Chapter 20 : 麦わらの一味 (Patreon)

Disclaimer - I don’t own Marvel/Disney IP. I am just a humble keyboard warrior. Also, the Chaos Gacha was made by Bronz here. I am just dipping my toe in the water, so to speak.

–Mike–

“Hmm,” He said out loud, standing just a little distance away from the wall of energy that was invisible to his eyes, and trying to get a feel for the wind changes from inside the shield. It was possible, the energy barrier posing very little issue to his Thunderbird senses, and since they were a trait, he could use them freely without having to worry about an ability slot.

Speaking of abilities, he currently had [Spirit Gathering], [Doppelganger], and [Stone Skin] active, not that the last one was useful anymore to him. Last he checked, either Scott had not yet figured out that the permission to use his power could be revoked at will, or the man was content letting him use his powers. He bet on the former, with Scott and the X-Men being what they were.

Concentrating, he felt nothing all around the barrier, with just empty land all around it. No animals, no drones either, so the one that hit him with that tranq dark and zoomed away into the skies after it failed was probably going to some other dock they have out of the shield, which made sense.

After all, to the rest of the world, Wakanda was a bunch of shacks cobbled together to make a country. A tribal country, the world called it. People whose main export was textiles and who just so happened to live close by to the place where most of the world’s known Vibranium was found, not that they found any more of it, even after extensive searches.

“Hmm,” He voiced out loud once more, an impulsive idea popping up into his head, one that he just couldn’t stop himself from testing. After all, this shield was supposed to survive the equivalent of alien ships crashing into it at high speeds, with barely a flicker, so a little laser should not be a problem. Right?

Raising his index finger, he pointed at the direction of the barrier, which was still just the base of a mountain to his eyes, and was just about to poke it when the barrier glimmered.

Dropping the finger, he realised that his time was up, as he felt people move through the wind, along with aircraft that floated close by, never too far, just in case the mutant attacked their people.

Marvelling at the fact that he was still not feeling even the least bit conscious of just having leaves for clothing, especially in front of Wakandan Royalty, who were perhaps the most powerful royalty left on the planet, he inspected the members of the landing party who had come to greet him.

It was the King, with the signature Black Panther suit, though it was similar to that of the one that T’Challa would wear in the future, instead of the more traditional ones that T’Chaka wore. Present with the King, was the faithful guard of the Royalty. The General of the Dora Milaje.

Okoye, with her signature battle garb, with the infamous Virbanium spear. Two other women joined her, though one of them did not have a spear with them. He wondered why—

His thoughts stuttered to a halt as he sensed something with his [Sensory] trait. The trait had overwhelmed him at first, but the limited time he spent at Xavier’s school meant he had enough practice to differentiate between energy shields or projections and the energy that was inherent to a person, to a mutant.

So, they had inducted mutants into the Dora Milaje. That was….obvious, now that he thought about it. Wakanda might be xenophobic to the rest of the world, extremely wrong about the way of ruling, and kind of evil to stop the rest of the world from progressing properly, but all of that was directed outwards. 

That same level of hatred, that otherness, was not reserved for their fellow citizens, which meant that, just like all the other humans on the planet, they had people amongst themselves that had the X-Gene in them. Activation of that particular gene could happen without any reason, unlike that of the Inhumans, so it was not out of the realm of possibility that Wakandans had known about mutants, their powers, for years, maybe even decades before the rest of the world.

Then once that power was identified, the next best step was ofcourse to induct it in the country’s workforce. The decision to induct them into the Dora Milaje was just as expected as the mutants were a force multiplier the likes of which the planet had never seen before, and it would make sense to make sure to keep any mutant under the direct control of the King and no individual tribe.

He expected forced inductions as well, with participation in the Dora Milaje mandatory. Separation from family, subtle or maybe even direct brainwashing with propaganda, and more, with all the complications that came along with it.

All of this flashed through his mind within a split second, as his mind processed what he was seeing at speeds he had never thought of before. The whole becoming a Thunderbird thing was really paying off in spades. The men standing behind the King, in a clearing with dozens of others, wearing the same shades of clothing as Okoye here told him that he was spot on, that King T’Chaka had done something that would basically guarantee him losing the throne if the truth came to light. The same program that T’Challa, if he was anything like this MCU counterpart, would disband the moment he became King and became aware of the horrible atrocities that his father had inflicted upon their own subjects.

It would seem that his perception of Wakanda being this uber safe, isolated, and more importantly, stable hub that he could use to house Ghidorah was falling apart by the second.

Joy……

“King T’Chaka,” He greeted them first, the two women beside Okoye looking surprised at the admission, for some reason. Did T’Chaka not reveal himself on the global stage as the King?

Oh. Were they using an actor for the supposed King of the village as well? Damn, that was a nice strategy. If only the MCU counterpart had done the same. Might have saved that universe a Civil War.

Heh.

Snoring internally at his own terrible joke, he waited for T’Chaka to speak, especially since the tranq dart, the thick dart with a very sharp needle, was still floating right beside him, showing him that he was the one who had attacked first, so he should be the one to justify it.

Not that people like T’Chaka subscribed to such niceties out in the real world. It was very much a Might make right world for them, and in their defense, it had worked out pretty well for them.

Hell, he was not even that worried about T’Chaka here, beyond the doubt that was rapidly getting confirmed, about the viability of keeping Ghidorah here, but he was more worried about Bast and her whole situation. Her whole shtick was the Spiritual Realm or the Ancestral Realm, whatever she wanted to call it. The realm where only minds went, and she could attack them with her powers there.

He wondered what these people would do if he just dropped unconscious in the middle of their talks because Bast pulled the soul equivalent of a team calls on his ass, which was why he wanted to get Alcina out of the Pocket Beach Dimension, but noooo, the Ancient One had to drop him so close to the Wakandan border that they were guaranteed to find him snooping around, complicating stuff.

Now, since he was here anyway, might as well talk and see if his plan, if it could even be called that, was viable or not. His pride–his pride? When did he get that?-- did not let him basically flee from them just because he was on a timer.

“Mr.Mike,” T’Chaka said as he came to a halt just outside the shield, even though this section of it was turned off, he could tell that it could snap back into place instantly. “Why are you here?”

He debated internally on how to answer that particular question. The honest answer would be because a bald headed demon, who also led the biggest Mystic Order on the planet, dropped him here without his consent, but that would just lead to them looking at him as if he was an idiot. The next option was to tell them about Ghidorah and the Nuke, something he was hoping to soften with Klaue and the Vibranium, but since he did not have that right now, it would be stupid to state his goals.

T’Chaka will reject him right then and there, and would most likely fight him. He wouldn’t even blame him then. Who would want to host a creature that could change the weather on a planetary scale and was basically invincible? He did not think even the Wakandans had something beyond the Nuclear Bomb in terms of sheer destructive capacity, and that was basically a meal to the Ghidorah and his energy absorption to regeneration pipeline.

So, naturally, that left only one option left. 

Chaos.

“Just sightseeing,” He shrugged, mimicking a cool pose by putting his hands in his pockets, only to realise that he had no pockets so he just rested them on his bare thighs. He could feel the collective incredulousness from the gallery, so he continued with a chuckle, “I am just kidding. I come with information.”

Let’s see how far he can string them along, or rather, how far he can hold off the pressure of the Ghidorah in his mind until he is forced to offload the titanic beast.

“What information?” T’Chaka asked him with a serious look on his face. 

“Pretty important information. In exchange, I want the Wakandan equivalent of a Green Card here. Residency.”

T’Chaka opened his mouth, likely to deny, but he spoke up before that, “I assume you want to know about a missing Prince, son of your brother, whom you lost.”

Okoye’s hands twitched, her face twisting at his mocking tone, as T’Chaka looked at him with a withering glare, as if judging him for bringing up all those painful memories.

“Oh, and also,” He spoke up again, not letting the onslaught stop, “I can also locate Klaue for you, and get what remains of the Vibranium he stole from you guys.”

Just as T’Chaka was about to reply, probably something along the lines of inviting him inside to talk, only to try to double cross him or something equally as asinine as that, he felt his vision blur, and then suddenly switch from the grassy lands of Birnin Zana to the all encompassing purple around him, with a giant rock in front of him.

No–Wait! That was not a rock!

He stepped back and looked up at the same time, as the rock he was referencing to, revealed itself to the leg of a Black Panther, with glowing Purple eyes staring him down.

“Welcome to the Ancestral Realm, Mortal.” She said that last word as if it was a grave insult!

TING! For Entering the Ancestral Realm and meeting Bast, one of the last remaining Gods, Gold Ticket X1

Swiping the notification away, he focused on the absolutely massive presence of the Goddess in front of him. Even diminished as she was, she was this powerful. Suddenly, he was very thankful for the Ancient One and her interference, as that was probably the only reason he was talking to her and not, you know, becoming brain dead all of a sudden because of a mental sniper attack.

“I give you this opportunity because of her mark. Speak.”

And speak he did. He told her of his intention to keep a dangerous creature, who was totally under his control, under the Wakandan shields, to shield the world from its impact, and also because he had a nuke he kind of wanted to surrender to Wakanda. He was not going to give them the unblockable remote for it, and since the nuke was not going to be anything new for Wakanda, he figured they could hold onto it for him, indefinitely.

He did not tell her anything about the Gacha, he was not that stupid, thank you very much. He knew, even before she spoke, he knew that he was going to be rejected. The long silence was just unnecessary in his opinion, but he supposed that Gods did love their theatrics. So, he waited for her judgement because that’s what it felt like.

“No.” And when it came, he nodded as if he completely expected that, “I will not let you endanger my Kingdom with your creature, no matter your claims of control over it. You will leave, never to return.”

Never was a strong word, but he supposed he got her point. Oh, well, when the world was trapped in chaos, no one could say he didn’t try.

“Ok,” Shrugging, he replied, which actually seemed to catch her off guard. It did not show anywhere on her emotions, but he could feel her being surprised at his nonchalance.

“Be glad you are leaving with your life. The only reason–

“Yeah, yeah, can I leave already?” He interrupted her, and he was pretty sure he saw the entire purple theme she had going around him darkened for a split second, as her anger surged at his so called audacity. Now, some would call provoking a God in their domain suicidal, and they would mostly be right.

It was good that he had spent all the time in the background, trying to see if he could get out of this place, and apparently, all he needed was a tether, something that bound him to his body.

As a recently turned Thunderbird, his body and soul were far more interlinked than a regular person, which brought up the question of if Bast could even sense that, since he did call him a Mortal. Putting that out of his mind, he looked up at Bast, who refused to shrink herself for a face to face conversation, grinned, and waved at her.

Just as he was about to feel something akin to a dick measuring contest from her, he violently yanked on the link he felt with his body, feeling his vision swim before he was back in his body, right in front of T’Chala, whose face was one of shock.

He took a step back, steadying himself using his control over the air around him as T’Chaka looked at him in shock, likely realising something had happened with Bast, the tranq dart that he had kept afloat by his side falling down on the ground.

That mental trip, combined with the two sudden transformations to full Thunderbird form back during his impromptu Mirror Dimension trip meant he was far closer to losing the battle against holding stuff in his Familiar Space. Not interested in talking to T’Chaka since his boss had very clearly shut the door on his face, he floated off the ground and rocketed straight up, in search of the nearest Door so he could get Alcina back in action.

Despite his newfound prowess, he really missed having her at his beck and call. A dependable and, more importantly, powerful minion was really rare these days. 

No, Ghidorah did not count since it could not be hidden, as far as he could tell.

Looking at the new ticket, he saw…

For enraging the last remnant of the Egyptian Pantheon, Silver Ticket X1

For surviving a meeting with Bast, Silver Bronze Ticket X1

The Silver to Bronze was probably because of the coin that the Ancient One gave him. He did not really survive that meeting on his own, hence the downgrade.

On his way to the nearest town, which should not be far away since he was not in some frozen wasteland, he rolled all the tickets he received so far. As was tradition, he began from the bottom.

The bronze Ticket gave him….

[Heat Palm]

|Common Ability|

Unordinary - Allows you to heat up your palms to red-hot levels, only your palms.

It’s only worth was bringing him closer to yet another ability slot. He was up to 14 abilities, with only a single one left before he got his fourth ability slot, not that he had found a particular ability he wanted to keep active at all times.

The Silver ticket got him….

[The Straw Hat]

|Trash Item|

One Piece - Holds a lot of sentimental value to a certain sun god, but not much material value.

He stopped flying, his mind going to a certain, laughing, free soul who would be pissed beyond reason if his Straw Hat was stolen. Laughing, he refrained from taking it out right now. He needed to keep it stored in a long term container. The Straw Hat deserved that much, at the very least.

He did not want JoyBoy’s Drums of Liberation to reach his ears anytime soon, thank you very much.

Resuming his flight, thankful for the fact that the Trash Item, which it was definitely not, did not add any meaningful burden on his ability to keep stuff stored in the Gacha provided space, he rolled the last and highest tier ticket he had gotten from going to Wakanda, the Gold One.

He supposed that the tickets alone made the trip worth it, even if he did not fulfill his goals.

[Mechanical Tentacles]

|Rare Item|

Spider-Man - A high-tech harness that has 4 mechanical tentacle arms fused into it, you can move the tentacles with your thoughts, or they can move independently according to your commands. The arms possess supernatural strength and have several tools integrated into them depending on what they need to do.

“Ugh,” he grunted at the addition of yet another item to the already bloated familiar space, further increasing the mental strain. It was a shame, too, since it was such a cool item. He might not have much use for them now, but it was a cool thing to have, and he was just so pissed that the Gacha had to give him multiple items just when he was in such a precarious situation.

Thankfully, he spotted a village that was not Fake Wakanda and swooped down, desperate to get a door in sight. Any Door.