บท 118: Chapter 118: No good deeds goes unrewarded.
Even for an ordinary Asgardian, it will take a lot of strength to be able to kill them. The fact that Eclipse can say it so casually shows Loki and Thor that he deserved the name; Earth Guardian.
"Steve Roger," Eclipse said, staring at the Captain after he spoke out for Amora.
The Earth guardian glowing purple eye gazing at him is making Steve feel uncomfortable. "Do you know me?" he asked.
"I know all of you," Eclipse replied as he turned his gaze to the group. He returned his gaze to Steve and said, "You won't be able to handle her."
Amora is gazing at Steve anxiously, wanting to speak.
'Save me from him, and you can do whatever you want with me,'
Too bad her mouth is sealed, even her face. Ryan already thinks about her seduction and ways to handle it if she used it on the Avengers. That is why she is in the iron maiden mask. People with a sense of justice won't be able to help themselves if her face and expression are revealed. She will tug into the deepest desire of a mortal man to protect her with just her face alone.
Amora nods furiously as if she is saying to Eclipse to leave her with the mortals. She is powerless right now, it won't be a problem for them to keep her. 'Don't kill me!'
"I think we have proved ourselves worthy to handle her… in New York," Tony interjected. They can even defeat Loki. They surely can handle the sorceress. If anything goes wrong, just sic the Hulk onto her.
Tony didn't know that his thinking is the worst possible thing he can do. If Amora meets the Hulk with her magic intact, she can make the beast easily fall to her command.
Standing beside Eclipse, the god of thunder is thinking seriously. He racked his brain to think of possible ways that Eclipse is easily handling Amora. Thor got a lightbulb above his head amidst the confrontation between Eclipse and the Avenger leaders.
"You…are a female? A woman?"
The rest have a question mark floating above their head after Thor's sudden question. Even Eclipse.
Loki shook his head in embarrassment at his brother's simple mind. He wants to scream out loud 'Magicians you muscle brain,' but he can't. His mouth is still sealed.
Thor thinks that Eclipse is female because women aren't affected by Amora's charm. Even he was seduced by Amora a couple of times at his younger age and obeyed her every command before he broke free. Eclipse can handle Amora easily. He must be a She.
"I am not," Eclipse replied, making Thor a little sad.
"Is there any alternative other than killing her?" Banner asks.
"Is that pity… I sensed in you? She had killed 300 men in her 10 days on earth. Do you think her life is worth sparing?" Eclipse asked Banner calmly.
"She even targeted a friend of yours…the Knight. I managed to stop her before she could kill him," Eclipse explained, making Tony stare at Amora in hatred. Steve is also backing off when he hears about the crime.
"300?" Natasha mutters to herself. Banner's eyes widened.
"Wait. The victims. Will they become a husk?" Coulson asked. There is an incident being investigated by Shield. A string of murders that leave the victim to be a dried-up corpse. The corpse's condition is making some agents have a nightmare. They are still smiling even when Shield finds the corpse.
"Yes. She stole their life essence to replenish her magic power, leaving them an empty shell, " Eclipse explained.
Thor supported his statement, "Her magic will make the mortals surrender themselves happily. I supported the guardian that she shouldn't be with the mortals. However…"
Eclipse turned to Thor as he heard the dangling sentence.
"She should answer for her crime in front of Odin. In Asgard.
"Is that true?" Banner whispered to Coulson.
"We did find mummified corpses. The trail starts from Mississippi and ends in New York."
Coulson is sharing with them what Shield is investigating. After Banner hears the incident, he turns to Eclipse.
"Do whatever you want then," Banner said.
Natasha suddenly realizes something. "You didn't answer Banner's question. Is there any other alternative than killing her?"
The group refocused their attention back to Eclipse who is talking to Thor about he didn't have any ways to hold her. Ryan is lying. He can imprison her forever. But he didn't want to. It's too much hassle. He rather just killed her.
Ryan puts his finger underneath his chin and starts to think.
'Spaceship? Nah, then I have to enter Asgard myself. It's hard enough for me to keep away Heimdall's gaze on Earth.'
'Shrink her and let Thor carry her inside his pocket during his teleportation? To return her to the normal size is the problem.'
'Wait, I just got the spatial knowledge. Can I use magic instead of machinery to open up a portal?'
He is making advanced calculations in his mind. It's like a second has been split into a minute inside his mind. His brain is busy referencing his magic knowledge and cross-referencing it with machinery knowledge.
Glancing at the machine in Thor's hand, he is uncovering all of its secrets in a split second. He knows he can build a better machine, even opening up a stable teleportation channel like the Bifrost on his own if he has the cosmic cube shortcut. To do that will destroy his Eclipse persona, and reveal himself.
After a 15-second silence, Eclipse spoke to the group.
"There is. But I need the cube,"
"Yeah… no," Tony rejected it without thinking. He thinks Thor should bring the cube back to Asgard, not entrust it to the guy who came out of nowhere. He thought the others would feel the same, but Thor turns to Eclipse in surprise.
"You know how to manipulate it?" Thor asked in a loud voice as he showed the Tesseract to the Earth Guardian.
"It wasn't hard. Your brother knows how too," Eclipse replied. He added, "You should study more, Thor."
Thor is embarrassed. He scratched his left cheek. Loki insulted Thor inside his heart while raising Eclipse's danger level inside his mind.
'However, if I can see how he opens up the portal, then when I get free, I will…' Loki plotted insidiously inside his mind. Eclipse had put his guard up when facing him, the greatest magician in Asgard! After his mother of course.
Grabbing the blue cube from inside the machine, Thor entrusted the cube to Eclipse with a smile on his face. The Avengers are face-palming Thor's simplicity in trusting others.
If only they know what Thor knows, then thoughts of suspicion won't even appear inside their mind.
Holding onto the Cube with his left hand, Ryan is beginning to draw a rune from his right hand.
"Wait!" Barton interrupted the ritual before it started. The group is looking at Barton who is watching from the farthest of them.
"Why?" Eclipse asked. Loki's heart is beating quickly. He got a bad feeling about this.
"I saw a glint in Loki's eye when you were starting. He may have ulterior motives…" Barton is trying to explain what his instinct is telling him. Maybe deep down he just wants to create trouble for Loki who manipulated him. He thought so too before he decided to stop the ritual. His decision is because he saw Loki is…smirking?
It is impossible for an ordinary person to notice as Loki's mouth is gagged. But not Barton. He had spent the longest time with Loki among the mortals there that it developed into his skills. He can read the lines on Loki's eye and the muscle movement on his cheek, so he knows Loki is smiling right now.
"Maybe he's excited to go home?" Tony said sarcastically. He doesn't distrust Barton when he says that. He started to figure out what Loki's motive is.
"We still need to be sure," Steve said. He is getting out a piece of fabric and he wants to use it as a blindfold. He also wants to drag Loki farther away from the cube before Thor starts to speak.
"Loki is a magician. I guess he wants to learn your magic Dragonborn," Thor said in the All speak the language, making all the people there hear what he called Eclipse.
"Dragon? That is real?" Natasha asked.
"Well, Asgard is real. Why couldn't a dragon be real?" Coulson replied to her.
"He said Dragon 'born', if he is a dragon he might have just said Dragon magic," Tony argued with Coulson.
"So he is a human-dragon?" Steve asked.
"Someone f*cked a dragon?" Banner asked in a low voice, making all the people there staring at him.
"You're interested Doc?" Tony teased Banner.
Ryan stares at Thor, making him feel guilty.
"Wait. Stop talking about it. Please." Thor begged the mortals.
Ryan looked at Barton, and then Loki. Suddenly, he remembered something in his past life and wanted to repeat that.
"Can you repeat what you say? Clint Barton." Eclipse is speaking, and the chatter-chatter stopped.
"I..um.. Do I have to?" Barton said in embarrassment. He still didn't know whether his hunch was correct.
'Come on, say it,' Ryan is excited alone. He stares at Barton, making him surrender to his fate.
"Loki is trying to learn your magic. His mouth may be gagged, but his eyes still work." Thor interfered, saving Barton from being the center of attention. Thor thinks that Eclipse's condition has worsened, and his responsibility toward the earth grows bigger.
"What eyes?" Ryan said in a horrifying voice as he tilted his head a bit.
"What?" All the people there are puzzled.
"Hmph, mmmm.." Loki starts to grunt, making the people's attention fall on him. Their jaws dropped as they saw the scene. The skin around Loki's eyes is stuck together, depriving him of his sight. It's like he had never been born with eyes.
"Guardian…" Thor said in a sad tone. He notices that this is magic, and the guardian just wanted to have fun.
"Don't worry. The enchantment will be broken when you cross to Asgard." Ryan said to Thor.
The Avengers are horrified when they see it. Dr. Selvig almost fainted.
Tony swallowed his saliva. ' He won't hold a grudge because I suspected him…right?'
Now, Ryan can officially start. Controlling his magic circuit, he absorbed the Tesseract energy into his body. Blue energy is pulsing onto his right hand as he is building a channel to Asgard.
Thor is standing near Barton. The agent whispered to Thor as they waited for the channel to open.
"Did he fight the demon again?" Barton asked in a private conversation. The others are focusing on the channel. The conversation is unknown to them.
"You have fought with him before. It's only fair that you know," Thor replied solemnly and shared what he knew with the agent. Barton's pupil shakes violently when he knows the situation.
"So the gift?" Barton asked.
"I think he wants to entrust the guardian title to us," Thor said.
Ryan didn't know what poison Thor feeds to Barton, but it will spread into a legend among the Avengers later on. Right now, the fake Earth Guardian is finishing his effort.
Heimdall senses a channel is opening in front of him, who is standing guard at the edge of Asgard. Odin had fallen to Odinsleep a few hours ago. Thor is still in Midgard. He is the only one left to defend Asgard.
He is ready in a battle stance as he holds the Bifrost sword with his two hands. He withdrew his divine eye from watching the universe and focused on the blue, semi-circular channel opening in front of him. He tightens the grip on his sword, as the portal is connecting his sight to another place.
"Thor?" Heimdall saw the familiar face on the opposite side of the channel. "This is…Midgard?"
"Heimdall, my friend. It is me. I have returned," Thor said cheerfully as he escorted Loki and Amora to cross the gate. Heimdall is helping him holding the prisoner chain as he turns to the Guardian on the other side.
Ryan finishes his job and gives the tesseract back to Thor. The god of thunder had to admit that the Guardian is an honorable man. He kept his word. Thor accepted the tesseract from the guardian.
"Guardian, It is our second time meeting, but we still haven't heard your name?" Thor asked. He wants to make sure that people remember the lonely guardian.
"Marduk. That is what people used to call me," Ryan answered. Marduk is the name of a dragon he saw in a children's book somewhere. The name is ingrained inside his mind after that.
Coulson is jotting down the name inside his mind. After returning, he will start to research the name.
The Avengers can see the magnificent golden Palace from afar, and Heimdall who is guarding the portal's entrance.
"This is… unscientific…" Natasha said. How could an advanced alien race still live in a palace?
"No. We still have not understood it yet," Tony said as he watched the portal close. One day, he will crack the so-called magic.
Thor had left, concluding the matter of the Avengers assembly. Ryan turns to look at the group.
"Now. Time for the gift," Ryan said. He planned to reward them as they had worked hard during the battle. All of those who participated in it will get a reward from him. He may be influenced by the quest he takes inside the system, and now he is bringing it with him unconsciously to reality.
"Steve Rogers. Please come to me," Ryan said. The captain walked to Eclipse warily. He told Eclipse personally. " I don't need any gift. I am just doing what I feel it's the right thing to do."
Steve didn't plan to accept anything from the mysterious man. Ryan is stumped. He didn't think that they could reject it. He didn't know what to do now other than blank out.
Barton comes to his help and he pulls Steve's hand and drags the Captain to the side. He whispered something to the captain, making Steve look at Eclipse with a complicated look.
"Eclip…Marduk. On second thought, Steve will take your gift." Barton said to Ryan. It takes a few seconds before Ryan recollects himself and responds to the agent, feeding and strengthening the wrong belief that Thor said to Barton.
Ryan takes out the previous fire gauntlet that he made from a blueprint from the Diablo world. He had used the item to fight Jotun and Loki before. The item is a low-level item. He had already made a new one to use in the future, although it is locked inside his inventory.
He modified the item a little bit so that it can help Steve in the future.
"Drip a drop of blood onto the gauntlet," Ryan said to Steve. Barton and Coulson widened their eyes. That is Eclipse's main weapon. They didn't know if he had others.
'So…It's true. Did he pick Steve?' Barton thought to himself. Although he is a little jealous, he accepted the decision as the one succeeding the Guardian is the legendary Captain America. The man with a heart of justice.
"Just a drop?" Steve said as he bit his finger and dripped his blood onto the gauntlet.
"What is this voodoo thing?" Tony wanted to see it closer, but Barton stopped him and whispered the thing Thor told him and asked Tony to behave.
*Fwoosh* The blood that was dropped to the gauntlet melted into it. Fiery energy surrounded Steve's fist as the gauntlet floated to his hand. Steve can feel a powerful strength surging from his fist. The gauntlet melted inside his fist, and he could summon it out any time he wanted.
Using the gauntlet, Steve can punch 3 times stronger than his normal strength and can use a 10-time strength knockout punch once a day. It still has its previous function such as additional fire damage, increasing attack, and so on. Ryan made the gauntlet bound to Steve as he didn't want anyone else to abuse it.
Such as the man with facial hair that is eyeing the gauntlet like a piece of meat. Tony is already scheming inside his mind to get Steve to allow him to study it.
"Thank you. I will use it wisely," Steve said.
"Next is Clint Barton and Eric Selvig," Ryan summoned the next one.
"Your mind is forcefully expanded by Loki. You will seek out answers to questions others won't understand, and you may fall into insanity. I will help you fix your mind," Ryan said as he put his finger onto Selvig's forehead. Using spiritual energy, he fixes Selvig's discombobulated psyche. He didn't stop it from expanding, only reinforced it to ensure it won't collapse.
"Come here," Eclipse gestured for Barton to come near him. The hawk feels restless, and strides slowly to get near Eclipse.
He arrived in front of the man. Eclipse puts his palm on Barton's ears, and causes the agent to dodge reflectively.
"What are you doing?" Barton tries to cover up his embarrassment...
"Your ears are hurting. Let me help," Eclipse said. Barton calmed down and stood still. Ryan circulated his energy to divine healing energy and healed Barton's ears. Prolonged exposure to explosive sound makes his eardrums quite damaged. Ryan healed the decades-old injury in just a few seconds.
"Done."
Barton grinned as his hearing feels comfortable right now. He hasn't felt this comfortable in years.
"I have a knot on my back if you want to help too," Barton said playfully. He didn't expect to get another healing, but to his surprise, Eclipse puts his hand on his shoulder.
"Ahhhhh," Barton moaned in pleasure as all of his hidden injuries were healing at a rapid pace. Ryan finishes his work with Barton and turns to look at the others who still haven't got their turn.
Tony and Natasha want to speak, almost at the same time. Both of them want to ask the same question.
"Can you heal people?" Natasha asked as Tony backed away.
"Wait, I want to ask the same thing," Tony stands next to Natasha.
"Yes, I can," Eclipse replied calmly. Tony and Natasha are both excited. One had a piece of shrapnel crawling its way to his heart, and another one had been sterilized by the red room.
However, their wish shocked Ryan.
"My friend has five holes in his body, can you help him?" Tony asked with high hopes.
"Kai...My… 'friend'… had burned off his lifespan and is dying because of the battle. Can you help him too?" Natasha asked hesitantly.
Eclipse is silent and it is making Tony and Natasha anxious.
At that moment, Ryan is grinning inwardly at Tony's loyalty. He is also contacting Kai and asking him about the lifespan thing. Even Kai is confused as to how Natasha got the conclusion.
"Is it… too much?" Natasha asked. Thor said that Kai can lose his life at any time. She wants to find ways to help him, even if she needs to give her life at a cost, she is willing.
Eclipse shakes his head, making Tony and Natasha disappointed. Their head drops, and their mind is trying to find more ways to help their friend. But they are disappointed prematurely.
"It is not too much for me. But I am surprised. I thought you might want me to help you," Eclipse said to the duo. Tony's hand moves toward the reactor on his chest, while Natasha is thinking about her time in the red room.
"Who is your friend?" Ryan starts to role play as Eclipse again. He wanted to give Tony some rare ore and Natasha some skill, but they already wishes for other things.
He can tie up some loose strings here. If he suddenly appeared in a healthy condition, he might get dissected and studied by Shield. Tony had given him an excellent opportunity to avoid that.
Tony replied first, " You know him. He is fairly famous, although a bit inferior to me. He is Ryan Knight, the one you saved from Amora before."
"I know him. I met him before the battle. I will heal him before I go home," Eclipse said.
Banner felt relieved as he knew Ryan could be saved. He too wants to use his reward for the matter, but Tony had done it first.
"Kai Vera. Do you need me to lead you to his house?" Natasha asks hurriedly. She almost couldn't keep her calm
"Can you really help him?" Coulson interjected. He too wants to use his reward to save Kai. Steve at the side is also curious. He had the same thinking as Coulson.
"Yeah. I think I can add 10 years to his lifespan," Eclipse said.
Natasha gritted her teeth. She felt that was too short for Kai.
Coulson asked Eclipse. "If I skipped my turn, can the lifespan be added?"
The agents are patiently waiting for the mysterious man to answer. Then, they got excited because the man was nodding.
"I can give him 20 years. That is the maximum I can give..." Ryan takes out a golden potion and gives it to Natasha. The potion is made from the dragon keel. It is the true potion to add to one's lifespan.
"It is made from dragon essence. Let him drink it. It will help him," Ryan explained.
Natasha grabs the bottle tightly. She will go straight to Kai's place after she is done here. She will force it down his throat if she needs to.
Ryan smiles inwardly. He will give them a different gift later on…as Ryan.
Eclipse turns to Banner who is fidgeting. Banner realizes that it is his turn...
He asks in a low voice, afraid that the others will shame him for his choice.
"C-can you separate the Hulk from me?" Banner asked. Although the Hulk is now a hero together with the Avengers, Banner still wants to split from him. Split, not kill. After he noticed that the Hulk is capable of his thinking, he accepted the monster, albeit a little.
Unfortunately for Banner, Eclipse shakes his head.
"Hulk is a part of you. Just talk to him," Eclipse said. Banner drops his head and becomes disappointed. . Ryan sensed his sadness, so he added.
"At most I can make him sleep for 3 days."
"What do you mean?" Banner jerked back up and asked for confirmation.
"It means that you can do whatever you want in the next 3 days. You won't turn into the Hulk," Eclipse whispered to Banner.
…
After getting all of them, Ryan teleported away from the place.
"I will go check up on Ryan. Bruce, you can drive," Tony said as he activated the Mark 7 suit stationed nearby. He equipped the Iron Man suit and flew to the sky. He is going in Brooklyn's direction.
Bruce is trying to sense the Hulk, but there isn't any response. He grinned as he pressed the accelerator pedal of the Audi and was going to New York.
"I don't know what Betty is doing now?" Bruce said as he took out his phone to call. He planned to spend his rare 3-day vacation with his girlfriend.
"Are you going to Kai's place?" Steve asked Natasha. He wanted to tag along but was rejected by Natasha. Even Barton is kicked out of the car and is hitching a ride with Coulson and Selvig.
She secured the potion bottle inside her bag and is driving carefully toward Hell's Kitchen.
"This is Kai's only hope. I must make sure it reaches him," Natasha muttered to herself.
....
Ryan arrived at his apartment. New furniture is already arranged inside the apartment. He uses magic to fix all the damages, and it is now good as new.
"Where did you go?" Gwen asked him as he arrived. She is spilling the story of the proposal while sitting on the sofa.
Suddenly, Ryan is unbuttoning his shirt. Gwen is startled. Does he want to roll around in bed again? They had done it all morning. Her fake reluctance and her hidden enthusiasm were gone and she become disappointed instead when she heard Ryan's next word.
"Quick, Tony is coming here. I need to pretend I was just healed,"
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