Disclaimer - I don't, and have never claimed to, own Marvel or its Intellectual Property. This is all just so that I can take my maladaptive daydreaming and turn it into something so that it does not ruin the rest of my day.
DoorMan #66
The Red Hearth, Mars[February 16, 2008]
–Colin Baxter–
Shutting down everything on his workstation, he whirled out of the office and went to his personal living quarters. He still had a couple of hours before Shuri arrived at the designated location, plenty of time to have a talk with the Village Chief, to warn him about the dangers of deputizing dangerous vampires, allowing them to bypass treaties meant specifically to safeguard young, talented humans.
He didn't really need to pack anything and this time, he was a little angry with them so him going empty handed would have been totally reasonable but his beef was with the Chief, not with the others. So, with a sigh, he went down to the lower levels, the cold storage floors, and gathered everything he needed before dumping them into the goods carriage section of the Portal Room.
When the time came, he would just open a portal, which would then be held open by the Water Dragon and then he could just send in his Doors to get the stuff out. It still kinda amazed him how easily the Water Dragon could just hijack his portal. It was not like it was harmful or anything but every time the Water Dragon did the trick, he tried to take back control or to push back in some meaningful way and yet, it was like pushing against an ocean with just two hands.
His hands would just sink into the overwhelming energy the Water Dragon had, as the energy parted around him and reached its goal, without caring even the slightest bit.
Very cool, if you ask him.
Once he was done cataloguing the stuff, he marked everything down and then headed back to the kitchen. He needed to check in on how much of the Ta-Lo meat was left. He kept about 10 pounds of it hidden in his personal cold storage and the rest in the fridge with a warning: DO NOT EAT but he was not sur—
"What the–" His words were stuck in his mouth as he stood there, at the entrance of the kitchen, watching her, the Red matron, eating the Ta-Lo meat, raw!
BLASPHEMY!
A few seconds after he laid his eyes on her, a red mist appeared around her that dissipated soon after, alarming the Red Matron who immediately looked up with wide eyes, still chewing on the heavenly meat.
He watched as her eyes darted all around her, staying on him a second longer before moving on, as the mist slowly dissipated. He connected himself to the ward systems to get an idea as to how she was able to move about freely without him being alerted by the wards when the last of red mist disappeared and a very familiar rumbling was heard throughout the Red Hearth.
The sound of a supremely angry Psionic Dragon.
Sighing, he put all his power into the Air Door that appeared behind his right foot and braced for impact as he was essentially mach-punted right towards the Red Matron. He winced as he felt the muscles tear at the strain but he was right in time as the first hint of the purple energy was appearing right to the side of the Red Matron, heralding the arrival of Jin'Ya.
He could also see, in slow motion, the Red Matron looking at the mist of energy and the remaining meat, as if debating eating the rest of it before Jin'Ya. IN that single flash moment, the confusion of the importance of that meat rang in his mind and he noted to ask the Village Chief about its effects on any vampire, as he finally arrived right before the Red Matron, his leg screaming in pain as it was actually steaming at this point.
"WAIT!" He shouted, imbuing his command into the wards as well, making the purple mist actually pause a bit. He then commanded the wards, which could now see that the Red Matron was not in her designated spot and was giving him alarm bells, to banish her back to the prison wing. She pouted and then disappeared after giving him a two finger mocking salute.
As for the resident angry dragon, "Look, it's just meat. That's not important, what is important is the fact that she escaped and tried to act in bad faith. I need to leave for Ta-Lo right now and I would rather not leave her in Red Hearth alone. Can you just–"
"Out of question!" "Out of question!"
Two replies rang around him at the same time. HE mechanically tuned his neck and saw a small red circle right next to the floating purple one.
The red one pulsed angrily, "According to the agreement I have with the bald headed demon, if anything were to happen to you, I would not just lose the Apples but also be punished severely, leaving me vulnerable for decades to come. No, I can't afford that. I am coming wherever you are going, that is non negotiable."
He opened his mouth to rebut but Jin'Ya butted in, "Yes, she is correct. I know the details of the deal and as much as I detest the parasite with every fiber of my being, I have to agree that she can be the best meat shield against the Vampires coming for you. Also, I cannot leave you alone with her, so I will be coming as well."
"Then it's settled." Both of the energy balls pulsed angrily at him with that declaration.
He shrugged, "Suit yourself." It was not the best case scenario but good enough for him. This way, Bruce and the others will be safe and so will he, under the protection of two Dragons, Jin'Ya and the Water Dragon, whose name he still did not know, despite literally saving the life of the Dragon.
With that statement, he walked out of the kitchen, not before checking with the wards if his share was secure, and was relieved to find the cold storage untampered.
Perk of having magical enchantments at beck and call was that cold storage became supremely easy and simple in terms of operation. No electricity, no maintenance for components, no dealing with defrosting and everything. Just a sealed box with a bunch of squiggly magical words cast on it and voilà! You have your own cold storage, at whatever size he wants.
Arriving at the portal room, he turned to the now small floating lizard, Jin'Ya, "If you would do the honors."
The dragon rolled his eyes before flicking his tail as a purplish portal bloomed into existence, but not without the entryway open. The center of the portal was still purple energy because the Water Dragon had yet to give them permission. After a couple of seconds of waiting, where he actually felt the Water Dragon poke at the portal with its energy, the view cleared up to reveal green grasslands.
The Red Matron hovered at the back of both of them but he was not worried about any cowardly attacks because he had Jin'Ya behind him. Damn, he sure was a dependable ally.
Maybe he deserved a doubling of his Ta-Lo quota.
The second the portal closed, he felt the Water Dragon speak to him mentally, "Greetings, Lifegiver. I see that you have made it out safely from the Hell empowered attacks."
He did not say the word but his expression sure did say a single word: What?
Then, after a second of deliberation, his face turned into an O as he realised what the Red Matron had done to get the approval and cooperation of Ta-Lo as a faction, because that needed express permission of the Dragon.
She lied to them about an impending attack, well, more likely she omitted information instead of outright lying, which led them to denote her as an ally in panic and emergency because the Water Dragon could not leave Ta-Lo and also could not send any warrior because the farther they were from the Water Dragon, the weaker they became.
Not wanting to resolve yet another fight that involved a Dragon, he mentally conveyed his gratitude and asked for a meeting with the Village Chief, which was swiftly granted.
After he sensed the Water Dragon's gaze receding from them, he swiftly threw a Laser at the Red Matron, knowing it would not hit but to express his anger.
"If you pull off a stunt like that again, I will make it my personal mission to exterminate you, either by turning you into a mindless husk or by vaporising you, take your pick." He spat out, deliberately releasing ANGER CHI which would give regular humans cancer but was like the worst poison to her kind, because if willingly given neutral CHI was like ambrosia or elixir to them, the Anger CHI was like the antithesis to that.
She shrunk back as black burns with yellow leaking out of them appeared on her body, the scars disappearing seconds after he let the CHI dissipate.
"Remember that." He warned her and then flew into the air with a shockwave, aiming at the village center.
This whole thing felt fishy to him and he had a hunch that the Red Matron was somehow involved in it, not just someone with knowledge of it. It was all just so convenient and yet, he could not do much because people (Jin'Ya and Ancient One) much more experienced and paranoid than him had not questioned the whole thing.
He needed something more concrete before he could start interfering in the workings of beings that had the Vishanti among them.
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