watching all the soldiers being forced to retreat was a welcome sight, especially since he was watching all of this from the safety of a box that was Doors on all sides.
Some sort of energy projections capable of taking immense damage and benign stacked on top of each other, as he was now in an enclosed space. He had flinched at first when the first few bullets struck the doors but by the time the confrontation ended, there was a pile of bullets all around him and he was not worried about them at all.
Seeing that everyone was retreating, looking fearfully at the one man who stopped their advance, he was about to say something when the orange man abruptly stopped. Even from a distance and within his safe box, he felt the air change as he squinted at the now glowing man who jumped.
He shared looks with the soldiers who were frozen still and as if some sort of shared command was shared between them, scrambled to retreat, to go back to their camp or something.
He sighed and slumped on the ground, pushing with his legs at the doors and sighing once more when he saw that they refused to budge. He was just another prisoner then. It was just his luck. At Least this time, it was someone who might be able to save people around him if he ever turned back into that monster.
"Hello." His neck snapped up as he saw something that made him do a double take. A small purple speck of light floated in front of him. He must have gone mad because he just heard a voice and some part of him was telling him that this purple speck was the source of that voice.
He leaned back on the door, using it as a cushion, hard as it was, to get his bearings.
"Hello?" He looked around as the voice echoed in the chamber once more.
"Who's there?" Technically, nothing should have come inside since there was no visible space for someone to enter the box. He was unsure how much longer his oxygen supply would last if the chamber was airtight. That orange person better come back soon because if the Hulk came out, this barrier stood no chance of surviving the monster's fists.
"Yes, I am the one speaking. Follow the light, please." The slightly patronising voice indeed came from the speck of light as it zoomed all around the chamber before stopping right in front of him.
"Hello?"
"How many times will you make me say that? Anyways, while he is dealing with the Army General, I have some questions for you."
He gulped and nodded, "Okay."
"Alright, do you wish to come under our protection? I can guarantee safe space, essentially guaranteed along with solitude if that is what you wish."
His throat suddenly felt dry, and not just because the last water he had drunk that was not ice was a day ago, and replied, "What are the conditions?" Even in this condition, he knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch.
"Ah, a smart cookie. I like your kind. Ideally, taking you off the radar of the world's governments would be all we need but if you are amenable to that, we can arrange for research equip–"
"No!" He shouted and then continued in a smaller voice, "No, I will not be working to make another one like me. You will not get any blood sample, not even a speck of knowledge from me if that is your aim. I will make this clear upfront." He could feel the Hulk stirring from deep within, as the perceived threat to his being reared its ugly head.
"No. Why would we need another one of you if we have you? No, what I meant is other research. You will have your freedom to do so but that is just secondary. The primary objective is making sure that the world does not descend into yet another arm's race because everyone and their grandmas know that you exist."
The light then brightened briefly, "Tell you what, this is the only requirement we have from you, keep our secrets. You will inevitably be exposed to stuff that the world does not know about if you are going to work with that guy, and all I need is a guarantee that you will not expose our secrets to the rest of the world. Alright?"
He hesitated a bit because what if these were hardened criminals but then he remembered that the stress of working with such people would eventually mark the return of the Hulk anyway and he would escape them anyway, so he nodded, "Yes." Anyway, he had to get out of here quickly.
Who knows what Ross might come back with? This time it was missiles, which was new because that level of heavy ordinance was only bought out when he turned into the monster, at least that is what he collected from the brief flashes of memory he got from his time as the Monster.
He then flinched as the sound of something hitting the ground came to him. Through the dust, he tensed as he saw the slight orange hue of the person.
He stood up, tense and wary as the Doors all dissipated into motes of light, and the purple speck of light flickered before appearing right next to the Orange person's head. He had to get that person's name because calling him the Orange person was getting odd, in his head.
He gingerly shook the hand of the person, "Dr.Banner, I assume my partner briefed you on the requirements in exchange for protection?"
He nodded hastily as the man summoned yet another Door and gestured for him to stand atop it. This one was a bit larger, and clearly meant for multiple people to step on. He noticed the dozens of smaller doors attached to every angle of the larger Door.
He wondered what they were for.
His questions were soon answered as the Door steadily lifted off the ground. It wobbled a bit but then he saw the reason why. The smaller doors were releasing jets of air so that the larger Door could move about.
"Fascinating." He muttered to himself as he rubbed his glasses that were totally the wrong prescription but beggars could not be choosers, especially when the Hulk destroyed his glasses and he had to pick the closest glasses he could find.
Stepping closer, he saw that the forests were passing by at a much faster speed than he expected them to, especially since there were no buffeting winds at this speed.
Again, "Fascinating."
He had a hunch this was going to be, if nothing else, an interesting experience nonetheless. Experiencing what must come closest to unaided flight was a reward on its own.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
Also, I write Snippets for multiple MCU stories on Patreon and you can vote for their periodic release in a weekly poll I run there.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #25 : Cringey Teenagers, Cancer CHI & Cyclops....
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #25
Above the Canadian Wilderness [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Baxter boy, are you sure about this?" Mentally reverbed in his head as he stood, arms crossed on the giant noticeable Door, sweating bullets and keeping track as this was the first time he had been this exposed to Satellite tracking and considering that he could not use portals in front of the entire military intelligence wing that was keeping track of him right now, it was getting a wee bit harder to choose what to do, in terms of safely getting home.
The Ocean was still a bit far away and he was not yet that practiced with this mode of transportation. With Jin'YA, that disadvantage was negated but he really wanted to maintain his cool look in front of Dr.Baner. That was all it stemmed down to, keeping his image. God, he sounded like a cringey teenager right now.
"Which you technically are," of which, Jin'Ya never failed to remind him.
Meanwhile, Dr.Banner, ever the inquisitive scientist, had kneeled down near the edge and was looking at the smaller doors attached to the Bigger one while muttering some formulas that he chose to ignore at this point.
"And I was not talking about getting home without being spotted. I was talking about Ross," Ah, that. He tried not to think of the consequences of the actions he took in extreme anger. Exhaling, he winced as he imagined the condition Ross would suffer once he got back to his base.
What he had done was actually a quite strong response to Ross' actions but in that moment, that was the only thing he could think of that would put Ross in his place.
Cancer.
Yup, he had given Ross an advanced form of cancer. See, there was a finite amount of times a cell could divide. If the cell divides an unlimited number of times, it is deemed as cancer.
CHI was something that defied the understanding of the human body, at least as far as humans went, and not only healed the cell but also made it more resilient so it could divide more times than it naturally could have.
CHI was also something that responded to human emotions. Stronger emotions led to CHI impacts being that much more powerful and harmful to the human body. That is why it is very important for the Iron Fist to remain calm under any situation because when angry, the colossal(relatively) amount of CHI in an Iron Fist's hand would fuck up a normal human even being in the same vicinity, not to mention if even a light punch grazed their bodies.
CHI was neutral in its composition but the user could influence it to do a variety of things. That is what he had done there. In a fit of anger, he deliberately released some of his CHI that was tainted by his emotions at the time, leading to Ross getting Cancer.
He did not know what kind and frankly, he did not care, at all. What he was sure of, was that Ross was going to write off his men as casualties by Hulk and his new co-conspirator and if one happened to survive, he was going to kill that man himself.
That was his thought process at the time, according to Jin'Ya and that was something he could not tolerate that tragedy happening under his watch, at all. Not when there was something he could do about it.
He circled around the area, deliberately making sure that the satellites that were undoubtedly keeping watch over him were also indirectly monitoring the military convoy right below him. Ross probably knew that he was right above him but someone higher up probably restrained him or atleast rescinded his ability to call in missile strikes on foreign soil because he could not sense any missile heading his way.
His senses, while not surpassing his visual sensory distance, was leagues behind Jin'Ya's master psionic senses because the dragon could sense missiles as soon as they were launched by a couple of stealth Jets.
"Um, Hi? Where are we going? You do realise that we are actively being tracked right now?" Bruce, seemingly done with his research on the marvels that were his Doors, stood right next to him, glancing regularly at the speck of purple light that was Jin'Ya's way of camouflaging himself.
He sighed, and slowly stopped the Door. Bruce was confused but the next second a series of much smaller Doors appeared all around them before turning the single platform into a cocoon of Doors. Grinning a bit at the ridiculous idea that had entered his mind, he turned to Bruce, "Buckle up!"
Bruce's, "To What?!" was expertly ignored as he received an affirmation from Jin'Ya about the feasibility of his plan, just as the Doors were all locked in, and he was ready to start expelling some serious thrust out of it.
"I hope you don't get motion sickness," He mumbled to Bruce, and before he could get a reply in, with a thunderous sound that flattened the trees right below them and almost created a crater, the small rectangular box of Doors shot up in the air, straight through the clouds, even as Bruce screamed and hugged the Doors, or at least tried to.
Soon, the screams faded as Bruce saw the ground leaving his vision, replaced by an inky blue denoting the oceans of the planet, courtesy of him turning all the Doors translucent. The thing that probably stopped Bruce's screams was because they were not feeling the pesky effects of inertia and gravity on their bodies, and that was due to the one and only Jin'Ya, Draconic Psionic extraordinaire.
The thin sheen of purple all around the Doors was an indicator of Jin'Ya using what he liked to call a Pseudo-Domain, the ability to control all matter in a set area. Having honed that ability to the highest level possible (probably), Jin'Ya turned simple telekinesis into borderline reality control within a set zone.
"Alright, Dr.Banner, all jokes aside, we will now be going to my home base. Now, you might see some unusual things but please keep your questions for last. In fact, we will be having a lengthy discussion soon because I have to leave once you are comfortable. Okay?"
The man gave him a shaky smile. One he mirrored before the Door's thrust was cut off, and it began plummeting to the ground.
Ah, the screams had begun anew.
For someone who did not wish to fight the Hulk, they sure did put a lot of undue stress on the poor man's heart.
_____xx______
–One Eyed Cyclops–
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the satellite footage of Ross' latest clusterfucks. He had no idea why Pierce had restrained him from even hiding Bruce from the rest of the world but this, this huge international incident was enough for him to swoop in, no holds bar, and take over the entirety of the situation.
Only, the situation was not as good as he had imagined it to be. Oh, he totally expected to be righting Ross' wrongs for a long time but he did not expect to see his mystery orange perpetrator involving himself in this as well.
Clearly, the man has been holding back a lot from them. He zoomed in on the use of the barriers, at least that's what the eggheads had taken to calling them though it clearly looked like a Door in the videos. The multiple videos that had appeared on the Dark Web before they were taken down and also through the multiple cameras that the Soldiers had.
Ross' act of attacking someone who was clearly more interested in diplomacy had raised quite a few eyebrows but it would have all been worth it if Ross had something to show for it. Now, all they had were a bunch of riled up Canadians demanding an explanation as to why they were there, and no Banner to show for it.
His door beeped as an authorised person entered his office. He didn't look up even as Coulson arrived in front of him and patiently waited for his orders.
He supposed that the one good thing that came out of this was the fact that they couldn't rely on brute force to get their orange man. They needed finesse and more importantly, they needed to establish a diplomatic relationship with this man, because not only was he himself clearly very powerful and well trained, he now had exclusive access to the single most dangerous man on the planet.
For that, he needed…. "Coulson."
"Yes, sir."
He slid a file and a USB drive towards Coulson, "Take these. There is to be zero paper trail about this. You report directly to me on any updates. You will also be taking normal cases to throw off any suspicion. No INDEX entries either."
"I see. So soft approach? The hard one didn't work?" The man joked but all he received was silence.
"...I will see myself out."
He nodded and then resumed looking at the hundreds of videos that SHIELD had gathered. This…this was someone who could fit perfectly in the Avengers' Initiative. Now, all he needed was leverage to make this happen because the Council could not reject all his candidates if they could speak and think properly.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
Also, I write Snippets for multiple MCU stories on Patreon and you can vote for their periodic release in a weekly poll I run there.
DoorMan #25
Above the Canadian Wilderness [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Baxter boy, are you sure about this?" Mentally reverbed in his head as he stood, arms crossed on the giant noticeable Door, sweating bullets and keeping track as this was the first time he had been this exposed to Satellite tracking and considering that he could not use portals in front of the entire military intelligence wing that was keeping track of him right now, it was getting a wee bit harder to choose what to do, in terms of safely getting home.
The Ocean was still a bit far away and he was not yet that practiced with this mode of transportation. With Jin'YA, that disadvantage was negated but he really wanted to maintain his cool look in front of Dr.Baner. That was all it stemmed down to, keeping his image. God, he sounded like a cringey teenager right now.
"Which you technically are," of which, Jin'Ya never failed to remind him.
Meanwhile, Dr.Banner, ever the inquisitive scientist, had kneeled down near the edge and was looking at the smaller doors attached to the Bigger one while muttering some formulas that he chose to ignore at this point.
"And I was not talking about getting home without being spotted. I was talking about Ross," Ah, that. He tried not to think of the consequences of the actions he took in extreme anger. Exhaling, he winced as he imagined the condition Ross would suffer once he got back to his base.
What he had done was actually a quite strong response to Ross' actions but in that moment, that was the only thing he could think of that would put Ross in his place.
Cancer.
Yup, he had given Ross an advanced form of cancer. See, there was a finite amount of times a cell could divide. If the cell divides an unlimited number of times, it is deemed as cancer.
CHI was something that defied the understanding of the human body, at least as far as humans went, and not only healed the cell but also made it more resilient so it could divide more times than it naturally could have.
CHI was also something that responded to human emotions. Stronger emotions led to CHI impacts being that much more powerful and harmful to the human body. That is why it is very important for the Iron Fist to remain calm under any situation because when angry, the colossal(relatively) amount of CHI in an Iron Fist's hand would fuck up a normal human even being in the same vicinity, not to mention if even a light punch grazed their bodies.
CHI was neutral in its composition but the user could influence it to do a variety of things. That is what he had done there. In a fit of anger, he deliberately released some of his CHI that was tainted by his emotions at the time, leading to Ross getting Cancer.
He did not know what kind and frankly, he did not care, at all. What he was sure of, was that Ross was going to write off his men as casualties by Hulk and his new co-conspirator and if one happened to survive, he was going to kill that man himself.
That was his thought process at the time, according to Jin'Ya and that was something he could not tolerate that tragedy happening under his watch, at all. Not when there was something he could do about it.
He circled around the area, deliberately making sure that the satellites that were undoubtedly keeping watch over him were also indirectly monitoring the military convoy right below him. Ross probably knew that he was right above him but someone higher up probably restrained him or atleast rescinded his ability to call in missile strikes on foreign soil because he could not sense any missile heading his way.
His senses, while not surpassing his visual sensory distance, was leagues behind Jin'Ya's master psionic senses because the dragon could sense missiles as soon as they were launched by a couple of stealth Jets.
"Um, Hi? Where are we going? You do realise that we are actively being tracked right now?" Bruce, seemingly done with his research on the marvels that were his Doors, stood right next to him, glancing regularly at the speck of purple light that was Jin'Ya's way of camouflaging himself.
He sighed, and slowly stopped the Door. Bruce was confused but the next second a series of much smaller Doors appeared all around them before turning the single platform into a cocoon of Doors. Grinning a bit at the ridiculous idea that had entered his mind, he turned to Bruce, "Buckle up!"
Bruce's, "To What?!" was expertly ignored as he received an affirmation from Jin'Ya about the feasibility of his plan, just as the Doors were all locked in, and he was ready to start expelling some serious thrust out of it.
"I hope you don't get motion sickness," He mumbled to Bruce, and before he could get a reply in, with a thunderous sound that flattened the trees right below them and almost created a crater, the small rectangular box of Doors shot up in the air, straight through the clouds, even as Bruce screamed and hugged the Doors, or at least tried to.
Soon, the screams faded as Bruce saw the ground leaving his vision, replaced by an inky blue denoting the oceans of the planet, courtesy of him turning all the Doors translucent. The thing that probably stopped Bruce's screams was because they were not feeling the pesky effects of inertia and gravity on their bodies, and that was due to the one and only Jin'Ya, Draconic Psionic extraordinaire.
The thin sheen of purple all around the Doors was an indicator of Jin'Ya using what he liked to call a Pseudo-Domain, the ability to control all matter in a set area. Having honed that ability to the highest level possible (probably), Jin'Ya turned simple telekinesis into borderline reality control within a set zone.
"Alright, Dr.Banner, all jokes aside, we will now be going to my home base. Now, you might see some unusual things but please keep your questions for last. In fact, we will be having a lengthy discussion soon because I have to leave once you are comfortable. Okay?"
The man gave him a shaky smile. One he mirrored before the Door's thrust was cut off, and it began plummeting to the ground.
Ah, the screams had begun anew.
For someone who did not wish to fight the Hulk, they sure did put a lot of undue stress on the poor man's heart.
_____xx______
–One Eyed Cyclops–
His eyes narrowed as he looked at the satellite footage of Ross' latest clusterfucks. He had no idea why Pierce had restrained him from even hiding Bruce from the rest of the world but this, this huge international incident was enough for him to swoop in, no holds bar, and take over the entirety of the situation.
Only, the situation was not as good as he had imagined it to be. Oh, he totally expected to be righting Ross' wrongs for a long time but he did not expect to see his mystery orange perpetrator involving himself in this as well.
Clearly, the man has been holding back a lot from them. He zoomed in on the use of the barriers, at least that's what the eggheads had taken to calling them though it clearly looked like a Door in the videos. The multiple videos that had appeared on the Dark Web before they were taken down and also through the multiple cameras that the Soldiers had.
Ross' act of attacking someone who was clearly more interested in diplomacy had raised quite a few eyebrows but it would have all been worth it if Ross had something to show for it. Now, all they had were a bunch of riled up Canadians demanding an explanation as to why they were there, and no Banner to show for it.
His door beeped as an authorised person entered his office. He didn't look up even as Coulson arrived in front of him and patiently waited for his orders.
He supposed that the one good thing that came out of this was the fact that they couldn't rely on brute force to get their orange man. They needed finesse and more importantly, they needed to establish a diplomatic relationship with this man, because not only was he himself clearly very powerful and well trained, he now had exclusive access to the single most dangerous man on the planet.
For that, he needed…. "Coulson."
"Yes, sir."
He slid a file and a USB drive towards Coulson, "Take these. There is to be zero paper trail about this. You report directly to me on any updates. You will also be taking normal cases to throw off any suspicion. No INDEX entries either."
"I see. So soft approach? The hard one didn't work?" The man joked but all he received was silence.
"...I will see myself out."
He nodded and then resumed looking at the hundreds of videos that SHIELD had gathered. This…this was someone who could fit perfectly in the Avengers' Initiative. Now, all he needed was leverage to make this happen because the Council could not reject all his candidates if they could speak and think properly.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
Also, I write Snippets for multiple MCU stories on Patreon and you can vote for their periodic release in a weekly poll I run there.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #26 : Dad Wong...to the Rescuce!
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IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #26
Above the Canadian Wilderness [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Ready to experience freedom, Dr.Banner?" He asked the good doctor as they were in a clearing nearby, in a cloaking field cast by Jin'Ya. The Dragon was annoyingly good at almost everything. Sure, he could cast the cloaking field as well but he could only block out sounds, visuals, and heat. The Dragon stops everything from leaving the field, maintaining such flawless stealth that no Masters of Kamar Taj could see through it with only the Ancient One being the exception.
It made sense in her case because she was probably just as old as the old fuck floating beside him, what with the amount of time she had mentally experienced as part of her time dives.
"Um, what is happening?" Dr.Banner asked him and instead of giving an explanation, he just thrust his right hand in one direction and began rotating. The portal gods did not favour him today so the portal took more than 7 tries before a small sized portal was open and another three rotations before the portal resembled a human sized opening to the Portal Room on Red Hearth.
"What?!" He heard Dr.Banner whisper before Jin'Ya, in his purple light form, drifted into the portal. He gestured for Dr.Banner to do the same who did so, but not before rubbing his eyes, cleaning his glasses, and pinching himself two times to confirm whether it was real or not.
He jumped through the portal as soon as Dr.Banner was inside, not trusting the portal's integrity in the slightest. He was really going to have to work on his portals because this was just disgraceful. Being a potential city wrecking person having command over original spells rivaling that of old Eldritch powered ones and yet unable to form a normal planetary portal in an instant.
It was disgraceful, in a word.
He heard the telltale signs of the high calibre machine guns receding back into their panels as soon as the Portal was closed and all the people were identified. It also had a provision that if both he and Jin'Ya were to exit a portal at the same time then it would also ignore anybody else travelling with them.
It was logical since if someone could mind control both him and Jin'Ya at the same time, then they were doomed anyway.
"Where are we? And did you just create a localised wormhole? How? Where did you hide the machinery required to do so? Or is it located here, in the destination? How do you even power it?"
Aaand there it was, the barrage of questions.
"Dr.Banner," He interrupted the man from unloading his entire inventory of questions on top of him in the middle of the Portal Room, "Why don't we save the questions for later? I had to leave in the middle of something very important to come to rescue you. So, any questions, can you leave it for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? In the meantime, I'll give you a basic tour and then you can explore on your own. Come,"
He hurriedly explained to the man as Jin'Ya turned back into his floating lizard form and floated out of the portal room while the plebeians walked on their two legs. Turning a nasty glare at the dragon, "You know it wouldn't hurt if you happened to use the body you so zealously protect. Muscle atrophy is a thing, you know, even in mystically enhanced magical reactor bodies."
The dragon merely scoffed and ignored him, turning on the spot to head to the other elevator. Snorting at the lizard behaviour, he nudged Dr.Banner to the other elevator.
"Wh-Bu–He–How?" Yup. No answers for no fully formed questions.
"I'll explain it all later on. For now, let's get you a basic tour," He punched the button on the elevator for the rooftop, the best palace, in his opinion.
"Where are we going? Why does it say Red Desert as the name of the rooftop?" Dr.Baner asked him and that was a very quick observation. Well, if someone was on the run from the military for weeks, if not months, then it made sense that they would have exceptional observational skills.
"I am sure you'll love it, Dr. Banner. It's my favourite place here." He grinned as the elevator, the fastest one he could buy, dinged as they reached the designated floor.
"Follow me," Then they had to go through a room where all the barbecue stuff was kept before he opened the door and reached…this.
An endless expanse of red, with huge mountains and sandstorms raging in the distance. Leaning on the railing, he looked back to see Dr.Banner looking very pale and pointing at the scenery in front of them with a trembling hand.
"Haha!" He always wanted to do this. Alas, he did not have anyone he could shock and the ones that knew about this place had seen planets and stars form and die, so this was nothing to them. For a normal human being, this was awesome.
"I-is this M-Mars?"
"Yup. We are in a secret facility built on Mars. If you wait a couple of months, you might see the Mars Rover pass by. Its docking station is just nearby." He commented even as he enjoyed the view.
"I don't believe it. You can do interplanetary teleportation? Who are you guys?" He grinned at the man as he gestured at the door. "I can give you a tour and give you basic access so you can visit this balcony anytime you want. For the meantime, let me show you your quarters, and where you can get your food,"
"O-okay," the man said, clearly dazed at the whole chain of events.
"These are your quarters. Since no one lived here, they were only cleaned once a week but since you are here, I will see what I can do about regular cleaning," He said as they walked into a medium sized room, that had a King sized bed, a large workstation, sofa, walk-in closet, attached washrooms, and a TV in front of the Bed. All of this, obviously stripped of anything that could be used for tracking purposes.
"Wow, this is…a lot."
"Yeah, well, you are my guest for the time being, the first one actually, and I would like for you to be comfortable for reasons other than the obvious," Referring to the man's green giant angry problem.
"Anyways, the kitchen is on the lower levels. This is your access bracelet. You can use that until we can get your biometrics installed in the system. Currently, you only have access to this floor, the kitchen, and the balcony. Once I have time, we'll see about getting you a laboratory built. Until then, you have unrestricted Internet access but please don't do anything that might give away our location. Nobody would believe you anyway but please be careful."
"Okay," The man said, still checking out his room and fiddling with the bracelet at the same time. Clearly, Dr.Banenr needed some time to process all of this and he was also running out of time to reach his Earthen Bachelor Pad.
"I'll see you around, Dr.Banner. You are completely safe here," With that parting comment, he punched in the portal room on the elevator control panel and got out of the elevator, to see Jin'Ya already there, waiting for him.
"Let's go," He said and entered the portal, opened by Jin'Ya obviously.
Damn the Portal Gods.
……….
……..
With a yawn, his eyes snapped open, right on the dot as the alarm clock began beeping a second later. Gently slapping the alarm, he got up from the bed and looked at the sunlight filtering into his apartment. It was nice that his place had a lot of natural lighting, which really helped with proper sleep regulation.
If only he did not have so much stuff to do and only 24 hours in a day, he might have had a really great sleep schedule to match.
"Jin'Ya, any complications?" He mentally asked since they left in quite a hurry last night and that must have created tons of questions for Shuri and the Wakandans.
"No, nothing on their end. They believe every suggestion I put into their minds and Shuri actually forbid anyone from bugging your apartment. I believe she has an interest in you if you get what I mean. Honestly, why don't you humans just mate? I don't understand this song and dance before the damned thing."
He groaned as he brushed his teeth, "Just Shut up…", All he received in return was a madman cackling.
He had quite a few things to do before he had to leave for LA. Already, he had received the flight tickets as well as the accommodation access, and he was not even packed yet. He still had to go to Ta-Lo, complete the negotiation process, and make sure that Wakandan War Dogs did not just assassinate him in the middle of the day simply because he was getting closer to technology that their princess cracked years ago.
Aside from that, once he got to LA, Jin'Ya was going to tail Tony but that was stuff for later. Ah, he hated it so much that he could not simply write down what stuff he had to do because of security issues. Even if he did enchant it mystically and then encrypt it, there was no guarantee that some avatar of a reality warping Demon Lord could not break through everything, read through the future stuff, and wreak havoc on the universe.
It was safer to keep it in his mind but also, so inconvenient for him since it just cluttered his mind.
Taking the egg tray that was delivered to his doorstep everyday by a local store, he kept 10 in the pot that was set to boil for 15 minutes to get that nice hard boil egg.
Now, all that was left was to get freshened up, eat his eggs, get the freelance work backlog cleared out a bit, and then head to the gym since he actually had to keep appearances otherwise it would be hard to justify his build and strength.
A towel hung over his shoulder, he was heading to the washroom when the doorbell rang. Furrowing his brows, he extended his senses and found that he could not sense anything. Discarding the towel, he cycled CHI through his body and discreetly summoned a tiny door on his palm, just in case he needed to blast away whoever it was, before walking towards the door.
Jin'Ya not warning him meant that he was probably safe but paranoia was the way of life, according to Fury sensei and that man lived through enough world ending events for multiple lifetimes.
Slowly opening the door, he relaxed immediately as there was no intruder trying to get into his apartment.
No, it was…"Old Man Wong!" He exclaimed, going in for the hug.
"Don't! Put this in the fridge," Old Man Wong stopped him before handing him a bag of groceries.
"Aww, you do care about me." He said in a sing-song voice as he closed the door with his foot and put away the groceries.
"There's chicken in there. I believe you know how to make one," Wong said as he plopped himself on the sofa as if he were the King.
Playing into the vibe, he bowed deeply, "Your wish is my command,"
Oh, this day was starting much better than he had expected it to!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
.
.
Also, I write Snippets for multiple MCU stories on Patreon and you can vote for their periodic release in a weekly poll I run there.
DoorMan #26
Above the Canadian Wilderness [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"Ready to experience freedom, Dr.Banner?" He asked the good doctor as they were in a clearing nearby, in a cloaking field cast by Jin'Ya. The Dragon was annoyingly good at almost everything. Sure, he could cast the cloaking field as well but he could only block out sounds, visuals, and heat. The Dragon stops everything from leaving the field, maintaining such flawless stealth that no Masters of Kamar Taj could see through it with only the Ancient One being the exception.
It made sense in her case because she was probably just as old as the old fuck floating beside him, what with the amount of time she had mentally experienced as part of her time dives.
"Um, what is happening?" Dr.Banner asked him and instead of giving an explanation, he just thrust his right hand in one direction and began rotating. The portal gods did not favour him today so the portal took more than 7 tries before a small sized portal was open and another three rotations before the portal resembled a human sized opening to the Portal Room on Red Hearth.
"What?!" He heard Dr.Banner whisper before Jin'Ya, in his purple light form, drifted into the portal. He gestured for Dr.Banner to do the same who did so, but not before rubbing his eyes, cleaning his glasses, and pinching himself two times to confirm whether it was real or not.
He jumped through the portal as soon as Dr.Banner was inside, not trusting the portal's integrity in the slightest. He was really going to have to work on his portals because this was just disgraceful. Being a potential city wrecking person having command over original spells rivaling that of old Eldritch powered ones and yet unable to form a normal planetary portal in an instant.
It was disgraceful, in a word.
He heard the telltale signs of the high calibre machine guns receding back into their panels as soon as the Portal was closed and all the people were identified. It also had a provision that if both he and Jin'Ya were to exit a portal at the same time then it would also ignore anybody else travelling with them.
It was logical since if someone could mind control both him and Jin'Ya at the same time, then they were doomed anyway.
"Where are we? And did you just create a localised wormhole? How? Where did you hide the machinery required to do so? Or is it located here, in the destination? How do you even power it?"
Aaand there it was, the barrage of questions.
"Dr.Banner," He interrupted the man from unloading his entire inventory of questions on top of him in the middle of the Portal Room, "Why don't we save the questions for later? I had to leave in the middle of something very important to come to rescue you. So, any questions, can you leave it for tomorrow or the day after tomorrow? In the meantime, I'll give you a basic tour and then you can explore on your own. Come,"
He hurriedly explained to the man as Jin'Ya turned back into his floating lizard form and floated out of the portal room while the plebeians walked on their two legs. Turning a nasty glare at the dragon, "You know it wouldn't hurt if you happened to use the body you so zealously protect. Muscle atrophy is a thing, you know, even in mystically enhanced magical reactor bodies."
The dragon merely scoffed and ignored him, turning on the spot to head to the other elevator. Snorting at the lizard behaviour, he nudged Dr.Banner to the other elevator.
"Wh-Bu–He–How?" Yup. No answers for no fully formed questions.
"I'll explain it all later on. For now, let's get you a basic tour," He punched the button on the elevator for the rooftop, the best palace, in his opinion.
"Where are we going? Why does it say Red Desert as the name of the rooftop?" Dr.Baner asked him and that was a very quick observation. Well, if someone was on the run from the military for weeks, if not months, then it made sense that they would have exceptional observational skills.
"I am sure you'll love it, Dr. Banner. It's my favourite place here." He grinned as the elevator, the fastest one he could buy, dinged as they reached the designated floor.
"Follow me," Then they had to go through a room where all the barbecue stuff was kept before he opened the door and reached…this.
An endless expanse of red, with huge mountains and sandstorms raging in the distance. Leaning on the railing, he looked back to see Dr.Banner looking very pale and pointing at the scenery in front of them with a trembling hand.
"Haha!" He always wanted to do this. Alas, he did not have anyone he could shock and the ones that knew about this place had seen planets and stars form and die, so this was nothing to them. For a normal human being, this was awesome.
"I-is this M-Mars?"
"Yup. We are in a secret facility built on Mars. If you wait a couple of months, you might see the Mars Rover pass by. Its docking station is just nearby." He commented even as he enjoyed the view.
"I don't believe it. You can do interplanetary teleportation? Who are you guys?" He grinned at the man as he gestured at the door. "I can give you a tour and give you basic access so you can visit this balcony anytime you want. For the meantime, let me show you your quarters, and where you can get your food,"
"O-okay," the man said, clearly dazed at the whole chain of events.
"These are your quarters. Since no one lived here, they were only cleaned once a week but since you are here, I will see what I can do about regular cleaning," He said as they walked into a medium sized room, that had a King sized bed, a large workstation, sofa, walk-in closet, attached washrooms, and a TV in front of the Bed. All of this, obviously stripped of anything that could be used for tracking purposes.
"Wow, this is…a lot."
"Yeah, well, you are my guest for the time being, the first one actually, and I would like for you to be comfortable for reasons other than the obvious," Referring to the man's green giant angry problem.
"Anyways, the kitchen is on the lower levels. This is your access bracelet. You can use that until we can get your biometrics installed in the system. Currently, you only have access to this floor, the kitchen, and the balcony. Once I have time, we'll see about getting you a laboratory built. Until then, you have unrestricted Internet access but please don't do anything that might give away our location. Nobody would believe you anyway but please be careful."
"Okay," The man said, still checking out his room and fiddling with the bracelet at the same time. Clearly, Dr.Banenr needed some time to process all of this and he was also running out of time to reach his Earthen Bachelor Pad.
"I'll see you around, Dr.Banner. You are completely safe here," With that parting comment, he punched in the portal room on the elevator control panel and got out of the elevator, to see Jin'Ya already there, waiting for him.
"Let's go," He said and entered the portal, opened by Jin'Ya obviously.
Damn the Portal Gods.
……….
……..
With a yawn, his eyes snapped open, right on the dot as the alarm clock began beeping a second later. Gently slapping the alarm, he got up from the bed and looked at the sunlight filtering into his apartment. It was nice that his place had a lot of natural lighting, which really helped with proper sleep regulation.
If only he did not have so much stuff to do and only 24 hours in a day, he might have had a really great sleep schedule to match.
"Jin'Ya, any complications?" He mentally asked since they left in quite a hurry last night and that must have created tons of questions for Shuri and the Wakandans.
"No, nothing on their end. They believe every suggestion I put into their minds and Shuri actually forbid anyone from bugging your apartment. I believe she has an interest in you if you get what I mean. Honestly, why don't you humans just mate? I don't understand this song and dance before the damned thing."
He groaned as he brushed his teeth, "Just Shut up…", All he received in return was a madman cackling.
He had quite a few things to do before he had to leave for LA. Already, he had received the flight tickets as well as the accommodation access, and he was not even packed yet. He still had to go to Ta-Lo, complete the negotiation process, and make sure that Wakandan War Dogs did not just assassinate him in the middle of the day simply because he was getting closer to technology that their princess cracked years ago.
Aside from that, once he got to LA, Jin'Ya was going to tail Tony but that was stuff for later. Ah, he hated it so much that he could not simply write down what stuff he had to do because of security issues. Even if he did enchant it mystically and then encrypt it, there was no guarantee that some avatar of a reality warping Demon Lord could not break through everything, read through the future stuff, and wreak havoc on the universe.
It was safer to keep it in his mind but also, so inconvenient for him since it just cluttered his mind.
Taking the egg tray that was delivered to his doorstep everyday by a local store, he kept 10 in the pot that was set to boil for 15 minutes to get that nice hard boil egg.
Now, all that was left was to get freshened up, eat his eggs, get the freelance work backlog cleared out a bit, and then head to the gym since he actually had to keep appearances otherwise it would be hard to justify his build and strength.
A towel hung over his shoulder, he was heading to the washroom when the doorbell rang. Furrowing his brows, he extended his senses and found that he could not sense anything. Discarding the towel, he cycled CHI through his body and discreetly summoned a tiny door on his palm, just in case he needed to blast away whoever it was, before walking towards the door.
Jin'Ya not warning him meant that he was probably safe but paranoia was the way of life, according to Fury sensei and that man lived through enough world ending events for multiple lifetimes.
Slowly opening the door, he relaxed immediately as there was no intruder trying to get into his apartment.
No, it was…"Old Man Wong!" He exclaimed, going in for the hug.
"Don't! Put this in the fridge," Old Man Wong stopped him before handing him a bag of groceries.
"Aww, you do care about me." He said in a sing-song voice as he closed the door with his foot and put away the groceries.
"There's chicken in there. I believe you know how to make one," Wong said as he plopped himself on the sofa as if he were the King.
Playing into the vibe, he bowed deeply, "Your wish is my command,"
Oh, this day was starting much better than he had expected it to!
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
.
.
Also, I write Snippets for multiple MCU stories on Patreon and you can vote for their periodic release in a weekly poll I run there.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #27 : *Shaking Head* Elders these days....buried in thier screens!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #27
Earthen Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Making tea just the way Wong liked it, made with extravagant materials like milk and tea leaves from Ta-Lo, he popped his head out of the kitchen and asked Wong who was busy looking at his phone, "So, what brings you to this side of the world? I thought the West Coast was Drumm's responsibility. Last I heard, he didn't like other Sorcerers treading on his territory unless the Sorcerer Supreme deemed it necessary,"
Handing a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, atleast that's what it said on the label, to Wong, he plopped down on the sofa in front of him and then deadpanned at Wong who was busy on his phone, his very much advanced and decked out smartphone.
He shook his head at the signs of addiction. Elders these days, always glued to their screens.
Snapping his fingers in front of Wong who absentmindedly sipped his orange juice, he hollered, "Hello?! Anybody home?" He might or might not have released a slightly aimed air blast that knocked the phone out of Wong's hand and then another smaller door to release another jet of air that pushed the phone into his waiting hands.
"Eh? Eh? Neat trick, right?" He smiled toothily at the man who was his father in all but name and all he received in return was a disapproving stare.
"Oh, come on! You have to admit it was cool. I have been working on my micro control and learning how to position my Doors to achieve optimum force application. It is hard! Do you know how hard it is to practice this stuff whilst having so many other things going on in my life? It's not like I just have to work a single job. Oh, I am Wong, I love books and Beyonce, and I will scare the bejesus out of you by simply staring at you."
After all that mocking and ranting, all Wong did was stare at him whilst sipping his orange juice. He shuddered at the eye contact and promptly threw the phone back at him, such was the strength of the Wong strength.
Sighing, he leaned back onto the couch and closed his eyes, waiting for the Old Man to be done with his social media and stuff. Meanwhile, he kept his senses peeled just in case something happened next door. His brows furrowed as he heard nothing, not even a single peep, even after taking a risk and cycling his CHI at higher levels.
"What's wrong?" He opened his eyes to see Wong looking at him with concerned eyes.
Smirking, "Oh, now, you are interested? Where were you when I was in so much trouble last night?"
He'd confirmed with Jin'ya, there were no active bugs in his place and the Wakandans had oddly left with no sign of any Wakakndan personnel in the entire city. Something must have happened and he was kinda afraid that Jin'Ya's mental tampering was not as foolproof as they had expected it to be, so for now, he was safe in his apartment but who knows for how long?
"What happened?" Wong asked in a serious tone and he sighed, dropping the act, "Nothing to worry about. I just got a new tenant for my home yesterday. I'll introduce you two later on,"
"I see." The man simply said and went right back to his phone.
"Oh, come on!" He said and just did the same trick with his Air Doors again, leaving the phone on the kitchen counter, out of reach for both of them. Spreading his hands at the now irate Wong, "Well, it's out of my hands now. It's not like my hands can reach that far."
"Now, why don't you tell me what you are doing so far away from home? I thought you had East Asia this year in your rotation?"
Kamar Taj had a finite number of Masters and even less so when it came to Masters on the same level as Wong or Mordo. They simply did not have as many strong Masters as they had Masters on various topics. Ever since the Ancient One became the SOrcerer SUpreme, the need for Masters to be ready to die and be an all around combat expert had dropped significantly.
That meant that the criteria to become a Master was also lowered. Nowadays, as long as you were proficient in one field of Sorcery, could prove yourself capable of defending yourself and some people around you, and had the ability to cast portals, you were eligible to become a Master, given the peer review passed through.
So, many of the Masters of Kamar Taj now simply had high talent in some areas of Sorcery, instead of being the strongest combat master. That way, the KAmar Taj covered a lot of land in mystica hotspots, mystical countries, and the mundane countries as well.
The sword of Damocles that was the Ancient One simply stopped most attackers from even touching Kamar Taj affiliated Masters or even the multiple sanctuary properties built around the planet.
That did not mean that they could afford to be lax so the Ancient One, along with four other Masters of the top calibre were assigned an area around the world, changed on a yearly basis that they patrolled regularly, to make sure that Kamar Taj's strength was projected all around the world.
According to his knowledge, Wong was not assigned to the West Coast, only East Asia which was near his home as well as a hotspot of odd magical activity pertaining to longevity, immortality, and vampiric cults.
Wong replied, "What? Can't I just come to visit?"
He shrugged and scurried back into the kitchen as the ten minute mark was finally reached, as was necessary for this particular brand of a combination of tea leaves and milk, to make the best tea, "You haven't before. You're more than welcome to visit. It's just that I am leaving in a few days anyway."
"Oh, yeah, your summer internship. How is the living situation? I am sure we have some Kamar Taj properties even in that place," Wong said as he turned around to look at him through the kitchen window.
Stirring the tea to let out of the CHI bubbles that had accumulated just below the surface, he tasted the tea and closed his eyes as the heavenly tea slid down his throat, making him feel beyond energized.
Pouring the tea, he scoffed, "Yeah, right. I am getting housing in a complex that can only be called five star. The last time I stayed at a Kamar Taj property, I had to burn my own fire in Iceland because it was so cold and the heating enchantments had broken down because nobody had gone there in ages,"
Handing the cup to Wong who took it as if it was a priceless treasure, he plopped down onto the sofa and began sipping on his tea. Ah, it was always a great experience to drink this tea.
It was nice that Jin'Ya did not particularly care for tea, otherwise his own personal store would have been raided a hundred times over by now.
Man, going to Ta-Lo and saving their Water Dragon was one of the best things he had done here. Speaking of Ta-Lo, "Hey, I have some work to do at Ta-Lo, will you come?"
Now that Shuri was out of the city and in his apartment, he could work on stuff he had to finish before leaving for LA. Something must have happened for them to leave so abruptly because, according to Jin'Ya, he could not sense Shuri's particular brand of brain and Astral Signature anywhere on the West Coast, meaning they had probably gone home.
It was fascinating to confirm that Shuri was an evolved human, an advanced version of humanity, with a brain that could not be matched by any other Homo-Sapien on the planet. Not even Tony's. Centuries of exposure to Vibranium had evolved her line, resulting in the birth of the sharpest mind on the planet.
Her soul itself was different from the rest of the humans, according to her Astral Signature which was confirmed by Jin'Ya. He could probably track her across the planet now but the dragon did not like mucking up his senses by dipping into the Astral Realm on the planet too much, so he refrained from asking the dragon about her location.
He was just thankful that he could now get the extra meat supply from Ta-Lo. Speaking of the Ta-Lo trip, Wong was too busy enjoying the, according to what most people would confirm, heavenly tea, to reply to his request for a ride along.
Alas, only he was authorised to open portals from their side to Ta-Lo, so he had to do the whole song and dance about portals every time he needed to go there.
It was nice that the Water Dragon did not need CHI topping up every day or something. Once every six months was enough for the Dragon to heal himself and tighten the seal every year.
He wondered what kind of effect it was having on the Mandarin, the real one, with all the Ten Rings. Well, something to do later on.
Wasn't Shang-Chi working as a valet in LA? Maybe he could drop in and get his Martial Arts skill evaluated, or elevated, depending on how much of a beatdown he would get from the expert Martial Artist.
It would be nice to learn something while he was in LA, and not just spend his time working on shiny tech that was probably going to be used in some weapons, the division of which Tony was going to shut down in a couple of months when he came back.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #27
Earthen Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Making tea just the way Wong liked it, made with extravagant materials like milk and tea leaves from Ta-Lo, he popped his head out of the kitchen and asked Wong who was busy looking at his phone, "So, what brings you to this side of the world? I thought the West Coast was Drumm's responsibility. Last I heard, he didn't like other Sorcerers treading on his territory unless the Sorcerer Supreme deemed it necessary,"
Handing a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, atleast that's what it said on the label, to Wong, he plopped down on the sofa in front of him and then deadpanned at Wong who was busy on his phone, his very much advanced and decked out smartphone.
He shook his head at the signs of addiction. Elders these days, always glued to their screens.
Snapping his fingers in front of Wong who absentmindedly sipped his orange juice, he hollered, "Hello?! Anybody home?" He might or might not have released a slightly aimed air blast that knocked the phone out of Wong's hand and then another smaller door to release another jet of air that pushed the phone into his waiting hands.
"Eh? Eh? Neat trick, right?" He smiled toothily at the man who was his father in all but name and all he received in return was a disapproving stare.
"Oh, come on! You have to admit it was cool. I have been working on my micro control and learning how to position my Doors to achieve optimum force application. It is hard! Do you know how hard it is to practice this stuff whilst having so many other things going on in my life? It's not like I just have to work a single job. Oh, I am Wong, I love books and Beyonce, and I will scare the bejesus out of you by simply staring at you."
After all that mocking and ranting, all Wong did was stare at him whilst sipping his orange juice. He shuddered at the eye contact and promptly threw the phone back at him, such was the strength of the Wong strength.
Sighing, he leaned back onto the couch and closed his eyes, waiting for the Old Man to be done with his social media and stuff. Meanwhile, he kept his senses peeled just in case something happened next door. His brows furrowed as he heard nothing, not even a single peep, even after taking a risk and cycling his CHI at higher levels.
"What's wrong?" He opened his eyes to see Wong looking at him with concerned eyes.
Smirking, "Oh, now, you are interested? Where were you when I was in so much trouble last night?"
He'd confirmed with Jin'ya, there were no active bugs in his place and the Wakandans had oddly left with no sign of any Wakakndan personnel in the entire city. Something must have happened and he was kinda afraid that Jin'Ya's mental tampering was not as foolproof as they had expected it to be, so for now, he was safe in his apartment but who knows for how long?
"What happened?" Wong asked in a serious tone and he sighed, dropping the act, "Nothing to worry about. I just got a new tenant for my home yesterday. I'll introduce you two later on,"
"I see." The man simply said and went right back to his phone.
"Oh, come on!" He said and just did the same trick with his Air Doors again, leaving the phone on the kitchen counter, out of reach for both of them. Spreading his hands at the now irate Wong, "Well, it's out of my hands now. It's not like my hands can reach that far."
"Now, why don't you tell me what you are doing so far away from home? I thought you had East Asia this year in your rotation?"
Kamar Taj had a finite number of Masters and even less so when it came to Masters on the same level as Wong or Mordo. They simply did not have as many strong Masters as they had Masters on various topics. Ever since the Ancient One became the SOrcerer SUpreme, the need for Masters to be ready to die and be an all around combat expert had dropped significantly.
That meant that the criteria to become a Master was also lowered. Nowadays, as long as you were proficient in one field of Sorcery, could prove yourself capable of defending yourself and some people around you, and had the ability to cast portals, you were eligible to become a Master, given the peer review passed through.
So, many of the Masters of Kamar Taj now simply had high talent in some areas of Sorcery, instead of being the strongest combat master. That way, the KAmar Taj covered a lot of land in mystica hotspots, mystical countries, and the mundane countries as well.
The sword of Damocles that was the Ancient One simply stopped most attackers from even touching Kamar Taj affiliated Masters or even the multiple sanctuary properties built around the planet.
That did not mean that they could afford to be lax so the Ancient One, along with four other Masters of the top calibre were assigned an area around the world, changed on a yearly basis that they patrolled regularly, to make sure that Kamar Taj's strength was projected all around the world.
According to his knowledge, Wong was not assigned to the West Coast, only East Asia which was near his home as well as a hotspot of odd magical activity pertaining to longevity, immortality, and vampiric cults.
Wong replied, "What? Can't I just come to visit?"
He shrugged and scurried back into the kitchen as the ten minute mark was finally reached, as was necessary for this particular brand of a combination of tea leaves and milk, to make the best tea, "You haven't before. You're more than welcome to visit. It's just that I am leaving in a few days anyway."
"Oh, yeah, your summer internship. How is the living situation? I am sure we have some Kamar Taj properties even in that place," Wong said as he turned around to look at him through the kitchen window.
Stirring the tea to let out of the CHI bubbles that had accumulated just below the surface, he tasted the tea and closed his eyes as the heavenly tea slid down his throat, making him feel beyond energized.
Pouring the tea, he scoffed, "Yeah, right. I am getting housing in a complex that can only be called five star. The last time I stayed at a Kamar Taj property, I had to burn my own fire in Iceland because it was so cold and the heating enchantments had broken down because nobody had gone there in ages,"
Handing the cup to Wong who took it as if it was a priceless treasure, he plopped down onto the sofa and began sipping on his tea. Ah, it was always a great experience to drink this tea.
It was nice that Jin'Ya did not particularly care for tea, otherwise his own personal store would have been raided a hundred times over by now.
Man, going to Ta-Lo and saving their Water Dragon was one of the best things he had done here. Speaking of Ta-Lo, "Hey, I have some work to do at Ta-Lo, will you come?"
Now that Shuri was out of the city and in his apartment, he could work on stuff he had to finish before leaving for LA. Something must have happened for them to leave so abruptly because, according to Jin'Ya, he could not sense Shuri's particular brand of brain and Astral Signature anywhere on the West Coast, meaning they had probably gone home.
It was fascinating to confirm that Shuri was an evolved human, an advanced version of humanity, with a brain that could not be matched by any other Homo-Sapien on the planet. Not even Tony's. Centuries of exposure to Vibranium had evolved her line, resulting in the birth of the sharpest mind on the planet.
Her soul itself was different from the rest of the humans, according to her Astral Signature which was confirmed by Jin'Ya. He could probably track her across the planet now but the dragon did not like mucking up his senses by dipping into the Astral Realm on the planet too much, so he refrained from asking the dragon about her location.
He was just thankful that he could now get the extra meat supply from Ta-Lo. Speaking of the Ta-Lo trip, Wong was too busy enjoying the, according to what most people would confirm, heavenly tea, to reply to his request for a ride along.
Alas, only he was authorised to open portals from their side to Ta-Lo, so he had to do the whole song and dance about portals every time he needed to go there.
It was nice that the Water Dragon did not need CHI topping up every day or something. Once every six months was enough for the Dragon to heal himself and tighten the seal every year.
He wondered what kind of effect it was having on the Mandarin, the real one, with all the Ten Rings. Well, something to do later on.
Wasn't Shang-Chi working as a valet in LA? Maybe he could drop in and get his Martial Arts skill evaluated, or elevated, depending on how much of a beatdown he would get from the expert Martial Artist.
It would be nice to learn something while he was in LA, and not just spend his time working on shiny tech that was probably going to be used in some weapons, the division of which Tony was going to shut down in a couple of months when he came back.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #28 : Pitfalls of the Time Stone, Lifegiver! & I come bearing gifts!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #28
Earthen Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He calmly walked into the designated alley for Portal travel in and around Seattle. If he remembered correctly, there were seven of such perfectly camouflaged areas in his city that would allow him to use them for his tedious portal procedures. Something of a courtesy from the Ancient One since she foresaw a lot of travel for him, from this city oddly, as if he would make this city his long term base.
No, he had the Red Hearth for that but he could not really dismiss even a small gesture from the Ancient One because that woman was so seeped into the future that each and every single one of her actions was probably premeditated, steering the future towards what she thought was a better future.
He considered the Time Stone one of the biggest follies of the position of the Sorcerer Supreme. Not as the thing being used as a weapon, no, that's what its primary purpose was. What he disliked was the Sorcerer Supremes relying heavily on the Time Stone for their decision making.
The Ancient One went far beyond what the majority of the Sorcerer Supremes did, mostly because of her talent as well as her sheer age. But, in his opinion, it also shackled her to the timeline she believed to be the best. She was, despite her vast powers, still a human, and ascertaining which timeline was supposed to be the best was a very difficult task, even at the best of times.
Not to mention the fact that the Time Stone did not show anyone the future beyond their deaths. So, who knows what this path might lead to? As far as his understanding went, that was a limit instilled in the Eye of Agamotto instead of the Time Stone since it was supposed to be absolute in seeing variable futures.
His head swam as he struggled to even comprehend the amount of time the Ancient One must have spent in those timelines. She was, functionally, millions of years old with a mentality to match. To think she has not gone insane yet. For that alone, she has his eternal respect.
Sighing, he opened a portal, after only three tries, leading to a cold storage unit he built in the Arctic. Seeing the pile of processed food drop out of the portal, weighing a total of a ton, he smiled. The people living in Ta-Lo ate some of the best food on the planet, food that Billionaires would come running for, especially once news spread that the food actually made them live longer, but alas, humans loved sweets, even if they were artificially sweetened.
Summoning a door beneath the whole stuff, he lifted the stuff with his mind and waved his hand multiple times in the air, keeping solace in the fact that this alley was completely isolated from the rest of the world. He smiled as the portal opened a tiny bit and he immediately let go as he felt the Water Dragon, he still hadn't received a name for them, took hold of the portal and widened it with ease.
Dragons, of all shapes and sizes could perform magic of various attributes with varying levels of proficiency, generally dictated by their age. Some dragons, like Jin'Ya, could perform one type of magic really really well, like anything related to Psionics, Some dragons like Ta-Lo's guardian, would generally be categorized as a support type Pokemon.
They could empower other people to act on their behalf and also, control magic on a very fundamental level, allowing the Dragon to take control of the portal away from him whilst maintaining the portal integrity.
He nodded once the portal was large enough for the Door to fit as he walked into it, the tones of sugary stuff following behind.
As soon as he crossed the threshold to Ta-lo and took in a deep breath of the absolute fresh, clean air that was actually longevity inducing, he heard a deep voice speak directly into his mind, "Greetings, lifegiver."
Smiling at the air, he waved his hand, as the Door went flying in the direction of the storage depot, "Greetings to you too, Guardian. You know, you still haven't told me what to call you. I know you can't tell me your True Name but come on, some sort of nickname will do,"
He casually said as he began walking towards the center of the village, the admin center, if you will. It housed the Village chief, the weapons depot, the records, along with any magical artifact they gathered.
"I'm afraid I am still undecided about that. Once I've decided, you, lifegiver will be the first to know," He sighed and nodded at thin air, knowing that the Dragon could perceive every single thing happening in the pocket dimension, as if it was a part of his body.
The rest of the people lived in scattered settlements, based on their preferences, in a vast 50 mile radius, according to what the Ancient One told him. The pocket dimension was incredibly vast and that too was one of the many magics that the Guardian of Ta-Lo could perform. Tying the pocket dimension to his draconic lifeforce, the Guardian was able to sustain this large pocket dimension, simply to seal an evil entity, whose influence was growing weaker and weaker every year as the Dragon regained its lost vitality.
Hell, every time he channeled his CHI in any other person in Ta-Lo, he could immediately spot the similarities between the Guardian and the humans, as their bodies were literally adapting to the dragon essence in the air of the pocket dimension, as the Ancient One called it.
He couldn't help but think of the consequences of thousands of people bearing diluted dragon bloodlines suddenly appearing on the planet. Well, that was a long time in the future, especially since Dragons lived for a long long time.
……
…..
"Yay! The lifegiver is back! Quick, tell Grandpa Chief!"
"The lifegiver!"
"The lifegiver!"
"The lifegiver!"
"The lifegiver!"
He awkwardly smiled, waved, and bowed wherever necessary which took a lot of his time as the people seemed to take it as a competition to stall him for as long as possible. First off, he did not like that name, it made him seem like a god, not good for his ego.
Secondly, he did not have either Jin'Ya, Wong, or even the Ancient One here to humble him, hence, his caution in dealing with people. After all, beneath all the power, he was still a teenager with limited life experiences.
Lack of opportunity and resources in the first life and lack of time in the second one.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, he reached the giant square made up of buildings of wood, and stone. The wood here was stronger than steel from back home so structural integrity was not a problem.
Flammability certainly was, but then again, they lived surrounding a giant water body that housed a giant Water Dragon so firefighting was probably the least important certification they needed to build their houses.
He smiled at the village chief, an elderly hunched over man who had to walk with a stick. Despite that, he knew that there was no one in this damned village that he could underestimate.
So, he smirked and spread his arms wide, mentally commanding the Door that housed all the treats to come flying from far away in his direction, or rather, in the direction of the village chief, "I come bearing gifts!"
The giant Door cast a giant shadow over the entire square before it plummeted straight down. He saw, from the corner of his eyes, everyone either tense, panicked, or outright resigned, as the Door stopped just a foot or two away from the buildings.
"Are you done?" The village Chief asked as the Chief waved his hand and the Door floated to the side and created a dust cloud as it was safely deposited in a prepared clearing, with flocks of people ranging from children to the elderly rushing at the Door as if it contained divine elixirs capable of prolonging life and giving youth.
He allowed his Door to be controlled, else no one in the world could wrestle control of his innate power away from him, as far as he knew.
These people had that kind of stuff growing around in the wild. Man, the difference in perspectives was truly jarring.
"Are you coming?" Something pushed him or atleast tried to as he turned around to see the chief's granddaughter, Ying Nan, the future village chief, grumbling as he refused to budge from his place.
She eventually gave up and after hitting him in the leg with one of her wooden sticks, followed behind the village chief.
He smiled, shook his head, and followed suit, all the while his feet released minute amounts of CHI into the soil at regular intervals.
That was how he gave the Water Dragon his CHI. It was not as if he was touching the Dragon and then giving him absurd amounts of CHI to replenish their lost lifeforce. No, since the pocket dimension itself was an extension of their body, he spent every minute in this place giving CHI to the ground, to the water, to the plants, etc.
So that when the CHI is fully stabilised and seeped into the ground, it can be absorbed by the Dragon in whatever quantities they might need it. The Dragon was a master of various magics and one of them was draconic healing magic, one of the rarest kinds, according to Jin'Ya, which allowed them to perform surgery on every type of dragon provided they had the resources for it.
Normally, those resources would have been items but due to his unlimited CHI, the Dragon could forgo every other thing and simply heal all wounds. His decision, in part, was influenced by the fact that the Water Dragon was the only being in the galaxy who could heal Jin'Ya if anything did happen to the old fuck.
That was how he became a snack vendor for an ancient Dragon.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #28
Earthen Bachelor Pad, Seattle [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He calmly walked into the designated alley for Portal travel in and around Seattle. If he remembered correctly, there were seven of such perfectly camouflaged areas in his city that would allow him to use them for his tedious portal procedures. Something of a courtesy from the Ancient One since she foresaw a lot of travel for him, from this city oddly, as if he would make this city his long term base.
No, he had the Red Hearth for that but he could not really dismiss even a small gesture from the Ancient One because that woman was so seeped into the future that each and every single one of her actions was probably premeditated, steering the future towards what she thought was a better future.
He considered the Time Stone one of the biggest follies of the position of the Sorcerer Supreme. Not as the thing being used as a weapon, no, that's what its primary purpose was. What he disliked was the Sorcerer Supremes relying heavily on the Time Stone for their decision making.
The Ancient One went far beyond what the majority of the Sorcerer Supremes did, mostly because of her talent as well as her sheer age. But, in his opinion, it also shackled her to the timeline she believed to be the best. She was, despite her vast powers, still a human, and ascertaining which timeline was supposed to be the best was a very difficult task, even at the best of times.
Not to mention the fact that the Time Stone did not show anyone the future beyond their deaths. So, who knows what this path might lead to? As far as his understanding went, that was a limit instilled in the Eye of Agamotto instead of the Time Stone since it was supposed to be absolute in seeing variable futures.
His head swam as he struggled to even comprehend the amount of time the Ancient One must have spent in those timelines. She was, functionally, millions of years old with a mentality to match. To think she has not gone insane yet. For that alone, she has his eternal respect.
Sighing, he opened a portal, after only three tries, leading to a cold storage unit he built in the Arctic. Seeing the pile of processed food drop out of the portal, weighing a total of a ton, he smiled. The people living in Ta-Lo ate some of the best food on the planet, food that Billionaires would come running for, especially once news spread that the food actually made them live longer, but alas, humans loved sweets, even if they were artificially sweetened.
Summoning a door beneath the whole stuff, he lifted the stuff with his mind and waved his hand multiple times in the air, keeping solace in the fact that this alley was completely isolated from the rest of the world. He smiled as the portal opened a tiny bit and he immediately let go as he felt the Water Dragon, he still hadn't received a name for them, took hold of the portal and widened it with ease.
Dragons, of all shapes and sizes could perform magic of various attributes with varying levels of proficiency, generally dictated by their age. Some dragons, like Jin'Ya, could perform one type of magic really really well, like anything related to Psionics, Some dragons like Ta-Lo's guardian, would generally be categorized as a support type Pokemon.
They could empower other people to act on their behalf and also, control magic on a very fundamental level, allowing the Dragon to take control of the portal away from him whilst maintaining the portal integrity.
He nodded once the portal was large enough for the Door to fit as he walked into it, the tones of sugary stuff following behind.
As soon as he crossed the threshold to Ta-lo and took in a deep breath of the absolute fresh, clean air that was actually longevity inducing, he heard a deep voice speak directly into his mind, "Greetings, lifegiver."
Smiling at the air, he waved his hand, as the Door went flying in the direction of the storage depot, "Greetings to you too, Guardian. You know, you still haven't told me what to call you. I know you can't tell me your True Name but come on, some sort of nickname will do,"
He casually said as he began walking towards the center of the village, the admin center, if you will. It housed the Village chief, the weapons depot, the records, along with any magical artifact they gathered.
"I'm afraid I am still undecided about that. Once I've decided, you, lifegiver will be the first to know," He sighed and nodded at thin air, knowing that the Dragon could perceive every single thing happening in the pocket dimension, as if it was a part of his body.
The rest of the people lived in scattered settlements, based on their preferences, in a vast 50 mile radius, according to what the Ancient One told him. The pocket dimension was incredibly vast and that too was one of the many magics that the Guardian of Ta-Lo could perform. Tying the pocket dimension to his draconic lifeforce, the Guardian was able to sustain this large pocket dimension, simply to seal an evil entity, whose influence was growing weaker and weaker every year as the Dragon regained its lost vitality.
Hell, every time he channeled his CHI in any other person in Ta-Lo, he could immediately spot the similarities between the Guardian and the humans, as their bodies were literally adapting to the dragon essence in the air of the pocket dimension, as the Ancient One called it.
He couldn't help but think of the consequences of thousands of people bearing diluted dragon bloodlines suddenly appearing on the planet. Well, that was a long time in the future, especially since Dragons lived for a long long time.
……
…..
"Yay! The lifegiver is back! Quick, tell Grandpa Chief!"
"The lifegiver!"
"The lifegiver!"
"The lifegiver!"
"The lifegiver!"
He awkwardly smiled, waved, and bowed wherever necessary which took a lot of his time as the people seemed to take it as a competition to stall him for as long as possible. First off, he did not like that name, it made him seem like a god, not good for his ego.
Secondly, he did not have either Jin'Ya, Wong, or even the Ancient One here to humble him, hence, his caution in dealing with people. After all, beneath all the power, he was still a teenager with limited life experiences.
Lack of opportunity and resources in the first life and lack of time in the second one.
Finally, after what seemed like forever, he reached the giant square made up of buildings of wood, and stone. The wood here was stronger than steel from back home so structural integrity was not a problem.
Flammability certainly was, but then again, they lived surrounding a giant water body that housed a giant Water Dragon so firefighting was probably the least important certification they needed to build their houses.
He smiled at the village chief, an elderly hunched over man who had to walk with a stick. Despite that, he knew that there was no one in this damned village that he could underestimate.
So, he smirked and spread his arms wide, mentally commanding the Door that housed all the treats to come flying from far away in his direction, or rather, in the direction of the village chief, "I come bearing gifts!"
The giant Door cast a giant shadow over the entire square before it plummeted straight down. He saw, from the corner of his eyes, everyone either tense, panicked, or outright resigned, as the Door stopped just a foot or two away from the buildings.
"Are you done?" The village Chief asked as the Chief waved his hand and the Door floated to the side and created a dust cloud as it was safely deposited in a prepared clearing, with flocks of people ranging from children to the elderly rushing at the Door as if it contained divine elixirs capable of prolonging life and giving youth.
He allowed his Door to be controlled, else no one in the world could wrestle control of his innate power away from him, as far as he knew.
These people had that kind of stuff growing around in the wild. Man, the difference in perspectives was truly jarring.
"Are you coming?" Something pushed him or atleast tried to as he turned around to see the chief's granddaughter, Ying Nan, the future village chief, grumbling as he refused to budge from his place.
She eventually gave up and after hitting him in the leg with one of her wooden sticks, followed behind the village chief.
He smiled, shook his head, and followed suit, all the while his feet released minute amounts of CHI into the soil at regular intervals.
That was how he gave the Water Dragon his CHI. It was not as if he was touching the Dragon and then giving him absurd amounts of CHI to replenish their lost lifeforce. No, since the pocket dimension itself was an extension of their body, he spent every minute in this place giving CHI to the ground, to the water, to the plants, etc.
So that when the CHI is fully stabilised and seeped into the ground, it can be absorbed by the Dragon in whatever quantities they might need it. The Dragon was a master of various magics and one of them was draconic healing magic, one of the rarest kinds, according to Jin'Ya, which allowed them to perform surgery on every type of dragon provided they had the resources for it.
Normally, those resources would have been items but due to his unlimited CHI, the Dragon could forgo every other thing and simply heal all wounds. His decision, in part, was influenced by the fact that the Water Dragon was the only being in the galaxy who could heal Jin'Ya if anything did happen to the old fuck.
That was how he became a snack vendor for an ancient Dragon.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #29 : Draconic Bloodlines, Potential Super Shang-Chi? & Cunning Old Men!
New
IdleMuse0307
I trust you know where the happy button is?
- Joined
- Jun 28, 2021
- Messages
- 587
- Likes received
- 16,506
Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #29
Chief Office, Ta-Lo [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He sat in the Chief's office, the official ruling body of Ta-Lo, not that there were many conflicts in this place. The Dragon's presence along with the faint presence of its bloodline in the denizens of this pocket dimension meant that everyone here paid their respect to their superior in terms of bloodline.
He had learned a lot since the first time he came here and was confused about their traditions. As it turns out, the fantasy books were right. Bloodlines did matter in certain circumstances. The Water Dragon was a real Dragon. However weak it might have been in the realm of fellow dragons, which was also debatable since this particular dragon was vastly more versatile than others, even if the Dragon did lose some of its peak firepower in exchange, it was far more powerful than humans.
With the faint traces of Draconic bloodline in the humans here, they could be considered a whole other species but more importantly, it was ingrained in their very DNA to pay respect and deference to a being with a higher level bloodline. That is why the Water Dragon's words are gospel to these people.
Hence, the a lack of any true disagreement in this place. Everyone loved the Water Dragon who protected everyone and so, all of the disputes, rare as they might be, were handled by the Village Chief, who was sort of an emissary for the Dragon, and as he sent yet another pulse of CHI through his feet, he raised an eyebrow at the stoic faced Elder who was sipping his life giving tea.
He sensed a significant portion of his CHI being diverted straight to the Village Chief's body, making the man straighten up due to the added vitality. It made sense because the Village Chief was the strongest being in the village, by far, and that was probably due to the high level of Draconic bloodline as well as his CHI strengthening the old man.
If his senses were correct, well, let's just say that no one in Kun'Lun should have the honor of being the strongest CHI masters on the planet anymore. The sheer life force coursing through the old man was so strong that he had a solid chance of disorienting even the Hulk for a moment if need be. It made sense when one considered that CHI came from a strong body and the old man literally had the strongest Draconic bloodline in the village.
The only one who came close was his granddaughter, and she was rumoured to be way weaker than her older sister who defected from Ta-Lo to go out and live in the mortal world.
Of course, the Water Dragon stripped the woman of all of her gifts, which probably also included CHI and its bloodline, leading to her death in canon.
Well, he might have to see what he could do about that. Having the wielder of the Ten Rings in his debt might just come in handy, not to mention the fact that Shang-CHi would be an absolute powerhouse when given generous amounts of CHI during his early training and was also armed with the Ten Rings.
"Done sensing everything, Colin?" His vision focused as he snapped back from his senses, seeing the smiling face of the elder who was now reclined back in his chair, one that he brought from the outside world as a gift, and staring straight at him.
Smiling sheepishly, he drank the tea in a single gulp, and after setting the cup down as if it were a shot of liver destroying alcohol instead of rejuvenating tea, he replied, "Yup, was just surprised, that's all. You are one hell of an old man, I'll give you that much,"
This was actually the first time he had seen the CHI transfer in action since all the other times, the Water Dragon was the one who took the lion's share. He supposed that the Dragon had healed itself enough that it could now afford to strengthen its troops.
He heard Ying Nan, the next in line to be Chief, bristle and step forward, probably for physical assault when it was all stopped by a single hand by the Village Chief. He still did not know the geezer's name and he had to wonder if that was because the man was, by far, the most dragon out of all of them, and that somehow led to him getting a True Name?
"I don't suppose you are here to fight an old man like me, are you? Because that would draw shame upon your seven bloodlines," The man said as Ying Nan stepped back into her place and the Village Chief lounged in his chair, without a care in the world.
Spreading his senses far and wide, something that was made easier with the Dragon's consent and also because of all his CHI running through every single mile of this place, he sensed the Dragon, deep beneath the Lake, sleeping but keeping a close eye on the conversation happening here. His senses almost reached the sealed mountain but were abruptly stopped and then gently pushed back by the Dragon as he opened his eyes and sighed in disappointment.
He saw the Village Chief's eyes glaze over and gain a bluish tint to them as the Dragon spoke, through the village chief's face, "It is not yet time for you to meet the Endrbinger. You are still young. We cannot afford to lose you." Saying his piece, the Dragon left, and in his place left the Village Chief.
"I assume you wished to test if you were finally strong enough to begin directly affecting the seal with your miracle powers?" The Chief asked him, even as he waved his hand to his granddaughter, to empty his office.
Once they were alone, he raised an eyebrow at the incredible CHI manipulation on display. Apparently, that was enough of an invitation for the Old Man to start explaining stuff to him.
"I have grown every single piece of bamboo and wood in this office, by myself, by giving them my lifeblood, bit by bit. There is not a single thing in this office that I cannot control by myself,"
He looked around and yup, he was right. He wasn't sure if the Old Man would have used up so much CHI for something as trivial as sealing his office if he had not recently come into an essentially unlimited supply of CHI but even so, it was impressive. The thin layer of yellow with stars dotted in the middle reminded him of the advanced prison force fields in Asgardian Dungeons.
"Alright, I get it. I am not ready to handle the seal but I don't understand why. You guys won't even tell me what I need to be ready. I can figure something out. Do we need Holy elemental powers? Because I can get those, soon."
The Chief shook his head, "You misunderstand, Young Colin. You are still too young, too blessed, and simultaneously cursed with your power. It would be a catastrophe if you were to come into contact with the seal. Far better men than you have tried and failed,"
The better men part irked him a bit but he let it go. It was not like he was the strongest being on the planet, but he was aiming to be one and soon, within like a decade, he will be.
Until then, "Fine. I won't try anything about the seal anymore."
The Chief's eyes crinkled as he smiled, "Good. Now, what else can I do for you? Your scheduled delivery was still a bit away if my memory serves me right."
He nodded, "Yes but I will be busy for a while. Significant events happening in the mortal world will force me to divert my full attention there, and so I came early so the CHI delivery would not disrupted. Also, I needed an increase in my meat quota for the year."
The geezer, purposefully, hmmed and stroked his beard, "Hmm. That is difficult, you know. We just had a lower than expected yield. How much more do you need?"
He cursed internally at the old man. They literally could not have low yields. The Dragon made sure of it. And what did low yield have to do with their meat?
They were all vegetarians, as was the Water Dragon. The Dragon did eat spirits but he did not know if that could be classified as meat.
He ground out, "An extra CHI session for the year, in exchange for 30 more pounds of meat."
"Done." The man said with the speed of lightning, his hand in front of his at dizzying speeds. He blinked at the outstretched hand for a bit before he shook it in a daze.
Dammit! He should have asked for more.
"You know, for someone whose supposed lifelong mission is to contain the biggest evil this side of the world, you sure are slimy,"
The man had the audacity to beam at him, "That…I am, young Colin. That, I am."
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #29
Chief Office, Ta-Lo [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He sat in the Chief's office, the official ruling body of Ta-Lo, not that there were many conflicts in this place. The Dragon's presence along with the faint presence of its bloodline in the denizens of this pocket dimension meant that everyone here paid their respect to their superior in terms of bloodline.
He had learned a lot since the first time he came here and was confused about their traditions. As it turns out, the fantasy books were right. Bloodlines did matter in certain circumstances. The Water Dragon was a real Dragon. However weak it might have been in the realm of fellow dragons, which was also debatable since this particular dragon was vastly more versatile than others, even if the Dragon did lose some of its peak firepower in exchange, it was far more powerful than humans.
With the faint traces of Draconic bloodline in the humans here, they could be considered a whole other species but more importantly, it was ingrained in their very DNA to pay respect and deference to a being with a higher level bloodline. That is why the Water Dragon's words are gospel to these people.
Hence, the a lack of any true disagreement in this place. Everyone loved the Water Dragon who protected everyone and so, all of the disputes, rare as they might be, were handled by the Village Chief, who was sort of an emissary for the Dragon, and as he sent yet another pulse of CHI through his feet, he raised an eyebrow at the stoic faced Elder who was sipping his life giving tea.
He sensed a significant portion of his CHI being diverted straight to the Village Chief's body, making the man straighten up due to the added vitality. It made sense because the Village Chief was the strongest being in the village, by far, and that was probably due to the high level of Draconic bloodline as well as his CHI strengthening the old man.
If his senses were correct, well, let's just say that no one in Kun'Lun should have the honor of being the strongest CHI masters on the planet anymore. The sheer life force coursing through the old man was so strong that he had a solid chance of disorienting even the Hulk for a moment if need be. It made sense when one considered that CHI came from a strong body and the old man literally had the strongest Draconic bloodline in the village.
The only one who came close was his granddaughter, and she was rumoured to be way weaker than her older sister who defected from Ta-Lo to go out and live in the mortal world.
Of course, the Water Dragon stripped the woman of all of her gifts, which probably also included CHI and its bloodline, leading to her death in canon.
Well, he might have to see what he could do about that. Having the wielder of the Ten Rings in his debt might just come in handy, not to mention the fact that Shang-CHi would be an absolute powerhouse when given generous amounts of CHI during his early training and was also armed with the Ten Rings.
"Done sensing everything, Colin?" His vision focused as he snapped back from his senses, seeing the smiling face of the elder who was now reclined back in his chair, one that he brought from the outside world as a gift, and staring straight at him.
Smiling sheepishly, he drank the tea in a single gulp, and after setting the cup down as if it were a shot of liver destroying alcohol instead of rejuvenating tea, he replied, "Yup, was just surprised, that's all. You are one hell of an old man, I'll give you that much,"
This was actually the first time he had seen the CHI transfer in action since all the other times, the Water Dragon was the one who took the lion's share. He supposed that the Dragon had healed itself enough that it could now afford to strengthen its troops.
He heard Ying Nan, the next in line to be Chief, bristle and step forward, probably for physical assault when it was all stopped by a single hand by the Village Chief. He still did not know the geezer's name and he had to wonder if that was because the man was, by far, the most dragon out of all of them, and that somehow led to him getting a True Name?
"I don't suppose you are here to fight an old man like me, are you? Because that would draw shame upon your seven bloodlines," The man said as Ying Nan stepped back into her place and the Village Chief lounged in his chair, without a care in the world.
Spreading his senses far and wide, something that was made easier with the Dragon's consent and also because of all his CHI running through every single mile of this place, he sensed the Dragon, deep beneath the Lake, sleeping but keeping a close eye on the conversation happening here. His senses almost reached the sealed mountain but were abruptly stopped and then gently pushed back by the Dragon as he opened his eyes and sighed in disappointment.
He saw the Village Chief's eyes glaze over and gain a bluish tint to them as the Dragon spoke, through the village chief's face, "It is not yet time for you to meet the Endrbinger. You are still young. We cannot afford to lose you." Saying his piece, the Dragon left, and in his place left the Village Chief.
"I assume you wished to test if you were finally strong enough to begin directly affecting the seal with your miracle powers?" The Chief asked him, even as he waved his hand to his granddaughter, to empty his office.
Once they were alone, he raised an eyebrow at the incredible CHI manipulation on display. Apparently, that was enough of an invitation for the Old Man to start explaining stuff to him.
"I have grown every single piece of bamboo and wood in this office, by myself, by giving them my lifeblood, bit by bit. There is not a single thing in this office that I cannot control by myself,"
He looked around and yup, he was right. He wasn't sure if the Old Man would have used up so much CHI for something as trivial as sealing his office if he had not recently come into an essentially unlimited supply of CHI but even so, it was impressive. The thin layer of yellow with stars dotted in the middle reminded him of the advanced prison force fields in Asgardian Dungeons.
"Alright, I get it. I am not ready to handle the seal but I don't understand why. You guys won't even tell me what I need to be ready. I can figure something out. Do we need Holy elemental powers? Because I can get those, soon."
The Chief shook his head, "You misunderstand, Young Colin. You are still too young, too blessed, and simultaneously cursed with your power. It would be a catastrophe if you were to come into contact with the seal. Far better men than you have tried and failed,"
The better men part irked him a bit but he let it go. It was not like he was the strongest being on the planet, but he was aiming to be one and soon, within like a decade, he will be.
Until then, "Fine. I won't try anything about the seal anymore."
The Chief's eyes crinkled as he smiled, "Good. Now, what else can I do for you? Your scheduled delivery was still a bit away if my memory serves me right."
He nodded, "Yes but I will be busy for a while. Significant events happening in the mortal world will force me to divert my full attention there, and so I came early so the CHI delivery would not disrupted. Also, I needed an increase in my meat quota for the year."
The geezer, purposefully, hmmed and stroked his beard, "Hmm. That is difficult, you know. We just had a lower than expected yield. How much more do you need?"
He cursed internally at the old man. They literally could not have low yields. The Dragon made sure of it. And what did low yield have to do with their meat?
They were all vegetarians, as was the Water Dragon. The Dragon did eat spirits but he did not know if that could be classified as meat.
He ground out, "An extra CHI session for the year, in exchange for 30 more pounds of meat."
"Done." The man said with the speed of lightning, his hand in front of his at dizzying speeds. He blinked at the outstretched hand for a bit before he shook it in a daze.
Dammit! He should have asked for more.
"You know, for someone whose supposed lifelong mission is to contain the biggest evil this side of the world, you sure are slimy,"
The man had the audacity to beam at him, "That…I am, young Colin. That, I am."
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan (MCU SI) - #30 : Spatial Bags, Orange Menace & Furry Fury.....
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Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #30
Ta-Lo [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He stood on top of a mountain, overlooking the giant seal on the mountain on the other side of the Giant Lake that housed the Water Dragon. Even from this far away, he could feel the sheer energy from within the seal and with it, the Darkness sealed within.
"Jeez," He had to shake his head at the absurdness of it all. Whatever it was, that thing had the potential to end the world, not just because it was very powerful, powerful beyond measure, but also because it had the ability to tap into the inherent darkness that every person has and then amplify it tenfold as well.
With the political situation on Earth being as what it was, a single person with a trigger happy finger could launch swathes of Nukes that would all but guarantee Armageddon for the planet. He was not sure if even this pocket dimension could survive for long without Earth's magical anchor acting as a, well, anchor to keep this pocket dimension from drifting away and turning into an alternate dimension.
"That is enough, life-giver," He heard a voice speak directly into his mind as he stopped the flow of CHI into the ground. Apparently, this mountain was one of the "bones" of the pocket dimension, so to speak. So, pumping CHI into this rock dispersed it throughout the entire pocket dimension, thereby benefiting every single thing here.
He was excited to finally eat the meat that had been gorging on his CHI for months now. According to the VIllage CHief, that batch of meat should be ready within a couple of months and he was going to make damn sure that Jin'Ya wouldn't even get a whiff of that particular barbecue.
Sitting down on the edge of the mountain, looking straight down at the Lake below, he said, "So, how long until you deem me ready? YOu know as well as I do that if we can do something about that, we should. Just sealing it does not seem safe, especially in light of what threats seem to be headed Earth's way."
"You speak the truth, lifegiver, and yet, we are not ready, not yet and not in the foreseeable future. The seal, it is not something that can be tampered with, lest we let the greatest Darkness of this world lose out into the world,"
He sighed, "Fine. I get that but there must be something to keep it from hammering away at the seal. Maybe some sort of light based weaponry? Since it is exclusively made up of darkness?"
"That might have worked on its soldiers but on the Darkness itself, unless it is very high level holy magic, light of any sort will not have any effect on it."
"Great. I'll start looking into something then."
"I bid you farewell, lifegiver," He saluted to the thin air, and then turned around, a portal opening up on command as the Water Dragon did his magic and used the residual portal energy from before to open a portal to the same location from where he came.
Hefting the small bag on his shoulder that contained 20 pounds of meat with the rest of the 10 pounds coming from the CHI enhanced meat, he whistled and began walking out of the alley.
It was still night time here, and he was not yet hungry, the milk products from Ta-Lo more than enough to sate his hunger for a while. Those things were awesome and yet, their meat was even better.
Normally, once he received delivery of Ta-Lo meat, he would straightway rush to Earth and then directly to the Red Hearth, because of the way the meat from Ta-Lo could get injected from Earth's air.
But this time, due to the Water Dragon's continued well being, he was gifted a bag with so many enchantments that it shone like a beacon to his senses.
Food stasis, Weight reduction, Spatial expansion, Anti-theft, Return to owner feature, Invisibility, Ignore Me spell, and more, were carved into the bag such that he had no worry about the quality of meat or even the fact that he was walking through the night with a bag on his shoulder that should have raised some alarm bells.
Yawning, he hailed a cab and went about to his apartment. So far, he had dealt with Ta-Lo's problem, and he still had three more days till his flight. That time could be well utilised in figuring out why Shuri up and disappeared like that.
Her name was deleted even from the tenants' list, even the tenants' history list that his apartment building maintains. It was gone from the University database as well. Honestly, both of those things were not really hard to do, especially for her but he questioned the necessity of it.
Why wouldn't she just drop out and disappear into the background? Why such a hurry?
His instincts told him that without something significant happening, Shuri would not have abandoned a mission like the one she was on.
"Jin'Ya, any updates?" He mentally shouted through his link and smiled at the link "solidified" for lack of a better term.
"Yeah, I'll give you updates. Banner is growing restless because of a lack of human contact. His mental state being what it is, I haven't approached him and I don't think it will be nice if he starts to believe that there are voices in his head."
He frowned at that. That totally slipped his mind, "Alright, tell him to create a list of Lab apparatus that he will need and tell him to be sure that the machines can be found on the open market otherwise, we risk being tracked."
"Sure but I must warn you that even something like that would not be enough to calm him down. The man is a walking mental health issue."
Entering his apartment, he set down the bag of meat near the fridge, and freshened up. Once he was done with that, he scanned his apartment with his senses as well as another enchanted item he got from the Water Dragon that helped him count how many gazes were on him at any given point in time. It worked even if the gaze was distant and they were watching him through cameras.
He raised an eyebrow as he realised that there were no gazes on him, which was odd since he expected at least Wakanda to keep a closer eye on him. Maybe the bracelet does not work as intended? No, the Water Dragon had no reason to lie and the Dragon was a master of its craft, that much he was certain.
Maybe something to test later on. In the meanwhile, he had some messages to look through and some money to make. He barely slept these days anyway so work for a couple of hours before he slept sounded nice to him.
_____xx____
SHIELD Helicarrier
–Nick "Furry" Fury–
He glared at the holo screens in front of him as these people had the audacity to demand something from him, something that was partly caused because of them. His forehead vein threatened to burst as he asked them, "Can you repeat your question?"
There was a wave of unease throughout the room at this tone but the Council, Singh if he remembered correctly, asked the question once more.
"What is being done to contain the growing threat from the Orange Menace? Last I heard, he was the one responsible for the Hulk's—"
He grit his teeth to stop himself from exploding, 'Might I remind you, Councilman, that this very body stopped me from doing anything regarding Dr. Banner? As per my recommendations, we could have hidden him from the rest of the world and then studied his abilities later on, once the situation had calmed down. That idea was shot down by everyone present here.
"Director Fury, we just wanted to make sure–"
He sarcastically said, "Oh yeah, I get that. I completely understand. I also want you people to completely understand that it is not my job to clean up your messes. As for the Orange Menace, my people are still looking for him but for someone with his abilities, it will be laughably easy to evade detection or even worse, subdue all my men if they even manage to find the man."
"Director! The accusations that you are making–"
"I have no patience for this. Go back to what you were doing while I was working and let me do my job. One thing is clear though, if we had Banner on our side, and helped him gain any modicum of control over the Hulk, we could have very well had, not just an Avenger candidate, but also someone with a deterrence against the Orange Menace. Your actions have just made my job harder.
The least I expect you to do is use your authority for something and muzzle that damned Ross."
With that, he left the room, uncaring of the Council's response. His patience was already wearing thin as they could not find neither hair nor hide of both Banner and the Orange Menace.
Banner should have been relatively easy to find, with the giant bursts of Gamma that were always part and parcel with his Hulk transformation.
Sitting in his office, he sighed, pressed a button on the telephone, "Get me Agent Hill."
Maybe it was time they got the advanced Gamma Arrays installed on the Helicarrier, and even the Quinjets. If nothing else worked, they might just have to scour countries with the Scanner since Banner, in his base form, still emitted Gamma but was too small to be detected by satellites in orbit.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.
DoorMan #30
Ta-Lo [January 19, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
He stood on top of a mountain, overlooking the giant seal on the mountain on the other side of the Giant Lake that housed the Water Dragon. Even from this far away, he could feel the sheer energy from within the seal and with it, the Darkness sealed within.
"Jeez," He had to shake his head at the absurdness of it all. Whatever it was, that thing had the potential to end the world, not just because it was very powerful, powerful beyond measure, but also because it had the ability to tap into the inherent darkness that every person has and then amplify it tenfold as well.
With the political situation on Earth being as what it was, a single person with a trigger happy finger could launch swathes of Nukes that would all but guarantee Armageddon for the planet. He was not sure if even this pocket dimension could survive for long without Earth's magical anchor acting as a, well, anchor to keep this pocket dimension from drifting away and turning into an alternate dimension.
"That is enough, life-giver," He heard a voice speak directly into his mind as he stopped the flow of CHI into the ground. Apparently, this mountain was one of the "bones" of the pocket dimension, so to speak. So, pumping CHI into this rock dispersed it throughout the entire pocket dimension, thereby benefiting every single thing here.
He was excited to finally eat the meat that had been gorging on his CHI for months now. According to the VIllage CHief, that batch of meat should be ready within a couple of months and he was going to make damn sure that Jin'Ya wouldn't even get a whiff of that particular barbecue.
Sitting down on the edge of the mountain, looking straight down at the Lake below, he said, "So, how long until you deem me ready? YOu know as well as I do that if we can do something about that, we should. Just sealing it does not seem safe, especially in light of what threats seem to be headed Earth's way."
"You speak the truth, lifegiver, and yet, we are not ready, not yet and not in the foreseeable future. The seal, it is not something that can be tampered with, lest we let the greatest Darkness of this world lose out into the world,"
He sighed, "Fine. I get that but there must be something to keep it from hammering away at the seal. Maybe some sort of light based weaponry? Since it is exclusively made up of darkness?"
"That might have worked on its soldiers but on the Darkness itself, unless it is very high level holy magic, light of any sort will not have any effect on it."
"Great. I'll start looking into something then."
"I bid you farewell, lifegiver," He saluted to the thin air, and then turned around, a portal opening up on command as the Water Dragon did his magic and used the residual portal energy from before to open a portal to the same location from where he came.
Hefting the small bag on his shoulder that contained 20 pounds of meat with the rest of the 10 pounds coming from the CHI enhanced meat, he whistled and began walking out of the alley.
It was still night time here, and he was not yet hungry, the milk products from Ta-Lo more than enough to sate his hunger for a while. Those things were awesome and yet, their meat was even better.
Normally, once he received delivery of Ta-Lo meat, he would straightway rush to Earth and then directly to the Red Hearth, because of the way the meat from Ta-Lo could get injected from Earth's air.
But this time, due to the Water Dragon's continued well being, he was gifted a bag with so many enchantments that it shone like a beacon to his senses.
Food stasis, Weight reduction, Spatial expansion, Anti-theft, Return to owner feature, Invisibility, Ignore Me spell, and more, were carved into the bag such that he had no worry about the quality of meat or even the fact that he was walking through the night with a bag on his shoulder that should have raised some alarm bells.
Yawning, he hailed a cab and went about to his apartment. So far, he had dealt with Ta-Lo's problem, and he still had three more days till his flight. That time could be well utilised in figuring out why Shuri up and disappeared like that.
Her name was deleted even from the tenants' list, even the tenants' history list that his apartment building maintains. It was gone from the University database as well. Honestly, both of those things were not really hard to do, especially for her but he questioned the necessity of it.
Why wouldn't she just drop out and disappear into the background? Why such a hurry?
His instincts told him that without something significant happening, Shuri would not have abandoned a mission like the one she was on.
"Jin'Ya, any updates?" He mentally shouted through his link and smiled at the link "solidified" for lack of a better term.
"Yeah, I'll give you updates. Banner is growing restless because of a lack of human contact. His mental state being what it is, I haven't approached him and I don't think it will be nice if he starts to believe that there are voices in his head."
He frowned at that. That totally slipped his mind, "Alright, tell him to create a list of Lab apparatus that he will need and tell him to be sure that the machines can be found on the open market otherwise, we risk being tracked."
"Sure but I must warn you that even something like that would not be enough to calm him down. The man is a walking mental health issue."
Entering his apartment, he set down the bag of meat near the fridge, and freshened up. Once he was done with that, he scanned his apartment with his senses as well as another enchanted item he got from the Water Dragon that helped him count how many gazes were on him at any given point in time. It worked even if the gaze was distant and they were watching him through cameras.
He raised an eyebrow as he realised that there were no gazes on him, which was odd since he expected at least Wakanda to keep a closer eye on him. Maybe the bracelet does not work as intended? No, the Water Dragon had no reason to lie and the Dragon was a master of its craft, that much he was certain.
Maybe something to test later on. In the meanwhile, he had some messages to look through and some money to make. He barely slept these days anyway so work for a couple of hours before he slept sounded nice to him.
_____xx____
SHIELD Helicarrier
–Nick "Furry" Fury–
He glared at the holo screens in front of him as these people had the audacity to demand something from him, something that was partly caused because of them. His forehead vein threatened to burst as he asked them, "Can you repeat your question?"
There was a wave of unease throughout the room at this tone but the Council, Singh if he remembered correctly, asked the question once more.
"What is being done to contain the growing threat from the Orange Menace? Last I heard, he was the one responsible for the Hulk's—"
He grit his teeth to stop himself from exploding, 'Might I remind you, Councilman, that this very body stopped me from doing anything regarding Dr. Banner? As per my recommendations, we could have hidden him from the rest of the world and then studied his abilities later on, once the situation had calmed down. That idea was shot down by everyone present here.
"Director Fury, we just wanted to make sure–"
He sarcastically said, "Oh yeah, I get that. I completely understand. I also want you people to completely understand that it is not my job to clean up your messes. As for the Orange Menace, my people are still looking for him but for someone with his abilities, it will be laughably easy to evade detection or even worse, subdue all my men if they even manage to find the man."
"Director! The accusations that you are making–"
"I have no patience for this. Go back to what you were doing while I was working and let me do my job. One thing is clear though, if we had Banner on our side, and helped him gain any modicum of control over the Hulk, we could have very well had, not just an Avenger candidate, but also someone with a deterrence against the Orange Menace. Your actions have just made my job harder.
The least I expect you to do is use your authority for something and muzzle that damned Ross."
With that, he left the room, uncaring of the Council's response. His patience was already wearing thin as they could not find neither hair nor hide of both Banner and the Orange Menace.
Banner should have been relatively easy to find, with the giant bursts of Gamma that were always part and parcel with his Hulk transformation.
Sitting in his office, he sighed, pressed a button on the telephone, "Get me Agent Hill."
Maybe it was time they got the advanced Gamma Arrays installed on the Helicarrier, and even the Quinjets. If nothing else worked, they might just have to scour countries with the Scanner since Banner, in his base form, still emitted Gamma but was too small to be detected by satellites in orbit.
If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.