xbox432
Lover of Editing
I just want you to know that I'm now imagining an adventure like in the Redwall books.
Amaterasu's Marvelous Dawn
- Location
- Australia
Watch out Steve you're being hunted by a she wolf, and it's not Amaterasu. Have such a love hate thing with Doom, his panache is hilarious but he also reads like someone's super special hyper competent edge lord OC self insert. Oh no, little Rat is going to go on an adventure. Would be curious about the public's view on the multi story tall wolf laying in Central Park. Also curious if that was the whole Fox or just one of its tails before.
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Naaahhhh, Sif is being a friendly fellow battle pal! She's still caught up on Thor at this point, and Steve is still coming to terms that Peggy is probably *really* old. For now. Also I getcha with Doom, so I'm trying to be careful. He's not perfect as much as he tries, but he is scary good at a lot of shit. Like, he's great at almost everything, but he isn't the best. There will always be a wizard a little stronger, or an Iron Man suit just a little more optimized. But they can't do everything he can--Doom is versatile.
I think I'll start next chapter with a POV or news story about the massive wolf.
The fox was only at partial strength. If it didn't have access to perspective magic, the Ancient One would have easily kicked its butt. As it is, I'm hoping to have the Ninetails try to gather some more souls for power. And in the MCU, there's a lot of stuff to go after.
- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
The question is how many times is she gonna go for a bite of the power apple, only for the apple to bite back? Or first?
There's a lot of stuff to go after, but also a lot of stuff even that Nine-tailed-fox would regret poking at.
...For some reason, I had this image of her trying to get at a "dead" Wolverine, only for him to literally bite her.
Last edited:
Chapter 26 - What's a Stock Market?
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Merry Christmas! Apologies for the wait, but hey, progress is progress. I wanna thank you all for a fantastic year and for being lovely people. I don't have anything fancy and exciting for the holidays for a little side-story, but I hope you enjoy the chapter regardless.
If you like my work, you can become a Patron. Just look up InfamousVenous on the Site for Patrons. Patrons get early access to my work and can suggest changes before chapters are posted.
Big thanks to my supporters for their feedback and general support for my writing. All the names will be listed at the bottom of the page.
If you want to be notified of updates, see some side-content, fan photos, or vote on writing, check out my Discord. Just type "AT25n3N7fP" into the server search and pick the roles you'd like.
Peter Parker was... struggling. It wasn't that university was particularly challenging—it was a nice and simple change of pace, if anything. It's not that he was too upset that his best friend Harry Osborn asked out his crush and the two of them were dating. Mary Jane looked happy, and, well, Harry didn't know. Probably. But he didn't mind.
That's what he kept telling himself at least. He managed to at least bleed off a little frustration by finally showing up Flash and making that jerk regret trying to swing at him... Then felt awful immediately after.
Sure, his head ached because he was dealing with sensory overload on a near-daily basis after that spider-bite, but that was fine. He could deal with it. It's not like he hated the attention and how much of an asshole wearing sunglasses indoors made him look.
Maybe it was the way his body was changing, muscles twitchy, reflexes on high-alert, as if he was constantly surrounded by danger. That he had to reassure himself over and over again that no, the bee halfway down the block wasn't any particular worry to focus on.
His aunt and uncle had wasted money on glasses he no longer needed. He had to be careful with anything and everything he touched—everything was made of paper and glass. He looked different, and he was hungry, and tired, and sore, and and and and and.
It was just too much all at once. He needed to step away. To take a break, just for tonight. He couldn't face his aunt and uncle right now. Not after he ripped the door off their fridge two days ago, and had to lie to their faces and say he slipped.
He couldn't face them or take uncle Ben's disappointment after forgetting to walk his aunt May home. Peter was too busy enjoying one of the few good things to happen to him in recent memory, and play around with his powers. He'd been preoccupied. He didn't mean to make May walk home in the dark, down looming alleyways and under flickering lights, where she could have been jumped. Honestly.
But he couldn't tell them he was practicing to control his strength. So that Peter wouldn't kill them by just trying to give them a hug. He couldn't explain that—what if they kicked him out?
And then Ben had the nerve to act like his father. He wasn't his father! Even if... they raised him for the last fifteen years. Made him meals. Took him to places in the city. Gave him shelter and support and love...
He couldn't deal with that tonight. Peter knew he was in the wrong, but... he needed a break. Just for tonight. Then he could apologize and put things back to normal. He could explain somehow.
The sidewalk was damp due to the drizzle coming down in the late evening. He could hear cars in the distance whizzing by, blocks away. He could hear the footsteps of people three streets down. Hear the little whispers of people in the alley way, and the scuttling of rats down below. Feel the little changes in the air even as rain fell on him. Could hear his uncle shouting his name in the distance.
Not yet. He needed a break.
The sound of heels caught his attention, and Peter glanced up. In front of him, several blocks away, was some sort of business woman. She was stumbling around, giggling to herself, her steps rather uncoordinated. Peter could smell the alcohol on her even a decent distance away—or one of the bars nearby was having a power hour. Maybe both.
The first thing that came to his mind wasn't concern over her well-being—this was a well lit, busier area, even late at night. He didn't worry about her possibly having alcohol poisoning, or anything like that. He just didn't want to pass by and deal with some drunk lady. Dealing with a slurring, tipsy, probably pompous rich woman who can't handle her liquor?
Not tonight. He didn't want to deal with all of that. She'd be fine. It wasn't his business anyway, and, he just wanted to be alone to clear his head.
Peter turned the corner and headed down a different street, just before he would have passed the woman. He saw some other people approaching from the opposite side of the road, she'd be fine without him. Instead, he kept walking. He could still faintly hear his uncle's voice blocks away, growing quieter with every step.
Then, his phone rang. He glanced at it: Uncle Ben.
Slowly, he put it back into his sweater pocket, letting it ring out to voice mail. He'd call him back later and apologize. Peter just needed a moment.
His moment wouldn't come.
A brief scream came from the street he'd just turned from, before it was silenced. Peter could hear a different voice, and muffled screaming, all just around the corner from him.
Slowly, he stopped. He should go check. It wasn't his business, and really, she shouldn't be wandering through the streets at night anyway—that was just asking for trouble.
...
Aunt May had to walk home at night because Peter forgot about her.
Shame rolled through him, and Peter turned, jogging back to the street. Just a quick check wouldn't hurt anything. He could hear the scuffle, and all he could think of was Aunt May in a similar position, without anyone around to help.
His aunt and uncle would be so disappointed if he just walked by.
Peter rounded the corner, and came face-to-face with a rather large man sprinting toward him. He was someone who would terrify Peter at any other time in his life. Broad, powerful, and angry looking. In one of his hands was the woman's purse, green, faded with time, and clearly worth a decent amount of money. In his other hand, a gun.
Peter could do something about it. He was stronger, faster, and could probably fold the guy over his fist in one punch. But... It wasn't really his business. And messing with someone holding a gun? That was risky, even if Peter had inhuman strength and reflexes. He wasn't a hero. He was just someone who was dealing with a lot.
"Thief! That's my grandma's purse!" the woman yelled, pushing herself up from the sidewalk. Her eyes met Peter's, and the two stared at one another.
And the man raced right by, sparing Peter only half a glance. Again, they locked eyes, angry yet panicked meeting bored and conflicted. And then he ran right by, making his way down the street.
"Why didn't you stop him?" The woman staggered to her feet, leaning against the wall. She was clearly drunk, her speech a little slurred, eyes glassy. Then again, that could be from the tears rolling down her cheeks after being mugged.
Peter floundered for an answer. "He had a gun," he finally replied. It was a lame excuse, but the only valid one he could think of. Even with his increased strength, a gun was a gun, and he liked his organs without holes. He wasn't a hero, and had no business playing one.
"My grandma gave that to me..." she sniffled.
After a moment of indecision, Peter sighed, and reached into his pocket. The right thing to do was call the cops. Just he opened it up to dial the three digits, when-
BANG!
A thunderous gunshot echoed from just a couple blocks down. The sound bounced off buildings of the quieter city, and to Peter, it seemed to go on forever. It rattled around in his mind long after the sound had ended, and, faintly, heard something wet hit the ground.
Something's wrong!
Without a second thought, Peter raced forward. His enhanced strength caused him to bound down the street. He whirled around the corner, catching a light-post on his way around, crushing the metal in his grip. That didn't matter. Something was wrong. Something-
Then he saw it. The familiar jacket. The shock of grey hair, above a pained and unfortunately recognizable face. The pool of red seeping from his chest, spilling from beneath struggling fingers, trying to stem the tide.
Peter dropped to his knees, his hands hovering over Ben's chest, afraid to make it worse. It took a moment, before he pressed both palms against the wound, doing his best to apply pressure. But there was so much blood and it was coming out too fast and why couldn't he stop it he could have stopped it why didn't he stop it?
"... Peter?" Ben breathed, blood bubbling from his lips.
"I-I'm here, uncle Ben." Peter pressed down on his uncle's chest harder, and stopped, feeling the bones creaking under his fingers. "I'm here. I'm- I'll get you help. You're gonna- you're gonna be okay."
Multiple voices sounded as if they were already much too close. Peter looked up, to find they had an audience. There were some of them just standing there and staring, doing absolutely nothing. Why weren't they doing anything? Ben needed help and they were just choosing to stand there!
"Someone call for help!" Peter shouted at them. One or two people moved, but there was little response. They were just watching—other people were already acting, maybe they didn't think they needed to. Or maybe they didn't care. "Uncle Ben, it's okay. You're gonna be okay."
He reached into his pocket, bloody fingers grasping for his phone. It slipped from his grip, clattering to the pavement below. Peter reached for it again, and again it slipped, blood making it impossible to hold with his shaky hands. Just sitting here and doing nothing wouldn't help—the strangers around him weren't calling fast enough. Help wasn't coming fast enough. But he could do it better, he just needed to-
A surprisingly firm, bloody hand gripped Peter's wrist. He followed the arm up, locking eyes with his uncle.
"Peter," Ben whispered. "I'm... I'm sorry." His grip grew slack, and his hand hit the puddle of blood with a watery smack.
"No. No, you don't-" Peter's voice cracked. "You can't- I... I can't-"
Ben wasn't allowed to be sorry. It wasn't his fault. Peter was being the asshole. Being irresponsible. He didn't trust his own family with secrets and let it boil and took on too much and didn't ask for help and let it come to this. He did this. It was Peter's fault and how dare Ben say sorry.
And then, all at once, it stopped.
Peter's senses went haywire, hair on his arms standing up. His heart rate skyrocketed, and everything became much too sharp and in focus. He was in danger. He was-
He was being watched.
The crowd had parted, stepping away from the growing pool of blood, leaving Ben and Peter. They stepped away, making room for a large white wolf to pad forward. No, not a wolf. It was the wolf.
Amaterasu.
Peter didn't think it was real—that thing that everyone mentioned at the university, it was just a myth. Something to distract from the tests and stress and deadlines. Sure, the Avengers were one thing, but an honest to god, well, God?
But here she was. Golden eyes gazed at him, through him, peering into his very soul. She was very much real, and powerful. An overwhelming presence that Peter knew could end him in an instant if she so desired.
"... Please help him," Peter begged.
The wolf just stood there, watching him, her gaze flicking between Peter and his uncle. But she wasn't moving. She wasn't doing anything. She was just standing there, useless and judgmental. Peter knew he fucked up. He could have stopped the guy, but he didn't, and this was all his fault and he knew that and he just wanted to take it all back.
But now she was standing there. She could help! She could save Ben and she wasn't doing it! She had the power to do it, and she just chose to stand there and do nothing.
...
Just like he did.
"I'm sorry," Peter whispered. "I-I was a coward and I'm sorry. Please, help him!" His fingers curled, blood squelching between his digits. Peter closed his eyes, and bowed, pressing his forehead to Ben's faintly rising and falling chest. "Take my life in exchange for his. Punish me if you have to. Just, please, help him. I can't lose-"
"Peter?" Ben asked. "What are you talking about?"
Peter shot upright, staring down at his very much alive uncle Ben. He was still covered in blood, and laying on the ground, disoriented, but, when Peter pulled up his shirt, there was no wound. There wasn't even a hole in his shirt, blood-soaked as it was. He lunged down and hugged his uncle tight, pulling him upright in the process, much to his uncle's verbal surprise.
"Ack! Peter, not so tight!"
"Thank you," Peter said into his uncle's chest. "Thank you, thank you so much. I'm so sorry. I promise I'll-" he pulled away to address the Goddess directly, but she was already gone. It was if she'd never even been there.
That is, if it weren't for the criminal who'd stolen the woman's purse and shot Ben. He was encased from the shoulder down in a massive hunk of ice, with the woman's handbag dangling from his fingers, just outside his cold prison. A singular black paw-print was set on the center of the ice block, the only indication that Amaterasu had even been there.
That, and the criminal in tears, babbling about a demon-wolf and begging to be taken to jail.
Amaterasu was having a good night. A great night, in fact. She'd been unable to sleep since finding out she left her little rat friend on Asgard. How embarrassing! She was supposed to keep them safe, and show off her new home, but she'd been distracted by all the kids and the painting and food and fun.
... So she may or may not have spent about an hour sitting in the middle of her shrine, barking up at the sky. And howling. And whining and yowling and carrying on, to the point that other dogs around the city started to join in.
Her shouting up at Heimdall did not work, however. She did her best to mimic Thor's godly "Heimdall, I do not wish to endure this punishment any longer" tone, but nothing happened.
All she did was start a city-wide howl.
Whoops.
So, she needed to burn off some energy. What better way to do that than breaking into hospitals in the middle of the night and curing anyone and everyone? Well, almost everyone. Still, she did her best, and wound up healing almost everyone. There were maybe less than twenty people left in each building by the time she was finished.
Sure, maybe the people weren't exactly awake to see what happened. And maybe she scared a room full of children to the point of hysteria—how was she supposed to know that pushing in a little fire magic to burn away the illness inside would literally cause the children to burst into flames? She had to get out of there rather quickly once fifteen former child-cancer patients sprung out of bed, bathed in white—harmless—flames, and ran throughout the hospital screaming bloody murder.
Not her finest moment, she had to admit.
She made up for it by saving an old man who'd been shot in the street, however! She was in the middle of fleeing from the hospital—with flailing balls of fire racing around multiple floors—when she heard the gunshot. It did take her a while to find exactly where it came from because of how faint the sound was, but she did it eventually. Saved an old man, stared at the angsty teen who was getting way too dramatic because his grandpa or whoever was already healed and fine why was he still staring at her and saying weird things? She did catch the gunman as well, who was only about five blocks away. He made a rather satisfying scream when she blocked his path with fire, shot through it, and dragged him back to the scene of the crime fast enough to give him wind-burn.
But... It still wasn't enough. She was getting Praise and the sun was going to be up in seven hours, there was no point sleeping. Not when she was feeling all antsy and now she had the power to really make a difference.
Amaterasu glanced over at the large red cross hanging on the front of a large building, and adjusted her course. Her paws ghosted over the gravel rooftops of buildings, and she carefully bounced between several skyscrapers, travelling above the street to avoid traffic. Watching the cars and people below, even late at night, was cathartic. People were still well and healthy and active, despite all the sick and injured she tended to.
Ammy planted her paws and sprang off the side of a building. She careened through the air, paws splayed—accidentally clipping a pair of pigeons out for a romantic flight—and shot toward the hospital. There was nothing to it. One moment she was inches from the hard walls of the building, and the next, she pulled on her energy and teleported herself into the building.
This way was much easier, she mused, running down the halls. There were fewer people awake to avoid, and she didn't exactly have to take her time and be subtle about it. Missing limbs? Not anymore. She didn't have to wait for people to wake up because it was polite, she just fixed them and went on their way. Sure, maybe she kept the light show down after the first fire-child-fiasco, but still!
In almost no time at all, she'd run through the whole building, and left maybe a dozen people who still needed help. It took her maybe fifteen minutes total, and then she was gone again, teleporting herself through locked doors and out to the streets again.
It was relaxing, spending time like this, without having to worry about potentially flattening someone while running around. She was pretty certain a high-velocity wolf goddess wouldn't be good for overall health.
The number of places to visit steadily declined over the next few hours, and the number of people she healed decreased. Islands were completely covered, and so were large stretches of land out in each direction, all the way until she hit either ocean, or reached sparsely populated areas. There were fewer and fewer places to cover, and by this point the sun was already starting to rise. Amaterasu was going to call it a day after the next building. People were starting to come into work, she was beginning to feel drained, and she was running out of places to visit.
Just one more for today.
Ammy padded her way up the street, the tall buildings and expansive city-scape giving way to short buildings and trees lining the roads. It was a nice change, all things considered. It felt cleaner, more natural. It was less crowded, and much less shaded and looming. The sun wasn't being blocked—she greatly enjoyed the warmth on her fur.
The front doors to the hospital slid open, revealing several wide awake and energetic people, and multiple staff members looking absolutely exhausted, heavy bags under their eyes. It was no effort for her to wrestle the flow of time to a standstill, and swirl her tail around, pushing energy through everyone there. Then, she pivoted, leaving a group of refreshed and bewildered staff members behind.
Amaterasu didn't recognize this hospital, nor the staff, but that was to be expected. New York was a massive city after all, and she couldn't explore all of it and meet everyone in the time she's been here. Not yet anyway.
Seeing as this was her last hospital run for the day, there was no need to rush. Not when the lack of sleep and immense energy use was starting to catch up to her. Her paws carried her past bewildered looking staff members, and curious civilians, all of them watching her with... Well, she wasn't sure. But it was definitely something.
She nosed her way into the waiting area, and looked upon the scene. She made her way around the room, going up to each person one by one. A child's split lip? Sealed as if it had never happened. An old man's hacking cough that left him doubled over? He was now breathing better than he had in forty years. Young woman's broken arm? Good as new without even a twinge of pain. An old woman in a wheel chair complaining about chest pain? Amaterasu wasn't sure if she could stand before, but she was dancing on the table by the time Ammy finished going through the room.
"No way, that's Amaterasu," one voice spoke up.
"I saw her on the news," another said.
"What's she doing all the way out here?" a third asked.
Amaterasu didn't pay it any mind. She'd already finished her lap of the room, and shoved her way into the hallway, pushing aside a rather odd nurse. What was he talking about? Why was he shouting about contamination and fur and sick patients? Ammy couldn't make sense of the guy. Why was he bemoaning about 'procedures' and 'ethics'?
Humans were weird—she loved them.
Ammy padded her way down the halls, poking her snoot into each door she could—and teleported herself a short distance through the ones she couldn't. Within five minutes, the hallways were filled with confused and thrilled people following her around. After ten minutes the hospital staff had given up any pretense of trying to keep control of the situation and just followed to make sure no one spontaneously collapsed... or combusted.
That was still very possible.
She took her time with this last location and, now that her presence was a forgone conclusion, she didn't really see the need to be fast or overly sneaky. This did mean that she got to take her time with the group of rather sickly bald people. The gaunt and grey pallor to their skin gradually faded, returning to the lively shades of humanity. She learned her lesson after the rather unfortunate 'flaming child' incident she was sure she'd be hearing about later today. Amaterasu took her time, more personally taking care of each patient instead of the whole "burn the sickness away" method from hours prior.
There was far less screaming that way.
At the end of her wandering, there were maybe four people she wasn't able to help. Goddess or not, she wasn't really able to perform those precise movements required to pull shrapnel out of someones thigh.
... Yet.
Stupid clumsy paws getting in the way of things.
The entirety of the hospital was following her around like they were goslings and her their mother. It was a touch awkward, because she wanted to just do her thing, but just running off without them would feel a little mean. She was an honest and blunt goddess, not a rude one.
Finally, her and her goslings made their way back to the lobby, and the front doors of the hospital. Miraculously, there weren't hoards of reporters or flashing lights doing their best to burn out her eyeballs. No, it was just her, some dishevelled and confused looking hospital staff, and a couple hundred former-patients in hospital gowns. Everyone filtered into place, half-surrounding her and leaving the doors free, while Ammy let out a rather large yawn.
She turned around to face the crowd, and flashed them a big goofy doggy grin, her tongue lolling out a little bit. There was little reaction, other than an occasional chuckle.
Oh dear, she'd broken them. Maybe it was best she leave and let them get back to their normal life. Amaterasu turned around with a little "yip" and trotted toward the doors.
Only to run face first into a soft wall of yellow fabric. It smelled familiar, though it was hard to exactly place where from considering the entirety of her face was covered in it.
"If I knew you weren't going to sleep, I would have seen you sooner," a familiar voice said.
Amaterasu blinked, and then let out a muffled bark into the Ancient One's robes. Her tail whipped around furiously, sending several chairs tumbling their way across the room.
"Wurf?" Ammy asked.
"Remove your head from my robes first, thank you," the Sorcerer Supreme retorted.
So, the Goddess of the Sun did just that... By shoving her way forward, between the Ancient One's legs, and out the other end, causing the woman to stagger backwards, half-sitting on Ammy's back. Amaterasu partially dragged her halfway to the entrance doors of the hospital, before she finally managed to push through and emerge from the other side of the woman's robes.
"Arf!" Amaterasu spoke, wagging her tail. This had the unfortunate effect of causing the front of the Ancient One's robes to stick out and swish around from the front, rather improper for someone of her calibre. Still, her head was out of her robes, just like the woman asked!
The bald woman let out a heavy sigh, and a powerful shove to the back of Amaterasu's legs sent her sprawling forward. She slid several body lengths across the tile floor, managing to spin around to face the Ancient One as she came to a halt.
"You've been around the Asgardians too long," the Ancient one chided. "You've forgotten your manners."
"Bork!" Amaterasu retorted. "Yip!"
"Please, you could attain the same status by drinking an entire keg without stopping." The Ancient One brushed off her robes, and turned to face Ammy. "I take it your vacation went well?"
Amaterasu shoved herself to all fours, and nodded enthusiastically. She enjoyed her time in Asgard quite a lot. She made friends, drank too much, ate too much, ended a war almost by herself, and had ancient ethereal magic for dessert. Ammy expressed this in a series of short yips and barks, much to the confusion of most of the room.
"Oh, did you now?" The Sorcerer Supreme tilted her head, regarding the Goddess with a critical gaze. "I suppose that would be cause for celebration. However, do be careful. You shouldn't just go around putting any kind of magic in your mouth—you have no idea where it could have been."
"Boof," Amaterasu retorted. How else was she supposed to find out where the magic had been if she didn't put it in her mouth? Clearly, Ammy's method was superior and would have no downsides whatsoever...
At least when she finally got revenge on that Spicy Blue Cube... Which she would! One day.
The duo were interrupted by a rather confused yet happy looking nurse. She looked to be simultaneously exhausted and at her wits end, yet thrilled beyond measure at recent events. It was all rather impressive for her to convey, considering she hadn't even said a word yet.
"Thank you for helping them," the nurse said, "it'll be nice not seeing them suffer anymore." She turned her attention toward the Sorcerer Supreme and gently planted her hand on the bald woman's shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Are you excited?"
"Pardon me?" the Ancient One asked. She looked rather uncomfortable with the strangers hand on her shoulder.
"The treatment," the nurse clarified. "Are you excited it's finally over? You're better now."
"I'm sorry, I do not follow." The Ancient One turned halfway towards the nurse, glancing between Amaterasu and the hospital worker with a confused expression.
Amaterasu blinked.
Oh. Oh no.
The wolf planted herself on the floor and watched the slow disaster unfold before her very eyes. Amaterasu could speak up and prevent the confusion. She could stop the disaster about to unfold—prevent what would surely be a memory to haunt them both while struggling to sleep for the rest of their lives.
Ammy merely smugged at the duo and remained silent.
"The chemo?" the nurse pushed. "You know, to cure the, uh, disease?"
"What are you-"
"To fight the cancer," the nurse interrupted. She turned and pointed toward a group of people who seemed like the weight of the world had been taken off their shoulders, and more than one of them was running their fingers through their hair in amazement.
"..." The Ancient One was quiet.
The nurse blinked, and her eyes flicked up to the Sorcerer Supreme's bald head once again.
"My head is shaved because I enjoy it that way," the Ancient One said.
...
Amaterasu was loving every second of this.
"Oh." the nurse squeaked.
"I am not sick, nor suffering disease," the magical bald woman continued.
"I see."
...
"Okayhaveagooddaygoodbye!" the nurse rushed out. She whirled around and raced off into the back, shoving several of her colleagues aside, and slammed through the swinging doors.
Amaterasu's ears flicked as a muffled scream sounded from the hallway. The wolfess turned her gaze from the doors back to the stunned Sorcerer Supreme, who locked eyes with Amaterasu.
"You knew that was going to happen," the Ancient One stated.
Ammy said nothing.
"You just let that happen."
Amaterasu tilted her head up, gazing at the magic woman, and smirked.
"I hope you realize I am now questioning every aspect of how I present myself."
Amaterasu smugged harder, a huffing laugh escaping her.
"Right." The Sorcerer Supreme rolled her shoulders, and raised a palm toward Ammy. "Bath time."
Amaterasu didn't have time to react to the floor suddenly falling out from underneath her, replaced by a shimmering magical circle courtesy of the Ancient One. The solid floor gave way to a disgusting slurry of water which resembled chocolate milk more than anything potable. She plunged beneath the water, and froze the water beneath her paws, shoving upward the best she could, clawing through the disgusting water and back toward the swirling orange portal. She was going to dunk that woman in the water with her and-
With a little zip the portal closed, leaving Amaterasu neck deep in The Bad.
She was not happy in the slightest.
"Some people are calling it the beginning of The End. Is this-"
"-the first sign of The Rapture? Many seem to think that this act is-"
"-a miracle by all meanings of the word. Every hospital in-"
"-the whole city has been emptied! If this isn't proof of God then I don't-"
"-want to even think about the financial consequences of this! Millions, no, billions of-"
"-people are flooding the streets right now. Rumours that none other than-"
"-Amaterasu was seen in New Jersey, having crossed state lines. Experts believe-"
"-this will have an impact on the future of humanity. Is this just the start of-"
"-something greater? One thing is for sure, people are saying-"
"Thank you. You saved my mom. She... she remembers me. I just- Thank you."
Natasha listened to the quickly changing broadcasts as she was marched down the hall. Her unwanted guide was none other than Victor Von Doom himself, the man marching silently beside her. They made their way through the castle, and Natasha eyed all the open windows or large doorways, planning her possible escape routes. The big metal suit likely slowed the man, but Nat wasn't going to chance it—the reports mentioned magic, and she wasn't going to touch that with a pole until she knew what could happen.
Besides, he was cordial enough. Just a little robotic.
"So, where are we going?" Natasha asked. She folder her hands behind her head and stretched, feigning nonchalance.
"To dinner," Doom replied. He turned to the left, and Natasha followed, the sounds of the broadcasts growing louder. A pair of large doors grew closer, massive twenty foot high wooden slabs sealing off the rest of the castle.
"You already said that," Natasha quipped. "Why are we going to dinner? You don't seem to be too concerned about me being here."
"Doctor Doom has invited you to dinner," the man said once more. "You have broken Latverian law—Doom wishes to discuss your presence."
"Ah, know what?" Natasha sighed, and patted down her pockets. "Silly me, I forgot my passport. Do you have an office around-"
"Do not lie in the presence of Doom," Victor warned, his tone serious.
The man strode forward, a touch faster, and planted his hands on the double doors. The massive slabs of wood swung open easily, thousands of pounds of wood settling into place. The sound of the various broadcasts grew louder, no longer as muffled, and Natasha looked around the new room.
It was large and spacious, the roof arching high, with tall stained glass windows depicting Victor Von Doom in various poses and performing different feats. A long table stretched down the length of the room, a green cloth draped over the top. Hovering above the middle of the table was a series of large holograms, each one flicking between different broadcasts, no longer muffled by the doors. And, at the very end of the table was...
Victor Von Doom?
Natasha continued following Doom, approaching the other Doom. The duo came to a stop a short but respectful distance away, with the Doom at her side suddenly saluting, putting his hand to his chest with a metallic clang.
"Doombot Twenty-Three, you are dismissed," the seated Doom spoke.
"Affirmative," the 'Doombot' replied. It whirled around on its heel, took a step toward the door, and then jumped. Thrusters kicked to life on the bottom of its feet and on its hands, and the bot shot off, zipping through the open doors and down the hallway, rapidly disappearing from view.
Well, running was off the table for Natasha. She'd need some sort of below ground option to escape, or disable that robot first.
"Pretty impressive," Natasha praised. "Reminds me of Stark's tech."
Doom's hand curled slightly on the table. "Do not compare my genius to that of Stark's paltry toys." Victor Von Doom swiped his hand, dismissing the hologram projections floating above the banquet table, suddenly plunging the room into silence. "Doctor Victor Von Doom welcomes you to Latveria, Natasha Romanoff."
So, he was prideful. Natasha could work with that. That, or completely full of himself.
"It's a nice place," she complimented. "I was expecting a little more rubble and blood, if I'm being honest. You know, with the whole violent revolution thing. They tend to be messy."
"It was," Doom stated. "My predecessors did not deserve mercy, and suffered heavily. You are restricted to the front of the castle during your stay—the rest is still being cleaned." The king of Latveria waved a hand, and a chair slid out from the table. "Sit."
Natasha did so, sitting sideways across it, acting nonchalant. "I've never been a royal guest before. How exciting."
"Make no mistake, Black Widow, you are no guest." Victor Von Doom turned, and fixed her with a glare that made the room chill. "You are currently a political prisoner. The only reason you still breathe is because you have connections that are mildly interesting."
At that, Doom reached down and pulled out a rather advanced looking slab of metal and glass, small enough to fit in one hand. He slid it across the table, and it came to a stop directly in front of Natasha.
A phone.
"The password is: three, six, six, six," Doom said. "I expect to speak with Director Nick Fury tomorrow. You are free to leave the castle as you wish—you will be accompanied by a Doom-Bot at all times when not in my presence."
"I take it this is bugged to hell and back." Natasha picked up the device, and unlocked it, finding a surprisingly modern experience within. Idly, she flipped through the settings just to experiment with how much leeway she had.
There wasn't any.
Though, she did find that the Wi-Fi was named Wi-Fi of Doom. With a little more poking into the settings, she found the password: R33d_R1ch4rd_5uck5.
Very petty.
She could work with that. It would take a little time, but Natasha was sure she could get King Doom to spill a few secrets.
... As long as he didn't catch on and splatter her brains across the castle walls.
"Sir, Miss Potts is calling again," JARVIS interrupted, causing the completed formulas to scatter to the sides as Pepper's face popped up in the middle of his HUD.
"Take a message." Tony waved away the pop-up. "I'm exploding plants."
True to his word, Stark was suited up in some rather bulky Iron-Man armour, and held an Extremis syringe in his hand. In front of him was a small potted cactus, freshly delivered from the nearest 'store that sells mildly penis-shaped cacti', in his own words. And, yes, the cactus looked like it had a big pair of cactus balls—that was half the fun.
With a flick of his finger, the Iron-Man suit performed a rather crude circumcision to the otherwise innocent cactus, sending the upper-half across the room to splatter against the wall. With a breath and a wince, Tony injected the cactus with his experimental Extremis and pressed the plunger.
"Sir, Miss Potts insists." JARVIS paused for a moment, then added, "She just threatened to cut off your access to the company's R funds."
"What? She can't do that." Tony narrowed his eyes, watching the cactus in front of him thrash and writhe, rapidly filling in, heat rolling off of the surface of the plant. "... Wait, can she do that?" The cactus finished healing and steam rolled off of it, rapidly cooling down to normal levels.
"You gave her authorization to run the company," JARVIS reminded him. "I can point out the specific line on the contract if you'd like."
"What? No, just put her-" JARVIS did as he asked, and Pepper's face popped up a moment later, her familiar half-scowl appeared. "-through... Hey hun how are you?"
"Tony, I've been trying to call you for fifteen minutes," Pepper huffed.
"Sorry, Pep, I've been trying to make plants not explode." With a shift, Tony moved his hand forward again, and flicked the cactus, tearing the upper half off again. He braced himself, waiting for the plant to explode in a graphic—and hilarious—shower of spikes. "They're very prone to blowing up."
"Tony, what are you-" Pepper sighed. "Never mind. Have you seen the news?"
"I can't see much through the cactus juice. Everything's a little green right now. Sensitive little pricks..." True to his word, most of his once-silver suit was smeared with green. The cactus that he'd once more nipped the tip off of had started to grow back again, slower this time. Tony watched with baited breath as the temperature only rose slightly, and the flesh of the plant steadily regrew once again.
"You're actually hopeless." Pepper's palm met her face in a glorious smack that echoed around the inside of Tony's helmet. "JARVIS, can you..."
"Of course, Miss Potts." Various panels of information burst into life in front of Tony, rapidly filling his screen with a flood of information. Headlines, stock reports, live feeds, emergency broadcasts—Tony could keep up with all these. He was a genius after all.
"Wait..." Tony blinked, and looked at the information a second time, the cactus in front of him forgotten for the moment. "Pep, is this real? Did she..."
"Yes, she did. Amaterasu caused a stock market crash. The health insurance companies are losing their minds—people are cancelling en-mass. Every single aspect of the healthcare system is crumbling."
"Way to go, Space Dog," Tony laughed. "JARVIS, remind me to call Warren, Bill, and Mark later, they're probably laughing their asses off."
"I'll remind you to call Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates in twenty minutes." JARVIS helpfully replied.
"Tony, this is serious!" Pepper snapped. "They've lost over ten million customers already. This is billions in profits for them. Billions with a 'B'."
"Good, they deserve it-"
"Tony, you don't understand. People left Amaterasu alone because she wasn't hurting anyone, and didn't cause issues. Now there's an issue. No one even knows if she's classified as a 'person' and has rights," Pepper explained. "The people she hurt? Now they have someone to blame with a very well known location."
"... That might be a problem," Tony admitted. He glanced down, and pinched the cactus between his armoured digits, causing a large tear in the plant. "I think... I might have a bigger problem for them."
"What did you do, Tony?" Pepper's tone was wary, as it always was when her boss/boyfriend was up to his regular antics.
"Well, remember that thing I asked you about? The whole 'changing the world' thing?"
"Yes..."
"I think I did it." Tony looked down as the plant slowly mended itself once again, stable as ever. Not even a change of more than a few degrees to the surface temperature. "JARVIS?"
"It appears to be stable. The leftover serum in the plant is slowly deteriorating." There was a brief pause, and then the AI spoke once more. "Currently, the extra Extremis is dissolving. In five minutes there will be nothing left. Simulations are showing this formula to be stable and cooperates with plant and animal biology."
"Holy shit..." Tony sat down in his desk chair, forgetting he was in a several hundred pound suit of armour, and crashed right through it and to the floor. He didn't even seem to register the impact, looking at the empty vial in his hand, his mask flipping up to gaze at it properly. "I did it."
"Tony?" Pepper asked. "Tony, what's going on?"
"Pepper. I'm going to need you to call a board meeting. And lawyers. Lots of lawyers."
"I've already taken steps to encrypt the solution on an atomic level, Sir," Jarvis chimed in.
"Tony, I swear if you don't tell me what's going on right now I will-"
"Pepper. Hun. Everything is okay." Tony took a breath, and tilted his head back. "It's more than okay. I'm going to fly down there right now to come see you."
"... Alright." Pepper conceded. "And what about Amaterasu? We're associated with her. With everything that happened..."
"Don't worry, Pep." Tony laughed, and held up the empty syringe in his hand. "They're going to have much more to worry about that silly little Space-Dog." He tossed the needle to the side and fell backward, sprawling on the floor with a happy sigh. "We're going to help so many people."
Pepper didn't speak, her face caught in a confused frown. She just watched Tony through the phone screen, while the billionaire giggled to himself like a child.
"Hey, Pep?"
"Yes, Tony?"
"I love you," he said. "So, so much."
"I love you too," she replied.
"I'll see you in a few hours. Bye hun."
"See you soon, Tony."
The call ended, and Tony took another breath. A heavy weight seemed to have lifted from him, as if the struggles of the world had gone from his hands to those of the suit he was wearing.
Of course there were still more tests to be done—knowing his luck, maybe it would interact with tumours to make some Super Cancer or something like that. This was something he couldn't fuck up. It had to be perfect.
"Dammit, Laika," Tony huffed, sitting up. "Stupid silly Space Dog making me give people chances and want to fix things. Lemme be Scrooge for a little while. Dumb kids on the dumb TV being all happy."
"Sir?" JARVIS asked.
"Pencil me in for a surgery when we get to New York." Tony stood up, and let his armour peel open, stepping out of it. He glanced down at the glowing circle in the middle of his chest, and tapped on it, the hollow glass sound ringing out. "It's time to get this little reminder out of my chest. My heart grew three sizes, and I think it might pop."
"Very well, Sir."
Amaterasu grumbled as she crawled out of the pond near her shrine, paws scrambling at the somewhat muddy grass as she pulled herself up and out. Sure, as a Goddess, she couldn't ever be truly dirty, and nothing could cling to her fur forever.
Once Amaterasu crawled her way out of the sewer, however... She needed a bath. It didn't matter if there was technically nothing on her—she felt filthy inside and out. Ammy could feel it clinging to her, and the phantom touches didn't go away, even when she rolled around in literal god-fire for three minutes.
Thus, the dreaded... bath. Look at her, reduced to such lows. What kind of Goddess was she if she couldn't even escape getting a bath? And one that she willingly took? She was a sham, not a Goddess. Barely a wolf, if anything.
"Come by the Sanctum once you're cleaned up. I have something important to show you," the Ancient One had said. Oh, Ammy would be coming by the Sanctum alright. She was going to go over there and ruin the carpets and tear up the drapes. She would leave muddy paw-prints on the damn ceiling. Amaterasu was going to dye all of the Sorcerer Supreme's robes a fluorescent pink that not even magic could remove. She would-
Amaterasu stopped for a moment, and perked her ears up. Something was... different about the air. No, it wasn't the air itself, but the sound. It was... quiet? Quiet, but not in an oppressing way like some predator was nearby. This was a different kind—peaceful. Tranquil.
It was something she hadn't properly experienced in this city. Complete and total silence just didn't exist (unless time stopped, that is). But as far as she could tell, nothing was wrong. Time continued to flow, as evidenced by the leaves swaying in the gentle breeze.
Amaterasu kept her ears perked and eyes scanning the park as she padded toward her shrine. There were the signs of people nearby—grass was freshly disturbed, and the animals in the park were completely silent. But... where were they?
Her answer came much sooner than she expected. Amaterasu rounded a corner and weaved between a pair of bushes, just intending on going back to her shrine to nap a little bit. After all, she'd had a long day, with a lot of her power being used to heal people. A nap of all things seemed warranted, even if it was before noon.
And, she was the Goddess of the Sun. She could nap where and when she wanted!
Her nap plans were dashed when, upon spotting her shrine, she also spotted where all the people had gone. There were so many people, all of them lined up in a quiet and respectful line, more often than not holding something small in front of them.
Amaterasu's heart sank for a moment as she stepped forward, worried that she was going to receive a similar swarming reaction. That was the last thing she wanted. It still plagued her dreams from time to time, worried that next time it would be...
Well, not like it is.
Eyes fell on her instantly, and Ammy paused for a moment, waiting for the oncoming mob of people.
But... They didn't move. They watched her, sure, but there wasn't any frantic clamouring towards her. Amaterasu could hear the excited whispers, and the uptick in sound, but it was peaceful.
... Did she break the humans?
She padded her way toward her shrine, her home, and was pleasantly surprised to see the line of people leading into it shuffle to the side—in a respectful way, not that weird and unpleasant worshipping way. Ammy couldn't help the excited little swish of her tail as she padded by the line of people, catching little "thank you"s from them.
In her time here on this weird world with strange humans, she'd learned that information and news got around relatively quickly. Whatever magic mail system they had going on was far and above the speed of having someone running the mail from town to town.
... Though Amaterasu was sure she could do it faster.
It had come to her attention that, after she did anything significantly noteworthy, it took about one to two hours for the general public to become properly aware of something. It seemed as though her exploits from this morning were finally starting to catch more and more attention.
How did she know?
The absolute flood of Praise and Belief and Appreciation started to wash over her. It had been a slow and steady build up throughout the morning as she went from hospital to hospital. Now it seemed as though everyone else was starting to learn about it as well.
Ammy staggered mid-step as the wave of Praise almost threw her off balance. Her energy levels, once depleted and causing her to need a nap, were overflowing. Her good deeds did not go unnoticed and Amaterasu had to remind herself to breathe as the sensation poured into her very soul.
Not that she needed to breathe, but it was the thought that counts.
The Goddess of the Sun stumbled her way forward, drunk on Praise, her whole being thrumming with energy. She passed beneath the archway of cherry blossom trees, following along the path, walking by the people who were all lined up and facing the foot of her shrine.
With all the happy fuzzy feelings inside, it took Amaterasu a moment to recognize the sheer amount of things people had put in her shrine. The little offering table that had been set up was completely overwhelmed. Canned food, small toys, and small donations of money were absolutely flooding the small table to the point that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the mess. Each little thing there just exuded heaps of love and affection and praise, all of it meaning something to someone, somewhere.
And it was still growing. It wasn't the amount that threw Amaterasu off, but the sheer Praise that poured off of it. It filled her completely and utterly, suffusing her soul and body with power and love and appreciation for good deeds.
It was too much, and it was building as the word of her deeds got out. She just needed something to sink it into, somewhere to store it all, or to use it. Ammy glanced around her shrine, which suddenly felt much too small for what she had to contain. She just needed an outlet to get used to all this energy and power and-
Golden eyes flicked up to the permanently blossoming cherry trees within her shrine, and she took several steps back. Amaterasu made her way up the steps of her shrine, and sat on the wooden decking of the entrance, gazing at the four individual trees.
If she squinted hard, they almost looking like four parts of the same tree. Just... much smaller. Well, she would help them along then—it was a good a place to shove all this extra energy than anything else.
Amaterasu flexed her power, and reality itself shuddered to a stop, everyone around her freezing in place. Petals stopped dancing in the air, hovering. Birds overhead were stuck mid-flap, and the squirrel on the edge of her shrine walls sat there with comically oversized cheeks as it tried and failed to shove one final nut into its face.
With four flicks of her tail, and a healthy amount of Celestial Ink, Ammy encouraged the trees to Bloom and grow and continue their life cycle. They were no longer full-grown tree in her eyes, but merely the start of something else. Natural life cycle didn't mean anything in her eyes.
Her tail swished again, encompassing all four trees in the swirl of ink, causing it to soak into the wood and vegetation.
And she did it again.
And again.
And again.
Ammy poured all the overwhelming amount of Praise and god-like energy into the trees that she could, until the hazy feeling causing her vision to swim dulled down. Her fur continued to glow brightly, and she swore there were a few more markings on her fur than before, but Amaterasu didn't exactly have a mirror to check. Instead, when she felt she'd done enough, she released her grip on space-time and allowed things to resume.
The ground heaved and Amaterasu lost her footing, quickly tumbling down the stairs to the stone path below. The earth itself shook, and the trees she'd pushed all that magic and power into thrashed and shot upward. Branches intertwined and the ground itself bulged and shuddered as thick roots sprang up and then buried themselves into the planet again, tunnelling who knows where.
Amaterasu sprawled out on her back, looking up into the sky with a sheepish grin as the four trees swirled together into a single massive trunk. The sun disappeared behind the behemoth she'd created, watching the tree quickly swell sprout thick branches that would put redwood trees to shame.
Of course, the people nearby didn't stay silent. They screamed, and ran, and panicked, as humans were wont to do. Several dropped to their knees and started praying—hilariously, Ammy felt a tug on her being. They were praying to her!
Whoops...
It took nearly a full minute for the giant Sakura tree to stop shaking and thrashing. It curled in on itself near the top like a giant swirl, and hundreds of bus-sized branches stuck outward from all angles. When it was all said and done, the massive cherry-blossom tree cast a shadow over a large portion of Central Park. The tree itself had to stand at least two-hundred feet tall, if not more, towering over almost all of the nearby buildings.
Amaterasu looked up, and blinked owlishly, a nervous laugh escaping her jaws.
Whoops!
Ammy let out a huff of steam and rolled over, pushing herself upright. She shook herself off as she looked around, peering through the tunnel between the roots of the tree that used to be the cherry-blossom archway. Miraculously, everyone seemed to be just fine, if a little shaken up.
Her shrine was a little less intact. A few of the walls had large cracks running up them, and the actual building that was her home was tilted a little to the left—it looked as if it was curious and trying to ask a question. Massive roots bubbled up from the grass and then vanished a moment later, sinking back into the ground.
Maybe she needed to find a better outlet for her power beyond "make big thing".
Amaterasu quickly bounded her way beneath the tree, and checked on everyone she could. Little dabs of her tail just beneath people caused bamboo to grow and help them upright. Others were helping each other up in the more tightly packed areas, much to her delight.
"Ah! Such divine white light! Such beauty and grace!"
Amaterasu felt her heart skip a beat, and her eyes widened. Her tail gave a hesitant twitch, and her ears perked up. That voice was familiar.
"The only one capable of such a spectacle..."
The Goddess of the Sun slowly turned around, her tail swishing a little harder. Surely it couldn't be.
"... is none other than our mother and the origin of all that is."
Golden eyes fell upon a familiar figure, one robed in pink and green, scantily clad as ever. Black hair poured over the floating woman's shoulders, and the floating lady in pink dipped forward in a bow.
"Amaterasu," Sakuya, the tree sprite, said, "it has been many years."
Once more, the Goddess of the Sun froze, and her jaw dropped. Slowly, she padded her way forward. Surely this couldn't be the same person. Ammy nosed her way under this Sakuya look-alike's robes, and poked and prodded at the maybe-tree-spirit all over.
Still as busty and voluptuous as Ammy remembered. She still smelled like—and resembled—peaches and cherries.
A swat on the nose left Amaterasu reeling, and she staggered back a few steps. Ammy sneezed once, shaking her head, and looked up at Sakuya once more. It was definitely her.
"Arf?" Amaterasu asked.
"We have much to discuss, Amaterasu."
The little warrior was scampering along, metal sword in hand, sneaking his way through the Golden City. The King of the Giants was close at hand, as was the Queen of the Giants, and the Giant Seer. The small warrior was on a mission—he needed information, and had to learn how to find his saviour.
His path across the arches near the roof was stable and secure, and provided him plenty of cover should someone glance upward. Luckily, they never did, allowing him to listen in on the King's conversations. His spot was perfect, and secure, and-
And shaking! He did his best to hold onto the edges of the arches, to no avail. His little paw slipped, and with the other one holding the metal sword—merely a toothpick to the giants—there was nothing he could do but fall to his death.
Splat!
...
Luckily, he was a warrior blessed by the Goddess herself. He could not die—not here, anyway. He would refuse to do so. If he were to ever die, it would be at Her side, fighting for her life. The warrior picked himself up, a piece at a time, ignoring the pain of his body reconstructing itself from a smear on the ground. What was a little pain compared to what had to be the agony of failing in his mission while his Goddess needed him?
"Heimdall, what in the world was that?" the Giant Queen asked. Her tone had a little lilt to it—clearly, she knew more than what she was letting on.
The Giant King merely sighed, and sank further into his throne.
"It seems that Amaterasu has made a more permanent connection to the Yggdrasil tree," the Giant Seer, Heimdall, replied.
Blasphemy! Not showing Her the respect She deserved! If the nameless warrior didn't have to seek out his Goddess, he would have torn that blasphemer into shreds! Or, at the very least, preached to him the good word of Her, the Light of All. Mother to All Things Good. The Protector of the Noble, and the Punisher of-
"Of course she did..." the King sighed. "Frigga, dear. Please do not find amusement in my distress."
The disrespect! The little warrior could not stand for this! He would, however, crawl and scamper for it, as being on four legs allowed him more mobility that those silly two-legged giants. The little warrior skittered his way towards the exit of the Giant Castle within the City of Gold.
"I said nothing, my King." A soft chuckle escaped The Giant Queen.
Yes, torment the disrespectful blasphemer for his sins against Her! The little warrior liked this woman. Still, he could not stay nor offer her his praises. He had a different mission to fulfill, despite his wishes.
The little rat, thrumming with Goddess-blessed Extremis energy, followed that tug on his soul. There was now a proper way to reach his Goddess. He was going to climb this 'Yggdrasil' tree, whatever it was, and scale it to reach Her. This was his quest.
He was going to find her, and the warrior would chew and cut his way through anything and everything in order to reach her.
"Sir, there's been a situation," Maria Hill said.
"There's always a situation," Fury growled. "What is it now?"
"A situation in New York."
"... Of course there is." Fury let out a sigh.
"In Central Park," Hill continued.
"... Of course there is."
"It involves Amaterasu," Hill finished.
"... Of course it does."
...
Thunk!
"... Sir?" Hill asked, looking at Director Nick Fury, who's face was currently planted on his desk.
"Put Coulson on it," Fury mumbled. "I'm not dealing with that for another week. I'm on wolf-vacation. No more canines or lupines or fucking werewolves."
"Right away, Sir." Hill nodded, and turned, leaving the room.
Nick Fury muttered several expletives under his breath, each one just a little more focused and directed toward the apparent Goddess of the Sun that enjoyed tormenting him so.
Big thanks to the following people: Nithalys, Eris Varjo, Baron of Bonk, Ferdinand Von Bernard, SugarCube, Muffin Rat King, Towerator, Aphil, Bast, BlobbyCat, Clagan, JoeyW, PizzaJolt, SleepyGhost.
Your support means the world to me and I really appreciate it.
If you like my work, you can become a Patron. Just look up InfamousVenous on the Site for Patrons. Patrons get early access to my work and can suggest changes before chapters are posted.
Big thanks to my supporters for their feedback and general support for my writing. All the names will be listed at the bottom of the page.
If you want to be notified of updates, see some side-content, fan photos, or vote on writing, check out my Discord. Just type "AT25n3N7fP" into the server search and pick the roles you'd like.
Peter Parker was... struggling. It wasn't that university was particularly challenging—it was a nice and simple change of pace, if anything. It's not that he was too upset that his best friend Harry Osborn asked out his crush and the two of them were dating. Mary Jane looked happy, and, well, Harry didn't know. Probably. But he didn't mind.
That's what he kept telling himself at least. He managed to at least bleed off a little frustration by finally showing up Flash and making that jerk regret trying to swing at him... Then felt awful immediately after.
Sure, his head ached because he was dealing with sensory overload on a near-daily basis after that spider-bite, but that was fine. He could deal with it. It's not like he hated the attention and how much of an asshole wearing sunglasses indoors made him look.
Maybe it was the way his body was changing, muscles twitchy, reflexes on high-alert, as if he was constantly surrounded by danger. That he had to reassure himself over and over again that no, the bee halfway down the block wasn't any particular worry to focus on.
His aunt and uncle had wasted money on glasses he no longer needed. He had to be careful with anything and everything he touched—everything was made of paper and glass. He looked different, and he was hungry, and tired, and sore, and and and and and.
It was just too much all at once. He needed to step away. To take a break, just for tonight. He couldn't face his aunt and uncle right now. Not after he ripped the door off their fridge two days ago, and had to lie to their faces and say he slipped.
He couldn't face them or take uncle Ben's disappointment after forgetting to walk his aunt May home. Peter was too busy enjoying one of the few good things to happen to him in recent memory, and play around with his powers. He'd been preoccupied. He didn't mean to make May walk home in the dark, down looming alleyways and under flickering lights, where she could have been jumped. Honestly.
But he couldn't tell them he was practicing to control his strength. So that Peter wouldn't kill them by just trying to give them a hug. He couldn't explain that—what if they kicked him out?
And then Ben had the nerve to act like his father. He wasn't his father! Even if... they raised him for the last fifteen years. Made him meals. Took him to places in the city. Gave him shelter and support and love...
He couldn't deal with that tonight. Peter knew he was in the wrong, but... he needed a break. Just for tonight. Then he could apologize and put things back to normal. He could explain somehow.
The sidewalk was damp due to the drizzle coming down in the late evening. He could hear cars in the distance whizzing by, blocks away. He could hear the footsteps of people three streets down. Hear the little whispers of people in the alley way, and the scuttling of rats down below. Feel the little changes in the air even as rain fell on him. Could hear his uncle shouting his name in the distance.
Not yet. He needed a break.
The sound of heels caught his attention, and Peter glanced up. In front of him, several blocks away, was some sort of business woman. She was stumbling around, giggling to herself, her steps rather uncoordinated. Peter could smell the alcohol on her even a decent distance away—or one of the bars nearby was having a power hour. Maybe both.
The first thing that came to his mind wasn't concern over her well-being—this was a well lit, busier area, even late at night. He didn't worry about her possibly having alcohol poisoning, or anything like that. He just didn't want to pass by and deal with some drunk lady. Dealing with a slurring, tipsy, probably pompous rich woman who can't handle her liquor?
Not tonight. He didn't want to deal with all of that. She'd be fine. It wasn't his business anyway, and, he just wanted to be alone to clear his head.
Peter turned the corner and headed down a different street, just before he would have passed the woman. He saw some other people approaching from the opposite side of the road, she'd be fine without him. Instead, he kept walking. He could still faintly hear his uncle's voice blocks away, growing quieter with every step.
Then, his phone rang. He glanced at it: Uncle Ben.
Slowly, he put it back into his sweater pocket, letting it ring out to voice mail. He'd call him back later and apologize. Peter just needed a moment.
His moment wouldn't come.
A brief scream came from the street he'd just turned from, before it was silenced. Peter could hear a different voice, and muffled screaming, all just around the corner from him.
Slowly, he stopped. He should go check. It wasn't his business, and really, she shouldn't be wandering through the streets at night anyway—that was just asking for trouble.
...
Aunt May had to walk home at night because Peter forgot about her.
Shame rolled through him, and Peter turned, jogging back to the street. Just a quick check wouldn't hurt anything. He could hear the scuffle, and all he could think of was Aunt May in a similar position, without anyone around to help.
His aunt and uncle would be so disappointed if he just walked by.
Peter rounded the corner, and came face-to-face with a rather large man sprinting toward him. He was someone who would terrify Peter at any other time in his life. Broad, powerful, and angry looking. In one of his hands was the woman's purse, green, faded with time, and clearly worth a decent amount of money. In his other hand, a gun.
Peter could do something about it. He was stronger, faster, and could probably fold the guy over his fist in one punch. But... It wasn't really his business. And messing with someone holding a gun? That was risky, even if Peter had inhuman strength and reflexes. He wasn't a hero. He was just someone who was dealing with a lot.
"Thief! That's my grandma's purse!" the woman yelled, pushing herself up from the sidewalk. Her eyes met Peter's, and the two stared at one another.
And the man raced right by, sparing Peter only half a glance. Again, they locked eyes, angry yet panicked meeting bored and conflicted. And then he ran right by, making his way down the street.
"Why didn't you stop him?" The woman staggered to her feet, leaning against the wall. She was clearly drunk, her speech a little slurred, eyes glassy. Then again, that could be from the tears rolling down her cheeks after being mugged.
Peter floundered for an answer. "He had a gun," he finally replied. It was a lame excuse, but the only valid one he could think of. Even with his increased strength, a gun was a gun, and he liked his organs without holes. He wasn't a hero, and had no business playing one.
"My grandma gave that to me..." she sniffled.
After a moment of indecision, Peter sighed, and reached into his pocket. The right thing to do was call the cops. Just he opened it up to dial the three digits, when-
BANG!
A thunderous gunshot echoed from just a couple blocks down. The sound bounced off buildings of the quieter city, and to Peter, it seemed to go on forever. It rattled around in his mind long after the sound had ended, and, faintly, heard something wet hit the ground.
Something's wrong!
Without a second thought, Peter raced forward. His enhanced strength caused him to bound down the street. He whirled around the corner, catching a light-post on his way around, crushing the metal in his grip. That didn't matter. Something was wrong. Something-
Then he saw it. The familiar jacket. The shock of grey hair, above a pained and unfortunately recognizable face. The pool of red seeping from his chest, spilling from beneath struggling fingers, trying to stem the tide.
Peter dropped to his knees, his hands hovering over Ben's chest, afraid to make it worse. It took a moment, before he pressed both palms against the wound, doing his best to apply pressure. But there was so much blood and it was coming out too fast and why couldn't he stop it he could have stopped it why didn't he stop it?
"... Peter?" Ben breathed, blood bubbling from his lips.
"I-I'm here, uncle Ben." Peter pressed down on his uncle's chest harder, and stopped, feeling the bones creaking under his fingers. "I'm here. I'm- I'll get you help. You're gonna- you're gonna be okay."
Multiple voices sounded as if they were already much too close. Peter looked up, to find they had an audience. There were some of them just standing there and staring, doing absolutely nothing. Why weren't they doing anything? Ben needed help and they were just choosing to stand there!
"Someone call for help!" Peter shouted at them. One or two people moved, but there was little response. They were just watching—other people were already acting, maybe they didn't think they needed to. Or maybe they didn't care. "Uncle Ben, it's okay. You're gonna be okay."
He reached into his pocket, bloody fingers grasping for his phone. It slipped from his grip, clattering to the pavement below. Peter reached for it again, and again it slipped, blood making it impossible to hold with his shaky hands. Just sitting here and doing nothing wouldn't help—the strangers around him weren't calling fast enough. Help wasn't coming fast enough. But he could do it better, he just needed to-
A surprisingly firm, bloody hand gripped Peter's wrist. He followed the arm up, locking eyes with his uncle.
"Peter," Ben whispered. "I'm... I'm sorry." His grip grew slack, and his hand hit the puddle of blood with a watery smack.
"No. No, you don't-" Peter's voice cracked. "You can't- I... I can't-"
Ben wasn't allowed to be sorry. It wasn't his fault. Peter was being the asshole. Being irresponsible. He didn't trust his own family with secrets and let it boil and took on too much and didn't ask for help and let it come to this. He did this. It was Peter's fault and how dare Ben say sorry.
And then, all at once, it stopped.
Peter's senses went haywire, hair on his arms standing up. His heart rate skyrocketed, and everything became much too sharp and in focus. He was in danger. He was-
He was being watched.
The crowd had parted, stepping away from the growing pool of blood, leaving Ben and Peter. They stepped away, making room for a large white wolf to pad forward. No, not a wolf. It was the wolf.
Amaterasu.
Peter didn't think it was real—that thing that everyone mentioned at the university, it was just a myth. Something to distract from the tests and stress and deadlines. Sure, the Avengers were one thing, but an honest to god, well, God?
But here she was. Golden eyes gazed at him, through him, peering into his very soul. She was very much real, and powerful. An overwhelming presence that Peter knew could end him in an instant if she so desired.
"... Please help him," Peter begged.
The wolf just stood there, watching him, her gaze flicking between Peter and his uncle. But she wasn't moving. She wasn't doing anything. She was just standing there, useless and judgmental. Peter knew he fucked up. He could have stopped the guy, but he didn't, and this was all his fault and he knew that and he just wanted to take it all back.
But now she was standing there. She could help! She could save Ben and she wasn't doing it! She had the power to do it, and she just chose to stand there and do nothing.
...
Just like he did.
"I'm sorry," Peter whispered. "I-I was a coward and I'm sorry. Please, help him!" His fingers curled, blood squelching between his digits. Peter closed his eyes, and bowed, pressing his forehead to Ben's faintly rising and falling chest. "Take my life in exchange for his. Punish me if you have to. Just, please, help him. I can't lose-"
"Peter?" Ben asked. "What are you talking about?"
Peter shot upright, staring down at his very much alive uncle Ben. He was still covered in blood, and laying on the ground, disoriented, but, when Peter pulled up his shirt, there was no wound. There wasn't even a hole in his shirt, blood-soaked as it was. He lunged down and hugged his uncle tight, pulling him upright in the process, much to his uncle's verbal surprise.
"Ack! Peter, not so tight!"
"Thank you," Peter said into his uncle's chest. "Thank you, thank you so much. I'm so sorry. I promise I'll-" he pulled away to address the Goddess directly, but she was already gone. It was if she'd never even been there.
That is, if it weren't for the criminal who'd stolen the woman's purse and shot Ben. He was encased from the shoulder down in a massive hunk of ice, with the woman's handbag dangling from his fingers, just outside his cold prison. A singular black paw-print was set on the center of the ice block, the only indication that Amaterasu had even been there.
That, and the criminal in tears, babbling about a demon-wolf and begging to be taken to jail.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Amaterasu was having a good night. A great night, in fact. She'd been unable to sleep since finding out she left her little rat friend on Asgard. How embarrassing! She was supposed to keep them safe, and show off her new home, but she'd been distracted by all the kids and the painting and food and fun.
... So she may or may not have spent about an hour sitting in the middle of her shrine, barking up at the sky. And howling. And whining and yowling and carrying on, to the point that other dogs around the city started to join in.
Her shouting up at Heimdall did not work, however. She did her best to mimic Thor's godly "Heimdall, I do not wish to endure this punishment any longer" tone, but nothing happened.
All she did was start a city-wide howl.
Whoops.
So, she needed to burn off some energy. What better way to do that than breaking into hospitals in the middle of the night and curing anyone and everyone? Well, almost everyone. Still, she did her best, and wound up healing almost everyone. There were maybe less than twenty people left in each building by the time she was finished.
Sure, maybe the people weren't exactly awake to see what happened. And maybe she scared a room full of children to the point of hysteria—how was she supposed to know that pushing in a little fire magic to burn away the illness inside would literally cause the children to burst into flames? She had to get out of there rather quickly once fifteen former child-cancer patients sprung out of bed, bathed in white—harmless—flames, and ran throughout the hospital screaming bloody murder.
Not her finest moment, she had to admit.
She made up for it by saving an old man who'd been shot in the street, however! She was in the middle of fleeing from the hospital—with flailing balls of fire racing around multiple floors—when she heard the gunshot. It did take her a while to find exactly where it came from because of how faint the sound was, but she did it eventually. Saved an old man, stared at the angsty teen who was getting way too dramatic because his grandpa or whoever was already healed and fine why was he still staring at her and saying weird things? She did catch the gunman as well, who was only about five blocks away. He made a rather satisfying scream when she blocked his path with fire, shot through it, and dragged him back to the scene of the crime fast enough to give him wind-burn.
But... It still wasn't enough. She was getting Praise and the sun was going to be up in seven hours, there was no point sleeping. Not when she was feeling all antsy and now she had the power to really make a difference.
Amaterasu glanced over at the large red cross hanging on the front of a large building, and adjusted her course. Her paws ghosted over the gravel rooftops of buildings, and she carefully bounced between several skyscrapers, travelling above the street to avoid traffic. Watching the cars and people below, even late at night, was cathartic. People were still well and healthy and active, despite all the sick and injured she tended to.
Ammy planted her paws and sprang off the side of a building. She careened through the air, paws splayed—accidentally clipping a pair of pigeons out for a romantic flight—and shot toward the hospital. There was nothing to it. One moment she was inches from the hard walls of the building, and the next, she pulled on her energy and teleported herself into the building.
This way was much easier, she mused, running down the halls. There were fewer people awake to avoid, and she didn't exactly have to take her time and be subtle about it. Missing limbs? Not anymore. She didn't have to wait for people to wake up because it was polite, she just fixed them and went on their way. Sure, maybe she kept the light show down after the first fire-child-fiasco, but still!
In almost no time at all, she'd run through the whole building, and left maybe a dozen people who still needed help. It took her maybe fifteen minutes total, and then she was gone again, teleporting herself through locked doors and out to the streets again.
It was relaxing, spending time like this, without having to worry about potentially flattening someone while running around. She was pretty certain a high-velocity wolf goddess wouldn't be good for overall health.
The number of places to visit steadily declined over the next few hours, and the number of people she healed decreased. Islands were completely covered, and so were large stretches of land out in each direction, all the way until she hit either ocean, or reached sparsely populated areas. There were fewer and fewer places to cover, and by this point the sun was already starting to rise. Amaterasu was going to call it a day after the next building. People were starting to come into work, she was beginning to feel drained, and she was running out of places to visit.
Just one more for today.
Ammy padded her way up the street, the tall buildings and expansive city-scape giving way to short buildings and trees lining the roads. It was a nice change, all things considered. It felt cleaner, more natural. It was less crowded, and much less shaded and looming. The sun wasn't being blocked—she greatly enjoyed the warmth on her fur.
The front doors to the hospital slid open, revealing several wide awake and energetic people, and multiple staff members looking absolutely exhausted, heavy bags under their eyes. It was no effort for her to wrestle the flow of time to a standstill, and swirl her tail around, pushing energy through everyone there. Then, she pivoted, leaving a group of refreshed and bewildered staff members behind.
Amaterasu didn't recognize this hospital, nor the staff, but that was to be expected. New York was a massive city after all, and she couldn't explore all of it and meet everyone in the time she's been here. Not yet anyway.
Seeing as this was her last hospital run for the day, there was no need to rush. Not when the lack of sleep and immense energy use was starting to catch up to her. Her paws carried her past bewildered looking staff members, and curious civilians, all of them watching her with... Well, she wasn't sure. But it was definitely something.
She nosed her way into the waiting area, and looked upon the scene. She made her way around the room, going up to each person one by one. A child's split lip? Sealed as if it had never happened. An old man's hacking cough that left him doubled over? He was now breathing better than he had in forty years. Young woman's broken arm? Good as new without even a twinge of pain. An old woman in a wheel chair complaining about chest pain? Amaterasu wasn't sure if she could stand before, but she was dancing on the table by the time Ammy finished going through the room.
"No way, that's Amaterasu," one voice spoke up.
"I saw her on the news," another said.
"What's she doing all the way out here?" a third asked.
Amaterasu didn't pay it any mind. She'd already finished her lap of the room, and shoved her way into the hallway, pushing aside a rather odd nurse. What was he talking about? Why was he shouting about contamination and fur and sick patients? Ammy couldn't make sense of the guy. Why was he bemoaning about 'procedures' and 'ethics'?
Humans were weird—she loved them.
Ammy padded her way down the halls, poking her snoot into each door she could—and teleported herself a short distance through the ones she couldn't. Within five minutes, the hallways were filled with confused and thrilled people following her around. After ten minutes the hospital staff had given up any pretense of trying to keep control of the situation and just followed to make sure no one spontaneously collapsed... or combusted.
That was still very possible.
She took her time with this last location and, now that her presence was a forgone conclusion, she didn't really see the need to be fast or overly sneaky. This did mean that she got to take her time with the group of rather sickly bald people. The gaunt and grey pallor to their skin gradually faded, returning to the lively shades of humanity. She learned her lesson after the rather unfortunate 'flaming child' incident she was sure she'd be hearing about later today. Amaterasu took her time, more personally taking care of each patient instead of the whole "burn the sickness away" method from hours prior.
There was far less screaming that way.
At the end of her wandering, there were maybe four people she wasn't able to help. Goddess or not, she wasn't really able to perform those precise movements required to pull shrapnel out of someones thigh.
... Yet.
Stupid clumsy paws getting in the way of things.
The entirety of the hospital was following her around like they were goslings and her their mother. It was a touch awkward, because she wanted to just do her thing, but just running off without them would feel a little mean. She was an honest and blunt goddess, not a rude one.
Finally, her and her goslings made their way back to the lobby, and the front doors of the hospital. Miraculously, there weren't hoards of reporters or flashing lights doing their best to burn out her eyeballs. No, it was just her, some dishevelled and confused looking hospital staff, and a couple hundred former-patients in hospital gowns. Everyone filtered into place, half-surrounding her and leaving the doors free, while Ammy let out a rather large yawn.
She turned around to face the crowd, and flashed them a big goofy doggy grin, her tongue lolling out a little bit. There was little reaction, other than an occasional chuckle.
Oh dear, she'd broken them. Maybe it was best she leave and let them get back to their normal life. Amaterasu turned around with a little "yip" and trotted toward the doors.
Only to run face first into a soft wall of yellow fabric. It smelled familiar, though it was hard to exactly place where from considering the entirety of her face was covered in it.
"If I knew you weren't going to sleep, I would have seen you sooner," a familiar voice said.
Amaterasu blinked, and then let out a muffled bark into the Ancient One's robes. Her tail whipped around furiously, sending several chairs tumbling their way across the room.
"Wurf?" Ammy asked.
"Remove your head from my robes first, thank you," the Sorcerer Supreme retorted.
So, the Goddess of the Sun did just that... By shoving her way forward, between the Ancient One's legs, and out the other end, causing the woman to stagger backwards, half-sitting on Ammy's back. Amaterasu partially dragged her halfway to the entrance doors of the hospital, before she finally managed to push through and emerge from the other side of the woman's robes.
"Arf!" Amaterasu spoke, wagging her tail. This had the unfortunate effect of causing the front of the Ancient One's robes to stick out and swish around from the front, rather improper for someone of her calibre. Still, her head was out of her robes, just like the woman asked!
The bald woman let out a heavy sigh, and a powerful shove to the back of Amaterasu's legs sent her sprawling forward. She slid several body lengths across the tile floor, managing to spin around to face the Ancient One as she came to a halt.
"You've been around the Asgardians too long," the Ancient one chided. "You've forgotten your manners."
"Bork!" Amaterasu retorted. "Yip!"
"Please, you could attain the same status by drinking an entire keg without stopping." The Ancient One brushed off her robes, and turned to face Ammy. "I take it your vacation went well?"
Amaterasu shoved herself to all fours, and nodded enthusiastically. She enjoyed her time in Asgard quite a lot. She made friends, drank too much, ate too much, ended a war almost by herself, and had ancient ethereal magic for dessert. Ammy expressed this in a series of short yips and barks, much to the confusion of most of the room.
"Oh, did you now?" The Sorcerer Supreme tilted her head, regarding the Goddess with a critical gaze. "I suppose that would be cause for celebration. However, do be careful. You shouldn't just go around putting any kind of magic in your mouth—you have no idea where it could have been."
"Boof," Amaterasu retorted. How else was she supposed to find out where the magic had been if she didn't put it in her mouth? Clearly, Ammy's method was superior and would have no downsides whatsoever...
At least when she finally got revenge on that Spicy Blue Cube... Which she would! One day.
The duo were interrupted by a rather confused yet happy looking nurse. She looked to be simultaneously exhausted and at her wits end, yet thrilled beyond measure at recent events. It was all rather impressive for her to convey, considering she hadn't even said a word yet.
"Thank you for helping them," the nurse said, "it'll be nice not seeing them suffer anymore." She turned her attention toward the Sorcerer Supreme and gently planted her hand on the bald woman's shoulder, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "Are you excited?"
"Pardon me?" the Ancient One asked. She looked rather uncomfortable with the strangers hand on her shoulder.
"The treatment," the nurse clarified. "Are you excited it's finally over? You're better now."
"I'm sorry, I do not follow." The Ancient One turned halfway towards the nurse, glancing between Amaterasu and the hospital worker with a confused expression.
Amaterasu blinked.
Oh. Oh no.
The wolf planted herself on the floor and watched the slow disaster unfold before her very eyes. Amaterasu could speak up and prevent the confusion. She could stop the disaster about to unfold—prevent what would surely be a memory to haunt them both while struggling to sleep for the rest of their lives.
Ammy merely smugged at the duo and remained silent.
"The chemo?" the nurse pushed. "You know, to cure the, uh, disease?"
"What are you-"
"To fight the cancer," the nurse interrupted. She turned and pointed toward a group of people who seemed like the weight of the world had been taken off their shoulders, and more than one of them was running their fingers through their hair in amazement.
"..." The Ancient One was quiet.
The nurse blinked, and her eyes flicked up to the Sorcerer Supreme's bald head once again.
"My head is shaved because I enjoy it that way," the Ancient One said.
...
Amaterasu was loving every second of this.
"Oh." the nurse squeaked.
"I am not sick, nor suffering disease," the magical bald woman continued.
"I see."
...
"Okayhaveagooddaygoodbye!" the nurse rushed out. She whirled around and raced off into the back, shoving several of her colleagues aside, and slammed through the swinging doors.
Amaterasu's ears flicked as a muffled scream sounded from the hallway. The wolfess turned her gaze from the doors back to the stunned Sorcerer Supreme, who locked eyes with Amaterasu.
"You knew that was going to happen," the Ancient One stated.
Ammy said nothing.
"You just let that happen."
Amaterasu tilted her head up, gazing at the magic woman, and smirked.
"I hope you realize I am now questioning every aspect of how I present myself."
Amaterasu smugged harder, a huffing laugh escaping her.
"Right." The Sorcerer Supreme rolled her shoulders, and raised a palm toward Ammy. "Bath time."
Amaterasu didn't have time to react to the floor suddenly falling out from underneath her, replaced by a shimmering magical circle courtesy of the Ancient One. The solid floor gave way to a disgusting slurry of water which resembled chocolate milk more than anything potable. She plunged beneath the water, and froze the water beneath her paws, shoving upward the best she could, clawing through the disgusting water and back toward the swirling orange portal. She was going to dunk that woman in the water with her and-
With a little zip the portal closed, leaving Amaterasu neck deep in The Bad.
She was not happy in the slightest.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
"Some people are calling it the beginning of The End. Is this-"
"-the first sign of The Rapture? Many seem to think that this act is-"
"-a miracle by all meanings of the word. Every hospital in-"
"-the whole city has been emptied! If this isn't proof of God then I don't-"
"-want to even think about the financial consequences of this! Millions, no, billions of-"
"-people are flooding the streets right now. Rumours that none other than-"
"-Amaterasu was seen in New Jersey, having crossed state lines. Experts believe-"
"-this will have an impact on the future of humanity. Is this just the start of-"
"-something greater? One thing is for sure, people are saying-"
"Thank you. You saved my mom. She... she remembers me. I just- Thank you."
Natasha listened to the quickly changing broadcasts as she was marched down the hall. Her unwanted guide was none other than Victor Von Doom himself, the man marching silently beside her. They made their way through the castle, and Natasha eyed all the open windows or large doorways, planning her possible escape routes. The big metal suit likely slowed the man, but Nat wasn't going to chance it—the reports mentioned magic, and she wasn't going to touch that with a pole until she knew what could happen.
Besides, he was cordial enough. Just a little robotic.
"So, where are we going?" Natasha asked. She folder her hands behind her head and stretched, feigning nonchalance.
"To dinner," Doom replied. He turned to the left, and Natasha followed, the sounds of the broadcasts growing louder. A pair of large doors grew closer, massive twenty foot high wooden slabs sealing off the rest of the castle.
"You already said that," Natasha quipped. "Why are we going to dinner? You don't seem to be too concerned about me being here."
"Doctor Doom has invited you to dinner," the man said once more. "You have broken Latverian law—Doom wishes to discuss your presence."
"Ah, know what?" Natasha sighed, and patted down her pockets. "Silly me, I forgot my passport. Do you have an office around-"
"Do not lie in the presence of Doom," Victor warned, his tone serious.
The man strode forward, a touch faster, and planted his hands on the double doors. The massive slabs of wood swung open easily, thousands of pounds of wood settling into place. The sound of the various broadcasts grew louder, no longer as muffled, and Natasha looked around the new room.
It was large and spacious, the roof arching high, with tall stained glass windows depicting Victor Von Doom in various poses and performing different feats. A long table stretched down the length of the room, a green cloth draped over the top. Hovering above the middle of the table was a series of large holograms, each one flicking between different broadcasts, no longer muffled by the doors. And, at the very end of the table was...
Victor Von Doom?
Natasha continued following Doom, approaching the other Doom. The duo came to a stop a short but respectful distance away, with the Doom at her side suddenly saluting, putting his hand to his chest with a metallic clang.
"Doombot Twenty-Three, you are dismissed," the seated Doom spoke.
"Affirmative," the 'Doombot' replied. It whirled around on its heel, took a step toward the door, and then jumped. Thrusters kicked to life on the bottom of its feet and on its hands, and the bot shot off, zipping through the open doors and down the hallway, rapidly disappearing from view.
Well, running was off the table for Natasha. She'd need some sort of below ground option to escape, or disable that robot first.
"Pretty impressive," Natasha praised. "Reminds me of Stark's tech."
Doom's hand curled slightly on the table. "Do not compare my genius to that of Stark's paltry toys." Victor Von Doom swiped his hand, dismissing the hologram projections floating above the banquet table, suddenly plunging the room into silence. "Doctor Victor Von Doom welcomes you to Latveria, Natasha Romanoff."
So, he was prideful. Natasha could work with that. That, or completely full of himself.
"It's a nice place," she complimented. "I was expecting a little more rubble and blood, if I'm being honest. You know, with the whole violent revolution thing. They tend to be messy."
"It was," Doom stated. "My predecessors did not deserve mercy, and suffered heavily. You are restricted to the front of the castle during your stay—the rest is still being cleaned." The king of Latveria waved a hand, and a chair slid out from the table. "Sit."
Natasha did so, sitting sideways across it, acting nonchalant. "I've never been a royal guest before. How exciting."
"Make no mistake, Black Widow, you are no guest." Victor Von Doom turned, and fixed her with a glare that made the room chill. "You are currently a political prisoner. The only reason you still breathe is because you have connections that are mildly interesting."
At that, Doom reached down and pulled out a rather advanced looking slab of metal and glass, small enough to fit in one hand. He slid it across the table, and it came to a stop directly in front of Natasha.
A phone.
"The password is: three, six, six, six," Doom said. "I expect to speak with Director Nick Fury tomorrow. You are free to leave the castle as you wish—you will be accompanied by a Doom-Bot at all times when not in my presence."
"I take it this is bugged to hell and back." Natasha picked up the device, and unlocked it, finding a surprisingly modern experience within. Idly, she flipped through the settings just to experiment with how much leeway she had.
There wasn't any.
Though, she did find that the Wi-Fi was named Wi-Fi of Doom. With a little more poking into the settings, she found the password: R33d_R1ch4rd_5uck5.
Very petty.
She could work with that. It would take a little time, but Natasha was sure she could get King Doom to spill a few secrets.
... As long as he didn't catch on and splatter her brains across the castle walls.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
"Sir, Miss Potts is calling again," JARVIS interrupted, causing the completed formulas to scatter to the sides as Pepper's face popped up in the middle of his HUD.
"Take a message." Tony waved away the pop-up. "I'm exploding plants."
True to his word, Stark was suited up in some rather bulky Iron-Man armour, and held an Extremis syringe in his hand. In front of him was a small potted cactus, freshly delivered from the nearest 'store that sells mildly penis-shaped cacti', in his own words. And, yes, the cactus looked like it had a big pair of cactus balls—that was half the fun.
With a flick of his finger, the Iron-Man suit performed a rather crude circumcision to the otherwise innocent cactus, sending the upper-half across the room to splatter against the wall. With a breath and a wince, Tony injected the cactus with his experimental Extremis and pressed the plunger.
"Sir, Miss Potts insists." JARVIS paused for a moment, then added, "She just threatened to cut off your access to the company's R funds."
"What? She can't do that." Tony narrowed his eyes, watching the cactus in front of him thrash and writhe, rapidly filling in, heat rolling off of the surface of the plant. "... Wait, can she do that?" The cactus finished healing and steam rolled off of it, rapidly cooling down to normal levels.
"You gave her authorization to run the company," JARVIS reminded him. "I can point out the specific line on the contract if you'd like."
"What? No, just put her-" JARVIS did as he asked, and Pepper's face popped up a moment later, her familiar half-scowl appeared. "-through... Hey hun how are you?"
"Tony, I've been trying to call you for fifteen minutes," Pepper huffed.
"Sorry, Pep, I've been trying to make plants not explode." With a shift, Tony moved his hand forward again, and flicked the cactus, tearing the upper half off again. He braced himself, waiting for the plant to explode in a graphic—and hilarious—shower of spikes. "They're very prone to blowing up."
"Tony, what are you-" Pepper sighed. "Never mind. Have you seen the news?"
"I can't see much through the cactus juice. Everything's a little green right now. Sensitive little pricks..." True to his word, most of his once-silver suit was smeared with green. The cactus that he'd once more nipped the tip off of had started to grow back again, slower this time. Tony watched with baited breath as the temperature only rose slightly, and the flesh of the plant steadily regrew once again.
"You're actually hopeless." Pepper's palm met her face in a glorious smack that echoed around the inside of Tony's helmet. "JARVIS, can you..."
"Of course, Miss Potts." Various panels of information burst into life in front of Tony, rapidly filling his screen with a flood of information. Headlines, stock reports, live feeds, emergency broadcasts—Tony could keep up with all these. He was a genius after all.
"Wait..." Tony blinked, and looked at the information a second time, the cactus in front of him forgotten for the moment. "Pep, is this real? Did she..."
"Yes, she did. Amaterasu caused a stock market crash. The health insurance companies are losing their minds—people are cancelling en-mass. Every single aspect of the healthcare system is crumbling."
"Way to go, Space Dog," Tony laughed. "JARVIS, remind me to call Warren, Bill, and Mark later, they're probably laughing their asses off."
"I'll remind you to call Warren Buffet, Mark Cuban, and Bill Gates in twenty minutes." JARVIS helpfully replied.
"Tony, this is serious!" Pepper snapped. "They've lost over ten million customers already. This is billions in profits for them. Billions with a 'B'."
"Good, they deserve it-"
"Tony, you don't understand. People left Amaterasu alone because she wasn't hurting anyone, and didn't cause issues. Now there's an issue. No one even knows if she's classified as a 'person' and has rights," Pepper explained. "The people she hurt? Now they have someone to blame with a very well known location."
"... That might be a problem," Tony admitted. He glanced down, and pinched the cactus between his armoured digits, causing a large tear in the plant. "I think... I might have a bigger problem for them."
"What did you do, Tony?" Pepper's tone was wary, as it always was when her boss/boyfriend was up to his regular antics.
"Well, remember that thing I asked you about? The whole 'changing the world' thing?"
"Yes..."
"I think I did it." Tony looked down as the plant slowly mended itself once again, stable as ever. Not even a change of more than a few degrees to the surface temperature. "JARVIS?"
"It appears to be stable. The leftover serum in the plant is slowly deteriorating." There was a brief pause, and then the AI spoke once more. "Currently, the extra Extremis is dissolving. In five minutes there will be nothing left. Simulations are showing this formula to be stable and cooperates with plant and animal biology."
"Holy shit..." Tony sat down in his desk chair, forgetting he was in a several hundred pound suit of armour, and crashed right through it and to the floor. He didn't even seem to register the impact, looking at the empty vial in his hand, his mask flipping up to gaze at it properly. "I did it."
"Tony?" Pepper asked. "Tony, what's going on?"
"Pepper. I'm going to need you to call a board meeting. And lawyers. Lots of lawyers."
"I've already taken steps to encrypt the solution on an atomic level, Sir," Jarvis chimed in.
"Tony, I swear if you don't tell me what's going on right now I will-"
"Pepper. Hun. Everything is okay." Tony took a breath, and tilted his head back. "It's more than okay. I'm going to fly down there right now to come see you."
"... Alright." Pepper conceded. "And what about Amaterasu? We're associated with her. With everything that happened..."
"Don't worry, Pep." Tony laughed, and held up the empty syringe in his hand. "They're going to have much more to worry about that silly little Space-Dog." He tossed the needle to the side and fell backward, sprawling on the floor with a happy sigh. "We're going to help so many people."
Pepper didn't speak, her face caught in a confused frown. She just watched Tony through the phone screen, while the billionaire giggled to himself like a child.
"Hey, Pep?"
"Yes, Tony?"
"I love you," he said. "So, so much."
"I love you too," she replied.
"I'll see you in a few hours. Bye hun."
"See you soon, Tony."
The call ended, and Tony took another breath. A heavy weight seemed to have lifted from him, as if the struggles of the world had gone from his hands to those of the suit he was wearing.
Of course there were still more tests to be done—knowing his luck, maybe it would interact with tumours to make some Super Cancer or something like that. This was something he couldn't fuck up. It had to be perfect.
"Dammit, Laika," Tony huffed, sitting up. "Stupid silly Space Dog making me give people chances and want to fix things. Lemme be Scrooge for a little while. Dumb kids on the dumb TV being all happy."
"Sir?" JARVIS asked.
"Pencil me in for a surgery when we get to New York." Tony stood up, and let his armour peel open, stepping out of it. He glanced down at the glowing circle in the middle of his chest, and tapped on it, the hollow glass sound ringing out. "It's time to get this little reminder out of my chest. My heart grew three sizes, and I think it might pop."
"Very well, Sir."
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
Amaterasu grumbled as she crawled out of the pond near her shrine, paws scrambling at the somewhat muddy grass as she pulled herself up and out. Sure, as a Goddess, she couldn't ever be truly dirty, and nothing could cling to her fur forever.
Once Amaterasu crawled her way out of the sewer, however... She needed a bath. It didn't matter if there was technically nothing on her—she felt filthy inside and out. Ammy could feel it clinging to her, and the phantom touches didn't go away, even when she rolled around in literal god-fire for three minutes.
Thus, the dreaded... bath. Look at her, reduced to such lows. What kind of Goddess was she if she couldn't even escape getting a bath? And one that she willingly took? She was a sham, not a Goddess. Barely a wolf, if anything.
"Come by the Sanctum once you're cleaned up. I have something important to show you," the Ancient One had said. Oh, Ammy would be coming by the Sanctum alright. She was going to go over there and ruin the carpets and tear up the drapes. She would leave muddy paw-prints on the damn ceiling. Amaterasu was going to dye all of the Sorcerer Supreme's robes a fluorescent pink that not even magic could remove. She would-
Amaterasu stopped for a moment, and perked her ears up. Something was... different about the air. No, it wasn't the air itself, but the sound. It was... quiet? Quiet, but not in an oppressing way like some predator was nearby. This was a different kind—peaceful. Tranquil.
It was something she hadn't properly experienced in this city. Complete and total silence just didn't exist (unless time stopped, that is). But as far as she could tell, nothing was wrong. Time continued to flow, as evidenced by the leaves swaying in the gentle breeze.
Amaterasu kept her ears perked and eyes scanning the park as she padded toward her shrine. There were the signs of people nearby—grass was freshly disturbed, and the animals in the park were completely silent. But... where were they?
Her answer came much sooner than she expected. Amaterasu rounded a corner and weaved between a pair of bushes, just intending on going back to her shrine to nap a little bit. After all, she'd had a long day, with a lot of her power being used to heal people. A nap of all things seemed warranted, even if it was before noon.
And, she was the Goddess of the Sun. She could nap where and when she wanted!
Her nap plans were dashed when, upon spotting her shrine, she also spotted where all the people had gone. There were so many people, all of them lined up in a quiet and respectful line, more often than not holding something small in front of them.
Amaterasu's heart sank for a moment as she stepped forward, worried that she was going to receive a similar swarming reaction. That was the last thing she wanted. It still plagued her dreams from time to time, worried that next time it would be...
Well, not like it is.
Eyes fell on her instantly, and Ammy paused for a moment, waiting for the oncoming mob of people.
But... They didn't move. They watched her, sure, but there wasn't any frantic clamouring towards her. Amaterasu could hear the excited whispers, and the uptick in sound, but it was peaceful.
... Did she break the humans?
She padded her way toward her shrine, her home, and was pleasantly surprised to see the line of people leading into it shuffle to the side—in a respectful way, not that weird and unpleasant worshipping way. Ammy couldn't help the excited little swish of her tail as she padded by the line of people, catching little "thank you"s from them.
In her time here on this weird world with strange humans, she'd learned that information and news got around relatively quickly. Whatever magic mail system they had going on was far and above the speed of having someone running the mail from town to town.
... Though Amaterasu was sure she could do it faster.
It had come to her attention that, after she did anything significantly noteworthy, it took about one to two hours for the general public to become properly aware of something. It seemed as though her exploits from this morning were finally starting to catch more and more attention.
How did she know?
The absolute flood of Praise and Belief and Appreciation started to wash over her. It had been a slow and steady build up throughout the morning as she went from hospital to hospital. Now it seemed as though everyone else was starting to learn about it as well.
Ammy staggered mid-step as the wave of Praise almost threw her off balance. Her energy levels, once depleted and causing her to need a nap, were overflowing. Her good deeds did not go unnoticed and Amaterasu had to remind herself to breathe as the sensation poured into her very soul.
Not that she needed to breathe, but it was the thought that counts.
The Goddess of the Sun stumbled her way forward, drunk on Praise, her whole being thrumming with energy. She passed beneath the archway of cherry blossom trees, following along the path, walking by the people who were all lined up and facing the foot of her shrine.
With all the happy fuzzy feelings inside, it took Amaterasu a moment to recognize the sheer amount of things people had put in her shrine. The little offering table that had been set up was completely overwhelmed. Canned food, small toys, and small donations of money were absolutely flooding the small table to the point that it was indistinguishable from the rest of the mess. Each little thing there just exuded heaps of love and affection and praise, all of it meaning something to someone, somewhere.
And it was still growing. It wasn't the amount that threw Amaterasu off, but the sheer Praise that poured off of it. It filled her completely and utterly, suffusing her soul and body with power and love and appreciation for good deeds.
It was too much, and it was building as the word of her deeds got out. She just needed something to sink it into, somewhere to store it all, or to use it. Ammy glanced around her shrine, which suddenly felt much too small for what she had to contain. She just needed an outlet to get used to all this energy and power and-
Golden eyes flicked up to the permanently blossoming cherry trees within her shrine, and she took several steps back. Amaterasu made her way up the steps of her shrine, and sat on the wooden decking of the entrance, gazing at the four individual trees.
If she squinted hard, they almost looking like four parts of the same tree. Just... much smaller. Well, she would help them along then—it was a good a place to shove all this extra energy than anything else.
Amaterasu flexed her power, and reality itself shuddered to a stop, everyone around her freezing in place. Petals stopped dancing in the air, hovering. Birds overhead were stuck mid-flap, and the squirrel on the edge of her shrine walls sat there with comically oversized cheeks as it tried and failed to shove one final nut into its face.
With four flicks of her tail, and a healthy amount of Celestial Ink, Ammy encouraged the trees to Bloom and grow and continue their life cycle. They were no longer full-grown tree in her eyes, but merely the start of something else. Natural life cycle didn't mean anything in her eyes.
Her tail swished again, encompassing all four trees in the swirl of ink, causing it to soak into the wood and vegetation.
And she did it again.
And again.
And again.
Ammy poured all the overwhelming amount of Praise and god-like energy into the trees that she could, until the hazy feeling causing her vision to swim dulled down. Her fur continued to glow brightly, and she swore there were a few more markings on her fur than before, but Amaterasu didn't exactly have a mirror to check. Instead, when she felt she'd done enough, she released her grip on space-time and allowed things to resume.
The ground heaved and Amaterasu lost her footing, quickly tumbling down the stairs to the stone path below. The earth itself shook, and the trees she'd pushed all that magic and power into thrashed and shot upward. Branches intertwined and the ground itself bulged and shuddered as thick roots sprang up and then buried themselves into the planet again, tunnelling who knows where.
Amaterasu sprawled out on her back, looking up into the sky with a sheepish grin as the four trees swirled together into a single massive trunk. The sun disappeared behind the behemoth she'd created, watching the tree quickly swell sprout thick branches that would put redwood trees to shame.
Of course, the people nearby didn't stay silent. They screamed, and ran, and panicked, as humans were wont to do. Several dropped to their knees and started praying—hilariously, Ammy felt a tug on her being. They were praying to her!
Whoops...
It took nearly a full minute for the giant Sakura tree to stop shaking and thrashing. It curled in on itself near the top like a giant swirl, and hundreds of bus-sized branches stuck outward from all angles. When it was all said and done, the massive cherry-blossom tree cast a shadow over a large portion of Central Park. The tree itself had to stand at least two-hundred feet tall, if not more, towering over almost all of the nearby buildings.
Amaterasu looked up, and blinked owlishly, a nervous laugh escaping her jaws.
Whoops!
Ammy let out a huff of steam and rolled over, pushing herself upright. She shook herself off as she looked around, peering through the tunnel between the roots of the tree that used to be the cherry-blossom archway. Miraculously, everyone seemed to be just fine, if a little shaken up.
Her shrine was a little less intact. A few of the walls had large cracks running up them, and the actual building that was her home was tilted a little to the left—it looked as if it was curious and trying to ask a question. Massive roots bubbled up from the grass and then vanished a moment later, sinking back into the ground.
Maybe she needed to find a better outlet for her power beyond "make big thing".
Amaterasu quickly bounded her way beneath the tree, and checked on everyone she could. Little dabs of her tail just beneath people caused bamboo to grow and help them upright. Others were helping each other up in the more tightly packed areas, much to her delight.
"Ah! Such divine white light! Such beauty and grace!"
Amaterasu felt her heart skip a beat, and her eyes widened. Her tail gave a hesitant twitch, and her ears perked up. That voice was familiar.
"The only one capable of such a spectacle..."
The Goddess of the Sun slowly turned around, her tail swishing a little harder. Surely it couldn't be.
"... is none other than our mother and the origin of all that is."
Golden eyes fell upon a familiar figure, one robed in pink and green, scantily clad as ever. Black hair poured over the floating woman's shoulders, and the floating lady in pink dipped forward in a bow.
"Amaterasu," Sakuya, the tree sprite, said, "it has been many years."
Once more, the Goddess of the Sun froze, and her jaw dropped. Slowly, she padded her way forward. Surely this couldn't be the same person. Ammy nosed her way under this Sakuya look-alike's robes, and poked and prodded at the maybe-tree-spirit all over.
Still as busty and voluptuous as Ammy remembered. She still smelled like—and resembled—peaches and cherries.
A swat on the nose left Amaterasu reeling, and she staggered back a few steps. Ammy sneezed once, shaking her head, and looked up at Sakuya once more. It was definitely her.
"Arf?" Amaterasu asked.
"We have much to discuss, Amaterasu."
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
The little warrior was scampering along, metal sword in hand, sneaking his way through the Golden City. The King of the Giants was close at hand, as was the Queen of the Giants, and the Giant Seer. The small warrior was on a mission—he needed information, and had to learn how to find his saviour.
His path across the arches near the roof was stable and secure, and provided him plenty of cover should someone glance upward. Luckily, they never did, allowing him to listen in on the King's conversations. His spot was perfect, and secure, and-
And shaking! He did his best to hold onto the edges of the arches, to no avail. His little paw slipped, and with the other one holding the metal sword—merely a toothpick to the giants—there was nothing he could do but fall to his death.
Splat!
...
Luckily, he was a warrior blessed by the Goddess herself. He could not die—not here, anyway. He would refuse to do so. If he were to ever die, it would be at Her side, fighting for her life. The warrior picked himself up, a piece at a time, ignoring the pain of his body reconstructing itself from a smear on the ground. What was a little pain compared to what had to be the agony of failing in his mission while his Goddess needed him?
"Heimdall, what in the world was that?" the Giant Queen asked. Her tone had a little lilt to it—clearly, she knew more than what she was letting on.
The Giant King merely sighed, and sank further into his throne.
"It seems that Amaterasu has made a more permanent connection to the Yggdrasil tree," the Giant Seer, Heimdall, replied.
Blasphemy! Not showing Her the respect She deserved! If the nameless warrior didn't have to seek out his Goddess, he would have torn that blasphemer into shreds! Or, at the very least, preached to him the good word of Her, the Light of All. Mother to All Things Good. The Protector of the Noble, and the Punisher of-
"Of course she did..." the King sighed. "Frigga, dear. Please do not find amusement in my distress."
The disrespect! The little warrior could not stand for this! He would, however, crawl and scamper for it, as being on four legs allowed him more mobility that those silly two-legged giants. The little warrior skittered his way towards the exit of the Giant Castle within the City of Gold.
"I said nothing, my King." A soft chuckle escaped The Giant Queen.
Yes, torment the disrespectful blasphemer for his sins against Her! The little warrior liked this woman. Still, he could not stay nor offer her his praises. He had a different mission to fulfill, despite his wishes.
The little rat, thrumming with Goddess-blessed Extremis energy, followed that tug on his soul. There was now a proper way to reach his Goddess. He was going to climb this 'Yggdrasil' tree, whatever it was, and scale it to reach Her. This was his quest.
He was going to find her, and the warrior would chew and cut his way through anything and everything in order to reach her.
~{O}~{O}~{O}~
"Sir, there's been a situation," Maria Hill said.
"There's always a situation," Fury growled. "What is it now?"
"A situation in New York."
"... Of course there is." Fury let out a sigh.
"In Central Park," Hill continued.
"... Of course there is."
"It involves Amaterasu," Hill finished.
"... Of course it does."
...
Thunk!
"... Sir?" Hill asked, looking at Director Nick Fury, who's face was currently planted on his desk.
"Put Coulson on it," Fury mumbled. "I'm not dealing with that for another week. I'm on wolf-vacation. No more canines or lupines or fucking werewolves."
"Right away, Sir." Hill nodded, and turned, leaving the room.
Nick Fury muttered several expletives under his breath, each one just a little more focused and directed toward the apparent Goddess of the Sun that enjoyed tormenting him so.
Big thanks to the following people: Nithalys, Eris Varjo, Baron of Bonk, Ferdinand Von Bernard, SugarCube, Muffin Rat King, Towerator, Aphil, Bast, BlobbyCat, Clagan, JoeyW, PizzaJolt, SleepyGhost.
Your support means the world to me and I really appreciate it.
Odd1todd89
The strange tightrope
- Pronouns
- It
thank you for continuing to write this story.
- Location
- Painting, Peach's Castle
...Sakuya?!
Whose next, Issun's descendant? Members of the Moon Tribe? The Dragon Palace appearing in the harbor?
Also, I was just rereading this on Ao3. Neat!
Whose next, Issun's descendant? Members of the Moon Tribe? The Dragon Palace appearing in the harbor?
Also, I was just rereading this on Ao3. Neat!
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
It's not going anywhere. I'm just having trouble getting time to write with everything going on unfortunately. Thanks for reading!
Thank you for continuing to read it. I have no intentions to drop the story, it's just gonna take a while.
Yeah, Sakuya! Can't have a big-ass guardian tree without a lovely tree spirit. I'm not exactly planning on adding anyone else, and Sakuya was a last minute addition.
Also, happy to hear you're re-reading and enjoying the story still!
- Location
- Australia
Ooooh noooo, she's upset the health insurance companies… the horror. All those poor executives, whatever will they do when they can't get their bonuses. But anyway, not sure what they'd do to try and get revenge on her, they'd have to hire some mutant or mage or someone like Deadshot(?). Hey uncle Ben is still alive too, so that trauma station isn't quite as bad for Peter. Wonder how it will affect him being Spider-Man. The rivalry… thing… whatever you'd call it between the AO and Ammy continues to amuses, but the sewer… low blow AO, low blow.
Dooms Wifi makes me want to rename mine, because that is petty and amusing. Convenient how those TVs all lined up like that too! Tony coming in to start his own health care system and slurp up the remains of the insurance and medical industries too it seems. Poor Fury, but at least Coulson will be happy. Is the rat actually a rat or is it Ratatoskr? And is the Sakura tree now a physical representative of Yggdrasil on earth? Also, hey Sakuya and her peachy behind is here… ngl, initially I thought it was Waka.
Dooms Wifi makes me want to rename mine, because that is petty and amusing. Convenient how those TVs all lined up like that too! Tony coming in to start his own health care system and slurp up the remains of the insurance and medical industries too it seems. Poor Fury, but at least Coulson will be happy. Is the rat actually a rat or is it Ratatoskr? And is the Sakura tree now a physical representative of Yggdrasil on earth? Also, hey Sakuya and her peachy behind is here… ngl, initially I thought it was Waka.
- Pronouns
- He/Him
There's not an insignificant number of assassin's or people who'd want to kill ammy for that. Hydra is a good start, or getting the government involved. There's gonna be some real consequences.
Also yeh, spidey gets just a little less long-lasting trauma. It's gonna have some consequences, but peter's gonna be a little happier I think.
I'm just excited for the billionaire gremlin and the magic dog gremlin to team up and collaborate to cause chaos with greedy companies. Watching greedy people get what they deserve is intensely satisfying.
Thanks for reading!
xbox432
Lover of Editing
Poor Nick, the guy really needs an actual vacation... If only the world would stop falling apart for at least a week.
Also, yeah, I'm curious as to who is going to be coming after Amy due to her latest healing spree. And who knows? Maybe the whole thing with Sakuya showing up will finally get the Japanese government to finally check in and see what's happening?
Also, yeah, I'm curious as to who is going to be coming after Amy due to her latest healing spree. And who knows? Maybe the whole thing with Sakuya showing up will finally get the Japanese government to finally check in and see what's happening?
Hahaha! That's certainly one way to reform a career criminal. Slap them in the face with literal divine judgement.
*snort* I just have to say that this whole sequence is so ironically fitting considering the... topical event that happened recently.
It's things like this why I like Tony. Underneath all the snark and arrogance, he genuinely just wants to help people. And perfecting, and releasing, his personal strain of Extremis? Yeah, he's gonna help so many people. Just gonna have to be careful that no one gets greedy and tries to to charge $1 million per dose... He's gonna have to do SO MUCH lobbying to get that stuff released to the public.
Yeah, such a pity, now they'll have to find some other way to parasitize people.
Nah, while I'm sure there are more than a few assassins who would take the job. I don't think Deadshot would be one of them. For one thing, wrong universe. Maybe Taskmaster or Bullseye though?
Last edited:
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, as of right now we have several groups who aren't befitting from Ammy healing people: Insurance Companies; Billionaires and Wall Street/the entire Stock Market; AIM (who's in the custody of SHIELD and therefore HYDRA). Pretty sure I can add on a few more to that list as time goes. We'll see who shows up though!
Also, the whole sequence with the healthcare thing was kind of unintentional as I had this planned for months already. Just amazing timing is all.
The thing with Tony is he realized and experienced firsthand what his stuff does and how thoroughly interconnected he is to everything. He knows he's responsible, so he's going to take steps to do things right. Also, there's no way he's going to let the Extremis Formula (he's probably gonna call it Stark Juice) get into anyone's hands but his own, or give it several safeties to make sure it can't be abused or manipulated.
Also, TaskMaster going after Ammy would be pretty scary, I wonder how that would play out.
Thanks for reading and the comments as always.
"As far as the medical industry is concerned, the dog declared war on them."
"War? Well, they are gonna be very busy with what we are gonna be doing very soon."
*As he finishes the equivalent of a nuclear stockpile, ready to declare TOTAL WAR against the medical industry*
- Location
- Omniverse #1345
It's closer to an antimatter bomb, really.
But the medical industry against Amaterasu would be amusing. They would not be winning that fight by any means.