Chapter 130: Civil War (Part 1)
Hope you all enjoy!!!
Power Stone Goal; for extra Chapter: (311/400)
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I emerged into the command room of Rimecrest at the same time as Apollo and Athena were speaking with one another near Hermes’ throne. On the distant walls were thousands of surveillance cams that displayed the new citizens of The Roman Imperium living their day to day life here on Rimecrest.
There were families with toddlers playing inside large parks. Business men wove in and out of buildings, their work being primarily for Frostborn Dynamics, his company. Farmers were toiling in the agricultural sector of the station alongside robotic assistants that were owned by the station. High schools taught primarily by subordinate AIs of Athena churned with the hubbub of teenage angst and a bubbling hope for the future... Life was slightly different on the station but was for all intents and purposes fulfilling.
I smiled as people commuted back and forth between segments of the residential district, their eyes still filled with wonder as neon lights glowed in the distance; the artificial sunlight shining through the signs, making them brighter.
Mutants, Humans and Inhumans lived on the station peacefully, all of them given exactly the same opportunities and rights as anyone else. Discrimination was at an all time low, mainly through the open forums and debates that were broadcast for the entire station to see, free of charge... Some of the brightest scientific minds of the newly formed Roman Imperium had freely begun to educate people on the differences and similarities, the acceptance of Mutants and Inhumans coming from an understanding of what made them different and how that ’difference’ would not impact the lives of others without their own intent behind it.
Needless to say, Earth’s problems felt tiny up here in the station... Everyone had access to the internet but worried less about pollution or what the American government had to say about things... or any other government for that matter. Their lives were completely ensured so long as I was in charge and the majority of them were happy with that. Those that disliked the fact that I had sole control were few, and those that disliked it were given ways of expressing themselves through public debates and forums... It was like a modern version of the Ancient Greek Quorums.
If you had a philosophy or an idea you could voice it to the public. If there was enough of a following behind your teachings it was possible for the laws to change or be adjusted to fit the majority opinion. It was a system that had flaws but had the capacity to better itself. The only issue that was present would be the bias towards famous figures’ opinions and how that could shape public policy, but that was why I held authority to say no to certain proposals... A veto-right you could say. Beyond that I could not care less for interfering in my citizen’s day to day lives... I had no need of their money or of their manpower... I couldn’t be swayed or corrupted into turning against them... I simply wished to create a society for them that allowed for Humanity to thrive and go beyond our current limits and inadequacies.
"Father!" Athena shouted in surprise, her gentle walk next to Apollo turning into a sprint as she leapt towards me with her arms out wide. Her body slammed into me with considerably less force than I thought she would, her body wrapping around mine as she hugged me.
"Haha-" I stumbled back with the added weight before hugging her back, "I’m sorry I haven’t been spending time with you all, the mission has widened in scope and I’ve been busy learning magic."
"Ooooooooooh~! What magic~!?!?!" Apollo appeared in a show of sparkles next to me, his body vibrating in excitement as he heard the word ’magic’.
"What magic?" Athena asked just after Apollo, her head tilting to the side as her gothic appearance almost murdered me with its sexiness; she’s been spending too much time with Discordia again...
"Runes, Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, Alchemy, Enchanting... anything I got my hands on really. I invented Atomic Runes by the way, they will make enchanting way less restrictive." I answered back whilst placing my youngest AI daughter back on the marble floor of the command room.
"AWESOME! That could be so useful...!" Apollo salivated.
"I have some ideas for the runes father, especially if they can be used in the ways that Harry Potter fanfiction has imagined." Athena posited.
"sigh, You also have a new brother. His name is Ares and he will be taking control of the military aspect of the Roman Imperium. You’ll be getting some more free time from here on out Thena." I pet Athena on the head before walking forwards, my children following after me at my sides. I was heading towards the personal dockyard of Keraunos, my personally named Jedi Starfighter.
"Cool. Is he like us or more like Discordia?" Apollo inquired whilst continuing to vibrate in excitement.
"He is more like Discordia but instead of pure material science and robotics he has Atomic Runes and Enchanting as a base... Plus mithril and nanites as the foundation of his body." The conversation entered a lull as the blast doors to the landing bay opened and Keraunos started crackling with lightning as if in response to my presence.
I didn’t say anything, letting my children work through the social awkwardness that came alongside silence, whilst admiring the yellow lightning that sparked against the metallic-hydrogen flooring of the landing bay.
"Mmm, are you going to deal with Steve Rogers dad?" Apollo asked suddenly as we watched the Starfighter start to slowly hover towards me.
"I don’t know what he has said or done, so we’ll find out... But I am usually more inclined to peacefully handle differences of opinion."
Athena snorted. "Unless they blow up your friends." She sarcastically commented, her tone slightly off from what she was intending to use but affective all the same.
"Unless they blow up my friends, yes." I smirked down at her before stepping towards my hovering ship.
"Well, we’ll just be here carrying out the orders you sent through Hermes then..." Apollo cheerily commented whilst waving at me, I was barely even getting into the cockpit of the fighter.
"Oh yeah, I talked to the American president dad... He said he’s willing to turn the HQ into an embassy, so long as they get to have a diplomatic presence on Rimecrest and in Italy." Athena casually mentioned as I slid into the seat of Keraunos.
"Accept it, I don’t care if he sends some people up here with one of our transports. I’ll just need you to make sure that there is a building constructed for their embassy up here." I informed Athena whilst simultaneously running through pre-launch checks.
"Got it!"
I finished the last checks just as my youngest daughter and eldest son began talking between one another about Critical Role or whatever... With a chuckle in my throat I sent them a mental goodbye using technopathy and then soared through the massive force field that held in the atmosphere of the landing bay, Keraunos whizzing through space on top of a wave of electricity and gathering storm clouds.
Within seconds the Starfighter punctured the upper atmosphere and I was whizzing towards New York city... That was until the sensors started pinging a massive collection and dispersal of energy flaring in London England. Immediately I changed the course of my flight to coincide with the landing-point of the energy signature, the wave of electricity shunting to the right underneath the fighter as the new bearing took over.
Keraunos had slowed down whilst inside Earth’s atmosphere, due to friction, and thus my trip to London took thirty seconds instead of less than one. Looking through the side of my cockpit I saw the dreary rain-filled country that was Britain moving below me. Thousands of cars moving back forth across bridges and near parliament house, all the while Big Ben slowly ticked away in its mission to tell the time.
Feeling depressed from the change of atmosphere I hurriedly swooped through the sky, following the build-up of energy until a massive rainbow bridge slammed into a relatively isolated part of West London, the energy of the Einstein Rosen bridge phasing through the atmosphere with little to no affect on the weather of the dreary country. My depression soon turned to happiness at the prospect of meeting Thor again, Keraunos matching my mood by quickly and effortlessly descending onto the same street and automatically beginning the landing procedures.
The sentience of my Starfighter needed to be studied, I noted vaguely in the back of my mind.
Just as I was about to get out of my cockpit Keraunos buzzed in alarm as a spatial anomaly started flickering between existent and non-existent at a paid pace. Blinking in alarm I forced the sensor data into my watch and expanded the display into a 3 dimensional model of what was happening...
"Huh? Several worlds are spatially intersecting through wormhole-like dimensional constructs that are connected to a massive superstructure...?" I blinked a few times before realising that the ’Superstructure’ was Yggdrasil and that this was the beginning events to the Dark Elves and the Reality Stone. "Well, shit." I roughly cursed as the rainbow bridge faded leaving a Norse rune in its wake and Thor in all of his armoured glory.
I exited the cockpit with alacrity as the Norse God frowned in the direction of the spacecraft, his eyes scanning the exterior design and the yellow lightning that coiled along its exterior like a protective snake of pure energy. Naturally his curiosity was replaced with joy as he spotted me, his eyed widening and a smile expanding across his face.
"Drecarios!!! It is good to see you!!!" He boomed out in his usual exuberant manner, Mjolnir slapping against the side of his thigh as he stepped up towards me and grasped my right arm in a brotherly clasp.
"It is good to see you too Thor. It has been too long..." I responded in kind, my own smirk joining alongside his.
"Indeed! Indeed! Far too long." He paused for a moment before breaking off the clasp and stepping back, "How has Midgard fared since I have been gone?"
"Well currently the Avengers are having some difficulties due to politics, but besides that I have become the ruler of my own nation and have made my own space station." I boasted a tiny bit as he frowned in concern at the mention of politics.
"What are these ’politics’ that has divided the team as such?" Thor asked softly, his tone concerned and worried.
"Steve and Clint have all but stated that I am a tyrant for some actions I took against the terrorists who destroyed Tony’s home. I hunted them down you see and gave them quick deaths, almost all of them had killed, raped or abused people in the past and therefor my forces executed them." I said in a tone that, I hoped, conveyed how utterly bored I was with discussing the topic.
"Isn’t that how are things are meant to be?" Thor asked incredulously.
Before I could even answer he spoke again, "On Asgard all citizens have the ability to execute a murderer, rapist or abuser in one on one combat... The ancestors will decide the outcome and the one who won was in the right. Do Midgardians not follow this principle?"
"No, Thor, they do not... Here there is a complex system of temporary imprisonment, trials, juries and court cases that may eventually lead to an outcome several years down the trek... Even then, most countries consider the death penalty evil or barbaric except for the most heinous of individuals." I explained as rain pitter-pattered around us.
"That is... Idiotic... After thousands of years our people came to the conclusion that anyone who cannot follow the rules of society simply wasn’t fit to live inside of it. Our criminals are offered a fight to the death, or a painless death, or are given the option of banishment." The prince of Asgard stated in frustration and pride.
"I agree with you. Which is why I took the matter into my own hands and erased them as a threat. Now they can’t harm Tony or anyone on the team." I shrugged at the Norse God.
"Good, then it seems Midgard is in good hands." He declared before looking around the street.
"Mmm, well what have you come to Earth for Thor?" I glanced towards him and one of the spatial anomalies that I could see with my dimensional vision. "Is it because of the convergence...?"
My question startled the princeling as he turned to regard me in a new light, seemingly not having expected me to know of something as esoteric as the alignment of the nine realms astrophysically.
"Ah, no... Actually I was here to ensure that Jane Foster was safe. I’ve been having ill omens through my stomach that make me feel uneasy about her and Midgard in general." He intoned casually as he looked over at a pair of people who were busy taking photos of us and livestreaming... They couldn’t get any audio but their viewer-count was skyrocketing by the second.
I chuckled as the Norse God frowned in their direction before waving.
"Perhaps they will know where Jane Foster is?" He mused mostly to himself before wandering over. I laughed fully now as I realised that the Norse God forgot entirely about my powers and abilities; I could find her in seconds if she had technology anywhere around her.
Shaking my head I followed behind him, the two people ahead of us panicking in excitement.
’This promises to be entertaining...’
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"Hold on... Time out... Steve is doing what!?" Tony yelled in exasperation.
"He has contacted Mr Barton, Bruce Banner, Director Fury and a few unknown numbers in order to gather forces to oppose Drecarios and yourself sir..." Jarvis intoned emotionlessly.
"Fucking goody-two-shoes idiotic soldier!" The billionaire cursed before rubbing the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.
He had spent several hours cleaning up the mess that said soldier had made previously, Pepper having slapped him silly for disregarding his duties to the avengers. Naturally she apologised after he explained what he was doing and where he was... Explaining the chatroom had been a drag... But now the bastard was making more work for him!
"Get in contact with Spider Man, Daredevil and Emma Frost... See if they are willing to join me at Avengers tower within a day or two. I also want you to reach out to Wakanda and offer them help in return for T’challas’ support if the worst should come to pass." Tony stopped speaking for a moment, his hands beginning to massage his temples.
"Certainly sir. I would also like to state that Drecarios and Thor have been spotted in West London and are currently being livestreamed to over 20 million people across numerous platforms."
"Thor... Thor will help us... That’s good. He should be enough to counter Bruce should we need to." Tony murmured.
"Drecarios would be enough to handle most of the team sir... I believe Thor’s presence just cements your potential victory." The AI sassily replied, a small giggle escaping Tony’s lips as he imagined Drecarios soloing the Hulk, Cap and Hawkeye.
"Yeah, good call buddy." Tony admitted before grasping his whiskey and down it in one shot.
"Ms Romanov has just informed me that she will be contacting Mr Barton." Jarvis stated.
"Let me know how it goes buddy... I have a new suit to complete." The chatroom member cracked his knuckles as his magic poured out over his original Metallic-Hydrogen armour, several hundred swirls of magically enhanced nanites burying into the material.
"Of course sir. I shall start your playlist immediately." The music abruptly echoed into the workspace as Iron Man tinkered away at his very first Metallic-Hydrogen suit.
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