Chapter 408: The Hell's Kitchen League of Legends Branch Is Officially Founded!
Ethan wasn't too surprised that the Card Master template hadn't matched anyone.
Twisted Fate might not look like an especially powerful champion. But if Ethan remembered right, the Card Master was tangled up with fate itself.
Anything tangled up with fate was never that easy. So it didn't surprise Ethan at all that nobody matched.
What did surprise him was that normally each template card had only one person matching at 80% or above. This time, one card had two.
And for the first time ever, one person matched two template cards.
That meant Ethan had to think carefully. Each person could only take one template card, and that card would define their ceiling.
He had to weigh this carefully. Both Tony and Strange had the potential to become gods.
Godhood would still be hard for them, of course. But demigod status was well within reach.
Honestly, Ethan's first instinct was to give [Viktor, the Machine Herald] to Tony. Ethan figured Viktor was demigod-level himself, and a heavyweight on the tech side.
After all, this was a man who had abandoned his own flesh to become a god, and who had created Blitzcrank.
The one thing Ethan really remembered about Viktor was his line: "Join the glorious evolution!"
Ethan didn't know how the System drew its lines, though. Maybe it was because Viktor had the makings of a god but hadn't actually become one.
Either way, Tony and Viktor were an excellent fit. With Tony's genius plus the Viktor template, Ethan was sure becoming a god would be easy.
But the thought that becoming a god meant giving up his own body made Ethan feel he ought to ask the two candidates what they thought first.
In all honesty, Ethan didn't want Tony to lose his body. The reason Iron Man held such a high place in audiences' hearts was that Tony stood shoulder to shoulder with gods in a mortal body, not that he'd given up part of his humanity to become one.
He knew Viktor's path of evolution meant discarding the flesh. That clashed with the core of Tony as Iron Man: the will to challenge gods with a mortal body.
Tony's story was the perfect fusion of the brilliance of humanity and the power of technology. It was a legend of heroism in countless hearts.
If he chose to become something like Viktor, would that unique charm fade away?
Strange had the same dilemma, though for Strange it was a sweet one.
"That lucky so-and-so Strange. Tch, tch, tch. Two templates match him, and strong ones at that." Ethan was envious on Strange's behalf.
[Ekko, the Boy Who Shattered Time] and [Ryze, the Rune Mage] were both undoubtedly stronger than the template cards from Bleach, Naruto and One Piece, and one of them was a demigod card besides.
Ethan could guess that Strange matched [Ekko] because of the Time Stone. But Ethan didn't think the card really suited him.
Ekko might count as a mage, but making Strange an assassin-mage seemed a bit odd, especially since this universe's Strange was, you could say, the most cowardly about dying of any of them.
He usually showed up as a clone. His real body stayed hidden away where no one could find it.
[Ryze, the Rune Mage] suited Strange much better. They were both mages, and Ryze had all sorts of bizarre rune spells, plus escape magic. It was practically made for Strange.
Though honestly, Ethan would have kind of liked to see what that death-fearing Strange looked like as an assassin.
As for the Frieza template, the match turned out to be Uncle Fisk. Ethan was a little surprised at first. Then again, if Ethan had never come along, Uncle Fisk might well have rivaled Frieza for sheer villainy, in a manner of speaking.
Or maybe it was because Uncle Fisk and Frieza were both bald!
After weighing it carefully, Ethan had to admit that Fisk's unfathomable cunning and hunger for power made him the ideal vessel for the Frieza template.
He could almost see the storm Fisk would unleash on the world once he integrated that card's power.
Combined with that marvelous Glint-Glint Fruit, the explosion in his potential would be impossible to measure. For the future Fisk, the title of strongest human might just be a matter of time.
What Ethan didn't know was that Fisk was also scheming to get the Golden Serum.
Golden Serum + Frieza template + Glint-Glint Fruit: Fisk was going to be a god walking the earth.
The last card, [Syndra, the Dark Sovereign], was for Wanda. Wanda also matched [Janna, the Storm's Fury].
Ethan had his own selfish motive, of course. He wanted to give Wanda the very best.
He knew perfectly well that Janna, as a god template, fit Wanda's abilities extremely well and ought to be her best choice.
But deep down, an inexplicable instinct told him Wanda needed Syndra's power more, even though Syndra wasn't a demigod.
Ethan chose to trust his gut.
That left only the Machine Herald card. Ethan called Tony and Doc Ock in turn.
He didn't tell them about the template card, of course. He just asked them one question: if you could become a god, would you give up your physical body?
In the end, he decided to give [Viktor, the Machine Herald] to Doc Ock.
Tony's answer was a single sentence, and it killed any thought of giving him the card.
"First and foremost, I'm human. I want to become a god as a human!"
That one sentence showed Ethan the depth of Tony's ambition. All he could do was quietly pray that someday he'd pull a template card that suited Tony.
"System, begin applying the template cards," Ethan recited silently.
The Thing, Ben: Malphite, Shard of the Monolith
Wanda: Syndra, the Dark Sovereign
Kingpin: Frieza
Dr. Otto: Viktor, the Machine Herald
The Punisher: Lucian, the Purifier
Strange: Ryze, the Rune Mage
As Ethan finished the silent recitation, the template cards in his hand seemed to come alive. One by one they turned into dazzling points of light that traced brilliant arcs through the air and streaked off in different directions.
Each point of light was one template card, and one hero's power that would now live on in this world.
When the last point of light vanished over the horizon, Ethan stepped out onto the balcony, slowly spread his arms, and looked up at the sky.
"I hereby declare the Hell's Kitchen League of Legends Branch officially founded!"
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