Chapter 29: Ascension Nears
'My ambition is little?'
'Born of childish need?'
Loki stewed over those words, even as various scientists and professionals worked around him. They were words that that alien had told him in his vision/meeting. Claims. Accusations. Unproven and untrue — Or, at least, that's what he told himself.
'It doesn't really matter, though, does it?' Loki thought to himself. 'Because, after the Earth is mine, so, too, will be the Nine Realms, and, then, the Universe. And then we'll see who's ambition is 'too little', won't we?'
Loki chuckled at this thought, as he made his way around the subterranean labs.
"Put it over theorem" the scientist he had…enlightenned with the sceptor of his was speaking to men carrying containers worth thousands. "Where did you even find all these people?"
"S.H.I.E.L.D. has no shortage of enemies, Doctor," Barton said in answer, as he typed away at a tablet. Then, turning around to show the doctor Barton added, "Is this the stuff you need?"
"Yeah, iridium," the doctor answered. "It's found in meteorites. It forms anti-protons. It's very hard to get a hold of."
"Especially if S.H.I.E.L.D. knows you need it," Barton said, matter of factly.
"Well, I didn't I needed it," the doctor said, before noticing Loki. "Hey."
The doctor admitted what the Tesseract has shown him — Even going as far as to claim it to be "truth" or other such nonsense. Honestly, Loki found the effects of his staff in conjunction to the Tesseract itself to be optimal and, at times, overexaggerative in its manipulations of others…But then again, he's always loved fool people, so such a weapon was made for him. It only enhanced what was so divine about himself.
He was phenomenal.
When Loki asked Barton what it showed him, the dark archer said "My next target."
"Tell me what you need, Loki," said Barton.
Barton walked to a case containing his bow. "I need a distraction and an eyeball," Loki just gave a devious grin.
[S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier]:
A man dressed in black jeans, black boots, a black shirt with crimson claw marks and a leather-black jacket walked the halls of the carrier as he made his way to the main deck. He wore a pair of crimson-tinted, expensive-looking shades and his aura was of someone who was only present casually — Not called in because of a crisis. He was built in a way his brothers weren't — More lean muscle than bulk like Luke, but definitely not as lean as Lewis. He was tall and imposing and carried a silent but powerful presence. Many highly trained agents made way for his walking path, almost instinctually.
[Lucas Blake Reference Image]:
'I'm solely here to offer insight. I have no intentions of messing with the cannon storyline here too much. Redline will only suit up when the big fights come along. Not sooner,' Lucas thought. 'I don't need the TVA on me just yet... Not that they'd be strong enough to be a problem to begin with — Still, too much drama, especially with the Eldest on his way back.'
"Welcome, Lucas," Director Fury's voice knocked Lucas from his thoughts as he shook the Director's hand. "Glad to have you."
"Glad to be here," Lucas was curt.
"I don't suppose your alter ego will rear his head — Or any of his allies?" Fury questioned, clearly attempting to clarify the role of his involvement here.
"Not unless a crisis occurs and I deem it necessary," Lucas answered, not feeling very much into talking if he could help it. He's never really been much of a talker nor one to interact with others more than a few sentences in one setting. It's probably why he's so good at infiltration… 'Or, perhaps,' Lucas thought internally. 'I'm just that good,' while, externally, he spoke: "I'm strictly here as a consultant. Nothing more, nothing less — For now at least."
Fury took note of the way the sentence was worded — The conditions of his active involvement in action and how he seemed mostly there for the curiosity.
'If it were any other person, I'd have required their active involvement in these matters, but, this one isn't one that is easily controlled. I'll go along with it for now, though,' Fury thought, unaware that Lucas was actively listening in on his thoughts. 'Who knows? Having even one of these triplets on our side could save our neck in a time of need. Better to not enrage him.'
Lucas' telepathy alone has reached a stage where passively reading the unguarded minds around him was child's play. Even protect minds weren't much of a struggle to read for him. Warded minds and stronger shielded minds, though, may be a hurtle depending on who's protecting it, but most humanly minds were easy enough for Lucas to read passively.
"That's fine. I look forwar—" Director Fury began, but was interrupted by an agent.
"We've got a hit," the agent said from his computer that displayed the facial recognition systems. "A 67% match."
"Wait," Another state, interjecting. "Cross-match. 79%."
Fury looked at Steve. "Captain? You're up."
"I'm coming along," Lucas said, then at Fury's inquisitive stare, he clarified. "Support. Not active duty."
Fury nodded in acceptance.
While traversing the skies of the quinjet, Lucas had a prime view to Steve's actual suit and, colors and slight aversion aside, he was impressed. He couldn't help but admire it.
But it was Widow's suit that impressed him more. Skin tight and black with the widow seal on the belt in back and red. She had Scarlet Johanson's face, and her feminine charm. Lucas knew it was a weaponized characteristic for a super soldier/secret agent/spy/killer but it was one that worked very well for her — And one that was pleasing to the eye.
"They say it was a relative of yours who helped in locating me in the ice," Steve said to Lucas, who held his gaze. "Thank you."
Widow was piloting and Lucas, not one for small talk, merely shrugged. "It was my brother who found it. Not really a big deal."
"I know. Since he's not here, so I'll say it to you: Thank you," Steve said. "Really."
Lucas nodded. 'I wonder how you'll react when you realize Bucky is still alive,' he thought, then mentally shook his head. 'Not yet time. The civil war will probably still happen even though Bucky's been cleared of Hydra's influence. There are other soldiers and civil war started because of the government policies and Baron Zemo.'
'Still, it's food for thought.'
"You're welcome," Lucas said simply, and silence caused the big once more.
Lucas watched Captain save the old man just in time before going in a tussle about his last time in Germany — All from the Quinjet. His senses were so good that even from the distance and through steel, he could hear everything as if he were right by the duo.
"The Soldier?" Loki smirked as he rose. "The Man Out of Time."
"I'm not the one out of time," Captain tilted his head.
Natasha tapped at the control panels, looking awfully good in black as she aimed the quinjet's minigun at the god of mischief.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down."
He didn't stand down.
PRRZZNT!
He fired at the quinjet, but Romanoff veered to the side, narrowly avoiding the blast.
'She is a super soldier, I guess,' Lucas confirmed. 'Such reflexes are to be expected.'
Captain threw his shield at the trickster before delivering a punch. The two combatants exchanged blows before Loki sent Cap flying back.
And the Captain continued the fight.
"This guy's all over the place," Natasha muttered, unable to get a lock on the god.
Meanwhile, Lucas had already picked up on Tony's arrival via telepathy, the arrogant rich guy's thoughts giving away his location loudly a couple of miles off which on had Lucas rolling his eyes as he sensed Tony's intentions: To claim glory and attention by arriving dramatically. And loudly.
'How annoying,' Lucas thought to no one in particular.
"Natasha, you miss me?" Tony's voice came in over the radio, before remotely turning on rock music to play in the quinjet and the surrounding area, causing Widow to smile and Lucas to roll his eyes yet again.
Iron Man had arrived and, with just one blast, Loki was sent flying as Tony landed in his famous superhero landing pose, nearly every weapon in his suit aimed at the god.
"Make your move, Reindeer Games," Tony said.
Loki decided to surrender, hands up.
"Good move," Tony said, de-arming.
"Mr. Stark," Steve heaved.
"Captain," Tony said.
As the quinjet flew, its inhabitants in its brig, Tony and Steve contemplated the events, with Steve pointing out how easily it was to capture him.
"I don't remember it being this easy," Captain said.
"Still, you are pretty spry for an older fellow," Tony remarked.
"A soldier's instinct is crucial on the battlefield," Lucas spoke up, garnering the duo's attention. "If you think this was too easy, it most probably was."
"I remember you. Lotus, right? Or is it... Oh yeah, Louis," Tony said, snapping his fingers. "Wasn't aware you had a voice here — Nor a presence there earlier."
"A.) I'm Lucas. Lewis is my much stronger older brother," Lucas said, dead-eyed. "And B), I'm strictly here as a consultant. Nothing more, nothing less."
"Noted," Steve said.
Tony just narrowed his eyes thoughtfully.
RUMBLE.
Thunder rumbled above them. Loki flinched.
"Where is this coming from?" Natasha muttered.
"What's the matter?" Steve asked the trickster with narrowed eyes. "Scared of a little lightning."
"I imagine it's what comes from it that terrifies him," Lucas muttered, garnering both Tony's and Steve's attention as well as Loki's narrowing gaze. He was just about to say something similar.
But before anyone could speak, the whole scene with Thor arriving occurred. He barged in, took Loki, and Tony followed him — so, too, did the Captain.
Lucas tapped a button on his watch and his suit manifested on his body, his mask in-hand.
"You're joining in, too?" Widow questioned. "I thought you had no intentions of intervening?"
"I was only supposed to intervene in case of emergency. This counts as an emergency," Lucas stated. "Besides..." he dawned his mask, "Redline V.S. Thor has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?"
[Lucas Blake Suited Up Reference Image]:
"Just be careful," Widow expressed. "Like I told Steve, they're basically gods."
"And I am desperately wanting to fight one," Lucas muttered back, before launching from the opened hatch and taking off after the others.
[Lewis Blake]:
Meanwhile, just past Jupiter, Lewis, flying at sub-light speeds, was focusing inward with a frown.
'The cosmic energy I absorbed gave very minimal gains, honestly,' Lewis thought. 'No. A majority of that energy seems to have condensed into a— That's— Oh, hell, yeah.'
Lewis was suddenly ecstatic.
Why?
Because, inside laid the seed to godhood. Like the Galactus Seed or the Death Seed or even the Life Seed, ascendancy was possible in the comics—particularly through what one called a 'God Seed.'
In the comics, the Galactus Seed were artifacts made by Eternity, which were basically a super-dense cosmic heart intended to give birth to the next universe. It was discovered by King Bor of Asgard and was then to create the main Marvel Universe and sprout Yggdrasil, the World Tree. Galactus aggressively seeks to consume it because it contains enough raw energy to satiate his planet-devouring hunger forever, though doing so would prematurely trigger the end of the current cosmos
The Death Seed was forged by the Celestials — It was given to various caretakers, one particularly was Apocalypse. When implanted into a host, it dramatically amplifies their mutant or physical powers while rewriting their psyche with a corrupted "Death" persona. It twists the host into believing that mass slaughter is a beautiful, necessary tool to prune weaker life and force natural evolution. Characters like Archangel and an incredibly boosted, planet-moving version of the Sentry have fallen victim to it.
The Life Seed is the complete opposite of the Death Seed, in that this artifact is utilized by Celestial Gardeners to spark and cultivate vibrant biological life on freshly formed worlds. It possesses a massive influx of evolutionary creation energy and serves as the ultimate antidote to the corruption of a Death Seed. While a Life Seed can break a Death Seed's mental grip, the purging process is so total that it typically destroys the original host's mind entirely, growing a completely fresh, blank-slate persona in its place.
And, finally, the God Seed. The God Seeda primordial catalyst in deep cosmic history, the God Seed represents a concentrated spark of raw divine energy originating from the Demiurge (the living embodiment of Earth's biosphere) — Or, in some iterations of the comics, Eternity or even The One Above All himself.
In the Demiurge version, the Demiurge planted a God Seed inside the Elder Goddess Gaea. This combination of cosmic light and maternal earth energy successfully birthed Atum, the very first of Earth's new generation of gods. Atum would later transform into the Demogorge to consume corrupt Elder Gods, ensuring the universe's magical equilibrium.
'The Eternity version is basically just the Galactus Seed, while The One Above All version was left un-explained fully, so how to get it is unknown,' Lewis frowned at the thought. 'Turns out, I'll be able to experience whichever one this is… I'm leaning towards TOAA version, considering I'm certain this isn't the Galactus Seed and the Demiurge is of Earth's primordial essence; not the greater Marvel universe — Cosmic clouds are just that – large patches of Primordial energies, which only leads me to the TOAA version of a God Seed… Could I end up becoming an abstract entity in Marvel?'
Lewis couldn't even fight the grin that grew on his face.
'With this,' Lewis felt the warm ball of raw cosmic power within him. 'Abstract power is possible. And my ascendancy nears.'
He was so excited, he almost picked up on his speed… Until he remembered he was intending to wait until the Chitari invaded to make his long awaited debut, and had to physically maintain his slower than lightspeed pace.
'Ugh,' Lewis thought, bitterly. 'Looks like I need to wait a little bit longer. But that is perfectly fine. I'm a very patient guy and its not like I can rush a perfect opportunity to aura farm.'
And so, with thoughts of glory on yet another wealthy, powerful man's mind, Lewis continued his flight on ward, to Earth, albeit a much slower pace than before…
[Location: ????]
In an unknown fabric of reality, Eternity, Infinity and the Phoenix were having a private meeting, each taking on the forms of their human forms:
Eternity was a black man with dreads, dressed in a suit of cosmic wonder, including a multitude of infinite stars and the wonders of the cosmos. Infinity was a black woman in a purple dress made of space itself. She had a golden band around her arm and her hair was pulled up. And the Phoenix's form seemed to shift infinitely, but also, return to one form every other moment or so, specifically Jean Grey's.
"The boy has garnered enough primordial cosmic dust to form a God Seed…," Eternity stated blankly. "His ascendency is only a matter of time now."
"The Great Architect has truly decided another one should be created? He is the Great Creator, so I will not challenge his will, but I am…curious," Infinity stated, intrigued. "Will he be enough for what his future holds for him?"
"He will be the first new god with the power of an abstract being…Greater in power than the lesser gods of that old rock in Asgard, grander than the old men Celestials and similar in scale to that biosphere of Earth…before its degradation… at its zenith," The Phoenix stated. "I just wonder what abstract representation he will ascend into. Its very interesting food for thought, no?"
"Whatever he becomes, I sense it will, indeed, be grand," Eternity said after a moment's pause. "I just wonder by how much, however. One can never predict one's conceptual source when ascending to an abstract. Well, the Tribunal could, but he never chooses to for obvious reasons."
"Whatever he does rise into and becomes, I just hope it won't be troublesome to deal with when its his turn to come into court," Infinity stated, sounding curt. "It would be bothersome to have to hear Tri speak about the rules of hierarchy and subservience again."
A silence paused between the trio. Neither of the other two agreed nor disagreed with her words but both of them being silent spoke of their opinion on the matter.
"The girl, though — The one from the Outside," Phoenix stated, changing the subject. "She's interesting. Psionics and energy capabilities on conceptual levels just to name her base. She'd be a wonderful host…If only she hadn't declined my offer."
Eternity and Infinity shared a look that suggested the topic was spoken of before. Multiple times. But neither said nothing.
"She is indeed talented, quite powerful, she is," Infinity agreed. "Stronger than the boy, I'd wager."
"Still, she said she was only here to visit," Eternity stated. "Let's hope that to be the case. Otherwise, it might be an issue…".
The three shared a look.
Phoenix seemed to pout in the face, her form that of Kitty Pryde. "Still want her though…," Phoenix began. "But, at least Jean will make a perfect host when she, ascends."
"What makes you think she will? Ascend, that is?" Infinity asked, curious.
"I've foreseen enough versions of the future to know that the boy will make sure his lover ascends with him," the Phoenix stated.
"Or he will die in what's to come," Infinity offered. "She, too, will join him. That is the only alternative."
A silence passed between them.
But, internally, even when Phoenix knew she was right, she also knew that there was a chance for successfully acquiring a permanent symbiotic host… And this boy was the answer.
'Lewis Blake…,' the Phoenix thought, internally smiling. 'Rise high and rise fast. Make sure to take her with you… And don't you dare die on me.'