CHAPTER 135

A/N: I'll like to make light on some comments I got about the DraulxOroro ship.

I know that I made a list of characters that had the potential to be MC's love interest back in the aux chapter and the romance had already been decided with some characters not even showing up again or even getting screen time.

Despite what I first thought of a possible JanexDraul romance, I was quick to put that aside since there was no way I was stretching the story till the events of Thor just for a romance with Jane, which I would admit, would have been absolutely tasteless.

Susan Storm was also out because, well like always, the fantastic four quickly became obsolete. Sure I could find way to fit them inside the story but the thing was that it would change the direction of the story completely from where I wanted it to go. The fantastic four's survival through their comic years and also through their rogue gallery was nothing more than a stroke of plot armor, repeated strokes of plot armor. It would quickly make the story stale and that was what bringing in Susan Storm as a love interest would do to the story.

Maria Hill, despite what you all might think, was very close to winning the gauntlet. I had plans for a character like her, but as I said a long time ago, the story changes every so often. She would have made a perfect love interest had the MC been someone like a normal super soldier and was working for S.H.I.E.L.D, or if this fic had been along the main storyline during the events of Avengers 1, Winter Soldier and Age of Ultron, but unfortunately the story diverted a lot from that road.

Natasha... Hmm. Yes. I admit I had at one point thought of Natasha as the most sensible partner for Draul, which to some extent was true. However all that changed when I looked back at Draul from the beginning of the story to where he is now. Not to mention that all fic, mostly smut and harem fics, all use Natasha as one of their main love interests. A choice I can understand due to the sexiness of the actress who played the role, but that was not what I was looking for. I felt like if I were to go with the popular vote of the DraulxNatasha ship that had crossed the grand line then the romance would become stale and predictable. Sure there were some character developments in Natasha since the beginning, and even in the later chapters of this fanfic, those developments however was not something I thought would fit Draul.

And then there was Ororo. The premise of their relationship, as I had first mentioned in the earlier chapters, started after Draul took the Hulk Serum and fought the X-men, going through the Sentinels, Doom, Magneto, Red Christmas and even Sinister. It was the differences between the two characters that made me go ahead with their pairing and I would say I made a great choice since I have found ways to explore their relationship into bringing about character development in them and how they connected despite being so different.

In my opinion, Ororo was the type of character who I felt perfectly matched Draul. All I can say is you'll have to read ahead to find out how their romance progresses, and I also hope I can actually bring myself to write a perfect romantic synergy between them as it turns out that writing romance, a meaningful one, is a lot harder than writing fight scenes.

And that's the end of my rant, please enjoy your overdued chapter.

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[Thor Odinson, The God of Thunder POV]

I was worried.

Loki was immersed in his pranks once again and this time he rarely ever left his room. For that I was worried.

The last time he did something like this was a few centuries ago when he turned the pure white light of Alfheim into a dark green. The Light Elves have loathed the sons of Odin since then. Well they didn't hate me as much as they did Loki, but the hate was still there. 

Now if it were just that then nothing would have been of it as it would be attributed to Loki being Loki… but unfortunately, the Allfather was in an official meeting with the Elves. 

If it weren't for mine and mother's plea, father's wrath would have fallen on Loki, but for some reason he seemed not to care, even slightly amused by father's anger. 

I can't help but think that whatsoever was the cause of his recent amusement had something to do with father's outburst in the throne room a while ago. 

"What is it, Thor? You've been brooding for the last few days. I thought that would be what Volstagg was supposed to do after his loss to Graundir." My great friend Fandral noticed my distress but I shook his worry off. 

What was I even brooding about? It's Loki after all! He's smart enough to make sure he comes out of every situation unharmed 

"Worry not, my friend. I was a little worried there is all, nothing to be concerned about." I waved off his concern. 

"Thor, I think anything that can worry your thick head is more than enough for the whole of Asgard to be worried about. So tell me, what is it?"

"It's nothing really. Just Loki being Loki." There might have been something wrong with the way I said it because he looked as if he saw the monsters of Muspelheim behind me. 

"Thor."

"Yes?"

"You have my condolences."

Okay, Loki wasn't that bad. Sure he was mischievous a bunch of times and he's completely loathed in one-third of the nine realms, but he wasn't THAT bad. 

Just at that moment, Loki came out a the hallway with a smile, which on anybody would have been a telltale sign of joy, but on his face, somehow, did not instill me with much confidence. 

"I see Volstagg is still brooding about his loss. Serves the brute right in my humble opinion." He said and took one of the fruits laid on the tray before us and dissected it with what he would call godly decorum, before taking a bite. 

"There's nothing humble about your opinion, Loki." Fandral said but Loki just scoffed at him. 

"Well unlike you brutes, I do value my time to perfecting perfection." Loki said before leaving. "See you gentlemen later."

Okay, maybe Loki was that bad, but he wasn't THAT THAT bad. Regardless of his faults, he was still my brother and as such I would always have his back, support can be negotiated on. 

… 

[Draul St. Cross POV] 

I've had a weird chill in the past few days. 

I think it was more of an apprehension than anything else. I've been trying on my own to track down Loki but it seemed as if he just disappeared off the face of the earth once you lost sight of him. 

But with the assurance that he would be back and that I would confront him the next time he came around reassured me. 

I wasn't too worried about dealing with Loki because I knew he wasn't that strong, not even half as strong as Doom was. Thor was strong but even then I was sure I could kick his blond haired blue eyed godly ass back to Asgard. 

My apprehension was with Odin. Odin was portrayed as a pretty chilled old man most of the time, emphasis on most. He could be chill one moment and the next moment he would be the most annoying and scheming person you ever knew, and that wasn't even factoring the godly pride every god possessed. 

Hopefully I don't get to deal with the Asgardians Gods all too much… which looking at the mess that was about to happen, was a poorly constructed fantasy. The only thing that appealed to me about Asgard were their runes and nothing else. 

Maybe also some books from their library.. If they had one. But that wasn't only for Asgard but also the Olympians. But based on the folklore I knew about the two pantheons, I would rather go to Asgard. The Greeks were known to be prideful for a reason, and given how the godheads probably knew about me, I didn't want to get near Zeus and his paranoid ass. Sure the dude had no equal when it came to the Skyfathers except for Odin who was slightly stronger but that didn't mean I was suddenly assured but the opposite. 

And also the fact that Asgard was the mostly portrayed pantheon in Marvel. 

I don't think Odin would have it out for me just all of a sudden or the war weary king would have been on my ass either by sending his sons or God forbid, coming for me himself. 

This was just the smidgen of optimism in me talking. 

The realist in me was clear on the fact that the only reason a mortal could gain the attention of a god was either love, they had something to gain or you triggered their paranoia… or outright got in their face. It definitely wasn't the first so it either had to be one of the remaining three… or all of them. 

I wasn't delusional to the point of thinking that Odin just found me interesting out of the blue… yeah, no. 

Whatever it is that the God of Wisdom knew, I would very much prefer it if he kept it non-lethal. I had too much to lose if he deemed otherwise. But considering the current situation, I don't think he is out for me… I think? 

Regardless, first on my plate was Loki… then Thor. Oh please, of course Thor would be at Loki's heel if anyone ever did him wrong. That was just how strong a brother's bond was. It didn't matter who was wrong. 

You could give a slap of the wrist when you were alone with him, but outside? You're having his back no matter what. Except if he's a bad one. Like really THAT bad… 

… Like homicidal bad. At that point, the bitch gotta go. 

… 

[The Ancient One POV] 

The storm was already brewing and he was at the center of it. He started it after all. 

It was surprising that he wasn't surprised about the effects of his actions. He might or might not know the scale of destruction that was to follow, but he nevertheless was fully aware that darkness and death would follow but he was past the point of caring… or rather, it was because he cared. An acutely displeasing irony. 

Even I was taken aback on how he came to that decision and even managed to locate one of the stones. His knowledge of the stones were more than what most people who knew about the stones were aware of. So also was his knowledge about the Gods and those who existed on different planes. 

Draul St. Cross was an enigma if I've ever seen one. 

I will admit that I was very skeptical of his decisions, even on the verge of putting my life on the line in an effort to stop, no, slow him down to buy time for Strange to be able to put him down in the future. He was that strong. 

Though he might not be aware of it, or maybe he was but disregarded it, he was terrifyingly strong in his right. Not as destructive as some of the beings I've fought in my years, not as cunning or overwhelmingly powerful as them. 

He was terrifying since the more he was alive, the stronger he got. Every passing moment was an addition to his strength. Every ray from the sun or illumination from the moon was all a tool for him to get stronger… and letting him learn magic just made it worse. 

Time was his best friend. 

The ability to adapt to every foe and evolve beyond them was something out of this world. 

I was very close to standing against his decision until I saw it. 

A few glimpses of what could be called normal Earth. 

A reality where everything fell in place. Where we triumphed over the hovering darkness. A reality where we never feared the monsters beneath us nor the Gods above. 

A universe where the darkness was staved off and the earth regained a semblance of normality. 

It was the promise of the possibility of it that I gambled on. 

'Haha. Looks like his bad habits are rubbing off on me.'

But no matter how much of a possibility it was, it would never come to pass if no one worked toward it. 

Thankfully Odin was quick to act, the reason one I knew why. 

He had a lot to lose. But conversely, he had a lot to gain. It was why my first choice had been to convince him. A being like him should be able to see where all this was headed and find a way to weave through it. 

But Odin alone won't be enough. 

There was very little the Allfather of Asgard could do when it came to what would befall reality. 

He alone would not be much of a change. 

'Looks like I'll have to make a bargain.'

It would be better if we could prevent 'them' from interfering. But for that to happen, we would need someone or something that they were deathly afraid of and equally hated. And whether it was a boon or a misfortune, one very such being would be one of the first to step through the cracks on the veil of darkness. 

Another thing she was worried about was him. 

The Judge, Jury and Executioner. 

She knew Strange had done something unforgiving by tampering with the will of the universe and taking control of it using the Time Stone. With the Eye of Agamotto holding off the strain from affecting him, he had been able to get free rein and with it bent the law of casuality and reality to his whims. Impressing himself on the domain of the Endless. 

She could do nothing if it decided to judge him. Hopefully she was just been paranoid since Strange had put everything back as it should be but what Strange had told her of Dormammu's words kept reverberating in her head. 

What was it about the new generation and causing problems for the old ones? 

And then there was Loki. 

To be honest, the moment she sensed his rather boisterous astral projection, she just ignored whatever it was that he wanted to do as it was pretty clear his source of amusement was with Draul and no one needed to tell her how that would go. 

Whatever it was that Loki was trying to do, she was sure the one eyed bastard had factored it in whatever plan he had. It was one of the reasons why Odin was such a terrifying being to face. You never would know where his plan ended, nor where they started from. 

'Leaving the old cog that was Odin, I guess I should get ready for what is to come. Even if my fate was slightly altered, my death is still a necessary constant for Strange to take the mantle of Sorcerer Supreme.'

She never thought to cheat death any longer. Strange was here and was stronger than he should have been given the time frame, for this she was content. 

Strange being the next Sorcerer Supreme was in name only and it was known to very few people since he could use the Time Stone, it was high time she made it official. 

Maybe she should take a page out of Draul's book for some peace and quiet. 

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