Mahmoud Schahed/Dial

After meeting with Jen’s dad and having him consider arresting me, I would have liked to have had a chance to just relax. But I’d made a promise to myself to continue making plans for the worst.

There was a lot of plans I’d put in place for the future. I had a cheat code to the universe after all and I used it for everything. Years of comic book and sci-fi knowledge let me know what sort of threats I might have to prepare for, and I wasn’t willing to simply sit around and let it happen. Maria and Fury had a thousand files on everything I could remember. Granted, I kept using the dimensional viewer as the explanation for why I knew everything. Didn’t know how long that lie was going to last.

The point was, I had plans. Plans of everything from different weapons I’d created and hung in an armory of my own making, contingencies, even a list of what possible alternate universes we might end up fighting.

But I hadn’t thought much about what might happen if I died. If someone smart or strong or reality shattering enough to overcome the Omnitrix managed to take a shot at me. It could happen. So I had to do something.

I had to tell the truth to someone I could trust to keep my secrets.

With those thoughts in my mind, I entered my lab. Well, Jury Rigg’s lab. The little red psycho had left his mark on the large space Tony had given me, the stack of energy drink cans left in every recycling bin in the room being proof of that.

Inside the lab stood X. The large robotic shell he’d created for himself was pretty much dominating the center of the room. He was standing patiently, wearing a pair of jeans as always. I wasn’t sure why he likes wearing jeans so much while forgoing any other clothes, but I suppose it wasn’t an issue for him.

“Thanks for coming X,” I walked up and pulled out a chair, one I’d asked for in case one of the heavier members of the team came in. Between Hulk, Jen, Thor, and X now, all four of whom weighed hundreds of pounds more than a normal person at the lowest, I’d figured I might need it. As X settled in the chair, I pulled out one for myself and sat across from him.

“I’m always at your disposal sir,” X said. “Though I will admit, I’m multitasking. I’m currently gaming with Jarvis, checking police reports, and tracking human trafficking on the Dark Web.”

I had gotten used to the fact that both my AI allies tended to be damn good at that sort of thing. Still, the last one worried me enough to distract me. “Need any help with that? I don’t mind breaking some legs.”

“You have nothing to worry about,” X’s blue eyes narrowed and turned, his way of making a smile. “Right now I reckon I just need to find a way to track the less technologically inclined sorts. But we’ve made a lot of headway. And you already helped with the financing.”

“I did?” I asked, surprised. “I gave you only half my money!”

“And then I put that money into investments. I’ve got a real eye for the market,” he said with amusement in his voice. “Jarvis and I have been using that money to support our efforts. But I imagine that isn’t what you wanted to talk about.”

I gently put the thought of that in the corner of my mind. I was always looking for more ways to help people and doing it internationally had never held me back before. Well, not since international travel became so much cheaper thanks to a combination of space aliens and personal super-jets.

“Can you… make sure we aren’t being listened to? By anyone?” I asked.

“Of course,” X’s eyes flared blue for just a moment. “There ya go, sir.”

“Thanks. I uh,” I coughed into my hand as I got my thoughts in order. “Lately, I’ve been thinking... about my death.”

X’s body was usually pretty still, but I noticed this time that he didn’t even try to simulate a response. No widened eyes, no twitching fingers. He just stared at me. “Oh,” he said after a long moment.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable, I continued speaking. “Yeah… It’ll happen, one day. And the truth is, if anyone has a chance of outliving me, it’s you. I mean, Thor probably will. Same with Jen, Bruce, maybe even Steve. But you? You might be immortal. And if you are… you could end up helping my kids.”

I hated this. Hated thinking so far ahead. But I had to. Had to think of the future, and all the dangers it held.

“Maybe that won’t happen. Maybe I’ll die long before that can happen. Maybe I’ll just never have kids for some reason. But I can’t depend on ‘maybe’. I have to plan for everything. And really, I just want someone to know. So that they can keep fighting if I’m gone.”

X still didn’t move. “You have something to tell me?”

“A secret, of sorts,” I looked at him in the eyes. “X, I’ve been lying for months. To everyone. About where I come from. Why I know what I know. I’m not just from another world, another universe. And I have to explain it all. Not just to get it out of my brain. But if I die… I want someone to be able to tell my family. I can’t. I’ve tried to do it, but nothing has worked. And if it happens before I can tell the team a-and Jen, Nat, and Creel, I want them to know the truth.”

I took a deep shuddering breath. This little secret wasn’t the worst in the world. But the thought of dying without anyone

“...Sir,” X said softly. “What is the secret?”

“...When I was about… I don’t know, 15? It was right before Christmas. On Cartoon Network, a western cartoon channel, a show called Ben 10 appeared. It was pretty awesome. Granted, the main character was 10, so I thought it was for little kids. But I watched it anyways. Became a big fan. The kid had an alien watch. One he used to turn into different aliens to fight against evil.”

“The Omnitrix,” X’s voice had lost some of it’s personality. That’s how I knew he was really thinking, when he stopped emulating humanity as well. “It comes from a fictional world?”

“No. The world is real. Just… separate from mine. I have a theory about my world. I think it’s almost at the center of the rest of the multiverse. That it, and worlds in a similar position, have an unconscious link to every other universe. So people from those can see the rest of the universes. Those come out like… imagination. Inspiration. And the more your brain is set for creativity, the more open you are to the rest of the multiverse.”

I smirked.

“Or we are literally creating universes without meaning to from every random thought in our heads.”

“What are you telling me, sir?” X asked.

“Ben 10 and the Omnitrix aren’t the only things that were considering fictional properties in my world. So were Iron Man, Black Widow, Jarvis, HYDRA… they were in all sorts of media. But they all started as comic book properties.”

“...Even me?” X asked.

“No. In all the multiverse, as far as I know? You are unique to yourself. I’ve never heard of anyone with your origin in particular, which is most likely do to my actions.”

X nodded slowly, the first hint that he had taken in everything I’d said and added it to his databanks, analyzed it, and got over it. “Unique… I like that. But it does sound lonely.”

“Nah,” I said with a shrug. “Humans are all unique too, in big and little ways. But we can still find ways to connect with each other. Besides,” I grinned at him. “The comics have a lot of AI. Good and bad ones alike.”

“That is gratifying,” X said, eyes opening and closing. “Sir, I won’t let you die.”

“...You can’t stop it,” I said sadly.

“I will,” he said firmly.

I opened and closed my mouth before sighing. “I don’t mind you trying. But if I do die, as in nothing short of magic or tech can save, let me go.”

He recoiled. “What?!”

“...Humanity being immortal is a nice idea. But I don’t want that for myself. Death gives my actions meaning. If I lived forever, I’d just… I don’t mind the idea of living a long time. 100, hey, maybe even 200 years if we do some cool shit with medicine. But I don’t want eternity, X. I want to be able to have context in my life, if that makes sense? I don’t want to be in the middle of my millionth war counting up casualties and barely getting affected by them, or looking around a room of people and not feeling anything because what’s the point in relationships when you live eternally? I mean, for humans, time feels shorter the older we get. By the time I’m a thousand, a fifty-year friendship will be like a guy I waved to in a hall once. I don’t want that. Don’t want the things that come with being alive to have no meaning.”

I thought of a way to explain my reasoning before deciding on something.

“…There’s a saying I like that… well, I don’t know where it comes from but I found on a Gurren Lagaan AMV’s comments.”

“I enjoyed that anime,” X said.

“It’s a favorite… The comment said ‘When does someone die? When he's shot? No. When he's stabbed? No. when he's sick? No! A man truly dies when he's forgotten!’ … I looked up the quote again before I came here. To make sure I had it right. That is the only immortality I want.”

I got the impression X didn’t understand what I was talking about. I decided to move on, knowing that I might have been alone in my thoughts on immortality. Maybe the older I get, the more my thoughts would change on it. But right now that was where I was at.

“Well, I need to tell you a lot, X,” I leaned over to rest my elbows on my knees, steepling my fingers together and resting my chin against them, taking the classic ‘Gendo pose’. Needed a pair of glasses to complete the look. “First, I want to tell you my life story. As much as I can remember. Is that okay?”

“Of course,” X still sounded disturbed, but he nodded anyway. “Go ahead.”

“Kay… I was born in Oakland, California, on November the 2nd, 19…”

I told him as much as I could, trying to pack it all in. First, my life story, for sentimental reasons. If I died, I wanted someone to remember me. To know I was here. That I’d done something with my life.

Then I spoke of other things. Of the Marvel Comics, as much as I could remember of them, rambling at times as I went on random tangents. I needed someone to have as much of my memories as possible. If I was gone, any piece of information could save lives. I had already begun making files, but X now knew they weren’t just something I’d seen from a dimensional viewer.

That was the trick of it. Because I spoke of my world. I told him as much as I could. So that, if the worst happened, X could begin work on reaching it. Not just to tell my family what happened but also to buy comics, movies, everything and anything. This Marvel universe would be prepared for any threat, even if I wasn’t around to warn them. They had to be.

I don’t want to die. But I accept that it’s possible.

Didn’t mean I’d make it easy.

------

After that session with X, I’d joined Natasha in the training room. About thirty minutes later, I was sweating in BRIDGE sweatpants as I raised a fake blade in my hand again, panting and sore everywhere. I’d taken off my shirt after it had become so soaked it ended up weighing me down, showing the small welts on my skin where I’d been hit.

Nat smirked across from me. Like me, she was wearing sweats. Unlike me, she was only kind of sweaty. Which was still progress for me, really, coming close to making Black Widow work for a win. Well, kinda close. Sorta.

“Stop doubting yourself,” Natasha said with a roll of her eyes, reading my mind again. Not literally, of course. “Come on, again.”

She raised a pair of batons in her hand. I raised my fake sword.

We started circling each other, keeping our distances. I swung at her, and she parried it, trying to follow through with a baton to my face. I slashed upwards to parry it in turn, then down, trying to use my larger size in combination with my longer arms and my weapon to keep her back while attacking her. She used her speed and experience to dance around my sword and lash out at me whenever she got in close.

I practiced like this all the time, switching between fighters constantly. From the speedy assassins like Nat and May, powerhouses like Steve and Creel, fellow students like Skye, and even superhumans like Thor or Hulk, both of whom went very easy on me. Better to get my ass kicked by friendly assassins, powerhouses, and superhumans, right?

Granted, when I was forced to duck under a baton tip before it could slam into my throat, the thought was a lot less motivating.

“You’re getting faster,” I noted idly, slashing at my teachers stomach. She blocked it on a baton and slipped around a punch.

“I was always this fast,” Nat backflipped away from a stab. When she landed on the floor, she crouched to sweep a kick at my legs. I jumped over the kick while stabbing down at her head. She rolled out of the way to stand across from me once more. “I just had to go a lot slower whenever we sparred before.”

“So I’m getting better?!” I asked, feeling excited at the thought.

“Just a bit,” though Nat smirked, I felt like she was pleased. “Not as much as Ruby, of course, but she does have an advantage.”

“I guess she did start a lot younger than me,” I stopped to block another baton, and soon the clattering of weapons slapping into each other over and over filled the room while Nat spoke.

“It’s more than just training. She’s had the perfect diet, genes, and mentality to build off of.”

“I thought genes didn’t have anything on hard work?” I said with some strain.

“Genes by themselves don’t have anything to do with it. But Ruby was literally born for this. Her genes are made so she heals faster, her brain is built to take in information at a faster pace. She’s built to be the perfect soldier,” Nat overpowered me in our exchange, slamming her baton into into my solar plexus. Air blasted past my lips as pain filled me.

“GHA!” I staggered back, only to feel a foot kick me in the stomach while I was off balance. I slammed on my ass painfully and kept moving backwards, ignoring my pain to try and stand as fast I could, looking up at Nat with a grimace.

I was surprised to find her looking thoughtful. “She was never really taught to be a person though. And that kind of thing can break a person. Can end in them becoming obsessed with the wrong things. With the next mission. With power. With patriotism to a country that doesn’t deserve it… But Ruby is doing a lot better now. She told me you let her borrow some books?”

“Uh, yeah,” I said with a nod. “Discworld. I didn’t think she’d end up liking them so much,” I raised my sword vertically before me.

“Good…” Nat flipped a baton in her hands. “She’s a good girl. Just needs help.”

I wasn’t sure what to say about that. I hadn’t really known much about Ruby behind her being a cute little assassin brat who kept sneaking into my room to watch movies and steal books. Well, borrow without permission, because she did give them back. Needed to give that girl a library card…

“Anyways,” Nat spun the batons. “Enough talk. Come and hit me.”

I didn’t take the time to respond, since I knew even cracking a joke would end in a good-natured ass whooping.

I ran in instead, thus really earning my ass whooping.

------

After my conversation/spar with Nat, I was still thinking about what she’d said about Ruby. I wasn’t sure what she was so worried about. Ruby was a good kid. But then…

I decided, after my shower and a bite to eat, to visit the little tyke. I was surprised when I found her in the labs of the tower. And I was even more surprised to find her talking to Shuri while a pair of Wakandan bodyguards watched carefully.

Shuri had been in and out of the tower very sporadically. While BRIDGE and the Avengers were technically allied with Wakanda, we weren’t invited just yet. So T’Challa and Shuri had to come across the ocean if they wanted to see us. T’Challa never really did, to be honest, since he was busy with prince things. T’Chaka probably would have visited as well. But he was a king and politician, so I was guessing he had even less time on his hands. Which meant the youngest of the Golden Tribe, the name for the ruling tribe of Wakanda, was one I saw most often.

The Princess of Wakanda was typing on her computer while Ruby spoke to her. I decided to ignore them for a bit, and walked up to the Dora Milaje instead.

When I neared, one of them gave me an icy glare. Like all Dora, she was a beautiful black woman with some calluses on her palms and muscles across her body that showed she was a warrior. Granted, I only saw them because I knew what to look for. She wore a black dress, a golden necklace, and her head was shaved smooth.

The other Dora Milaje was dressed the same, but she was a lot less hostile as I walked up. I recognized her from times T’Challa had come by.

“Hey, Ayo,” I said pleasantly as I could. She nodded without a word or smile, but she wasn’t glaring. “When did you guys get to the states?”

“About three hours ago,” she nodded toward Shuri. “The Princess wished to continue several of her projects. The lack of vibranium here has apparently slowed her down.”

“Ayo,” the other woman hissed, eyeing me just as angrily as ever. “We shouldn’t-”

“Calm down,” I rolled my eyes. “I know about Wakanda’s secret.”

The woman scowled. I gave the pair a nod then walked up to Shuri and Ruby. Ruby was sitting cross legged on the table Shuri was using, leaning forward while Shuri stood at her keyboard typing fast as hell. I could see Wakandan script flying across the screen.

The fourteen year old girls were talking about the usual things teenagers talk about.

“While Wakanda has an advantage in terms of technology, I feel like you guys are way behind in terms of tactics,” Ruby said earnestly. “You still gather massive armies on battlefields when small unit tactics are more popular. Spreading out, taking cover, that kind of thing.”

“We rarely have to,” Shuri scoffed. “Most of our handheld weapons can turn a modern tank to ash. Our technology is good enough that we don’t have to depend on such tactics.”

“Not really,” Ruby said simply. “You know what I think? I think the fact you guys haven’t been in wide scale conflict might have held back your development of military tactics. You guys are so isolationist that you haven’t had to advance them. And because your tech is so good, you never saw a reason to.”

Shuri looked over at Ruby with a face like she’d sucked on a lemon. “You always insult other countries military tactics to their faces?”

Ruby shrugged. “Not really. I’m betting there’s something I’m missing. I’m just telling you what I got from a brief overview. And you’re right about advanced tech being a strategy in its own right. What’re you making anyway?”

“Well, I’m trying to make a few things. But right now, I want to find out-” she stopped talking to blink in surprise when I joined them. “Oh, Mahmoud!” Shuri said in surprise.

“Sup,” Ruby said with a small wave.

“Sup,” I replied in kind while crossing my arms. “What are you doing bothering Shuri?”

“I’m/She’s not bothering me,” the teens said in unison, rolling their eyes. “We’re friends!” Ruby finished.

Huh. Cute. “Cool,” I leaned against the desk. “So, what you up too?” I asked Shuri. “Anything I can help with?”

Shuri shuddered. “No! Nothing that little… psychopath you call a scientist can break!”

“Jury Rigg isn’t-” I paused. “Well, he can help!”

“Not with this!” Shuri pointed at the screen. “I am attempted to do something that requires precision and replicable technology! Not that hodgepodge of parts he calls inventions!”

“His tech can be replicated though,” I grumbled. “Just takes forever.”

“And I need this done soon, considering you are going into the Savage Land,” Shuri said.

“Savage Land?” Ruby asked, perking up a bit.

“A jungle in the Antarctic that is covered in dinosaurs and hidden by a veil,” I explained.

Ruby’s eyes lit up. “Dinosaurs?!”

“Yes,” Shuri scowled at her computer. “But my real issue is not the possible dinosaurs. It is the veil.”

Ruby stopped to stare blankly. “Veil?”

“Yeah. The whole of Antarctica isn’t really ice. I mean, satellites have been able to see the continent under the ice and snow, but maybe they were really coming close to piercing the veil?,” I said while cocking my head.

“But that is only speculation,” Shuri scoffed. “I thought this was going to be similar to the way we hide Wakanda. Then I realized this must be a natural phenomenon, rather than a technological one. So I moved some of Wakanda’s scanning satellites to try and get at the problem. We will need a way to pierce it. Otherwise BRIDGE goes in without any communications, air support, or any of the nice toys that let them survive.”

She turned to give Ruby and I a wide smile. “It has been so exciting! I can’t seem to do it yet!”

Ruby blinked. “Wait, you’re happy about this?”

“Not happy, I suppose,” Shuri shrugged. “I just like this. Taking a problem and working it. I usually don’t deal with such things as well. Just improving current technology, rather than trying to beat something new.”

“...it might be magic?” Ruby said hesitantly.

Before I could say a word, Shuri seemed to glow with happiness. “Oh, I hope so! Then I can say I’m a wizard, like Harry Potter!”

Ayo sighed in the background.

“Well… you know that I can-” I began to say, only to cut myself off when Shuri shook her head, her braids bouncing with the movement.

“We might have to deal with this sort of veil again. I’d rather have the knowledge on how I can beat this. Science is about understanding after all!”

That was a fair point. Jury Rigg was great. But I’d been told a few times that trying to understand his tech was like being a car mechanic looking at a broken IPhone that could still play video. Sure, it functioned and you could get what was happening, but it would take a hell of a lot to figure out how.

I finally remembered why I’d been there. “Hey, Ruby. Mind if we chat in private?”

The petite blonde looked at me, shrugged, and placed her palm on the table. In a show of flexibility and strength, she flipped off the table toward the door. “Later Shuri!”

“Bye Ruby!”

Ayo and I shared a look. So… the Wakandan princess was friends with the former heir of HYDRA. Funny that.

With that thought, I turned to follow Ruby.

------

Phil Coulson/Leader of Team SHIELD

Coulson waited in a conference room while reading the mission brief he’d been given. He was about to reread it again when May walked into the room. She was wearing a simple black tanktop and black jeans. And pulling it off very well.

Coulson looked up at her and smiled. “Hey. You’re early.”

“So are you,” May moved to a stack of files, taking one for herself. “Any chance Fitz and Simmons will be joining us?”

Coulson shook his head. “No. They’re officially working for Stark.”

“You okay with that?”

He hesitated for a moment. “...I’m better. We got to talk earlier. Fitz was mad about some football game he saw recently. That was fun,” he grinned. “I love how he looks when he gets angry. Plus there’s nothing funnier than an angry Scot.”

May smirked at that. “Good. So what’s the mission?”

Skye walked in then, interrupting anything Coulson would have said. She was smiling when she entered. It was odd seeing her in BRIDGE gear, a jumpsuit similar to what agents like Maria had worn in SHIELD. Though Skye’s probably had some extras. She was carrying a small case. “Hey, Coulson! Just saw Simmons. Said she had this as a gift from Fitz.”

“A gift,” May arched an eyebrow.

Coulson felt giddy as a kid. “No way,” Coulson tossed his file carelessly on the desk and walked up to Skye. “Don’t tell me he finished it already!”

Skye handed Coulson the case, who took it as gently as though it was a newborn, placing it on the conference table. The young hacker cocked her head as she watched Coulson almost reverently open the case. “What’s got you so excited?”

Coulson looked up at her with a wide grin. “Something I’ve wanted since I was a kid.”

He reached into the case and almost sighed at the feel of the grip. He lifted the object within.

“...It’s a gun,” May said, sounding very unimpressed.

“Not just any gun,” Coulson hefted the large hand cannon. “A Lawgiver.”

“A what?” Skye asked as Coulson hefted the weapon. The gun was massive, with a barrel big enough to fit a thumb inside. Beneath the main barrel was another port, the entire front of the gun looking like a large block. On either side of the main barrel was a small BRIDGE emblem embedded into the metal. Or at least, anyone who didn’t know better would assume so.

“From Judge Dredd,” Coulson carefully inspected the weapon, making sure to keep his finger off the trigger and the barrel aimed away from anyone. “It’s based on the one from the Stallone movie. Granted, that one is kind of a travesty of a film, if a fun guilty pleasure, but I loved the design of the Lawgiver, so I went with this one. I mean, purists will say the guns from the comics are better designed, and I can see the argument, but I found this version was more function...al,” he looked up at Skye and May, who were both smiling at him fondly. Coulson smiled back a little self-consciously. “You don’t care.”

“I care!” Skye protested. When Coulson gave her a look, she coughed. “I mean, I care… that you care?”

“Nice save,” said May. She nodded toward the gun. “What can it do?”

“Well, other than holding big honking bullets?” Coulson pulled out a holster from the case and placed the gun within, replacing his standard sidearm. “It also holds separate magazines of propellants and caseless ammo. So that I can do everything from ICER’s, to incendiary, to blessed silver.”

He had to hold in his giddiness.

“Blessed silver?” Skye asked with an arched brow. “What, are we fighting vampires?”

“We did end up having to kill demons in Rio,” May pointed out.

“Besides, vampires are real,” Coulson said casually. Ignoring the sputter that Skye let out at the news, he looked over at the door when two people walked in.

“My apologies!” Doctor Octavius said hurriedly, rushing in and taking a seat. “We had no idea we were late.”

Doctor Kusuma strode in much more placidly, her green scales glimmering slightly in the light as she sat next to Skye. “I don’t think we are.”

“In fact, we’re all early,” Coulson said.

Doctor Octavius blinked, then smiled. “Oh, quite commendable then! Good to be on a team that is so ready to get to work!”

He looked around, as though trying to prepare a cheer, only to falter a bit at the stoic expression on May’s face.

“Well, hard work has never scared us,” Coulson threw him a bone. “I guess we should all introduce ourselves. You already know me, Agent Phil Coulson,” Coulson gestured to May.

“...Melinda May,” she said at last. “I pilot the plane.”

That was all they got out of her. Skye quickly spoke. “I’m Skye. I work computers and pilot a power suit.”

“Yes, young Fitz told me about it,” Octavius said warmly. “I am quite excited to see it! Oh, yes, I’m Doctor Otto Octavius. I specialize in nuclear physics and engineering, with most of my current focus on the creation of human prosthetics.”

Kusuma began speaking almost immediately, her tail swinging behind her all the while. “I’m Doctor Melati Kusuma. I specialize in genetics and chemistry. I also look like this.”

The last was said almost sarcastically. Coulson hid a smile at that. “Well, nice to have everyone getting along.”

There was an awkward silence.

“And I’m glad to see you feel the same. Speaking of feelings. Swamps,” Coulson tossed the files on the table to Skye, Kusama, and Octavius. “How do those strike you?”

“Gross and slimy,” Skye said while opening her file. “And par for the course for us.”

“Fascinating,” Octavius answered, not yet opening his file. “Full of exquisite wildlife and vegetation. And of course, quite dangerous to the unwise.”

“He’s not wrong,” Kusama said in agreement, already reading even as she spoke. “Swamps are great places for research materials. But spending anytime in them means dealing with disease carrying insects, fog that can come out of nowhere to leave you lost, not to mention things like alligators and poisonous snakes. And yes, they’re gross and slimy.”

Coulson looked at May. His fellow agent shrugged. “She’s not exactly wrong.”

“Hmm. Well, in this case, we’re going to look into a former SHIELD project that went dark when we were all trying to bring down HYDRA. We haven’t heard from the lead scientist on it since the Triskelion. It might have HYDRA involved, or could be they all just disappeared into the swamp. Since then, there have been some unconfirmed reports of… well, of monsters. Maybe it’s legit, maybe it’s HYDRA. Either way, we go in and find out what happened.”

“On so little information?” Doctor Octavius said incredulously.

“Well, we have a bit,” Coulson nodded toward the files. “We’re starting in a town called Citrusville. In the Florida Everglades.”