- Location
- United Kingdom
I just loooked up paradox the character, is he basically the magical equivalent of the vision
Dial (Ben10/Marvel Cinematic Universe SI)
- Thread starter DesertChocolate
- Start date
WildCardFool
A Reaction Pic for nearly every occasion
- Location
- Earth
Kinda. Think more Doctor Who and I think that's a little more accurate.
KillingYouNicely
I've seen things. They weren't really interesting.
- Location
- Australia
Honestly, it will be interesting to see what Dial does with the Asguardian form - is he able to set his baseline form as something other than human, like Ben could? Because then he'd have permanent access to Allspeak - one of the most reliable universal translators around. Not to mention any extra powers that he would develop as his title emerges.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
Wait what? when did Ben do that?
RichardWhereat
Feanor did nothing wrong.
- Location
- Australia
His wristwatch went odd when Thor showed up. He might get a baseline Aesir form from it, but likely not a divine form.
After all, even if he became an Aesir, he still hasn't passed the rite of passage of facing the Lurking Unknown. Unless of course, Thor, having faced it, bestows that as part of his form. Would that count?
Who knows, guess we've gotta wait for the next update.
After all, even if he became an Aesir, he still hasn't passed the rite of passage of facing the Lurking Unknown. Unless of course, Thor, having faced it, bestows that as part of his form. Would that count?
Who knows, guess we've gotta wait for the next update.
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- Location
- Australia
The author has confirmed that yes Thor's DNA is scanned I believe. If not it will be and yes it is an Aesir, Dial will be a new one and have his own Domain not Thor's. But he is not sure what domain Dial will have.
So far with the comments of people from SB and SV. Diplomacy, Evolution, Nature, life, time and space I believe. I like where this direction is going to be honest. So fascinating how it will go down and how the Asgardians will see react to it. They will be happy that it was Thor's DNA that was recorded someone of Royal blood into the Omnitrix data banks.
RichardWhereat
Feanor did nothing wrong.
- Location
- Australia
Oh, neat. Cheers Tobi, you're a good boy.
46
In the courtyard of the now destroyed castle, all the fighters and personnel had gathered to do inventory while waiting for more transports to come. I watched sadly in my human form while the cryo tank holding Jennifer was getting prepared to be rolled off the Quinjet. She was sleeping within, taller than even Creel, with the smooth green skin, large muscles, and really long dark green hair I'd known from the comics. I would have been amused at the sight of her any other time. She looked like Lori Slayer, a fitness model in my world. Just with much more muscle and height. I could also see the similarity to Hulk though. It was in the set of her green eyes, an almost deep look that made her look somber.
From the pictures I'd seen, her former human self looked more like Alison Brie, with the pale skin and curly brown hair, and the slightly bookish features I was familiar with from the show Community. Made sense she would be the form of the bookishly shy Jennifer Walters.
It wasn't funny now though, seeing her roll past me like some sick parody of a modern-day Snow White.
"Hey," Natasha walked up to me as I stood there, giving me a smile. She was wearing her normal catsuit, rather than the armor we'd made her, though her handgun was at her side. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I said back, smiling. "Just thinking."
I looked back at Jennifer's cryo tube, then at Natasha. "Been a long day."
"WHERE JENNY?!"
When Natasha and I turned, Hulk was aggressively striding through the courtyard, looking around quickly and causing more than a few of the agents and personnel to back away quickly on instinct from the titan of muscles moving among them.
"Hulk!" I called out to him. The angry green giant spun to look at me, then saw the cryo tube, and ran over more quickly than anything that big had any right to. I stepped in his way. Then I realized I had stepped in the Hulk's way. Luckily the big guy seemed willing to listen, quickly coming to a stop and leaving grooves in the ground in the process. "It's okay, bud. She's healthy, and we're going to put her through every test we got to make sure any brainwashing has been shut down."
He breathed heavily, eyes on his cousin. "Jenny... like Hulk?"
"Yeah," I patted his arm, looking over at her. I could feel him shaking, confused. "Remember what I said though. She's strong. And we've got her back. She's riding with us."
"They don't seem to know that," Natasha noted, watching as the BRIDGE soldiers began to roll her off to the Quinjet that Pietro and Helen had been put in. "I'll go direct them to the Defiant," Natasha turned and smiled at the Hulk. "Good job, by the way, big guy. You did well."
Hulk, surprisingly, seemed almost bashful at that.
With that, Natasha turned and walked over to the group rolling Jennifer's tube, leaving me with Hulk.
"Hulk go to Dial's spaceship," The big guy said, turning and walking towards it. However, he stopped for a moment before speaking up again without turning around. "Banner look at Jenny later?" he asked more quietly than I had ever heard him speak before.
I blinked at the question for a second before replying, "Of course, I don't think anyone could stop him anymore they could you Hulk."
Hulk simply grunted at that and began walking off once more back to the Defiant.
That was a major surprise, Hulk had basically admitted there was something that only Bruce could do that he couldn't despite all his strength. I guess the two have learned to get along better than I originally thought in such a short time even it wasn't perfect yet. I kinda smiled at that, than turned and walked towards where the Marvel Trinity stood.
Well, two of them stood, while the third was being looked over by a medic as he sat on a makeshift stretcher. The massive form of the Hulkbuster stood nearby, drawing the gaze of others around the area. The Darkforce armor, on the other hand, had fallen apart from the abuse of the past few hours and lay in pieces on the ground.
"I'm telling you, I've got guys at the tower that can fix this," Tony grumbled, watching the medic bandage hole in his shoulder. Tony's face was grimy and sweaty, far from the impeccable look he usually preferred, with his blue shirt ruined by the hole and blood caused by Abomination.
"It's just to keep you from bleeding out, sir," the medic said.
"Let the man do his work," Steve said with a fond smile. He was wearing his full armor with the helmet down, his famous shield on his back and some sweat on his brow, standing there with his thumbs in his belt.
"You know, the Hulkbuster's catoms are designed to deal with this," Tony pointed out before looking up and grinning when he saw me walk over. "Hey, Fanboy. Heard you saved Jennifer. Nice job."
"Indeed!" the giant man standing there stepped forward and clapped my shoulder with surprising gentleness, smiling down at me. "My friends told me of your heroism, Mahmoud Schahed! You've done quite well!"
Goddamn it, stop blushing!
"T-Thanks," I said, grinning up at the big guy.
"Mahmoud, let me introduce you to Thor Odinson," Steve said politely.
"He knows who he is. Every somewhat sexual human on the planet does," Tony reminded him while grinning at me before wincing when the medic cleaned his wound a bit deeper. Some of the people who had been staring in awe at Thor must have overheard because they rushed to find something else to do.
"It's only polite," Steve mumbled.
Thor grasped my forearm and smiled, his luxurious hair flowing. Seriously, I could see a couple of women and men in the background panning their eyes from Steve to Thor as the pair stood there. I shook his hand and grinned.
"I'm a big fan, sir. Ever since I was younger and I read your stories," I admitted.
"Yeah, like the time he put on a dress to get his hammer back?" Tony noted.
Thor spun, confused. "Wait, what!?"
"Like I said!" I added quickly. "It's an honor!"
Thor frowned at Tony, who smirked back, before turning to me. "I would love to hear the stories of your adventures, young hero."
"Same to you, Thor," Thor nodded. I turned and grinned at Steve and Tony. "Wants to hear about my adventures. How freaking awesome is that?!"
"Why are you so starstruck?" Tony asked. "You've already met me, and aren't I your favorite Avenger."
"And then I got to know you," Tony pouted at that. "Besides, when you have a religion based on you-"
"Have you seen my fans? I'm telling you-"
"Steve has more way fans than you Tony, practically all of America."
"Whoa, don't bring me into this," Steve said in amusement.
"Man, I'm a billionaire superhero, I should get way more respect," Tony grumbled.
At the same time, Thor was chuckling, shaking his head.
"So where've you been?" Tony asked curiously. "We could have used you before now, dramatic entrance aside."
Thor sobered. "I'm afraid that I was doing work across the realms. My father has been having me travel around and clean up the mess Malekith and the Dark Elves created during the Convergence. I returned when Heimdall contacted me about the return of the Scepter, though he has been silent since."
"Sorry to say we don't have the Scepter," Steve said sadly. "Strucker got away with it, but we do have another artifact."
"Ah, yes," Thor nodded slowly. "A Berserker Staff. I suppose I'll have to have it destroyed. Even as outdated as it is."
"Or you know, let us study it?" Tony asked. When Thor glared at him, Tony waved his uninjured arm. "Yeah, yeah, we'll give it up. By the way, Fanboy, why is the Omnitrix glowing yellow?"
I looked down at the Omnitrix, which had been glowing since Thor had shown up in the skies above me and only got brighter since it had touched him when we shook hands, then at the Marvel Trinity. Steve seemed curious, same as Thor, while Tony was blinking. Suddenly, Tony started and looked between the Omnitrix and Thor a couple of times before looking at me. When I nodded, he seemed about to say something.
Before we could continue, far above in the skies, the Enterprise Helicarrier uncloaked and slowly lowered over the battlefield, more Quinjets flying from off the top of it. The Bus was coming down as well.
"That's our cue," Steve said, turning to look at Tony. "Can you walk?"
"I got stabbed in the shoulder, not the leg," came the quip.
Steve smiled quickly at that.
The four of us walked towards the Bus as it landed in a field next to the Defiant. The other Avengers came as well from what they had been doing until we were walking in a line.
Okay, get ready for a long list.
From left to right, there was Warrior, Mockingbird, Nomad, Alloy, Falcon, War Machine, me (AKA Dial), Iron Man (suitless), Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye. Walking next to all these superheroes, while also being a superhero, still hadn't become old hat, and I hoped it would always feel this fucking awesome. This image alone would make for a badass poster to boot! Shame there was no one with a camera nearby.
The back doors opened once the Bus had settled down, revealing those inside.
Maria Hill, Director of BRIDGE, stood at the center, wearing a long-coat I could have sworn once belonged to Fury, who was standing inside the Bus on the upper level simply watching everything. Maria was walking in-between Phil Coulson and Victoria Hand, alongside a few guards coming out to surround the area. Thor stopped at the sight of Coulson, then started walking forward quickly, looking confused but elated at the same time. "Son of Coul!"
Coulson smiled at the sight of the God of Thunder. "Son of Odin."
Suddenly the tiny Phil was wrapped up in the arms of Thor, who lifted him up with an enormous belly laugh. "You're alive! By Odin, you're alive, my friend!"
"Not for long if you keep squeezing him," Tony noted as we joined the group, Phil looking some combination of embarrassed and pleased.
I looked behind the BRIDGE leaders and saw Fitz-Simmons in the lab with...
I separated from the group and walked into the plane, moving past the convertible Phil treasured and to the lab. When I entered, we met eyes. Skye gave me a quick upwards twitch of the lips.
"Sorry," I said immediately.
Fitz seemed confused, while Simmons seemed to understand what was going on immediately. She seemed ready to leave, but I waved for her to stay as Skye crossed her arms, moving to look up at me. "Sorry for what exactly?"
"Coddling you," I replied. "I'm... not great at this stuff. I wanted to keep you safe but I ended up acting like you were a baby with a knife in one hand and an electrical outlet nearby."
Why the hell was I so nervous damn it!? I shuffled my feet as she looked up at me. She softened after a moment.
"...Look, I may not be a superhero, but I can take care of myself..." Skye held up a hand to stop me from talking, her eyes on mine. "But I do appreciate you worrying. Just... tone it back, okay?"
"...Might need some practice," I admitted. "Give me some time?"
For some reason, a loud squeal came from Simmons. When we turned to look at her, she held her hands over her mouth, embarrassed. "Sorry!"
Fitz rubbed his forehead, chuckling slightly.
"And this is my team. Well, some of them," Phil said, drawing our attention. He walked in while Thor strode in, smiling as he did so, apparently getting the tour from Phil.
Skye and Simmons both blushed bright red at the sight of the six-plus tall paragon of masculinity. I shared a look with Fitz, and for some reason, I felt like we shared an unspoken frustration.
"Thor, Dial," Maria walked in, Victoria following her. "We're meeting upstairs. There are some things to discuss.
Thor and I shared a glance (how freaking cool is that sentence!?), the giant man moving to follow Maria. I was going as well, but Skye stopped me with a hand on my arm.
"Hey, uh," she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "We'll talk later?"
"Um... yeah, of course," I said hesitantly. I felt as though I'd made some progress but towards what, I'm not sure. I mean, I knew that it was possible to be a hero and have... other, interests, but I was really bad at that sort of thing.
Feeling confused, I decided to simply go upstairs. Thor followed me to the stairs, just behind Maria, Victoria, and Phil. Once we were in the hallways, Thor stopped me. The three turned to look at us.
"Something wrong, Thor?" Maria asked.
"No, Lady Hill," Thor returned. "I simply wish to speak privately with Mahmoud."
The three superspies looked between us, a measuring gaze in their eyes. After a moment, they continued on.
"So, uh, what is this about, sir?" I said nervously, looking up at the taller man. "I mean, is it sir? Prince? I can't really call you god, cause of religion, but I really want to be respectful, and I'm not sure-"
Thor let out a booming laugh, those ones that come from deep in the chest that only really big guys can do. "Mahmoud, we are fellow heroes! Call me Thor, as all my allies and friends do," he clasped my shoulder and smiled down at me. "I simply want to give you advice... I have been alive for 1500 years. Give or take. I've had my regrets. So let me give you advice a friend gave me, Mahmoud. Don't make the mistake of not going for what you want. Or, as my dear friend Darcy said, 'ask her out, you dummy'."
"...Ah," I said, scratching the back of my neck.
"Now, you seem to have something you've been wishing to tell me?"
Guess I'd underestimated Thor's intelligence. You don't become as legendary as he was by collecting bottle caps.
I raised up the Omnitrix, about to speak, before thinking. "Yeah, this might be better to say in the group right now. But I promise it is important!"
Thor seemed intrigued, eyeing the Omnitrix with interest. As he did, I looked at the weapon on his belt.
Mjølnir. Man, that hammer had so much weight to it, pun intended, a presence that made Thor seem grander. Though, that could have been my inner nerd speaking. I really wanted to try and lift it.
"Come then," Thor led me along. "It seems I have much to catch up on."
------
The Founding Avengers plus Maria, Fury, Victoria, and Phil were inside the glass room in the center of the Bus that Coulson used as a briefing room, leaving the rest of us Reserve Avengers watching from the couches outside as they told Thor about the events of the past few weeks, the screen currently frozen on the image of the Triskelion with a mountain of blue-green crystals on top of the hanger bay.
"What did you do with that thing, by the way?" Bobbi asked, the Amazonian blonde looking at me. "I mean, that much crystal was probably tough to get rid of."
"I gave some of it to Tony," I admitted. "But the rest I just put away as Diamondhead."
"What did Tony want with your crystals?" Isabelle asked, once more reminding me of Lucy Lawless. Something about the almost aggressive attitude she always exuded, even in her civilian clothes.
"I'm pretty sure he wanted to make a suit out of it," I said, not revealing the truth. "We've had a crazy week though, huh?"
"I'll say," Sam, our fearless leader, sighed lazily in a big chair with too much plush. "The boys in my old squad wouldn't believe it. I keep getting texts about it."
"Kind of old hat for me," Bucky noted. "The aliens are weird. Uh, no offense."
I shrugged, not taking it personally.
"But most of this is just upgrades on what happened before."
Creel, standing nearby and looking out of the window at the forest around us, grunted.
Rhodey walked up from the back of the ship. "They've got Jennifer all set up, and the prisoners have been put into the Enterprise. We're ready to leave."
"Cool," I said, smiling at that.
A knock on the glass brought our attention to the briefing. Phil waved at me to enter. I waved back, then turned to my team. "See you guys in a bit."
"What do they want to talk to you about, anyway?" Bobbi asked.
I looked down at the Omnitrix. It wasn't glowing yellow anymore, though it had been doing that since Thor had appeared and had gotten even brighter after touching him. I kept expecting it to speak and tell me what was going on, but the watch had been silent so far. Still, I knew it must have done its work. "Something important."
Leaving it at that, I entered the glass room. Hulk had become Bruce again, who was still wearing his armor with a lab coat on top. Thank god, because we were crowding the small space as is without the bulk of the Hulk joining in.
"So," I said looking around. "What's up?"
"Thor said you wanted to say something to us?" Steve asked, clear blue eyes steady on me.
"Yeah... so," I lifted my watch. "Omnitrix. It can basically do it all. Even I don't know how many aliens are really in this thing."
"We've made a list of around forty that you can think of," Tony reminded me, having been the one asking the most questions about the watch. Though there had been a close race between him, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, and of course BRIDGE.
"Right. But remember, the Omnitrix was made to be a tool of diplomacy, first and foremost," I responded.
"And I would remind you, that this 'Azmuth' instead ended up making something that can let an untrained civilian fight the Hulk," Fury said, still wearing a purple button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Well, not just the Hulk. Wondering what Fury would think of Way Big, I sighed. "Yeah well, that's-"
"I must say, I don't recognize any of the aliens you can turn into," Thor said curiously. "I've fought many beings, but nothing like many of those creatures you mimic."
"He's from another universe, remember? Different aliens." Tony said to Thor, who did a little 'ah' at the reminder.
"There's more," I said. "The Omnitrix doesn't just contain alien DNA. It can also scan it and replicate it. So now..."
I lifted the watch and turned it on, a hologram of Four Arms floating over my wrist. I flipped through Jury Rigg, Rath, Upgrade, and Blitzwolfer before reaching the final one. The others in the room leaned in to look at it.
"It's you?" Bruce said, confused. "You can turn into yourself?"
"No," I said, staring at the image that looked something like me floating there. "This one is new, gained from a scan I got today."
"Asgardian," Phil said softly.
Thor blinked. "That is... me?"
"The Omnitrix's interpretation anyway," I admitted. "I have to say, I'm not sure what this means. I mean, will I have lightning powers like you? Or just be a form like a normal civilian Asgardian? I don't know."
"It is interesting," Maria noted, the Director said, her eyes narrowing. "And you say the Omnitrix does this every time? It scans new aliens and gives you a new form each time?"
"Like I said, it's a diplomatic tool at heart. Made to let you walk a mile in someone else's shoes," I looked over at Thor and chuckled nervously. "Sorry, by the way, if this offends you. I can't really control the Omnitrix."
"Not something I like hearing," Victoria mumbled in the background. Thor, on the other hand, simply laughed.
"Do not worry! It is odd, yes, but not something I find offensive," he crossed his arms with a proud grin. "After all, if you want a truly powerful form, an Asgardian is clearly it."
Huh. Who would in a fight between Atomix and Thor?
"You gonna try it out?" Tony asked.
"Not here," Maria said immediately. "We have a training facility in place. And Thor, I'd like you to be there, if possible?"
"Of course, Lady Hill," Thor said respectfully. He looked over at me, and for some reason, I got the feeling there was more he wanted to say but was holding back. It made me nervous. Was there something about being Asgardian I had to know? Something that might affect my form in a way I didn't expect, like Ghostfreak suddenly getting his own personality? I mean, considering that I now had to worry about... Oh right.
"One more thing," I said. I looked over at Tony, knowing what was coming, then pushed through. "There is, a... possibility, that... well, Big Chill, the new alien I unlocked before Thor got here, reproduces asexually. And that kind of works for me. So, at some point, I might-"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Tony started laughing immediately, the damn genius near instantly figuring out what I was getting at. Natasha smirked, eyes glimmering, while Bruce winced in sympathy.
I groaned. "Yeah, fine, I might be pregnant down the road."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tony was crying at this point, not even able to joke, he was laughing so hard. Lucky me, the others had their own snark to throw.
"Man, you don't even get to do the fun parts?" Clint asked, grinning. "And does this mean we should throw you a baby shower?"
"And does it count as a baby shower when you're both the mother and the father?" Natasha added, a slow smirk rising when I gave her a betrayed look.
"HAHAHA-Ow!" Tony scowled, grabbing at his injured shoulder. "Damn it."
"Hope that hurt," I scowled.
Tony grinned despite the pain. "Not as much as childbirth!"
Steve sighed. "Okay, lay off him. We should-"
"Dial," Maria interrupted, her gaze hard. "How many children?"
I thought about that. "I don't know, a dozen? And they only give birth once every 80 years or so. I'm pretty sure it won't happen to be honest, but just in case."
Maria shook her head and rubbed her nose, sighing. "Well, there is something else on the table, Thor. Speaking on behalf of the United Nations, I have been given permission to request an alliance between the people of Earth and Asgard," she chuckled. "It's a bit informal but I've been told that it is within my capacity as BRIDGE Director to approach alien leaders to establish friendly diplomatic relations and offer treaties."
Thor frowned. "I... I do not believe I have the authority to make such a deal. I am only the Prince of Asgard. I will, however, approach my father about this. What," he looked a little out of his depth. "What would be in the treaty? Would it mean-"
"That can be left up to the people who make those decisions," Maria said. "I can approach you about it but actually writing up the deal should be left between your father and our people."
Thor seemed relieved.
"In the meantime, we should focus on this," Maria tapped at the screen. "At your request, I'll have the founding Avengers on the same vehicle with Jennifer Walter, though I've decided the Bus would be better since there is more room here than on the Defiant. Dial, you'll be piloting the Defiant with Bobbi and Sam, while the rest of the Reserve Avengers will go with the Grapplers, Deathlok, and the Maximoff Twins to the Enterprise," The Director looked around. "You have your orders, everyone."
------
Would you believe the ride home was turning out to be really boring? Seriously, flying a super advanced spaceship made out of a Quinjet with a super assassin and flying soldier along for the ride as a Helicarrier flew on one side and the Bus flew on the other, I should have felt pretty damn awesome. Instead, I was just bored, flying towards the East Coast.
"Am I the only one who's bored?" I asked Sam and Bobbi.
The pair gave me that smile that more experienced people always give their juniors, the black man and blonde woman looking a bit smug.
"It's how these flights usually go," Bobbi said from the copilots seat in her civvies uniform of a shirt and jeans.
"Well, not mine," Sam added, standing behind us in his flight suit. "But flying aircraft is always like this."
"No, flying a long ass time is like this," I grumbled. "Think I could have flown there and back if I didn't have to slow down for the fleet. Hell, Astrodactyl could have done it. Fasttrack could have run there in this time."
"That's not the mission," Bobbi reminded me. "I have a question though. How many aliens do you have anyway?"
I thought about that, counting them up in my head. Swampfire, Blitzwolfer, Fasttrack... "I can access 15 so far out of... 1,000,000 and something?"
Sam turned to stare at me. "Jesus. Are there even that many aliens? How can you keep remember them all?"
"I can't," I admitted sadly. "I mean, I try, but I tend to end up favoring some aliens without meaning too. Diamondhead is probably my favorite, though Blitzwolfer used to be. But I haven't used Goop or Swampfire too often lately for example. I mean, it makes sense, but some of my aliens might end up being underutilized."
Bobbi frowned. "Well, as long as whatever you use is efficient for the task your going for, does it matter?"
I grunted. Speaking logically, no. Speaking as a fan of the Ben 10 shows, yes. Oh well.
"What I want to know is, how come so many of your aliens look like monsters from movies?" Sam asked. "Frankenstein, the Mummy, Wolfman, and the Mothman. Or how Astrodactyl looks like a dinosaur. Is that because that's how they look in your universe, or..."
"I also have a vampire alien down the road. And I like to think that the aliens in the watch were the inspiration for monsters in my universe," Ben's universe, technically. "I mean, how do you think we got legends about Thor? He visited, we told the stories, they evolved. To paraphrase a line from a British sci-fi show, a lot of monsters look like my aliens," I thought for a moment. "Also, Frankenstein was the scientist. The monster didn't have a name."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
"So how were your fights anyway?" I asked the pair.
Bobbi grunted.
"...That bad?"
"More rough than bad," she admitted. "I didn't have to fight any gamma monsters, but Centipedes are tough enough I had to resort to killing them most of the time. Even with Clint and Natasha helping, it wasn't easy. Their skin is tough to cut through."
"I probably had an easier time of it then," Sam said. "The Chitauri fliers aren't as experienced as Rhodey and I were, so I ended up taking them out pretty easily. You were lucky though, just faking your way through a fight."
I scoffed. "Tell that to the Grapplers. Marian hits like a freaking truck, Melissa's powers are broken, and Wanda is basically magic. I barely held them off as Frankenstrike. Next time someone asks me to fight three badasses like that while holding back, I'm letting you guys do it."
Bobbi laughed at that, while Sam chuckled.
------
Author's Note: More of a transition chapter than anything, but it does press on some important things. A lot of the current work will be just furthering the world I've built, things like BRIDGE's new facilities, the various tech that will be made, characters interacting with each other, and full chapters dedicated to everyone except Dial, who has gotten a hell of a lot of screen-time recently. Still, it was a fun write.
From the pictures I'd seen, her former human self looked more like Alison Brie, with the pale skin and curly brown hair, and the slightly bookish features I was familiar with from the show Community. Made sense she would be the form of the bookishly shy Jennifer Walters.
It wasn't funny now though, seeing her roll past me like some sick parody of a modern-day Snow White.
"Hey," Natasha walked up to me as I stood there, giving me a smile. She was wearing her normal catsuit, rather than the armor we'd made her, though her handgun was at her side. "You okay?"
"Yeah," I said back, smiling. "Just thinking."
I looked back at Jennifer's cryo tube, then at Natasha. "Been a long day."
"WHERE JENNY?!"
When Natasha and I turned, Hulk was aggressively striding through the courtyard, looking around quickly and causing more than a few of the agents and personnel to back away quickly on instinct from the titan of muscles moving among them.
"Hulk!" I called out to him. The angry green giant spun to look at me, then saw the cryo tube, and ran over more quickly than anything that big had any right to. I stepped in his way. Then I realized I had stepped in the Hulk's way. Luckily the big guy seemed willing to listen, quickly coming to a stop and leaving grooves in the ground in the process. "It's okay, bud. She's healthy, and we're going to put her through every test we got to make sure any brainwashing has been shut down."
He breathed heavily, eyes on his cousin. "Jenny... like Hulk?"
"Yeah," I patted his arm, looking over at her. I could feel him shaking, confused. "Remember what I said though. She's strong. And we've got her back. She's riding with us."
"They don't seem to know that," Natasha noted, watching as the BRIDGE soldiers began to roll her off to the Quinjet that Pietro and Helen had been put in. "I'll go direct them to the Defiant," Natasha turned and smiled at the Hulk. "Good job, by the way, big guy. You did well."
Hulk, surprisingly, seemed almost bashful at that.
With that, Natasha turned and walked over to the group rolling Jennifer's tube, leaving me with Hulk.
"Hulk go to Dial's spaceship," The big guy said, turning and walking towards it. However, he stopped for a moment before speaking up again without turning around. "Banner look at Jenny later?" he asked more quietly than I had ever heard him speak before.
I blinked at the question for a second before replying, "Of course, I don't think anyone could stop him anymore they could you Hulk."
Hulk simply grunted at that and began walking off once more back to the Defiant.
That was a major surprise, Hulk had basically admitted there was something that only Bruce could do that he couldn't despite all his strength. I guess the two have learned to get along better than I originally thought in such a short time even it wasn't perfect yet. I kinda smiled at that, than turned and walked towards where the Marvel Trinity stood.
Well, two of them stood, while the third was being looked over by a medic as he sat on a makeshift stretcher. The massive form of the Hulkbuster stood nearby, drawing the gaze of others around the area. The Darkforce armor, on the other hand, had fallen apart from the abuse of the past few hours and lay in pieces on the ground.
"I'm telling you, I've got guys at the tower that can fix this," Tony grumbled, watching the medic bandage hole in his shoulder. Tony's face was grimy and sweaty, far from the impeccable look he usually preferred, with his blue shirt ruined by the hole and blood caused by Abomination.
"It's just to keep you from bleeding out, sir," the medic said.
"Let the man do his work," Steve said with a fond smile. He was wearing his full armor with the helmet down, his famous shield on his back and some sweat on his brow, standing there with his thumbs in his belt.
"You know, the Hulkbuster's catoms are designed to deal with this," Tony pointed out before looking up and grinning when he saw me walk over. "Hey, Fanboy. Heard you saved Jennifer. Nice job."
"Indeed!" the giant man standing there stepped forward and clapped my shoulder with surprising gentleness, smiling down at me. "My friends told me of your heroism, Mahmoud Schahed! You've done quite well!"
Goddamn it, stop blushing!
"T-Thanks," I said, grinning up at the big guy.
"Mahmoud, let me introduce you to Thor Odinson," Steve said politely.
"He knows who he is. Every somewhat sexual human on the planet does," Tony reminded him while grinning at me before wincing when the medic cleaned his wound a bit deeper. Some of the people who had been staring in awe at Thor must have overheard because they rushed to find something else to do.
"It's only polite," Steve mumbled.
Thor grasped my forearm and smiled, his luxurious hair flowing. Seriously, I could see a couple of women and men in the background panning their eyes from Steve to Thor as the pair stood there. I shook his hand and grinned.
"I'm a big fan, sir. Ever since I was younger and I read your stories," I admitted.
"Yeah, like the time he put on a dress to get his hammer back?" Tony noted.
Thor spun, confused. "Wait, what!?"
"Like I said!" I added quickly. "It's an honor!"
Thor frowned at Tony, who smirked back, before turning to me. "I would love to hear the stories of your adventures, young hero."
"Same to you, Thor," Thor nodded. I turned and grinned at Steve and Tony. "Wants to hear about my adventures. How freaking awesome is that?!"
"Why are you so starstruck?" Tony asked. "You've already met me, and aren't I your favorite Avenger."
"And then I got to know you," Tony pouted at that. "Besides, when you have a religion based on you-"
"Have you seen my fans? I'm telling you-"
"Steve has more way fans than you Tony, practically all of America."
"Whoa, don't bring me into this," Steve said in amusement.
"Man, I'm a billionaire superhero, I should get way more respect," Tony grumbled.
At the same time, Thor was chuckling, shaking his head.
"So where've you been?" Tony asked curiously. "We could have used you before now, dramatic entrance aside."
Thor sobered. "I'm afraid that I was doing work across the realms. My father has been having me travel around and clean up the mess Malekith and the Dark Elves created during the Convergence. I returned when Heimdall contacted me about the return of the Scepter, though he has been silent since."
"Sorry to say we don't have the Scepter," Steve said sadly. "Strucker got away with it, but we do have another artifact."
"Ah, yes," Thor nodded slowly. "A Berserker Staff. I suppose I'll have to have it destroyed. Even as outdated as it is."
"Or you know, let us study it?" Tony asked. When Thor glared at him, Tony waved his uninjured arm. "Yeah, yeah, we'll give it up. By the way, Fanboy, why is the Omnitrix glowing yellow?"
I looked down at the Omnitrix, which had been glowing since Thor had shown up in the skies above me and only got brighter since it had touched him when we shook hands, then at the Marvel Trinity. Steve seemed curious, same as Thor, while Tony was blinking. Suddenly, Tony started and looked between the Omnitrix and Thor a couple of times before looking at me. When I nodded, he seemed about to say something.
Before we could continue, far above in the skies, the Enterprise Helicarrier uncloaked and slowly lowered over the battlefield, more Quinjets flying from off the top of it. The Bus was coming down as well.
"That's our cue," Steve said, turning to look at Tony. "Can you walk?"
"I got stabbed in the shoulder, not the leg," came the quip.
Steve smiled quickly at that.
The four of us walked towards the Bus as it landed in a field next to the Defiant. The other Avengers came as well from what they had been doing until we were walking in a line.
Okay, get ready for a long list.
From left to right, there was Warrior, Mockingbird, Nomad, Alloy, Falcon, War Machine, me (AKA Dial), Iron Man (suitless), Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye. Walking next to all these superheroes, while also being a superhero, still hadn't become old hat, and I hoped it would always feel this fucking awesome. This image alone would make for a badass poster to boot! Shame there was no one with a camera nearby.
The back doors opened once the Bus had settled down, revealing those inside.
Maria Hill, Director of BRIDGE, stood at the center, wearing a long-coat I could have sworn once belonged to Fury, who was standing inside the Bus on the upper level simply watching everything. Maria was walking in-between Phil Coulson and Victoria Hand, alongside a few guards coming out to surround the area. Thor stopped at the sight of Coulson, then started walking forward quickly, looking confused but elated at the same time. "Son of Coul!"
Coulson smiled at the sight of the God of Thunder. "Son of Odin."
Suddenly the tiny Phil was wrapped up in the arms of Thor, who lifted him up with an enormous belly laugh. "You're alive! By Odin, you're alive, my friend!"
"Not for long if you keep squeezing him," Tony noted as we joined the group, Phil looking some combination of embarrassed and pleased.
I looked behind the BRIDGE leaders and saw Fitz-Simmons in the lab with...
I separated from the group and walked into the plane, moving past the convertible Phil treasured and to the lab. When I entered, we met eyes. Skye gave me a quick upwards twitch of the lips.
"Sorry," I said immediately.
Fitz seemed confused, while Simmons seemed to understand what was going on immediately. She seemed ready to leave, but I waved for her to stay as Skye crossed her arms, moving to look up at me. "Sorry for what exactly?"
"Coddling you," I replied. "I'm... not great at this stuff. I wanted to keep you safe but I ended up acting like you were a baby with a knife in one hand and an electrical outlet nearby."
Why the hell was I so nervous damn it!? I shuffled my feet as she looked up at me. She softened after a moment.
"...Look, I may not be a superhero, but I can take care of myself..." Skye held up a hand to stop me from talking, her eyes on mine. "But I do appreciate you worrying. Just... tone it back, okay?"
"...Might need some practice," I admitted. "Give me some time?"
For some reason, a loud squeal came from Simmons. When we turned to look at her, she held her hands over her mouth, embarrassed. "Sorry!"
Fitz rubbed his forehead, chuckling slightly.
"And this is my team. Well, some of them," Phil said, drawing our attention. He walked in while Thor strode in, smiling as he did so, apparently getting the tour from Phil.
Skye and Simmons both blushed bright red at the sight of the six-plus tall paragon of masculinity. I shared a look with Fitz, and for some reason, I felt like we shared an unspoken frustration.
"Thor, Dial," Maria walked in, Victoria following her. "We're meeting upstairs. There are some things to discuss.
Thor and I shared a glance (how freaking cool is that sentence!?), the giant man moving to follow Maria. I was going as well, but Skye stopped me with a hand on my arm.
"Hey, uh," she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. "We'll talk later?"
"Um... yeah, of course," I said hesitantly. I felt as though I'd made some progress but towards what, I'm not sure. I mean, I knew that it was possible to be a hero and have... other, interests, but I was really bad at that sort of thing.
Feeling confused, I decided to simply go upstairs. Thor followed me to the stairs, just behind Maria, Victoria, and Phil. Once we were in the hallways, Thor stopped me. The three turned to look at us.
"Something wrong, Thor?" Maria asked.
"No, Lady Hill," Thor returned. "I simply wish to speak privately with Mahmoud."
The three superspies looked between us, a measuring gaze in their eyes. After a moment, they continued on.
"So, uh, what is this about, sir?" I said nervously, looking up at the taller man. "I mean, is it sir? Prince? I can't really call you god, cause of religion, but I really want to be respectful, and I'm not sure-"
Thor let out a booming laugh, those ones that come from deep in the chest that only really big guys can do. "Mahmoud, we are fellow heroes! Call me Thor, as all my allies and friends do," he clasped my shoulder and smiled down at me. "I simply want to give you advice... I have been alive for 1500 years. Give or take. I've had my regrets. So let me give you advice a friend gave me, Mahmoud. Don't make the mistake of not going for what you want. Or, as my dear friend Darcy said, 'ask her out, you dummy'."
"...Ah," I said, scratching the back of my neck.
"Now, you seem to have something you've been wishing to tell me?"
Guess I'd underestimated Thor's intelligence. You don't become as legendary as he was by collecting bottle caps.
I raised up the Omnitrix, about to speak, before thinking. "Yeah, this might be better to say in the group right now. But I promise it is important!"
Thor seemed intrigued, eyeing the Omnitrix with interest. As he did, I looked at the weapon on his belt.
Mjølnir. Man, that hammer had so much weight to it, pun intended, a presence that made Thor seem grander. Though, that could have been my inner nerd speaking. I really wanted to try and lift it.
"Come then," Thor led me along. "It seems I have much to catch up on."
------
The Founding Avengers plus Maria, Fury, Victoria, and Phil were inside the glass room in the center of the Bus that Coulson used as a briefing room, leaving the rest of us Reserve Avengers watching from the couches outside as they told Thor about the events of the past few weeks, the screen currently frozen on the image of the Triskelion with a mountain of blue-green crystals on top of the hanger bay.
"What did you do with that thing, by the way?" Bobbi asked, the Amazonian blonde looking at me. "I mean, that much crystal was probably tough to get rid of."
"I gave some of it to Tony," I admitted. "But the rest I just put away as Diamondhead."
"What did Tony want with your crystals?" Isabelle asked, once more reminding me of Lucy Lawless. Something about the almost aggressive attitude she always exuded, even in her civilian clothes.
"I'm pretty sure he wanted to make a suit out of it," I said, not revealing the truth. "We've had a crazy week though, huh?"
"I'll say," Sam, our fearless leader, sighed lazily in a big chair with too much plush. "The boys in my old squad wouldn't believe it. I keep getting texts about it."
"Kind of old hat for me," Bucky noted. "The aliens are weird. Uh, no offense."
I shrugged, not taking it personally.
"But most of this is just upgrades on what happened before."
Creel, standing nearby and looking out of the window at the forest around us, grunted.
Rhodey walked up from the back of the ship. "They've got Jennifer all set up, and the prisoners have been put into the Enterprise. We're ready to leave."
"Cool," I said, smiling at that.
A knock on the glass brought our attention to the briefing. Phil waved at me to enter. I waved back, then turned to my team. "See you guys in a bit."
"What do they want to talk to you about, anyway?" Bobbi asked.
I looked down at the Omnitrix. It wasn't glowing yellow anymore, though it had been doing that since Thor had appeared and had gotten even brighter after touching him. I kept expecting it to speak and tell me what was going on, but the watch had been silent so far. Still, I knew it must have done its work. "Something important."
Leaving it at that, I entered the glass room. Hulk had become Bruce again, who was still wearing his armor with a lab coat on top. Thank god, because we were crowding the small space as is without the bulk of the Hulk joining in.
"So," I said looking around. "What's up?"
"Thor said you wanted to say something to us?" Steve asked, clear blue eyes steady on me.
"Yeah... so," I lifted my watch. "Omnitrix. It can basically do it all. Even I don't know how many aliens are really in this thing."
"We've made a list of around forty that you can think of," Tony reminded me, having been the one asking the most questions about the watch. Though there had been a close race between him, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, and of course BRIDGE.
"Right. But remember, the Omnitrix was made to be a tool of diplomacy, first and foremost," I responded.
"And I would remind you, that this 'Azmuth' instead ended up making something that can let an untrained civilian fight the Hulk," Fury said, still wearing a purple button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Well, not just the Hulk. Wondering what Fury would think of Way Big, I sighed. "Yeah well, that's-"
"I must say, I don't recognize any of the aliens you can turn into," Thor said curiously. "I've fought many beings, but nothing like many of those creatures you mimic."
"He's from another universe, remember? Different aliens." Tony said to Thor, who did a little 'ah' at the reminder.
"There's more," I said. "The Omnitrix doesn't just contain alien DNA. It can also scan it and replicate it. So now..."
I lifted the watch and turned it on, a hologram of Four Arms floating over my wrist. I flipped through Jury Rigg, Rath, Upgrade, and Blitzwolfer before reaching the final one. The others in the room leaned in to look at it.
"It's you?" Bruce said, confused. "You can turn into yourself?"
"No," I said, staring at the image that looked something like me floating there. "This one is new, gained from a scan I got today."
"Asgardian," Phil said softly.
Thor blinked. "That is... me?"
"The Omnitrix's interpretation anyway," I admitted. "I have to say, I'm not sure what this means. I mean, will I have lightning powers like you? Or just be a form like a normal civilian Asgardian? I don't know."
"It is interesting," Maria noted, the Director said, her eyes narrowing. "And you say the Omnitrix does this every time? It scans new aliens and gives you a new form each time?"
"Like I said, it's a diplomatic tool at heart. Made to let you walk a mile in someone else's shoes," I looked over at Thor and chuckled nervously. "Sorry, by the way, if this offends you. I can't really control the Omnitrix."
"Not something I like hearing," Victoria mumbled in the background. Thor, on the other hand, simply laughed.
"Do not worry! It is odd, yes, but not something I find offensive," he crossed his arms with a proud grin. "After all, if you want a truly powerful form, an Asgardian is clearly it."
Huh. Who would in a fight between Atomix and Thor?
"You gonna try it out?" Tony asked.
"Not here," Maria said immediately. "We have a training facility in place. And Thor, I'd like you to be there, if possible?"
"Of course, Lady Hill," Thor said respectfully. He looked over at me, and for some reason, I got the feeling there was more he wanted to say but was holding back. It made me nervous. Was there something about being Asgardian I had to know? Something that might affect my form in a way I didn't expect, like Ghostfreak suddenly getting his own personality? I mean, considering that I now had to worry about... Oh right.
"One more thing," I said. I looked over at Tony, knowing what was coming, then pushed through. "There is, a... possibility, that... well, Big Chill, the new alien I unlocked before Thor got here, reproduces asexually. And that kind of works for me. So, at some point, I might-"
"HAHAHAHAHA!" Tony started laughing immediately, the damn genius near instantly figuring out what I was getting at. Natasha smirked, eyes glimmering, while Bruce winced in sympathy.
I groaned. "Yeah, fine, I might be pregnant down the road."
"HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Tony was crying at this point, not even able to joke, he was laughing so hard. Lucky me, the others had their own snark to throw.
"Man, you don't even get to do the fun parts?" Clint asked, grinning. "And does this mean we should throw you a baby shower?"
"And does it count as a baby shower when you're both the mother and the father?" Natasha added, a slow smirk rising when I gave her a betrayed look.
"HAHAHA-Ow!" Tony scowled, grabbing at his injured shoulder. "Damn it."
"Hope that hurt," I scowled.
Tony grinned despite the pain. "Not as much as childbirth!"
Steve sighed. "Okay, lay off him. We should-"
"Dial," Maria interrupted, her gaze hard. "How many children?"
I thought about that. "I don't know, a dozen? And they only give birth once every 80 years or so. I'm pretty sure it won't happen to be honest, but just in case."
Maria shook her head and rubbed her nose, sighing. "Well, there is something else on the table, Thor. Speaking on behalf of the United Nations, I have been given permission to request an alliance between the people of Earth and Asgard," she chuckled. "It's a bit informal but I've been told that it is within my capacity as BRIDGE Director to approach alien leaders to establish friendly diplomatic relations and offer treaties."
Thor frowned. "I... I do not believe I have the authority to make such a deal. I am only the Prince of Asgard. I will, however, approach my father about this. What," he looked a little out of his depth. "What would be in the treaty? Would it mean-"
"That can be left up to the people who make those decisions," Maria said. "I can approach you about it but actually writing up the deal should be left between your father and our people."
Thor seemed relieved.
"In the meantime, we should focus on this," Maria tapped at the screen. "At your request, I'll have the founding Avengers on the same vehicle with Jennifer Walter, though I've decided the Bus would be better since there is more room here than on the Defiant. Dial, you'll be piloting the Defiant with Bobbi and Sam, while the rest of the Reserve Avengers will go with the Grapplers, Deathlok, and the Maximoff Twins to the Enterprise," The Director looked around. "You have your orders, everyone."
------
Would you believe the ride home was turning out to be really boring? Seriously, flying a super advanced spaceship made out of a Quinjet with a super assassin and flying soldier along for the ride as a Helicarrier flew on one side and the Bus flew on the other, I should have felt pretty damn awesome. Instead, I was just bored, flying towards the East Coast.
"Am I the only one who's bored?" I asked Sam and Bobbi.
The pair gave me that smile that more experienced people always give their juniors, the black man and blonde woman looking a bit smug.
"It's how these flights usually go," Bobbi said from the copilots seat in her civvies uniform of a shirt and jeans.
"Well, not mine," Sam added, standing behind us in his flight suit. "But flying aircraft is always like this."
"No, flying a long ass time is like this," I grumbled. "Think I could have flown there and back if I didn't have to slow down for the fleet. Hell, Astrodactyl could have done it. Fasttrack could have run there in this time."
"That's not the mission," Bobbi reminded me. "I have a question though. How many aliens do you have anyway?"
I thought about that, counting them up in my head. Swampfire, Blitzwolfer, Fasttrack... "I can access 15 so far out of... 1,000,000 and something?"
Sam turned to stare at me. "Jesus. Are there even that many aliens? How can you keep remember them all?"
"I can't," I admitted sadly. "I mean, I try, but I tend to end up favoring some aliens without meaning too. Diamondhead is probably my favorite, though Blitzwolfer used to be. But I haven't used Goop or Swampfire too often lately for example. I mean, it makes sense, but some of my aliens might end up being underutilized."
Bobbi frowned. "Well, as long as whatever you use is efficient for the task your going for, does it matter?"
I grunted. Speaking logically, no. Speaking as a fan of the Ben 10 shows, yes. Oh well.
"What I want to know is, how come so many of your aliens look like monsters from movies?" Sam asked. "Frankenstein, the Mummy, Wolfman, and the Mothman. Or how Astrodactyl looks like a dinosaur. Is that because that's how they look in your universe, or..."
"I also have a vampire alien down the road. And I like to think that the aliens in the watch were the inspiration for monsters in my universe," Ben's universe, technically. "I mean, how do you think we got legends about Thor? He visited, we told the stories, they evolved. To paraphrase a line from a British sci-fi show, a lot of monsters look like my aliens," I thought for a moment. "Also, Frankenstein was the scientist. The monster didn't have a name."
Sam rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah."
"So how were your fights anyway?" I asked the pair.
Bobbi grunted.
"...That bad?"
"More rough than bad," she admitted. "I didn't have to fight any gamma monsters, but Centipedes are tough enough I had to resort to killing them most of the time. Even with Clint and Natasha helping, it wasn't easy. Their skin is tough to cut through."
"I probably had an easier time of it then," Sam said. "The Chitauri fliers aren't as experienced as Rhodey and I were, so I ended up taking them out pretty easily. You were lucky though, just faking your way through a fight."
I scoffed. "Tell that to the Grapplers. Marian hits like a freaking truck, Melissa's powers are broken, and Wanda is basically magic. I barely held them off as Frankenstrike. Next time someone asks me to fight three badasses like that while holding back, I'm letting you guys do it."
Bobbi laughed at that, while Sam chuckled.
------
Author's Note: More of a transition chapter than anything, but it does press on some important things. A lot of the current work will be just furthering the world I've built, things like BRIDGE's new facilities, the various tech that will be made, characters interacting with each other, and full chapters dedicated to everyone except Dial, who has gotten a hell of a lot of screen-time recently. Still, it was a fun write.
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RichardWhereat
Feanor did nothing wrong.
- Location
- Australia
So, when that Hydra grunt told you to go fuck yourself... heh.
Will we be seeing Daredevil again soon? Also, hope Dials Asgardian gets solar powers. It'd help with the vampires. If vampires and Blade become a thing here.
Will we be seeing Daredevil again soon? Also, hope Dials Asgardian gets solar powers. It'd help with the vampires. If vampires and Blade become a thing here.
Akatsunami
The Bonetatoist
- Location
- Brazil
Behold the god of change, watch him change the worlds as he changes himself.
Hear to the god of knowledge, listen the stories of all the paths he walked as if they where his own.
Smell the wake of the god of war, as at times the path to change and knowledge, smells of death and blood.
Feel for the god of time, as all stories and paths reach their ends, sometimes suddenly like a snap of fingers.
Taste with the god of victory, in his banquets either by sweet or bitter ends your tongues will be marked.
Hear to the god of knowledge, listen the stories of all the paths he walked as if they where his own.
Smell the wake of the god of war, as at times the path to change and knowledge, smells of death and blood.
Feel for the god of time, as all stories and paths reach their ends, sometimes suddenly like a snap of fingers.
Taste with the god of victory, in his banquets either by sweet or bitter ends your tongues will be marked.
Krazyfan1
Worrying for the future.
- Location
- Australia
i'm kinda hoping it happens...
and then one or more stay around....
....although the Babies head to their home planet when born...might be a bit tricky here...
- Location
- Australia
Did they I remember Kevin saying they will wonder space and feed on Plasma.
Oh damn, I actually forgot about that. Man, pretty hilarious in hindsight
Matt will be back soon, as this is a good arc to reintroduce him.
As for solar powers, I have something else in mind. That said, bringing in Whampire during a vampire thing would rule!
Man, no pressure or anything
He did, though the wiki says they go to their home planet. Which makes them pretty fucking fast man.
- Location
- Australia
Home planet... which one tough. There were a lot of Necrofiggians at the temple where they keep the infinity map piece. Maybe there are a lot of planets colonised by them since they can live in lost of inhospitable places, can travel in space and are pretty much equipped to start their own colony.
My biggest fear for any future children of BigChill is that there is no home planet for them to go to so they will have to be raised on Earth where they can be monitored and protected. I worry if they travel around in MCU space. Bad things can happen, but than again staying on Earth with people like Strucker and the leader around... maybe Asgard is safe.
My biggest fear for any future children of BigChill is that there is no home planet for them to go to so they will have to be raised on Earth where they can be monitored and protected. I worry if they travel around in MCU space. Bad things can happen, but than again staying on Earth with people like Strucker and the leader around... maybe Asgard is safe.
- Location
- England
Did the Specter steal the Scepter? Because it seems to have gone missing from the story.
- Location
- Australia
Strucker stole the Scepter, it has not been missing. The Leader has been using it to make more enhanced people. Strucker has it alongside the two Shield agents and Blood Diamond.
- Location
- England
Eeeh, I think you missed the point of my post a little.
- Location
- Australia
Lol yep I missed it entirely.
RichardWhereat
Feanor did nothing wrong.
- Location
- Australia
God of Diplomacy?
- Location
- Australia
A thought just occurred to me about Loki/Odin and how he's going to be exposed. If they do have a signed treaty he's going to come to earth and make it a big thing to get people to bow to him.
The moment he's in the omnitrix's range the DNA scanning mode will activate and record his Frost Giant DNA. Boom international incident and a mad scramble to go look for the real Odin.
The moment he's in the omnitrix's range the DNA scanning mode will activate and record his Frost Giant DNA. Boom international incident and a mad scramble to go look for the real Odin.
47
Bruce Banner/Hulk
January 21st,2014
In the early morning in the labs of the Avengers Tower, Bruce watched as Mahmoud in his Upgrade form flowed across the surface of Jennifer's cryotube. The tube had been put in his lab, with the deprogramming machines BRIDGE had created to remove the various forms of brainwashing and conditioning HYDRA had employed on their victims and operatives alike erected around the tube. Maria had listened to his appeal to let him do the work himself alongside BRIDGE's best scientists in the field (and coincidently the one's Bruce trusted most) to assess the health of a new gamma-enhanced human. As of now, that was Bruce himself, the leading expert on gamma radiation in the world, Jemma Simmons, a skilled doctor despite her young age and who had experience dealing with enhanced biology, Tony Stark and Leopold Fitz, some of the most skilled engineers in the world, and Mahmoud Schahed, who had access to aliens that could build things beyond the current scope of human technology and had a device with the most advanced genetic scanner ever built in. With all that combined brainpower in one room, they would be able to find out-
"She is perfectly healthy," Simmons said as she circled the cryotube with a scanner in hand.
"Yep," Dial said as he flowed away from the cryotube returning to his bipedal form, his circular green eye brightening and dimming with each word before he changed back to human again in a bright green flash. "She's put on about four times the amount of muscle mass she had before, increased a couple of feet in size, burned away quite a lot of body fat, is about as radioactive as the Hulk so no alarms there, and is apparently extremely hungry, but other than that, she's healthy."
"W-What, there are no trackers in her?" Bruce asked, stepping forward and snatching the scanner out of Simmons' hands to circle Jennifer. "No cybernetic parts, no surgical wounds, nothing wrong?"
"No, she's fine," Simmons said, frowning at the frantic Dr. Banner. "In truth, it makes sense that she is so stable. Blonsky had the flawed super-soldier serum to protect him and your blood to give him the genes, while Rana Philips simply had her genetic template altered for the same effect, but Ms. Walters is a pure carrier of the Gamma Gene just like you," when he only seemed more agitated, Simmons spoke without thinking."Sir, she's a Hulk, she won't-"
"Don't-!" Dial and Simmons recoiled in surprise at the loud shout from him, Tony and Fitz looking over from the computer the two had been working on. For a moment, the room was still, Simmons biting her lip nervously. Fitz looked at him, then at Tony, who crossed his arms. He took a deep breath. "I just... she can't..."
"She-Hulk," Dial said softly. Bruce felt his fists clench. "That's not the name I gave her, it's what people are calling her right now. Bruce, she's going to get compared to you, and there's nothing wrong with that. Look, just... let us wake her, and you'll see."
"I-" He bit his lip, looking over at Jennifer. "...I didn't want this. It's why I left Betty, left everyone. I didn't want them hurt by anything related to the Hulk," Bruce winced internally at how offended the Hulk got within him, sending a silent apology to the 'Other Guy'.
"It's what assholes do, Banner," Tony said, finally speaking. "They attack nice guys. It's up to us to keep knocking them down. Now, look, your cousin needs you. All the brainwashing has been, well, washed out, so she'll be herself now. You going to talk to her? Help her?"
"...Dial. Turn into something that can fight her," Bruce said sadly.
"No," Dial responded.
His neck snapped to let him stare at Dial in shock. "Mahmoud-"
"Bruce. Ask the Hulk what he thinks would happen if the first thing he saw when waking up was Rath or Four Arms ready to fight."
The gamma-enhanced man's eyes flashed green. He scowled, then nodded. "Okay."
Simmons looked around, then nodded at Fitz, who ran forward to begin the unlocking procedures.
As he worked, Carl Creel walked into the room. Tony blinked at the sight of the tall bald man stepping in. "What's up, Knockoff?"
"Don't call me that," Creel said with the ease of practice.
"Stop stealing my 'Man of Metal' schtick," Tony quipped.
Creel snorted, then hesitated. "I just... I've been brainwashed, so I thought... I don't know what I thought."
Bruce blinked at the sight of the tall and usually confident man looking uncomfortable. Dial stepped forward and punched his fellow Reserve Avenger in the shoulder. "Yeah yeah, you big softy," Dial said with a mischievous look in his eyes. "You can stay."
Creel scoffed, crossing his arms across his barrel chest.
Together, the small group watched as Jen woke up within the tube as the steel and glass door was slowly opened.
"I gotta admit, I didn't expect her to be so..." Tony trailed off, horror filling his eyes as he realized what he'd been about to say.
Bruce stared pointedly at him, then at Creel, Dial, and Fitz. The three men coughed and focused on other things to avoid his gaze.
Deep inside Bruce, an ancient instinct belonging to all overprotective family members awoke as the Hulk felt the urge to grab a shotgun for some reason.
------
Jennifer Walters/?
Jennifer woke up and felt as though she had been given... something. Something intense. Like she went out and painted the town red to supernatural levels or something, though she hadn't done something like that since college with her more rambunctious sorority sisters. She blinked awake and more energy than she could ever remember coursed through her body. What happened? She had been in her kitchen, tired from a long day, and that... a big headed guy had shown up? What happened after that? She reached at one of the walls of the tube surrounding her, pulling at it. Why did she feel so powerfu-?
A loud wrenching sound filled the air as something flimsy tore apart in her hand. She looked at the wall she'd grabbed at and had a weird moment as she stared at the steel bent under her green fingers.
Bent steel. Green fingers.
"Uhhhhh-"
"Jenny?"
At the sound of someone speaking to her, she looked up. Bruce was standing under her. No, wait. He was... he was shorter than her? By like, two feet?
"Bruce?" Jennifer coughed. Why did her voice sound so different? "What happened? Where am I?"
"Hi there!" Jennifer turned to her left to see a very short, cute redhead with freckles and a British accent.
Looking around, Jennifer saw a young man with frizzy brown hair and a smooth face standing next to the redhead, a brown-skinned man with a beard and ponytail wearing an odd green watch, a tall bald man, and Tony Stark.
"Hi?" Jennifer surprised herself when she immediately stepped out of the tube she'd been laying in. For some reason, she didn't feel nervous. Dressed in the tiny patient robe she'd just realized she was wearing in front of so many people, normally she was sure she would have panicked. But she didn't. If anything, she felt a smirk rise to her lips, and almost preened under the gazes. "Bruce? What happened? Why am I green?"
Her cousin sighed. "Well..."
------
Jennifer watched as Simmons took her pulse, Bruce finishing the story. "So... I was kidnapped by a former friend of yours who was working for HYDRA, and then you came in with an army to rescue me, but not before they brainwashed me and made me... well, this?" Jennifer waved the arm not currently occupied at herself. Her once mousy form was now six foot seven inches with six hundred and fifty pounds of green muscle. She clenched a fist and grinned at the size of it, the look and feel of her forearm muscles moving beneath green skin. Funny, she'd never been neither very confident in her appearance nor obsessed with fitness before. Now she just wanted to see what she could do. In fact, she was starting to feel a little antsy.
Also, she really liked how long her hair had gotten, she should have grown it out years ago!
"And that's about the gist of it," the dark-skinned man, who'd introduced himself as Mahmoud said.
"I gotta say, I don't feel like I was brainwashed," Jennifer admitted. She considered the idea that she was even now under someone's control before her new self-confidence brushed the thought aside.
"Enjoy that," the tall bald man, Creel, said. "I was under HYDRA's control for a while. You're lucky we got you out of there when we did, you were mostly on ice the whole time... Sorry for the pun."
"Huh," Jennifer thought about that. "I guess you guys got me out just in time," for some reason she didn't feel the near-panic that should have felt at the close save. In a way, it was almost as though she 'knew' that she would make it somehow.
"I gotta say, you're dealing with this pretty well," Bruce said, adjusting his glasses and frowning at how relaxed Jennifer seemed.
"I mean, why wouldn't I?" Jennifer grinned. "I feel good," the final word came out in a purr that came from deep in her throat. She smirked at the way Mahmoud and Creel blinked, then coughed and looked away, Tony smirking back lazily at her. "I kinda want to stretch my legs, Bruce, see what I can really do."
"A-Are you sure?" Bruce asked, looking confused. "We should do more tests-"
Jennifer laughed, rising to her feet and reveling in the feel of the cold air on her skin. "Sweetie, just look at me!" she stretched to her full height, arms over her head. "I feel like someone just lit my fire! I want to go out, I want to hit something!"
"Yeah, that pans out with what I expected," Mahmoud mumbled.
"Come on, Brucey," Jennifer smiled at her cousin. "What do you say? You and me, see what I can do? We should have some fun, make up for all the years apart!"
"That's not something we should-" Bruce began to say.
"Let's not be hasty, Banner," Tony said, stepping forward with a grin. "We've got the weight room. Let's see what she can do."
"As long as we go easy," Simmons said cautiously. "We still don't know why your transformation appears to be permanent. Are you sure you're feeling alright? No major feelings of anger or other extreme emotions?"
"I feel Perfect," Jennifer said with a sigh of happiness.
"Then your transformation may be triggered by something we don't know," Simmons said.
"Yes," Bruce agreed as he adjusted glasses while looking up at Jennifer. "What if you turn human when angry, in a reversal of what I do? We don't want you bench-pressing three hundred pounds, getting angry, then returning to normal."
Jennifer smirked at the clear challenge. "Then maybe you should spot me?"
Bruce blinked up at her. Then his face stiffened in determination. "Sure."
The change was instantaneous. One second, she towered over her cousin. Then he was standing over a foot taller than her, his massive bulk a green wall before her, wrapped in purple armor as the tatters of his clothes fell to the floor. Jennifer's confidence didn't disappear, but it was muted. "Whoa."
The Hulk smiled at the sight of his cousin. "Hi, Jenny! I'm Hulk!"
Apparently, he'd realized they never technically met, and so decided to introduce himself.
Jennifer practically crumbled at the sight of Hulk's happy smile. "Aw! You're just a big puppy, aren't you?"
"Not how I'd put it," Fitz whispered, eyes wide at the sight of Hulk in a reverse of Jennifer's reaction.
"I always forget how big he is," Creel mumbled in the background, Fitz and he stepping back from the massive beings now taking up the lab.
As Hulk smiled bashfully and Simmons giggled, Tony rubbed his eyes. "Could have waited till we got there to change," Tony grumbled. "Now I gotta figure out how to get two Hulk's into the weight room without breaking the elevator. You two will overload it as is..."
"I'm sorry, did you just make a crack about my weight," Jennifer said with mock anger and her hands on her hips.
"Aww shit, I was once better than this. Nerds! Explain what I meant by that." Tony said, deciding a strategic withdrawal was in order.
"Well, in that case," Simmons said, moving forward enthusiastically. "The interesting thing about your transformation is that like the Hulk you gained a significant amount of muscle mass though not quite to the same degree.."
Fitz apparently caught onto what Jemma was saying and continued. "Yes, you see while your cousin is a big densely pack powerhouse your own growth seems more lean and athletic, your muscle density and thus muscle weight is increased by the same factor as the Hulk however, explaining the increase in weight."
"They bounce off of each other real quick," Mahmoud whispered to Creel.
"Not quick enough," Creel rumbled, looking at the closeness of the two, rolling his eyes when Fitz blushed as his hand brushed Simmons.
------
Later, after going down some stairs that creaked under the weight of the Hulk and Jen, the group stood in a weight room together, watching as She-Hulk worked out. The room was extremely fancy, with a pool on one side, a boxing ring in the center, punching bags on the other side (curiously a couple lay on the floor in the back and sand poured out of fist-sized holes in the center of the bags), dozens of machines, and equipment meant specifically for the superhuman inclined to use them were dotted around the place. Including weights in excess of what normal people could lift.
Jennifer had replaced her medical robe with some clothes borrowed from Creel, the only one among them with clothes big enough for her. The hoodie and sweatpants were a little baggy even on his massive frame. On Jennifer's new bulk, they were barely able to fit, stretching on her and leaving her midriff exposed. She took pride in that.
"Woo!" Jennifer called out happily as she bicep-curled a bar with massive plates on each side. "How much weight is this again?" she asked, curious as to why she felt nothing at all in terms of strain.
"About seven hundred pounds," Fitz said, staring at the long bar that Jennifer was easily lifting, her arms pumping seemingly without effort. "Fifty pounds more than you weigh."
"Calling me fat?" she asked him with a wink, the young Englishman sputtering nervously in response. She laughed. "This feels great! Hey big guy, wanna arm wrestle later?"
Hulk grinned down at her. "Yes. But when safe. Banner say should wait," Hulk scowled. "Banner always say wait. But nicer now. No more yelling."
Jennifer blinked at the thought of that, doing five more reps. "So wait, you can hear him? I don't hear any smaller version of me in my head, don't think she would take me being nearly nude all that well either."
"That's one of the questions we want to answer!" Simmons said, watching Jennifer lift nearly a ton with just her arms. "Why is your transformation so different? Why can't you change back?"
"Why would I want to!?" Jennifer laughed, tossing the weights down with a crack of sound, and curling her arms up. "Look at me! I feel awesome."
Hulk frowned, apparently thinking on that. Mahmoud seemed nervous for some reason.
Creel, who had been looking at the boxing ring with longing eyes, stepped forward and leaned down to grab the tossed aside bar. "I know you're new, but you need to respect the gym and its equipment."
"Whoa," Jennifer's eyes widened in worry as Creel began to pull. "Wait don't! You'll hurt your-" she stopped as Creel's skin changed to the same dark metallic color as the bar. Jennifer's jaw dropped as Creel lifted the bar and plates with ease and walked away. "Oh, wow..."
"Well, thankfully," Fitz said as though the sight of metal men was old hat. "You seem to be able to use your strength safely so far. Let's go to the treadmill."
The rest of the day was spent testing. Each test made Jennifer feel better. She was unstoppable! She could lift anything, run forever at top speed, leaping hundreds of feet, punch through concrete, even take rubber bullets without a hint of harm.
She wanted more. She wanted a real fight, a real test.
She just had to wait until tomorrow.
------
Thor Odinson/God of Thunder
Thor was sitting on the roof of the Avengers Tower, thinking on all he had heard recently. In all honesty, he hadn't expected much to change. Despite everything, he had hoped that Earth would have calmed down after the Convergence. Instead, it was as though the world had exploded. Though to be fair, in many ways, things were the same as always across Earth.
But then there were all the changes Thor had discovered. HYDRA, apparently a villainous group from Steve Roger's time, had risen from within SHIELD, the deceivers somehow hiding within them and corrupting the noble group from within, like poison within the body. Thankfully, Steve had not only called in his fellow Avengers, but three more worthy heroes: War Machine, Dial, and Falcon, to aid him in battle.
Thor was saddened he couldn't have helped. The battle had sounded truly incredible, with warriors on both sides fighting their best and heroism rising to the forefront.
Actually, he was sort of jealous. And hearing about all the other fights didn't help. At heart, Thor was a warrior and finding out he'd missed so many impressive battles was a disappointment. Pushing down those thoughts, Thor focused on the work he had to do. He put Mjolnir down on the floor next to him and looked up into the sky, closing his eyes. "Heimdall. I need your advice."
All Thor heard was the wind running over the rooftop. He frowned. "Heimdall, my friend. You haven't answered me in some time... do you, uh, can you hear me? I mean, it has been a while. Should I call later?"
"I hear you," the voice of the All-Hearing Asgardian responded. "Apologies, Thor. Home has been... interesting."
Thor's fingers twitched. "What happened?"
"Nothing of import. Strangeness, that is all. You said you needed advice?"
"Uh, yes. My friend, things on Earth have changed in unexpected ways," Thor dived into his explanation, telling Heimdall everything that Maria Hill had told him, ending with the proposal for an alliance between their realms. "And so, I am to approach my father about allying with BRIDGE and the rest of Midgard. I have also heard that a nation by the name of Wakanda is looking into a similar proposal."
"I'm sure they are," Heimdall said mysteriously. "I will speak to him of this, if you like?"
Thor held back a sigh of relief. He really didn't have the head for things like treaties, documents, and trade deals. He wasn't unintelligent, but his skills lay more in languages, tactics, and space travel, with a small skill in wormhole physics. "Thank you, Heimdall."
"Of course," Heimdall sighed on the other end of the mental link between them. "But I do not know if your father will agree to this."
"Why not?" Thor asked surprised, his father always seemed one for diplomacy.
"He has been... strange, as of late. He recently had the builders begin work on a statue of your brother and a small theater for a play in his honor."
"...Father did that?" Thor asked incredulously.
"Yes. It may be that the grief of..." Heimdall trailed off.
Thor looked down at the gravel beneath his feet, sadness filling him. "Mother and Loki... Heimdall, please tell him about the proposal. If he refuses, let him know I will come myself to Asgard to discuss it either way. And there is something else. A mortal I wish my father to meet."
Heimdall let out a surprised noise. "Thor? You think that wise?"
"Yes. He is... well, he is not Asgardian. But he can become one now."
"This Mahmoud Schahed," Heimdall agreed. "You haven't told him? About the possibility of what he may face?"
"I don't even know if it will happen," Thor admitted. "Is he a true god because he can simply change forms? Is there even a... place for him? Does he count? So much of what Earth has brought to my attention is impossible to predict. All I can do is try to protect them... I'm seeing Jane tomorrow," he finished with no small amount of trepidation.
"Best of luck," Heimdall said simply.
Thor smiled sardonically. "I will need it."
January 21st,2014
In the early morning in the labs of the Avengers Tower, Bruce watched as Mahmoud in his Upgrade form flowed across the surface of Jennifer's cryotube. The tube had been put in his lab, with the deprogramming machines BRIDGE had created to remove the various forms of brainwashing and conditioning HYDRA had employed on their victims and operatives alike erected around the tube. Maria had listened to his appeal to let him do the work himself alongside BRIDGE's best scientists in the field (and coincidently the one's Bruce trusted most) to assess the health of a new gamma-enhanced human. As of now, that was Bruce himself, the leading expert on gamma radiation in the world, Jemma Simmons, a skilled doctor despite her young age and who had experience dealing with enhanced biology, Tony Stark and Leopold Fitz, some of the most skilled engineers in the world, and Mahmoud Schahed, who had access to aliens that could build things beyond the current scope of human technology and had a device with the most advanced genetic scanner ever built in. With all that combined brainpower in one room, they would be able to find out-
"She is perfectly healthy," Simmons said as she circled the cryotube with a scanner in hand.
"Yep," Dial said as he flowed away from the cryotube returning to his bipedal form, his circular green eye brightening and dimming with each word before he changed back to human again in a bright green flash. "She's put on about four times the amount of muscle mass she had before, increased a couple of feet in size, burned away quite a lot of body fat, is about as radioactive as the Hulk so no alarms there, and is apparently extremely hungry, but other than that, she's healthy."
"W-What, there are no trackers in her?" Bruce asked, stepping forward and snatching the scanner out of Simmons' hands to circle Jennifer. "No cybernetic parts, no surgical wounds, nothing wrong?"
"No, she's fine," Simmons said, frowning at the frantic Dr. Banner. "In truth, it makes sense that she is so stable. Blonsky had the flawed super-soldier serum to protect him and your blood to give him the genes, while Rana Philips simply had her genetic template altered for the same effect, but Ms. Walters is a pure carrier of the Gamma Gene just like you," when he only seemed more agitated, Simmons spoke without thinking."Sir, she's a Hulk, she won't-"
"Don't-!" Dial and Simmons recoiled in surprise at the loud shout from him, Tony and Fitz looking over from the computer the two had been working on. For a moment, the room was still, Simmons biting her lip nervously. Fitz looked at him, then at Tony, who crossed his arms. He took a deep breath. "I just... she can't..."
"She-Hulk," Dial said softly. Bruce felt his fists clench. "That's not the name I gave her, it's what people are calling her right now. Bruce, she's going to get compared to you, and there's nothing wrong with that. Look, just... let us wake her, and you'll see."
"I-" He bit his lip, looking over at Jennifer. "...I didn't want this. It's why I left Betty, left everyone. I didn't want them hurt by anything related to the Hulk," Bruce winced internally at how offended the Hulk got within him, sending a silent apology to the 'Other Guy'.
"It's what assholes do, Banner," Tony said, finally speaking. "They attack nice guys. It's up to us to keep knocking them down. Now, look, your cousin needs you. All the brainwashing has been, well, washed out, so she'll be herself now. You going to talk to her? Help her?"
"...Dial. Turn into something that can fight her," Bruce said sadly.
"No," Dial responded.
His neck snapped to let him stare at Dial in shock. "Mahmoud-"
"Bruce. Ask the Hulk what he thinks would happen if the first thing he saw when waking up was Rath or Four Arms ready to fight."
The gamma-enhanced man's eyes flashed green. He scowled, then nodded. "Okay."
Simmons looked around, then nodded at Fitz, who ran forward to begin the unlocking procedures.
As he worked, Carl Creel walked into the room. Tony blinked at the sight of the tall bald man stepping in. "What's up, Knockoff?"
"Don't call me that," Creel said with the ease of practice.
"Stop stealing my 'Man of Metal' schtick," Tony quipped.
Creel snorted, then hesitated. "I just... I've been brainwashed, so I thought... I don't know what I thought."
Bruce blinked at the sight of the tall and usually confident man looking uncomfortable. Dial stepped forward and punched his fellow Reserve Avenger in the shoulder. "Yeah yeah, you big softy," Dial said with a mischievous look in his eyes. "You can stay."
Creel scoffed, crossing his arms across his barrel chest.
Together, the small group watched as Jen woke up within the tube as the steel and glass door was slowly opened.
"I gotta admit, I didn't expect her to be so..." Tony trailed off, horror filling his eyes as he realized what he'd been about to say.
Bruce stared pointedly at him, then at Creel, Dial, and Fitz. The three men coughed and focused on other things to avoid his gaze.
Deep inside Bruce, an ancient instinct belonging to all overprotective family members awoke as the Hulk felt the urge to grab a shotgun for some reason.
------
Jennifer Walters/?
Jennifer woke up and felt as though she had been given... something. Something intense. Like she went out and painted the town red to supernatural levels or something, though she hadn't done something like that since college with her more rambunctious sorority sisters. She blinked awake and more energy than she could ever remember coursed through her body. What happened? She had been in her kitchen, tired from a long day, and that... a big headed guy had shown up? What happened after that? She reached at one of the walls of the tube surrounding her, pulling at it. Why did she feel so powerfu-?
A loud wrenching sound filled the air as something flimsy tore apart in her hand. She looked at the wall she'd grabbed at and had a weird moment as she stared at the steel bent under her green fingers.
Bent steel. Green fingers.
"Uhhhhh-"
"Jenny?"
At the sound of someone speaking to her, she looked up. Bruce was standing under her. No, wait. He was... he was shorter than her? By like, two feet?
"Bruce?" Jennifer coughed. Why did her voice sound so different? "What happened? Where am I?"
"Hi there!" Jennifer turned to her left to see a very short, cute redhead with freckles and a British accent.
Looking around, Jennifer saw a young man with frizzy brown hair and a smooth face standing next to the redhead, a brown-skinned man with a beard and ponytail wearing an odd green watch, a tall bald man, and Tony Stark.
"Hi?" Jennifer surprised herself when she immediately stepped out of the tube she'd been laying in. For some reason, she didn't feel nervous. Dressed in the tiny patient robe she'd just realized she was wearing in front of so many people, normally she was sure she would have panicked. But she didn't. If anything, she felt a smirk rise to her lips, and almost preened under the gazes. "Bruce? What happened? Why am I green?"
Her cousin sighed. "Well..."
------
Jennifer watched as Simmons took her pulse, Bruce finishing the story. "So... I was kidnapped by a former friend of yours who was working for HYDRA, and then you came in with an army to rescue me, but not before they brainwashed me and made me... well, this?" Jennifer waved the arm not currently occupied at herself. Her once mousy form was now six foot seven inches with six hundred and fifty pounds of green muscle. She clenched a fist and grinned at the size of it, the look and feel of her forearm muscles moving beneath green skin. Funny, she'd never been neither very confident in her appearance nor obsessed with fitness before. Now she just wanted to see what she could do. In fact, she was starting to feel a little antsy.
Also, she really liked how long her hair had gotten, she should have grown it out years ago!
"And that's about the gist of it," the dark-skinned man, who'd introduced himself as Mahmoud said.
"I gotta say, I don't feel like I was brainwashed," Jennifer admitted. She considered the idea that she was even now under someone's control before her new self-confidence brushed the thought aside.
"Enjoy that," the tall bald man, Creel, said. "I was under HYDRA's control for a while. You're lucky we got you out of there when we did, you were mostly on ice the whole time... Sorry for the pun."
"Huh," Jennifer thought about that. "I guess you guys got me out just in time," for some reason she didn't feel the near-panic that should have felt at the close save. In a way, it was almost as though she 'knew' that she would make it somehow.
"I gotta say, you're dealing with this pretty well," Bruce said, adjusting his glasses and frowning at how relaxed Jennifer seemed.
"I mean, why wouldn't I?" Jennifer grinned. "I feel good," the final word came out in a purr that came from deep in her throat. She smirked at the way Mahmoud and Creel blinked, then coughed and looked away, Tony smirking back lazily at her. "I kinda want to stretch my legs, Bruce, see what I can really do."
"A-Are you sure?" Bruce asked, looking confused. "We should do more tests-"
Jennifer laughed, rising to her feet and reveling in the feel of the cold air on her skin. "Sweetie, just look at me!" she stretched to her full height, arms over her head. "I feel like someone just lit my fire! I want to go out, I want to hit something!"
"Yeah, that pans out with what I expected," Mahmoud mumbled.
"Come on, Brucey," Jennifer smiled at her cousin. "What do you say? You and me, see what I can do? We should have some fun, make up for all the years apart!"
"That's not something we should-" Bruce began to say.
"Let's not be hasty, Banner," Tony said, stepping forward with a grin. "We've got the weight room. Let's see what she can do."
"As long as we go easy," Simmons said cautiously. "We still don't know why your transformation appears to be permanent. Are you sure you're feeling alright? No major feelings of anger or other extreme emotions?"
"I feel Perfect," Jennifer said with a sigh of happiness.
"Then your transformation may be triggered by something we don't know," Simmons said.
"Yes," Bruce agreed as he adjusted glasses while looking up at Jennifer. "What if you turn human when angry, in a reversal of what I do? We don't want you bench-pressing three hundred pounds, getting angry, then returning to normal."
Jennifer smirked at the clear challenge. "Then maybe you should spot me?"
Bruce blinked up at her. Then his face stiffened in determination. "Sure."
The change was instantaneous. One second, she towered over her cousin. Then he was standing over a foot taller than her, his massive bulk a green wall before her, wrapped in purple armor as the tatters of his clothes fell to the floor. Jennifer's confidence didn't disappear, but it was muted. "Whoa."
The Hulk smiled at the sight of his cousin. "Hi, Jenny! I'm Hulk!"
Apparently, he'd realized they never technically met, and so decided to introduce himself.
Jennifer practically crumbled at the sight of Hulk's happy smile. "Aw! You're just a big puppy, aren't you?"
"Not how I'd put it," Fitz whispered, eyes wide at the sight of Hulk in a reverse of Jennifer's reaction.
"I always forget how big he is," Creel mumbled in the background, Fitz and he stepping back from the massive beings now taking up the lab.
As Hulk smiled bashfully and Simmons giggled, Tony rubbed his eyes. "Could have waited till we got there to change," Tony grumbled. "Now I gotta figure out how to get two Hulk's into the weight room without breaking the elevator. You two will overload it as is..."
"I'm sorry, did you just make a crack about my weight," Jennifer said with mock anger and her hands on her hips.
"Aww shit, I was once better than this. Nerds! Explain what I meant by that." Tony said, deciding a strategic withdrawal was in order.
"Well, in that case," Simmons said, moving forward enthusiastically. "The interesting thing about your transformation is that like the Hulk you gained a significant amount of muscle mass though not quite to the same degree.."
Fitz apparently caught onto what Jemma was saying and continued. "Yes, you see while your cousin is a big densely pack powerhouse your own growth seems more lean and athletic, your muscle density and thus muscle weight is increased by the same factor as the Hulk however, explaining the increase in weight."
"They bounce off of each other real quick," Mahmoud whispered to Creel.
"Not quick enough," Creel rumbled, looking at the closeness of the two, rolling his eyes when Fitz blushed as his hand brushed Simmons.
------
Later, after going down some stairs that creaked under the weight of the Hulk and Jen, the group stood in a weight room together, watching as She-Hulk worked out. The room was extremely fancy, with a pool on one side, a boxing ring in the center, punching bags on the other side (curiously a couple lay on the floor in the back and sand poured out of fist-sized holes in the center of the bags), dozens of machines, and equipment meant specifically for the superhuman inclined to use them were dotted around the place. Including weights in excess of what normal people could lift.
Jennifer had replaced her medical robe with some clothes borrowed from Creel, the only one among them with clothes big enough for her. The hoodie and sweatpants were a little baggy even on his massive frame. On Jennifer's new bulk, they were barely able to fit, stretching on her and leaving her midriff exposed. She took pride in that.
"Woo!" Jennifer called out happily as she bicep-curled a bar with massive plates on each side. "How much weight is this again?" she asked, curious as to why she felt nothing at all in terms of strain.
"About seven hundred pounds," Fitz said, staring at the long bar that Jennifer was easily lifting, her arms pumping seemingly without effort. "Fifty pounds more than you weigh."
"Calling me fat?" she asked him with a wink, the young Englishman sputtering nervously in response. She laughed. "This feels great! Hey big guy, wanna arm wrestle later?"
Hulk grinned down at her. "Yes. But when safe. Banner say should wait," Hulk scowled. "Banner always say wait. But nicer now. No more yelling."
Jennifer blinked at the thought of that, doing five more reps. "So wait, you can hear him? I don't hear any smaller version of me in my head, don't think she would take me being nearly nude all that well either."
"That's one of the questions we want to answer!" Simmons said, watching Jennifer lift nearly a ton with just her arms. "Why is your transformation so different? Why can't you change back?"
"Why would I want to!?" Jennifer laughed, tossing the weights down with a crack of sound, and curling her arms up. "Look at me! I feel awesome."
Hulk frowned, apparently thinking on that. Mahmoud seemed nervous for some reason.
Creel, who had been looking at the boxing ring with longing eyes, stepped forward and leaned down to grab the tossed aside bar. "I know you're new, but you need to respect the gym and its equipment."
"Whoa," Jennifer's eyes widened in worry as Creel began to pull. "Wait don't! You'll hurt your-" she stopped as Creel's skin changed to the same dark metallic color as the bar. Jennifer's jaw dropped as Creel lifted the bar and plates with ease and walked away. "Oh, wow..."
"Well, thankfully," Fitz said as though the sight of metal men was old hat. "You seem to be able to use your strength safely so far. Let's go to the treadmill."
The rest of the day was spent testing. Each test made Jennifer feel better. She was unstoppable! She could lift anything, run forever at top speed, leaping hundreds of feet, punch through concrete, even take rubber bullets without a hint of harm.
She wanted more. She wanted a real fight, a real test.
She just had to wait until tomorrow.
------
Thor Odinson/God of Thunder
Thor was sitting on the roof of the Avengers Tower, thinking on all he had heard recently. In all honesty, he hadn't expected much to change. Despite everything, he had hoped that Earth would have calmed down after the Convergence. Instead, it was as though the world had exploded. Though to be fair, in many ways, things were the same as always across Earth.
But then there were all the changes Thor had discovered. HYDRA, apparently a villainous group from Steve Roger's time, had risen from within SHIELD, the deceivers somehow hiding within them and corrupting the noble group from within, like poison within the body. Thankfully, Steve had not only called in his fellow Avengers, but three more worthy heroes: War Machine, Dial, and Falcon, to aid him in battle.
Thor was saddened he couldn't have helped. The battle had sounded truly incredible, with warriors on both sides fighting their best and heroism rising to the forefront.
Actually, he was sort of jealous. And hearing about all the other fights didn't help. At heart, Thor was a warrior and finding out he'd missed so many impressive battles was a disappointment. Pushing down those thoughts, Thor focused on the work he had to do. He put Mjolnir down on the floor next to him and looked up into the sky, closing his eyes. "Heimdall. I need your advice."
All Thor heard was the wind running over the rooftop. He frowned. "Heimdall, my friend. You haven't answered me in some time... do you, uh, can you hear me? I mean, it has been a while. Should I call later?"
"I hear you," the voice of the All-Hearing Asgardian responded. "Apologies, Thor. Home has been... interesting."
Thor's fingers twitched. "What happened?"
"Nothing of import. Strangeness, that is all. You said you needed advice?"
"Uh, yes. My friend, things on Earth have changed in unexpected ways," Thor dived into his explanation, telling Heimdall everything that Maria Hill had told him, ending with the proposal for an alliance between their realms. "And so, I am to approach my father about allying with BRIDGE and the rest of Midgard. I have also heard that a nation by the name of Wakanda is looking into a similar proposal."
"I'm sure they are," Heimdall said mysteriously. "I will speak to him of this, if you like?"
Thor held back a sigh of relief. He really didn't have the head for things like treaties, documents, and trade deals. He wasn't unintelligent, but his skills lay more in languages, tactics, and space travel, with a small skill in wormhole physics. "Thank you, Heimdall."
"Of course," Heimdall sighed on the other end of the mental link between them. "But I do not know if your father will agree to this."
"Why not?" Thor asked surprised, his father always seemed one for diplomacy.
"He has been... strange, as of late. He recently had the builders begin work on a statue of your brother and a small theater for a play in his honor."
"...Father did that?" Thor asked incredulously.
"Yes. It may be that the grief of..." Heimdall trailed off.
Thor looked down at the gravel beneath his feet, sadness filling him. "Mother and Loki... Heimdall, please tell him about the proposal. If he refuses, let him know I will come myself to Asgard to discuss it either way. And there is something else. A mortal I wish my father to meet."
Heimdall let out a surprised noise. "Thor? You think that wise?"
"Yes. He is... well, he is not Asgardian. But he can become one now."
"This Mahmoud Schahed," Heimdall agreed. "You haven't told him? About the possibility of what he may face?"
"I don't even know if it will happen," Thor admitted. "Is he a true god because he can simply change forms? Is there even a... place for him? Does he count? So much of what Earth has brought to my attention is impossible to predict. All I can do is try to protect them... I'm seeing Jane tomorrow," he finished with no small amount of trepidation.
"Best of luck," Heimdall said simply.
Thor smiled sardonically. "I will need it."