Chituari Invasion 6
K1ng
Reader of The Book of Vile Darkness
- Location
- Australia
"If it's all the same to you, I'd like that drink now."
This was it? This is the guy that brought the Chitauri to Earth? He looked like the budget, emo version of Thor. Of course, after going a couple round with the Hulk, he didn't look like much of anything.
But still, it didn't hurt to be sure.
"So, this is the guy who brought the Chitauri to Earth?"
"Yes."
You nodded. "Okay." You then took three steps forward, and stomped his face.
"Ah! In the Allfathers name!"
"Hmm, his nose didn't break."
"He's an Asgardian, tougher than humans," Clint reminded, a rather gleeful look on his face. "Maybe you should do it again," he suggested.
You shrugged. "Okay."
CRACK.
"OH IB THE ABBLATHERS DAME!"
There it is.
You'd only been in New York for two days but you were starting to love this city.
Only In New York could a motley group that included an Asgardian, a super soldier, a billionaire, a couple of scientists (one that moonlighted as a green-rage monster), a couple of assassins and whatever the hell you were step out of a car in middle-of-the-day Central Park and not even get a second glance.
You suppose next to Captain America and Thor you don't cut the most impressive figure, what in your (thankfully clean) open jacket, t-shirt and jeans. But you kind of preferred it that way, anyone that was focusing on you more than either of those two was someone you'd have to watch out for.
The group of SHIELD agents that was blocking the outskirts probably helped too.
Leaning against the rails, you watched Dr Selvig open the back of the car, staying as far away from the case that contained the Tesseract as you could. A huge part of your instincts screamed to take it – damn the consequences. You didn't know the reason your power wanted it so badly, but you weren't keen to test it out until you knew why.
"Off already, young Traveller?" For such a big guy, Thor could be surprisingly quiet when he wanted to be.
You raised an eyebrow. What was he talking about? "Oh, you mean this?" you adjusted the strap of the backpack slung across your back. "No, this is just what I could salvage from my room." Which wasn't much, a couple of changes of clothes and your passport. But it was enough for you to get on the road again.
With great effort, you tore your gaze away from the Tesseract and looked at Thor. Unlike the rest of you, Thor had not bothered to switch off his armour into some street clothes. You wondered if he even had some other clothes to switch into. Though for Thor, the leather and metal armour combo were probably as close to street clothes as he could get. "What about you, you looking forward to going back to Asgard?"
A soft smile spread across Thor's face. "Yes. Earth is a beautiful planet, worthy of defending. But Asgard is my home, grandest of the Nine Realms, I could not imagine leaving it behind forever."
You wouldn't know. For you home was where your feet were.
"And most of all," He clapped your shoulder hard enough for your knees to buckle. "I feel confident leaving Earth's defence in good hand's such as yours and the Man of Iron's."
"Heh, thanks." Involuntarily your eyes crackled with power. You didn't know about that. Whatever debt you owed to Sam and everyone else that died in the room had been paid. You had killed a hundred Chitauri for each person left bleeding and broken as promised.
Whatever decision you made for the future, the shroud of the Chitauri would not haunt you.
Shaking you head, your mind latched onto a phrase that Thor had said. "Nine Realms huh." Eight more worlds out there. Each possibly full of even more wonders and marvels. "Has anyone ever been to them all?"
Thor shook his head. "Not for eons. The last was my father I believe."
"So, no one mortal then?"
"No, never."
"Do you think it is possible? For a mortal?"
"Perhaps," Thor's hand – the one that wasn't holding his hammer – scratched under his chin. "There are paths through the Bifrost that even Heimdall cannot see. If you are willing to brave that which slithers in the dark…" Thor's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Traveller. You can't possibly…"
You only smiled. Jack the World-Seeker. The first human to set foot on each of the Nine Realms. That had a nice ring to it.
"Why do you still call me Traveller? I told you my name is Jack."
"Perhaps it is different here, but in Asgard we call people who they are. That spark in your eye, to see beyond any world known, it reminds me of someone I thought I knew." Thor's tone turned wistful, as he remembered times from long ago. "He travelled through the Bifrost, explored worlds that Asgardians had not set foot on for centuries and created paths traversable only by him. He did this not out of any grand purpose or design, but simply because he could."
"Sounds like an interesting person."
Thor's gaze drifted to Loki. "He was."
You gaze followed Thor's to Loki, still bound and gagged. Though you noted with some annoyance that his nose had already healed. "What will happen to him?"
Thor crossed his arms. "Loki will be punished. He has fallen far, farther than any Asgardian before him ever has. To consort with creatures such as the Chitauri…" Thor let out a mournful sigh. "The Allfathers punishment shall not be light."
"Light?" Energy crackled between your fingers. Several pairs of eyes darted on your direction as the nearby parked cars started to shake. Power surged in your veins before you closed your eyes and pushed it back. "You think his punishment should be light?!"
"No." Thor hadn't even flinched at your display of power. Of course, to him such a display was probably nothing at all. "Forgive me, I did not mean to make light Loki's crimes, it's just," Thor closed his eyes. "He is my brother. I thought the world of him once. But now…"
You slumped forward. The spark of anger gone like the wind. "I understand." And you did. You may have left your family behind but that didn't mean that you didn't love them. "You can't choose your family."
"Indeed." Thor agreed. "So, what will you do next?" He asked, eager to change the topic.
"I don't know." You said. "Stark's offered me a room at his tower as long as I want it." And it was tempting. Good food, hot showers and all the technology to play with to your hearts content. What's not to love? "But there's so much out there that I still haven't seen… and after this, the world's going to change. It would be a shame to miss it."
"It's regrettable that you cannot see Asgard, I'm sure even you would pause at such a grand sight."
You laughed. "I doubt it. But perhaps we'll find out one day."
Thor's laugh was quite a bit more boisterous than your own. "That would be a sight to see! I could introduce you to the Warriors Three and we could all go Bilgesnipe hunting."
You don't know what Bilgesnipe are, but if Thor considered them something worthy of hunting then you didn't want to face one without your own version of an Iron Man suit.
Before you could say how much you would love to not do that Dr Selvig called out, "Thor. We're ready."
Thor nodded and with another clap on the shoulder moved to grab the small two-handed device that contained the Tesseract.
Watching them disappear in a blue haze, you wondered if someday you would be able to travel between worlds so easily.
"Hell of a day," you heard the footsteps this time. Though you had the feeling that the only reason you heard Natasha coming was because she wanted you to.
"That's an understatement." You turned to face her. "You here to offer your pitch too?"
"I could just be here to check up on you," she said.
"I doubt you're that sentimental."
"I could be," she smiled. "But you're partially right. It's both."
"Thanks." You crossed your arms. "Well go ahead," if nothing else this conversation will give you a better idea of the number of eyes that you have on you.
"I work for S.H.I.E.L.D – the Strategic Homeland, Int-
"We don't need to do the whole acronym thing, Stark gave me the whole story." May you rest in peace Phil Coulson.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Of course he did. Then if you know who we are, you know what we can offer."
You did. Training, equipment, resources. But you also knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch. "I do. But why make this offer at all?"
"Have you seen the news?" Natasha unlocked her phone and pulled up a clip of you escorting a group of civilians towards some cops. Seriously, someone was recording that? "It wasn't six people who stopped an alien invasion yesterday, it was seven. As far as the world is concerned, you're an Avenger."
"I didn't go out there yesterday to be an Avenger."
She shook her head. "That doesn't matter. As far as the world's concerned, as far as we're concerned, you're one of us. Loki was our mistake, and you helped us fix it. You for help ask any of us, and we'll be there." She pointed at all the Avengers that remained, each one nodding in turn. There was no hesitation, no deceit in her words. As far as you could tell, everything she said was absolutely true.
And that scared the shit out of you.
"What if I say no?"
"Nothing." She shot you an amused look at your sudden start. "What, did you think we would kidnap you?" Though her expression seemed to say do you think we would let them?
"It's strange, the idea that you'd just let me walk away."
"You helped save the world. You'd be surprised at how much goodwill that buys."
You chuckled. "I suppose so."
"You want some advice? You've got good instincts, but you're raw. Imagine how much more you could be when you've been trained by the best."
She slipped a piece of paper into your hand. Looking down you see a New York address scribbled on, "Think about it." She said, walking away. "It's an open offer."
She then walked back to her car and drove away, though not before she and Clint both gave you one last nod.
One by one those that remained did the same. First Stark and Banner, Stark's considerably more enthusiastic before they drove away in his very expensive sports car.
Rogers was much more sedate, though no less impactful.
Selvig was already gone, having left the moment Thor and Loki returned to Asgard.
Now alone, you hefted the backpack over your shoulder and started to walk though Central Park. Now just another face in the crowd.
You had left home because you couldn't bear to settle down to a normal life while there was a big wide world out there for you to see.
Your eyes crackled with unrestrained power.
Well, the world just got a whole lot bigger.
No matter what you chose, you would see it all.
As an Avenger, you don't know. But for now, it didn't matter.
So then… where do you go next?
[] Stark Tower. Arc Length: Short. Spend the next several months in Stark Tower. Interact with Stark and Banner and assist in New York recovery.
[] Shield Training. Arc Length: Medium. Spend the next six months training with SHIELD. Includes interactions with Barton, Romanov, and Rogers (Automatically locks you out of Iron Man 3).
[] Travel: Arc Length: Variable. Finish your walk through Central Park and then… who knows? Its time to see world through new eyes. [Pull on a random Marvel plot thread (choose in a separate poll), interacts with ????] (Automatically locks you out of Iron Man 3).
Well, here we are. The end of the prologue. A year later then what I initially set it out to be but here we are nonetheless.
Now let's talk about arcs for a moment.
The prologue was an example of a Major Arc. They will always be narrative based and will occur over a short amount of time (Significant involvement with any movie for example will be a Major Arc). Major Arcs is where you find rewards that cannot be obtained anywhere else.
Minor Arcs are basically time skip arcs. Set in a CK2 style you will have a certain amount of turns to perform a bunch of different actions told in a snapshot format. Anyone who has read at least a few quests should be familiar with this type of structure.
The number of turns you have is set by the Arc's length beforehand. So:
Short – 5 turns
Medium – 10 turns
Long – 10+ turns
The exact number of turns may fluctuate depending on exactly how packed the timeline is at that point in time but in general the numbers above is the amount of turns you should expect.
After a Minor Arc you will have a choice of Major Arcs, dependant on the Minor Arc you just took. The same is true for Minor Arc choices (Though due to your Origin, some variant of Travel will always be available as an option). Movie Arcs are locked behind specific actions (ones that should be very obvious ahead of time).
TLDR -> Major Arc -> Minor Arc -> Major Arc -> ect
Now back to the plot.
In the MCU there are horrors and marvels galore. Travel down paths old and new it doesn't matter, there will always be something out there for you. As long as you have the will to seek it.
Marvel is a big world, one that will continue to move on without you. If you want to make an impact on future events you must be there to witness them. You cannot be involved in everything, so make the greatest impact you can in the events that you are a part of.
And lastly, presume nothing.
Your very existence has warped the world you know. As the ripples from your actions spread, the world that you know will become less and less familiar.
Good luck.
As always, there this a 2-hour MORATORIUM on Votes. DO NOT VOTE FOR 2 HOURS!
I'll be checking the thread. Feel free to discuss!
This was it? This is the guy that brought the Chitauri to Earth? He looked like the budget, emo version of Thor. Of course, after going a couple round with the Hulk, he didn't look like much of anything.
But still, it didn't hurt to be sure.
"So, this is the guy who brought the Chitauri to Earth?"
"Yes."
You nodded. "Okay." You then took three steps forward, and stomped his face.
"Ah! In the Allfathers name!"
"Hmm, his nose didn't break."
"He's an Asgardian, tougher than humans," Clint reminded, a rather gleeful look on his face. "Maybe you should do it again," he suggested.
You shrugged. "Okay."
CRACK.
"OH IB THE ABBLATHERS DAME!"
There it is.
**
You'd only been in New York for two days but you were starting to love this city.
Only In New York could a motley group that included an Asgardian, a super soldier, a billionaire, a couple of scientists (one that moonlighted as a green-rage monster), a couple of assassins and whatever the hell you were step out of a car in middle-of-the-day Central Park and not even get a second glance.
You suppose next to Captain America and Thor you don't cut the most impressive figure, what in your (thankfully clean) open jacket, t-shirt and jeans. But you kind of preferred it that way, anyone that was focusing on you more than either of those two was someone you'd have to watch out for.
The group of SHIELD agents that was blocking the outskirts probably helped too.
Leaning against the rails, you watched Dr Selvig open the back of the car, staying as far away from the case that contained the Tesseract as you could. A huge part of your instincts screamed to take it – damn the consequences. You didn't know the reason your power wanted it so badly, but you weren't keen to test it out until you knew why.
"Off already, young Traveller?" For such a big guy, Thor could be surprisingly quiet when he wanted to be.
You raised an eyebrow. What was he talking about? "Oh, you mean this?" you adjusted the strap of the backpack slung across your back. "No, this is just what I could salvage from my room." Which wasn't much, a couple of changes of clothes and your passport. But it was enough for you to get on the road again.
With great effort, you tore your gaze away from the Tesseract and looked at Thor. Unlike the rest of you, Thor had not bothered to switch off his armour into some street clothes. You wondered if he even had some other clothes to switch into. Though for Thor, the leather and metal armour combo were probably as close to street clothes as he could get. "What about you, you looking forward to going back to Asgard?"
A soft smile spread across Thor's face. "Yes. Earth is a beautiful planet, worthy of defending. But Asgard is my home, grandest of the Nine Realms, I could not imagine leaving it behind forever."
You wouldn't know. For you home was where your feet were.
"And most of all," He clapped your shoulder hard enough for your knees to buckle. "I feel confident leaving Earth's defence in good hand's such as yours and the Man of Iron's."
"Heh, thanks." Involuntarily your eyes crackled with power. You didn't know about that. Whatever debt you owed to Sam and everyone else that died in the room had been paid. You had killed a hundred Chitauri for each person left bleeding and broken as promised.
Whatever decision you made for the future, the shroud of the Chitauri would not haunt you.
Shaking you head, your mind latched onto a phrase that Thor had said. "Nine Realms huh." Eight more worlds out there. Each possibly full of even more wonders and marvels. "Has anyone ever been to them all?"
Thor shook his head. "Not for eons. The last was my father I believe."
"So, no one mortal then?"
"No, never."
"Do you think it is possible? For a mortal?"
"Perhaps," Thor's hand – the one that wasn't holding his hammer – scratched under his chin. "There are paths through the Bifrost that even Heimdall cannot see. If you are willing to brave that which slithers in the dark…" Thor's eyes widened in sudden understanding. "Traveller. You can't possibly…"
You only smiled. Jack the World-Seeker. The first human to set foot on each of the Nine Realms. That had a nice ring to it.
"Why do you still call me Traveller? I told you my name is Jack."
"Perhaps it is different here, but in Asgard we call people who they are. That spark in your eye, to see beyond any world known, it reminds me of someone I thought I knew." Thor's tone turned wistful, as he remembered times from long ago. "He travelled through the Bifrost, explored worlds that Asgardians had not set foot on for centuries and created paths traversable only by him. He did this not out of any grand purpose or design, but simply because he could."
"Sounds like an interesting person."
Thor's gaze drifted to Loki. "He was."
You gaze followed Thor's to Loki, still bound and gagged. Though you noted with some annoyance that his nose had already healed. "What will happen to him?"
Thor crossed his arms. "Loki will be punished. He has fallen far, farther than any Asgardian before him ever has. To consort with creatures such as the Chitauri…" Thor let out a mournful sigh. "The Allfathers punishment shall not be light."
"Light?" Energy crackled between your fingers. Several pairs of eyes darted on your direction as the nearby parked cars started to shake. Power surged in your veins before you closed your eyes and pushed it back. "You think his punishment should be light?!"
"No." Thor hadn't even flinched at your display of power. Of course, to him such a display was probably nothing at all. "Forgive me, I did not mean to make light Loki's crimes, it's just," Thor closed his eyes. "He is my brother. I thought the world of him once. But now…"
You slumped forward. The spark of anger gone like the wind. "I understand." And you did. You may have left your family behind but that didn't mean that you didn't love them. "You can't choose your family."
"Indeed." Thor agreed. "So, what will you do next?" He asked, eager to change the topic.
"I don't know." You said. "Stark's offered me a room at his tower as long as I want it." And it was tempting. Good food, hot showers and all the technology to play with to your hearts content. What's not to love? "But there's so much out there that I still haven't seen… and after this, the world's going to change. It would be a shame to miss it."
"It's regrettable that you cannot see Asgard, I'm sure even you would pause at such a grand sight."
You laughed. "I doubt it. But perhaps we'll find out one day."
Thor's laugh was quite a bit more boisterous than your own. "That would be a sight to see! I could introduce you to the Warriors Three and we could all go Bilgesnipe hunting."
You don't know what Bilgesnipe are, but if Thor considered them something worthy of hunting then you didn't want to face one without your own version of an Iron Man suit.
Before you could say how much you would love to not do that Dr Selvig called out, "Thor. We're ready."
Thor nodded and with another clap on the shoulder moved to grab the small two-handed device that contained the Tesseract.
Watching them disappear in a blue haze, you wondered if someday you would be able to travel between worlds so easily.
"Hell of a day," you heard the footsteps this time. Though you had the feeling that the only reason you heard Natasha coming was because she wanted you to.
"That's an understatement." You turned to face her. "You here to offer your pitch too?"
"I could just be here to check up on you," she said.
"I doubt you're that sentimental."
"I could be," she smiled. "But you're partially right. It's both."
"Thanks." You crossed your arms. "Well go ahead," if nothing else this conversation will give you a better idea of the number of eyes that you have on you.
"I work for S.H.I.E.L.D – the Strategic Homeland, Int-
"We don't need to do the whole acronym thing, Stark gave me the whole story." May you rest in peace Phil Coulson.
Natasha rolled her eyes. "Of course he did. Then if you know who we are, you know what we can offer."
You did. Training, equipment, resources. But you also knew that there was no such thing as a free lunch. "I do. But why make this offer at all?"
"Have you seen the news?" Natasha unlocked her phone and pulled up a clip of you escorting a group of civilians towards some cops. Seriously, someone was recording that? "It wasn't six people who stopped an alien invasion yesterday, it was seven. As far as the world is concerned, you're an Avenger."
"I didn't go out there yesterday to be an Avenger."
She shook her head. "That doesn't matter. As far as the world's concerned, as far as we're concerned, you're one of us. Loki was our mistake, and you helped us fix it. You for help ask any of us, and we'll be there." She pointed at all the Avengers that remained, each one nodding in turn. There was no hesitation, no deceit in her words. As far as you could tell, everything she said was absolutely true.
And that scared the shit out of you.
"What if I say no?"
"Nothing." She shot you an amused look at your sudden start. "What, did you think we would kidnap you?" Though her expression seemed to say do you think we would let them?
"It's strange, the idea that you'd just let me walk away."
"You helped save the world. You'd be surprised at how much goodwill that buys."
You chuckled. "I suppose so."
"You want some advice? You've got good instincts, but you're raw. Imagine how much more you could be when you've been trained by the best."
She slipped a piece of paper into your hand. Looking down you see a New York address scribbled on, "Think about it." She said, walking away. "It's an open offer."
She then walked back to her car and drove away, though not before she and Clint both gave you one last nod.
One by one those that remained did the same. First Stark and Banner, Stark's considerably more enthusiastic before they drove away in his very expensive sports car.
Rogers was much more sedate, though no less impactful.
Selvig was already gone, having left the moment Thor and Loki returned to Asgard.
Now alone, you hefted the backpack over your shoulder and started to walk though Central Park. Now just another face in the crowd.
You had left home because you couldn't bear to settle down to a normal life while there was a big wide world out there for you to see.
Your eyes crackled with unrestrained power.
Well, the world just got a whole lot bigger.
No matter what you chose, you would see it all.
As an Avenger, you don't know. But for now, it didn't matter.
So then… where do you go next?
[] Stark Tower. Arc Length: Short. Spend the next several months in Stark Tower. Interact with Stark and Banner and assist in New York recovery.
[] Shield Training. Arc Length: Medium. Spend the next six months training with SHIELD. Includes interactions with Barton, Romanov, and Rogers (Automatically locks you out of Iron Man 3).
[] Travel: Arc Length: Variable. Finish your walk through Central Park and then… who knows? Its time to see world through new eyes. [Pull on a random Marvel plot thread (choose in a separate poll), interacts with ????] (Automatically locks you out of Iron Man 3).
Well, here we are. The end of the prologue. A year later then what I initially set it out to be but here we are nonetheless.
Now let's talk about arcs for a moment.
The prologue was an example of a Major Arc. They will always be narrative based and will occur over a short amount of time (Significant involvement with any movie for example will be a Major Arc). Major Arcs is where you find rewards that cannot be obtained anywhere else.
Minor Arcs are basically time skip arcs. Set in a CK2 style you will have a certain amount of turns to perform a bunch of different actions told in a snapshot format. Anyone who has read at least a few quests should be familiar with this type of structure.
The number of turns you have is set by the Arc's length beforehand. So:
Short – 5 turns
Medium – 10 turns
Long – 10+ turns
The exact number of turns may fluctuate depending on exactly how packed the timeline is at that point in time but in general the numbers above is the amount of turns you should expect.
After a Minor Arc you will have a choice of Major Arcs, dependant on the Minor Arc you just took. The same is true for Minor Arc choices (Though due to your Origin, some variant of Travel will always be available as an option). Movie Arcs are locked behind specific actions (ones that should be very obvious ahead of time).
TLDR -> Major Arc -> Minor Arc -> Major Arc -> ect
Now back to the plot.
In the MCU there are horrors and marvels galore. Travel down paths old and new it doesn't matter, there will always be something out there for you. As long as you have the will to seek it.
Marvel is a big world, one that will continue to move on without you. If you want to make an impact on future events you must be there to witness them. You cannot be involved in everything, so make the greatest impact you can in the events that you are a part of.
And lastly, presume nothing.
Your very existence has warped the world you know. As the ripples from your actions spread, the world that you know will become less and less familiar.
Good luck.
As always, there this a 2-hour MORATORIUM on Votes. DO NOT VOTE FOR 2 HOURS!
I'll be checking the thread. Feel free to discuss!
