In the courtyard of the now destroyed castle, all the fighters and personnel had gathered to do inventory while waiting for more transports to come. I watched sadly in my human form while the cryo tank holding Jennifer was getting prepared to be rolled off the Quinjet. She was sleeping within, taller than even Creel, with the smooth green skin, large muscles, and really long dark green hair I'd known from the comics. I would have been amused at the sight of her any other time. She looked like Lori Slayer, a fitness model in my world. Just with much more muscle and height. I could also see the similarity to Hulk though. It was in the set of her eyebrows, an almost deep look that made her look somber.
From the pictures I'd seen, her former human self looked more like Alison Brie, with the pale skin and curly brown hair, and the slightly bookish features I was familiar with from the show Community. Made sense she would be the form of the bookishly shy Jennifer Walters.
It wasn't funny now though, seeing her roll past me like some sick parody of a modern-day Snow White.
“Hey,” Natasha walked up to me as I stood there, giving me a smile. She was wearing her normal catsuit, rather than the armor we'd made her, though her handgun was at her side. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” I said back, smiling. “Just thinking.”
I looked back at Jennifer's cryo tube, then at Natasha. “Been a long day.”
“WHERE JENNY?!”
When Natasha and I turned, Hulk was aggressively striding through the courtyard, looking around quickly and causing more than a few of the agents and personnel to back away quickly on instinct from the titan of muscles moving among them.
“Hulk!” I called out to him. The angry green giant spun to look at me, then saw the cryo tube, and ran over more quickly than anything that big had any right to. I stepped in his way. Then I realized I had stepped in the Hulk's way. Luckily the big guy seemed willing to listen, quickly coming to a stop and leaving grooves in the ground in the process. “It's okay, bud. She's healthy, and we're going to put her through every test we got to make sure any brainwashing has been shut down.”
He breathed heavily, eyes on his cousin. “Jenny... like Hulk?”
“Yeah,” I patted his arm, looking over at her. I could feel him shaking, confused. “Remember what I said though. She's strong. And we've got her back. She's riding with us.”
“They don't seem to know that,” Natasha noted, watching as the BRIDGE soldiers began to roll her off to the Quinjet that Pietro and Helen had been put in. “I'll go direct them to the Defiant,” Natasha turned and smiled at the Hulk. “Good job, by the way, big guy. You did well.”
Hulk, surprisingly, seemed almost bashful at that.
With that, Natasha turned and walked over to the group rolling Jennifer's tube, leaving me with Hulk.
“Hulk go to Dial's spaceship,” The big guy said, turning and walking towards it. However, he stopped for a moment before speaking up again without turning around. "Banner look at Jenny later?" he asked more quietly than I had ever heard him speak before.
I blinked at the question for a second before replying, "Of course, I don't think anyone could stop him anymore they could you Hulk."
Hulk simply grunted at that and began walking off once more back to the Defiant.
That was a major surprise, Hulk had basically admitted there was something that only Bruce could do that he couldn't despite all his strength. I guess the two have learned to get along better than I originally thought in such a short time even it wasn't perfect yet. I kinda smiled at that, than turned and walked towards where the Marvel Trinity stood.
Well, two of them stood, while the third was being looked over by a medic as he sat on a makeshift stretcher. The massive form of the Hulkbuster stood nearby, drawing the gaze of others around the area. The Darkforce armor, on the other hand, had fallen apart from the abuse of the past few hours and lay in pieces on the ground.
“I'm telling you, I've got guys at the tower that can fix this,” Tony grumbled, watching the medic bandage hole in his shoulder. Tony's face was grimy and sweaty, far from the impeccable look he usually preferred, with his blue shirt ruined by the hole and blood caused by Abomination.
“It's just to keep you from bleeding out, sir,” the medic said.
“Let the man do his work,” Steve said with a fond smile. He was wearing his full armor with the helmet down, his famous shield on his back and some sweat on his brow, standing there with his thumbs in his belt.
“You know, the Hulkbuster's catoms are designed to deal with this,” Tony pointed out before looking up and grinning when he saw me walk over. “Hey, Fanboy. Heard you saved Jennifer. Nice job.”
“Indeed!” the giant man standing there stepped forward and clapped my shoulder with surprising gentleness, smiling down at me. “My friends told me of your heroism, Mahmoud Schahed! You've done quite well!”
Goddamn it, stop blushing!
“T-Thanks,” I said, grinning up at the big guy.
“Mahmoud, let me introduce you to Thor Odinson,” Steve said politely.
“He knows who he is. Every somewhat sexual human on the planet does,” Tony reminded him while grinning at me before wincing when the medic cleaned his wound a bit deeper. Some of the people who had been staring in awe at Thor must have overheard because they rushed to find something else to do.
“It's only polite,” Steve mumbled.
Thor grasped my forearm and smiled, his luxurious hair flowing. Seriously, I could see a couple of women and men in the background panning their eyes from Steve to Thor as the pair stood there. I shook his hand and grinned.
“I'm a big fan, sir. Ever since I was younger and I read your stories,” I admitted.
“Yeah, like the time he put on a dress to get his hammer back?” Tony noted.
Thor spun, confused. “Wait, what!?”
“Like I said!” I added quickly. “It's an honor!”
Thor frowned at Tony, who smirked back, before turning to me. “I would love to hear the stories of your adventures, young hero.”
“Same to you, Thor,” Thor nodded. I turned and grinned at Steve and Tony. “Wants to hear about my adventures. How freaking awesome is that?!”
“Why are you so starstruck?” Tony asked. “You've already met me, and aren't Iyour favorite Avenger.”
“And then I got to know you,” Tony pouted at that. “Besides, when you have a religion based on you-”
“Have you seen my fans? I'm telling you-”
“Steve has more way fans than you Tony, practically all of America.”
“Whoa, don't bring me into this,” Steve said in amusement.
“Man, I'm a billionaire superhero, I should get way more respect,” Tony grumbled.
At the same time, Thor was chuckling, shaking his head.
“So where've you been?” Tony asked curiously. “We could have used you before now, dramatic entrance aside.”
Thor sobered. “I'm afraid that I was doing work across the realms. My father has been having me travel around and clean up the mess Malekith and the Dark Elves created during the Convergence. I returned when Heimdall contacted me about the return of the Scepter, though he has been silent since.”
“Sorry to say we don't have the Scepter,” Steve said sadly. “Strucker got away with it, but we do have another artifact.”
“Ah, yes,” Thor nodded slowly. “A Berserker Staff. I suppose I'll have to have it destroyed. Even as outdated as it is.”
“Or you know, let us study it?” Tony asked. When Thor glared at him, Tony waved his uninjured arm. “Yeah, yeah, we'll give it up. By the way, Fanboy, why is the Omnitrix glowing yellow?”
I looked down at the Omnitrix, which had been glowing since Thor had shown up in the skies above me and only got brighter since it had touched him when we shook hands, then at the Marvel Trinity. Steve seemed curious, same as Thor, while Tony was blinking. Suddenly, Tony started and looked between the Omnitrix and Thor a couple of times before looking at me. When I nodded, he seemed about to say something.
Before we could continue, far above in the skies, the Enterprise Helicarrier uncloaked and slowly lowered over the battlefield, more Quinjets flying from off the top of it. The Bus was coming down as well.
“That's our cue,” Steve said, turning to look at Tony. “Can you walk?”
“I got stabbed in the shoulder, not the leg,” came the quip.
Steve smiled quickly at that.
The four of us walked towards the Bus as it landed in a field next to the Defiant. The other Avengers came as well from what they had been doing until we were walking in a line.
Okay, get ready for a long list.
From left to right, there was Warrior, Mockingbird, Nomad, Alloy, Falcon, War Machine, me (AKA Dial), Iron Man (suitless), Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye. Walking next to all these superheroes, while also being a superhero, still hadn't become old hat, and I hoped it would always feel this fucking awesome. This image alone would make for a badass poster to boot! Shame there was no one with a camera nearby.
The back doors opened once the Bus had settled down, revealing those inside.
Maria Hill, Director of BRIDGE, stood at the center, wearing a long-coat I could have sworn once belonged to Fury, who was standing inside the Bus on the upper level simply watching everything. Maria was walking in-between Phil Coulson and Victoria Hand, alongside a few guards coming out to surround the area. Thor stopped at the sight of Coulson, then started walking forward quickly, looking confused but elated at the same time. “Son of Coul!”
Coulson smiled at the sight of the God of Thunder. “Son of Odin.”
Suddenly the tiny Phil was wrapped up in the arms of Thor, who lifted him up with an enormous belly laugh. “You're alive! By Odin, you're alive, my friend!”
“Not for long if you keep squeezing him,” Tony noted as we joined the group, Phil looking some combination of embarrassed and pleased.
I looked behind the BRIDGE leaders and saw Fitz-Simmons in the lab with...
I separated from the group and walked into the plane, moving past the convertible Phil treasured and to the lab. When I entered, we met eyes. Skye gave me a quick upwards twitch of the lips.
“Sorry,” I said immediately.
Fitz seemed confused, while Simmons seemed to understand what was going on immediately. She seemed ready to leave, but I waved for her to stay as Skye crossed her arms, moving to look up at me. “Sorry for what exactly?”
“Coddling you,” I replied. “I'm... not great at this stuff. I wanted to keep you safe but I ended up acting like you were a baby with a knife in one hand and an electrical outlet nearby.”
Why the hell was I so nervous damn it!? I shuffled my feet as she looked up at me. She softened after a moment.
“...Look, I may not be a superhero, but I can take care of myself...” Skye held up a hand to stop me from talking, her eyes on mine. “But I do appreciate you worrying. Just... tone it back, okay?”
“...Might need some practice,” I admitted. “Give me some time?”
For some reason, a loud squeal came from Simmons. When we turned to look at her, she held her hands over her mouth, embarrassed. “Sorry!”
Fitz rubbed his forehead, chuckling slightly.
“And this is my team. Well, some of them,” Phil said, drawing our attention. He walked in while Thor strode in, smiling as he did so, apparently getting the tour from Phil.
Skye and Simmons both blushed bright red at the sight of the six-plus tall paragon of masculinity. I shared a look with Fitz, and for some reason, I felt like we shared an unspoken frustration.
“Thor, Dial,” Maria walked in, Victoria following her. “We're meeting upstairs. There are some things to discuss.
Thor and I shared a glance (how freaking cool is that sentence!?), the giant man moving to follow Maria. I was going as well, but Skye stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“Hey, uh,” she brushed a lock of hair behind her ear. “We'll talk later?”
“Um... yeah, of course,” I said hesitantly. I felt as though I'd made some progress but towards what, I'm not sure. I mean, I knew that it was possible to be a hero and have... other, interests, but I was really bad at that sort of thing.
Feeling confused, I decided to simply go upstairs. Thor followed me to the stairs, just behind Maria, Victoria, and Phil. Once we were in the hallways, Thor stopped me. The three turned to look at us.
“Something wrong, Thor?” Maria asked.
“No, Lady Hill,” Thor returned. “I simply wish to speak privately with Mahmoud.”
The three superspies looked between us, a measuring gaze in their eyes. After a moment, they continued on.
“So, uh, what is this about, sir?” I said nervously, looking up at the taller man. “I mean, is it sir? Prince? I can't really call you god, cause of religion, but I really want to be respectful, and I'm not sure-”
Thor let out a booming laugh, those ones that come from deep in the chest that only really big guys can do. “Mahmoud, we are fellow heroes! Call me Thor, as all my allies and friends do,” he clasped my shoulder and smiled down at me. “I simply want to give you advice... I have been alive for 1500 years. Give or take. I've had my regrets. So let me give you advice a friend gave me, Mahmoud. Don't make the mistake of not going for what you want. Or, as my dear friend Darcy said, 'ask her out, you dummy'.”
This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.
“...Ah,” I said, scratching the back of my neck.
“Now, you seem to have something you've been wishing to tell me?”
Guess I'd underestimated Thor's intelligence. You don't become as legendary as he was by collecting bottle caps.
I raised up the Omnitrix, about to speak, before thinking. “Yeah, this might be better to say in the group right now. But I promise it is important!”
Thor seemed intrigued, eyeing the Omnitrix with interest. As he did, I looked at the weapon on his belt.
Mjølnir. Man, that hammer had so much weight to it, pun intended, a presence that made Thor seem grander. Though, that could have been my inner nerd speaking. I really wanted to try and lift it.
“Come then,” Thor led me along. “It seems I have much to catch up on.”
------
The Founding Avengers plus Maria, Fury, Victoria, and Phil were inside the glass room in the center of the Bus that Coulson used as a briefing room, leaving the rest of us Reserve Avengers watching from the couches outside as they told Thor about the events of the past few weeks, the screen currently frozen on the image of the Triskelion with a mountain of blue-green crystals on top of the hanger bay.
“What did you do with that thing, by the way?” Bobbi asked, the Amazonian blonde looking at me. “I mean, that much crystal was probably tough to get rid of.”
“I gave some of it to Tony,” I admitted. “But the rest I just put away as Diamondhead.”
“What did Tony want with your crystals?” Isabelle asked, once more reminding me of Lucy Lawless. Something about the almost aggressive attitude she always exuded, even in her civilian clothes.
“I'm pretty sure he wanted to make a suit out of it,” I said, not revealing the truth. “We've had a crazy week though, huh?”
“I'll say,” Sam, our fearless leader, sighed lazily in a big chair with too much plush. “The boys in my old squad wouldn't believe it. I keep getting texts about it.”
“Kind of old hat for me,” Bucky noted. “The aliens are weird. Uh, no offense.”
I shrugged, not taking it personally.
“But most of this is just upgrades on what happened before.”
Creel, standing nearby and looking out of the window at the forest around us, grunted.
Rhodey walked up from the back of the ship. “They've got Jennifer all set up, and the prisoners have been put into the Enterprise. We're ready to leave.”
“Cool,” I said, smiling at that.
A knock on the glass brought our attention to the briefing. Phil waved at me to enter. I waved back, then turned to my team. “See you guys in a bit.”
“What do they want to talk to you about, anyway?” Bobbi asked.
I looked down at the Omnitrix. It wasn't glowing yellow anymore, though it had been doing that since Thor had appeared and had gotten even brighter after touching him. I kept expecting it to speak and tell me what was going on, but the watch had been silent so far. Still, I knew it must have done its work. “Something important.”
Leaving it at that, I entered the glass room. Hulk had become Bruce again, who was still wearing his armor with a lab coat on top. Thank god, because we were crowding the small space as is without the bulk of the Hulk joining in.
“So,” I said looking around. “What's up?”
“Thor said you wanted to say something to us?” Steve asked, clear blue eyes steady on me.
“Yeah... so,” I lifted my watch. “Omnitrix. It can basically do it all. Even I don't know how many aliens are really in this thing.”
“We've made a list of around forty that you can think of,” Tony reminded me, having been the one asking the most questions about the watch. Though there had been a close race between him, Fitz-Simmons, Bruce, and of course BRIDGE.
“Right. But remember, the Omnitrix was made to be a tool of diplomacy, first and foremost,” I responded.
“And I would remind you, that this 'Azmuth' instead ended up making something that can let an untrained civilian fight the Hulk,” Fury said, still wearing a purple button up shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Well, not just the Hulk. Wondering what Fury would think of Way Big, I sighed. “Yeah well, that's-”
“I must say, I don't recognize any of the aliens you can turn into,” Thor said curiously. “I've fought many beings, but nothing like many of those creatures you mimic.”
"He's from another universe, remember? Different aliens." Tony said to Thor, who did a little 'ah' at the reminder.
“There's more,” I said. “The Omnitrix doesn't just contain alien DNA. It can also scan it and replicate it. So now...”
I lifted the watch and turned it on, a hologram of Four Arms floating over my wrist. I flipped through Jury Rigg, Rath, Upgrade, and Blitzwolfer before reaching the final one. The others in the room leaned in to look at it.
“It's you?” Bruce said, confused. “You can turn into yourself?”
“No,” I said, staring at the image that looked something like me floating there. “This one is new, gained from a scan I got today.”
“Asgardian,” Phil said softly.
Thor blinked. “That is... me?”
“The Omnitrix's interpretation anyway,” I admitted. “I have to say, I'm not sure what this means. I mean, will I have lightning powers like you? Or just be a form like a normal civilian Asgardian? I don't know.”
“It is interesting,” Maria noted, the Director said, her eyes narrowing. “And you say the Omnitrix does this every time? It scans new aliens and gives you a new form each time?”
“Like I said, it's a diplomatic tool at heart. Made to let you walk a mile in someone else's shoes,” I looked over at Thor and chuckled nervously. “Sorry, by the way, if this offends you. I can't really control the Omnitrix.”
“Not something I like hearing,” Victoria mumbled in the background. Thor, on the other hand, simply laughed.
“Do not worry! It is odd, yes, but not something I find offensive,” he crossed his arms with a proud grin. “After all, if you want a truly powerful form, an Asgardian is clearly it.”
Huh. Who would in a fight between Atomix and Thor?
“You gonna try it out?” Tony asked.
“Not here,” Maria said immediately. “We have a training facility in place. And Thor, I'd like you to be there, if possible?”
“Of course, Lady Hill,” Thor said respectfully. He looked over at me, and for some reason, I got the feeling there was more he wanted to say but was holding back. It made me nervous. Was there something about being Asgardian I had to know? Something that might affect my form in a way I didn't expect, like Ghostfreak suddenly getting his own personality? I mean, considering that I now had to worry about... Oh right.
“One more thing,” I said. I looked over at Tony, knowing what was coming, then pushed through. “There is, a... possibility, that... well, Big Chill, the new alien I unlocked before Thor got here, reproduces asexually. And that kind of works for me. So, at some point, I might-”
“HAHAHAHAHA!” Tony started laughing immediately, the damn genius near instantly figuring out what I was getting at. Natasha smirked, eyes glimmering, while Bruce winced in sympathy.
I groaned. “Yeah, fine, I might be pregnant down the road.”
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Tony was crying at this point, not even able to joke, he was laughing so hard. Lucky me, the others had their own snark to throw.
“Man, you don't even get to do the fun parts?” Clint asked, grinning. “And does this mean we should throw you a baby shower?”
“And does it count as a baby shower when you're both the mother and the father?” Natasha added, a slow smirk rising when I gave her a betrayed look.
“HAHAHA-Ow!” Tony scowled, grabbing at his injured shoulder. “Damn it.”
“Hope that hurt,” I scowled.
Tony grinned despite the pain. “Not as much as childbirth!”
Steve sighed. “Okay, lay off him. We should-”
“Dial,” Maria interrupted, her gaze hard. “How many children?”
I thought about that. “I don't know, a dozen? And they only give birth once every 80 years or so. I'm pretty sure it won't happen to be honest, but just in case.”
Maria shook her head and rubbed her nose, sighing. “Well, there is something else on the table, Thor. Speaking on behalf of the United Nations, I have been given permission to request an alliance between the people of Earth and Asgard,” she chuckled. “It's a bit informal but I've been told that it is within my capacity as BRIDGE Director to approach alien leaders to establish friendly diplomatic relations and offer treaties.”
Thor frowned. “I... I do not believe I have the authority to make such a deal. I am only the Prince of Asgard. I will, however, approach my father about this. What,” he looked a little out of his depth. “What would be in the treaty? Would it mean-”
“That can be left up to the people who make those decisions,” Maria said. “I can approach you about it but actually writing up the deal should be left between your father and our people.”
Thor seemed relieved.
“In the meantime, we should focus on this,” Maria tapped at the screen. “At your request, I'll have the founding Avengers on the same vehicle with Jennifer Walter, though I've decided the Bus would be better since there is more room here than on the Defiant. Dial, you'll be piloting the Defiant with Bobbi and Sam, while the rest of the Reserve Avengers will go with the Grapplers, Deathlok, and the Maximoff Twins to the Enterprise,” The Director looked around. “You have your orders, everyone.”
------
Would you believe the ride home was turning out to be really boring? Seriously, flying a super advanced spaceship made out of a Quinjet with a super assassin and flying soldier along for the ride as a Helicarrier flew on one side and the Bus flew on the other, I should have felt pretty damn awesome. Instead, I was just bored, flying towards the East Coast.
“Am I the only one who's bored?” I asked Sam and Bobbi.
The pair gave me that smile that more experienced people always give their juniors, the black man and blonde woman looking a bit smug.
“It's how these flights usually go,” Bobbi said from the copilots seat in her civvies uniform of a shirt and jeans.
“Well, not mine,” Sam added, standing behind us in his flight suit. “But flying aircraft is always like this.”
“No, flying a long ass time is like this,” I grumbled. “Think I could have flown there and back if I didn't have to slow down for the fleet. Hell, Astrodactyl could have done it. Fasttrack could have run there in this time.”
“That's not the mission,” Bobbi reminded me. “I have a question though. How many aliens do you have anyway?”
I thought about that, counting them up in my head. Swampfire, Blitzwolfer, Fasttrack... “I can access 15 so far out of... 1,000,000 and something?”
Sam turned to stare at me. “Jesus. Are there even that many aliens? How can you keep remember them all?”
“I can't,” I admitted sadly. “I mean, I try, but I tend to end up favoring some aliens without meaning too. Diamondhead is probably my favorite, though Blitzwolfer used to be. But I haven't used Goop or Swampfire too often lately for example. I mean, it makes sense, but some of my aliens might end up being underutilized.”
Bobbi frowned. “Well, as long as whatever you use is efficient for the task your going for, does it matter?”
I grunted. Speaking logically, no. Speaking as a fan of the Ben 10 shows, yes. Oh well.
“What I want to know is, how come so many of your aliens look like monsters from movies?” Sam asked. “Frankenstein, the Mummy, Wolfman, and the Mothman. Or how Astrodactyl looks like a dinosaur. Is that because that's how they look in your universe, or..."
“I also have a vampire alien down the road. And I like to think that the aliens in the watch were the inspiration for monsters in my universe," Ben's universe, technically. "I mean, how do you think we got legends about Thor? He visited, we told the stories, they evolved. To paraphrase a line from a British sci-fi show, a lot of monsters look like my aliens,” I thought for a moment. “Also, Frankenstein was the scientist. The monster didn't have a name.”
Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah.”
“So how were your fights anyway?” I asked the pair.
Bobbi grunted.
“...That bad?”
“More rough than bad,” she admitted. “I didn't have to fight any gamma monsters, but Centipedes are tough enough I had to resort to killing them most of the time. Even with Clint and Natasha helping, it wasn't easy. Their skin is tough to cut through.”
“I probably had an easier time of it then,” Sam said. “The Chitauri fliers aren't as experienced as Rhodey and I were, so I ended up taking them out pretty easily. You were lucky though, just faking your way through a fight.”
I scoffed. “Tell that to the Grapplers. Marian hits like a freaking truck, Melissa's powers are broken, and Wanda is basically magic. I barely held them off as Frankenstrike. Next time someone asks me to fight three badasses like that while holding back, I'm letting you guys do it.”
Bobbi laughed at that, while Sam chuckled.