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The Revenant by Greed720
Avengers & Tokyo Ghoul Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure, Kaneki K./Haise S., Words: 126k+, Favs: 2k+, Follows: 3k+, Published: Dec 3, 2018 Updated: Nov 14, 2025
918Chapter 2
AN: So a moderate response to last chapter, enough to get this chapter out though. I hope you all enjoy it and leave a review at the end.
Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Marvel.
( - )
(Last Time)
Tilting his head at this Kaneki then plunged his hand into the pocket of his trousers and grabbed his eyepatch, pulling the black leather patch out as he did so, before he then covered up his Ghoulish left eye, not that it looked all that Ghoulish at the moment, still it was pretty unique and memorable when the sclera did turn black and the iris crimson, and so was something he would rather keep quiet.
With that done, Kaneki then flipped up the hood of his hoodie, hiding his white hair from view as he did so, before he then stepped out of the bathroom and faced Coulson. The agent only raising an eyebrow at the addition of the mask, and but said nothing, no doubt he had seen Kaneki in a similar getup when he had surveyed the surveillance his organisation had of him.
Ignoring that for the moment though, Kaneki merely rolled his shoulders before giving Coulson a dull look. "Ok then, I'm ready."
( - )
Chapter 2
( - )
(Sometime Later)
It was about thirty minutes later that Kaneki, still in his mainly black and grey costume of sorts, stepped out of a black SUV, and onto a small private airstrip on the outskirts of LA, where a quinjet, a high-tech military aircraft was waiting for them.
With Coulson, the quiet, serious and suited agent who had collected him, following along closely behind him. With the overly serious agent exchanging a nod with two, black clad, armed men who were flanking the quinjet as he did so, after which the pair of them made to board the high-tech jet.
For Kaneki the entire ride from his apartment to the airstrip had been mostly silent, with Coulson only speaking to give a bit more context to the attack on the military facility that had been on the news, the one that was now a crater, and to explain the mission which was to find a man who called himself Loki.
With this man being an apparent alien, and not the immigrant kind, but the extra-terrestrial kind. Not only that though, this Loki was also supposedly incredibly dangerous, capable of mind-control, and was now wielding a blue, square like object that was called the Tesseract. Which according to Coulson, also happened to be an unlimited energy source.
That was pretty much all Kaneki had been told, that and the fact that he would be joining a team of other 'unique' individuals to track this Loki down, capture him, and reclaim the Tesseract.
Following on from this brief explanation, the rest of the journey had passed in relative silence. With Kaneki not being that much of a fan of small talk, or all that interested in speaking with the stoic agent.
Which was something which Coulson seemed to share as the man had seemed content with the silence, and completely disinterested in Kaneki, which was a little surprising considering the fact that he had likely been debriefed that Kaneki was a cannibal with inhuman abilities.
Still the journey had been mostly silent, and Kaneki and Coulson both boarded the quinjet without incident, whilst the two armed men guarding it headed in the opposite direction, and towards the SUV they had just left.
Upon boarding the aircraft though, Kaneki tensed as he noticed that there was already someone else on board, a tall, blond haired man, with blue eyes and a bright smile.
Unlike the other agents that Kaneki had met thus far though, this new man was wearing a brown leather jacket, a white T-shirt and loose jeans, all of which was very casual.
Looking at him with his single visible eye, Kaneki noted that this might be one of these 'unique' individuals he would be working with, though just what made the man 'unique', Kaneki wasn't sure of yet. But as he entered the quinjet and made to sit down a couple of feet from where the blonde was sitting, his heightened senses picked up on the scent of the man's flesh, and suffice to say, he smelled odd, almost artificial, like what a hunk of meat which had been treated with additives and chemicals to enhance the flavour would smell. It wasn't bad, but at the same time it wasn't the same as proper meat.
Still, despite the artificialness of the man's scent, Kaneki still absently rolled his tongue about in his mouth hungrily, he had been interrupted halfway through his snack, and was still a little peckish. That being said the man looked too muscly, which although much healthier than fat, meant that it would be a bit tougher, and not quite as tasty, nowhere near as good as younger, softer flesh.
Ignorant to the thoughts swirling around Kaneki's head, the man instead glanced up as Ken approached, his blue eyes widening in surprise at his appearance, before he looked over to Coulson, his eyebrows knitting together in confusion.
"Ken Kaneki, this is Steve Rogers, also known as Captain America. Steve, this is Ken Kaneki," Coulson said as he saw the look on the Captain's face, his tone of voice far more enthusiastic than it had been when Coulson had just been talking to Kaneki, as the man instead smiled warmly at this Steve, even as he introduced the two.
"Nice to meet you." Steve said with a smile as he reached out to shake Kaneki's hand, only for Kaneki to give him a nod instead and a muttered "you to", with him being polite but not overly chummy or touchy feely.
Nodding at that Steve withdrew his hand, his blue eyes narrowing as he looked at the small portion of Kaneki's face that was visible, and identified that he was a Jap. Not that there was anything wrong with that as Steve knew the war was over now, still it for him it just felt like only a few months ago that they were at war with the Japs, and the US media were telling all the horror stories about them, and their odd culture. It was for this reason, with this thought in mind that he assumed Kaneki might not have shaken his hand for cultural reasons, which might also be why he was coming across as quite quiet and disinterested as well.
"He's a bit young isn't he Coulson?" Steve then said as he tore his eyes away from the still quiet Kaneki as he sat down a couple of feet away, with the blonde instead looking over at Coulson, the smile back on his face as he did so.
"He's older than you were when you first joined up," Coulson replied, with a slight smile. "Besides he's in his twenties, probably not all that much younger than you are now."
Steve simply nodded, glancing back over at Ken as he did so, his eyes lingering on the eyepatch and the half mask on his lower face, obviously the kid looked a lot younger than he was. "That's fair enough, and I am sure we'll work well together after we get to properly know one another. It almost feels like going back to the training camp, what with meeting new people and seeing new things."
Coulson nodded at that, his eyes suddenly gleaming with a hint of excitement, and almost hunger as he looked at this 'Captain America', though likely not the same hunger that afflicted Kaneki. "Well if you have a bit of spare time at some point, I would love to hear some of your stories about back then?"
Steve smiled at that and nodded, his lip curling upwards at Phil Coulson's interest in his stories, it was an attitude he had gotten used to during his time in the military as a war hero.
Coughing slightly a moment later, Coulson seemed to realise the way he was coming across, as seconds later he once again became serious, with him then turning to both Steve and Kaneki, and then pulling a large tablet out of his briefcase, before he switched it on and handed it over to Steve, gesturing for Kaneki to come over so he could see the screen too. "I want both of you to take a look at the files I've had loaded onto this tablet, as these files with contain information about the people who are going to be your teammates for this mission. Though I will say now, not all the information about these individuals will be in the files, as some of it is very sensitive, and has been redacted as you don't have the clearance to see it."
Nodding at this, both Ken and Steve moved to look at the screen, before the two of them watched silently as Coulson, using his own smaller mobile device which was wirelessly connected to the tablet, flicked through several files.
The tablet showing pictures of several different individuals, each of which had a brief bio, personality break down and description of skillset attached, though looking at each of them, Kaneki could only assume that these had all be kept to the bare minimum. Things that were necessary to know if they were working together, but nothing too in depth.
This included an attractive, and lithe red haired woman by the name of Natasha Romanov, also known as 'Black Widow', who was apparently some former KGB assassin/ spy, turned SHIELD agent. With her being someone who was incredibly skilled in hand to hand fighting, an assortment of weapons, and with infiltration and stealth.
Then there was the billionaire, business man/ weapons maker, Tony Stark, also known as 'Ironman', who's profile described him as being arrogant, egotistical and narcissistic, with a severe superiority complex and an aversion to taking orders, but who also a tech genius, with a robotic suit that gave him access to an entire arsenal of high tech weaponry and gadgets.
After that there was then Bruce Banner, also known as the 'Hulk', who was a dark haired, plain, unassuming looking man, and a genius like Tony Stark, though one that specialised in Gamma Radiation, which led to him having a lab accident that had somehow turned him in to a giant, green, indestructible, unstoppable rage monster when he got angry. On top of that it was noted that he was neurotic, suffered from severe anxiety, and would not be taking part in the practical portion of the mission, but instead as support, due to his mental and emotional instability.
Following on from that there was Steve Rogers, also known as 'Captain America', an apparent war hero from the Second World War, who midway through the conflict was given a super solider serum which in turn gave him enhanced physical abilities, and turned a skinny, eight/ nine stone kid, into a hulking, musclebound soldier. Following on from that the personality description, was that Captain America optimised the word hero, and was loyal, dependable, skilled at leading and making tactical decisions, and acted to do the right thing no matter what. A glowing bio that Kaneki assumed Coulson had some part in writing.
Then finally after that, there was Kaneki's file, with there being a distant picture of him working behind the till at the café, and a short description of his observed psychological profile and strengths. Which basically assumed he had enhanced physical capabilities and was skilled in hand to hand combat. With the file then going on to state he had a quiet, standoffish demeanour, and little to no known background, and history, and no known personal connections. It was a very sparse profile, much more meagre than those for his other 'teammates'.
That being said, Kaneki noted with interest that it never once mentioned that he ate people. Was SHIELD trying to keep that hidden? After all depending on how close he worked with these teammates, and how long they were together, his cannibalistic habits would likely come to light eventually? It just seemed a bit unnecessary to hide it, or at least to Kaneki it did.
"Any questions." Coulson finished about a half an hour later as the quinjet continued to fly through the air, and he finished giving them a run down on who they would be working with, and showed them some videos and pictures.
"So, this Doctor Banner was trying to replicate the serum that was used on me?" Steve asked, speaking up in response to Coulson as he watched a short video of the Hulk, a giant nine foot tall, green, mass of muscle and fury, smashing things. Any remnant of genius scientist gone, as this creature instead lashed out in pure, instinctual fury.
Looking at the creature, Kaneki couldn't help but feel pity for the creature, linking the out of control Banner, with a Ghoul that had gone without food for a month, both of them lashed out at those around them, seeking to sate themselves in death and destruction. Only for a Ghoul all they needed was to eat and they could regain control, unless they were a binge eater, as then eating too much could make them lose control even more.
Kaneki himself could understand, even empathise a little bit with Banner's plight, after all he had been human before he had become a Ghoul, and as such had had human sensibilities, which meant he had initially seen the fact he needed to eat human flesh to survive as abhorrent. Which had led to him abstaining from it, and slowly starving, which in turn had caused him to nearly lose his mind and eat his best friend, Hide, alive. So yeah, Kaneki could understand to a point, but unlike Banner, Kaneki now had complete control over his Ghoulish side, in fact he had fully embraced it, probably more than he ever had his human half.
"A lot of people were. You were the world's first superhero." Coulson replied, once again fanboying over the other man. Maybe a bit unnecessarily, after all if people like Banner, Kaneki and Rogers existed now, surely there had been others over the thousands of years that humanity had walked the earth.
To call Captain America the first superhero was being a bit disingenuous to the others that had likely come before him, and who had used their abilities to benefit the world. Though that was just Kaneki's thoughts on the matter, after all he was still new to this whole concept of 'superheroes', and was uncertain as to what actually defined a superhero, and whether the definition would actually stretch to him.
Oblivious to Kaneki's cynical thoughts about Coulson's hero worship, the man instead forged on, his attention once again entirely on Captain America. "And like many others before him, Banner tried to replicate the serum, only he thought Gamma Radiation might hold the key to unlocking Erskine's original formula, Though as you can see…"
"It didn't really go his way, did it?" Steve said absently, watching as the hulking, green beast picked up a truck and threw it, his eyes narrowing at how seventy years after he was put through the procedure, and Erskine was killed, people were still trying to replicate the process.
"Not so much. When he's not that thing though, the guy's like a Stephen Hawking," Coulson explained with a slight smile, before he paused for a moment as he saw the confused expression on Steve's face. "He's like a really smart person. Oh and by the way, well, I just want to say that it's an honour to meet you, officially, I mean. As, well, I sort of met you already, I mean, I watched you while you were sleeping. I mean, sorry that sounds wrong, what I meant was... that I was present while you were unconscious from the ice. You know, it's really, it's just a... just a huge honour to have you on board!"
Kaneki winced as he heard Coulson's disjointed rambling, his grey eyes flicking from the formally, serious and suave agent, to the blonde 'superhero', looking for the reaction.
That being said, Kaneki was pretty sure he had heard of Captain America once or twice since being here, or he had at least heard that his frozen corpse had been uncovered. But he really was curious, was the guy really that famous? He had seen the Captain's profile when they were looking through them, so he knew he had been frozen and thought dead for a long time, but still.
"Well, I hope I'm the man for the job," Steve replied with a nod and a smile to Coulson, before he then glanced out of the window to see that the quinjet was now flying very rapidly flying over water.
"Oh, you are. Absolutely. Uh... we've made some modifications to the uniform too. I had a little design input." Coulson replied smiling at the captain again, Kaneki apparently forgotten as he instead gushed over Steve Rogers.
"The uniform? Aren't the stars and stripes a little... old fashioned?" Steve asked a slight frown on his face, before he then looked pointedly at the simple, but smart black suit Coulson was wearing, and the hoodies and jeans that Kaneki had on, a far cry from, the flashy red, white and blue outfit that he wore during his two years on the battlefield, where he had acted a symbol for the American soldiers and for the resistance against the Nazi/ Hydra threat.
"With everything that's happening, and the things that are about to come to light, people might just need a little old fashioned," Coulson said somewhat cryptically, before he looked out of the window, and down at the enormous aircraft carrier they were approaching, one which already had more than a score of other quinjets on it, and hundreds of men and women, in dark uniform, running backwards and forwards. "It looks like we're here."
Kaneki looked out of the window too as he heard that, his single visible grey eye narrowing at the thought of being stuck on a floating, metal tub, with hundreds of tasty morsels for who knows how long. He could only hope they kept him well fed down there, as the last thing he wanted was to get hungry and go on a rampage, after all he wasn't sure he wanted to tangle with this Hulk creature.
( - )
(Sometime Later)
It was about ten minutes later that the quinjet landed on the aircraft carrier, and the ramp lowered, with Steve and Ken following Coulson out of the jet and onto the busy landing pad, where they were intercepted by a familiar, beautiful red-haired woman.
Their soon to be team mate, Black Widow, and suffice to say the pictures didn't do her justice, as she looked far more mesmerising in person than she did on a screen. With the red head in question, wearing a full, black combat suit, with the SHIELD emblem on the right breast, and a utility belt around her hips, from which Kaneki could identify that she had at least two guns, as well as however many other weapons she had on her person.
"Agent Romanoff, this is Captain Steve Rogers and Mr. Ken Kaneki. Boys, this is Agent Natasha Romanoff," Coulson introduced, a slight smile on his face as he nodded to Natasha, before gesturing to the two men behind him, both of whom he knew Natasha had had a briefing on, which meant she didn't need to be told who they were. Still social convention dictated that introductions were necessary.
"Ma'am," Steve said, with an incline of his head to Natasha and a smile, even as he strode over his hand out, only for it to be ignored by the red head as she instead just nodded at him, the agent seemingly as picky about her personal space and unwanted physical contact as Kaneki was. With this no doubt leaving Steve Rogers's somewhat miffed.
Kaneki however just nodded at her, getting a brief one and a sideways look in return before she turned her attention to Coulson, her blue eyes locking on the man as she got straight down to the point. "They need you on the bridge. Face time."
"Alright, I'll see you there," Coulson replied with a nod, before he turned and waved at the three, mainly Steve Rogers, and gave a quick "goodbye", before he walked away, heading in the direction of a nearby door.
Leaving Kaneki and Steve with Natasha, as he did so. The two of them standing around awkwardly with the attractive red head as they milled about, waiting to be told what they were supposed to do, or where they were supposed to go, or where they were even staying whilst on the ship.
Looking between the two of them contemplatively, Natasha's blue eyes roamed over the darkly dressed Kaneki, locking on him for a moment, an odd look in her gaze, before it then shifted onto the more normally dressed Steve.
"You know there was quite the buzz around here, when they found you in the ice and thawed you out still. I thought Coulson was literally going to swoon. Did he ask you to sign his Captain America trading cards yet?" Natasha asked a hint of amusement in her voice as she looked at the Captain, somewhat putting the larger man off balance, with her sudden and direct words.
"Trading cards?" Steve asked in confusion before he looked between the red head and the inscrutable Kaneki, looking for an answer as to just what she was talking about.
"They're vintage, he's very proud," Natasha explained, somewhat unhelpfully, before she then turned to look at Kaneki, her expression not changing as she eyed him up and down, "And you, no one quite knew what to do with you. A cannibalistic hero who seemingly doesn't kill, or I suppose anti-hero would probably be a better description considering your… tendencies."
"What? Cannibal?" Steve asked in confusion, picking up on the word and what it meant as he turned and stared at Kaneki, uncertain what to make of Natasha's statement. After all he remembered back in 1920's whilst he was in school, learning about some cannibalistic tribes in Africa, but he hadn't believed that was really a thing, and certainly wouldn't be happening in this day and age.
That being said, he also recognised Romanov as a Russian name, and although he had not caught up with everything yet, he knew better than to fully trust a Red on their word, they might have helped during the war, but he had heard some things about Stalin and his commie ilk.
Kaneki however recognised what Natasha was doing, her words were pointed, and were meant to put the two of them off guard. He might not be a trained spy or anything, but he was very observant, and always had been, and could recognised her ploy for what it was.
Which is why he just shrugged her comment off, besides he didn't care what they thought about him, as long as they didn't impede him and left him to his own devices, they could think what they wanted.
Perhaps in a past life, before he had accepted his nature, he might have argued that it wasn't his fault and that he couldn't help it, but the past didn't change the present. And, since he was half human, he was technically a cannibal, though obviously SHIELD's Intel was not absolute if they didn't think him a killer, though from the inflection in her voice, Kaneki concluded that this Agent Romanov obviously thought him very much capable of killing, which he obviously was.
Following on from that there was a few moments of awkward silence as Kaneki kept quiet, not rising to the potential argument, and Steve silently watched him with a thoughtful, and slightly uncomfortable expression on his face.
Soon enough though the silence was broken, by some shouts on deck, coming from another direction. Something which seized Steve's attention as he looked in the direction of the voices, with Natasha sending him one more look, before she too looked over to the source of the voice, a familiar looking middle aged man, with brown eyes, and average body type and facial features, the kind of guy who would just disappear in a crowd.
"Dr. Banner!" Steve Rogers said as he walked over to the man, who at that moment was standing near the edge. With the two of them greeting one another, and shaking hands, no doubt a relief for Steve, after which they began talking about something or other a few moments later.
Seeing this Natasha gave Banner a curt nod, before turned away from the group and went to speak with another agent.
Kaneki ignored all of this as he instead looked around and got his first proper look at the ship, and the scores of people running about it, going about their daily jobs, whatever they may be.
A few minutes later though, Kaneki was interrupted from his musings by Agent Romanov who walked over to him, gesturing for his attention.
"You might want to get inside, we're going up and the winds could knock you straight off," Natasha said once she had his attention, before she turned and walk over to Banner and Rogers to give them the same warning. With looking over her shoulder before she did though, after which she then continued, "Just ask any agent for directions to the bridge."
Kaneki nodded his thanks in response, before he turned and walked over to the main door, the one Coulson had exited through, whilst Natasha continued on towards the two men still near the edge.
Upon entering the vessel, it took him a couple minutes, and several quick conversations with hurrying members of the crew, before he was able to find his way to the bridge, with no one, neither the armed agents, or soldiers stopping him on his way, though that was likely because they had been debriefed on the new arrivals.
Eventually however he did make it to the bridge, and when he did, he was genuinely amazed by the size of the room and the technology that had gone into creating it, suffice to say it was pretty impressive, and something Kaneki had never seen before.
Upon entering the room, Kaneki quickly locked onto the figures of Fury and another pretty, dark haired woman, both of whom were in the centre of the room barking out orders left and right to the many crew members on the dozen or so computers around the side, obviously mobilising them as the aircraft carrier slowly began to lift out of the water, revealing four large turbines that had previously been hidden beneath the waves, all of which began turning as the ship, became an airship, and started to lift off and rapidly ascend into the sky.
As for Kaneki, whilst all this was happening he was just stood uselessly in the middle, gawping like a tourist as he watched all this happen with quiet shock, he hadn't realised technology had advanced this far.
Furthermore as he stood in the centre of the control room his enhanced hearing, allowed him to listen in on some of the conversation going on around him, including how some of the agents in the room were trying to find Loki and this 'Tesseract' thing, by sweeping every camera on the planet?
Kaneki shook his head at this, his own world had nothing like this. Thinking on it now, it was little wonder he had been discovered, especially when not being careful, he was just lucky they hadn't connected him to all the things he had done during his two years here. Though seeing just what information they had access to, made him more than aware of how careful he would have to be in the future, after all if the 'good guys?' had access to technology like this then did that mean the bad guys did too?
A few minutes later Kaneki was momentarily distracted from his thoughts when Banner and Rogers soon entered the room, accompanied by Natasha, both of whom walked over to where Fury and the dark haired woman, Maria Hill, were stood. The four of them talking for a few minutes, and money exchanging hands between Fury and Rogers for some reason, after which Fury broke off from the group, and instead stepped over to where Kaneki was now silently, and thoughtfully staring out of the window, allowing the others to talk, whilst he just waited for Fury to tell him what he actually wanted.
"You know, you don't need to wear that mask in here, we are your allies," Fury said carefully as he walked over to Kaneki, stopping next to him as he did so and looking out of the window too, the dark skinned man still wearing his black, leather trench coat and black jumper, the same outfit he had been wearing the last time Kaneki had met him.
Kaneki's one visible eye narrowed as he heard that, before he shrugged and pulled the buff down, revealing his pale face, though he didn't pull down his hood or take his eyepatch off, bright white hair and a black eyepatch on a pale face did stand out after all.
"But will you always be?" Kaneki asked quietly, turning away from the view as the airship continued to ascend through the clouds, his grey eye now locking onto Director Fury.
"I would like to think so. So long as you do not kill any innocent humans, then yes, we will leave you be. We will never support you, but we won't stop you." Fury said, choosing his words carefully so as to not alienate Kaneki, yet also not give him the impression that SHIELD supported his lifestyle. On top of that he didn't want to limit him in regards to fulfilling his duties, after all Kaneki was more than welcome to kill SHIELD's enemies, and eat them too if he really wanted to, but Fury could not allow him to prey on innocent members of public.
There was a fine line that Fury had to step when dealing with a superpowered cannibal, and if it came down to it, he wouldn't hesitate to cut Kaneki loose if he became a liability, or if the public became aware of his nature, which would then reflect badly on SHIELD, and the organisation was far more important than any single person.
Ken said nothing to that.
"Kaneki, just remember that these people are going to be your teammates for the duration of the mission, not your enemies. There is no point in trying to maintain this facade of apathy, you have people here who could become good comrades if you would allow them to." Fury continued, seemingly softening his previous words now, whilst also trying to cement Kaneki's compliance by encouraging bonds. Not that that was the only reason, as he also genuinely believed that it would be better for team dynamics too.
"How do you know it's a facade?" Kaneki replied dryly, a hint of amusement in his voice.
"Because I know you care about people. You can pretend otherwise to others and to yourself, but I know the truth. You would have tried to kill us the moment we confronted you if you did, and would have openly preyed on living people, but instead made a peaceful agreement with SHIELD, and mainly go out of your way to search for those already dead, who didn't care about their own lives and who didn't have anyone to care for them." Fury replied brusquely, his tone low, but sincere as he once again met Kaneki's placid gaze. "Now, I in no way agree with your actions, and do not take this as approval, but I do appreciate the efforts you have gone to in order to hurt the fewest people possible. That alone tells me you care more than you let on."
"It only indicates that I care when it comes to my own selfish desires, it shows pragmatism more than anything else." Kaneki replied, his voice still tinged with amusement.
Fury nodded at that, however before he could respond, one of the agents sitting at the computers called out to him, getting Fury's full and undivided attention as he did so.
"We got a hit sir! 67% match! Wait, cross-match, 79%. The location is in Stuttgart, Germany," The agent said loudly, looking to Fury now, even as the other agents in the room looked over.
"He's not exactly hiding," One of the other agents in the room muttered as he flicked over to the image the other agent had found.
"Captain! Kaneki! Romanov! You're up!" Fury shouted as he turned and walked back to his spot in the centre of the bridge, his gaze flicking over to the three people he mentioned.
With Steve and Natasha nodding before they immediately turned to leave, Steve following Coulson out of the room as the man no doubt took him to wherever his shield and uniform were waiting.
"Oh, and Kaneki, we have a spare uniform that might suit you a bit better too. It was modified slightly based on your noted preferred style of casual wear," Fury added on, his gaze back on Kaneki as he made to follow the others, with the dark skinned man gesturing for another agent to lead Kaneki to where ever this 'uniform' was.
Following after the random agent that Fury had gestured to, Kaneki soon found himself eyeing up a black outfit similar to the ones the agents on the airship had been wearing, only this one was a bit looser in the top half and had a hood attached to it. Furthermore, there were some thin white lines on the side and front, probably to distinguish him from the actual SHIELD agents.
Reaching over Kaneki noticed it was very similar to the outfit that Natasha had been wearing, only built for a male. Reaching out and feeling the outfit's material, he realised that it wasn't leather. He wasn't sure what it was, but it was actually much more flexible than leather, yet just as difficult to tear though, if not even more durable.
Looking at the suit, Kaneki did notice one issue with it, and that was the fact that if he had to release his kagune, then it would shred the back of the suit. Of course, it would do that for pretty much anything he wore unless it had specifically designed slits in it for just that purpose.
Kaneki frowned at that thought, ripping up the suit seemed like a shame, especially on such a good uniform. Maybe after this mission he would ask for a modification.
With that thought in mind, Kaneki pulled the uniform, stretching this way and that, testing the flexibility as he did, after which he then frowned again when he saw a selection of guns were also in the same locker his suit had been in as well.
Picking up the pistol Kaneki eyed it, even as he felt the cold metal in his hand, and tested the weight of the weapon, with it actually weighing more than he thought it would. He wasn't necessarily against using one, but he never had before and this probably wasn't the time to start learning, with that thought in mind he put it back in the locker, after which he began to rootle though the rest of the equipment in the locker.
After going through the rest of the things in the locker and deciding he didn't recognise any of the tools or know how to use them, he threw his hands up in the air in resignation, and gave up on taking anything more than a pair of six inch combat knives, and some kind of communication ear piece, after which he walked out of the room, heading for the quinjet he was supposed to be taking to get to Stuttgart, where he would face of with this Loki character..
( - )
AN: So what do you all think? I hope you enjoyed it!
Also for those that noted I have retooled a few of the personalities slightly, not excessively, but to take account of bits and pieces of their backstory that I feel wasn't properly dealt with. Captain America for example, he adapts very quickly to living in the 21stcentury, despite the fact that he was educated in the 1920s, and was fighting in a war, which had a lot of propaganda floating around, and had led to the people having different views of the roles of people, based on gender, race etc. I won't be going too heavily into this, and won't be making him racist or anything, but he will have dated views, I am not going to laugh it off with a few jokes and then ignore it like they did in the MCU. Still this story won't be too heavy in regards to that.
The same will be said for Banner, and a couple of others, who although not bad characters come across a little vanilla and hollow, or at least to me they do.
But yeah, anyway I hope you all enjoyed the chapter and continue to read and review.
Thanks for reading, and I'll see you all later.
Greed720.
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The Revenant by Greed720
Avengers & Tokyo Ghoul Xover Rated: M, English, Adventure, Kaneki K./Haise S., Words: 126k+, Favs: 2k+, Follows: 3k+, Published: Dec 3, 2018 Updated: Nov 14, 2025
918Chapter 3
AN: So the reception for this story seems to be improving, and it has now broach over a hundred favourites, so thanks for that, I really do appreciate all of your support, and I hope you continue to read and enjoy, and review.
Thanks for reading.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Avenger, or Marvel etc.
( - )
(Last Time)
Picking up the pistol Kaneki eyed it, even as he felt the cold metal in his hand, and tested the weight of the weapon, with it actually weighing more than he thought it would. He wasn't necessarily against using one, but he never had before and this probably wasn't the time to start learning, with that thought in mind he put it back in the locker, after which he began to rootle though the rest of the equipment in the locker.
After going through the rest of the things in the locker and deciding he didn't recognise any of the tools or know how to use them, he threw his hands up in the air in resignation, and gave up on taking anything more than a pair of six inch combat knives, and some kind of communication ear piece, after which he walked out of the room, heading for the quinjet he was supposed to be taking to get to Stuttgart, where he would face of with this Loki character.
( - )
Chapter 3
( - )
(With Kaneki, in the Quinjet)
Sitting tensely in his seat on the quinjet, Kaneki could feel every jolt and bump of turbulence as the high-tech jet rocketed through the air, travelling far faster than Kaneki had ever gone before, far faster than he thought was possible for an aircraft. With the journey lasting about an hour from SHIELD's flying Helicarrier to Stuttgart in Germany.
With the pilot, Natasha, having pushed the vehicle as to the absolute limits, after all they were on a time limit. Loki, who apparently belonged to an alien race called the Asgardians, had been spotted out in the open, in Stuttgart, over an hour ago. Though why he was there, or why he had obviously chosen to reveal himself at all, or how long he would remain in the small German town, was all unknown, hence the haste.
Already this whole situation just screamed trap, there were far too many variables, and far too many things that could go wrong with this quick trip over to Germany to capture a powerful alien. Despite that though, they were forging on.
In fact even Kaneki, who was not a trained secret agent could see that a lot could go wrong with this 'plan' of theirs. Still this was the first opportunity or sighting that SHIELD had had of Loki thus far, and considering the alien was walking around with a literal weapon of mass destruction, Kaneki wasn't all that surprised that they had jump on the first opportunity they could to track him down and capture the villain. After all who knew what death, destruction or chaos this Loki character could unleash if he were minded too.
Yet even so, despite the swiftness of their response, they were almost too late as by the time they were flying over the town, Kaneki, Natasha and Steve could all see that Loki was armed, and out in the open, and surrounded by a large crowd of seemingly innocent civilians.
With the alien having cast of his mortal costume of a simple black suit and overcoat, with him instead wielding an ornate golden spear/ sceptre with a glowing blue orb in the end, in one hand. Whilst also wearing an elegant outfit of green leather with gold embellishments and bracers, and a matching green cloak, and some stupid golden, horned helmet as well.
Upon seeing their target so exposed Natasha angled the quinjet down, sliding through the dark, cloudy skies, even as the Asgardian forced those around him to kneel, which almost all of them did, save one very brave, yet very stupid old man who instead chose to defiantly stand.
An action that Loki obviously didn't appreciate as he lowered his spear, as if he were about to strike the man down from over a dozen feet away, which was possible given the 'God' supposedly had extra-terrestrial powers and was wielding some glowing blue sceptre.
Watching all of this, even as the quinjet continued to descend, Steve was the first one to act, as the super soldier, now resplendent in a full body combat suit, coloured red, white and blue, with a large star in the centre of his chest, leapt into action. Jumping the last twenty feet to the earth, his round, red, white and blue, metal shield in hand as he slammed into the ground just in front of the old man, his shield up and at the ready as he did so.
Which turned out to be a pretty sensible action, because Loki by that point had already unleashed a blast of pure energy from his sceptre, a blast that Steve's shield somehow reflected back at the Asgardian, even as the crowd around the duo all screamed and began scrambling away in terror.
Seeing this, Kaneki soon followed the American's actions, as he leapt down from the still flying quinjet and landed soundlessly on the ground some distance away from where Loki and Steve were facing off, even as Natasha wheeled the jet around, its weaponry primed and ready to be used.
Not that Kaneki noticed as the Ghoul instead landed silently on the ground a dozen or so feet away from Steve, his own entrance far quieter, and much subtler than Captain America's own, as Kaneki stood up, his head tilting to the side as he eyed the dark haired, pale skinned Loki up and down, his nostrils flaring as he inhaled the Asgardian's unfamiliar, yet delectable scent.
"You know, the last time I was in Germany and saw a man standing above everyone else, we ended up disagreeing," Captain America quipped a few moments later as he began walking forward with confidence, and a bit of swagger in his step, his shield lowered, but still at the ready.
Kaneki sent Steve a dry look as he heard that, but said nothing more as he began to encircle Loki, his gaze fixed on the powerful alien, taking in the unsurprised, and in fact amused expression on his face as he did so. Something which once again made Kaneki suspect that something was not right here, and that Loki had been expecting them.
"The soldier," Loki said coldly, his lip curling down for a moment, before his face then twisted into a smirk, "The man out of time."
"I'm not the one who's out of time." Steve replied back at him, lowering his shield now as he stared Loki down.
Kaneki however ignored the quips, he really had no time for that nonsense, no instead he was more concerned with sniffing the air, and taking in the alien's scent. It was extraordinarily foreign, and delectable, so different from anything else he had smelt before, already he could feel his mouth watering. It smelled... cold, if that was even a smell, but it was like smelling ice. It tickled the nose with a subtle flavour and a chilly atmosphere, yet was strong enough to reach him. On top of that there was a depth to it, an inherent power in it that went far beyond a human's scent, beyond even that of a Ghoul. All of which made it far more tantalizing than even the mouth-watering taste of human, though that might just be because it was something new, something he desperately wanted to sample.
He had already been briefed on the fact that Loki was an alien, but only now whilst in the man's presence did he realise just how alien the man truly was.
Suffice to say he was now really curious about what the man would taste like. He could probably get away with a couple bites couldn't he, just a nibble, or maybe a leg if he could get away with it? Loki didn't need those did he? Not when he was about to be captured and imprisoned.
Kaneki abruptly shook those thoughts off the moment they went through his mind, that was the more primal version of himself speaking, the one who acted on sheer instinct and hunger. That wasn't a person he wanted to become, after all that version of himself had no self-control.
"Loki, drop the weapon and stand down," Natasha ordered firmly, her voice being loudly projected from speakers on the quinjet, even as a large Gatling gun below the cockpit began to spin, warming up to unleash hell on the alien if he resisted.
Despite the implied threat though, Loki's response was to just chuckle, after which he then thrust his sceptre in her direction and unleashed another powerful jet of blue energy at the quinjet, which caused Natasha to veer off, the quinjet swerving away to avoid the blast.
With Steve responding to the attack too, by throwing his shield at the alien, the spinning disk hitting him in his helmet head and stopping his attack, which led to Steve gaining the Asgardian's attention as he did so.
Turning his head as the Captain's shield bounced off his helmet, Loki's face twisted into a snarl, however before he could say anything Steve caught the shield as it bounced off of Loki, before he dived straight into combat with the man, using his shield to counteract Loki's sceptre as the alien attempted to send another blast of blue energy at him, after which he rushed the 'God' again.
For the next few moments the two engaged in a rapid exchange of jabs and punches, the two of them dancing around one another, until Loki managed to get his sceptre around the shield and hit the Captain in the chest with a blast of energy, an action that sent him hurtling across the courtyard, with him bouncing several times on the stone slabs before he came to a stop hunched over and holding his chest with his spare hand.
Seeing this Kaneki darted forwards, moving far faster than any human had a right too, as he crossed the span of around twelve feet in moments, after which he then leapt onto Loki's back, pulling down his half mask as he did so. One of his pale hands gripping the Asgardian's shoulder, whilst the other grabbed one of the golden horns on Loki's ridiculous helmet, ignoring the aliens outraged shout as he did so.
Which he then proceeded to tear off of the man, before he sent it flying to the floor half a dozen feet away with a clatter, with Kaneki's grip on the man becoming tighter after that, as Loki started trying to throw the smaller, slighter Kaneki off of his back.
Something he eventually succeeded in doing as he swung his body around and threw Kaneki bodily away from him, though not before the Ghoul's sharp nails and strong hands had gouged his face, the black nails having split the flesh along the right side of Loki's face, drawing blood, but causing far less damage than Kaneki would have done if the man were human. After all if the Asgardian weren't so strong and durable, then Kaneki would have likely just ripped half of his face off, and scratched the bone of his skull as oppose to just marking his face.
Rolling as he hit the floor, Kaneki was on his feet again in moments, his single visible grey eye narrowing as he licked the crimson blood off of his hand, a sudden cold surge of energy, almost like a sudden shot of adrenaline flowing through him.
In response to this Loki snarled in pain, one of hands moving to his injured face, even as the other thrust out his sceptre, the gem at the bladed end glowing blue as he prepared to unleash another energy blast, only this time at Kaneki.
Before Loki could attack however he was forced to move to one side, his sceptre redirected as he instead used it to block Steve's shield as the American super solider threw it at him, the vibranium disk whistling through the air as it shot towards the now angry Asgardian.
The however shield was knocked away by Loki, the dark haired man's aristocratic features twisting into a snarl as he sent the metal shield clattering over to where the crouched Kaneki was, even as Steve charged Loki again, his teeth gritted as he once again engaged the 'God' in close combat, though this time the Captain was without his weapon of choice. Which showed as he was quickly put on the defensive, blocking Loki's rapid and vicious attacks as he did so.
Kaneki upon seeing this grabbed the shield and threw it at Loki. His throw containing power, but aim being a bit off, as the shield only glanced the distracted Loki in the leg before it bounced off. Despite that though it still distracted Loki long enough for Steve to grab the shield from the air, mid bounce, before he used the momentum to bring it around the try and shield bash Loki in the face once more.
The self-proclaimed God however proved himself to be faster as he kicked out with his foot, landing a blow in the Captain's stomach, after which he then swung out with his sceptre and used it to knock Steve's feet out from under him, sending the man down to his knees before he had a chance to do anything else.
Kaneki scowled as he saw this, with him dashing forwards in response to attack Loki from behind, once again moving preternaturally fast as he decided to rely on his enhanced physical abilities for now, as oppose to pulling out his kagune straight away, after all who knew when you would need a trump card, and this Loki seemed like a pretty canny guy, someone who would always have a few tricks up his sleeve.
Oblivious to Kaneki's actions, Loki merely smirked as he held the point of the sceptre to the super soldier's chest, the tip once again glowing. However before he could say or do anything, Kaneki crashed into him from the side, one of his hands gripping Loki's right wrist halting the spear, whilst the other grabbed the back of Loki's coat, even as Kaneki's feet slammed full force into the man's side, a blow which would have broken a normal human's spine and ribcage, but for Loki it only winded him, with it also likely causing a bit of bruising.
Kaneki however didn't care about this as he instead pulled himself towards the Asgardian, his blood burning in his veins and his heart beating faster as the taste of the Asgardian's blood was still on his lips.
Loki though in response to this assault, didn't just stand there and take it, as he instead grabbed Kaneki with his free hand and tried to quickly throw him off, Loki once again surprising Kaneki as he proved himself to actually be stronger than Kaneki himself was. Which is why after a few moments Loki was able to dislodge Kaneki and send him dancing backwards.
Not that Kaneki cared that much, after all he had already gotten his prize, he had already gotten a taste of the man. Grinning broadly at that, most of the man's ear rolled around in the Ghoul's mouth, even as Loki held a shaking hand up to the side of his head, stemming the blood streaming down it, a look of fury and shock on his face as he glared at Kaneki.
In response to which Kaneki chewed once, twice, and then swallowed the 'God's' flesh, once again feeling that icy, cold surge of power and adrenaline flowing through him, the Kakuhou on the small of his back throbbing as he did so, the organ unique to Ghouls, flaring up and almost causing Kaneki to subconsciously release his kagune, though he managed to quickly bring it under control as he instead locked gazes with Loki, licking the blood off of his lips as he did so, the air leaving his mouth misting slightly.
"How dare you!" Loki roared as he brought his hand away from his face and saw the blood staining it, after which he sent another blast of blue energy at Kaneki, who in response merely shifted to the side, easily avoiding it, even as he crouched lower about to release his kagune, his breath still misting in front of him and the ground at his feet frosting over slightly, ice crystals spreading from his hands and feet, and slowly, imperceptibly covering the stone slabs below him.
Before Kaneki could leap into action though, or Loki lash out with another, stronger attack, they were thrown by surprise, as loud rock music suddenly began to blast out across the area, even as a golden blast knocked Loki off his feet.
Looking up Kaneki's gaze soon landed on the source of the commotion, an armoured robot like form that flew down from the sky, using jets of fire from boosters in its hands and feet to control its flight as it did so, before it then began to hover, even as the quinjet returned to its former positon, its gun once again trained on the downed Loki.
Rolling his eyes at this, Kaneki stood up straighter, relaxing slightly as he quashed the sudden murderous urge he had just had, in which he had wanted to bull rush Loki and rip his head off, after which he would have feasted on the remains. Yeah, with this place being so public, and with Fury's orders being to bring the alien in, Kaneki was pretty confident the Director wouldn't have liked that idea, and that it would have come back to bite the Ghoul in the arse.
Before Kaneki could think any more on this, Iron Man, better known as Tony Stark, landed in the middle of the square, resplendent in his red and gold armour, both his hands raised pointed at Loki, both of the palms glowing golden, a clear sign he was prepared to unleash another blast at Loki if he had too.
"Make a move, Reindeer games," Stark said, his voice coming out distinctly robotic, but still amused as he did so, the eyes of his metal helmet glowing as he looked over at the scowling Loki.
Kaneki couldn't help but roll his eyes as one of his teammates made yet another quip, like seriously was this all some joke to them, did they have no sense of propriety or seriousness.
Shaking his head at that, Kaneki licked the last of Loki's blood off of his hands, once again feeling the astonishingly cold sensation throughout his body as he did so. In fact, it felt like the inside of his mouth was freezing slightly, but by rubbing his tongue over his lips to get the last of the blood, the sensation faded.
As for Loki, well in response to the three 'superheroes' now gathered around him, and the hovering military jet, he looked carefully around at all of them before raising his hands in surrender, his armour fading off of him and his black suit and coat once again reappearing.
"Good move," Tony said, lowering his own hands, as he did so, even as Steve Rogers went to grab Loki and place him under arrest.
Kaneki however just shot Stark a sideways look, before frowning at Loki, with him unlike the others not lowering his guard. After all if this guy could materialize his armour and weapons at will, like he had shown himself capable of, then he was always armed, and therefore always dangerous, just like a Ghoul. Plus he was also an alien, so who knew what other funky abilities or traits he might have.
"Mr. Stark," Steve spoke up as he hauled Loki to his feet, handcuffing the 'God' as he did so, the blonde super soldier sending Stark a friendly nod, glad that one of the more normal and familiar members of his team had arrived, even if he were late. After all Steve had known Tony's father, Howard quite well, and although he wouldn't say they were friends, he would say they were at least good acquaintances.
"Captain. Hannibal." Stark responded cheerily, the facial portion of his red and gold helmet flipping up, and revealing his grinning face as he greeted them both.
Ken nodded blithely in response, once again not giving Stark the reaction he was hoping for, as he instead focused on how his mouth and Kakuhou was still tingling, his body still surging with that cold rush of energy that came from eating the Asgardian's flesh, a rush that was beyond that which he got from eating human flesh, or even the time he had eaten Ghoul flesh.
Incidentally he wondered whether the feeling he had now, was at all similar to the rush Touka, another acquaintance of his from back in his old world/ reality, had experienced after he had allowed her to eat some of him. However, despite the energy that filled his system, he also found that his head was hurting slightly, a feeling he recognised as brain freeze.
"Alright, lets load him up," Stark said, grabbing the now handcuffed Loki as he did, after which he began pulling him towards the lowered quinjet ramp, the jet having landed in the intervening time between Stark's arrival and Loki's capture.
Nodding curtly at that, Kaneki following both Stark and Rogers lead as he boarded the quinjet after them, making to sit down as well, after which he then held his head in his hands, rubbing circles on his temple as he attempted to relieve his growing headache.
"Hey, are you alright?" Steve asked, looking over to Kaneki as the two of them sat down in the quinjet, opposite to Stark and Loki.
"Yeah, just a bit of brain freeze," Kaneki replied blandly, feeling better as he did, his Ghoulish healing factor now beginning to make more progress, as the cold sensation in his stomach faded, and the rush of icy energy began to fade.
"How'd you get brain freeze?" Steve asked, bewildered, he hadn't seen the other man eating an ice cream or snow cone, or drinking anything cold, like one of those slushpuppy things.
Kaneki shrugged in response to that, before he then gestured at the now one eared Loki, who was looking at him now with a strange mixture of fascination and hatred, even as the blood, which still streaming from his now missing ear, plastered his long black hair to one side of his face, the wound slowly but surely healing over. The Asgardian's increased physical capabilities also apparently extending to an enhanced healing factor, though one which was nowhere near on the same level of Kaneki's own, after all by the looks of it Loki wouldn't be regenerating a new ear.
Stark let out a rough laugh at that.
"Ha! Did he really take a chunk out of you, Loki?" Tony then asked with glee, uncaring of subtlety or decorum as he just laughed in the scowling Loki's face.
In response to which Loki's lips twisted into a mild snarl as he glared at Stark, but the thin layer of blood coming from his missing ear was still clearly visible. With Kaneki having taken the entire thing, ripping it clean off with his teeth.
For Kaneki though, he could only think of how it was just a shame he had only got that much, as oppose to a nice cut of meat, like a chunk of flesh from the shoulder or neck. Though that being said, Kaneki was beginning to wonder if it would have even been safe to do so.
Sure, Loki tasted good and gave him a rush of energy, but if he had gotten brain freeze from just an ear, what would his reaction have been to a larger chunk? Absentmindedly, Kaneki cracked one of his fingers at the thought of that.
With him then flinching as he felt the sharp sting of pain, after which he then looked down as he did so, even as he realised what he had just done. He hadn't cracked his finger like that in over a year, it was a subconscious thing he did when he was beginning to lose control, when his hunger for blood and flesh began to take hold.
His blood was boiling, and he had only been in a small fight, but even so, the old anger and fire was sparking to life in his gut, and already he thought he could faintly hear a certain woman laughing in his mind.
When was the last time he had properly eaten? It had only been a couple of nights ago right? Yet even so he still felt hungry, he still felt the desire to hunt, to kill and to gorge himself till he couldn't eat anymore.
He forced it down though, he was not Rize; he was not the Binge Eater who gorged herself practically every week, sometimes every day. His headache seemed to intensify at that thought, though by this point he was sure it was more mental than physical, as his head began to throb and his stomach started growling, hungrily demanding more sustenance, despite the fact that it was already well-fed.
It was as Kaneki was thinking this that a familiar, beautiful looking woman sat down next to Loki, her purple hair draping peacefully over her shoulder, and her loving eyes, with their black sclera and crimson irises, resting on his face. One of the exquisite woman's hands rising up, before it then gently caressed his cheek.
"Oh Kaneki, could you just imagine how much power you would have after eating him? Sure, he might be cold, but the cold won't kill you, you know that already," Rize purred lightly, shifting as she did so before she then stood up and moved to sit next to Kaneki, one leg crossed sensually over the other as she shifted closer to him, her lips almost touching his ear.
Not that Kaneki gave her the satisfaction of reacting, she was a figment of his imagination, a creation of his psyche, nothing more.
"Or what about one of the others? The other Avengers? I bet you could get a real rush from Stevie, he might be a bit muscly, and maybe a little gamey, but you know that wouldn't bother you. Mm, I can just imagine the delectable sensation of his flesh sliding down out throat, you can too right? Or maybe even Natasha, she looks positively exquisite, I know you are just waiting to feast on her sweet, sweet flesh…?" Rize continued to purr, her voice soft and sweet like warm honey, even as she gently traced one of her hands down Kaneki's shoulder, after which she leant into him again, her breath ghosting over the flesh of his neck, causing goosebumps to appear. "Come on, Kaneki, I thought you had accepted me, accepted yourself…."
'I have, but I will not kill, or hunt those that don't deserve it. I have a code, one which I live by, one which keeps me safe, and keeps me sane.' Kaneki thought back, his mouth firming up as he did.
"Oh, you think you're sane, oh you do amuse me, my sweet Kaneki? But really do you think any of these Avengers don't deserve death, we have a self-righteous solider boy, a trained killer and murderess, an egotistical megalomaniac with delusions of grandeur and finally the monster, and you know I'm not talking about that little Hulk…" Rize replied, waltzing around the cockpit as she did so, tracing her hand down Steve's face, before she looked back at Kaneki. "Do you really think any of them deserve your mercy, don't you realise they will all turn their backs on you? They don't understand you Kaneki, none of them do, they are all so human, so stuck in their predictable, petty mind-sets, they don't yet realise that you are the apex predator, a perfect killer, a true monster. But they will eventually, and when they do, they will turn on you, you know this."
Kaneki scowled at that, more about the fact that he couldn't deny her words, as oppose to what she was actually saying. After all Stark joked about Ken being a cannibal, and Steve had heard, but neither seemed to really grasp it or believe it, as if he just thought it was a silly rumour, or a bad joke. As for Natasha, well she was completely unreadable, but it wasn't hard to imagine the disgust and fear she must have for him.
Furthermore, no one on this world had seen him fight properly, or at least not beyond his sparring matches down at a local gym, and occasional cage fight. They hadn't seen how he was willing to tear someone apart, willing to rip and rend flesh, with both his hands and teeth.
Something in him had been broken by his torture, he knew, because he also knew that he would be perfectly willing to rip apart opponents, given the opportunity. And yet, he couldn't quite bring himself to care about the change. He was a Ghoul, and that was the way it was. And perhaps worst of all, he actually liked being a Ghoul, he preferred it to the mind-numbing normalcy and monotony of being human.
It was as Kaneki was lingering on these thoughts that a sudden crashing sound jolted him out of his thoughts as the quinjet shuddered from an impact of something large and heavy hitting the roof.
Kaneki blinked as he felt that, flipping down his hood as he did so, after which he then pulled off his eyepatch, his grey eyes instead shifting up to the roof of the jet. That hadn't felt like just turbulence, no, it felt like something, or someone had somehow just landed on the jet, despite it being over four thousand metres in the air, and whizzing along at phenomenal speeds.
Shifting his gaze over to the cockpit as he heard sudden thumping on the roof of the jet, something which sounded suspiciously like footsteps.
Looking forward, Kaneki could see that at some point, both Tony and Steve had gotten up from their seats and moved over to the front of the aircraft, where Natasha was still flying the jet.
The handcuffed Loki however had remained seated where he had been before, a contemplative look on his face as he observed Ken with a calculating gaze. Though as Kaneki met his eyes with his own, he was able to observe a hint of resignation and nervousness hidden within the depths of the 'Gods' eyes, and he suspected that it wasn't duo to him being in the custody of the Avengers.
A moment later though, Kaneki's curiousity as to what had just landed on the quinjet, and what had Loki so worried vanished, as the back of the quinjet was ripped open, and another man stepped in, this one being a broad shouldered, blonde haired, blue eyed behemoth, who wearing a long, flowing red cloak and carrying a massive hammer. Wit the man in question grabbing Loki by the scruff of his neck the moment he entered, after which he then stepped out of the flying aircraft, falling to the ground, his red cloak whipping around him, dragging Loki after him as he did so.
"And now there's that guy," Tony said with a groan as he like the others had twisted around and had seen the sudden intrusion, with the billionaire lowering the faceplate of his helmet as he did so.
"A friendly?" Steve asked as he grabbed his shield tighter.
"Doesn't matter. Whether he frees or kills Loki, we lose the Tesseract," Tony replied, after which he then stepped over to the edge of the jet.
With Steve's eyes widening as he realised what Tony was just about to do. "Stark stop! We need a plan of attack!"
"I have a plan. Attack," Tony said before he leapt out of the aircraft, the booster jets in his hands and feet igniting as he did so, even as he instantly started pursuing the blonde, hammer wielding intruder.
Steve cursed at what he saw as Stark's impetuousness, after which he then grabbed a parachute and followed suit. A bit hypocritical really, or at least Kaneki thought so, even as he silently stood up, his previous conversation with the figment of his imagination, that was Rize, forgotten as he stood at the edge of the now torn open bay of the quinjet, wondering as he did, about whether or not he should bother with a parachute.
In the end though, he decided not to risk it and grabbed one.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you. These guys are way above your level, they're practically gods," Natasha said from where she was still flying the quinjet, even as she saw Ken pull on the parachute. With him pulling a little on the tab, obviously not quite sure how to use it. Not that it bothered him too unduly, he would figure it out. Probably.
"I just see men, men who think themselves gods," Kaneki replied quietly, before he leapt out of the quinjet so as to follow the other two.
( - )
Flying through the air, the cold wind rushing around him, Kaneki was able to see the controlled flight of Iron Man through the darkness, with the man in question having already made into the forested area below, where he was now confronting the hammer wielding intruder.
Noting this, and the flashes of Stark's high tech weaponry, Kaneki quickly angle himself towards that, aiming for the clearing where even now he could see Stark attacking the blonde man, who in turn was lashing out with lightning and his hammer.
Further below him, Kaneki could also see Steve's parachute already hitting the trees a little ways away from the flashes of golden light as Stark and his opponent continued to duke it out.
Upon spotting most of the players, Kaneki's face scrunched up into a frown as he couldn't help but wonder, where was Loki was?
Shaking that thought off for a moment, Kaneki instead focused on the here and now, as he pulled the tabs of his parachute as he thought he was now at a good height. Though that turned out to be a mistake, as he ended up being a bit too low for the parachute to properly work, and as such he ended up hitting the ground in a wooded grove below, the bones in his legs snapping as he did so.
In response to his crash landing though, Kaneki rolled forward to avoid more injuries, unclipping the parachute as he did, the pain from his broken legs little more than a temporary inconvenience, after all he had felt much, much worse.
"Well, I must say, that was a terrible landing," A dry, sarcastic voice drawled from a few feet away, attracting Kaneki's attention to the source as it did so.
Only for Kaneki's gaze to lock onto the speaker, Loki, the now one eared man looking down at him with an eyebrow raised, and expression of cruel amusement on his face as he took in the white haired man's crippled condition.
In response Kaneki frowned slightly, after which he then lifted both his broken legs into the air, with them both twisting around grotesquely, bones scraping as his immense, regenerative, healing factor kicked in, until they were straight once more, and healed up as good as new. After which he then leaped up off of the ground in a single casual movement, until he was standing up facing Loki, his white hair clearly visible in the darkened clearing.
"I don't need to be good at landings," Kaneki replied placidly.
"I can tell," Loki replied sarcastically, looking him over in interest. "If I may ask, just what are you? You're clearly not human, no human could have hurt me the way you did."
Kaneki paused as he heard that, but otherwise kept silent, choosing to ignore the question.
"Come on, we're heading over to the others. If you try to escape, I will… restrain you," Kaneki replied calmly.
Loki instead of being offended by the threat, instead looked amused, as if Ken was saying something funny, but instead of commenting on it he simply gestured over in the direction of the nearby fighting instead. "Lead the way, my friend,"
Kaneki glanced at him at that, but said nothing, as he instead simply began walking out of the grove, and down the side of the hillock he and Loki were on, over to where the others were fighting down below.
Where the third man, the one Kaneki didn't know but suspected was Thor, was smacking Iron Man about. With him having an astonishingly strong scent, similar to Loki's in regards to the power it held, but also very different.
After all whereas Loki's was soft and cold, like say ice scream or something like that, Thor smelled warm and spicy, like strong curry or Mexican food. Of course that wasn't really what they smelt like, but it was the best comparison as to how different they were that he could think of.
Despite the differences though, it was still a more delectable scent than the average human, not that he thought either of them would willingly let him have a bite.
It was as he was thinking about this, that he wondered why these beings smelled edible to him, given that Ghouls had always had to eat humans to live. He couldn't eat cows or other animals, so what made the aliens different? Was it that they were humanoid, or that they had a similar genetic make up to humans?
"You want me to put the hammer down?!" Thor shouted, just as they approached the clearing. With Kaneki dropping down low when he saw the hammer strike the shield, his feet and hands digging into the ground as a wave of energy passed over him, ruffling his clothes and nearly knocking him backwards. Seriously, save for the Ghouls, there wasn't beings like this back in his old world.
Loki however in response to what had just happened, looked completely unaffected, which immediately made Ken wonder just how much of what the 'God of Mischief' said and did was an act.
Oblivious to their sudden arrivals, and with a chorus of groans, the three 'heroes' who had been closest to the epicentre of the blast, Thor, Iron Man and Captain America, began to get up.
"So are we done here?" Steve asked in an exasperated tone, looking over at the other two as he did so.
"Yeah, yeah, we're done," Tony replied casually as he too stood up and nonchalantly walked through the partially destroyed clearing and over to where the others were.
With Thor looking between the two, after which he then looked over to where his brother was now standing at the edge of the clearing. With the blonde man not even glancing at Kaneki, the 'God' simply dismissing him out of hand, not considering the unassuming white haired man a threat as he instead analysed the situation before nodding.
"Alright Natasha, we're coming back up," Tony said out loud. With Ken assuming that it was being transmitted to her, as very soon after, the quinjet lowered itself towards the clearing, the back of it still torn open.
Upon noticing the jet arrival, Thor nodded at the other two, before he then grabbed Loki roughly and jumped into the back of the vehicle, nearly lowering the ship a few feet with a loud thud as he did so.
"You two flightless bird, grab on," Tony said as he smugly looked at the two of them, before offering them an arm.
In response to that Steve hesitated for a moment before he gripped Stark's shoulder tightly, while Kaneki hung off of Tony's back. With Iron Man then quickly ascending, before dropping into the back of the quinjet moments later.
( - )
Following on from that, they all assembled in the back of quinjet as Natasha once again set off heading back to the Helicarrier. It was whilst they were there, that Thor, now in the light of the ship, finally noticed the drying blood which stained the side of Loki's face, and his missing ear.
"Who did that?" Thor asked bluntly, gesturing to Loki's wound as he did so. With it being impossible to tell if the 'God of Thunder' was upset or not, as from what Kaneki had seen the man was not in a good mood in general.
Loki, in response to this, just pointed at Ken, like a child pointing out their bully, to their older and tougher brother. With Thor looking over at Kaneki critically in response to this, the expression on the large man's face obvious as to what he thought of Kaneki, with his delicate features, placid grey eyes and slight build.
"How?" Thor asked, a slight frown on his face now as he looked back to Loki.
"He bit me," Loki said, his tone turning slightly indignant now.
Thor processed this slowly, but once he did, his eyes narrowed, even as he sent Kaneki both a confused, and an accusatory look. Obviously the 'God of Thunder' didn't approve of biting as a fighting tactic.
"But then, he should be dead," Thor finally said after a couple of moments.
"I know," Loki replied, grinning now.
Thor however once again looked at Kaneki carefully after that, after which he then took a seat across from Loki, so as to wait out the ride back to the Helicarrier.
"Dead?" Steve asked, into the silence that followed, not all that comfortable himself with the fact that Kaneki had bitten Loki's ear off. Not that either Thor or Loki bothered to respond to him.
( - )
(Sometime Later)
For the rest of their journey to the Hellicarrier it was quiet, with those present sitting in silence, though Stark did spend his time making the occasional jibe or quip as he tried to get a rise out of Loki or Thor, only to be met with stoic silence, or looks of disinterest. Kaneki meanwhile just sat upfront, staring out of the window with disinterest, lost in introspection as for the first time in a year Rize had reared her head from his psyche.
It was about two hours later that they arrived at the Helicarrier, after which, upon landing on the giant flying ship, several agents swiftly escorted the still handcuffed Loki off of the jet and took him to some holding cell where his injuries would be treated, and he would then be confined until Fury decided what to do with him.
As for the rest of the group, and Thor, they all headed for a briefing room to meet up with Bruce Banner, where they all had another very brief round of introductions, and a quick debrief of what had happened, more for Banner and Agent Hill's sake than their own. After which they all sat down and listened in on the exchange between Loki and Fury, who had already started his interrogation of the Asgardian.
With the dark-skinned Director having taken up a positon opposite Loki's prison, which was apparently some indestructible see through box, and which could be dropped ten thousand feet from the Helicarrier to earth at any moment.
Suffice to say each of those present glanced awkwardly at one another and then at Banner, when it was brought up that the cage was actually meant for Banner, and for when he lost control of the monster within. Fortunately though Banner showed himself to be a better person than most, when he just shrugged it off.
"He really grows on you, doesn't he?" Banner said, as Loki continued to taunt Fury, and make barely hidden jibes at the 'Avengers'.
"Loki's going to drag this out. So, Thor, what's his play?" Steve asked, turning to the Asgardian, acting as if he had a clue what was actually happening. Or at least that was Kaneki cynically thought.
"He has an army called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract," Thor explained briefly, his tone curt and to the point, the Asgardian sharing what was necessary, but obviously still a little leery, especially after the dust up they had all had just hours earlier.
"An army? From outer space?" Steve asked, trying to wrap his head around the idea. Of course, seventy years prior, it would have been a distant science fiction idea, not a legitimate possibility, in fact even back then it wouldn't have even been imagined that such a thing could happen.
As for Kaneki himself, he was also having a hard time processing it all. Alien Invasions? No one would have believed it back home. After all man eating Ghouls were one thing, but an army of extra-terrestrials invading earth that sounded a little too ludicrous. Which thinking about it now didn't really make sense, then again people's thoughts and beliefs often didn't make sense once someone dug into them.
"So he's building another portal, that's what he needs Erik Selvig for?" Banner muttered, thinking to himself as he did so.
"Selvig?" Thor asked sharply, looking up at Banner now.
"He's an astrophysicist," Banner explained.
"He's a friend," Thor countered bluntly, though once again he didn't expand on the statement.
"Loki has him under some kind of spell, along with one of ours," Natasha interjected into the conversation, looking around at all of them as she did.
"I want to know why Loki let us capture him," Kaneki added in, thinking as he did about how easily Loki had followed him, not using the brief chance he was alone and unguarded to escape. "He had the chance to escape when you guys were fighting, why didn't he? He's not leading anyone from here."
"I don't think we should be focusing on Loki. That guy's brain is a bag full of cats, you could smell crazy on him," Bruce said carefully.
"Have care how you speak. Loki is beyond reason, but he is of Asgard, and he's my brother," Thor retorted, his tone somewhat defensive now.
"He killed eighty people in two days," Natasha replied sceptically, raising an eyebrow as she did.
"He's adopted," Thor tagged on weakly.
"The point is that I think we should focus on the mechanics. Iridium, what did they need the Iridium for?" Banner cut in getting the conversation back on track now.
"It's a stabilizing agent," Tony's voice spoke up, cutting over them and echoing around the room, as he handed something to Coulson, who was also in the room, with a few words, before he continued speaking. "Which means the portal if he opens it again, won't collapse on itself, like it did at SHIELD."
Tony glanced over at Thor as he walked into the centre of the room and attracted everyone's attention, a slight smirk on his face. "No hard feelings by the way Point Break. You've got a mean swing." He added on with a smirk at Thor, before continuing with his previous tangent, "Also, it means the portal he could create, could be much bigger than before, and could stay open as long as Loki wants."
Silence followed Tony's words as he finished, with the man himself using the sudden silence to step up to the main command spot for controlling the ship, one usually used by Fury, after which he began looking around. "Uh, raise the mid-mast, ship the top sails. That man is playing GALAGA! Thought we wouldn't notice. But we did."
Kaneki leaned forward slightly in his seat as he heard that, only to smile slightly when he noticed the agent Stark mentioned quickly click out of the game.
Tony meanwhile, was still messing about, as he covered one of his eyes with his hand and looked around at the many monitors. "How does Fury see these things?" He then asked, gesturing to the monitors on his blind side as he did so.
"He turns," Agent Hill replied dryly, an unimpressed expression on her face.
"Sounds exhausting. The rest of the raw materials, Agent Barton can get his hands on pretty easily. The only major component he still needs is a power source. Something with a high energy density, which he can use kick start the cube," Tony explained, turning back to the table now, already bored with what he had been doing previously.
"When did you become an expert in thermonuclear astrophysics?" Hill asked, raising an eyebrow in confusion as her eyes tracked the narcissistic engineer as he paced back to the table.
"Last night. The packet we were all sent, the one with Selvig's notes, the Extraction Theory papers. Am I the only one who did the reading?" Tony asked in a mocking voice as he looked around, clearly aware that the others likely hadn't, either due to a lack of time, ability, or inclination.
"Does Loki need any particular kind of power source?" Steve asked abruptly, getting the conversation back on track as he tried his best to help. Even if the only power sources he could currently think of was gas and coal.
"He needs to heat the cube to a hundred and twenty million Kelvin just to break through the Coulomb barrier," Banner chipped in next, thinking audibly to himself as he did so.
"Unless, Selvig has figured out how to stabilise the quantum tunnelling effect," Tony countered. Bruce blinked as he heard that, his eyebrows came together in a concerned look.
Kaneki meanwhile tilted his head in confusion, he was a pretty smart guy and very well educated, but he was no engineer, nor was he a scientist, and as such he had literally no idea what these two men were talking about, save for the fact that it had to do with a portal or some sort and the Tesseract.
"Well, if he could do that he could achieve Heavy Ion Fusion at any reactor on the planet," Bruce shot back at Stark.
"Finally, someone who speaks English," Tony said with a slight smirk, as he now fully faced Banner.
"Is that what just happened?" Steve asked quietly as Tony and Bruce shook hands.
"It's good to meet you, Dr. Banner. Your work on anti-electron collisions is unparalleled. And I'm a huge fan of the way you lose control and turn into an enormous green rage monster," Tony said immediately, both complimenting and insulting Banner in the same breath.
Kaneki blinked at that, there had to be something wrong with Stark if that was how he chose to greet someone he was meeting for the first time, that or he was just a massive arsehole.
"Uh, thanks," Bruce said awkwardly in response.
"Dr. Banner is only here to track the cube. I was hoping you might join him," Director Fury cut in before any more could be said, the dark-skinned man striding into the room, his interrogation obviously finished, and a scowl on his face as his single visible eye flickered around at all of the occupants within, until he focused on Stark.
"Let's start with that stick of his. It may be magical, but it works an awful lot like a HYDRA weapon," Steve spoke up, once again trying to contribute.
"I don't know about that, but it does look like it is powered by the cube. And I'd like to know how Loki used it to turn two of the sharpest men I know into his own personal flying monkeys," Fury said with a scowl.
"Monkeys? I do not understand," Thor said in confusion, the massive blonde looking around the room as he did so, clearly waiting for an explanation.
"I do!" Steve said, sitting up and grinning. Before he faltered for a moment under the glances of the others in the room, "I understood that reference."
Tony rolled his eyes at that.
"What I want to know is how you managed to survive biting Loki's ear off," Thor broke into the conversation again, though this time on a complete tangent as he turned to look at Kaneki, a serious expression on his face.
In response to which the Ghoul could only shrug, a disinterested expression on his face.
"I just had a nibble, what is so difficult about that?" Kaneki asked dryly, holding back the sudden gurgling in his stomach as he thought back on the snack. It was just a pity he didn't get a second helping.
Steve looked a little uncomfortable as he heard that, his blue eyes flickering over to Kaneki, though whether it was because he believed biting was an underhanded tactic in a fight, or because he remembered some of the other Avenger's previous slurs about cannibalism, was up for debate.
"Though Loki's body has been heavily influenced by the magic of my father and Asgard, he still has the blood of Frost Giants running in his veins and direct contact with it for a human should have frozen you solid!" Thor explained, his brow furrowed in confusion as he eyed Kaneki up and down.
Huh, maybe that was why he had had brain freeze earlier?
"I have a strong healing factor," Kaneki replied after a few moments, thinking on what abilities he had already shown, before shrugging it off, after all Loki had already witnessed his healing factor, so it probably didn't matter that his allies knew about it too. "Maybe that's why?"
That being said he wasn't going to explain that healing didn't help much when you were frozen, it would just keep you alive. He also wasn't going to explain that he wasn't quite human, and that his ghoulish constitution was probably why he hadn't been frozen solid, and had instead gained a rush of energy and adrenaline from his snack. That would be too much sharing for his tastes.
Thor gave him a sceptical look at that, along with Fury and Natasha, all of whom did not looked convinced by his dismissive explanation.
That being said Steve seemed to accept the explanation for what it was, whilst Banner just shrugged, probably knowing that it didn't make sense, but not caring either way, everyone was entitled to their secrets after all.
Stark however, ever the loudmouth spoke up in response. "Bullshit, an advanced healing factor doesn't work like that."
Kaneki gave him a bland look at that, before he then shrugged again.
"Well, I don't have any other explanation," Kaneki sighed quietly.
Tony examined Kaneki carefully as he heard that, looking thoughtful for a moment, before he suddenly turned to Bruce and smiled.
"Well whatever. Hey Banner, want to go play?" He then asked, startling Banner as he did so, with yet another sudden change in conversation.
"A-alright," Banner replied hesitantly, after which he began to follow Tony out of the room, and over to the lab.
With the rest of the group all looking at each other, before slowly the rest of them broke away. Until just Kaneki and Thor were left, both of them not talking or really even looking at each other as they just sat at the table in silent contemplation. The two of them, and one other person of course. A beautiful girl with long purple hair, who was standing just behind Thor, her long, pale slender hands running across his body, testing his muscles, a smirk on her face as she stared at Kaneki.
"Hm, not as tender as I would like," Rize drawled, running one of her hands over the Asgardian's muscular shoulders, "but definitely a new and unique flavour. I think it's worth trying, don't you?" She asked, looking over at Kaneki again as she did so through half lidded eyes.
In response however, Kaneki just ignored her. He did not need hunger hallucinations right now, especially not on a ship full of humans, a veritable flying buffet.
Besides why was he even having them? He had recently eaten, yet his stomach felt strangely empty. He didn't recall expending a lot of energy, why was he already starting to suffer hunger pains?
It was as he was pondering that, that he noticed Rize had vanished from behind Thor.
"Hm, eating Loki should have frozen you. Perhaps it did, on the inside. Your body would have shed and digested the dead parts, then regrown them. So why not take a few moments to… refuel? This man here should do the job fantastically, the energy boost of Loki, but minus the pesky Frost Giant blood…" Rize continued in a sultry voice, wrapping her arms around Kaneki as she did so, with the purple haired beauty now being behind him, one of her soft hands coming up to gently brush some of his hair out of his face as she did so.
Kaneki withheld a flinch as he felt the woman's hands on him, standing up sharply and dissipating the hallucination as he did so, his grey eyes narrowing as he looked around for any sign of her, before he looked down at Thor. The giant blonde currently looking at Kaneki oddly, a hint of distrust and distaste in his gaze as he did so.
"I'll be in my room," Kaneki said quickly in response, before he turned and left the meeting room. Trying not to notice how sensitive he was to the scent of each person he passed as he did so. Or how it felt like Rize was trailing just behind him as he walked.
( - )
AN: So I am mostly happy with this chapter, though I do think there were a couple of sentences that were awkwardly phrased, so time depending, I might go back and have a look at them. But for the most part I am happy, things are moving along, and the first arc, the 'Avengers Assemble' arc is going well, with there being many more arcs planned out to come.
As well as some romances, though I haven't decided on a pairing yet, on whether it will be Avengers i.e. Scarlet Witch or Black Widow, Thor i.e. Lady Sif or Hela, Agents of Shield i.e. Skye, Bobbie Morse or Rose Hale or several others, or whether I may just go and have a snoop around the X-men and Spiderman storylines, and then bring some of those in. There really are a lot of characters, and I want the story to be balance, so about action, development, exploration, romance, horror, etc. So yeah a lot to plan and finalise, but any suggestions are welcome. Though I will clarify that it will not be a slash pairing.
On top of that someone has asked me about how Kaneki will grow stronger now there aren't any more Ghouls around for him to cannibalize. To which I say, there is a lot of other edible characters with funky abilities, so prepare for some interesting times.
But yeah other than that, I hope you enjoyed the chapter and have a good Christmas and New Year.
Please leave a review, thanks for reading and I'll see you later!
Greed720.
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