I promised the Asgardians a BBQ feast, and I delivered—portalling around the world to get the best cuts of Wagyu beef, chicken, pork, and any other type of meat they asked for.
For drinks, I brought mead, sweet wine, and hard liquor, then tracked down the longest feast table I could find before setting us up on an island with enough space to seat everyone in my dimension.
It had taken me less than an hour to figure out how to cook and season meat like a competent chef, and I even earned a skill for it—not that I planned to flex it.
The Asgardians were insatiable. Even Loki ate twice his body weight, and that was after all his jabs about the rest of the Asgardians being savages. Sif's cheeks turned slightly red, embarrassed by our gawking, but only barely.
The rest of the men were content to eat me into destitution—Thor especially. The Asgardians were lucky I was a millionaire.
Out of curiosity, rather than obligation, I began questioning my guests about Asgard, and Thor was happy to boast.
He wove vivid tales about his battles with frost giants, demons, and the Dark Elves, but grew clammy when I referenced his relationship with the Lady Sif and his children.
"Your storytellers add too much," he said, sweating nervously and chugging a cup of wine.
Sif fixed him with a dubious look—one I was familiar with. It was the kind a woman gave her lover when she knew his antics too well. Not that they were in a relationship—neither had given me reason to believe that. Still, I didn't want to risk reading their minds. I saw no visible runic protection on them, but I could feel spells layered across their bodies.
"The part about you taking earthly lovers is true, right?" I smirked. "I mean, over the course of a thousand years or so, you have to have at least one demi-god runt running around."
Loki snickered. "Mother gifted him with a spell that prevents any seed from taking during his wild years."
"Then we can assume she did the same for you?" Jean asked, causing Loki to pause mid-sip and glance her way.
"There's this famous legend of you sleeping with a stallion," she began, and Thor burst out laughing, slapping his leg. The other warriors joined in as Loki shot him a scathing look.
"He started that rumor nearly a thousand years ago," Sif explained. "Apparently, it stuck."
We spent most of the day going back and forth. Eventually, the crowd thinned until only twelve of us remained: the six visitors, myself, Jean, Logan, Scott, Rin, and Yelena.
Loki was the first to inquire about the nature of my dimension, theorizing that it was on another planet.
"It resembles nowhere on Midgard we've ever seen," he mused.
I gave him a bright smile. "It's my own little slice of paradise—safe from prying eyes."
"You do not trust the people of your world?" Sif asked.
"Of course we don't," Rin snorted, propping his legs on the table. "Not after everything we've seen. They still haven't let the mutants they're supposed to be 'protecting' in those camps go."
"You know, I warned Fury not to do exactly that," I said. "Detaining mutants without due cause doesn't exactly endear you to the government."
It also made it easier for Lauren to get to them and ferment a species war.
"I could probably ask Tony to say something," I suggested.
"Won't help much," Logan grunted, spearing a piece of meat with his fork. "They're scared of us."
"I suppose after New York, there's no helping it," Jean sighed.
"Let's hope they're feeling a tad more generous after they meet our otherworldly visitors," I grinned, glancing at the Asgardians.
Thor was quick to protest, though he was clearly enjoying himself. "We were sent to help you win the war against the demons."
"And you are," I said. "Smoother diplomatic ties will certainly make it easier to invite their heavy hitters. They'll also be more receptive to my weapons. Besides, don't tell me you're not eager to test yourself against the Scourge of the Kree Empire."
That earned me sharp looks. Captain Marvel's reputation preceded her, and it saved me the trouble of tussling with the God of Thunder. I might very well win, but I didn't plan on giving up any more of my abilities than I had to.
The conversation lasted a few more minutes before I unceremoniously dumped them back where I found them—and promptly vanished while they marveled that it was still somehow night.
I reappeared on the windswept peaks of Kamar-Taj behind a building where Mordo was waiting for me.
"It's been too long," he said, bowing. I returned the gesture. He looked a touch older than the last time I saw him and carried a new artifact—a blade of some kind—in addition to his Sorcerer Supreme cloak.
They'd held the trials, and Mordo had won, though with considerable restrictions placed on him. He now wore the empty Eye of Agamotto, which made my request particularly awkward.
I'd offered to craft Kamar-Taj something of equal value and power in exchange for the Time Stone, but the other Masters had been vehemently against it. It was decided that the Order couldn't take gifts from me until my little soul situation had been sorted out.
"I wouldn't ask this of you if I had any other choice," I said, wincing as I produced the Time Stone from a dimensional storage rune carved into a ring I was wearing. No one but me could access it. I'd made damn sure of that. The Space Stone was in a ring on my other hand.
Mordo stared at the gem with naked envy.
"Think nothing of it," he said eventually. "She intended it for you, and considering her predictions, you might be the only one on Earth who can protect it."
I portaled us to an isolated mountain peak and let Mordo weave his spells, using me as the focal point. The spell I had in mind?
The infamous one Strange used to peer into all possible futures. It was a prerequisite, considering who I was up against.
Mordo was white as a sheet when he finished the time spell. How he managed that with his complexion remained a mystery—but what wasn't a mystery was my near future, and it was terrifying.
Belasco had somehow managed to body-snatch Rogue and become an Ascendant. Any rescue attempt to separate them ended in my brutal and swift death. I managed to kill him a few times, but only in timelines where I burned him with Anathema Fire before Magik appeared—or before he used his Domain.
She was nearly as skilled a fighter as I was, with intimate knowledge of five different schools of sorcery.
And in the thousands of timelines where I let the fight drag out, I was besieged by all of his Ascendants. He had four more, apparently, each one more dangerous than the last. I barely survived, even when I used the Infinity Stones and Devil Trigger.
I didn't fare much better in the handful of futures where I tried to stay out of Belasco's empire. Lauren and Corvus controlled most of the wild beasts now, and they had their own cadre of Ascendants—far more dangerous than Belasco's. The biggest threat of all turned out to be Corvus, who had managed to Ascend after his exile. He was a biomancer now with a ridiculous range, and fighting him came at a desperate cost each and every time.
The most interesting timeline, by far, was the one where Lauren actually showed up to gloat after the biomancer and I fought for over a week. I destroyed his endless horde of beasts, slew his Ascendants, and even managed to mortally wound Corvus—only for her to swoop in and save him.
Before she captured me, she revealed their plan: Corvus would create super viruses capable of wiping out entire planets with his enhanced biomancy powers. She planned to use the resulting souls as fuel to raise an army of planet busters—an army worthy of Shin.
Read up to Chapter 229 on Patreon.com/artandcreativewriting