Marvel's Villainous Gacha 33 (Patreon)

He was once again glad for his reputation as an eccentric photographer, as none of the SHIELD agents that were watching him would question why he was in a random alley, taking pictures of random debris.

It allowed him to read and consider the implications.

[Pick one option from the choices below]

[Prana Bindu]

{Elite Skill: Dune - You are learned in the ways of Prana Bindu, allowing you to train in controlling your body beyond human levels. From controlling how your individual muscles move, to controlling individual strands and eventually, with enough training, controlling your very own nerves and bioelectrical signals.}

[Expert Teaching]

{Elite Skill: You are an expert teacher, the kind a protagonist would encounter mid-way through their journey to learn an essential skill from you before leaving and forgetting about you. You are incredibly skilled at imparting your knowledge and skills to your pupils, you could pick any old farmboy and turn him into a fine warrior.}

[Energy Drain]

{Elite Ability: Allows you to drain energy from living targets via contact. The larger the power level difference between you and the target, the less energy you can drain from at a time.}

[Tinker - Computers]

{Elite Ability: Allows you to build technological constructs or contraptions related to personal computers, allowing you to build stuff like small supercomputers, etc.}

[Wanted]

{Elite Trait: People want you on their side or organization and they don't want you to leave, you are likely to be treated way better in any organization you sign up with and the rules would be way less strict on you, you are needed on their side after all.}

[Tough as Nails]

{Rare Trait: You are tough as nails, granting you significantly increased durability and endurance. Allowing you to resist stronger blows with less damage and recover from injuries faster(not healing), you are capable of powering through attacks more effectively.}

Six options.

Six great ones.

Every single option was amazing enough to make him happy. He sighed, suddenly realizing more option was always better. Prana Bindu and Energy Drain offered him some quite interesting flexibility, Tough as Nails would have made him even more durable.

What tempted him was Wanted and Expert Teaching, as both of them offered him a way to truly change things. With Wanted, he could join SHIELD yet maintain some independence. The temptation was strong. If it was before he realized the fractured nature of SHIELD, he might have actually taken that path.

Expert Teaching offered something different. A way to quickly raise people, build his own organization. He didn’t pick it for the exact opposite reason. It was too early.

The larger an operation, the easier it would get noticed. He trusted himself to defend against the threats he had understood and identified … but how about the ones he didn’t?

In the end, there was one option he couldn’t refuse.

[Tinker - Computers]

{Elite Ability: Allows you to build technological constructs or contraptions related to personal computers, enabling you to build stuff like small supercomputers, etc.}

The world ran on computers. He could steal one, but it wasn’t exactly trivial, because unlike personal computers, supercomputers built for specialized purposes. And, for a supercomputer designed for hacking or gathering information, he needed to either try Pentagon or SHIELD bases, both coming with some very dangerous implications.

Building his own supercomputers, especially ones that were potentially superior to ones he could steal, was too tempting. It would give him the thing he wanted most.

Information.

He hummed, ignoring the temptation to put it on and start tinkering. That could wait for a day or two.

He arrived at the restaurant, which was the kind of place that didn't need a sign outside. No name on the door, no menu in the window, just a brass handle and the quiet understanding that if you didn’t know if it was a restaurant, you didn’t deserve to enter.

He hummed.

Michael was not dressed like their usual visitor, but all he needed was to smile at the receptionist and mention Pepper’s name.

Technically, Pepper was still Tony’s assistant. At this point, it was not even a secret that Pepper was controlling the company tighter than most other companies while Tony flew around the world, trying to cleanse his consciousness by raining destruction from the sky.

Michael didn’t understand how it was supposed to work, but he didn’t entirely care. Tony was a grown man, and he could handle himself.

He was led to a private room, where Pepper was with Jane, listening with rapt attention while Jane explained her research on Einstein-Rosen Bridge theory, which claimed that teleportation was possible.

He wished he could check the response, but with his devices bugged, he didn’t want to take a risk. But he knew to take it seriously.

After all, he knew from experience that teleportation was not something far-fetched.

He walked into the private room. “Sorry, Pepper. I overslept,” he said as he entered, knowing that Pepper would just accept with a nod. After all, she knew exactly how his morning had started.

Jane had a different reaction. Her head flipped in shock, her eyes widening. “Michael,” she gasped in shock.

“Jane, what a pleasant surprise,” he said. He didn’t need to fake his cheer as he walked to Jane, kissed her cheek before he sat next to Pepper and kissed her on the lips.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "You met Jane?"

"We met at the lounge." Technically true, but incomplete. “We got into chatting. Who would have guessed that we had the same destination? So, I gave her a ride,” he added, unable to help himself tease Jane.

Pepper sighed, giving him a questioning stare. He gave her a subtle nod. Pepper smiled exasperatedly rather than having any other reaction, which was the proof of just how much she accepted his alternative lifestyle.

It helped that he always had time for her.

As much as he wanted to tease, he first turned to Jane, who was panicking. He poked her under the desk, but it didn’t help the sequence of emotions crossing her face in rapid succession, mostly shock and confusion. “Pepper, I … never …” she started, gasping in shock.

Michael just chuckled as he reached across the desk, squeezed her hand, trying to encourage her, but she failed to react. Apparently, even the possibility that Pepper might think Jane had ulterior motives for sleeping with him was enough to short-circuit her mind.

Luckily, they were in a private room, so he shamelessly rose and kissed her.

Jane gaped at him, which he highlighted by kissing Pepper. Pepper responded, but she bit his lip hard enough to hurt.

Disadvantages of having a known healing factor.

“I think I understand what happened, Jane. Believe me, it won’t impact our discussion.”

Michael smirked. “It won’t … but I put all that effort—“ he started. Pepper slapped his shoulder. “Jane, save me from the hands of my violent mistress,” he teased. A couple of seductive smiles mixed in, and suddenly, the tenseness was gone, replaced by chuckles.

“For punishment, I’m going to order your drinks,” Pepper said. “And they are exclusively going to be pink.”

“Ah, the horror,” he gasped. “I had ruined your talk enough. Why don’t you two talk important business while I sit down and look pretty?”

“Good point,” Jane chuckled, considerably more relaxed after their little skit. “After all, times had changed.”

He chuckled, then did exactly what he promised, sitting down and looking pretty while they discussed. They continued their discussion.

Michael wasn’t able to follow the discussion very well, as his theoretical physics knowledge was limited to his occasional reading, nowhere near enough to understand the intricacies of the topic, especially since he had arrived halfway, and Pepper studied to familiarize herself with the topic.

He could still read the subtext. Jane’s theory was not respected as much as she wanted, and not helped by the fact that, whenever Pepper asked Jane about concrete details about evidence, Jane deflected, but she was clearly unhappy about it.

Darcy had long revealed that their all data had been taken by SHIELD, and with that, their biggest hope of establishing credibility. The fact that their leading researcher, Selvig, had pulled back didn’t make the situation any better.

Pepper didn’t miss the same data, but he could see that she was arriving from a different direction, that Jane was another scientist who was getting obsessed over the wrong theory.

"The core issue is detection range," Jane tried to argue once Pepper asked her biggest bottleneck. "Current instruments can identify Einstein-Rosen Bridge energy signatures within a radius of roughly forty miles, but with some stringent inference limitations. That’s the main function of the grant. We plan to enhance our sensor arrays to triple our range and make more resistant to interference so we can expand our search radius.”

Michael leaned back, letting Jane carry the conversation. She was magnetic when she talked about her work, her hands moving in precise gestures that mapped invisible geometries, her eyes bright with the particular fire of someone who courageously pushed forward despite expecting to be rejected.

Rejection looked to be the likely outcome. Pepper already had her judgment, though based on faulty information. Still, to her credit, Pepper stayed engaged, asking sharp questions about scalability, cost projections, and implementation timelines.

Jane had her answers ready, showing the plans for her updated sensors.

Unlike the theory, Michael understood the sensor plans easily, including dozens of ways he could improve them without spending a dollar, merely by playing a bit. That was without even touching the algorithm.

“We will review the proposal and return an answer soon,” Pepper said.

Jane sighed. “Rejection, then,” she said.

Pepper nodded. “Sorry. I can see that you’re very passionate about the topic, but there are certain guidelines we have to follow while supporting external research.” She sighed. “Guidelines I have forced in place despite some resistance. I can’t bypass them myself.”

“Thanks for listening,” Jane sighed.

“Contact us if you can get any empirical results, even if they are inconclusive,” Pepper said helpfully, unaware that she was twisting the dagger even worse for Jane.

“I will,” Jane said and took a sip. “So, how did you two meet?”

Pepper and Michael exchanged a glance. He shrugged, giving her the lead.

"It was at the Stark charity gala," Pepper said, and her voice softened at the edges. "A few months ago. Tony had just come back from... well, you saw the news."

"Everyone did," Jane said.

"The gala was supposed to be his return to public life. I spent weeks planning it. Every detail perfect, every guest list triple-checked, every contingency mapped." She paused, turning her wine glass slowly. "And then Tony arrived … called me for a meeting on the roof, and vanished halfway. Without a word. Leaving me to freeze."

Jane winced. "That's awful."

“In a beautiful dress,” he intervened.

“A beautiful, backless dress,” Pepper said. “A horrible outfit for staying on the roof. But, since Tony promised to return, I waited…” Then, she turned to him, smiling. “He came, giving me his jacket, and the worst whiskey I've ever tasted."

Jane smirked. “Oh, I know. You should have seen the stewardess’ face when he asked for drinks. She looked ready to kick him out of the first-class cabin.”

"I stand by it," he interjected, but otherwise let Pepper tell the story. Pepper stuck to the playful aspects, keeping both romantic and naughtier details to herself.

“So, anything notable about how you met him?” Pepper said.

That made Jane blush like a tomato. “Technically, we met on the phone, but it was just a few words.”

Pepper looked at him. “It was some time ago. Just a day after I moved into my penthouse, actually,” he said. “I went to a bar, met Darcy, Jane’s intern who also turned out to be a prankster. So, when Jane started a video call, she answered.”

Pepper laughed while Jane blushed. “Did she blush this badly then as well?” Pepper asked, while Jane groaned playfully.

“I know it’s hard to believe, but it was somehow worse,” he said. This time, it was Jane who slapped his shoulder.

It broke the ice. For the next hour, Pepper and Jane talked with the specific energy of people discovering an unexpected kinship. Their industries might differ, but their personalities were surprisingly similar.

Maybe he actually had a type. He was tempted to offer support to Jane directly, as he was getting rich enough to throw around a couple millions without raising any red flags. He just needed to find a way to do so without alerting SHIELD agents —

His thoughts were interrupted by a mechanical whisper, one that he only caught due to his unique advantages.

Some kind of dart launcher. And, considering it was followed by a sharp hiss right where one of the SHIELD agents that was observing them from the roof.

He was tempted to activate Bat Ears, but he didn’t because he wanted to be ready to activate Tantric Healing if things went worse. He decided to just rely on his Sharp Hearing, with Stone Sprout ready to be used if necessary.

Only if necessary to keep Pepper or Jane safe. He knew he could convince SHIELD that his new power was a stress response, but being known as the guy that could develop new powers under stress was not a safe position to be in.

He didn't react. His expression didn't change. His hand didn't move from the table. But behind his eyes, every system he'd developed through training and ability snapped to full alert.

He was suddenly glad that, in the excitement of getting an advantage ticket, he had forgotten to replace regeneration with lesser regeneration.

He used Multitasking to split his attention cleanly. One track continued the conversation, responding to Jane's joke about whether Pepper had always been this intimidating or if it was a recent development. The other track parsed every sound reaching him from outside, building a tactical picture from audio alone.

Four more shots. These were from inside the restaurant. Pepper’s bodyguards.

Then voices. Low, encrypted comms, but close enough that he caught the salient details.

"—perimeter clear. Observers are down. Confirming the target is still inside—"

"—Potts is primary. Foster is secondary. Neutralize the man using multiple darts, but lethal force authorized. Confirmed healing factor, so aim for the head—"

"—moving to entry in thirty seconds—"

His blood ran cold. Not because of the danger. There was none. But, the only reason he was there was dumb luck. If he hadn’t killed Kilgrave today…

“I think we deserve a proper night out,” he said as he leaned and kissed Pepper’s neck, while he also grabbed Jane onto his lap. “Why don’t you call your naughty assistant so she can find us a nice club?”

“Naughty assistant,” Pepper asked, intrigued. “Don’t tell me —“

He chuckled as he kissed her lips. “Well, you’re the one who challenged me. You should have known better.”

Pepper sighed, but under her exasperation, he could sense her excitement as well. Too bad he had more critical things to handle. “Fine,” she said, then reached for her phone. “Hi, Natalie. We are leaving the restaurant. Could you find us a club, and also contact Jessica and Mary Jane?”

“Darcy as well,” he said, not wanting Pepper to end the call. He wanted Natasha to hear what was going on.

“What, we are not enough?” Pepper asked jokingly.

“I’m only looking for fairness. We will have three redheads; it’s only fair to balance the numbers. Six is a fair number for any fun party game —“ he added, then their situation was interrupted with the door burst open.

Five people burst in, their dart guns raised. He immediately flipped, his reflexes allowing his instant reaction while he covered both girls with his body. Two of the darts sank into his back, while one, he parried with a spoon.

Then, he raised the table as a shield. It was easily four hundred pounds, maybe heavier, but his enhanced strength meant that he could treat it as a tower shield. He walked to the back of the door.

“Natalie, we’re under attack. Call Coulson,” Pepper shouted, but it was useless. The call dropped, suggesting they deployed a jammer.

Not that it mattered, Michael decided. Natalie’s secret identity meant that SHIELD teams were already moving. He trusted her competence enough to connect Jessica and Mary Jane just in case — and if not, Jessica could protect Mary Jane.

He had sparred with Jessica enough to trust her to handle a team of unpowered agents easily, not to mention there was no reason for them to be targeted.

It wasn’t ideal, but that was the best one could do in an ambush.

"Stay there!" he ordered as he placed the table in a way two of them could hide, and jumped out.

“Michael—“ they shouted at the same time, but to their credit, both of them were already reacting. Pepper pulled some kind of device from her bag and pressed a button, likely some kind of emergency beacon.

He didn’t waste his time, engaging with the attackers. Another benefit of his spars with Jessica, it gave him an excuse to know unarmed combat. However, he didn’t let himself show his full skills.

Instead, he engaged them, dealing with two of them while the other three targeted him with multiple darts. He started swaying between his attacks, but he also showed some rapid improvement between his attacks.

When one of them switched to a real gun, he kicked a chair toward him with significant strength, the wooden missile enough to send him down.

Another used some kind of tech-based flashbang. It didn’t blind him thanks to his regeneration once again, but he still acted like it did, as it gave him an excuse to push between them and act recklessly.

He received another half a dozen tranquilizer shots, and two real bullets grazing him. Halfway in, he heard the approaching forces. “We have incoming. Retreat,” one of them ordered.

A pause to confirm their retreat was real, he made a show of collapsing while he switched to Lesser Regeneration. He even swiped two of the darts from the ground and stabbed himself before Pepper and Jane could leave.

He wanted to have some in his blood.

Though, he realized he underestimated his physique. Even with the lesser regeneration, it barely impacted him.

“The enemies are gone, but stay behind the table,” he ordered, even as he leaned toward the wall.

He didn’t have to fake his tense expression. Once again, he was caught flat-footed by an attack. He wouldn’t have minded if he were the target, but about the others.

He was very glad that he picked Computer Tinker. He needed to expand his information-gathering capabilities.

Until then, it was once again time to play the wounded hero.