Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #63
The Red Hearth, Mars[February 14, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
"This is quite a quaint little place you have built for yourself. Nothing compared to my Blood Veil, obviously, but still, a good little place for the little LifeGiver."
He groaned and slid a hand down his face as the absolutely horrendous and nothing like the rumours about her would indicate, Red Matron skipped in the hallway after the Portal Room of the Red Hearth.
"Don't you know? As part of the agreement, I am also supposed to guarantee your safety, and I can't do that while you galavant around the world. My Blood Apples are on the line, you know." She patronisingly explained to him as if he were a toddler, which, well, he was, if taken in relativistic terms but goddamn, he was an adult and it stung to be treated like that.
So, there he was, getting out of the portal room, with the Red Matron, accused of multiple massacres, into the most sacred place he had built in his life. If it was up to him, he would have never agreed to this but alas, it was something agreed to by Jin'Ya, who was the officially and more importantly, mystical guardian of this place and also the Vishanti who were the de-facto boss of the Ancient One, which made them the bosses of his boss.
"For the record, I absolutely hate this and if you go a single step out of line, I will call down Jin'Ya so down on your ass–"
He was interrupted by her snort as she refused to even look at him, "Oh, that's cute. Relax, little LifeGiver, I am just here to get my Blood Apples, plus your Psionic Dragon has left his traces all over this place. A single command, and I fear that I might just find myself in need of a new body and you in need of another planet. Pro Tip: look for something slightly more hospitable instead of just looking for the closest planet."
He rolled his eyes and ignored her recommendations, though he mentally noted to himself to ask Jin'Ya about the traces that had the potential to blow up the Red Hearth, his one and only true home, something that he literally poured litres of his blood into, to comply with the blood binding process, turning this place into the de-facto house of one Colin Baxter.
Once they were clear of the portal room, he made a sharp right, intending on housing her in one of the medical prison cells, having no interest in getting her even a bit closer to–
"Ooooh, I sense someone, someone strong, and another vastly weaker, and then another completely human. What an interesting combination. I assume we are heading completely away from them?" The latest and greatest headache in his life asked him, though she still followed him without complaint, something he was grateful for because if she just remained obstinate, he had no real way of enforcing any rule all by himself.
Which was kind of saddening, because he had hoped to not encounter reality warping individuals for another decade at least, when he would have gained reality warping level powers of his own.
He really needed to get his mystical training in order. So far, he had just been using his powers, not understanding them. Getting control over his powers on a mystical level would probably elevate his powers scale to levels reaching Thor and, hopefully, with time, the Skyfather level as well.
"Ah, the silent treatment. I see that Humans have not changed in the 5 centuries that I have gone without talking to any human, well, peacefully anyway." She mused out loud, and he noted every little piece of information he got from her chattering away for later analysis, though he was self aware enough to know that she was a thousand year old Vampire, who survived.
As was the mantra, respecting the elderly was important, even more so in the supernatural world because living past a certain age, especially being an objectively evil being on the same planet as the Ancient One meant that she was exceptional, powerful in ways that very few were.
Beings on this level would never slip up and give him anything of note.
Sighing out loud, he flushed his body with CHI, just in case this woman was doing her blood magic on him, however unlikely it might be, and had to witness the incredibly uncomfortable display of the Red Matron, the boogeywoman of Vampires, moan with her eyes closed and her mouth op–
He blinked, shaking his head to banish the image away and snapped at her, taking a step back due to the sheer oddness of the situation, "Stop that! What is wrong with you?"
"Ha. So, that was—wow, that was some really strong stuff. I apologize for losing control, but you have to realise–"
"Alright, that's it," With a snap of his finger, he exercised his control over the wards in the Red Hearth and just displaced her to the prison cell and she didn't even resist as the hallway was finally empty and he could relax.
"Who knew CHI could do this to her?" He wondered out loud as he began walking backwards, to the kitchen, where Bruce was already waiting for him. Hansen was still in the lab, and JT James was still in a coma, which was already starting to weigh on Bruce, he could tell.
"I knew, we all knew. Vampires cannot survive pure life force flowing through them, but if they did, they would instantly elevate their bodies and souls to another level. Why do you think we all steamrolled that treaty without any consideration for any other changes?" Jin'Ya chimed in his mind, reminding him that the Psionic Dragon was watching over him at all times.
"Please," he could feel the Dragon roll his eyes, "I am more worried about dealing with a Blood God level being than you getting in a honey trap."
"So, what? Just because my CHI is untainted by the cycle that is life, not having emotions and little bits and pieces of precious lifeforms, it can be absorbed by Vampires?" He asked JIn'Ya through their mental link as he reached the kitchen floor.
Just waiting outside the door, he heard Jin'Ya's reply, "Precisely. CHI comes from life itself, that is a fact, but you have somehow found a dimension that contains CHI that did not come from any life. It just exists. That makes it more valuable than the Blood God's blood for vampires. Like I said, there was a reason we rushed that thing in to save your pale ass."
He snorted at that reply and shook his head as Jin'Ya left his mind. Even in his care, Jin'Ya never failed to insult him. Truly the best person to bring him down a notch, especially since he was starting to feel a little too important in the wake of having so many valuables stuffed into his very soul and body.
Pushing the door open, he saw Bruce sitting at the table with nothing but a tablet in front of him. The time spent here in the Red Hearth was truly good for the man. He was starting to not look like stick and bones now.
Some of his wrinkles had faded away and the man actually looked more muscular now, no doubt courtesy of their findings that showed them that Bruce was actually decently superhuman, without needing to change a single shade.
"Good evening, Bruce." For simplicity's sake, they had just decided to adopt Pacific Daylight Time since he spent most of his time in Seattle, in the Red Hearth. Not like he needed COngressional Approval to change timezones in this place.
He could just change it to Eastern Daylight Time when he inevitably settled in New York, the capital of public urination and Superhero fights.
"Good evening. I heard that there was an emergency and also read about the internship cancellation. Is everything alright?" Bruce asked him, concerned.
His brows furrowed at that, "What? How did you know about the internship thing? It's barely been a day."
"Well, it's a big thing in the social circles that I used to frequent, at least online. Stark Industries doing this, along with Tony Stark's disappearance, has the academic community talking about Stark Industries' Research future."
"Ah, that's what it was. Makes sense." He nodded and swiped away the small blog post, along with a little note at the end talking about the Arc Experiment's permanent shutdown procedures being initiated.
Well, he was curious about the way Stane would die this time then.
"Enough about me. As you can see, I am completely fine. Due to some other unrelated stuff, I might have to spend a lot of time here, so you might see a lot of me from now on, depending on how many times I can leave my office. Anyways, any updates about Extremis–aside from the equipment requests." He hastily added after seeing Bruce getting geared up.
That took the wind out of his sails as Bruce smiled hesitantly, "Yes, about the man. I know you said—"
"Ah, about him. I am so sorry about that. I still need some stuff to prepare an attractive proposition for him. Until that is done, even if we did wake him up, he would just end up as a prisoner in this facility. Look, Bruce, I know you don't like this, but think of it this way. I am completely responsible for everything, for you, for Hansen, for this place."
Bruce nodded, looking deep in thought. He continued, "IN a way, this is a prison, for you and Hansen, however pretty the package might look like."
He raised a hand and stopped Bruce from interrupting him, "I know you don't think of it like that, but it is the truth. You can't leave, and if you do, you will be hunted down unless you find a safer place, which I don't think you will find. So think of it like him being a prisoner and me being the warden. I have a need for him, and once we have what we need, I will let him go. Until then, I am willing to be the warden who is illegally imprisoning him here. Understood?"
Bruce was silent for a minute before he nodded hesitantly, "Yeah, I get it. I assume that he will get the same perks as me and Hansen?"
"Provided he cooperates with you. We don't want a little pyromaniac and pyrokinetic loose in this place."
He then leaned back, "Now, enough about that. Want to hear a fascinating story about my life? Something that happened just now? It has something that will help you as well."
Might as well use the new and restricted wards to help the man get closer to the Hulk now that the flow from the Guy Below is restricted by the wards that the Ancient One, or rather, the Vishanti, cast on the Red Hearth.
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