Doorman (MCU SI)

[IdleMuse0307]

Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.

DoorMan #67

Ta-Lo [February 16, 2008]

–Colin Baxter–

He schooled his expression soon after taking off, and then landed slowly in the village square, where most of the regular consumers of his goods were already eagerly waiting for him, no doubt informed by the Village Chief, who must have been in turn informed by the Water Dragon.

In canon, the role that the Water Dragon took in the workings of the village had diluted so much that it was not until the end that everyone got to see the Dragon in its entirety, and that was because the Water Dragon was vastly weaker back then.

Now that he has been constantly getting CHI infusions, he was fine and actually on track to get to its peak, before the whole sealing Demon and keeping it sealed thing. He did not know what was really sealed inside that mountain, aside from it being pure evil so he did not want to take chances and had given the Water Dragon ample amounts of CHI every time he visited, in addition to the agreed upon CHI appointments.

Sometimes, he just wanted to get away from all the chaos so he came here, discreetly, and enjoyed the greenery everywhere he went. Plus, every single leaf of grass in this place was infused with high amounts of CHI, courtesy of yours truly as well as the Dragon, so it was infinitely calmer in this place.

Now, though, he felt tense, as if something was about to drop on him, and he could only helplessly see the shadow of it approaching. He did not like this feeling one bit and resolved to do something about it.

For now, he needed to have a talk with the black hearted cunning of a man, who ran this Village.

Waving at the people who had gathered around him, he waved his hand once, creating a portal, or more accurately, parts of a portal before the Water Dragon took over and fully opened a stable portal. He was so thankful for that, otherwise it would have ruined his carefully crafted image of a genius outsider magician who had come bearing gifts.

"Enjoy!" He said before turning around and headed to the guards, who were standing at the entrance of the Village Chief office along with the beloved Ying Nan, next in line to be Village CHief, once the old geezer retired because he could not see the man kicking the bucket anytime soon, despite his outwardly feeble and old appearance.

"Hello, Ms.Ying Nan, how do you do?" he bowed theatrically before continuing to walk forward. He paused as a very sharp knife, attached to a piece of wood that was stronger than steel was thrust towards his face, not by the guards but by Ying Nan, the beloved of the entire village.

Raising an eyebrow at the sudden action, he deadpanned at her, "That could have hurt me."

In return, she jabbed it towards his eye, making him lean back, "Hey! Whoa! Hey! What the f*ck?" He yelled as she continued to step forward and jab him with the pointy spear, making him do Olympic gymnastics to dodge.

"I sense anger within you, vast and hot. Why are you looking for my grandpa?" She questioned him as she continued to try to hit him with all her might.

His face turned into an O as he realised the reason for the sudden hostilities. With a sigh, he stopped dodging and simply raised his finger, and stopped the spear right in its tracks, making Ying Nan and the guards look at him with wide, disbelieving eyes.

Well, he hadn't stopped the spear with just his finger. If anyone looked closely, there was a small Blue rectangle that had appeared in front of his index finger, which was stopping the Spear from advancing. He was just using his superior strength to hold the shield in place, so to speak.

"What is with women in this place hitting first and asking questions later?" He mused out loud as he looked at the guards as well as the Village Chief who had now come out to watch the spectacle, along with the villagers who were no doubt whispering.

"What is happening?"

"Why are they fighting?"

"Why is she trying to hurt the Life Bringer?"

Were some of the few questions he heard from the many. Anytime now, the response should come from the other side….

"Ying Nan, stop that now!" The Village Chief had to step in as he smirked down at her, very condescendingly. It was nice to do this, especially since the girl made it her mission to try and downplay his contributions to the village at every turn since she was older than him and yet, he was stronger than her.

The earlier spars, she won all of them but later on, once he got the hang of his strength, he could just bullzone through all of her techniques and throw her out of the ring, in friendly spars, obviously. If she came for his life, the outcome would be the same, the process might differ a bit.

"You could have spared her pride, and just came to me," The Village Chief said as they both began walking side by side towards the office.

"And you could have warned me about the Bloody Vampire you deputized." He stressed about the warning as the man winced at the anger in his voice. Soon, they were in his office, with no one around to listen.

"So, what do you have to say for yourself?" he asked the man while he kept an eye on the surroundings. He knew the Water Dragon was doing an excellent job at keeping the Demon contained but it never hurt to keep an eye on everything because in canon, despite the seal, the Demonic entity had been able to contact Xu Wenwu, who resided outside the pocket dimension.

He did not know how to look for any contact residue but the least he could do was search for any demonic residue around him, however unlikely the situation might be.

The VIllage chief, whose name he did not know, sighed, "Look, I can see now, in hindsight, that it was a mistake to hastily give her Ta-Lo's seal, but you have to look at it from our point of view, the single person capable of helping our Guardian and safeguard our people from the Demon was in danger."

He slumped, again with the same argument. This was not going to fly—-

"That too, an assault on you by Hell empowered Vampires, parasitic creatures capable of doing much worse than simply death. You are the single most important person to Ta-Lo right now, more than me, more than Ning Yan or anyone else, and for that, I had to act hastily lest we lose you. For that, I apologize." The man bowed his head and that just took out all the anger in him.

"Fine," He said, defeated. "Now, I hope you know about the State visit tomorrow? I am not taking no for an answer. I know you people only reside in a 50 mile radius around the Water Dragon for protection purposes but I would like to explore the other parts of this place."

He stopped the man from interrupting and gave him the same spiel whenever he asked to roam the areas unexplored, "I will have both Jin'Ya and the Red Matron with me, so no need to worry about my safety. So, Yes or No?" He asked the man pointedly.

Before the man could respond, however, another voice made itself known in the conversation, "It is fine, Zhenzu, the Life Giver has valid points and we have erred him because of your hastiness. Life-Giver, you can freely roam these areas."

And that is how he found that the name of the Village Elder was Zhenzu.

"Thank you, Water Dragon," He cheerfully waved at the invisible yet all encompassing Water Dragon and his gaze.

Kind of what Uncle Sam wishes to be, huh?


If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.

 

[Jao]

While it would have been nice to be one of the only two groups (Aakanda being the first) to have a viable super soldier serum, he knew it must have raised Bruce's alarm bells when he saw the actual end result of a successful Extremis serum campaign, so he let the man actually downgrade the stuff,, promising to use it for medical benefits as soon as it is done.

Click to shrink...

Wakanda

the stuff, promising

Privately, however, every single note, every single keystroke that Bruce and Hansen performed, was logged on a secure server. Their labs were on a constant watch and due to the dangers of the Extremis serum's plant testing, paper was not used which is why he had the record of everything he might need to,, one day, actually recreate Aldrich Killian's Fiery breath.

Click to shrink...

to, one day

Abomination was already in a maximum security prison right now, kept sedated under an increasing dosage of sedatives because his biology begins adapting to their methods. So far, they had zero alternative to just pumping drugs into his system and hoping for the best and he was hoping to have Bruce produce a viable alternative, so that he could produce it before FUry the next time they met, as a gift.

Click to shrink...

Fury

"Enjoy!" He said before turning around and headed to the guards, who were standing at the entrance of the Village Chief office along with the beloved Ying Nan, next in line to be Village CHief, once the old geezer retired because he could not see the man kicking the bucket anytime soon, despite his outwardly feeble and old appearance.

Click to shrink...

Chief

 

[IdleMuse0307]

Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.

DoorMan #68

Ta-Lo [February 16, 2008]

–Colin Baxter–

He took in deep breaths in and out, as he floated on top of the lake that the Water Dragon resided in, flanked by both the Red Matron and Jin'Ya on both sides, a little distance behind him, ready for any mishap to happen.

In and Out.

In and Out.

In and Out.

After a while, he finally felt stable enough to open the Lightning Gate for the first time, the one that had appeared in his systems out of the bleu, when he had come close to the Arc Reactor, the same Arc Reactor that was now in the process of being decommissioned because Stark Industries was going to replace it with a newer and better model, or that is what Stane was telling the public but he knew the real reason as to why that was happening.

He opened his eyes and then found himself in his mindscape, overlooking the Eight trees that held his Eight Doors, and found himself reminiscing about his previous Doors.

It was never a dull moment when he opened any Door for the first time. His powers, while easy to master once practiced, were not beginner friendly. He had needed outside assistance to properly mitigate the effects of the Doors being opened the first time, for all the Seven Doors that he had in his arsenal right now.

The Water one just created a ball of water around him and continued to pump water into that small space, increasing the density and almost crushing him under all that pressure.

The Fire one just pumped fire all around him, almost igniting his room instantaneously. Funnily enough, the Water Door helped in that regard.

The sand one was the same as the Water one, trying to crush him under heaps of sand, some of which definitely entered his nose and mouth. That was a bad day, in general because he had to remove sand from places he had never expected to. It was bad, not just for him, but for Wong as well, who had to deal with similar sand cleaning hassle that he did.

The light one was relatively tame, simply because it did nothing of interest. Wong had actually summoned and trapped a small Imp, a very weak animal like a denizen of Hell, who just flinched upon seeing his white light and once it became clear to the creature that his light couldn't hurt him since it was not imbued with the holy attribute, the demon mocked him. Safe to say, the Demon was turned into ashes on the spot, not for any particular reason, mind you.

The CHI one was disastrous to say the least. Not because the opening was bad but because he was in over his head and wanted to open the CHI door permanently, which resulted in some very bad choices that led to his body experiencing third degree burns that he most certainly would not have survived had he not actually succeeded in opening the CHI door permanently, leading to a near constant flow of pure Lifeforce in his system that allowed him to survive as the Healers in Kamar Taj did their work.

For the last two ones, i.e, the Air and the Kinetic Laser dimensions, he had finally gotten smart enough to ask for guidance from the Ancient One and Kamar Taj as a whole, leading to a big ass ritual room reserved for him.

He was very fortunate for that, because the first time Door opening of both the Air and the Kinetic Laser dimension resulted in so much damage that the ritual room had to be broken down to be remade because there was nothing left of it after he was done with them.

The Air one just released a tornado of charged energy that it interfered with the enchantments woven into the room, and the Kinetic Laser Door resulted in a cube manifesting around him that sent full power Lasers in all directions, resulting in the enchantments overloading due to the energy being absorbed into them.

So, one might ask, why not do the same this time? Why not go to Kamar Taj, meditate in the ritual room for a couple of hours and then do the dangerous act in a semi-secured space, under the supervision of the all seeing and all powerful Ancient One?

The answer to that would be the Water Dragon and the presence of Jin'ya and the Red Matron. The Water Dragon was the de-facto owner of this pocket dimension, not much could happen in this place without his say-so, except the seal. What happened inside the seal, the Water Dragon could not sense.

He could only sense if the seal is being tampered with or being destroyed, and even that capability he only received recently. He wagered that, in canon, that the Water Dragon was asleep most of the time and only woke up at the last moment because of all the disturbance that Xu Wenwu created during his invasion.

So, the Water Dragon was now vastly stronger and as a result of that, any danger could easily be mitigated by controlling the space around him. Secondly, Jin'Ya and the Red Matron, combined, were a force to reckon with, and more than enough to act as a substitute for the non Vishanti empowered Ancient One. Once the Vishanti gave her free rein though? None on the planet could match her.

So, with that in mind, he took a step forward, and reached his hand towards the trunk of the tree, where the lightning symbol was etched, still crackling with blue arcs of energy. Honestly, he was still worried and maybe he could have chosen a better time, a time where he did not have to host a guest in a couple of hours but he had been pushing it back for quite a while now and the itch to get it done finally couldn't be tolerated anymore.

So, with just a tiny bit of hesitation, he covered the last inch and touched the lightning symbol on the trunk. He was confused when nothing happened for a second before his vision went white.

____xx____

Outside, Ta-Lo

–Ying Nan–

She trudged along the path, her spear attached to her back as she effortlessly climbed the steep incline, something she knew most people in the village would struggle to do, while kicking a rock up the path.

"Stupid Colin," She grumbled as she kicked the rock particularly hard, resulting in the rock splitting in two, and both of its pieces splitting in different directions. SHe slumped and then began walking forward once again, doing her training, even though she did not feel like taking a single step forward.

The beloved, they all called her.

Someone favoured by their Guardian himself, resulting in advanced powers that she trained, day in and day out, without fail, so as to reach the high expectations placed on her at birth.

Her sister, she was different. Not blessed and yet stronger than anyone in the village had been. Never interacted with their Guardian and yet, elected to become the wall between the gate to Ta-Lo and Ta-Lo. Never wavering in her duty, she defeated all the candidates who wanted to challenge her.

And then….

She shook her head as she thought of the detestable man her sister went with. She couldn't even imagine why her sister, the all powerful warrior who could best anyone, would abandon her post and consequently, her powers as well, just so she could be with a man she knew had done terrible things.

Even as young as she was back then, she could feel things, emotions. If you kill people, do bad stuff, get cursed at by people, it leaves a mark on you and she could sense that mark. That man, she shivered at the memory even now. He had killed more people than there were trees in the entirety of Ta-Lo.

Once her sister left, the expectations and pressure on her increased twofold, resulting in her father having to be the one to guard the entrance whenever it opened, just to ward off any pressure on her to take the post before she was ready. But now she was ready, according to her own father. The next time the gateway to Ta-Lo opened up, she would be there, ready to guard Ta-Lo with all her life.

The thought helped with her mood a bit before it was all let down by the man known as Colin, also given the title of the Lifegiver, by their Guardian himself.

The man was arrogant, snobbish, disrespectful towards her grandpa, the Village Chief, and defeated her in every single spar they had in the past year, and that too, effortlessly.

Obviously, she recognised the effect he was having on Ta-Lo as a whole, and could acknowledge that he was obviously beneficial for them but she just couldn't stomach someone, younger than her, not blessed by their Guardian, outclassing her by so much.

Just earlier today, he stopped her attack with a single finger, in front of everyone. That level of power, even her grandpa couldn't do that anymore. He stopped her beloved Spear, soaked in her blood for years, just so she could get it to recognise her, and it was stopped by a single finger.

Obviously, she knew that he was using his powers to do so but that did not make it any less disheartening.

She was told by grandpa not to make any moves on Colin anymore because he was bringing in someone as a guest to see Ta-Lo tomorrow, which further increased her resentment.

They were a hidden settlement, residing in a pocket dimension, empowered by a Mythical Dragon, with their life's goal being to stop a hidden evil that could engulf the entire outer world, not some tourist attraction.

Shaking her head, she resumed climbing the mountain until she heard a loud crackling sound.

"That's odd," She muttered to herself as she hastened her climb, jumping with all her might, to reach the peak faster because the sky had never thundered like that in all the time she could remember.

There was yet another crack, and her eyes widened as a giant blue lightning bolt struck Ta-Lo, leaving behind a series of black lines that soon healed on their own.

Alarmed at the commotion, she took out her spear and began using it to just jump her way to the top, fearing the worst, like an attack on Ta-Lo by the entity.

She was ready to sacrifice her life for the cause as she reached the peak with her spear pointed forward, mid air, when she saw a blue ball of energy with a single person clad in red, floating near it. She could also see a purple ball of energy near the person.

Her eyes widened in more than a little bit of fear as she realised that the blue bolts of energy were not lightning striking down on Ta-Lo but something that was coming from the blue ball of energy.

Before she could take a step back to climb down and regroup with the others, she froze as she felt something, something foreign and dark, and resentful, speak to her.

"Hmmm, yes, yes, y-you will do nicely"


If you guys would like to support me, or just want to read up to 15 chapters ahead, you can head on to my P*treon. It is the same name as my username.