My Audio Books Chapter 1351 Cc

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Creative Writing

The Conceptual Deck (OC insert in the MCU)

Thread starterMetaBettaOmegaLetta

Start dateDec 20, 2021

Tagsmarvel cinematic universe

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Belial666

Supervillain Paragon

Dec 31, 2021

#26

MetaBettaOmegaLetta said:

what I thought was a well deserved pizza

If he didn't merge pizza slices to enhance quality/flavor and make it magic pizza he loses his magic card privileges forever.

triflight said:

on the Marvel morality scale this doesn't even register.

Yeah. Every one of the original Avengers and most major heroes is a killer.

Threadmarks Chapter 5 - Beginning to believe

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MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 3, 2022

#27

The next morning I woke up late. My legs were still sore from the previous night's escapades and the bike ride home. I had ridden for almost an hour straight before I felt comfortable calling a cab, as I hadn't wanted records of someone being dropped off before and getting picked up immediately after the trespassing incident. Ema thought I was being paranoid, but thankfully left it alone. When I finally did get up it was well past eleven o'clock.

"Good morning Carson." Ema said, greeting me as she floated around me. "What are our plans today?"

"Plans? I'm gonna stay around here for most of it." I explained, heading into the kitchen and pouring myself a bowl of cereal. "I think I need a good day off after last night."

"I see. I have been monitoring reputable news sites through the night, there hasn't been any mention of someone trespassing."

"That's not particularly surprising. They would probably keep that to themselves until they had to report it." I responded as I left the kitchen and sat at the couch. "Arrests are public record so there's no way to hide it, but since they don't need to mention that they chased someone…"

"I see. I suppose that makes sense."

I munched on my cereal for a while, tapping through news channels. Coverage of the Stark Expo attack was starting to die down. Instead of every story being about the attack, it was every other story. Eventually the bowl was empty and I put it on the coffee table, leaning back on the couch. After a while I clicked off the TV and Ema turned back to me, sliding across the room in a semicircle.

"So, last night was a cluster fuck." I stated, not in the mood to sugar coat it.

"Maybe… but for what it's worth, I'm proud of you for not stealing anything. It would have been easy but I think not letting the situation force you to bend your morals is admirable."

"It counts for plenty. But now we having nothing to show for a night of fuck ups. Not to mention we are back to square one for money and resources."

"The moral high ground counts for something… right?" The green construct said with hopeful energy.

"I suppose."

The conversation trailed off as I lay back along the couch and pulled out the deck. I summoned out a grey card and threw it before calling it back, watching it boomerang around the room and into my hand. Ema turned back to the laptop, letting me mull over the previous night in silence. It took a while but eventually I let out a groan of annoyance.

"Alright. How about this." I start, sitting back up. "We go out and stake out some shady neighborhoods. Maybe we'll catch a dealer, get a few hundred bucks, maybe we could follow him back to someplace with more money, who knows."

"It's possible, though unlikely."

"I know, but I have to try. If nothing else than to say that I didn't give up the second shit went sideways. If we get lucky, great. If not…I'll look into seeing if Stark would like to help another hero do his thing."

"I know you said you weren't sure about what Mr. Stark would be like… but this seems to go a lot deeper than that."

For a long minute I say nothing, sorting out my words carefully. Ema watches me, hovering a foot above me and off to the left.

"In the main marvel comics reality there is this… arc I guess you could call it? A civil war amongst super heroes. Basically the government thinks that they need to register everyone with an ability or object that gives them power. One group refuses, the other agrees. Or at least thinks that it's wrong to fight it?"

I explain, now spinning a grey card absentmindedly in my fingers before flicking it around the room again.

"So it is this huge ordeal and lots of weird crazy shit happens during that time. And I don't mean weird crazy like what happened to me. I mean like mutant concentration camps, known megalomaniac villains being put in positions of power, and more than a few heroes doing some not so good things. Basically the whole world goes crazy at once. It's sparked by a pretty awful incident that killed a lot of innocent kids, but when it came down to it, it was just the spark in the powder keg. The powder had been building up for years, from over fear of people with strange abilities, from a rising us versus them mentality, from internal corruption. In all of that Tony Stark becomes the government's fetching dog when it comes to registration. He does a lot of fucked up stuff."

As I talk Ema gets closer, hovering around close to my shoulder. It is interesting how quickly I've gotten used to her being around.

"Now to be honest if it was just about registration, I don't really know who's side I would be on. " I admitted, shrugging as I shuffled my cards absentmindedly. "And this arc is only a small part of the whole for Stark. But I know I would be in deep shit if I got sponsored by Stark, and he goes off the reservation. I mean think about it Ema, the Deck took a dozen and a half camo uniforms and turned it into a genuine object of power, one completely independent of me. Sure it's nothing game changing but it's still an object of power. With more resources, or a situation where I ignore my squeamishness about stealing because I'm forced to, or because something more important comes up? I fucking print superpowers Ema. With a couple of solid recipes and a bunch of cash…"

I trail off, rubbing my face as I stand, starting to pace around. I had been carrying this with me for the last few days, after realizing the potential for my power. Making my stealth suit had just confirmed it.

"Basically, if power registration becomes a thing I'm pretty sure I know what side Tony will fall on. And if he goes as nuts as he did in the comics, or if the government goes as nuts as it did… well I'm all sorts of fucked."

We sat in silence for a while, the only sound was the shuffling deck as I looked down. I pull out the card with my armor, contemplating tearing it up for a moment before shuffling it back into the deck and putting that back in my pocket.

"I…" Ema started, immediately trailing off, at a loss for words.

"Sorry, I'm not blaming you, I know you're just trying to figure out what's going on. This is why I'm so hell bent on building myself up before going to anyone. Working freelance, or contracting out my services to certain groups or people wouldn't be the worst option, but I need to be negotiating from a position of power. I need to be powerful enough that pushing me around is a bad idea."

"I understand, I won't suggest it again."

"Well if a week or so goes by and we haven't figured something out yet I'll start doing some research on Stark, see what this reality's version is like. I was surprised as hell that it was so early in his career and he was already openly admitting to being Iron Man, so maybe he will continue to surprise me."

"If you'd like I could put together a file of sorts for you to go through, a collection of interviews, stories, documentaries, that sort of thing?"

"Yeah, that would be great. Thanks Ema."

The floating ghost bobbed before turning and flying back to my laptop. I let out another sigh before looking around the apartment, trying to think of what I was going to do. After a moment I stood, walking to the tv and the shelf above it. Looking at the combination of DVD's, books and actual VHS tapes, I quirked my head as a thought drifted through my mind.

"Ema… did we test what happens when I card a book? Or a movie?" I asked, trying to recall all of the experiments we had done.

"No, we tried a stack of papers, but no books."

I frowned and grabbed a few things from the shelf, carrying them to the couch and laying them on the table. A cookbook, a VHS of Demolition Man, a book about wood carving and a biography of an Olympic athlete, all laid out on the table. Seeing me bring things to the "workbench" Ema floated over to observe.

"So my power works on concepts right? Well what is the concept of Demolition Man?" I asked before pulling it into a card, my eyes going wide.

"Woah, that's a lot." I said, spinning the card in my hand, seeing that it's D ranked.

"What? How does it feel?"

"Well for one it feels mostly like a storage device. It also feels like… the concept of an action hero? Like experience but not realistic experience."

I pushed the VHS out of the card before pulling in the cookbook. I blinked, confused as I examined the card.

"Okay, so from this I'm still getting a sense of information storage but it's less than the VHS. Lots of knowledge mixed with a bit of understanding of that knowledge."

I quickly carded the remaining two books, nodding as I studied both of the D rank cards.

"The wood working book is full of knowledge and understanding. The Biography doesn't have nearly as much as either, barely any really."

I explained as I looked around the apartment, before getting up and going to the kitchen, coming back with a steak knife and a pocket knife. I grabbed the cookbook and combined it with the knife, quickly pushing the knife out of the card and into my hand. The new knife had a design along the handle very reminiscent of the designs on the cover of the cook book. I could feel an entire list of recipes 'floating' in my mind. Almost 40 of them, separate but still in my head, like I had to reach a bit further for them than my normal memories. I put the knife down and instantly the memories are gone.

"This is big Ema" I explained excitedly. "The knowledge carries over, at least partially. I know a handful of recipes."

"Could you make all of them?"

I tilted my head and picked up the knife again, going through the recipes, my brow furrowing as I realized that while I could make most of them I didn't know several of the techniques they mentioned.

"No actually. I know the ones I can feel but there are things I don't understand. It's all very directional, no background knowledge."

"Perhaps because that's what a cookbook is. It's a list of recipes, but the background information for why you cook one thing under high heat and the other under low is something it wouldn't cover."

I shrugged, putting the knife down again, grabbing the pocket knife and putting it in a card, combining it with a beginner's woodcarving book. Upon pushing the closed knife into my hand I could immediately feel the difference. The knowledge seemed closer, more accessible and easier to use.

"I think you were definitely right. This one feels much more complete. I know why you use one type of chisel instead of another, as well as how to use that chisel."

"This is a big deal." Ema agreed, floating around and scanning the two knives. "I'm not detecting any difference in the pocket knife, but the steak knife is slightly magnetic, even the handle."

I nodded vaguely, not really thinking about what she said as I tried to figure out the best way to leverage this new aspect of my powers. If I stacked a dozen books about similar information… I went through my budget mentally.

"If I want to be able to afford food I need to save some of my money." I said out loud, starting to pace slowly around the living room. "Worse comes to worse when two weeks go by and Stark isn't interested in helping me, I'll get a job washing dishes or flipping burgers."

"If Mr. Stark isn't interested then there are other options as well" Ema said, watching as I pace, stationary about three feet above the coffee table. "Just putting that out there."

"Right. But I can afford to buy a few books…"

"What would you combine it with?" She asked, bobbing slightly.

I paused, frowning before eventually smiling. I walked out of the living room to my bedroom, immediately heading for my closet. I threw out a few things, a messenger bag, some older clothes, before finally pulling out a dusty box that fit in my palm.

"Aha! I knew it was here!" I called out as I walked back to the living room. "My high school ring. I begged my parents to get it for me, probably the only reason I still have it to be honest"

I cracked open the box after brushing the dust off, Ema flying to the side to avoid the small cloud. Inside was a basic class ring, a large red stone in the front, set in a basic silver ring. Popped it into a card, looking at Ema with a smile.

"Just like I thought, it's mostly ornamental but it's got some knowledge concepts in it as well."

"So… where is the nearest book store?"

A few minutes later I was riding my bike down the street, heading to a small used bookstore I knew was close by. A bluetooth earpiece was hooked into my ear as I pedaled, Ema on the other end.

"I think you should include gymnastics in the ring, maybe a dance style of some sort." She suggested, her voice coming in clear. "Something to help with body movement."

"If anything I would choose gymnastics. Knowing how to move more efficiently would be useful."

"So martial arts, gymnastics, free running… anything else?" She asked, sounding like she was taking notes, which she probably was.

I spotted my destination and turned into the nearest alley, hopping off my bike and pulling it into a card. I tapped the bluetooth to make sure it was still firmly in before leaving the alleyway..

"No, I think that is it. I mean I have a ton of ideas for other rings but for now this is all I can afford. Even this is cutting it close."

Ema hummed in agreement as I crossed the street and quickly headed inside of the book store. I grabbed a shopping basket as I waved down an employee, who directed me to one of the corners of the store.

"Muay Thai is probably a good start, right?" I asked Ema, recognizing the name, pulling out several books about it and thumbing through them.

"Yes, Mauy Thai is a solid first start."

I quickly put back some of the books keeping three how to guides as well as a book about a supposedly famous practitioner.

"Ema, look up what kind of styles compliment Mauy Thai. I'm thinking we go with three martial arts styles, some gymnastic stuff and some free running stuff. That way it's mostly about martial arts but contains other movement skills."

"I'm seeing a lot that points to grappling martial arts like Judo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, or even just wrestling."

"There is a ton on Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, I'll go with that. Any suggestions for a third?"

"There are a lot of suggestions, I'm seeing Taekwondo a lot. As well as Wing chun."

I frowned and looked through the martial arts shelf, finally finding a series of books on Wing Chun, adding them to the basket. It was already half full.

"Okay, now to find gymnastics and free running…"

Almost an hour later I was finally back at my apartment, my fingers playing with my class ring as I sat on the couch. I was trying to plan out how I would combine everything.

"I'm thinking the ring is the last thing I want to combine." I explained. "I don't want to end up with a paper ring or a ring shaped book because I combined it too much."

"That makes sense. And since you're basing everything around Mauy Thai…?"

"Then I should mix everything together and combine that last." I finished, nodding my head in agreement. "By that logic I should mix all of the smaller groups together, then mix the parkour and gymnastics. Then after that the two separate martial arts before finally mixing all that together and combining it with the Mauy Thai."

"That sounds like a good plan." Ema agreed before pausing. "My question is… what's the result of combining books together?"

I looked at her in surprise before furrowing my brow and picking up two books on parkour and freerunning. I combined the two and pushed the new book into my hand, studying it for a moment. As far as I could tell it was a completely new book, a mix and combination of both of its components. The weirdest part was that the title was a mix of the original two, with the author listed as "The Conceptual Deck"

"That… I'm going to ignore that and just combine them all."

I said softly, Ema nodding her shell. I quickly mixed everything together, ending up with five conglomerate books: parkour, gymnastics, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Wing Chun and Mauy Thai. I quickly combined the parkour and gymnastics, then Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Wing Chun as well. Now with three books I combined everything together just as I said I would. The final result was a C ranked card, a step up from what my class ring was.

"Well… moment of truth…"

I combined the book and the ring, nodding happily when I saw the result was still a ring. It was a B ranked card, and felt pretty impressive. I pushed it out of the card and slid it onto my finger.

"Holy fuck!" I cursed, my immediate instinct was to clutch my head.

"What is it? Carson are you alright?"

I held up my hand without a word, trying to process what I was experiencing. It was almost ten minutes before I could finally talk, half collapsing back onto the couch.

"Okay, first problem. We mixed too many things together. I can handle it I think, but oh boy that was a lot."

Ema floated around me, almost peppering me with scans and questions. Eventually I calmed her down enough to actually answer them.

"It was just a lot at once. I'm pretty sure there is going to be a limit to how many skills I can be using at once as well. It might change in time but I have no idea how long"

"Well if you are not in any pain…did it work?" Ema asked hesitantly, getting a smirk out of me.

"It worked exactly like I hoped it would."

I stood slowly, feeling the feedback from what I now knew about movement, stature and positioning flow through my mind. I could feel myself standing using the knowledge. With a smirk I settle into a traditional Muay Thai stance, foot raised off the ground, my hands up and prepared. It felt very natural as if I was learning it again for the first time. I settled down into a more neutral stance.

"I know Kung Fu" I said to Ema, a smirk on my face.

"No you don't, there weren't any Kung Fu books in that batch." She replied, making me frown and sulk before she started to laugh. "Alright Keanu, Show me."

Last edited: Jan 3, 2022

356

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 3, 2022

Reader mode

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Alastor13

Jan 3, 2022

#28

Paranoia has its place, especially when they really are out to get you, but more research than just looking at headlines would be better. Very good story.

Y Ddraig Goch

Jan 3, 2022

#29

Okay, what is up with that indecision on which side he would join in case of the civil war arc? He said it himself, one side has mutant concentration camps, the other does not. It is not a very hard decision to make. Stealing from rich companies is far less morally bankrupt than being on the same side that has concentration camps.

Retalom

Jan 3, 2022

#30

Is he sure he doesn't want to at least say hi to kamar taj? A sorcerer's education would synergie greatly with his cards abilities

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 3, 2022

#31

Y Ddraig Goch said:

Your not wrong. when I was writing it i was focused on the registration part, but it does kinda sound like he is on the fence about concentration camps. I'm just wondering if i should leave it or clarify.

Edit: I changed it. It was to much vagueness about his moral compass to just leave, even a lot of people have already read the chapter. For anyone who has already read it, dont worry its a single sentence and just clarifes that he is only talking about registration.

Last edited: Jan 3, 2022

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 3, 2022

#32

Retalom said:

Is he sure he doesn't want to at least say hi to kamar taj? A sorcerer's education would synergie greatly with his cards abilities

Karmar Taj is in the Himalayas in marvel universe 616.

Spoiler: Character Thoughts

Last edited: Jan 5, 2022

datboi66

Jan 3, 2022

#33

But when will he learn he doesn't need to dodge bullets?

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 3, 2022

#34

datboi66 said:

But when will he learn he doesn't need to dodge bullets?

Something something white rabbit?

WinterPhoenix

Actually not all that cold

He/Him

Jan 6, 2022

#35

Nice, I love these kinds of powersets! It seems pretty well written so far, I'm looking forward to seeing more.

Belial666

Supervillain Paragon

Jan 6, 2022

#36

What I don't get is why he's adding those skills to magic rings instead of adding them, say, to energy drinks.

A Potion of Martial Arts is better than a Ring of Martial Arts because bad guys can take your ring to leave you powerless and then use it for themselves, but they can do neither with a super-serum.

As for his other issue, his limited resources, why is he buying relatively expensive stuff to combine instead of much cheaper ingredients?

He should be buying a few hundred steel panels from IKEA, combining them to make a few super-strong panels, then combine said panels with his armor for bullet-proofing.

Similarly, he should search scrapyards for some old wrecking ball and combine it with a baseball bat for a weapon that hits like a wrecking ball and is similarly durable.

Brill Adrien

Jan 6, 2022

#37

Belial666 said:

What I don't get is why he's adding those skills to magic rings instead of adding them, say, to energy drinks.

I personally wouldn't start there just because of what could go wrong. Once theory is established then maybe but I'd still wait to see if there isn't a point where jamming too much would have issues. So I'd prioritize most useful against the possibility if a safe limit.

Belial666 said:

He should be buying a few hundred steel panels from IKEA, combining them to make a few super-strong panels, then combine said panels with his armor for bullet-proofing.

Could you do that cost effectively and not potentially set off some weird data point for doing so? I'm not that familiar with their catalogue.

Edit granted that last is only a concern for someone with meta knowledge about hydra/shield

HoldMyFOOF

Up to No Good

Jan 6, 2022

#38

So, fun fact; NIJ Level IV body armor is rated to stop armor piercing 30-06 rounds.

You can get a set of two for $700 (excluding tax) from the only body armor company I went to the website of.

I wonder what a single piece of the IV armor would be ranked, as well as how good the two pieces combined would be.

side note steel plating from the hardware store is freaking expensive.

Mystical Arcane

Jan 6, 2022

#39

Belial666 said:

He should be buying a few hundred steel panels from IKEA, combining them to make a few super-strong panels, then combine said panels with his armor for bullet-proofing.

Believe it or not, that wouldn't be nearly as effective as using wood.

https://inhabitat.com/super-wood-is-as-strong-as-steel/

Not only is this wood as strong as steel, it's 6x lighter!

This new 'super wood' material is stronger than steel - MaterialDistrict

Engineers at the University of Maryland have found to create 'super wood', making natural wood more than 10 times stronger, competing even with titanium alloys.

materialdistrict.com

Here is literally how it's made.

Explicitly VERY cheap compared to, say, carbon fiber or steel

Scientists Have Developed A Way to Make Wood as Strong as Steel

Scientists have developed a new type of "super wood" that is more than 10 times stronger and tougher than normal wood - and this innovation could potentially become a natural and inexpensive substitute for steel and other materials.

www.sciencealert.com

Read about it, really interesting stuff.

Edit: BBC Radio 4 - Radio 4 in Four - Eight things we've learned about the future of wood

Check this shit out.

Last edited: Jan 6, 2022

Belial666

Supervillain Paragon

Jan 6, 2022

#40

Mystical Arcane said:

Not only is this wood as strong as steel, it's 6x lighter!

It's not actually as strong as steel. It only has the same compressive strength i.e. load-bearing capability. Against impacts it is far less effective, especially for fast projectiles that may cause liquefaction; the phenomenon of such impacts treating the target as a liquid and ignoring durability altogether if they exceed the material's speed of sound. Also, its resistance to heat and corrosion is very low, much like most organics.

HoldMyFOOF said:

You can get a set of two for $700

LOL, there was a time Boron composites were freaking expensive but I guess as production ramped up, prices went down.

The MC will probably get more out of $200 worth of sheet metal combined with his plastic armor than this though.

Brill Adrien said:

Could you do that cost effectively and not potentially set off some weird data point for doing so?

Sheet metal is primarily used for construction, usually metal shelves, storage sheds, warehouses and the like. It's the exact opposite of weird data point.

Mystical Arcane

Jan 6, 2022

#41

Belial666 said:

Click to expand...

At this point, we just want oobleck then.

HoldMyFOOF

Up to No Good

Jan 6, 2022

#42

Belial666 said:

The MC will probably get more out of $200 worth of sheet metal combined with his plastic armor than this though.

Hm... I wonder...

Chapter 3 - Crafting with concepts said:

I ended up settling for a stack of some sort of steel reinforcing plate.

[snip]

I pulled all the metal plates into individual cards before combining them together twice into five cards. I took two and combined them together until I had three plates about a quarter of an inch thick, and one plate almost half inch thick. The thicker plate was about the size of a piece of paper, while the thinner plates were about two-thirds of one.

Click to expand...

10 plates to start with, halved to five 1/4" plates, plus one 1/2"; so, 1/8" plates to start with.

"about the size of a piece of paper" — 8.5x11"? 9x9"? 10x10"? 11x11?

I'm going to assume 11.5x11.5", because that scales down to 7.6", followed by 5", and 5x5x1/8" is the most convenient plate I can find without above-minimal effort.

Volumes would be roughly, in ascending order; 3.125 cu.in., 14.3 cu.in., and 66.1 cu.in. ( about 350% increase per merge)

He (may have) spent around 60 to 70 USD at 2010 values.

...

[Intermission]

...

Okay, had some pizza, and I have no idea/completely forgot where I was going to go with this. The effort was expended, and I don't want it to be a total waste, so I'm just going to fire this off as-is.

Edit: Upon further absentminded thought; In terms of protectiveness, wouldn't actual body armor have a higher 'conceptual weight' than 'steel plate++'?

Last edited: Jan 7, 2022

Belial666

Supervillain Paragon

Jan 7, 2022

#43

HoldMyFOOF said:

In terms of protectiveness, wouldn't actual body armor have a higher 'conceptual weight' than 'steel plate++'?

Sure, but if it has double the conceptual weight but you can get a dozen steel plates for the same resources, the plates come ahead. That said, there's the matter of diminishing returns. For an early build a dozen steel plates would be better. But once you got the cash for a dozen armors, trying to stack together thousands of plates becomes less effective.

Threadmarks Chapter 6 - Shot in the dark

Threadmarks

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 7, 2022

#44

I stood up on the roof of a short abandoned building, located on the opposite side of the Bronx as my apartment. I slowly worked through the different motions of a modified Wing Chun stance, moving and stretching, working my muscles before releasing the final form with a soft groan, walking to and dropping down to a chair I had brought up with me.

"Impressive" Ema commented softly, darting from the far side of the building to my side. "Especially considering you had no martial arts training eleven hours ago."

"It feels like the information is getting easier to access as I practice." I said with a shrug. "And I'm pretty sure my body is adjusting itself. It's hard to say for sure but I feel a tiny bit more flexible than I normally am."

"We will run a more detailed scan tomorrow and compare the one I did earlier." Ema said, still a bit miffed she hadn't scanned me sooner. "I will be able to compare the two."

For a while we watched down the street I was facing before Ema floated away to scan the alley and the street behind me. Our first night of our "hope we get lucky plan" was turning out to be pretty boring. Although, to be fair, practicing handstands and standing backflips was pretty entertaining.

Eventually I stood, stretching my arms up high before walking closer to the center of the building. I started to stretch more seriously, working through all of the stretches I now knew were suggested for a gymnast to increase flexibility over time.

"Carson, do you mind me asking… how old are you?" Ema asked after about ten minutes of me stretching.

I stopped what I was doing and looked over at her, eyebrow raised. She was still floating on the opposite side of the building, but had turned to look at me.

"You don't already know?" I asked. "I thought you got a pretty big info dumb when I made you."

"I did, but it was primarily information about your reality and what your situation was." She explained, the center piece of her body faintly pulsing green. "I learned nothing about you."

"Oh… I didn't know that." I admitted, before moving back to stretching my legs. "There isn't much to know honestly."

"Truly? Or are you just saying that to get out of talking about yourself?"

"It's about fifty fifty." I answered with a chuckle. "Well… Since you're curious I'm twenty-six. But you already knew I was around that old."

"True. I could tell your approximate age from the in depth scan we did after you put on your ring." She admitted, slowly floating bobbing towards me. "In truth that is what got me interested. I was asking your age as an opening to inquire about your history further."

"Ah, fair enough. Like I said, there isn't much to know. I've lived my whole life in New York City. To be honest I don't think I could voluntarily live anywhere else."

"You like living in the city?"

"On good days, sure." I answered with a chuckle. "But no, it's more like the city is part of me. The good and the bad."

"I see." She responded. "I'm sorry I don't quite understand."

"I'm not surprised. I'm not sure you have the frame of reference to understand Ema." I admitted before continuing. "Do you hate the color blue?"

"No, not particularly. Why?"

"Well, would you mind if I painted you blue then?" I asked, starting a different stretch before continuing. "Not for any reason really, I just feel like making you blue."

"I would not like that at all." She stated, indignation leaking into her voice. "I am green."

"So even though you don't hate blue, you really don't want to be blue, 'cause it isn't green?" I asked, gesturing as she bobbed in confirmation. "Being a New Yorker is like that for some people. We don't hate other places or types of places, but being anything but a New Yorker would just feel wrong."

"I see… I think." She responded hesitantly. "Thank you for the analogy."

"No problem"

"... anything else you want to share?" She prompted after a minute or two of silence.

"Uh…I'm an only child? I don't really have any family left, even before the reality crossing." I explained, pausing a moment before continuing. "To answer the question everyone wants to ask after hearing that, my parents died in a house fire not long after I moved out."

"My condolences."

"Thank you." I said, before coughing and continuing. "I'm glad I didn't leave anyone behind, as horrible as that might sound."

"No, I think I understand." She assured me, floating closer, watching me stretch. "What about friends?"

"That's… a complicated question" I admitted with a wince.

"We aren't going anywhere for a while." She insisted, pulsing a light green for a moment.

"I suppose you're right." I said with a chuckle before sighing. "I was in between friend groups when I ended up here. The last group were rowdy partiers and to be honest I fit right in at first. But the group started drifting into heavier stuff. Booze and a little weed is fun but when people started bringing harder drugs… I tried to convince them it was a bad road but all that did was piss them off. Eventually I was the only one who wasn't hooked on something bad. Every conversation turned into a talk about how to get the next hit, how to get more money for more drugs… When one of them bragged about mugging someone for some cash I realized if I stayed I would eventually get pulled down with them.. so I left."

"Well… I'm glad you did."

I nodded, standing and easily dropping into a Mauy Thai fighting stance. I could feel how much more predominant and easy to slide into it was than the Wing Chun stance. I threw a half dozen kicks and punches, feeling the knowledge flow and ebb, feeling more natural as I used it. I dropped the stance and looked over at Ema.

"We definitely made the right choice in the order I combined the books. Mauy Thai is the easiest knowledge to use, it's almost as natural as anything I already know." I explained, eager for the change in subject. "It's also the most extensive."

"Wouldn't it have been better to have all of them like that?" She asked, facing out towards the street.

"I'm pretty sure it was a trade off. Either we got one coming through perfectly with everything else being secondary, or we got them all coming across poorly. It's better to have one be perfect than have them all slightly better than decent."

"I can see that logic I suppose."

"I am going to have to find someplace to practice though. I can feel that these practice stances and shadow boxing just isn't gonna cut it."

"Perhaps a nearby dojo will have people willing to spar with you?" The green construct suggested.

"Not a bad idea, though I'll likely have to join in order to spar." I pointed out.

"I suppose that's true."

The two of us were quiet for a while, even when I stopped practicing and sat down in my chair, watching the street. I was still nervous about being seen, a symptom of my last escapade in this suit. I slid my seat a bit further back, making sure I wasn't visible from the street. After a few minutes Ema floated over again.

"When you're satisfied with your progress, do you wish for me to remain a secret?" She asked, floating around in the dark. "Or at least how advanced I am?"

"That depends on what situation we find ourselves in. If we are voluntarily talking to Stark or whoever, then we should probably be honest. Otherwise I have to admit you would make a great backup plan."

"I agree. Perhaps I could pretend to be some sort of mindless drone?"

"That's a really good idea." I agreed after a moment of thinking. "Would let you stick around but they wouldn't expect you to act on your own if I'm in trouble. Solid plan Ema."

I helded out my fist. After a moment she bumps it with her frame, chuckling softly.

"In a similar vein, I was thinking about how much I should reveal about the Deck." I continued. "I know it could be used to do some pretty broken things with the right resources. What do you think about me pretending that I'm making this stuff another way?"

"Like through technology? No offense but I think you lack the technical know-how to back that claim up."

"Well first, with the right books and another piece of jewelry that wouldn't be the case." I pointed out before continuing. "We don't know if it's true here, but magic is all over the place in the main Marvel storyline. I could hint at being some kind of enchanter but ultimately stay mysterious about what I'm actually doing. That way I can explain where I get my toys and nobody assumes I can just churn them out constantly from normal everyday stuff."

"With organizations like Shield around that would require you to keep your real identity a secret. They wouldn't hesitate to invade your privacy to discover the truth about your abilities."

"True… I hadn't thought of that." I admitted. "But like all my other problems, maintaining this illusion is temporary. Eventually if I make enough allies and gain enough strength there won't be a reason to have to hide."

"Allies?" Ema asked. "Do you plan on forming alliances or…?"

"If there is one thing I'm certain of in any Marvel universe, no matter how strange and different it is, is that people with powers, talents and abilities get pulled together, usually to deal with bigger threats. It is as inevitable as death, taxes and sunsets. Eventually someone is going to reach out, or I'm gonna get pulled into some sort of shenanigans. I just hope that I'm strong enough to help, and to keep from getting myself killed."

Ema looked at me, not saying anything for a while. I shrugged, standing from my chair and pulling it into a card.

"And on that note I think it's time to call it a night. We can keep an eye open for anything on the way home."

Washington D.C. - Triskelion - Nick Fury's Office

In a different state, in a large government building, Nick Fury sat behind his desk. He was leaning back in his chair, waiting for his second in command to make her way to his desk. Behind him was a rather impressive view of Washington DC at night. Being in charge seemed to have its perks.

"Alright, what have you got Agent Hill?" He asked, leafing through the file he had just been handed.

"Two days ago, at approximately ten thirty pm an unknown individual was discovered in the Stark Expo center." She began, standing at parade rest, eyes above her superior officer. "We do not know how long they were on site, or what they were there for, but we do know they accessed one of the venues showing off some tech from one of the invited companies. They climbed through a broken window."

"What did they take?"

"As far as we can tell? Absolutely nothing."

"So you're telling me someone wearing unknown stealth technology hopped a fence, evaded patrols and climbed through a broken window… for sightseeing?"

"We aren't sure sir, but we called in the staff of the event to confirm and as far as they could tell; nothing was missing."

Fury shook his head, putting the security tape images down, and lent forward to lean on his desk, motioning for the female agent to continue.

"The individual went deeper into the center before stopping and turning around. Based on how he was described by the officer who discovered him, we think he saw that the rest of the park was lit up and turned around."

"The assumption being that bright lights interfere with their ability to fade into darkness?"

"Yes sir. The police officer described him as being blurred around the edges, like his eyes were sliding off unless he focused. Judging by how close another patrol potentially got to the individual, I'd say it works better when he isn't moving."

"That kind of stealth technology must be pretty advanced. Anyone lost anything like that recently?"

"Sir, as far as I'm aware that kind of tech doesn't exist, at least not for personal or mobile use. I asked around the usual suspects and all I got was requests to study it if we caught them."

"And this smoke spray?"

"The lab is analyzing it right now, but so far they know it's non toxic, a slight irritant and oddly derivative of a powder used in fire extinguishers . Again, no leads on where that came from, though it could be low tech enough to be homemade."

"Any leads on the drone?"

"Again the usual sources didn't recognize it, and we aren't sure but after studying the footage it doesn't appear to be using propellers."

"Well it sure as hell isn't using jets." Fury said, looking at a close up of the small angular drone. "Repulsor tech?"

"Possibly sir, especially if it shared the same stealth technology as the suit to muffle sound."

Fury frowned, closing and then dropping the file onto his desk. He stood and made his way back to the window overlooking the city, clasping his hands behind his back.

"So no leads on what they were after, why they didn't take anything, and where their tech came from?"

"Well sir, we interviewed the officers in the area and discovered that a patrol appears to have been in close proximity to the area where the individual stopped and began to retreat. One of them claimed to have seen something but written it off as a shadow. Apparently they were discussing how the Hammer drones had self-destructed, something that hasn't made it to the news circle yet."

"So someone wanted to get their hands on the drone, and when they heard they all exploded they gave up?" Nick confirmed, before turning back to Agent Hill, eyebrow raised.

"More specifically sir, we think that they were after the arc reactors. According to the plans we confiscated from Ivan Vanko's workshop, the only thing worth the effort was the reactor. Further, the person was by themselves, they had no way to transport an entire drone."

"But making off with a reactor would be much easier. It sounds like we have a tech scavenger on our hands."

"Possibly. Though I will say from the footage we have from the security cameras, my guess is that they aren't combat or stealth trained."

"So a potential civilian in a high tech suit?"

"That's what it looks like so far sir. The irony is that plenty of reporters and civilians have snuck in and been tossed back out without much more than a slap on the wrist. The only reason this is of interest is because of the tech displayed."

"So we have someone who is either new to the game, or someone who stumbled onto some goodies and decided to try their hand at looting more." Fury surmised, pulling out his phone before looking back to the agent. "Either way I'm going to put Coulson on it."

"Coulson sir?" Agent Hill asked, still at parade rest. "Seems overkill for what could be a lucky civilian."

"Coulson is good with civilians. Besides, if something more important comes up I'll just reassign him and pass this off to someone else."

"Very well sir. I'll send the file over to Agent Coulson immediately and inform the lab to send the final results to his desk."

The director nodded, his phone now pressed to his ear as Agent Hill turned and left. It only rang twice before Agent Coulson answered, despite it being around two in the morning.

"Coulson, I need you to come in. I've got something I want you to look into."

382

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 7, 2022

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Jan 7, 2022

#45

welp thats going to be interesting coulson is on the case still he does not have much to go on so mc might still be in the clear unless comic book happenstance will happen ^^

San392

Jan 7, 2022

#46

Something that he can do is going dumpster diving behind big stores like best buy and walmart. Trust me they thow out a lot good stuff.

Belial666

Supervillain Paragon

Jan 7, 2022

#47

San392 said:

Something that he can do is going dumpster diving behind big stores like best buy and walmart. Trust me they thow out a lot good stuff.

Forget dumpster-diving, get the dumpsters themselves. Then combine them into a super-dumpster that auto-scavenges or auto-recycles everything thrown into it.

Ryon Reyne

Jan 7, 2022

#48

Limiting himself to New York is definitely going to limit him. If you can convince the Ancient One that you won't destroy any of the knowledge in Kamar Taj or use it for nefarious purposes she would most likely be amenable to you learning Sorcery from the Library there and when ready look for an Artifact of your own. That's just one example. Marvel is chock full of powered individuals and technologies and with his skill set to work with basically anything? Man…

MetaBettaOmegaLetta

Jan 7, 2022

#49

Ryon Reyne said:

Click to expand...

I have a response but it involves background info and explanations of characters and some people dont like that kind of stuff so its in a spoiler thing. Click at your own risk

Spoiler: Background info

Mystical Arcane

Jan 8, 2022

#50

Loving the story so far!

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