The Bifrost shot down in the outskirts of London and revealed Kal in his resplendent paladin armor along with the copied Mjolnir. The one that wouldn't grant the powers of Thor. Odin had, of course, refused to make the weapon as special as the original, so the elf turned to the Mind Stone as a way to give Mjolnir… Well, frankly, he tried to give the Uru weapon a mind.
It hadn't worked so far, but he wasn't in dire need of the mythical weapon wielded by Thor in the first place. Magic was more aligned with the Soul in the first place - he likely needed the Soul Stone first for what he tried with Mjolnir.
Inwardly thanking Heimdall for sending him so close to the base he had in England, Kal walked over and found Ava, Skye, and Darcy running out.
"Kal!" All three girls shouted as they ran over. The party system kicked in immediately as the girls had a red glint in their eyes for a short moment that neither of them except for the elf noticed.
"Where have you been? You didn't say it would take this long?" Skye asked in a worried tone of voice as she checked him up and down.
"Did you steal Mewmew?" Darcy asked as she saw the hammer in Kal's hand. She regularly mispronounced Mjolnir.
"You've missed plenty of demons. Wanda and Pietro came to London this morning," Ava informed Kal as she looked back to the house after unlodging from the hug.
"I feared as much," Kal commented with a solemn nod toward Ava. "Where are they?"
"Pietro's doing rounds around the island. Wanda is in Greenwich, at the university. Doctor Selvig said that's where the Convergence will have its center. It's where the most demons appeared so far," Skye explained with a small frown.
"And you're lazing around here. Why?" Kal asked with a mischievous grin.
"We're waiting on a delivery. Stark made a suit for Darcy here. She came awfully close to getting her insides turned outside," Ava dryly offered as she gave Darcy the stink eye.
"Hey, how would I know that the imp would attack me after it acted all cute!" Darcy indignantly rebuffed.
"It snarled at you and bared its fangs as it conjured hellfire," Skye pointed out in disbelief.
"Looked cute to me," Darcy countered with a shrug.
"Okay. So you've been fighting, and now you're resting until Darcy has some much needed protection," Kal repeated with a small smile. "Anything else?"
"Friday said Captain America reached out to Tony for a favor from you. All we know is that the favor is here in England. I suggest you make time for it," Skye explained, ever the organized one among Kal's forces.
"Oh? You think it's more important than our fight with the demons? Do you still have a crush on Steve?" Kal asked with a lifted eyebrow.
"Shut up, it's the Captain America. Of course I have a crush on him," Skye spat in disdain. "I still think you should ask what it's about."
"Alright, throw me my phone," Kal yielded with a dismissive wave of his hand.
— — —
After finding out what Steve needed from him and talking to the Maximoff twins, Kal made his way to a luxurious hospice in the heart of London. Thanks to Stark's technology, his form and peculiar features no longer attracted anyone's attention as he walked through the halls entirely unbothered even without a physical disguise. All the humans around him saw was a really tall, smartly dressed blonde man with brown eyes and 'regular' ears.
"You've called for help, Mister Rogers?" Kal quipped as he walked near the man who was closest to his age among the current Avengers.
Steve waited in front of a room and looked worried… and hopeful.
"Kal," Captain America greeted with a nod. He ignored the fact that the elf called him so formally since he knew that was just Kal messing with him. "Thank you very much for coming here so quickly."
"It sounded urgent. I take it you received bad news?"
Kal walked over for a firm handshake. The elf didn't have much contact with the soldier out of time. He didn't really stick around after the Battle of New York to get acquainted. He had helped enough.
Kal had prepared Stark to pick up the pieces of alien Chitauri weaponry early. He killed more than half of the Leviathans and a good third of all Chitauri. He trained the three Spider-people who, in turn, helped evacuate countless civilians. And then he healed countless people who got hurt despite his preparations.
"Bad news... yes. Agent Hill let it be known that you may have the chance, the only chance, in fact, to deal with this kind of disease," Steve explained with a helpless frown.
Kal looked at the door to the patient room and already had a guess why he was here, even if no names were given. Only one person could make Steve look like this.
Peggy Carter.
"Lead the way. There's somewhere I need to be," Kal wagered and held up a hand so that Steve would go first. Inwardly, he was already lamenting the fact that the time stone was out of his reach. He was sure he could do much more with that Infinity Stone in possession.
On the bed, an over 90 year old Peggy was lying like a petrified relic, dazed and unfocused. It was only when Steve gently put a hand over the old lady's hand that her consciousness snapped into the room, and tears started to pool in her weary eyes.
"Steve... it's been so long," Peggy cried out desperately once she realized who stood to her side.
Kal watched their endearing catch-up game and quickly made a judgment. Very advanced Alzheimers. It wasn't something he could entirely stop. But there is something he can do to make it go away for a long time. Alzheimers was 'just' the buildup of certain mundane proteins that stop neurons from working properly. Toxic changes that fell under the umbrella of the spell Purify. His tests with Hill had already confirmed that.
Steve looked searchingly at Kal, who nodded at the captain and walked forward. The elf placed a hand on Peggy's head and urged on the Holy Light.
[Skills used: Purify, Blessing of Light, Holy Word: Serenity, Holy Shock, Lay on Hands]
Steve looked on incredulously as Peggy de-aged a few decades and just as he wanted to ask Peggy how she felt after seeing the clarity return to the woman's eyes, Kal's hand turned golden green instead of silvery gold. The elf cast another round of spells after thinking about how the lead healer in Asgard told him about the added life-span or vitality effect of his nature healing spells.
[Skills used: Living Seed, Regrowth, Lifebloom x3, Nature's Cure]
"What is happening?" Steve asked as he saw Peggy suddenly look like she was in her 40s again instead of the wrinkly 90 year old going on 100 that she truly was.
"Such a big effect?" Kal mumbled in confusion. Even he was surprised just how big the difference was. Was Peggy's case special? Could he truly turn back time for these oldsters? He knew several human priests and paladins who looked middle-aged despite being over a hundred back on Azeroth... and of course, night elves looked the same even a thousand years later, so he couldn't truly know if the druids aged slower thanks to their connection to nature.
He looked down at his bracelet containing the two Infinity Stones and wondered if the Reality Stone had something to do with it - but the chat informed him that the stone was too much for him to wield directly… so it shouldn't be that either.
"What is happening to me?" Peggy asked as she watched the liver spots on her hands disappear and the skin tighten. Her whole being gained a more healthy color slowly as Kal watched the last two 'heals over time' run their full course on the woman.
He wasn't sure how much he could truly add to a human's lifespan yet, recklessly pumping her full with spells until she was or rather looked 18 again would be stupid and a waste of his efforts.
"Sorry if this sounds offensive, but welcome back to the land of the mentally coherent, Miss Carter," Kal greeted with a thin-lipped smile and deactivated the device that hid his appearance. "Steve over here asked me for a favor, and I answered his call. I am unsure how long this blessing will last, but should you ever experience symptoms of dementia or Alzheimer's again, reach out. Should I still be on Earth, I'll gladly help out again."
"Still be on Earth...?" Peggy asked in daze, but Kal turned to Steve and said while pointing at the woman still lying in bed, "You two have a lot of catching up to do. Please don't tell Fury I can do this. He'll ask for weird favors like making some dude's mistress lose a few wrinkles for one of his weird spy-plans. Not that he can order me to do anything. But he'll send Romanoff or Hill, and that's just annoying."
"Anything," Steve stammered out, his face laden with emotion. Kal nodded and turned back to a middle-aged Peggy Carter.
"Great. Give me a call if you want power so that Steve here can't bully you. I'm sure someone as smart as you can figure out how one goes about getting in touch with me," Kal offered and left the room with a quick wave to the two.
Half an hour later, the elf found himself in Greenwich looking for a certain redhead.
"Did you bring food?" Wanda asked as Kal shadow-stepped behind her.
"Nope. A hungry Asgardian goddess ransacked my supply. I'm just glad she didn't tell Thor or the others. They might have forced me to cook them a feast," Kal quipped as she saw Wanda conjure fire in her hands.
Just then, another Fel Imp appeared, seemingly stepping into reality from nowhere, and was blasted to ash by Wanda. With a pleased nod, Kal looked around and used his holy mana for a low-powered Holy Nova to cleanse this place from the residual fel energies that had accumulated over time.
"Do you want me to bring you some food?" Kal asked as Wanda sat down on a bench and patted the place next to hers. The elf walked over and took the seat.
"It's fine," Wanda responded and looked at the pedestrians who were none the wiser of the demonic entities that have been popping up here and there. "Is this your doing? That the regular people don't realise the danger they are in?"
Kal shook his head and answered, "Probably the sorcerers' doing. They do have a sanctum here in London."
The elf looked around curiously to see whether or not a master of the mystic arts was present but found none.
"How is your orphanage going?" Kal asked conversationally. Instead of doing 'heroics' or using her powers for evil, Wanda had used funds that Pietro liberated from criminals to build a giant orphanage in an area close to wartorn Sokovia. They took in swathes of displaced kids who have suffered through wars, civil unrest, and much, much more.
Being able to conjure water and food thanks to her arcane mage profile did much to alleviate any possible shortages they faced in the beginning. And by this point in time, she had already established her orphanage as a true haven for the underprivileged. With secret funding and political protection from Stark, the Scarlet Witch's mental state had grown tremendously since Kal had rescued them.
As she talked in fond reminiscence about the many kids she saved and how she was content with the home she built, Kal offered some advice where needed. He had been taught diplomacy, politics, and leadership from a very early age... twice... and he was no longer a young elf. Therefore, he had quite a lot of wisdom to share.
After the two spent hours catching up, dealing with the demons spawning in Greenwich, Kal suddenly perked up.
Skye, Darcy, and Ava appeared next to them - but that was not what made him suddenly look to the Thames flowing past the university. No, the Ancient One stood there on the water.
After Kal walked over while ignoring the girls, the Ancient One's voice appeared in his mind.
'Ever since you came to this world, this day and the following were marked as the turning point. I am glad to see that you have a good number of followers with you. In many futures, you were entirely alone. Not that you needed their strength,' the Sorcerer Supreme whispered into his ears before her voice turned.. melancholic? 'At times you even lost the few you grew to cherish to Malekith, who had managed to form a pact with the Legion, had he been allowed to leave Asgard after the invasion of his forces.'
"Turning point?" Kal asked as he ignored the rest.
'Your return,' was all the Ancient One said as her gaze lingered on one of the statues on the lawn.
"Return," the elf mumbled under his breath as he looked at the statue.
'Gather your companions. They shall become stronger for it,' the mighty sorceress suggested. 'I will keep up the defenses you and Miss Maximoff have provided.'
Suddenly, several circular, orange portals formed all around Kal. Pietro came out of the first and ran head-first into a wall. Next were Peter, Miles, and Gwen, whose neatly-folded suits fell through three smaller portals right next to them. From the same portal Peter fell through, May Parker appeared as well.
The last to appear were Clint and Natasha, whose frown disappeared almost instantly when they saw Kal.
"There are some who aren't yet my companions," Kal said as he looked at the Ancient One with a lifted eyebrow.
And for the first time, she spoke out loud as she gave the elf a smile and said, "You already thought about giving them access to your powers, have you not?"
"Sure," Kal readily agreed but interjected, "but there are quite a few more that you could have brought. What about Agents Hill and Coulson? Steve Rogers? Or the Asgardians I've already empowered?"
"They are busy. And the Allfather would not look on too kindly to me abducting his new special forces now that the demons will try to get a foothold in the nine realms," the Sorcerer Supreme explained with a patient smile before she disappeared from view.
"I was busy too, you know," Clint quipped with a roll of his eyes. Natasha pointed at Clint and said jokingly, "His wife will kill him. It was his turn to look after the kids."
The three Spider-people had quickly slipped their masks on despite trusting Kal - Peter and Miles weren't shy and started to put on the rest of their outfit. Gwen was looking at them with an annoyed glare under the mask before a misty shroud covered the girl out of nowhere. She began to change quickly before the shroud disappeared. It was surely the work of the Ancient One, Kal judged.
"Okay, so who wants a power-up and help me kill demons?" Kal asked the six people present who did not yet gain 'Warcraft classes'.
Peter and Miles put their hands up instantly. Gwen wasn't too far behind as her bare hand was visible above the shroud covering her.
Natasha lifted an eyebrow as she asked, "So we're finally in the cool kids club? I thought those weapons you enchanted were enough?"
"Not for what we are apparently about to experience," Kal explained curtly and looked to the statue that the Ancient One stared at before vanishing. "If my guess is correct, I am about to return to my homeworld. Or rather one of the planets of my home... and not the one I grew up in."
"Wait, we're going to the fantasy dimension you call home?" Miles asked excitedly before Peter interjected, "Will we be able to come back? I still have to work on the big biology project for school..."
"Pete! What's more important? A measly school project or fighting an army of demons that are looking to invade our world?" Gwen asked as she finally stepped out of the shroud after she finished changing into her Spider-woman gear.
"I'd like to believe school is more important," May answered as she looked at Gwen with narrowed eyes. "Do I need to reconsider whether or not you're good girlfriend material for my diligent nephew?"
Gwen instantly shrank her neck sheepishly, but before she could ask for forgiveness, Clint asked, "All this talk about other dimensions is a little above my paygrade. I just want to know if we'll make it back or not."
Kal, unsure how to answer this, was about to respond thusly - that he didn't know, when the Ancient One reappeared next to Kal and answered for him, "Should you survive the trials you will face, you will reappear here in exactly two days."
And before any more questions could be asked, the master of mystic arts was gone once more.
"Well, that's that. Tell me if you want the powers and then tell me if you want to come with me or not. Gaining the power is not contingent on you following along. I will not hold it against you. My home is more perilous than this world," Kal suggested as he watched people standing around him.