*C74 - Steve Rogers and the Fourth Diary Holder.

'Inner dialogue/thoughts'

"Normal dialogue"

[System]

[Diary entries]

(Word Count: 1,856)

~ With Natasha ~

"Language." After he spoke, the room fell into silence as the occupants stared at each other. As the shock wore off, Natasha, Clint and Maria stood confused, wondering if their eyes were playing tricks on them. Standing before them was Steve Rogers, the Captain America, looking just as he did in the 1940s.

Phil had a smirk on his face as he subtly took a recording of the faces of the others. He had already known about the surprise beforehand as he was the one put in charge of the entire project surrounding the recovery of Steve. He could still remember the shitshow that occurred when Steve had been awoken from his cryo-sleep.

Fury had planned to slowly integrate Steve into the modern era, but the plan had backfired. Steve had seen through their ruse and had almost managed to escape onto the streets from their current safe house. Thankfully, Phil, with his extraordinary knowledge on Steve, had managed to calm Steve down enough to give him the run down. To say that Steve was saddened to learn the truth was more than an understatement.

Maria was the first to recover, stepping forward and extending a hand, "Captain Rogers, it's an honour to meet you in person."

Steve shook her hand firmly, "The honour is mine. From what I've been told by Phil, you must be Maria Hill. I've read your file, you've done some incredible work."

"Phil told you about me?"

"Actually, he's told me a few things about all of you. Mostly about what to expect in this unexpected meeting."

"Wait," Natasha interrupted, "File?"

"Yes," Steve started, "I was given files about all of you. Mainly on achievements and such. Nothing personal mentioned, no photographs either. You must be Natasha Romanoff. Word is you've changed your life around. I respect that."

Clint, who was still processing the situation, took a step forward, "How. . . how is this possible? Last I checked, you were dead. They even have a whole museum built in your memory."

Phil, who had been silent until now, spoke up to answer, "We managed to locate and retrieve him. It's a long story, but Fury thought it was time for him to come back."

Steve's eyes scanned the room, taking in the faces and stances of the people who could potentially be his new allies, "Fury filled me in on some of what's been happening. The world is very different from what I remember. And to be honest with all of you, I never wanted to take any part in this new world I find myself in." He stated.

When Steve had awoken and learned that he had slept for almost 70 years, his whole world had taken a hit. It was especially painful for him to find out that he had missed his date with Peggy. He knew that he was a man out of his time and seeing that there was not any huge World War going on currently, he believed that a man of his capabilities should remain in the past where he belonged.

So, when Fury had informed him that he needed Captain America back, Steve had disagreed and denied. No matter what conflict Fury brought up, Steve believed that those conflicts did not require him and that the government agencies such as SHIELD or the Military themselves were enough to handle the situation.

However, everything changed when he saw the news a few days ago. An attack, which is now known as the Battle for Los Angeles, had occurred and claimed the lives of many innocents. Seeing the damages and lives being lost, Steve decided that he could not sit still when dangers such as the Abyssal Covenant still lurked in the shadows. For that reason, he had relented and finally agreed that Captain America shall return.

Turning his attention to Natasha once again, Steve posed a question, "I read the reports on the battle." At his sudden words, Natasha's eyes twitched a little, which did not go unnoticed by Steve, "You were there that day. Can you tell me what you know? It's better to hear it straight from someone than to read about it. You don't have to if you are uncomfortable speaking about it."

Shaking her head to indicate that she was not bothered by the question, Natasha began to recount the battle once again. This time, she had gone into more details since she believed that Fury had plans for Steve, and her gut was telling her that it had to do with Luke. The more Steve understood about the threats from Luke's world, the more beneficial it would be for them.

"I see. If you need to talk about it, I'm all ears. I know a thing or two about what it's like to be in a battle on that scale." Steve responded as Natasha finished recounting her experience. As he spoke, there was an untold reminiscence in his eyes, a reminder of the battles that Steve had fought and won in World War II.

Before they could go any further, their conversation was interrupted by a new occupant, "Ahem, since we're all gathered and acquainted, can we move on to the more important things?" Fury spoke as he walked into a separate room, indicating for the rest to follow.

Steve had a wry look on his face as he saw the attitude of Fury towards his agents, but more importantly of the untold obedience that the rest had for simply following after him without being told.

Seeing as Steve was still rooted on the spot, Natasha spoke up in Fury's defence, "You'll get used to him eventually. He doesn't show it, but he cares for all of us. Come on, we're probably going to do a thorough debrief on the battle." As she finished, Natasha too walked into the room, with Steve following suit shortly after.

~ At the same time with Luke, in his apartment in LA ~

'System, are you able to display my current status?'

[Responding to Host, the system is able to do as mentioned.]

'Oh sweet, then display my status please.' Luke requested.

[Name: Luke Sullivan.

Age: Nineteen.

Title: Transmigrator, Owner of Diary Entry System, Parallel World Avenger.

Abilities: Complete Water Manipulation, Advanced body enhancement, Primary Indestructible body.

Ongoing missions: 'Hidden Mission: Enemies of old!'

Current holders of System Diary: Wanda Django Maximoff (97%), Natasha Alianovna Romanova (91%), Nicolas Joseph Fury (73%)

Number of unallocated Diary Holders: 01.]

Seeing his status, Luke was surprised at a specific section that was displayed, 'SYSTEM, WHAT DO YOU MEAN NUMBER OF UNALLOCATED DIARY HOLDERS AND HOW DID I GET ONE?!'

[Responding to Host, whenever host has defeated the original enemy, the number of Diary Holders will increase by one. System has identified defeat of original enemy, Abyssal Covenant, through 'Hidden Mission: Survive the Horde!' As such, an increase of 01 Diary Holders has been implemented, but not yet used.]

Remembering that there was indeed such a reward, Luke resisted the urge to smash his head through a wall, 'Why didn't you tell me about this reward earlier?'

[Responding to Host, host only decided to claim rewards for the completed mission 'Hidden Mission: Survive the Horde!' and did not ask to claim the reward for recurring mission 'Hidden Mission: Enemies of old!']

Luke was stunned by the response of the system, 'With each passing day, it feels like the system is getting more and more sarcastic toward me. First it can't answer my questions and now it pulls this stunt? I mean I know I was too excited, but it could have at least reminded me of the additional rewards. . .' He complained internally.

Shaking his head, he decided that he did not want to get into the intricacies of his system and would rather find out who the fourth holder would turn out to be, 'System, claim the unallocated Diary Holder!'

Luke silently prayed that the fourth holder would be someone easy to increase the trust rating for. He did not know the system criteria into choosing the holders, as the only thing he knew was that the holders were picked by random. This meant that he could get someone easy such as Clint Barton, or it could be someone difficult such as The Ancient One.

However, the kind of individual that he really did not want to be holders were most certainly the villains of the world. If by chance individuals such as Alexander Pierce, Thanos or Kang were selected, then Luke would be put into a precarious and dangerous situation. Everything he has ever written and will write would be exposed to them.

[Command confirmed, claiming unallocated Diary Holder in progress.]

'WAIT, HOLY SHIT THAT'S RIGHT! I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT THE VILLAINS!' Suddenly, Luke began to panic when he finally made the realization that Villains could be potentially chosen. The entire time he had been writing, it was always with the belief that only the good guys would be chosen and more specifically someone of the main cast of the MCU.

He had failed to take into account the possibilities of villains as well as random characters being selected as holders. As he was about to re-read his entries from the beginning, the system had come to his rescue.

[Responding to Host worries, system selection is random, but will not cause any direct or indirect harm towards host. Individuals in the selection pool will be carefully vetted to ensure no harm would befall host due to entries being written.]

'THANK FUCKING GOD FOR THE SYSTEM!' He rejoiced when the system reassured him. Since that issue was resolved, he then waited in anticipation to see the identity of the next holder. After a few seconds, the system had finally selected the next holder, which caused Luke's enthusiasm and jaw to drop onto the floor.

[Congratulations! Freyja Freyrdottir has been selected and chosen as the fourth Diary Holder.]

- End of Chapter 74 -

Next time in C75 - Frigga, The Queen of Asgard.

Frigga placed a gentle hand on Loki's arm, calming him. "Your talents are equally important, Loki. Knowledge," She said with a nod towards Loki, "And strength," this time nodding towards Thor, "are what makes Asgard great."

You can support me on p@treon.com/The_Editor982 ! Advanced chapters are now live!

[Author's Note]