7 The road to hell
Obligatory Disclaimer : I do not own anything (except maybe OC characters) all characters, places, worlds, universes…etc mentioned here belong to their respective owners and/or companies.
This is purely a work of fiction. Not meant to offend or incite, but to entertain and (maybe) inspire.
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THE ROAD TO HELL
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His fit of mirthful laughter ended with a smattering of dry chuckles. His eyes slowly rose, turning his gaze from the tea cup in his hands to the eyes of the bald headed woman who sat across him.
She had a humorous smile on her face, as though she indulged in his playful antics, but her smile was a sheath for hidden behind it was a dangerously sharp blade waiting to be drawn.
"Please enlighten me, Mr. Hammer, as to what you find so funny?" asked the Ancient One, who took another sip of her fragrant tea.
"Oh, it's just that you think you can actually kill me" Justin Hammer, responded jovially as though he still found it hilarious.
"Ah, you seem to have misunderstood something Mr. Hammer, I don't think I can, I know I can." she stated.
"Look, Ancient one I came here for a reason. That being the chance to learn magic. Your intimidation game doesn't faze me and I find myself growing bored of indulging in it. All I want is to know is if you'll teach me or not. I should also mention that I do not take kindly to threats on my life"
"Mr. Hammer…. I find your confidence inspiring, but alas you have made a not so convincing case for me to let you live" The Ancient one concluded.
Justin Hammer placed a hand on his chin, rubbing his fingers past his smooth lower jaw as he stared the ancient one in the eyes with a slight frown. He breathed out, calming himself as his gaze refocused, this talk wasn't going as planned or even imagined, but he had also planned for that eventuality "From the moment when I walked into this place, I have already deployed various defensive measures to ensure that in the event of a violent confrontation or should my well being be under threat, this temple and everyone in it will go up in smoke. I have made my preparations lady, my life isn't something you can claim, so bye, thanks for the hospitality but I'll be taking my leave now"
He stood up to take his leave, watching the ancient one who continued to sip on her tea without a care in the world.
"I'm afraid not Mr. Hammer" She said with a grim tone of finality, one that broke away from her previous carefree demeanor. The ancient one could not allow Justin Hammer to leave, it went against her duty as Earth's protector. She was the sorcerer supreme, the first line of defense against any and all mystical and spiritual threats to the world.
Justin Hammer was - a wolf in sheep's clothing that was growing increasingly influential beyond reasonable limits – something that she couldn't understand.
On the astral plane his existence was unexplainable and unique, like a never before seen disease that didn't even seem as such, an evil that couldn't be strictly defined as such. It was quite frustrating trying to put rationality to his existence even at magical standards, especially at magical standards.
She had a choice, to either let him go out into the world and then sit back to observe his actions – which could prove to be disastrous beyond measure. He did manage to find the Tajj, even without aid or guidance, who's to say that he could not find other places that would allow him to dabble in the mystic arts, letting him grow more inhumanly powerful than he already was – she noticed the raw power that lay beneath his impressive exterior – she knew a dangerous man when she saw one. And she has seen one too many over the long, long years. It also didn't help matters that her student, someone she saw so much potential in, was bound to betray her.
She could not let him walk the world, he was too much of a danger.
Leaving her with one other choice, ideally; to restrain him and then try to find answers from there. Or – nip it in the bud – and end his continued existence.
Hammer continued to level his gaze at her in silence, he flashed her a wicked grin. Metal plates and pieces extruded from his backpack began assembling over his body in fluid motion, enfolding him seamlessly in a highly advanced silver gray Exo-skeletal armor.
"…Ok Boomer" he said in mockery, his voice taking on a slight electronic tinge as the final face piece of his glinting armor snapped shut over his face, its glowing, eerie green eyes staring at her in challenge as a blue energy bubble flashed into existence around Justin's armor. It was impressive, admitted the ancient one, but force fields wouldn't stop her from what she was about to do. They weren't meant to. No, they were meant to withstand something much more horrifying.
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F&%k Fanfics. Every single one of them I read had the great figures of power being convinced by the less powerful but ambitious characters using honeyed words and dumb confidence alone. Why did my case have to be different? Wasn't I convincing enough?
'No you idiot, you don't have what everyone else does a functioning plot armor' It didn't matter. If the ancient one didn't want to teach me magic that was just f*&$%@^%$ fine. But she wanted to kill me too? Heh, f*&k that noise. I may not be as powerful as her, but I'm not someone to be toyed with. And if my life was on the line, then so was hers.
"Bad Guy" I whispered, smiling wickedly at the ancient one. My armor began assembling over my already enhanced form. And in the spirit of my original Earth I had to say something fitting. "Ok Boomer" the voice modulator added a much appreciated emphasis to the word.
"Eve activate Burn-the-witch protocol" I directed. The main reason I instantly suited up wasn't to duke it out with the ancient one mano-a-mano, no. Do you think I'm stupid? She has magic, a lot of it. And what do I have? Preparation.
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–––BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!
There was but a moment of serene silence before the world cried out in terror. Atomic fire razed through matter. Turning air into ionized plasma and substantial matter into white ash. It was as though for a single second, the sun fell to the earth, roasting the atmosphere before turning the soil into glass and the air into nothing but raging fire. The ground rumbled as though the earth was groaning and writhing in unimaginable pain, when sounds came back into existence. The wails of Gaea drove horror into the hearts of her children. The dimensional wall shook as fractures spread through it.
Buried beneath an ash mound a blue force field sporadically flickered as though it were about to lose power. Which it was. A metal arm shot through the flickering super-stacked force field dispersing the ash mound as a figure fully armed in silver and matte black armor emerged from within. Some scorch marks were evident over the armor's surface. But the fact that it not only wasn't currently a piece of molten metal slag but even withstood the QuanTomic weapon fire displayed the godly level of craftsmanship its maker possessed and implemented.
Beneath the BadGuy exo-armor Justin Hammer's skin was a scalding red that was slowly regaining its healthy color. 'I would've roasted if I wasn't enhanced' Justin Hammer pointed out as he read through the various diagnostics and reports of his onboard systems and the environment around him. He collected valuable data concerning the operation of his weapon, as this was the first time he put it to real world use at such a large scale. 'Quantum Energy influenced by explosive nuclear fission reactions has a yield not even remotely close to the theoretical pure output of Explosive QuantumEnergy' he concluded. Thanking his calculations that he did not increase the minuscule quantum energy ratio of the weapon, he was unsure if even he would've survived that in his current state.
"Eve, scan the area and give me a readout on the projected casualties and destruction, file the current data under Project SH4: Sol's Hammer"
[bZZzzt--Yes--bzztz--Boss] His electronic partner replied in between electronic buzzes and crackles. It annoyed him, knowing that a piece of intricate circuitry had probably been slightly damaged and was responsible for the slight malfunction, but even that would soon be repaired by the suit's self recovery function. 'I promise to create a psionic link, I'm already getting tired of always speaking out my commands among other needed upgrades' Current power level was at 11% more than enough to keep the suit functioning for a substantial amount of time if he went easy on it.
[Bosszzt--no--Cau--zztz-su--Bzztt-lties--singula--zzt--r--life sign--zzt--nature detec--zttzz-ed] Eve reported. Justin Hammer paused his steps. It barely took a moment for him to make the connection and come to an accurate conclusion 'So that's the cause of the cracking'. He cursed silently as he directed Eve on their next course of action.
"Come out ancient one, I never took you for a shy one" He said, speaking to thin smoky air that rose from the scorched and desolate landscape, as an omni-directional map of the landscape hovered over his HUD(heads-up display). He noticed the slightly distorted spot on the map, suspecting it to be more than a malfunction of his technologically advanced armor. 'You can never be paranoid enough when dealing with magic' No one responded, but he continued to physically face the direction. When the distortion flickered in Justin's perception, his menacing long ranged weapons were already pointed at the location.
Ripples radiated outwards from the approximate target location his weapons were currently aiming at. He was a blink away from unleashing his whole military might on it, but decided to take a wait-and-see approach. Considering that no one had attacked him yet. A brilliant sizzling golden circular Tao-mandala shield appeared beneath the disappearing ripples and behind the shield was the sorry figure of the Ancient One. Justin stifled the laughter that threatened to spill out his lips at the sight of the severely bleeding ancient one and her rags that still had hints of embers on them – what he found truly hilarious was the fact that the ancient one was still alive with the absurd amount of firepower he had basically thrown at her face.
He chuckled at her glare "I did tell you to let me leave" he reminded her.
"Do you realize the amount of destruction you would have caused? The casualties alone would have numbered in excess of millions had I not intercepted your attack. It would be the biggest mistake of my life to let you leave" she said.
"Listen lady, all I wanted from you was to learn magic, not kill the world or even rule it. And you know I am speaking the truth" 'Well not earth at least' he thought. Eve, hurry up we're running on borrowed time here he mentally remarked silently clicking his tongue.
The ancient one wanted to attack, more than anything else she wanted to end his existence here and now. But she was being held back trying to mend the fractures on the Mirror Dimension's walls. The beings imprisoned here had taken advantage of the dreadful explosion Justin Hammer had unleashed to try widening the fractures into cracks – to try making a path for their escape. She didn't have the magical might to spare to properly deal with Hammer. His words resonated within her, she did sense his honesty but she didn't completely trust it. Perhaps she had been a bit obstinate with using force in trying to deal with the problem. The ancient one was a flexible thinker, after all, was she not currently siphoning energy from the Dark Dimension of Dormammu to grant her massively increased vitality and magical might? An act that was recognized as forbidden – an abomination. Yes, she was flexible indeed.
Perhaps they could work hand in hand for a better future, maybe this didn't have to end in the death of any of the parties involved. Maybe she could show him what she saw, and he could understand. He would be quite the powerful addition to their ranks if she could teach and guide him.
"Mr Hammer, perhaps we can come to an...agreement" suggested the ancient one, as she pondered over her decision.
Unbeknownst to her, Hammer had very different plans.
"I don't think it's wise, considering that you just tried to kill me moments ago." 'Although I did fire the first shot' "How about we iron it out in a more fitting environment at a more fitting time" Hammer advised, trying to buy as much time as he could without looking suspicious.
[Dimensional Frequency obtained, boss] came the clear electronic voice of Eve through his earpiece. "Eve you're a darling. Create the gate"
[I know Boss. Quantum signature strings secured]
[…Link to beacon successfully established]
[.... Localized entanglement successful]
[...Trans-dimensional bridge established]
[.....Phantom gateway to beacon successfully created]
[Ready when you are boss, gateway stable]
Preparation Hammer repeated with a smile. I understand now how the bat does the impossible. On the outside there were no visible changes. But beyond the microscopic level, in the realm beyond a realm, the landscape where the vibrant polychromatic energy was soil and the whizzing elementary particles of matter made up the atmosphere. Where time interacted with space at its most intimate spectrum. Emerging from the elementary was a spherical bridge of white energy gradually pulsating in a hypnotizing rhythm, the bridge snaked through the fractured fabric that was the dimensional wall to the mirror dimension.
"It was nice meeting you Ancient one" he waved at the stunned wizard, she had noticed the invasive force sink its way through a fracture in the wall. She tried warning him of what would result from his actions but he had already taken the direful step.
"Shrink" hammer ordered, as he body was shrunk down past the microscopic level in less than microseconds, allowing him entrance into the quantum realm. He latched onto the white spherical bridge which sucked him through its already dispersing length like a rapidly dissolving vacuum tube.
The ancient one cursed out in frustration. The fact that Hammer had done the impossible again and had gone through the fracture like a needle through jelly, the fracture healed shut the micro-moment after his passage but that infinitesimally small momentary opening created from his action was covetously seized by one of the countless trapped entities, from dreadful beasts, embodiment of primordial disasters who witnessed the first dawn to sinister and malevolent demons older than mankind itself. This was going to be a nightmare. And it was just on the horizon.
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KONNICHIMOTHEREFFINGWAAA!! Thats Japanese for "Miss me my people from another mother!?!"
I sure as hell did miss you guys. Been working on this chapter for a while, had to take my time for it. This is where things really start to kick off. I hope you're prepped for it.
Thank you all for your wonderful support. You don't know how much it's done for me. Especially you my patient and understanding patrons, I can't begin to properly express my gratitude.
Just know that I have a surprise in the works for you all. It's a DC fic, quite brutal and wicked! I'll post it as a one shot when it's done, and if you guys like it then I'll turn it into full story. So keep an eye out for it.
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