Kol Mikaelson – Journey To The Multiverse - Chapter 42

“Ding-Dong!!”, Kol rang the doorbell of one of the houses on the street downtown.

This was where he was staying as a paying guest. He preferred this over some fancy hotel room, because no matter how expensive, they never had that extra homey feeling to them that made you wanna come home every day.

Not to mention, the whole neighborhood as walking, talking food supply, which was always a plus.

A teenager opened the door, and greeted Kol, “You’re here! Where did you run off to? Come on in.”, then as he stepped aside to make way for him to get in, he noticed the party behind him, “Who are these guys… The… it’s the Avengers! Captain America, Black Falcon, Black Widow… why did you bring them here for?”, he asked Kol.

[Images]

“It’s not black… it’s just Falcon kid.”, Sam interjected before Kol could answer.

“But you’re black!”, the kid argued.

“Is that right? Then are you… BLACK KID?”, Sam asked rhetorically.

The kid had no reply for this. He was speechless.

“Ha! ha! ha! ha!”, Sam laughed, and Carol, Bucky, Hill, everyone had a smile on their face, the mood lightened up.

“Whatever man… Kol, why’d you bring these guys here?”, the kid asked embarrassingly, trying to change the topic.

Kol replied, “Some business with your grandpa… Eli, what are you doing home? Weren’t you supposed to go play basketball with your friends?”, he asked.

Hearing this, Eli sighed, and replied, “Jackson is sick.”, in a sad tone, like he’d been hit hard.

“And what does that have to do with anything? Jackson’s the last name of the girl you have a crush on? Or… is it a guy? That’s why you’re using his last name… Well, whatever you prefer kid, let me give you some real-life advice… You can’t be good at something if you do it to impress others. Remember that.”, Kol advised.

Hearing this, the kid seemed pretty irritated, like he was wrongfully accused of murder or something, “Hey! What the fuċk! Who’s gay!? You go be gay… Man, I’m straight. Jackson’s the guy who’s got the basketball that we use to play. That’s it. You don’t twist my words like that… I’m tellin’ ya.”.

Seeing such an exaggerated reaction to a simple misunderstanding, Kol tried to calm things down, “Ok! Ok! Relax kid. Just a misunderstanding.”, then he raised his hands in front of him, and with a flash of white light, a basketball was created out of thin air with the energy of Creation.

The kid didn’t seem surprised by this and seemed pretty used to seeing stuff like this, which is another thing you can’t find in those hotels.

“You’re overly conscious about your sėxuȧŀity, aren’t you? Are you even sure?… Well, whatever! Here’s a peace offering. Now you can go play whenever you feel like it.”, Kol gave the ball to the kid, “Do you want it to have amazing abilities?”, he asked with interest apparent in his eyes.

He took out the infinity gauntlet from his M-Ring, and asked, “Maybe make it able to attack like a cannonball? Cause untold destruction and property damage? How about making it able to return to you in case it gets stolen?”, Kol asked as he put on the infinity gauntlet.

Seeing this, Fury, Rogers, and others were stunned. They couldn’t believe what Kol was doing with the most powerful weapon in the universe.

Fury promptly came forward to try and interrupt a possible catastrophe, but Eli spoke first, “I just wanna play some ball. That’s it. But… but I guess it’d be nice if you could make it so it doesn’t get stolen?”.

Since the kid didn’t demand anything excessive, nobody interrupted their conversation, but after seeing the infinity gauntlet, they were still wary.

However, Kol seemed disappointed, and gave him a few suggestions, “That’s it!? C’mon… use your imagination here. Don’t you want it to be able to summon lightning like Thor’s hammer? Maybe cause earthquakes? Or… how about giving it reproductive organs? Cuz that’d be one REAL crazy-looking ball.”.

Hearing this, the kid was now truly tempted. He started to consider it, which many people here noticed.

So Fury interjected, “I think, that’d be too much… this kid just wants a completely normal basketball, without any of that mojo.”.

“Fury shut the fuċk up. Nobody asked what you think.”, Kol dismissed him on the spot.

“Kol, this glove shouldn’t be used like this. It’s too dangerous.”, Rogers commented.

Carol also agreed, “That’s right! Even one of these stones is enough to destroy an entire civilization. It’s actually happened before.”.

But Kol dismissed their worries, “Relax! Nothing’s getting destroyed here. I won’t let it go that far. Just wanna see what choices Eli would make when given an opportunity. That’s it… Hey Eli, we don’t have all day.”, he asked the kid.

After seeing the glares of warning directed at him by most of the ȧduŀts in the room, the kid hesitated.

In the end, “Nah, I’m good. A basketball that can’t get stolen seems pretty cool… I don’t wanna be Denzel or nothin’.”, Eli replied in a guilty tone, like he was caught red-handed while shitting on the hood of a police car.

He was intimidated by the Avengers and their even more intimidating friends that he didn’t know anything about.

“Ok!”, Kol nodded, and, “SNAP!!”, changed the fabric of reality so that the basketball wouldn’t get stolen.

As soon as the snap sounded, everyone subconsciously tensed up and raised their guard, but after seeing it only change that basketball in kid’s hands, they didn’t know whether to laugh or cry anymore.

After seeing Kol casually using the most dangerous object in the universe for such a purpose, they were now really worried.

By the time when Kol took back the infinity gauntlet in his M-Ring, Fury had an expression like he’d had diarrhea and hadn’t been able to find an opportunity to relieve himself in over a week.

Romanoff and Carol even had a faint inkling that Kol put on this elaborate show just to mess with Fury.

In the end, as the kid was leaving, Kol reminded him, “Hey Eli! Watch your back out there, and come to me if somebody bothers you.”.

He nodded and left.

This wasn’t a nice neighborhood. Too much racial discrimination. Eli and his grandfather, Isaiah Bradley were black. Before Kol came to live with them, the police used to harass them as they did with everyone else in this neighborhood.

But soon after, those racist police officers became Kol’s dinner one by one, and after dozens of them went missing, along with several local gang leaders, the feds took over to do their investigation, and the situation changed for the better.

Of course, the better, in this case also meant ‘boring’ for Kol, so he was planning on leaving soon, maybe finally going on a space adventure.

In the back garden, an old man was watering the plants.

Kol opened the door and greeted him, “Hey, old man!”, while walking right into the garden.

[Images]

He turned his attention from the plants to look at him, and immediately got irritated like he was hit in the foot with a hammer or something, “ISAIAH!! MY NAME… is Isaiah, not OLD MAN…”, he was about to continue when he noticed the party following behind him.

Kol shrugged his shoulders, “Well, I guess, looks CAN be deceiving to some extent, even though you do look like you’ve got one foot in the grave.”.

He recognized everyone here except Fury, Hill, and Carol, and he seemed to have a particularly deep impression of Bucky as his eyes lingered on him.

He spoke, “Look at you…”, something only Bucky could understand.

“Isaiah!”, Bucky greeted him in a hesitant tone.

“You know him?”, Rogers asked him, and everyone else was curious as well.

“Go on Bucky. You go ahead and do the introductions.”, Kol told him.

So Bucky explained, “This… um… this is Isaiah. He was a hero. One of the ones that HYDRA feared the most. Like Steve.”.

“Super soldier?”, Fury asked. It seemed like even he didn’t know about him, which did make sense.

Bucky replied. “Yes… we met in ’51…”.

“If by ‘met’, you mean I whupped your ȧss, then… yeah!”, Isaiah interjected.

Then continued, “I heard whispers that he was on the peninsula, but everyone they sent after him… they never came back. So the US military dropped me behind enemy lines to go deal with him… I took half that metal arm in that fight in Goyang, but I see he’s managed to grow it back.”.

After hearing this, everyone had different reactions. Fury was thinking how could he not know about this. Rogers seemed attentive, Romanoff was trying to figure out Kol’s intentions, while everyone else seemed curious.

Isaiah spoke to Bucky, “Well, you’ve brought a decent enough company, so I guess… you’re not here to kill me.”, then he asked Kol, “Why did you bring them here?”.

Then as everyone turned to look at Kol to hear his reply, “I’m… ah… I’m not a killer anymore.”, Bucky interjected with a guilty conscience. He probably already had an idea why Kol brought them here.

Hearing this, everyone’s attention was once again on Bucky.

Isaiah took a deep look at him, and asked, “You think you can wake up one day and decide who you wanna be?”, in a ridiculing tone.

Then continued, “IT DOESN’T WORK LIKE THAT!”, in a reprimanding tone, “Well… maybe it does for folks like you.”, referring to Bucky’s past as Winter Soldier.

He didn’t know about Bucky being mind-controlled by HYDRA at that time. It wasn’t public knowledge.

Kol interjected, “C’mon old man! Give the guy a break… It’s not what you think. He was mind-controlled by HYDRA at the time.”.

Then continued, “They made him their sėx slave and did indecent things to him every single day, using his body to satisfy their ŀėwd… ȯbsċėnė dėsɨrės. Things that shouldn’t even be mentioned. His past isn’t much better than yours.”.

“Mind-controlled into becoming a willing sėx slave?”, Isaiah asked incredulously, but then reflexively denied it.

Hearing this, different people had different reactions, some were trying to control their laughter as the mood here changed too abruptly, some people looked at Bucky with doubtful, yet sympathetic eyes, Rogers being one of them, while others, Like Fury and Isaiah, just denied it.

Seeing all kinds of gazes suddenly directed at his person, Bucky was pissed, “That never happened! There was no such thing as sėx slaves. I was just their murder weapon and…”, but was interrupted.

“Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!”, Sam couldn’t hold it in anymore, and as if given a signal, Romanoff and Hill soon followed, but they were trained agents, so they only showed a faint smile.

As Rogers looked at Sam with disapproving expression, Kol spoke sarcastically, “Yes, of course, Bucky! That never happened. We understand. Don’t worry, you were just their mindless murder weapon and nothing more.”, while winking at Rogers.

And Rogers knew what to do. He went forward to put a hand on Bucky’s shoulder, and started comforting him, “Yes, Bucky. Don’t worry. Kol was just joking, to lighten up the mood a bit, that’s all. We all know that.”.

But Bucky wasn’t stupid enough to not notice the look of sympathy in his eyes that was directed towards him. Obviously, Steve himself didn’t believe what he just said.

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Isaiah Bradley was a Korean War veteran, who became a Supersoldier after being unwillingly subjected to human trials of the Super Soldier Serum in the 1950s.

Isaiah was very patriotic in his youth, he loved his country, and being a Supersoldier on top of that, he could very well become the next Captain America.

However, he was an African American. He was a black guy and so he was discriminated against.

After the war, where he was a war hero, his entire team was killed off one by one, and he was put in prison by the US government for three decades, in a black sight, where he was constantly subjected to inhumane treatment and was forced to go through human experimentation.

After three decades, he managed to finally escape, only to come home to find his family dead, except for his grandson, Eli. So now he was just some bitter old man trying to live out the rest of his days in peace, minding his own business, and trying to raise his grandson right.

Kol brought Rogers, Fury, and others here to listen to Isaiah’s story, not for them to do something for him, but to give them an example.

An example of what was happening out there in the real world, in the darkness that was outside this light of glory that shone on their stars and stripes, and the suit of armors.

They still had delusions that things were different now just because the times changed, so Kol shook them awake.

He gave them an ultimatum. Two years!

This world was too fuċkėd up.

Alien invasions were always happening, world-ending catastrophes were a common occurrence, dangerous objects and people who could bend reality were popping out all the time, super-spy organizations were wrangled in power struggles and building world-destroying weapons that weren’t aimed at the real enemies, but towards earth itself, yet the government who was supposed to deal with all these matters was still playing politics, shifting the blame and public opinions against those few who were actually, trying to make a difference.

Of course, these so-called “heroes” were no better. Instead of trying to stabilize the world government, they were too busy playing vigilantes, content enough to dress up like a bunch of clowns waiting for the cheers. Like that would change anything!

Kol wasn’t buying any of that bullshit. He was not here to participate in this clown show.

He was a King, a conqueror, and if these few exceptional individuals, who had the power, the right, and the public opinion in their favor, failed to make some real difference in two years, then he would step in.

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Nornheim.

One of the realms outside the nine realms, but under Asgard’s protection.

[Images]

Nornheim was home to two kinds of humanoid races.

The Norns, who were like humans, but stronger and much more long-lived, and the Rock Trolls, who were far greater in population and lived in the massive cave systems of Nornheim.

Once upon a time, it was ruled by a very powerful Asgardian witch named Karnilla, but it was then freed and given back to the natives.

Now there was nothing special about this realm, it was very unremarkable considering the vast expanse of the universe.

Far away from any kind of civilization, a beautiful brunette sat outside a small cave under the starry night sky, observing the strange-looking lizard species that was being cooked on the fire in front of her.

This was her catch of the day.

“Sigh!”, she shook her head in helplessness and looked up at the clear night sky, “Heimdall… what happened to you? Why won’t you respond to me?”, she asked for the Nth time, yet just as the previous (N – 1) times, there was no reply.

She didn’t know what to do anymore.

She was sent here to observe and report anything peculiar she might see, something that wasn’t supposed to belong to this realm, yet even after so long, she found nothing.

Just then, “Huh?”, she noticed something.

A flicker of light maybe, or just imagination of her desperate mind at work, but she could swear she saw an orange flicker of light among the stars in the sky.

As she subconsciously straightened her back to attentively observed the place, “BO-Boom!”, with the sound of a sonic boom and leaving behind an orange trail of fire that should’ve been caused by entering into the atmosphere, she noticed something flying towards her.

A flying vessel? A spaceship? No! It was too small for that.

As it got closer, she took a deep breath.

It was a man. Just a man.

“BOOM!!”, he landed in front of her.

As the dust cleared, she observed him closely, yet very cautiously. Her instincts were hardened in battle, for hundreds of years, and they were telling her that this purple-eyed man with long black hair was extremely dangerous.

He walked towards her, “Hey, hello!”, speaking in a friendly, vibrant tone.

“Who are you?”, she asked cautiously.

So he introduced himself, “I’m Kol, the God of Power. I was just passing by this realm when I heard some particularly desperate prayers of a maiden… It was so sad that it almost broke my heart! I had to stop my journey and go in to take a look… Anyway, aren’t you supposed to introduce yourself?”.

“I am Lady Sif of Asgard. I’m here in Nornheim to accomplish a task of immense significance.”, Sif introduced herself while trying to ignore the embarrassing detail.

Kol spoke in a sympathetic tone, “Well, my Lady, Sif… Just in case if this helpless maiden was indeed you, then know that I definitely understand your plight. I mean, if you have to eat THAT every day…” while pointing at the strange-looking lizard that was by now nearly burnt.

Thanks to his reminder, Sif finally noticed it, “OH! NO!”, she scrambled over to save it from becoming inedible.

And after a while, with some most attentive effort, she managed to save her dinner.

However, just then, Kol sat down near her and took out a pizza from his M-Ring, “Do you know what this is?”, he asked, “It’s from Midgard… an extremely delicious dish called…”, but was interrupted.

“Pizza! I know, I’ve been to Midgard before and have tried it. When it comes to their delicacies, Midgard is now perhaps the best in the nine realms.”, Sif spoke with melancholy apparent in her tone.

So Kol asked, “So, my Lady, Sif. I’m quite…”, but was interrupted.

“Lady! It’s just, Lady Sif… Not ‘my’ Lady.”, Sif interjected.

Without minding it much, Kol continued, “Yes, of course… So, I was wondering since I’m quite hungry as well, would you perhaps like to trade? You see, I always like to try new things and I’ve definitely never tried that before.”, referring to the strange lizard that seemed quite crispy.

Sif took a look at the steaming hot pizza whose aroma made her mouth water even from a distance, and then she turned to look at the unsavory strange lizard in her hands. Sufficed to say, she readily agreed.

While eating, she asked, “So, God of Power huh? It would be difficult to believe if I didn’t see you entering the planet’s atmosphere myself, without the aid of any mage-craft or technology… You’re certainly not of Asgard, so where are you from?”.

This time, Kol had no reason to lie or evade, so he introduced himself honestly.

It was unknown what Sif thought of it, as the two just focussed their attention on eating.

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I know that the first section of the chapter is longer than it needs to be, but I’ve done this deliberately because the story is going to go completely off the rails from now on.

The last two seasons of Agents of SHIELD can never happen, otherwise, it would be completely out of character for Kol.

He’s going to start conquering this universe now, and then in a couple more chapters, we’ll be off to Star Wars.