TGS - #11 (Patreon)

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Kathmandu [10 months later (March 2011)] 

–Jack Sullivan–

So peaceful.

The procession that the family took when one of their loved ones died in Kathmandu was very peaceful and serene in a way. They are wrapped in a white cloth and then a mourner would light the funeral pyre. It was poetic, in a way.

There were texts written in the various non sorcery tomes in Kamar Taj’s library which depicted the way through which life came to be on Earth. As he had read about in his previous life, the Celestials were the reason that humans came to be. But not in the way that he had thought. Somehow, out of 5 species that Celestials had made out of the early primates, only the modern Homo Sapiens had inherited the malleability, the sheer adaptability of DNA that they had expected from lifeforms that were born on a planet that was once bathed in the lifeblood of a dying celestial. There was only a single difference in the way Homo sapiens were built, different from the other 4 experiments and that was the use of Phoenix fire. The Celestials, in their bid to create intelligent lifeforms, exceptionally intelligent lifeforms, by using the remains of one of their fallen brethren, had used a small amount of Phoenix fire they had in their possession. 

Phoenix fire, coupled with remnant celestial DNA was the reason humans were born so adaptable. The very DNA that humans shared made it so that some humans had the potential to surpass even the very celestials that birthed their entire species. It was the reason humans, when encountering some exotic energy source or mutagen, turned into monsters or gained powers all of a sudden because the default initial reaction of human DNA was to adapt. Adapt, adapt, and evolve, was the motto of human DNA and that was the reason they were the most sought-after experimental commodity in the universe, at least to the people in the know. The High Evolutionary, for example, worked extensively on human and animal DNA to try to create his perfect utopia. The Sovereign, the race famed for their advanced research into biology, also found their inspiration for their perfect creation from an empowered human.

Fire was what brought humans to life and fire was what they used to say goodbye.

“Ready?” He glanced back at Mordo who was silently waiting for him. He nodded and then looked back at the mostly empty funeral home.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” They floated on top of one of his barriers and rocketed towards the snow-filled mountains where the next meeting of the Masters of the Mystic Arts was going to happen. He was finally going to become a Master of the Mystic Arts and he was excited for it.

“What is the procedure to become one anyway? Care to share?” He asked Mordo as they sat in the cocoon he had built for themselves using his barriers. He had grown closer to Mordo and the others in the time he had been in Kamar Taj but he was mindful of the future versions he knew of them and thus, had made sure to maintain distance in case shit hit the fan early.

“Everybody has to go through this without any guidance. I had to and you have to too,” Mordo replied calmly. A little too calm.

He was not exactly worried because gaining the Master title would just be that, a title. It was not as if he was looking to climb up the ladder of Kamar Taj. He had already succeeded in completing two of the three goals he had set for himself when he had first arrived at Kamar Taj. 

He could now summon hundreds of different barriers and then pilot them remotely while each of those barriers was strong enough to withstand direct blasts from the Leviathan with ease. Well, he had not tested them against the Chitauri but the Ancient One was certain that not even the strongest armies of the galaxy had a weapon that could break through his barriers. Granted, Infinity Stones and weapons powered by them were the exception but for most of the things out there, he was golden. 

The third goal that he had set for himself was being able to create a hive mind of sorts with his barriers and that was what was proving to be exceptionally difficult to do. You see, the brain has a limited number of lanes it could use for different multitasking purposes. He was a super soldier so he had more “lanes” than normal people anyway but even he had a limit. He was not an Asgardian, those people sure had all the good luck when it came to genetics. He had trained as much as he could to reduce the number of “lanes” required to operate a barrier while getting sensory feedback from it but there was just so much to process that his brain just isn’t capable of handling. He can barely do a dozen barriers if he wants to have comprehensive sensory output from those barriers straight to him. He doesn’t know how the link works but at this point in his training, he can conjure those barriers and send them 10 miles away from him and still, he would be able to get a somewhat clear picture from that barrier. The range and the number of barriers actively in use are inversely proportional so he has to keep that in mind.

In addition to that, he has also fulfilled his small dream of being able to create a mid-sized Gundam that was taller than a 10-storey building, which was his current limit if he wanted to sustain that form for a long fight.

Other than that, he had also discovered another very useful aspect of his powers. Kaecilius was actually the one who had discovered that when his energy spells hit his barriers, a portion of that was actually being absorbed by the barriers themselves. He had then conducted numerous other experiments with all his sparring partners and had discovered that his barriers were capable of absorbing any type of energy with ease. It was just that it could not absorb all of it. Most of it was sustained by the barrier and then the rest was deflected. Only some amount of it was absorbed but even small quantities can add up in case of a fight. And in the case of the Chitauri Invasion, the hundreds of blasts that would hit his barriers can generate enough energy for him to hit them back with a huge energy beam of his own.

Ah yes, that was also something he was surprised to know about. Wong was the mastermind who had suggested it because he was of the opinion that all that absorbed energy had to go somewhere and since he himself was not ballooning out of proportion, it was probably going to some alternate dimension. They had put meditation as a mandatory task for him in his daily timetable and voila, in less than a month, he had figured out how to use the absorbed energy.

The trick was that he had to conjure multiple barriers at the same time and keep them active if he wanted to use that absorbed energy. They had conducted an experiment in which Mordo and Kaeciulius had hit one of his conjured barriers with an energy spell that they could sustain for long periods of time. It was mostly just an overcomplicated portal spell that opened a gateway to a realm that contained nothing but energy beams that contained just kinetic energy. It took a while but soon enough, he felt an alien sensation from the other barrier that he had conjured. There was the feeling of something bursting out from the barrier and lo and behold, a similar energy beam exited his barrier, blasting through the barrier straight into the wall of a nearby hut. He had hastily shut down the barrier but the wall was still left glowing as the protections on it had activated at the last moment. Ever since then, he had made generous use of the mirror dimension to practice the energy-absorbing ability of his barriers. In one of the incursions that he had been a part of, he had even absorbed hellfire of some sort, scaring the demons who had tried to attack him and the apprentices under his protection, thinking him weak. As it turned out, hellfire was not just fire, it was an energy attack that his barriers easily deflected. Also, that hellfire was somehow enough to satisfy whatever criteria it was that his barriers had to be able to reflect that energy so he had used their own attack on them, startling some of them. He used that moment to conjure dozens of small notebook-sized sharp barriers and send them at their necks, killing over a dozen demons in a single strike. That was the day he had taken his first life and he had never looked back since in the three different demon invasions he had repelled single-handedly.

Sensory output from his barriers brought him out of his retrospection as the peak of the mountain came into viewing distance. Both of them slowly landed on the snow-laden path. Once he dismissed the cocoon, he was pleasantly surprised by a warm atmosphere. He dismissed it as a creature comfort using runes as a medium and followed Mordo as they entered an ancient-looking cave.

Mordo stood at the end of the cave and gestured for him to go ahead. He nodded at Mordo in gratitude and stepped into the light that was there at the end of the tunnel. His vision almost immediately adjusted to the rapid changes in brightness as he found himself standing in the middle of a huge circle. There were raised platforms on which dozens of different people sat. Most of them were very old, some of them were familiar faces like Mordo, Kaecilius, and Wong. He raised an eyebrow as it seemed he had no test to speak of, other than a vote as he could feel nothing in the room. No spells being activated, no traps, nothing.

“Jack Sullivan,” One of the oldest Masters who seemed to have no difficulty standing, stood upright and said, his voice booming in the small enclosed space they were in.

“The slayer of demons, Shield of Kamar Taj, and now, the youngest Master of the Mystic Arts, welcome to the hallowed rank of being a Master of Kamar Taj,” The old man then continued in a surprisingly gentle tone.

He raised his eyebrows in confusion. Wasn’t there supposed to be an exam before he was officially declared a Master?

“I know what you are thinking. The reason there was no exam for you was because there was no reason to. Your combat ability alone places you far above all of us present here. The only reason your promotion was delayed was because your ability to cast sorcerer spells was in question and yesterday, when you cast your hundredth spell, you satisfied those conditions. Congratulations,” Mordo stood up and bowed at him. All of the others stood up and did the same with him mirroring their actions as well.

____xx___

Later, at his accommodations, Kamar Taj

“Leaving, Master Sullivan?” He turned around from his activity of packing all of his meager belongings into a depressingly small bag to see the Ancient One standing at the entrance of his hut. He hastily closed the bag and bowed to her.

“Ancient One. And yes, I am leaving. I believe I have achieved everything I can at this place and going out and doing things will be more beneficial for me at this stage,” 

She smiled at him and then waved her hand, placing both of them in the mirror dimension. 

“What?” He smiled and asked her as they found themselves floating above the open ocean as far as he could see.

She took a combat stance and he smiled in excitement as he did the same, a green armour appearing above his skin. It was a far cry from the second skin that used to appear on his skin whenever his body’s fight or flight instinct was activated. Now, it resembled more like dragon scales in their appearance and thickness and ironically, he had taken inspiration for them from a dead dragon that had been slain by him during one of the demon incursions. 

“Here I come,” He declared before creating a small Gundam around himself and rocketing straight at her with his first outstretched, leaving a sonic boom behind him.

He didn’t know what happened. One moment his fist was about to hit the Ancient One right in her face, the next he was looking at a vast expanse of blue as the plating on his barriers had been broken from whatever the Ancient One had done to them. He willed more plates to appear and created an even bigger Gundam around himself and went even faster toward the shining beacon that was the Ancient One. 

She was wielding what seemed to be a burning Hammer that looked comically large in comparison to her slender frame and yet, she wielded it with ease all the same. He cocked his fist, ready to hit her as she twirled the hammer around her small frame, leading to the situation where a small hammer absolutely broke through his large Gundam and hit him straight on his chest plate which broke down and actually transmitted the force to him, causing him to spurt blood. In that small instance, he could see her actually smile at his reaction. His eyes goggled in amazement as he looked at the burning hammer.

The moment which seemed to stretch far longer than the split second it actually was, creating a shockwave so big that even as far as he was from the ocean surface, he could see the literal Tsunami that had formed because of their clash.

Just what the hell was that hammer?

He willed his barriers to come to a stop and absentmindedly rubbed the spot on his chest that was being healed due to his sturdy constitution. He had definitely felt his bones being rattled along with at least one rib breaking. He set the rib back in place with a pained grunt and slowly floated down to the Ancient One.

“What the hell was that hammer?” He asked her in between coughs. That was the single thing that was able to break through all of his barriers and then make him feel pain. 

“That, Master Sullivan, is one of the many tools infused with a shard of Eternity that allows it to channel a fraction of a fraction of Eternity’s power. That power is what allowed me to breach your barriers and injure you. Be at ease though, there are few of these in the universe and even they are long lost to the annals of time. Also, it took more energy than it was worth it to hurt you. I could have just as easily transmuted a portion of your blood into lead, poisoning you with ease. It would have taken the same level of energy as well,” The Ancient One said to him, almost mockingly.

“You can do that?!” He exclaimed and she just laughed it off and opened a portal back to Kamar Taj.

He came out of the portal only to see himself at the door of Kamar-Taj with his packed bag dropped at the door already. He cackled out loud at the prank as there was a note on the bag which read - “With Eternal Love, Kaecilius,”

Knowing what was to come in the future, that note made for a very practical joke.

With a snap of his fingers, his attire changed into a T-shirt and Jeans as he picked up his bags and opened a portal straight to Manhattan.

He exited the portal into a shady alley and took in a deep breath, reminding him of the filth that existed in the city.

The sounds of cars zipping by, people talking and swearing, hit his enhanced senses as he was finally exposed to the cacophony of modern cities. He had hoped to avoid this but alas, fate was not kind and he had to face his fears in some way. It was good that his fear was just a bad living environment in general. Not some deep-seated childhood trauma. No sir. His fears could be easily solved by a wave of hand as a portal to Antarctica was just that far away for him.

He hoisted the bag on his shoulder and exited the alley. He looked up to see a huge building being constructed that, once completed, would take the crown for being the tallest building on the New York Skyline.

Honestly, overcompensating much, Stark?

He then whistled as he set out to look for accommodations in the Big Apple. After all, he was sure that New York was the place where all the major shit in Marvel went down. There must be something he could do in the meantime, instead of just sitting on his hands, waiting for someone from SHIELD to show up at Stark Tower so that they can get Tony Stark for their Avengers team. He would have to look for something either very close to Stark Tower or very high so that he could spy on the building from far away. Getting access to the building would be a blessing as he could then set up surveillance spells but Jarvis probably knew his face and would instantly alert Stark about it and he did not have the transformation spell handy because it was ridiculously hard. No other spell was as hard as the transformation spell and that was why, everyone preferred wearing magical masks to hide themselves, instead of using that stupidly overcomplicated spell.

Also, it was very easy for Masters of the Mystic Arts to just flee using portals instead of hiding their faces.

He would have to make a name for himself in the meantime as some vigilante with powers so that SHIELD could approach him as well. Someplace where there was someone who would know about his powers and would not discriminate based on that. Someone who could be trusted. Someone who was well-connected enough that he would not have many problems, atleast in the beginning. Once his power was showcased sufficiently, the voices would die down anyway. Now, how would one go about doing that, he wondered. 

As he ate the signature 1$ New York Pizza slice, his brain lit up.

That was how he found himself in Harlem. The place that had been battered by the battle between the Hulk and the Abomination. The place where there was a lot of crime that could be stopped by him. The perfect place for him to set up shop.

“Come on in, young man,” A middle-aged black guy greeted him as he knocked on the glass doors of the shop. To be fair, it was pretty early in the morning to have customers.

That place was Pop’s barber shop in Harlem.

Word Count - 3227

A/N - Dayummm. I was in some sort of trance as I just wrote this absolute behemoth of a chapter in just 2 hours whereas before, it used to take me that much time to write barely 2k words. I am pumped!