บท 9: *C08 - Sheer, F*cking Despair.
'Inner dialogue/thoughts'
"Normal dialogue"
[System]
[Diary entries]
(Word Count: 1,675)
~ A few hours later, with Luke ~
'It's time to see what rewards I'll get with this second entry. System! Do your magic, I would like to claim my rewards!'
[Congratulations host for obtaining complete mastery of the Water Manipulation ability!]
Looking at the rewards, Luke was happy at unlocking complete mastery of his current only ability. Complete mastery! At initial mastery, Luke had a lot of limitations, such as that of having to find a water source. But now, he didn't need to look for it. In fact, he could feel the water molecules in the air around him! Before he could test out his upgraded ability, the system prompted again.
[The trust rating of Wanda Maximoff has reached a threshold of 90%! Congratulations host for unlocking the diary simulation feature!]
'WAIT WHAT?!' Luke was left stunned from the new prompt of the system. He had an idea of how it worked but decided to check with the system. 'System, what does the new feature do?'
[Responding to host, the diary simulation feature allows host to live a simulated experience in relation to what host has written in the diary.]
'. . .' Luke was speechless. This feature is an incredibly overpowered feature that he needed desperately. Luke never forgot what world he was in, especially who he was trying to establish connections with – the King Spy of the Bald Eagle Pirates, Nick Fury. With this feature, wouldn't he essentially be able to fake his way in real time if he was ever casted doubt upon by the spies trained in reading and detecting human emotions, expressions, among others? 'This. Is. A. Godsend!' Luke couldn't help but comment. 'Alright, before going through the simulation, let's test out my new mastery first.'
Feeling the water molecules surrounding him, Luke commanded for multiple water spheres to appear in front of him. To his surprise, it worked. He knew from the system imparting the mastery knowledge, but to actually experience that he was able to use his abilities without any action was absolutely mind blowing. Furthermore, he felt that it had become easier to command the water. If before he had felt slight resistance, now he felt none. Almost as if the water was sentient and was cooperating with him! It was crazy!
Next, Luke commanded for the water to surround him in a dome. With bated breath, Luke slowly shrunk the dome until the water made contact with his body. After a few seconds, Luke, who was currently enclosed by a thick layer of water, tried to breath. Unsurprisingly, he could. The water molecules had made way for the oxygen outside to pass through and allow Luke to breathe. This meant that as long as there were air bubbles with oxygen underwater, Luke would be able to breathe without issues. This, however, would not have been made possible without Luke receiving his complete mastery of his abilities. By feeling the water molecules around him, he could detect these air bubbles, no matter how small, and control the water in a way that the air bubbles would reach him.
Feeling happy at his newly upgraded ability, Luke released the water currently eclosing him. Touching his clothes, he was pleasantly surprised that he could also command the water molecules to be removed from his clothes. This would be a very convenient ability to have. Luke then proceeded to conduct various other experiments for his ability, such as creating animals out of water.
'Alright, all things considered, with complete mastery over Water Manipulation, I could become the strongest person alive! Just kidding. Thanos could still eat me for breakfast. However, I should still keep up the act of having to create an action in order to perform my abilities just so that I could keep a trump card. If on the off chance that I ever get captured, and my captors kept me paralyzed thinking I wouldn't be able to use my abilities that way, then it would be hilarious to see their reaction when they find out just how mistaken they were.' Concluding his experiments, Luke was overall satisfied with his ability upgrade. Afterwards, Luke went to lie down on his bed and closed his eyes, mentally preparing himself for what was to come next.
'Now then, system, begin simulation of the diary!'
In the very next moment after Luke had given the command, he had found himself lying down on a new bed, staring up into an unfamiliar ceiling. As if answering his confusion, a swarm of memories and experiences began rushing towards him, assimilating into his very existence. 'Huh, this feels, oddly weird. It feels as though these memories and experiences has been with me the whole time, just waiting to be unlocked. But at the same time, experiencing this for the first time feels, well weird.' Taking a moment to gather his thoughts, Luke continued, 'It seems the system has sent me to the very moment I started the diary with – The aftermath of our win against Kang and the TVA. Conveniently enough, I seem to also have the memories and experiences of the events that I wrote down of in the second entry. Oh god, I'm not going to turn into a hero like Batman or Spider-man, am I? F*ck! 'With great Power, comes great Responsibilities' my ass! Power is Power! . . . Well shit. If I had known about this, I would've written about something else.'
Lamenting at his misfortune, Luke decided to move past it, 'No use crying over spilt milk. I will just have to work this out when I get out from this simulation world. And I just had to use 'Sheer, f*cking despair' hadn't I? I'm not particularly fond of what's about to happen right after this.' With massively overwhelming hesitation, Luke steeled his nerves using the experiences and memories he could draw upon, got up, walked towards the door, and opened his life to a new, yet familiar world.
Walking around the familiar hallway, Luke recalled that he was currently in the Avengers compound, recovering with the survivors after their most recent war. Arriving at the common room, he scanned his surroundings to find that there weren't many survivors left. Natasha had chosen to sacrifice herself to save Clint and to retrieve the Soul Stone, Steve had died recently of old age, Tony had given up his life to defeat Thanos, among others. Unknowingly, he had been standing on the same spot for over 30minutes as he reminisced about the time he spent in this world and his 10-year tenure as an Avenger. As Luke felt a hand gently laying on his shoulder, he turned around to see an aged Hawkeye.
Clint had seen better days, but losing Natasha, someone he viewed as his sister and best friend, right in front of his eyes had taken a toll on him. He now had heavy eye bags underneath his eyes, and still freshly covered bandages covering the wounds from our recent battle. "How you holding up?" Clint asked.
"I've seen better days, definitely better than how you are holding up though." Luke joked as a response. Taking a look around again, he couldn't help but ask Clint, "What do you think Nat would say if she saw how we are now? At what we've lost?" At his question, silence hung in the air.
"I know she'd be proud of us. We may have lost some along the way, but we are still here, alive. Aren't we?" Clint said solemnly. "Besides, I wished Nat could've seen Kate. I'm not bragging or anything, but my protégé is no joke. She's got one hell of an eye for the bow, and given time, she may even reach the point where she could be an Avenger too."
Hearing Clint's attempt to lighten to mood, Luke nudged him on the shoulder where he knew Clint would feel the most pain due to his recent injuries. "Yeah right, don't forget who taught you humility when it came to the bow, 'Hawkeye'. Who even decides on such a lame codename like that one." Luke jabbed as he air quoted and emphasized when he said 'Hawkeye'.
"Goddamnit Luke I'm still hurting here, you as*hole! And what's that about my codename? Think you're better than me, tough guy? I could tie both my arms behind my back, and even with these injuries, I bet I could hit the centre of a moving target further than you ever could." Clint challenged.
But before Luke could respond, all the hairs on his body began standing up, as if warning him of an imminent danger. True enough, he noticed that the ground and surrounding furniture's started shaking vigorously. Feeling a foreboding sense of dread, Luke took off towards the open courtyard, with Clint following not too far behind him. 'No no no no no.' Luke kept repeating as he thought about what would happen next. As soon as he could see the outside world, his sense of dread increased as he noticed the dark red sky above.
Reaching the open courtyard, Luke and Clint stood in disbelief as they saw in the distance that buildings, cars, just about everything was being pulled to the sky above, as if gravity was being defied. Suddenly, they heard a loud roar. Turning to look at the direction of the roar, they were stunned to see multiple Leviathans approaching their direction. Not long after noticing this, Luke felt the surrounding space around them start shifting, though he had a guess why. As if responding with a confirmation, countless Kangs appeared, surrounding both Luke and Clint.
"Luke…" Clint started, ready to make his stand.
As Luke was about to respond to assemble the Avengers, his sense of danger had reached the peak. Looking up slowly towards the sky, there was only one thing that Luke could feel in that moment as he saw the multiple giant Cosmic Beings descending onto the Earth.
Sheer, F*cking despair.
- End of Chapter 08 -
E/d note: If you are enjoying my version so far, drop a review and maybe give me some cookies(power stones) too??? This Takodachi needs his daily dose of WAH!
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