"So, the Dweller-in-Darkness? That's the name of the monster that's plaguing you?", I asked as I hopped from foot to foot, staring at Nan as she nodded.
"More specifically, it's the name of the monster that has been stopping the Great Protector from fulfilling her duty as our guardian. She has to stay underwater and keep guard over its seal to stop others from freeing it and its minions."
"Which are?"
"Soul Eaters. They are monstrous creatures that suck out the souls of its victims and leave them as empty husks. They then take those souls and give them to the Dweller-in-Darkness, giving it more power."
"I see. And you want me to take care of it?", I asked as I looked up at the Great Protector, who gave a slow nod.
"I do. I will offer you some help, but I do not see how much help I can be in my weakened condition."
"Weakened?"
"Half of the Great Protector's soul was torn away in her first battle against the Dweller-in-Darkness, which is why it is her equal," Nan explained and I frowned at that as I looked at the dragon.
She was already a monster in her own rights and that was just with half of her power. If she got it back, that would be something else.
"Got it. So, where's the gate?", I asked, smirking as I saw the Great Protector narrow its eyes while Nan frowned.
"While you have become somewhat stronger, I do not believe that you are ready to face the Dweller-in-Darkness as you are."
"I think I am."
"Do you understand that if you were to lose, a great calamity would befall this entire dimension and the one beyond it?"
"I do, but at the same time, I'm confident in my speed. Just open the gate and let me show you," I responded, the Great Protector turning her head to Nan. The woman in question looked at me as I smiled before shaking her head with a smile.
"Well, it would not hurt us to test his strength first."
"Against who?", I asked, but the answer was given when Nan simply took a few steps back and turned to me while shifting her footing.
"Ah, got it. Okay, you ready?", I asked as I ceased my hopping, Nan taking a deep breath and doing a swaying motion with her arms that made the wind rotate around her.
"Begin when you are-"
"Done."
"...ready," Nan finished with wide eyes as I had an arm around her shoulder, my fingers vibrating as they rested against her neck at the same speed as a massage gun.
"To help you understand, I can vibrate my hands fast enough to stab through someone without causing them any harm. So, still think we need to bide our time?", I asked as I looked up at the Great Protector, who looked down as I moved my arm away from Nan.
"No, I do not. Follow me," She spoke as she rose up high into the air, my eyes widening slightly as I saw the dragon dive down and split the lake in front of me in half.
"Holy...that is fucking awesome."
"Language," Nan said with a smirk, but I could see that her gaze was different when she looked at me. It was almost as if there was more respect in her gaze, which made me smile before I looked down.
The Great Protector waiting for me in front of a cave that had dragon scales covering the entrance and I smirked as I tipped over the edge before lunging forward.
It took only a split second before I stopped beside her, the air popping in the distance as I looked up at the Great Protector. She didn't say anything as she simply pointed her tail at the gate, my gaze following her gesture as I watched the scale begin to peel back.
"Remember, I will be busy making sure that the Soul Eaters do not attack the village, but I will try to help as much as I can."
"Got it," I nodded, the Great Protector rising up and flying back to the village where I noticed Nan having more people at her side. All of them had bows at the ready and pointed at the gate, making me turn back to hear snarls and growls at the edges.
When the corners were fully peeled away, a deafening roar overtook the others as the gate was torn apart, my gaze focused on the large dragon that flew out of the cave.
It was a disturbing sight, having many eyes and parts of its snout and body torn away to reveal the sickly dark flesh underneath. Following right beside it were hundreds of smaller creatures, each having bat-like wings and octopus-like tentacles for their lower body.
Some of them turned to me as the rest flew after the Dweller-in-Darkness, who let out a horrifying shriek that the Great Protecter responded to with her own challenging roar.
Right as a Soul Eater stretched its tentacle out to me, I gave a slight smirk as golden electricity sparked along my form, crouching slightly before shooting myself upwards.
The three Soul Eaters that had gone for me fell apart behind me as my hands vibrated at an insane speed, the world around me popping as I hopped and pushed off of solid air.
It was just a simple application of phasing, but this time, I vibrated my feet fast enough to create shockwaves that I then push off, i.e. solid footing for me.
The electricity around me crackled as I blurred forward, my form a golden ray of light that danced from Soul Eater to Soul Eater and leaving them torn apart in my wake.
It didn't take that long before the Dweller-in-Darkness noticed my presence, its multitude of eyes rolling towards me as I smirked.
"You are not going to have a fun time now, buddy," I murmured as I landed on its back, taking a deep breath before my head snapped up as arcs of lightning rippled from my form.
The Dweller-In-Darkness let out a horrid, guttural scream when I shot forward, each step sending a vibrating shockwave into its body and into its very organs.
My hands blurred as I raced along its body, digging my hands through its scales and leaving twin trails of gouged flesh behind. Hopping to the first Soul-Eater that tried to eat me, I flipped over it before kicking behind me.
My foot pierced through its body before I ripped my leg free and leapt to the next one, landing on its body with a grin. My hands tore through its chest and out its sides before it could even realize what happen, leaping to the necks when I saw the Dweller-In-Darkness turning its head towards me.
With a roar, its many monstrous tentacles lashed out at me, but I leapt and ran around them, leaving afterimages that confused the smaller Soul-Eaters before I appeared on top of its head.
"Oi, little bastards!", I exclaimed, drawing the Soul Eaters' attention towards me before I grinned and held up a hand.
"Come on, let's see if you can fight," They may not have understood me, but that didn't matter as they let out loud shrieks and dove down at me.
'Closer,' I thought, keeping myself steady as I watched the Soul Eaters charging in from all directions.
'Closer,' Clenching my fists and shifting my footing, I crouched slightly when the first one drew closer, its tentacles so close I can feel it whisking over my hair.
"Now!" With a grunt, the world around me exploded as I moved, each movement and counter precise as each attack was aimed to kill.
Their bodies may have been frozen in time as I lunged forward, leaping and phasing through their bodies while tearing them apart from the inside out.
It was when I finally stabbed through the head of the final one that I came to a stand still on top of the Dweller-in-Darkness' nose, watching as its hundreds of Soul Eaters exploded in the air around us.
The sky was filled with the flesh of the Soul Eaters as the Dweller-In-Darkness turned its gaze to me, a smile on my face as I hopped from foot to foot.
'From zero to a hundred...Go!', The world around me distorted as I pushed forward, vibrating my body while moving forward at the fastest speed that I could.
"What the fu-!" I heard hundreds of voices shouted as reality itself twisted around me, my own eyes wide as I came face to face with a monstrous figure who glared at me.
"You da-" The face of Dormammu wasn't there for long before I ripped through the Dark Dimension, reappearing beside the shocked villagers and Nan.
Blinking a few times as I looked around, I turned back and found myself staring at the two halves of the Dweller-in-Darkness' corpse falling to the floor. The clouds above were split in half and as I turned to the Great Protector, I found the dragon staring back at me.
"What...was that?"
"I have no idea. I just...ran," I murmured, shaking my head with a frown as I thought about what just happened.
I had expected myself to tear through the Dweller-In-Darkness when I went full speed kind of like doing an A-Train, but I guess both my vibration and my speed...resulted in me tearing through dimensions?
'How is that even possible, though?' Just the very idea that I went so fast that I tore through dimensions sounded crazy in my mind.
However, I could still see the distortion in the air above where I had torn through reality, meaning that I was not imagining being in the Dark Dimension.
'Wait, doesn't that mean that Dormammu's going to come here earlier now? Shit!'
"What are you thinking about, Pietro?" I heard Nan ask, tuning back into the world to see her frown.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," I responded, crossing my arms. "I think that I went fast enough to tear through the barrier between dimensions, or parallel universes if you will, but at the same time, I don't know how I did."
"That is something you must figure out on your own in your own time. For now, I musk ask that you leave," The Great Protector spoke and I saw the hesitant look in her eyes.
"Why is that?"
"What you just did sent out a ripple through the links holding Ta Lo together. Soon, the gods themselves will descend and they will not be happy to see a human using Chaos Magic in an area where it has been banned."
"Ah, got it. Think I could visit again? Through the official path, of course," I spoke with a smile and Nan nodded with a smile.
"But of course. You are the hero of our village."
"Along with that, you are also a close ally for dealing with the Dweller-In-Darkness. Whatever you need, we shall do our best to provide," I was surprised by the Great Protector's words and even more by her bow, looking at Nan to see her and the villagers doing the same.
"Uh, the same to you. Okay, I think I should go now. Until we meet again," I said before I shot off, keeping my speed low so as to not destroy the beautiful landscape of Ta Lo.
Where it took me a little under thirty minutes to cross the ninety kilometers between Ta Lo and the entrance portal, it barely took a second before I came to a stop in front of the swirling water.
I didn't say anything as I turned back, wondering just how fast I had gotten for ninety kilometers to take me only a second to cross. However, there was always one question on my mind.
'Was I always this fast?' I thought before shaking my head, deciding to think about this another time as I took a step towards the portal.
However, a soft yip drew my attention back, making me blink as I turned back only to raise an eyebrow at the fluffy white fox sitting at the edge of the treeline.
'No, not a fox. A Nine-Tailed Fox,' I thought with an awed smirk as I saw it looking back, watching as it snickered and hopped back into the forest.
A moment later, it peeked out, making me raise an eyebrow before a look of realization entered my eyes when I saw it motion its head towards the forest.
"You want me to follow?", I asked, chuckling as the nine-tailed fox nodded and walked back into the forest, leaving me staring at the portal before I smirked.
"How many people can say that they met a nine-tailed fox?" I murmured as I turned and followed after it, deciding to not use my speed and simply jog after it.
The fox darted ahead, checking behind it every few moments as if to make sure that I was still following. It only took us a minute or so of jogging before we came to a small clearing.
The sunlight shone down and illuminated what appeared to be an ancient shrine, the shrine looking weathered and covered in moss. I raised an eyebrow as I stopped a few feet away, looking at the fox as it sat at the edge of the shrine.
Looking closer at the shrine, I narrowed my eyes as I saw the lightning motifs on its side, looking at the pedestal at its centre to see a figure running through the clouds with a larger nine-tailed fox at his side.
"Is...that supposed to be me?" I asked, thinking that it was a ridiculous question to ask only to be surprised when the fox turned its head and gave a happy yip.
"And that's you? Did you make this?" The fox nodded at my question, making me raise an eyebrow as I crouched down in front of the shrine.
"So, what? You want to come with me?", I asked, a bit surprised when it nodded before I looked around.
"What about your famil-Oh, no family? Nothing?" I asked as the fox cut me off with a shake of its head, making me hum as I looked at the shrine.
Honestly, I do not believe that we have met before today so I wasn't even sure how it knew of me. Maybe it saw me run past and decided to watch me, but still...
'It says it has no family or anything to worry about and I would feel bad if I rejected an actual nine-tailed fox from following after me. Also, isn't it bad luck or something if you reject a fox spirit's gift?' I thought, looking at the fox who stared back with its head tilted. Then, it let out a happy yip and jumped around as I smiled and nodded.
"Alright, then. Looks like I can't exactly reject you without feeling bad here, bud. Wait, are you a male or female?" I asked and the fox surprised me as it dragged its front right paw on the ground to draw a 1.
"A male? Okay, cool. Now, a na-Wait, I'm a speedster and you're my foxy partner," I murmured with a grin, the fox looking excited as I picked him up and let him crawl into my jacket.
As Tails poked his head out to look around, I grinned as I scratched his head before shooting forward. Laughing at the awe in his eyes as we raced through the portal, I grinned as my speed carried me through the forest and out the other side before it could even think of closing off a path.
"Alright, Tails! Welcome to the human world! Now, time to report back to Tina," I murmured, smiling at Tails' yip before I lunged and started my run.
To no one's surprise but my own, it was seconds later that I slid to a stop in front of the sanctum, thankful for the fact that I didn't go fast enough to create sonic booms.
'If I did and in a city as populated as Hong Kong, that would have been bad,' I thought as I opened the door, walking in and grinning when I saw a few people pause the second they saw me.
"...Is that a Jiu Wei Hu?"
"A what?" I was confused by the name they gave Tails, the fox in question looking around excitedly as the master that I had spoke to let out a chuckle.
"A nine tailed fox."
"Oh, is that the name for those here?"
"That or a Hu Li Jing," She responded and I nodded before she giggled when Tails let out a happy yip.
"He says yes, he is a Jiu Wei Hu. Anyway, I just came to tell Tina that I'm back."
"In her office like usual," One of the attendants at the front desk spoke and I nodded, walking up the stairs while enjoying everyone's looks of awe as I came to a stop in front of Tina's door.
"I know it's you, Pietro. You can enter," Tina spoke before I could even knock, but I frowned as I heard the tired tone in her voice. Pushing the door open, my frown deepened as I saw the bags under her eye as well as being surprised by the sight of Wanda waiting beside her.
"What happened? Is it Shang? Xialing?"
"No, brother. They are fine. It's...the Ancient One."
"What happened to her?" I asked, realizing the situation was more serious than I thought it would be as Tina sighed and Wanda grimaced.
"She has departed for the year to hold off the Dark Dimension. Apparently, something was fast enough to tear a rift through numerous dimensions and awaken Dormammu from his yearly slumber."
"...Oh, that's bad," I murmured, feeling a bit tense and cursed as Wanda noticed it, turning her grimace into a frown.
"What did you do?"
"Well, you know how I went on a spiritual journey to unlock the shackles between my mind, body and soul?"
"Yes."
"Well, I did it~but I may have also gotten a bit of a boost."
"How much of a boost are we talking?" Tina asked with narrowed eyes and I gave a sheepish chuckle as I scratched Tails' head.
"Fast enough to tear through the barriers between dimensions?"
"Pietro..."
"In my defence, I didn't want to do it. I was fighting a dragon and I had to kill it quick before it sucked the souls out of the people I was protecting so I went as fast as I could. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that my top speed combined with vibrating my body at intense speeds resulted in me tearing a rift in the barriers between dimensions."
"...I don't even know why I'm surprised," Tina murmured with a groan and I gave an apologetic smile.
"So, you didn't do it knowingly?"
"I swear on my life, sister," I spoke with a firm nod, Wanda looking at me before nodding with a sigh as she crossed her arms.
"Okay, that is...well, that's one problem done."
"What's the other?"
"The Avengers raided the last HYDRA base...and they found the Stone," She responded, to which I looked at her before palming my face with a sigh.
'Why didn't you just let me have a chill time, universe?'
A/N: And Age of Ultron has been pushed up earlier! But is it Age of Ultron and will Pietro take part?
Or...is it something far worse? Who knows?
Also, the dimensions part pertains ONLY to the MCU/ Marvel universe. No multiversal travels to DC or any other non-Marvel universes.
Another also, time travel is...an iffy thing for me to consider doing. Like, dimensional travelling I can do, but time travelling with the TVA and all that...yeah.
I will definitely do that though, but I just have to figure out the how and the when so don't worry. Pietro in the Loki and the Kang saga is most definitely something that is in the works.
Like always, you can go to my Pat-reon-.-com-/-KingCrimsonNova to read ahead on this as well as many other stories & even some that haven't been released out to this site yet. If you want to, you are free to, but if you don't want, all's good as I will still be uploading here. This is just me trying to get some extra cash.
As always, read, enjoy, review and until next week...
Ba-Bye~!