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 #10
Red Hearth [January 15, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Splashing water on his face, he tried to get that near brush with death out of the way. Apparently, space in the realm world and space in Astral Realm were not proportional so even though he was on Mars, which had barely if any living souls on it, he could still have been targeted by Soul leeches who would have dragged his soul into their bodies and used him as an eternal fuel source.
He shivered as the image of that void with all those tongues and eyes flashed in his mind. He had to actively stop his mind from further going in that direction, the very thought of what Jin'Ya could be doing, as a psionic being, in the Astral Realm and how close it looked to….
It nearly made him hurl as he groaned and flashed his body with a wave of CHI, making him feel instantly more refreshed.
"Never again," He muttered to himself as he collapsed in his bed, the very expensive and very comfortable bed that he had bought in China, to be hauled all the way to Mars. It had taken some work, a lot of work to be honest but he could now honestly say that making the Red Hearth was the best decision of his life.
A space, away from all the noise on Earth, not to mention the constant threat of something happening that might damage his home, or worse, something happening that might not be able to destroy the protections he would cast on his home but would end up outing his identity to the world, which would suck a whole lot.
He honestly loved his life, his work, and even his education, tedious as it was to learn something he already knew, mainly because it gave him the chance to live a normal life. He shuddered at the thought of becoming so one tone focused that he forgot everything else, that there were many other things in life.
That Earth itself was a place of supreme wonder and he would have lost the chance to explore the planet in the mad race to become strong enough to defend Earth despite never having had the chance to actually explore it.
He rolled over on his stomach and got the tablet he had specifically modified to remove all wireless connections from it. It was plugged directly into the wall, both for power and for the internet because he did not trust any device on the planet.
In this tablet alone, he had to remove two different GPS modules that were not supposed to be there. Freaking Chinese made tablets man, they had all the hardware to spy on you.
In a way, it was to be expected of any country that would call itself a superpower. The United States had all the software to spy on the global population and China supplied the hardware through which it was all made possible.
What China also did was install a bit of extra hardware to make things easier to track, for their political party as well.
Unlocking the tablet, he opened YouTube and set the rain sounds in a loop, because he really needed the sleep right now. While it might have been only 2 hours that he had spent looking for the data disk, the fight and the ensuing run to get out of that ship without killing or harming anyone had been exhilarating.
It also brought to his attention the case agent responsible for handling his case. Clint Barton, Hawkeye, future Avenger, and Future-er Ronin, not that he would ever let that come to pass.
With the sounds of the rain echoing throughout the room and the curtains and lights closing on their own after he clapped his hands twice, he soon slipped into a dreamless sleep.
____xx____
Aboard the Helicarrier
–Clint Barton–
He was bruised, battered, cold, and short of a data disk which was supposedly a critical SHIELD resource, but he was still standing ramrod straight right in front of Director Fury who continued to stare at him.
The first dozen times, it was scary, then it became merely intimidating, now it was downright normal. The man glared at everyone, even if they did a supposedly good job. No doubt a tactic to maintain fear in the entire workforce.
"So, Agent Barton, explain to me how you lost someone who, in your own words, had cornered without a shadow of a doubt." Director Fury drawled.
He took in a breath before replying, "As you have no doubt read in my report. The thief was capable of so much more than what we had theorised. His super strength was off the charts, capable of caving in multiple reinforced floors of the ship in a single punch, at super speed, while becoming invisible to all possible senses."
"And what of this explosive you had tucked away into the Data Disk chamber."
"I thought it prudent to have a way of destroying the classified data since it was classified as Tier-3 data, which was data that could not be allowed to fall into enemy hands, even if it is at the cost of the data."
Director Fury nodded and then glanced below where Clint could see multiple snapshots, from every conceivable angle, showing the orange onesie clad thief with the skull mask, right before he caved that floor in and severely injured two of the soldiers, fleeing with the data disk in the ensuing chaos.
"So, we have a big troll in our hands, do we?"
"Yes, sir. I believe this is someone with a classic Narcissistic Personality Disorder as well as ADHD, simply because of the way they demand attention by wearing that bright orange getup along with causing distress and breaking laws while having fun at the expense of the people guarding said ships."
"...Hmm, yes, you did speak of the taunts as well as the final hurrah that was the thief spray painting NICE TRY on his way out."
He sighed as that was very annoying for him. It displayed a lack of competency on his part as the thief was able to get the spray paint and then write those two words before creating a hole in the ship's hull before fleeing that way. It all pointed to a very attention seeking whimsical character, who might as well be a psychopath, based on his actions.
"...Ah, yes. This one, do you think it has something to do with mind control? Did you feel any anomalies in the way you acted?" Director Fury pointed at the possible abilities section, the line being the ability to project a modulated voice in all directions, scrambling any way he could have predicted the location of the speaker.
He closed his eyes as he thought back on his actions, from receiving the reports, to formulating a strategy to getting the people on board and then ultimately culminating in the showdown that resulted in a military vessel being beached because of all the damage done to it.
He opened his eyes, "No. I don't think I was being influenced by anything when I made all those decisions. I made most of the decisions in the Triskelion before I was shipped off."
"I see. You are dismissed. You will be spending 48-72 hours in Quarantine and will be cooperating with all the medical personnel, just in case. After which, we will have a discussion as to what to do with our Orange Vanisher."
He saluted and left the Director's office, almost collapsing in relief as he arrived at his quarters. All level 7 or above Agents had their own personal space aboard the Helicarrier. He was tired, mentally and physically and while there were no permanent injuries, the temporary ones hurt like a bitch.
He was so looking forward to a hot bath before he was carted off to be poked and prodded at by the medical geeks.
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