Chapter 1: Track 01: Thunderstuck
Notes:
Ok, this was an EX chapter from "Ghost Rider 2077" and I finally decided to give the story its own place in this site. My main concern is Ghost Rider but this won't get neglected. It happens in the same universe as "Ghost Rider 2077", but is a story of its own, so you don't have to read that story in order to get what's going on in here. It will have some mention, but is a Hi-fi Rush story mixing up with Thor.
My main influence of this story is "Thor the Mighty Avenger" by Roger Langridge from 2010 and "Justice Friends", THIS HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH RAGNAROK AND LOVE AND THUNDER. Marvel wants to do Thor into a dumbass, so I decided to use Chai as Thor but it won't have the level of cringe of that last movie. Is corny but at the same level as the video game, which is fine. Hi-Fi rush is a "short" story so is easier to work with than the whole Edgerunners and Cyberpunk 2077 world, that I have. But don't worry, this story will have plenty of Thor and Marvel stuff in it.
I hope you enjoy it.
(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)
Chapter Text
Track 01: Thunderstruck
He always had the same dream, he inside a castle, completely alone. He is searching for someone, he screams their names but he can’t hear them. Empty hallways of gold that tell stories from ancient times, a magnificent Kingdom made by a powerful man. Who wasn’t present anymore….he…leave him….and now he was in charge and the castle was devoid of any life.
Then his castle disappears and he is in a battlefield surrounded by corpses. They were all his people, how he knew that? He wasn’t sure. H
Hundreds and hundreds of good warriors lay on the floor, the Valkyries nowhere to be found. They died on battle, why they weren’t in Valhalla? They fought well and honorably! They deserve an eternal rest for their devotion!
A devotion to a fool king, who wasn’t able to command them in battle. Instead, he lead them to a unnecessary death. Between the fallen were familiar faces, of his friends, his merry band, who join him in every adventure regardless of how foolish there were. He looked around, he couldn’t find him.
He heard a crack, it was the sky, and it was red, like it was bleeding. He saw a figure standing in the sky….his enemy. The one he….he…..a hand grabbed his ankle. It belonged to one of the fallen, the other bodies join him and start grabbing for every inch of his body.
Extending his hand, he call for his trusting companion.
But it didn’t answer to him anymore.
He was not worthy of his power.
The corpses captured and pull him down to the mud and dirt of the ground. Everything was dark.
And then he saw fire……hellfire.
He was in Hel.
Flames and demons were everywhere, souls screaming in agony and despair. Most of them were normal people, innocents, they didn’t belong here. They didn’t do anything wrong, they were just victims of a drunk king. He needed to save him, but he didn’t have his hammer, nor his thunder.
A pain was burning in his legs, chains were tying his legs, pulling him to the depths of Hel. They wanted to claim his soul!
But then, something happen.
Suddenly a light appeared on the top, he saw a man with raven hair and green clothes. He was desperate, he---he knew him. A man, that he calls brother. His brother, he was looking for him. He screamed a name that he couldn’t hear but know that it belonged to him. He extended his arm, trying to reach for him.
He did the same, both brothers were using all their got to reach each other. But the chains of Hel were stronger than their bond.
And claimed his soul.
“BROOOOOOOOOOOOOTTTTTHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!”
“YAAAAAAWWWWWN” A young man yawned after being asleep for a couple of hours. He had being having the same dream….he thinks, because every time he wakes up, he forgets about the dream. In other words, he was sleeping without dreaming. That’s depressing.
But who cares? He was in Vandaley industries, babieeeeee! The place was awesome, tall building everywhere and advance robots that do everything. He was waiting for his chance for…
“Next.” A mechanic voice call for him, he had being waiting here for hours, to the point that he fall asleep. And now he was last!
“Next.” This was it, his new chance in life. He walk with all his confidence and gave the robot the solicitude as a volunteer, that he safe in his broken arm that didn’t end like that because he was trying to jump to the crowd after a good song. Not at all. “Chai…is it?”
“Yup.” His name was Chai, you’re regular 25 year old, and who is going for the stars.
<Profession….rockstar?>
“FUTURE….rockstar. Pewwewewew, yeaaaaaaaaaah!” He made his best air guitar impression, something that he was working on every night and was proud of it.
<……Are you done?>
“Uh….yes?”
<…Whatever, here’s your Project Armstrong pass. And welcome to Vandely Industries.>
“Hel yeah!” He grabbed his pass and start running towards the meeting area. He put on his iPod, a relic of the past that he loved because it was cheap and allow him to listen to music. Chai take a better looked at the city, it was like walking inside a videogame. The vibrant colors, the good vibes, this place was amazing!
Chai saw a crowd of people gathering in one place, this was the entrance of project Armstrong. He had to admit, there was more people that he expected. I mean, Project Armstrong was all over the news back in London. Vandeley industries is one of the biggest companies in Europe, they pretty much rebuild the United Kingdom after the fourth corporate war alongside Sterling robotics.
Without their aims, the country will still be at civil war and terrorist attacks. The EEC support both companies, thanks to them. Thank god that things are starting to work up for Europeans. Even those American were jealous of their improvements.
In your face, suckeerrss!
Vandeley kick the shit out of Militech and that Japanese one, they even offering new upgrades to people who volunteer for Project Armstrong! They were cool!
< “Now, the CEO of Vandaley Technologies.
Kale Vandelay!”>
On the upper platform, a dark skinned man came to meet them all. He supposed that he was the CEO according to the announcer. He wasn’t a suit man but he had to admit that he had style.
“Welcome! We all gather here for a historic day! You’re all the best of the best, and about to be better, thanks to our robot enchantments! Since our beginnings, Vandeley has always been about helping those in need. A lesson that I learn from my defunct mother and founder of this company. And now, with your help, we can show the world how special humans are thanks to the Armstrong Project.” The crowd started cheered him. “Now, tell me? Who is ready for a better life?!”
The crowd exploded in cheers and applause, the CEO left the stage. Chai looked around and saw an open gat.
“Sorry, gotta pass.” He pass, jump over and bump to all the people in his way until he reached the entrance. The gate close behind him, a robot touched his shoulder and pointing to a box.
He put all his belongings inside it, even his beloved iPod. Then the robot kick him like saying ‘Go away’. The young pass to a lot of scans and screens, he had no clue what they were doing with him. But they are Vandeley, so they know what they doing.
He reached a place where there was a big chunk of metal with a hole that fit a human. He didn’t saw the robot at his side and was throw to it. Metal locks bind him to the…bed, maybe? Perhaps this was an operation table?
Well, there was that big press coming towards him. Ah, it was also a scanner.
*Thud*
Something landed on his chest….wait, isn’t that his iPod?
*THUD!*
The dream was back, exactly as last time. Always alone, unable to find someone alive. He felt a big hole inside his chest, he was missing something vytal, important to him. What it was? No, he didn’t lost it, it abandoned him. Because he was unworthy.
Hel was claiming him once again, desperation invaded his being and tried to escape but to where? He didn’t have a home or a kingdom, nor even family and friends. All gone, thanks to his stupid actions. What kind of king was he?
A fool one.
“Brother!” Like always, the one he was looking for was above Hel. “Quick!” He extended his hand to reach him, he wanted to reach him as well but…
“Why bother?” He spoke, not trying to reach him. “I accomplish nothing during my lifetime. I’m nothing but a drunk fool who disappointed our father. I’m no god, I’m no warrior, and I’m no son of Odin. I’m a jester. A failure. Mjolnir abandoned me because I’m not worthy of nothing. I wasn’t a good brother to you. I couldn’t save you for taking the wrong path because of my arrogance. My reign was a buffoonery as myself. A buffoon king, drunk and stupid. I lead my people into oblivion, Asgard is no more. Is my fault, it was always my fault. Leave me, brother. Save yourself, don’t let this useless man drag you into the depths of Hel. I’m were I-“
“Could you stop with the drama? That’s my area!” His brother interrupted him….he….he remembered his name, Loki. “You want to talk about being unworthy?! Look at me! I betray you and father, to the kingdom that was my home! Mother died in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do nothing! I was so absorb in my fake superiority that I wasn’t to see beyond my own belly. I didn’t accomplish nothing good, only death and destruction. I was despise by all, father couldn’t forgive me, and he cast me away as he should. But you….you never give up on me. You always reach for me even after I betray you over and over again. Never call yourself a bad brother! You were always be there for me even I didn’t want to admit it!”
The words of his brother, who was now cause of his lies and schemes, were honest and truthful. He could feel how the tears were dropping from his eyes.
“Now, let met…..LET ME REACH FOR YOU THIS TIME!” Loki extended his arm to him, he stared at it. His strength was coming back. “You’re no failure Thor Odinson! You’re the greatest and bravest warrior of all! Worthy of being my brother! So, wake up, Thor! Midgard needs you more than ever!”
Midgard…yes…he was the protector of Midgard before all of this. He abandoned Midgar centuries ago because……why he did it? They were weak against the outside world threats, they need his power to be safe.
But….could they accept him again?
“Stop brooding and grab my fucking hand, you big ass idiot!” Loki yelled at him and put him out of his mind state, his strength returned to his body and he stretch his arms. For the first time in years, he managed to reach for his brother’s hand.
Above them, the sky was changing. A storm was forming, healing the sky from its bleeding wound. Thunder were falling down to the ground, breaking the storm apart.
This was a waste of time. He asked for the best of the best, influencers, and people in high spots of society. Not losers! One of them even have a freaking mp3 player, those things were discontinued a hundred years ago!
The only thing he could hope now was that they didn’t become defects, he will get rid of them, sure. But still, it was a pain to have to deal with them and they waste precious resources that could be use on something better.
Kale: Rekka, status report.
Rekka: The project is on! Rekka will make sure that not a single Defect survives.
Kale: What about no defects at all from the start?
Rekka: Is not Rekka’s fault that R&D bring us this crap! I’ll do what I do, quality control!
Don’t worry! Rekka here, has a track record of no-
*KRABOOOOOOM!*
“*Cough* *Cough* What the hell happen?” What went wrong? A moment ago he was waiting for his upgrades and the next, he was on the ground, surround by scraps and smoke. Did his player cause this? “I hope no, I don’t have money to pay this!” Chai stand up, trying to get away from the smoke.
He touched a wall and try to pull away all the smoke that was hurting his throat. He open his eyes and saw a giant man before him.
“AGHH!” He screamed in fear. “Sorry dude, I didn’t saw thee.” Thee? Since when he used that word? Also, what was going on with his voice? It sounded waaaay deeper than it should. David looked at his hands…..they were completely different.
For starter, his right arm was completely mechanic. It was a steel alienation that look too muscular. Like his other arm, his flesh arm. It was muscular! And it has a spiky black bracelet that he didn’t have before.
He raise his eyes and saw the man who scare him. Then he realized that it wasn’t a man but a reflection. A reflection of himself! Before he was this…thing! He was a regular size man! Not too bulky, not too fat, he was really skinny, he lack any kind of muscles. His hair was normal too, and he didn’t take care of it properly.
But now! Now, he was an Adonis! He turns from his 5’51’’ to 6’60’’, he was gigantic! Not only that, he was jacked! His had steel abs, a steel body in general! Well, not literal steel, well, his right arm was actually steel…forget it, he was too big! He could sworn that his muscles had muscles!
His hair face was like the one of an angel, a perfect chin, a perfect nose, blue piercing eyes. And his hair! OH GOD! It was the goldest hair he even seen! It was smooth and long, perfect for a rockstar.
He wanted an upgrade but instead he got an entire overhaul! They even get him new clothes, a sleeveless short shirt that exposed all his muscles, black leather pants and golden boots! And they were metallic!
“I’m look awesome! Go, Chai! Wooooo!” This was the best day ever! “Let’s leave this place!” He has never felt this good before, he has never had a six pack before! He pass through some tiny robots who were carrying boxes. “Greetings, my mechanicals friends! Keep up the hard work!”
“Who was that man?”
“I don’t know, but he is surely handsome.”
No one has ever calling handsome, sure, they were robots, but it was good still! He finally got the looks, meaning that the ladies will be all over him. He find the bucket with all his stuff but there was a problem….his clothes didn’t fit him anymore. Unless he did some changes.
He grabbed his yellow jacket and pull off the sleeves, giving it a tough guy look. He wrapped his scarf across his torso like a robe. He looked at his hair and started to tie it, he took his time but he managed to make a single braid for his hair. The gates finally open, showing a great garden with a statue of Project Armstrong on the middle.
“Hello world to the-“
<Identify yourself!” A group of robots yelled at him.>
“Woa! Don’t fear! I’m from the project, I’m Chai!” The robot saw him on his tablet.
<Impossible, you don’t match with the description of the subject. Starting analysis.> His eyes started to scan his body. <Found an unknown source of energy coming from his chest. Take him in for interrogation.>
“Wait, hold on!” He wave his arms but all of the sudden, lighting came out of his palm, burning the ground with a spark. “How---?”
<He is hostile! Attack!> The robot activated their weapons, one of the swing their sword against him and hit his chest-
*KRABOOM!*
A thunder strike the ground, sending away the robots. Chai open his eyes in fear but then he saw that in his right arm was an object. It was----an axe? It was big! It has a sharp side and the opposite site was blunt, like a hammer. He see that it has some cords…..wait, it was an AXE GUITAR?!
“ na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na
Na na na na na na na na
Na na na na”
He was starting to feel a beat from inside his heart. He looked at his chest, he move his shirt and saw his mp3 player inside his chest, which was beating at the sound of music.
“na na na na na na
Na na na na na
THUNDER!”
He could feel it in his body, the lighting, the beat, the thunder. His new weapon would work. The Vandaley robots recovered and they were really angry. Ok, it’s ShowTime.
Chai charged his axe with his electricity, he could still hear the chorus.
“THUNDER!
NA NA NA NA NA NA
THUNDER!”
“ROOAAAAAAAHHH!” He swing his weapon, creating a thunder from it. The blast was so powerful that it didn’t just destroy the robots but also part of the garden and even the stone statue. “WOAH!” He was taken back, for not say complete freak out from his power. “Ok……recapitulation:
#1: I became a Himbo.
#2: I have a music player in my chest that shouldn’t be there.
#3: It powers my new robot arm and summon an axe guitar out of nowhere.
#4: OH yeah, I can throw sick ass thunders like a Pokémon
#5: It’s also making everything sync up with the beat.
This sounds odd but when the music kicks in, it feel like…like….I’m on a stage.”
He saw an enormous crowd cheering his name, he was at the center of a stage, his guitar in hand. And start playing like never before:
“I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
(THUNDER!)
I looked 'round
And I knew there was no turning back
(THUNDER!)
My mind raced
And I thought, what could I do?
(THUNDER!)
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you
(THUNDER!)
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been, Thunderstruck!”
“And crowd goes crazy, yeah!!!” He raised his arms and put the sings of the horns for his fans.
“Snap out of it, stupid brother.”
“Wa?” He returned to reality, now he realized that he was surrounded by robots. “oooh, I forget about this…”
<Get him!> They jump to him, he ducked one of the swings but one of the get to close to him.
“AHHH!” The sword hit his head and…..nothing happen. Both man and machine stared at each other, the robot hit him again and still nothing.
*Pow*
He punched the robot and sending him flying away, Chai stared at his homungus arm, he looked and the remaining robots and grinned.
<KYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYAAAAAAAA!> They all screamed like little girls when he rush into them, Chai get them in groups. Every swing of his weapon had a lot of range, destroying at least three robots not only because of his swing but also thanks to the lighting coming out from it. One of the goons tried to attack him from the air but he was able to catch his leg and crush him to the ground, breaking it into pieces.
“Jojojo!” He laughed like an idiot
*Klunk!* *CRASH!*
He looked behind and see one of the robots with a broken sword. You see, he attacked by the back when he was laughing. The machine wanted to knock him by a hit to the head but his weapon shattered when it hit Chai’s head.
“Yeah, you die.” He uppercut the robot sending its heads to the skies. The big man looked at the clouds, he lost the head out of view. “Why no one is around when I do wonderful acts?” Looking around, he now realized the mess he make all over the place.
He needed to get our before he gets into more trouble. But where to go? He didn’t know how to get out of this island nor would his passport work anymore thanks to his new face.
“Hey, you! Big guy!”
“Who’s there?!” He looked around but he couldn’t see anyone. “Reveal yourself, stranger!”
“Stop with the antics, if you want to get out come over here!” The voice order him, it was coming from the pipes of the factory. “I can help you!”
“That’s convenient…” Should he follow the voice of a total stranger? Yes, he should. “Alright, where are you?!”
“Get in here, quick! Before the reinforcements arrive!”
“Coming!” He run towards it but there was a giant wall between them. “Well, let’s see how my legs are.” It was a big jump, but not a big deal, if he could jump as he could punch then nothing bad was going to happen.
Suddenly the factory disappeared, alongside everything else. All he could see was a sky blue. Chai didn’t feel anything below his feet. He looked downs and saw a whole city under him…..it was vandely industries.
And he was falling.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”
*CRASH*
*KLUNK!*
*KLUNK!*
He crush the factory and with the speed and the high density of his body, it was destroying all floors on his path. He at the very least pass through twenty floor before he could stop crushing.
“Oouuu…Never jump with all my strength never again….where’s my ax-?”
*Bonk!”
His head was killing him, it was like he drink a whole river of mead. Like that one time when he and **** travel to Jötunheim to….to…..
Who did he travel with? And to where? Yogurtime? What did they did there? Get meat?
“It’s time to wake up, pretty boy.” He heard the same voice calling for him.
“EH?!” He woke and find himself tied up by chains to a couch. “Where?” Looking at the place, it looked really creepy and small. It was really dark and had no windows, it look like a dumpster.
“Finally---Do you have any idea how much you weight?” He saw a young woman sitting on a chair, on her lap was a black cat. “I have to carry you myself! My spine turn into dust thanks to you!” The girl had dark skin, she was wearing blue short shorts and a denim, her hair was white and blue paited in the tips. He notices her prosthetic right leg. “I want to yell at you but I have more important matters to attend for example: who are you?”
“Me? How dare you impression me and don’t present yourself, woman!”
“Jeez, where do you come from? The middle ages? Or some role play fantasy for losers?”
“That’s was a low blow, woman. Wait, where I am? How long was I unconscious?”
“I made the questions.” She press a button from her keyboard and a shock of electricity was all over Chai.
“…..was that supposed to do something?”
“Those were 200 watts…”
“Of course, watts…I definitely know what those are…”
*Clic*
“And that’s a pistol.”
“I’m pretty sure that you can survive a bullet in the head.”
“Hold it, there’s no need to recur to violence.”
“I agree, start talking. Who are you?”
“Chai.”
“Chai…” She turned back and start working in her computer. “Chai, let’s see….” In the screen were pictures of him before turning into….a MAN. She looked at the picture and then to him. She saw the picture again and turned back. The picture. To him. “Bullshit.”
“What?”
“That can’t be you. Project Armstrong only gives you cybernetic parts they don’t turn people into a six foot Adonis.”
“I don’t know if you’re praising me or insulting me…”
“Today, an explosion happen at the Project Armstrong’s labs. It destroyed all their machines and busted their systems. And then, a strong big guy came out of nowhere with an Axe and start breaking all the guards like toys.”
“You realize that you are just corroborate what I’m saying?”
“I don’t believe, see this. According to your file, you were supposed to get a robot arm to recollect garbage.”
“What?! It was supposed to turn me into a rockstar!”
“A what?”
“I came here to get an upgrade that fixes my bad arm so I can play my guitar and become a famous star!”
“…..Well, you’re not lying. According to this files, it is what you fill on the volunteer form.” She saw at the photo he submitted for the form. “Yeah, I don’t believe you.”
“Why?!”
“Look at you! At look at him! How do you honestly expect me to believe that you are the same person?”
“We are! I came here to get a project Armstrong upgrade for free! And I have one, in my arm!”
“That’s not Vandeley technology.”
“Yes, it is. I didn’t have it prior my operation.”
“No, is not. All Vandeley products have an USB ports. You don’t have one, as a matter of fact, I made an X-ray of your metallic arm. I couldn’t find any wires inside of it, is the most advanced prosthetic I ever seen. Again,” *CLAC* “who are you?”
“Like I told you, I’M CHAI!” He finally snapped and break his chains with no effort-
*Bang!*
“AH!” She gasped, she didn’t want to pull the trigger but she did on reflex. “Oh god….” She….she has never shot a person before and he….
He was fine.
There was no blood or mark, the bullet was on the floor, crushed.
“Woah! I’m bulletproof! JAJAJAJA! I should be mad but I’m so amaze by this! Quick, shot me again!”
“I’m not going to shoot you! Hold on, I….I fire you at your chest and you are fine. How?”
“I don’t know, ever since I woke up, I managed to do all of things and have crazy things. Look!” He pull up his shirt and show her the music player attached to his chest. “Add my guitar axe….hold it, where is it?”
“That stupid thing? I couldn’t even move it an inch. It was stuck to the floor and didn’t give. It wasn’t heavy, it was literally immobile.”
“Made sense, only those who are worthy are able to lift The Stormbreaker.” How did he knew that?
“---Okayyy, let’s start over. I’m Peppermint, this little guy is 808.”
“Greetings, I’m Chai, son of Odin.” Wait, that’s wasn’t his dad’s name! Who the hell was Odin?
“Alright, CHAI. You’re very lucky, believe or not. Vandeley wanted to do something mess up with all the volunteers.”
“Which is?”
“Mind control.”
“Sure, I’m a Vanir.”
“I mean it, that was SPECTRA is all about. All Vandaley’s products had a software that allows them to have full control of them.”
“If that’s true, how is that you are not being control.”
“This isn’t Vandaley.” She pointed at her leg. “Let’s make an deal, you help me to take down SPECTRA and I help you get of this island.”
“Why should I help you? Vandaley are the good guys, just look what they did for the country.”
“That Vandaley doesn’t exist anymore, not with Kale at charge.”
“Why should I believe you?”
“Because I’m your best and only way to escape. This campus is full of traps, guards and dead ends. You need my help to move around here, and Vandaley already considerate you as a defect, meaning that the moment they spot you they will kill you.”
“You didn’t see me back then. I bring oblivion to those machines.”
“Those were SBRs, the most regular of fighting robots. They are level 1 threats, Vandeley had more powerful robots at you, and let’s not forget about the departments’ heads. Those are extremely dangerous.”
“A rogue gallery to take down. That sounds fun! Let me make you a deal, if you help me get Strombreaker back and show me that specter is real, I’ll help you.”
“Arrrg, fine.”
“Great!” He hit his chest with his fist-
*KRABOOOOM!”
A shockwave hit Chai, all the computers were busted and the lights were out. Peppermint was on the floor, her cat was hiding behind her, scared of what happen. The smoke slowly reveal a young skinny man on a robe. The man who was on the file.
“Emmmm……this is bad….”
Notes:
Since I saw Hi-Fi Rush, I wanted to do something for it. Then I remember Thor, the guy is pretty much a heavy metal album. But I have a lot of problems with a futuristic Thor. I went to see what Thor 2099 looks like and....he was lame as fuck, it was the most boring Thor design I have ever seen. So I had a lot of problems with how to introduce him, the campy and silly style of Hi-fi Rush and Chai's stupidity helped me with the image that the MCU tried to give Thor. But my problem persists, how did I make Thor into a funny guy and fit into the rock vibes of Hi-Fi Rush?
Then I remember, Thor has a parody character. One that I grew who was not only his parody but also a rockstar: Valhallen from "Justice Friends". And that fixed it, I made Thor into a Valhallen parody, problem solve. I also give Thor Stormbreaker because is easier to make it into a guitar, kinda like the axe weapon from Brutal Legend. His metal arm is based on the Destructor, Chai has a robot arm but instead of give a cyberpunk to Thor, I decided to use some of Asgardian tech on him.
Chapter 2: Track 02: Captive Normals
Notes:
Well, it took me a lot of time but I finally made a second chapter for this series. The thing is that I have a lot of problems thinking how to approach the fic, thankfully I found a way.
One of the reasons I delayed this so much was because I work in many things and wanted to finish the first arc of Ghost Rider 2077, something that I did a couple of days back. Now, I have to write the second arc but I can work on a couple of chapters because the first arc of Thunder Hi-Fi is the game with a few tweaks.
Trust me, after seeing the battle of this chapter you're going to find why is they way it is. One of the inspirations for the overall story is "Thor: The mighty avenger", because is the best version of Thor with comedy that doesn't drop the ball with it's characters and jokes (You heard that, Love and Thunder? God, what a godawful movie)
Seriously, how Taika Waititi goes from Jojo Rabit to Love and Thunder, is like....is trying to be Ragnarok but doesn't understand Ragnarok, which it weird, because they are the same people behind it. Is kinda like Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2, they are the same people trying to do the same movie but failing.
Well, this story is not as popular as Ghost Rider 2077 but is still important for the world. For those who are following the other story, timeline-wise, A Thunder Hi-Fi takes place a month after the ending of the first arc of Ghost Rider 2077. Only that is in an entirely different country and continent. This is a warning because in the future I'm going to reference events from the first arc in Ghost Rider 2077 and it could spoil you. To avoid this, just read Ghost Rider 2077 or ask someone who did it.
Chapter Text
Track 02: Captive normals
Korsica had a bad morning, well, a lot of her co-workers were having a bad morning. A big explosion happened in the Armstrong project labs, ruining the entire assembly line meaning that the project was delayed indefinitely. Add that an intruder broke in and started to destroy their property, so Kale was really upset by it. She was the head of security of Vandeley, something like this was unacceptable.
She watched all the security camera footage of the island, there wasn’t a breach or breakout. Then, what caused that explosion? Korsica looked at the security footage of the first subject, a young male by the name of Chai. She wasn’t an engineer but she could tell that nothing was wrong by taking a quick look at the reading before his operation.
The moment it started, was the exact moment that explosion occurred.
Could it be that this Chai individual was a terrorist? Perhaps a saboteur? Could it be from Arasaka, his name was oriental, Vandaley with the help of the ECC, forbade that massive megacorporation to put its claws into the continent. And they were well known for corporate sabotage.
He could easily put on some kind of explosive and ruin Armstrong's project, something that he already did. She wanted a coffee so bad but for some reason, all the machines were giving decaf. Somehow, they were going to blame it on her.
If she wanted to conserve her job and pride, she needed to find out who was the bastard who did this.
Peppermint hated it when she couldn’t understand things. It was a character flaw of hers, the necessity of control. Right now her mind couldn’t comprehend what was going on in front of her.
The massive man who recked those security robots transformed into a skinny loser wearing a wardrobe. Now, he looked like the guy who entered the Armstrong project. Meaning that what he was saying was true but brings up another big question.
“HOW THE HELL DO YOU THAT?!
“I DON’T KNOW! I’M TOO CONFUSED! DON’T YELL AT ME!”
“On your knees! Now!”
“Don’t shoot me!” He was on his knees.
“First question: who the hell are you?”
“I’m Chai!”
*Click*
“I’m not lying!”
“Second question: How did you do that?”
“I don’t know! I just touch my chest and-“
*KRabOOOm!*
Another thunder struck her place, now where Chai was, reappeared the blonde giant man. “Woah…” He touched his chest again and…
*Kraboom!*
Chai returned.
“Awesome!”
*Kraboom!*
Now the big guy.
“STOP! STOP! STOP! STOP!” Peppermint was freaking out. “What the hell are you?!”
“Hold, my lady! I’m not here to harm you!” He waved his hands. “But this is good, it means that I can fight. So I’m going back there and…”
*Bang* *Bang* *Bang*
“AAAAAAAHHH!” He got scared when she shot him. “Could you not do that? I may be bulletproof but that doesn’t mean that I like it!”
“What do you want me to do?! You’re freaking me out!”
“THEN STOP SCREAMING AND HELP ME!” His eyes started to spark, she was terrified. “Ok….listen, just….bring to where my axe is and I will help you, ok?”
“…..fine. But…stay like this, ok? If you do ‘that’ again, I kicking your ass.”
“I won’t touch my chest ever again.” He sworn. “So….what’s next?”
“You going to help me to get into SPECTRA.”
“Oh, so we fighting a specter. Don’t big deal, Stormbreaker can harm any being, regardless if is alive or not.”
“I just explain to you what it does, idiot.”
“Apologizes, my lady. Shit, why do I talk like this?!”
“I don’t know, but whatever Armstrong project did to you, it went beyond expectations. If Vandeley learns that you came out of their project, they will try to replicate it. And having an army of giant thunder men is a red flag.”
“Agree, but…what are you doing here, Lady Peppermint?”
“Something top secret, big guy. Something that not even the government knows about.”
“You have my attention, my lady.”
“Could you stop with that thing? It’s annoying.”
“S—Sorry.”
“Anyways, I’m working with a team to expose them. We’re small but we think that we can take them down if we play our cards right.”
“I see….could you inform me about I’m dealing?”
“Let’s mission report, SPECTRA is, like I said, top secret, only
the higher ups of the company know of it.”
“How are you so sure that is it what you think? It could be anything bad or good”
“Let’s say I have someone inside. Anyways, we’re gonna come back to the production facilities.
With my skills and your powers, we’re going to break into the production offices.”
“Not without Stormbreaker. Without it, I can’t do most of my stuff.”
“Actually, I can help you with that.”
She showed him a video about a group of robots transporting a piece of concrete,
that had his weapon on it.
“Stormbreaker!”
“Your toy is safe, I don’t what is made of. But no one was able to lift it.”
“Only those who are worthy can wield it.”
“Riiiight. Anywho, your goal is to break into the head of the production offices.
That’s Rekka. And she will most likely be cleaning up your mess.
Giving us the chance to get in and steal the files of SPECTRA.”
“In other words, get in, steal the files, and run away. Got it.”
“Great, I’m going to synch up 808 with you.”
“Who?”
“The cat.”
“Why would I need a cat?”
“He would allow us to communicate.”
“Holt, you aren’t coming?”
“Are you crazy? I don’t want to die! Besides, you’re the tough man here.”
Chai and 808 came out of the sewer, the tall blonde man did a superhero landing and said: “I’m back, baby.”
“Who are you talking to?”
“Emm, no one?” The cat was talking with the voice of Peppermint. “What’s that frivolous tower over there?”
“That would be Rekka’s office. But to get there, you have to get through the production building. I’ll be your guide. Try to KEEP a low profile.” The cat then turned into a black ball. “This will be easy to move.”
“Wonderful, but first, we need to find Stormbreaker.” Chai let himself fall to the ground, he saw at the end of the hallway a giant gate. He walked and noticed two robots on a bench. They looked at him. “Keep up the good work!”
“Thank you, sir.”
The gate opened and went inside, the place was very normal looking, like any other office. Chai entered a big room and found a giant statue of two people. “A pantheon.”
“No, you dumbass. Those are Kale and Roxanne Vandeley! That’s a monument, not a pantheon. Dude, you literally see Kale this morning!”
“I did?”
“Oh god, I’m already regretting this…” Chai didn’t answer back, he keep going. The place was surprisingly calm.
*VROOM*
An alarm rang and security robots came to attack him, this time, there was a big one with gauntlets.
“I may be out of weapons but not out of options!” Chai raised both of his fists and put himself into a boxing stance. Two robots attacked him with their sticks but they didn’t do anything to him. He grabbed his heads and crashed them with each other. The big one approached him. “Please, be a challenge.”
*POW!”
The giant robot punched him in the face with one of his big gauntlets, the punch made him move a couple of steps back. But that’s it.
“How bad.” The robot did a right hook and Chai punched his arm, the gauntlet torn into pieces when he punched. Chai jumped and grabbed the robot’s neck, he neck dropped the robot to the ground, busting his head. “YEEEAAHH! WHOOOO!”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re awesome, can we go now?”
“What’s the matter, Peppermint? Jealous?” He petted the cat with his mechanical arm.
!!
!!!
*SKRRRRRRRHHHHHHHHHH!!”
A green light was coming out from his arm, it entered 808 and blasted him away. “Crap!”
[“Chai, what did you do?!”] She screamed, the cat was twerking and shaking violently. [“What are these readings?!!!”]
“ummm, what’s going on?!”
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!” The black cat gasped violently and panted, the blue lines on his body disappeared and were replaced by green ones. His eyes changed color too, from blue to green. <“Oh my, that was painful. That was too painful”> 808 voice was no longer female but male, a grown-up male. <” Wait a minute, I’m a cat?! This is the best body you could get for me, brother?”>
“Eh, what?”
<“It’s me, Loki.”> The cat jumped to his shoulder. <“Did you remember that my soul was inside the destroyer’s arm, right?”>
“The destroyer’s what?”
<“Oh no…the reincarnation process didn’t go well…”>
[“Who the hell is talking right now?”]
<“Oh no, the voices are back…”>
“Peppermint?”
[“Who are you?! How did you hack, 808?!”]
<“What in Helheim is a hack?”>
[“Is what you did, you dick! You hack my robot cat!!”]
<“Wait, this is not a real cat? You couldn’t even get me a real cat, Thor?”>
[“Answer my questions!!”]
<“You don’t order me, mortal.”>
“ENOUGH!” Chai yelled. “Listen, I don’t know what the heck is going on! I just wanna get Stormbreaker back and get this over with!”
<“You lose Stormbreaker?”>
“Yes, and the girl who is the owner of this cat is trying to help me get it back.”
[“Yeah, and you asshole are in the way.”]
<“H…Why didn’t you call it back?”>
“Who?”
<“Stormbreaker. It has the same proprieties as Mjolnir, just call it.”>
“Ehhhhhhhhhhh-“
<“Oh by Odin’s bear, just extend your hand and call it.”>
“Okay….” Chai followed the instruction of the cat-man-thing and tried to call for his axe. He….He could feel it…. “Come….”
*FFFFFFFFFFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!*
*CRAAAASHHHHH!*
Stormbreaker broke the walls of the building and landed on his hand. [“What the heck?!”]
“Ooooohhh, that was so awesome!” He grabbed his axe and played some notes. “Hel yeah!!”
“H—How did that thing come here?!”
< “Magic. Now, brother, could you tell me where are right now?” >
“Before that….who are you?”
“I’m your brother, you dumbass. I know that I’m not the same handsome god as before but is me, Thor.”
[“Wait, wasn’t your name Chai?”]
“It is.”
“No, his name is Thor Odinson.”
“No, is Chai.”
“Decide! Is Chai or Thor?!”
“Whatever! Let’s get this over with!!!” Chai got out of the giant room and went to a hallway. “Ok, where next, Peppermint?”
“We-“
“Hey, this is my body, mortal! Don’t use it as a toy!”
“I built 808, he is my baby boy! You’re a thief!”
“Guys, guys, this isn’t the time to fight!” People always told them that he was really childish but these two were getting to his nerves.
[[[“Attention! Rekka here! There’s an intruder in my installation!
I hope that none of your pipsqueak get in, so Rekka can break him like a Kit Kat bar!”]]]
He saw a muscular dark-skinned woman speaking through the monitor. [“Jojojo, that would be fun to watch!”]
“Hey!”
<“Huh, didn’t know that they were ogres in Midgard…”>
Chai kept walking, he passed through multiple hallways and got inside a surprisingly big air duct. This place was so weird. He reached the end and with a little push, he opened the duct. Once he got out of there, his eyes wined with absolute surprise.
They were giant machines working, tubes and computers everywhere. He…He didn’t know how. This was most likely the factory part of production.
“Ooooh, hmmmm….This is an enormous place….”
[“Yep, that’s why you will need my help to get through”]
< “Where do you exactly do we have to go?”> Loki asked.
[“To Rekka’s office at the tower but to get there we first need to go pat through this place.”]
<“Wait, did you say tower?”>
[“Yeah.”]
<“You can see it from the outside?”>
[“Is very hard to miss.”]
<“Stupid brother, get out of this workshop and fly there.”>
“What?! I can fly?!!!!”
<“Well, technically is the Axe that flies….in a way. You are actually throwing your weapon with you.”>
[“How does that even work? That’s physically impossible.”]
<“That’s why we are gods, mortal.”>
[“Huh?!!”]
<“Brother, you need to spin your weapon and swing it while holding it.”>
“Easier said than done…” He followed the instructions, he spun his axe and- “AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
*CRASSSHHH!*
[“WHAT THE FUCK?!!!”] Peppermint was screaming from behind her desk, she was seeing everything through 808’s eyes.
<“Stop yelling and focus before you kill us again!!”> Chai passed through the ceiling and he was too high again. <“FOCUS!!!”>
“Ahhhh!!!” Chai was scared and he closed his eyes instinctively, he didn’t want to die….but he didn’t feel a crash. He slowly opened his eyelids and saw below him, there were dozens of buildings under him and they were getting closer. “I-I’m flying….by the all-father, I can fly!”
[“H-How is this possible…?”] Peppermint was about to a have a brain seizure, what the hell Project Armstrong was about?!!!
“HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! WOOHOOOOOO!!!” Chai was flying!!! He was flying like a bird! He could feel the wind in his face and blowing his golden hair. A new beat was playing inside his chest, a beat that he had to sing.
Once again, he was before a crowd, Strombreaker in his hand. And start playing:
Didn't know what time it was, the lights were low
I leaned back on my radio
Some cat was layin' down some rock 'n' roll
"Lotta soul, " he said
Then the loud sound did seem to fade
Came back like a slow voice on a wave of phase
That wasn't no DJ, that was hazy cosmic jive
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He'd like to come and meet us
But he thinks he'd blow our minds
There's a starman waiting in the sky
He's told us not to blow it
'Cause he knows it's all worthwhile
<“No!”> Loki pulled him out of his inner concert. <“Don’t do a musical montage! It’s not the time!!”>
“Sorry, sorry, I thought it was a running gag.”
[“Chai….”]
“Alright, em, let’s go.” He flew toward the red building and crashed in. Chai looked inside the building, it was the reception hall.
<< “Good morning, sir. Do you have an appointment.”>> A female-looking robot receptionist asked him.
“Hmmm….”
<“We don’t, madam. Actually, we are here for other reasons.”> Loki started to talk. <“We’re from the syndicate.”>
<< “We have a syndicate?”>>
“Of course! Weeeee represents all cybernetic lifeforms. Miss, have you been mistreated during your work?”
<<Well….(we don’t have salaries)”>>
<”That’s unforgivable!! We need to talk with your boss, now!”>
<<”It’s the door right the hallway.”>>
“Thank you, madam.” Thor followed the instructions. “That went well.”
<“You see that, mortal? That’s how we work.”>
[“I swear, I’m going to find you and send you the worst malware in the world.”]
Chai and the car with two voices went inside the room, the place was empty and quiet. It looked like an arena. IT was….weird….
*Foom*
*Foom*
“Introducing….
REKKKKKKKKKKAAAAAAA!!!”
A voiced said through speakers, fireworks fired from the top of the Arena, a woman jumped into it. The woman was big, and muscular, she was wearing sports pants and a white shirt with a tie. She had wrestling gloves and boots.
The woman was screaming and yelling, like hyping a crowd that didn’t exist. Chai and the cat looked at each other confused. Why was she so excited?
“Do you want to know the way to success?!! To be at the top?! YOU HAVE TO BE AGGRESSIVE!!”
<“Wow, that’s a repulsive giant man over there…”>
“Peppermint? Didn’t you say she was a woman?”
[“She is a woman….sorta….”]
<“I think that giant has breasts….”>
“Enough!! Do you think that you can come to Rekka’s place and do whatever you want?! Who do you work for, Intruder?!”
“Ehmmmm…….Asgard?”
“That’s it! You’re asking for it!!”
“Asking for what?”
“The gloves are off!!” She started to take off her gloves, and the more she revealed he hands, they saw metallic hands with steaming pipes coming out.
<“Wait, is she a giant or a golem?”>
“OOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” She jumped into the arena and bumped her fists. “I must say, that you make my job 10 times easier! Now, I can break you with my own hands!”
“Alright, is that’s why you want…..” Chain played some notes and electrified his guitar axe. “Let’s rock!!””
“OOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUHHHHHHHHHHH!!” Both giant warriors dashed against each other, Rekka was about to punch him. Chai swung Stormbreaker and connected a hit to her body---
*SPLAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
“OH SHIT! OHSHITOHSHITOHSHIT!!!!”
[“OH MY GOOOOODDD!!!!!”]
<“Wow, that was easy.”>
What was once the body of the head of the Production was now a splash of blood, guts, and circuits.
[“WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?! OH GOD!!!”]
“I-I-I-I thought she was tougher…..” Chai said after witnessing his first murder.
<“What did you expect? You are a God of thunder with a magic weapon, there was no possible way that she would survive. But to be honest, I would have like a less gruesome ending…”>
[“BLLLLEEEEEEEEEEEERRRRRRRRGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!”]
<“Ooooh!! I can hear her puking!! It’s so disgusting!!!”>
“Oooooh, Peppermint, Loki, what should I do?!!!”
[“L-listen, there should be a…oh god that’s so nasty…..f-find her personal passkey….”]
Chai looked at the…..he found something that was standing up, he cautiously grabbed it from all the guts. He tried his best not to puke….
<“Oh, c’mon, brother. Don’t be such a wimp.”>
“eeegrhhhhhh, this is too gross….” He jumped to the upper platform, he saw a giant desk with a very advanced computer.
“Give me that.” Someone took away the key from his hands, it was Peppermint in person.
“H-How did you-?”
<“That voice, are you the mortal that was talking with us?”>
“I’m going to deal with you later.” Peppermint connected the key to the computer and started working on it. Chai looked at the same screen. “SPECTRA is designed to interface with user perception and reasoning? This-This pretty much allows Vandelay direct access to people’s minds!”
Suddenly they heard music, a giant red button was flickering. “Do not worry, I got this.”
*Push*
The lights shut down. “Chai!”
“What?!”
<“You stupid brother! Didn’t you learn nothing from all those mimics?!!!”> Loki scolded him.
Behind the computer, five holo screens appeared, and from there five people appeared behind the screens. There were three males and two females and their names were: Zanso, Mimosa, Korsica, Roquefort, and Kale.
Chai immediately recognized the man in the middle, it was Kale Vandelay—the man who had a statue at the Pantheon. A reflector lighted Chai and everyone on the screens managed to see him properly.
[[“Rekka, please tell me that you deal with the int-
What in the hell I am looking at?”]]
Chapter 3: Track 03: Paranoid Robot
Notes:
This must be the quickest update I made for the story since I started it. One of the things that I dislike the most when I'm writing a fic about a show or a videogame is when I have to stick to the events of the source material, they always bother me because I feel stuck in a certain way to write a narrative. That's why I feel the most comfortable whenever I write "Ghost Rider 2077", I pretty much threw the plot of Edgerunners to the trash at chapter 2, and what I did with the last chapters, I pretty much threw away the plot of Cyberpunk 2077 before it even started.
That's why this chapter is so important, one of the problems I have with this one was to stick with the original Hi-Fi rush story and be just the same events but with Thor as Chai. But after this chapter, everything changes.
BTW, read EX-Chapter 2 of Ghost Rider 2077, is not a must but it will help you.
Chapter Text
Track 03: Paranoid Android.
The group was looking at the high brass on their screens, from the button left to right they could read the following names: Korsica, Roquefort, Kale, Mimosa, and Zanzo. The first one was a woman, she had red hair tied in a ponytail, she was looking at Chai with intrigue, analyzing him.
Roquefort was an elderly bald man with dark skin, he was wearing a formal striped vest, he could see the cyberware on his face. He wasn’t looking at him, he was more focused on his monocle.
Mimosa was a blonde woman with a lot of makeup and luxurious clothing, like a Diva. Chai didn’t like it, she was one of the popular girls back when he went to high school.
Zanzo was….weird. Green hair, tons of cyberware, a weird face, and his hairstyle made him look like a pineapple.
Kale was one would expect from a CEO. Good looking, confident, well dressed and full of himself.
[[KALE: “Rekka, please tell me that you deal with the int-
What in the hell I am looking at?”]]
The CEO said, confused and a little take back. Like he was looking at something stupid. It was at that moment that the rest of the group noticed his presence. This was the moment of his debut-
“The-?”
[[KALE: “Rekka, are you done with this joke?
Who are you supposed to be?
Where’s Rekka?”]]
It was at that moment that the blonde man remembered what had happened to the giant woman. “Rekka?! Who is Rekka?! I don’t know any Rekkas!! I never saw a Rekka before! And she doesn’t have anything to do with the giant splash of blood all over the arena!!!!” He said with bloodshot eyes and a big forced smile.
[[KALE: “What?”]]
Peppermint slapped her face at the stupid things he was saying. Chai felt a tiny paw on his cheek. <“Brother, let me do to talking. You’re a terrible at this.”> Loki said to him, he jumped from his shoulder to the control panel, the five board members stared at the talking cat.
[[ROQUEFORT: “Alright, THIS has to be a joke.”]]
<“It is not, I’m afraid. I’m going to suppose that you are the leader of these jesters?”> They took that personally. <“Allow me to introduce ourselves, my name is Loki Odinson, and the big brute over there is my brother Thor Odinson. And about that giant of yours, she is dead. Her blood, flesh, bones, and organs are nothing but paint for the arena down here.”> All the members of the company wined their eyes in surprise, Peppermint was furious. What was that idiot thinking? <“I’ll make it simple so that all of you jesters can understand: Surrender to us or face the wrath of the sons of Odin.”>
“WAITT!!” Chai stopped Loki for keep talking. “What the hell are you saying?!! I don’t want to kill them!!”
<“Why not?”>
“Because is wrong!”
<“Oh!! C’mon, Thor! I saw have sex on a pile of corpses before!! And let’s not forget that time you massacred those ice giants.”>
“First of all, it wasn’t on a pile of corpses, it was besides a pile of corpses! Secondly, you were also there!” Chai countered not knowing how did he knew all that.
[[KORSICA: “Sir, do you want me to apprehend them?”]]
Loki looked at the redheaded woman talking. <“Well, well, hello there.”> Loki smiled at her. <“Who you might be, my lady?”>
[[“KORISCA: I’m the head of security of Vandaley Technologies.”]]
<“Hohoho, the guardian!! Let me tell you, I’m being a naughty kitty~~”>
“Seriously, dude?”
<“What? She is the only attractive woman, and there are only two of them.”>
[[“MIMOSA: Excuse me?”]]
<“Darling, let’s be honest. You’re not fooling anyone with that makeup, and I’m very sure that is not your natural skin. Mimosa, was it? You need at least 100 years to at least think that you can even phantom the idea of deluding me.”> The blonde woman was twitching her right eye. <“And why doesn’t that green jester doesn’t speak?”> They saw how the man by the name of Zanzo was posing and screaming in silence.
“I think is muted.”
<“Something tells me that is for the best.”>
[[“KALE: Korisca, send your men to production.”]]
[[“KORSICA: Yes, sir!”]]
<“If you plan to bring more of your dolls, I assure you that is not going to work, children.”> The meeting was shut down. <“How rude.”>
“OOHH! C’mon, you idiots!!” Peppermint pushed Chai towards a big hatch on the floor, she opened it and threw them inside.
“AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!”
Korsica sent her robots to the production facilities, they found some robot corpses at the entrance of the building, and then she found a lot of wrecked walls and boulders. It was like something bulldozer the way in.
They also found a hole in the rooftop.
In other words, it was a mess that would cost the company a lot. Whoever this Thor person was, he was dangerous. Everything that fought it was destroyed. She even got a report that QA-1MIL was destroyed.
But when she got to Rekka’s office and saw what was left of the woman, she threw up.
Korsica had seen dead people before but never….like that.
She needed to inform Kale, they were dealing with psychos.
Back at the lair, Peppermint was looking at the blonde man and her car with her arms crossed especially the cat.
“I want answers. First, who are you?”
<“Loki Odison, mortal. And I don’t like the attitude you are taking with us. Thor! Slap her!”>
“Hmm, no.” Peppermint grabbed 808.
<“Release me! I won’t be humiliated like this!!”>
“Whatever.” She opened a hatch in is back and connected a cable.
<“AAggggg11ee1!”> Loki made a really weird sound. Peppermint looked at the code of her pet but didn’t find anything. <“Enough!!”>
“I can’t find anything…everything is working normally…then how the hell are you using 808 as you want?!”
<“Who?”>
“The cat!”
<“Listen, girl. I didn’t choose this body! If you want to blame someone blame my stupid bother, he is the one who put my soul into this cat. And it is not even a real one!!”>
“Why is it my fault?! I didn’t do anything!”
<“My soul was sealed inside your Destroyer’s arm! I don’t know how you do it but when your arm touched….what was this thing again?”>
“808.”
<“You put inside 808 and now I’m stuck! Good job, brother.”>
“You still didn’t answer my question. Who are you?”
<“I told you a thousand times. You never heard of Loki and Thor before?”>
“Nop.”
<“Seriously? The sons of Odin? God of Thunder and God of mischief?”>
“Wow, you really have a big opinion of yourself while being a cat.”
<“I’ll make you pay one day from this insolence, woman.”>
“Name is Peppermint, kitty.” Loki groaned.
<“Brother, why are you with her? She isn’t even attractive, not even in a warrior’s way.”>
“Excuse me?”
<“Peppermint, let’s be honest, we will need a lot of beer to make you attractive.”>
“WOW, that was the most sexist thing that someone ever said to me. You must be a ladies' man, kitty.”
<“I have more pussy than you, woman.”> Peppermint threw him to the wall. <“MIUUUUUUUUAAAHH!!”>
“Anyways, we need to prepare for the next mission.”
“Could you wait a second? I need to talk with him.” Chai walked to grab the cat. “If I ask you some questions, could you answer them?”
<“Only if you don’t throw me away.”>
“Okkkk, first question: WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON WITH ME?!!”
<“D-don’t shake me!!!”>
“Sorry! But I’m really freaking out, man, cat! I fucking blow up a person with one hit and I think I’m going to puke.”
“BLEEEEEEEEEERRRRGGGG!”
Chai puked. “Oh what you have to do that in my carpet! Oh god, now is my turn! Blllleeerrgghhh!!” Peppermint puked too when she remembered what happened to Rekka.
<“Alright, this is getting too disgusting…”>
“SHUT UP!” They both said at the same time.
“I’m with Chai in this one. How are you two brothers?”
<“….I’m adopted.”>
“Well, that makes sense.”
“But still doesn’t explain my powers and why you were inside my arm.”
<“Alright, it is most evident that you lost all your memories of Asgard after Ragnarok. Well, the same happened to me, I remember more than you brother but a lot of my memories of our dead.”>
“What?! I’m a zombie?!”
<“You’re alive, you idiot. Listen, what I’m about to tell you is something that will change your life. Chai, you are actually my brother Thor. The god of thunder.”>
“What?”
“The fuck are you saying, kitty?”
<“By the all father! How dense can you people be?!! I’m telling you that I, and that brute over here, are gods!!”>
“Yeah, that’s bullshit.”
<“He…He can fly, shoot lightning, and kill giants with one hit, and you don’t believe that he is one.”>
“While I think that they are things that we can explain, I can explain his powers.”
<“Please, enlighten me.”>
“Before he turned into this blonde bimbo.”
“Hey!”
“He was the first test subject for Project Armstrong, and there was an accident. Chai show him your chest.”
“Eh, ok.” He took off his shirt and showed him his chest, it was a crystal that had an IPod inside of it beating.
<“Alright, what the fuck I am looking at?”> Loki said with confusion. <“Oi, woman.”> Peppermint was staring at Chai’s bare chest.
*SLAP*
“EH?!”
“uuuggghh, I almost feel attracted to you.” She shivered in fear. “As you can see, that is what happened to him when he got inside the machine.”
<“How interesting….what does it do?”>
“It allows me to move to the beat.”
<“And how is that useful?”>
“Hmmm, it makes me look cool, move fast, and play awesome songs!”
<“Woman, I deeply apologize for my brother’s behavior.”>
“Apologize accepted. Now return my cat.”
<“I can’t, this is my body now.”>
“uuugh, you know what? Screw this, we have better things to do.”
<“We? There’s no ‘we’ in this, woman.”>
“What?!”
<“What you hear, we don’t owe you anything. And the fact that you’re asking to do things, is unacceptable. If father were still alive, he would have hung you from such insolence.”>
“Listen, I can’t a threat seriously from my cat.”
“Believe me, I won’t be like this forever. I will learn a way to make myself a new body, and I will remember what---aaahhhhhh!” Chai shook Loki. “What are you doing, you dolt?!”
“Well, you were going full villain for a moment and I have to stop you.” He said. “Also, I made a deal with her and I’m being a total dick if I won’t.”
“ARRGGGGHHH! This is why I never let you do the talking! I leave you alone for a second and you're sucking this unattractive woman’s tits!”
*BANG*
*BANG*
*BANG*
Both men looked at Peppermint who shot her gun and was staring at them with murderous intentions.
<“Hmmm, now that I discussed it with my brother, I decided that is best for our interest to assist you in your quest.” >
“Great!” She kindly smiled at them. “Now, let me show you our next move.”
“Alright, let me tell you what I found about SPECTRA.”
<“There are ghosts? Wait, are we fighting necromancers?”>
“I wish, that’s the name of something they are making.
Could you imagine that we fight zombies?”
*Bang*
“Please, continue.”
“Ok for the new guy. SPECTRA is a multifaceted AI algorithm.
Its main function is to decipher the neural patrons of all the people who had Vandeley implants, and mess with their perception of reality.”
“Ehmm.”
<“If I’m correct, it’s some kind of device that controls people’s minds and their view of the world.”>
“Exactly. And all IA development happens in the R&D branch.
And that branch is deep below the island, using magma as their natural source of energy.”
<“In words that Thor can understand, we’re going directly to where SPECTRA was forged.”>
“Glad that SOMEONE can keep up.”
“*Sigh* Who I am supposed to beat up this time?”
“The head of R&D, Zanso.”
<“Isn’t that the green-haired Jester who wasn’t able to talk?”>
“And what should I know about this guy?”
“He is a perfectionist, he spends so much time in one project that makes everyone’s lives miserable. If you built something, he scraps it.”
“Creator complex, got it.”
<“I can relate to that.
But I wonder, why does his hair looks so bad?”>
“That’s not hair, Kitty. Those are neural interfaces, he valued his idea so much that he modded himself to directly input his thoughts into the pipeline.”
“Isn’t that dangerous? Wouldn’t he risk to get cyber psychosis?”
“With the resources of the company, he wouldn’t.
The plan is simple:
Sneak in.
Hack his computer.
Download the files.
Destroy SPECTRA.
And get out.”
“Easy peasy.”
“Ah, one more thing. NO. KILLING.”
“GEROMINOOOOOOOO!!!!” Chai and Loki were falling at full speed, his body crashed the hatch and landed to the ground. “Groovy.”
[“Please don’t start with your lines.”]
<” You’re embarrassing Asgard.”>
“You're just jealous of how cool I am!” Chai looked at his surroundings, the place was an under cave with tons of lava. It was a very hard place to move, a bad move and he would be dead. But thankfully the place was designed to jump around like a good platformer. And he could fly. “Up, up and Away!!” Chai swung Stormbreaker and flew over all the platforms.
“You know, this feels like when you play a videogame with hacks.” Flying makes everything too easy. “Hey, Loki I’m lavaproof?”
<“We’re underground, so that makes it magma. And….depends on the nature and temperature, I remember that time at Muspelheim when Surtr threw you into the Lava Rivers.”> The cat thought for a little. <“I wonder if…”>
[“DO NOT STEP INTO THE LAVA.”] Peppermint scolded them, Chai kept flying, he saw how some boulders were being lifted by torrents of lava.
[[Attention to everyone!!
Terrorists have infiltrated the island!
They are armed and dangerous!
Permission to use lethal force is allowed!]]
“Terrotists? Is not like a detonate bombs….” Chai said after hearing Korsica's voice talking through the speakers.
<We better get this over with.>
*FOOSH!!*
“Woah!” Chai avoided a beam. “What the-?”
[INTRUDER!] From the ground, a group of robots were pointing at him. [Attack!] The robots started to show beams at the blonde warrior.
[“That’s who our element of surprise.”]
“Alright, I’m gonna try something cool.” Chai smiled, instead of flying away he let himself fall. He started to play his guitar while falling. “Hammerfall!!”
His body crashed to the ground, a giant electricity shockwave hit the ground, blowing away all the dozens of robots who tried to attack him. Of course, the damage they got from his attack was too much for them and they exploded in midair.
“Oh yeah!!!” He made a horn gesture with his metal hand while showing his tongue.
[“Why did you say the name of your attack at loud?”]
“Everybody knows that the attack looks cooler when you say its name out loud!”
< “I would say that’s stupid, but most wizards had to say the name of the spell out loud to make them work. So for the first time, he is half right.”>
“Way to ruin my groove, guys.” Chai ignored their comments and returned to flying. The place was big, he was surprised that they managed to do so much underground. How did this work? This wasn’t a good place to work, at least for humans, that would mean that the place could only be sustained for robots.
Actually, outside upper management, he only saw robots so far. None a single human worker. He remembered what that receptionist said to them, they didn’t get paid for their work.
It was….kinda cruel. Like, maybe the reason why Vandeley had so much money was because they didn’t hire humans. You don’t have to pay salaries to a slave.
Wow, that was a really dark thought.
“And here we ARE….& D.”
[“Is he always like this?”]
<“Try to live with him.”>
Chai landed on the platform, it was already better looking than the one before. This was a place where humans could actually move. The blonde man went to the giant gates of R&D, the place was the same as the production branch, it was part of the same company so it made sense.
The blonde warrior entered the R&D department, the place had a lot of cardboard copies of Zanso doing bizarre poses. The guy has no sense of self-awareness.
[[Access to AI labs is restricted until security tests are complete.]] On a desk was a blue robot similar to the one who received him when he entered the island.
“What? I am supposed to go-“
<“Brother, let me do the talking.”> Loki stopped. “Good day, miss. I’m Loki, and I’m a representative of the Syndicate.”
[[You’re not. The representative already come here early and he went away. Nice try.]]
<“What?”>
[[If you want to go past the door, complain to management. Good day.]]
“That didn’t work out…”
[“Of course not, the same trick doesn’t work twice, you idiots.”]
“Ok, no need to fear. I will just take down the door and-“
[“Blew up our cover! You’re supposed to sneak in!”]
“Alright, alright. Jeez, way to ruin all the fun.”
Chai went to the gate with a big 44 on it and entered, he climbed the stairs, and the place was very nice looking. After passing through a lot of doors, he entered a big open room.
“WOW!” Laser scanned his body.
[Test subject entered the room.
Initializing reflex test]
“What?” From the wall, two laser weapons came out and aimed at him. “Oh, oh.”
*Foom*
*Foom!*
Two laser beams were fired at him, Chai didn’t yell but his body moved on his own, in pure instinct, he parried both laser beams, destroying the weapons.
[The accuracy levels are…godlike]
“Yeah, yeah. Test subject got the the next room to get your gift basket.”
<“That was the jester…”>
“Yeah….also gift basket! WOO-HOO!!” Chai got out of the room, he followed the big signs that helped him inside this linear place.
“What happened to the image?
I want to see our test subject!”
[S-Sir, the is a problem, our security cameras are hacked!]
“Then un-hack them!”
“That’s you, Peppermint?”
[“No…and that’s worrisome.”]
<“Could it be a third party? You don’t become this big and powerful without getting enemies.”>
[“I hope not. The last thing we need is Arasaka ruining this operation. Or worse, them getting their hands on SPECTRA.”]
Chai managed to get to a waiting room, there were benches and soda machines. He spotted another gate, perhaps where his gift basket was.
“Oh my, what do we have here?” Chai heard a voice, a human voice, not coming from the speakers or the body of 808 but from a human body close to him. The blonde man turned his back and saw a man sitting on a bench.
He was a middle-aged man, with black short hair and a black beard. His skin was a little brown and his eyes had mascara. He was wearing a black suit with a purple vest under it, it looked ridiculously expensive and Chai didn’t know anything about fashion or how much a suit could cost but he knew that it was expensive just by looking at it.
The man was…beautiful like him. Chai didn’t understand but he didn’t feel like he was from this world. His yellow eyes were piercing through him like a predator, his smile was seductive like a dangerous snake.
On his hand was a book, the cover read in English words “The Yellow King” by Robert. W. Chambers.
“I didn’t expect someone like you in a place like this.” His voice was smooth and calm. “Tell me, my beautiful blonde angel-looking warrior, what brings you down here?”
“Ehmmm? Who are you?”
“OH! Forgive me, I was so into this profanity that I forgot my manners.” He put the book aside and stood up. “Lucifer Morningstar, a pleasure to meet you. Here, my card.” The man, now known as Lucifer, gave him a card that he accepted.
Lucifer Morningstar
Superhero manager
[“No fucking way! You are Lucifer Morningstar!”]
“Yes, that’s exactly what I said, young lady behind a computer that is talking by a robot cat.”
“emmm? Who?”
[“Oh my god!! How out of touch with the world are you?!! He is Lucifer Morningstar! One of the most powerful persons in Night City!”]
“Ooooohh!!! Sooooo…..he is a big guy?”
[“Aaaarggggh!!!!”]
“Jajaja, aren’t you people a colorful band?” He chuckled. “A little hacker girl, a talking, and….a Vanir and an Aesir gods.”
<“I heard of you….”> Loki was the one talking, the eyes of 808 were wide open. <“Lucifer Morningstar, the fallen one.”>
“Yes, and you are Loki Odinson. Son of the jötunn Farbauti and the Aesir goddess Laufey, adopted by the god-king of all Vanir, Odin, and his wife, the goddess Freya. I must say, I expected to you to look bigger.” Loki stared at the man in shock, like he knew something mindblowing. “And you are Thor, Vanir God of Thunder, son of Odin and Freya. But you are also Chai, an orphan from Ireland.”
“Wow, how did you?”
“I know many things, children of Odin.” He grabbed his book back.
“What are you doing here, exactly?”
“I’m looking for someone that is down here. A VERY special individual that has a lot of SPECIAL abilities. Abilities that are not possible for your normal individual. A specimen out of this world, that could take down this island with little effort because their weapons can do any damage to this individual.” Chai gulped. “Oh don’t get me wrong, I’m not talking about you! This encounter is coincidental, believe it or not. Although I must admit, this is an unexpected scenario but I can work with it. I like to improvise.”
“And who are you looking for?”
“For an artificial lifeform. But let’s not spoil the surprise. I guess you have better things to do and we will definitely meet each other in the near future. So I wish you good luck in your quest, Your Majesty. When you finish what you need to do, contact me, I could help you with your heroics in the future.” Chai and the cat looked at the car, it didn’t have anything else written.
“How do I-?” He looked back at Lucifer but the man wasn’t around anymore. “Ok, that was creepy….” Chai noticed something about Loki. “Loki?”
“Laufrey….”
[“That’s your mom’s name, right? The biological one, I mean.”]
“I never knew the name of my birth mother….” Chai didn’t know what to say, he was never good at serious conversations.
[“Well….you do now, and that’s good.”]
“…Brother, just let’s finish this already.”
“Right.” Chai decided it was for the best to not keep going forward and enter the next room. It was similar to the first one but with four hatches on the ground.
“Very well, subject. Put yourself on the yellow mark and you receive your gift basket.”
Both brothers looked at each other, knowing how obvious the trap was. With little enthusiasm, Chai positioned on the yellow mark.
“HA! You fool!
That’s exactly what I wanted it!
Those lasers were Korsica designs, let’s how you deal with my babies!”
From the hatches, two robots came out. One with a big stick and another with a beam gun. The first one rushed to attack him but he punched with his flesh arm, crashing his body to the wall. The last one shot his gun, but he parried the beam and returned to the robot.
“Do you think that was for real?
That was just a warm-up!
This is the REAL test!”
Two big robots come out from the remaining hatches, one with a big sword and another with big gloves. The sword one jumped onto him, Chai slashed him with his axe in half, before the other could attack him, he touched a note and lighting busted his body.
“Tch, beginner’s luck.
Let’s see how long you can keep up, subject.”
The doors opened, Chai sighed and went outside. This was getting a little boring. Where was this man’s office?
“Wow!” The door before Chai was opening and closing erratically.
[The hacking is too much!
I can’t open this door!]
“Then I should give your job to the hacker!”
Chai grabbed both parts of the doors and forced them to open. [“Emm, guys? I received a message that says ‘If you humans value your lives, run from these facilities before is too late´”]
“Too late for that!” Chai walked through the hallway to the next room, there was another waiting room but he ignored it and went to the next room. This was the biggest one so far.
“So far you did well, subject.
But those were all scripted scenarios.
Let’s see what you can do in a real showdown!
Send everything!”
Dozens upon dozens of robots came to the room, ready to fight him. Chai didn’t worry, he grabbed Stormbreaker and started playing some kickass notes. The air inside the room started to change, and the levels of electricity were rising up. “Lighting Session!!” While he was playing his guitar, four pillars of electricity came down to the floor, they quickly moved in circles around the move, and the robots got attracted to the pillars like they were magnets.
What was a squad of robots, now is a pile of junk.
“H-How did you---? Who are you?”
Chai smiled at Zanso’s disbelief, he got out of the room, he saw a congratulatory sign outside but it was so low effort that it was better not to do anything. He saw from a window the next stage, he jumped several feet in one jump without the help of his weapon.
He walked to the open gate and entered the room.
“Oooh, so it was you!!” He heard that voice but it didn’t come out from the speakers. But rather from a person. “The data I got from you was beyond what could imagine.” On a very high platform was Zanso looking down at them. “Mr. Thor, was it?!”
“Is Mr. Thor, seductive God of Thunder, to you!”
“HA! You know what you remind me? To those stupid jocks were I was back in high school. They always bully me because of my genius but now, who is laughing now?!”
“Thor, can you take care of this Jester?”
<“I’m not going to kill him.”>
“You believe you can take me?! Your power is amazing, I want to keep going with this test! To see how you do what you just do! Mr. Thor, Seductive god of thunder, allow me to introduce you to a Zanso Original! *Snap*”
From the middle of the room, the floor divided and something was being elevated. “I present to you my new Z-Shielding! Patent pending! That not even you can bre-!”
“Mighty Strike!!” He dashed at full speed with Stormbreaker, with a lighting thrust, the body of the green spider robot that emerged from the ground was destroyed.
“Ah…ah…ah…”
<“What’s wrong, jester? Nothing funny to say?”>
“Shut up! This isn’t over! I will show you what my intellect could do against a brute like you!” Zanso was throwing a tantrum like a little boy.
“Threw whatever you want at me and I will rekt it!” He said, the exit door was open and Chai ran through it.
[“What are you doing? You could have finish him there!”]
“And where’s the fun on that?”
[“God, can you take anything seriously?”]
<“Only beer and women.”>
[“Uhhhh.”]
Chai kept walking until he stopped, he saw a door that said AI labs and went in….. “What the fuck?”
When he stepped in, all he could find was….corpses. No robot corpses but….human ones. Blood was tainting everything, he could see bullet holes all over the place. The bodies were dismembered, guts, bones, and flesh were on the ground.
What killed these people?
[“Those are members of the security team!”]
“They work for Vandeley, right? What are they doing here?”
<“If they are guards then they were guarding something or someone, perhaps that SPECTRA you were talking to?”>
“That makes sense but….why are they dead?”
[“G-Guys, the same unknown address sent me another message. ‘You have nothing to do here, please, leave this facility NOW.’”]
“Isn’t that creepy at all.”
<“We are very close to our objective. Thor, hurry!”> Chai followed his advice and used Stormbreaker to fly.
He went to the end of the hallway, didn’t let the automatic door open, and crashed it.
“Do you know those things are expensive? They open when you step in front of them!” Zanso was waiting for him on a platform. “I must say, Mr.Thor, you have been something that I would never imagine. And here I thought that beings like Ghost Rider were the exception. But it seems that lunatic Morbius wasn’t just babbling in his discourse. I want to open you! To see your body from the inside!”
<“Jeez, brother, you always caught the attention of the crazy ones.”>
“That’s why you are going to be a witness of my greatest creation!” Behind Zanso was a hangar, Chai saw the parts of a titanic robot being built. “Behold! A newtype of robot that no one had ever see! My ultimate form of creation! My magnum opus! A machine that not even Ghost Rider could take down!! Behold, the ultimate GUN-“
*SHHHHHHHHHHHHHOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM*
Chai saw a quick vertical flash on the robot, slowly, it started to divide into two pieces.
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMM!*
A big explosion destroyed everything that Zanso was working on, the glass wasn’t able to hold back the shockwave and shattered. Smoke came inside the room quickly, Chai heard the scientist screaming in fear, most likely blown away from the impact.
When the smoke started to dissipate, he saw the green-haired man with his face on the floor.
*Thud*
Chai heard a stomp. It sounded metallic.
*Thud*
From the smoke and debris, Chai saw a human-like silhouette. It belonged to a very tall man, even taller than him. Suddenly, where the eyes of that man were supposed to be, he saw a red glow. The man walked through the smoke, slowly revealing himself.
He said ‘him’ but the right pronoun was ‘it’.
It was a robot.
A silver robot, with a body similar to a muscular man. Its body had a lot of red on it, but Chai knew that it wasn’t paint but dry blood. The skull of the machine wasn’t like the ones he saw from the other robots from Vandeley, it didn’t look like it had a face. It was just two tiny wholes that could be seen as eyes, and a big one that could pass as a mouth. But what took his attention was that inside of his skull, something red was constantly glowing.
“[Mr. Zanso Harabashi]” The robot spoke, he sounded calm and collected but….Chai could feel inside his soul that wasn’t how a robot should sound like. “[Allow me to introduce myself, my name is Ultron and I will like to speak to your boss.]"
Chapter 4: Track 04: Iron Man
Notes:
Hey there! I'm back to this story after a year! I'm going to focus on this story for a while until I have the third arc for Ghost Rider ready.
Chapter Text
Track 04: Iron Man.
“Chai! Chai! C’mon, answer me!!” Peppermint was trying to reach for him but there was no signal. She was worried, did they find her location? Was she comprised? “Shit!!!!”
Then she saw something on her screen, an E-mail notification from her inside guy. Peppermint immediately opened it and saw that someone was calling her.
“Macaroon?! Is that you?!”
“Peppermint! Listen! We don’t have enough time!!
Whoever is hacking your signal, it turn off your firewalls!”“I know where you are! And so is Vandeley!!”
Peppermint wanted to scream, to curse, but she couldn’t. She was smart; she knew they could find her, so she already had a backup plan just in case.
She opened one of her lockers and pulled out her emergency luggage. Inside the locker was also a remote control with a big red button. She went to one of her warp stations and looked around her.
“Fucking Chai.”
Chai thought that his day couldn’t get any crazier but life always finds a way to surprise him.
“<Brother, what’s that golem?>” Loki asked him, the cat was staring at the silver robot before them. “<It looks like a Destroyer.>”
The robot had a straightforward design. Only one color: silver. His body was very human-like, it lacked the visible joints that most robots had on their bodies. On his chest were two straight lines, and inside of it he could see a red light.
Chai saw the same light inside his face on his head—because he didn’t have a proper face like the other robots. He had a big gap resembling a mouth and two holes that could be eyes.
Honestly, he was kinda creepy.
“W-W-W-W-Who are you?!!!” Zanzo was on the floor trying his best not to pee himself.
“[Ultron.]” He answered in the coldest way possible. The silver robot approached him, each step felt like he was facing a titan. “[Before slaying your giant, I was reading through your files. May I say, that your experiments are awfully familiar.]”
“How dare you?!!” Hanzo’s bravado come back. “Those are confidential-!!
“Excuse me….” Chai interrupted the conversation, man and robot were staring at him. “Hello there, my name is Thor and I want to ask: WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS GOING ON?!”
Ultron looked at him like he was analyzing an object. When he stopped, he could have sworn that he was surprised. “[An Asgardian?]” He asked. “[That weapon, who made it?]”
“Eeeehhh----“ Chai didn’t know what to say to the robot. He looked pass him and saw that Hanzo was trying to-
*Foosh!!*
“AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!” A beam burned the Mohawk of his head. “My fabulous hair!!!”
“[You will leave when I allow you.]” Ultron commanded.
Chai was uncomfortable with the whole situation. “(Loki….what should we do? Is he a bad guy?)”
“(<I don’t know, he is here for the same man. Perhaps he is in our side.>)” They whispered. “(<If he does something, you smash him with your hammer>)”
“(Cool.)”
“[I can hear you.]” Ultron said at loud. “[You two. Why are you here?]”
“I believe for the same reasons as you, friend.”
“[Tell those reasons]”
“He is evil and we are heroes!”
“[I see.]” Ultron turned his back and returned to Hanzo, the man was on the floor, speechless. “[What is Project Sierpinki? And what are you hiding underground?]”
“W-Wh---How do you---?! L-Listen, I can’t tell--!”
*CRACK*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!” Hanzo screamed in agony when Ultron stepped on his knee, Chai heard how the leg snapped.
“[What is Project Sierpinki? And what are you hiding underground?]” He asked again, ignoring the pain.
“Woah! What are you doing?!!”
“HELP ME! PLEASE!!!” Hanzo begged.
“[Answer me]”
“Time out! Time out!!” Chai put himself between the robot and the man. “What are you doing?! This way too wrong!!!”
“[Stand aside. This doesn’t concern you, Asgardian.]”
“I’m pretty sure it does! I need the key from this guy so I can stop his evil plans!”
“[A key]” He repeated. Ultron saw the man in detail. Chai didn’t see when he moved and grabbed Hanzo.
“What the-?!”
*crunch*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” Ultron incrusted his fingers on Hanzo’s head and pulled off something. In his metallic fingers was a bloody key.
“<Huh, we should take notes of that.>” Loki commented.
“[Here.]” Ultron tossed him the bloody key. “[You got want you wanted. You can leave.]”
“And let you torture this guy, not a chance.”
“<Seriously, Thor? A couple of hours ago you turned that giant woman into a pulp.>”
“THAT WAS AN ACCIDENT!!”
“I DON’T CARE IF YOU KILL REKKA! IF YOU HELP ME, I’M GOING TO MAKE YOU RICH!!!”
“<Uuuuh, that sounds tempting.>”
“What you want from him anyways? Don’t you see that he can’t fight back?”
“[You should leave, this doesn’t concern you, Asgardian.]”
“I haven’t heard from Peppermint since you got here. What did you do to her?”
“[Taking down her network, so she doesn’t interfere with me.]”
“I will ask you one more time, robot. WHAT.DID.YOU.DO.TO.HER?
“[Why should I answer you?]”
“Alright, the hard way it is.” He threw his punch using his steel arm, but Ultron deflected his attack easily. Chai was looking at the robot’s back from the floor. “What?”
“[You’re a not evil, just stupid. That’s why I’m letting you out without any harm, Asgardian. Leave this place and forget about this island.]”
“Yeah, when I see an evil killer robot, I tend to ignore what he says to me, pal.” He stood up. “You didn’t answer my question.”
“Can I say something?” Hanzo raised his finger.
“This doesn’t concern you!”
“You killed Rekka and that robot is threatening my life. I believe this DOES concern me!”
“<Listen, Buffoon, you either can have us or the murderous golem.>”
“What about? Neither.”
*Snap*
A door opened from the ceiling. “Attack, my minions!!!”
*CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK* *CLANK*
Instead of robots, what came from above were the pieces of broken robots. Zanzo stared at his creation’s corpses with is mouth wide open.
“[I took care of them before arriving here.]” Ultron stated. “[Enough with distr-]”
“Chance!!!” Chai yelled as he took the chance that Ultron was distracted with Zanzo, so he took another swing at Ultron.
*THHHOOOOOOMPPPPP!!!*
The sound was like someone hitting a giant bronze bell with the most massive hammer he could find. Zanzo covered his ears immediately; even with his augmentations, the sound damaged his ears greatly.
Loki fell from his brother’s shoulder but before he hit the ground, his whole body shifted into a small floating ball.
Well, now he didn’t have to rely on his brother’s shoulder.
The cat-man looked back at his brother; if he had a mouth right now, it would be wide open.
Ultron was grabbing the edge of Stormbreaker with his bare hand. Chai couldn’t believe that the robot was capable of holding his might so easily. He shouldn’t let himself be surprised, he needed to elec-
*POOOOWWW!!*
“ARRG!!!” The robot kicked him in his chin, he was again surprised by Ultron’s strength. One kick was enough to launch him into the roof. His head was inside the roof, from an outsider’s perspective he looked like a cartoon character.
“That’s it!” He dug out of the ceiling and grabbed Stormbreaker. He fell down with his battle axe ready, and his giant weapon hit the ground, missing the robot. But the impact shattered the floor.
Chai, Zanzo, and Loki fell to the lower level. He heard how Zanzo was screaming for his life. Chai needed him alive, so he moved his weapons and flew toward him. He grabbed the screaming man and landed in a hallway.
“T-T-Thank-UUUGHHH!!” He dropped the man to the ground. Just because he didn’t want to kill him didn’t mean that he liked the guy.
“(THOR!)” He heard the voice of Loki who----
“Dude, what happened?” He asked when he saw the ball form of cat
“(I don’t know, I think is some kind of altered form of this 808. It doesn’t matter, we need to grab this buffoon,)”
“I have a name!”
“(And get the hel out of here!)”
“I don’t want to be a downer, but we have a killer robot in out tail.”
“Brother, you never listened to me in our previous life and that got us killed. So, hear me now when I tell you that you are not in your full power. Fighting him is something you can’t do at the moment.”
“He hurt Peppermint!! I can’t-!!!”
**CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!*
Ultron broke the glass of the hallway and stepped on Chai’s face with a dive kick. The robot dragged and sank the man’s body into the ground. Zanzo and Loki stared at the robot, who was beating the blonde man like he was nothing.
Zanzo shrieked in fear and ran away. Ultron stepped down and flew, but a big muscular hand grabbed his ankle when he started launching.
With a mighty scream, he lifted the robot over his shoulders and whipped him to the ground. Chai and Loki heard how the ground shook but not for the reason they expected.
Ultron's free leg was on the ground, holding his body together. His body was forming a T thanks to Chai grabbing his other leg.
With a single move, he got off the grip. He extended his two hands and blasted Chai away.
The god of thunder was on his knees, Ultron took advantage and grabbed his hair. He pulled his head and hit him with his knee. Blood came out from Chai’s nose, but also came rage.
But there was a problem with Chai. While he was in his fair share of fights, he is not a trained fighter. He didn’t know martial arts, boxing, or any type of combat only things he learned on the streets and bars.
His hooks, while fast and strong, were very predictable.
And his overreliance on his weapon made him an easier target for Ultron.
It took a bad swing of Stormbreaker and a good duck from Ultron to lose the fight.
“[Negatfist]”
*POW!*
A punch to the guts sent him away, the blonde hero fell into the magma of the facility.
“(THOR!!)” Loki screamed, but he was soon trapped by Ultron. “(Let go off me, golem!)”
“[You called me ‘golem’. A mythological creature made of stone that forms part of the Tanaj. Too specific. You are not a simple machine, what are you?]”
“<I am Loki, you fool! I am a god, and I won’t let this insolence from a man-made machine!!>”
“[Loki. God of mischief and lies, one of the sons of Odin. The Asgardian I fought is called Thor. If you are the Nordic God Loki, then he must be the God of Thunder, Thor. Son of Odin and rightful heir of Asgard.]” Loki was surprised that the golem nailed everything about them. “[How is it that two Asgardian princes are in this realm? And why are you inside this feline robot? And why are you in Vandaley Island of all places of the world?]”
“<I can assure you that is just a funny coincidence.”
“[I’ll be the one to judge it, God Loki.]”
“<Oh? And what makes you believe you have the power to do so, golem?>”
“[My name is Ultron.” The eyes of the robot glow red. “[And that’s enough power for me.]”
*BOOOOOOOOOOOOMMM!*
An explosion of magma melted the installations of the facility, from the waves came out Chait with his Stormbreaker in hand and lighting ready to strike.
“Mighty Strike!!!”
Thor came with his guitar axe and strike. An electric shockwave busted all the tech inside the building, Zanzo was screaming in fear whenever one of the screens exploded. But Ultron was not part of them, he jumped away from the attack.
Thor immediately spun his weapon and threw it at the robot. He didn’t intend to hit him; it was a distraction. The Asgardian jumped to punch Ultron with his-
*CLUNKKK!*
Something hit his head, he couldn’t tell what it was but it was hard.
*Crash!*
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
*CRASH*
He passed through many floors, rocks, and concrete. The sunlight flashed in his eyes before he crashed on the ground.
The blonde man groaned in pain, but he felt like someone was staring at him.
Actually, they were staring at him. A whole crowd was looking at him. At that moment, he remembered that he wasn’t the only one who came to the island to get an upgrade.
“H-Hi!” He saluted. “Sorry about this, fellas. I was fighting with an evil robot, so I recommend that you all run away from here. Ok?” He stood up, the girls gasped when they saw his body. Chai extended his arm and called for Stormbreaker.
*clunk!*
Chai felt something hard strike his chin, suddenly his eyes went backward, and his body crashed into one of the statues in the park.
*Thunk!*
“OOOMFF!!” Stormbreaker came to him and hit his stomach. He slowly opened his eyes and saw Ultron hovering in mid-air.
*click*
*click*
*click*
God and robot looked at the crowd that was staring at them. Ultron looked at them and his eyes glowed red.
“[Begone.]”
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!”
For some reason, he could transmit an aura of fear and intimidation. Chai grabbed his guitar-axe and started playing.
*Kraboom!!!*
A lightning strike Ultron immediately. Because he was a robot, his body was prone to being struck by lightning. Chai smiled in victory, but Ultron was still hovering in the air.
“emmmm……”
*CRAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!*
Ultron fired something at him, sending him inside the receptionist building. He coughed. That robot was way stronger than the others.
[Intruder alert]
[Intruder alert]
Suddenly, he found himself surrounded by dozens of robot guards. Pointing their weapons at him.
“[Leave him.]” Ultron entered the room, and the robots pointed their arms at him. “[You will evacuate everyone on this building.]”
“<Yes, sir!>” All the robots made a military salute and left them alone. Chai looked confused at the robots following Ultron’s orders.
“[I don’t have to waste so I’m going to be straight. Vandeley Industries is not what it seems.]”
“No shit, Sherlock. What do you think we were trying to do?!” Chai stood up. “Peppermint show me that they are evil.”
“[You and that child are completely clueless about what’s behind the curtain. This is beyond your capabilities, Asgardian. Not even the mighty Thor could help me with my endeavor.]” He said. “[Grab your axe and go home, boy.]”
“Hehehe….it’s funny, you know? What do you say about Thor? Because-----I AM THOR!!!!” He raised Stormbreaker and swung his weapon with all his might.
*THUNK!!!*
The floor shattered, the windows exploded, the electricity shut down, and the whole building shook.
But Ultron was still.
His hand grabbed the guitar axe with no effort. He moved it away, breaking the stance of the god of thunder. Ultron circularly moved both arms, and his chest grew bigger.
“[ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAATA!!!!!]”
He couldn’t move. Ultron was hitting him so fast and in so many directions that his eyes couldn’t keep up with the speed.
“[WATAAAA!!!]” The last one hit his forehead, and everything froze.
“[Darkwave Hundred-Fist Rush!]”
Ultron removed his finger from his forehead, and then he felt a nightmarish pain. It was hard to describe, it was like his body was popping out from the inside. His body was spaming without control.
“Guah!!!” Blood came out of his mouth, ears, nose, and eyes. Chai was using his weapon as support for his body.
*TWACK!!*
Ultron kicked his face and stomped into the ground.
“[Is that all you have….god of thunder?]”
“RRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!” He jumped and tackled him, but he didn’t move him an inch. Instead, the robot grabbed his waist and threw it to the ceiling.
A black bolt punched him and made him pass through multiple floors until he reached the rooftop.
“A-auuuuu-.-----“ He hissed, he was glad that he had powers, otherwise his back would be dust for all that damage. “Alright……let’s bring the lighting.” He stood up again and played a song with his guitar.
It was an ancient song of the last century, one that he used to listen to when he was a kid. One very ironic aspect of his situation.
“I was caught
In the middle of a railroad track
(THUNDER!)
I looked 'round
And I knew there was no turning back
(THUNDER!)
My mind raced
And I thought, what could I do?
(THUNDER!)
And I knew
There was no help, no help from you
(THUNDER!)
Sound of the drums
Beating in my heart
The thunder of guns
Tore me apart
You've been, Thunderstruck!”
The clouds covered the sky, lightning bathed their misty bodies. Thunder fell in a symphony of destruction. Stormbreaker was bringing as much lightning as he could to that building.
In seconds, the whole building collapsed due to the dozens of thunderstorms. What was a great construction was now nothing.
“YEEEEAAHHH! Suck on that!!!”
*BBBoooommm!!!!*
Something exploded close to them.
*CRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCCCCCCKK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
From the rumble, something came out like a speeding bullet. A silver foot broke his ribcage.
“[Rising Dragon Fly!!]”
*FFFFFFFOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!*
Chai was spinning out of control, his body hit an antenna, and he landed on a bridge. He coughed up blood, it wasn't easy to breathe, but he grabbed his guitar and played another song. More thunder came from the clouds, instead of water, it rained thunder.
Chai saw how the robot was dodging all his attacks-
He extended one of his hands and shot a dark red beam. the beam hit the god’s chest, interrupting his song.
“Guuuughh.” Ultron grabbed his throat with his left hand and choked him. UItron slowly raised both of them into the air.
“[Perhaps you are Thor. You are as brute and as irresponsible as he.]” Ultron commented, Chai tried to cut him, but the silver robot crushed his destroyer hand and forced him to drop his weapon. “[As any god, you act without thinking of the consequences of your actions.]” He stopped choking him and positioned his hand on the back of his neck. “[Look.]”
Vandeley Island was a technological marvel for the entire continent, an artificial island that showed the world the wonders of technology. One of the few companies that could compete toe to toe with giants like Arasaka and Alchemax.
It was one of his life goals to visit this place ever since he was a kid.
But now…it was on fire.
“[You rain down billions of watz on a highly electric island. Their receptors overheat for all the energy they receive from your lighting. Their systems are shutting down, they are even unable to use the emergency lights.]”
“……..”
“[Is that so?]” Ultron grabbed his hair and tossed him at full strength. The Asgardians pass through many water containers, ironically enough, which helped to deal with the fire. Ultron landed before Chai, who was coughing up all the water he swallowed. He extended his arm but UItron slapped it away. “[Enough. Stand up and fight like a man, Asgardian.]”
Chai tried to stand up, but Ultron kicked him in the ribs.
“[Stand.]” He ordered. The thunder god managed to stand and raise his fist. He threw a left, but he parried and jabbed his nose. Chai touched the blood that came out and decided to attack again, only to do a split and punch him in his testicles.
“OOOOUUUUUUUUUUUU!!” His scream of pain was rewarded with a summersault kicked to his chin. The blonde was sent flying to a watching tower that collapsed under his weight. Ultron calmly walked towards him- “TAKE THIS!!!”
Chai jumped with two rocks in each hand. Ultron broke both of them and locked into two handlocks with the Asgardian.
“IS that------all you got?!!!” He mocked the robot with a cocky smirk. One that didn’t last long, because he noticed that something was heating up on Ultron’s chest.
“[BREAST FIRE]” A blast of pure dark fire hit the god and sending away. Once again, he crashed to another water container, but the heat from the previous attack evaporated all the water inside it.
Chai was on the ground, with his face up, smoke coming out from his chest, and heavily hissing.
How could a robot be this strong? He was the god of thunder!! He was bulletproof!! Lava didn’t burn him! And he could destroy everything with one hit!! How is that he was getting his ass kicked by this asshole?!!
This….made him beyond angry!! It was a blasphemy!!!
His rage was refilling his strength, helping him to ignore the pain and stand-
“[Hollow Axe]” Ultron didn’t let him, with a flying axe kick, he took down the Asgardian once again. “[Stand.]”
“Easy said than done, assholle…..” He complained. And like if Ultron took attention, he grabbed him and forced him to stand. “You say I mess up….but you keep tossing me around and breaking more stuff…”
“[I shut down 3% of the current fire. The one you started it.]”
“SHUT UP!!” He threw a punch, but it was stopped. “Quick question…..what happened when you drop a toaster into a bathtub?”
*snap*
He called for the electricity around them to make an overbust of electricity. The bolts were so high that they could incinerate a man and turn him into a crispy corpse.
And neither of those things happened to UItron.
“Wha-AAAAAHHH!!!” Ultron kicked his knee, making him lose balance. Then, he proceeded to grab his head with both hands.
“[Quiz: What happens to an organic life form when it is toss inside a microwave?]”
An abrasive heat was inside his head, his brain was toasted, while he couldn’t do anything to break free. After three seconds of absolute agony, Ultron let him go. Chai fell to his knees, smoke coming out of his eyes.
But that wasn’t enough for Ultron. He did a Spartan kick and crushed him against a wall. Before he could process the pain, Ultron came with a dash punch that stabbed his stomach. And another.
“[ATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATAATAATAATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATTATATATATATTATATATATATATATAATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATTAATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATATTATATATATATATTATATATTATATATATTATATATATTATATATATATATTATATATATATATTATAT!!!!!]” A barrage of punches didn’t let him space to breathe. “[OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!]” Ultron stopped him, punched, and looked like he was charging his fist. “[WATA!!!!!!!]”
“[Thousand years of Penance!!!]”
Chai couldn’t feel his body anymore, he didn’t notice that he fly multiple miles with that last attack.
Ultron was standing before him. Ready to finish him off.
“WAIT!!!”
*KRABOOOM!!!*
A thunder landed on Chai, where one was a mighty god of thunder, was now a very wounded young man in a hospital robe. The robot didn’t say anything about his sudden transformation.
“I’m sorry! I-I give up! You win, man!” Chai was back in his human form, begging the robot for mercy. “So please stop hurting me!!!!” Ultron stared at him in silence. “P-Please….I-I need a doctor….please, help me…..”
The robot didn’t say anything to him, Chai was just done with all this crap. After this, he will go with Peppermint and Loki and get the hell out of this-
“GUUUAAHHH!!!” Ultron grabbed his neck and lifted him. The robot then put him against a wall.
“[Do you think you can walk away with that pathetic plea? That you could just throw your weapons and call it a day?]” Even though he was a machine, Chai could tell all the rage behind every word he said. “[I saw men younger than you giving their lives so that their country and their citizens would be free from tyrants. Men who fought enemies that overwhelmed them and never took a step back. Men whose blood runs through your veins, and their noble sacrifice is the reason why you were born.]” He raised his fist and cracked his knuckles. “[And you are spitting on them.]”
“WAITWAITWAITWAITWAIT!DON’TDOIT!!!!!”
*PPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW!!!!*
With a single punch, a whole building went down. Chai looked as Ultron’s fist passed beside his head.
*DROP*
Ultron let him go and turned his back on him without looking back. “[You are not worth it.]”
Something inside the corners of his mind came back to him. An old memory that he didn’t want to ever remember.
An old house.
A broken picture.
A woman showing her back to him.
A livid man, ready to break a head.
But that man doesn’t do anything. He sighed and turned his back on him
“You are not worth it.”
*KKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!*
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
A lightning explosion transformed his body back to his god form, lightning and thunder were dropping uncontrollably, destroying everything on their path.
“COME! STORMBREAKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEER!!!!!!!!!!”
His weapon heard his call and came like a shooting star. Ultron merely saw it coming from behind.
*CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH*
*KRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMM*
A thunderstorm destroyed and set on fire everything around them. Chai opened his eyes and saw Ultron……
……wielding Stormbreaker.
*FOOOM*
Ultron was before him, bending forward with his weapon in his hands.
*Thunk*
He heard something heavy hit the ground. He looked at his side and saw a metallic arm on the ground.
His arm.
“Ah…….AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” He grabbed his right shoulder in horror, there was no pain at all but he was in panic. His eyes made contact with Ultron’s. His red orbs were staring at his soul, ready to claim. “NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
Chai ran away.
He ran away from the battle.
He didn’t want to die.
He didn’t want to die again.
“ARGGHH!!” He felt like something bit him on his back. The pain made him fall over his face. “AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!” He screamed in horror once again when he realized that Stormbreaker was embedded on his back. And he screamed even louder when Ultron was there. “PLEASE NO! I DON’T WANT TO DIE!!!!!” Tears were falling like waterfalls, he just needed to pee himself to look more pathetic.
Ultron didn’t say anything, he wasn’t looking at him with pity but disgust. This was too pathetic.
“[They didn’t want to die either. But they did it anyway.]” He extended his open hand and---
*RUMBLE*
Suddenly, the floor started to shake, very violently. It felt like an earthquake, but light was coming out of the ground. Then it was followed by a scream and a blinding light.
Chapter 5: Track 05: Erika
Chapter Text
Track 05: Erika
TERRORIST ATTACK IN VANDALEY ISLAND!!
THE CITY OF TOMORROW IS OVER!!
VICTIMS OF THE VANDELEY ATTACK INCREASE TO TWENTY!
Were the titles of the tabloids the news outlets during the past couple of days. According to the official info, a group of eco-terrorists attacked the island while they were preparing the launch of project Armstrong for the public. It didn’t reveal the attack’s motivations, but people speculated that it had something to do with Armstrong.
They were people saying that it was corporate sabotage from foreign companies, the usual names came out as always.
No one could find the culprits, but they destroyed multiple engines and gas tanks that set a great part of the facility on fire.
At least 19% of the island was lost because of that fire.
The local government sent help to the island to help with the fire and the injury. So far, the body count was 20, and it was for the better not to reveal the states of their bodies. The number of wounded civilians was over 200 and still counting. And there were several missing people that they didn’t show to the public.
One that she needed to turn lower.
She was about to finish her shift when she and her partners received the message from the higher-ups. There was a terrorist attack in Vandeley Island, and knowing that the country received a lot of its technology and advances from them, they were the top priority of their list.
It was frustrating, but at the very least, she was going there to save people. She never had the pleasure of traveling here, but she saw pictures of the island ever since she was a child. In her innocent eyes, it was like watching a fairyland.
But now?
It was like stepping into a warzone.
“Please, God, let me find another one…” She prayed, she managed to save seventeen people so far.
Her name was Jane Foster.
And she was a paramedic.
This was her home, the place that she had looked up to ever since she was a baby. This was the hope of the people in this god forsaken era. Roxanne Vandeley was a woman who could have changed the world. But ever since Kale took over the company, all that hope faded away and was replaced by corporate cynicism.
For the outside eye, it was as good as always but she knew the truth behind Kale’s actions. About his quest for power. And when she learned about SPECTRA, she knew that she needed to stop him.
But not like this.
Never like this.
She put all her hopes in one man, a very powerful man. A man who was not ready to have so much power in his hands, and the people around them paid the price for her mistake.
Because of that idiot, 808 was gone.
Since she saw what he did to the island, she decided that she was going to stick to her original plan and stop Kale in her terms.
Fuck Chai.
She was at her own, hiding herself from everyone. She couldn’t risk being seen, not even by the rescuers.
It was humiliating; she felt like a sewer rat. Walking in the shadows, avoiding the gaze of bigger animals.
She was trying to find 808, even with that Loki inside of him, 808 was family. She will find a way to free him from that asshole.
But first, she needed to find him.
Moving in the shadows wasn’t hard; she could move with her eyes closed. She knew places that not even Kale knew about. So, she could avoid-
*crack*
She heard something snapping behind her, she grabbed her gun, but was stopped when the barrel of a machine gun touched her head. A man in full tactical armor was pointing his gun at her, and from the shadows, his friends came out, surrounding her.
“Call HQ, tell them that we have the rat.” Peppermint was thinking about her chances; she was skilled but not Wonder Woman. Outside her leg, she wasn’t very chromed heavy. She was mostly natural, so a good bullet was enough to take her out.
And she didn’t have a place to teleport, and 808 wasn’t around.
In other words, she was in deep shit.
*CRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK!!!!*
“Shit! Another collapse?!” The ground started to shake, something common for the past couple of days.
*Twink*
Something small landed before the soldiers; it was a small circular object similar to a mine. It opened, freeing the lighting on the bodies of the soldiers. In a couple of seconds, the task team was on the ground, with their bodies fried.
But Peppermint was unharmed.
Someone helped her on propose, and she already had a guess.
“Macaron, I presume.”
“Y-Yes. Sorry for the delay, it is very hard for me to get outside. And the explosion didn’t help.” He joked from the shadows. “Vandaley PR team has covered up the entire incident and they are going to silence everyone who knows the truth.”
“I see that…..” She looked at the unconscious men on the ground. “Listen, I don’t want to be an ass but we really need to get out of here.”
“S-Sure but….I need to tell you about something about myself….something very important….”
“I can tell by how you keep talking from the shadows. Listen, I don’t care how you look like.” She hit her prosthetic leg. “So, get out so we can see each other.”
“Okay…..just don’t scream….” Macaron slowly stepped out from the shadows, from the silhouette, she could tell that he was a big man. Big arms, big chest, a himbo. But what she didn’t expect from him was that his body was covered in blue fur.
Macaron instead of a man looked like a beast with glasses.
“H-Hello……”
“……sure, why not?”
The last couple of days were torture for his miniature body. He didn’t know what caused the explosion and the rumbling, but the debris that fell from the ceiling buried him for days. Thankfully, this cat toy was flexible enough to slowly move inside gaps. And because it wasn’t a living creature, he didn’t need water nor food.
But that didn’t make his journey good. It was nightmarish to drag his body in all that mess.
<“Just! One! Push!!”> After days of exhausting work, he finally saw a light that showed him a way out. <“AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”>>
*PLOP!*
Loki finally escaped all the debris and returned to the surface. <” Oh! Beautiful sunlight! How much I miss you!!!”> He praised the sun after days of pure darkness. < “Wow, what happened here?” >
He escaped one mess only to land in another one. The place looked like the aftermath of war.
Whatever, it wasn’t his problem.
He would find Thor and leave this-
<<“WUAAA!!!”> Suddenly, someone lifted him from the ground.< “Release me, you fool!”> Loki saw that a little girl was holding him in her hands. The girl looked very young, not more than ten. She was wearing a beige dress with a blue ribbon on her chest, and a white body suit beneath it. Her hair was long and blonde, and was looking at him with an expressionless face. < “You have ten seconds to put me down, child.” >
“Big words coming from someone who is 9.8 inches.”
< “Sassy too? Two can play the same game, young lady.” >
“I doubt that you can do much to hurt me, fur ball.”
< “I will scratch your face.” >
“I will put you in a bag and throw you off a bridge, while I see you fight for your life when you get drown alive.”
< “Joke on you: I don’t need to breathe.” >
“Noted.”
< “And shouldn’t be school or something? Does your parents know that you are out?” >
“Father is currently working on major matters in this lame island. Matters that don’t concern you, cat.”
< “My name is Loki! I won’t tolerate any-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!” > The little girl started to shake the cat violently. < “DON’T DO THAT!!” >
“You are not my father. You can’t tell me what to do.”
“<I’m a god and you are-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!>”
“You are a bad kitty.”
“<And you are an insolent chiliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiddddddddddddddddd!!!! Stop shaking me!>”
“When you stop being a bad kitty.”
“<FINE, I won’t say anything else. Can you PLEASE put me down?>”
“I don’t think this is a safe place for you.”
“<I could say the same. You should go back to your father before->”
“Father!” She ignored his pleas and walked towards her father, with him still in her arms. “I found something interesting.”
“[Is that so?]”
Loki immediately recognized that voice. He slowly raised his eyes and saw the metallic golem that had previously defeated his brother.
“[An interesting catch, indeed.]”
“Crap basket!” Jane cursed when she stepped on animal shit.
“We walk through blood and oil but rat shit is when you put the line?”
“Why don’t you come here and step on it?” Jane joked to her friend. They spent all day working and saving people, many of whom were very injured. She thanked Lucifer Morningstar for sending funds and medical equipment to the island.
They all wonder why an American businessman was helping a European country, but she couldn’t complain about all the high-quality equipment he provided.
“It’s getting dark.” Her friend, Darcy, said.
“One more hour and we get back.”
“Deal.”
The two friends kept their search in the ruins of what was a lab, it was quite disheartening to see one of the best companies in the world so hurt was terrible. She remembered as a child when Roxannne Vandeley was helping to bring up the country after a war and a climate disaster. A lot of people owed their lives to Vandeley Industries, and today was the time to pay them back.
Jane was proud of her work, her mother was disappointed that she didn’t study for something bigger, like engineering or management, but people needed help and she provided it.
*Thack*
“Shit.” She almost tripped over something she hit. “What-?” She lit with her light and saw on the ground a metallic hand. “MARCY! I FOUND ONE!!”
“COMING!!” Her friend came to help her and saw the same metallic hand. “Please, don’t be just a missing limb…”
Jane tried to see how deeply buried the person was, for the shape of the hand, the person was an adult male. And for what she could see, the arm was attached to something. At the very least there was more of him; she only hoped that he was alive and complete
She touched his arm with her cybernetic arm and felt a small sparkle. “Ow.” She said.
*CCCCCCCCCCCRUMMBLEEEE!!*
“AAAAAHHH!” Both women screamed when from the remains of the lab emerged a man. Jane started at the tall blonde man before them, his skin was grey from all the dirt, and his shirt on shambles. His back was completely red, covered in dry blood, and with a big open wound on it.
And just like he emerged, he fell on the ground.
“Well……he did the job for us….”
Kale was having his sixth cup of coffee of the day, because of that explosion and all the rescue job, Project Armstrong was delayed indefinitely.
<< Our assets had dropped another 8%. And we are expecting another 5% tomorrow.>>
Roquefort, his financial director, was giving his daily report. He was making a budget for the repairs and relaunching Project Armstrong. And that didn’t add the money that PR was expending on hiding everything and shifting the narrative on their favor.
And the less he thinks about the coming lawsuits, the better.
<<Sir? May I speak?”>>
“You can, Korsica.”
<<I was taking testimonies from the volunteers for Project Armstrong.
And there are many things to report that are of concern to you.>>
“Show me.” On the big screen were images taken by the eye of a regular person. He saw the man who was making their life miserable coming from the ground. But he soon noticed that something else came out behind him. “What am I looking at? Where did that robot come from?”
<<We don’t know, sir. It doesn’t appear on any database>>
<<Is fighting that defect, could be ours?>>
<<And who made it?>>
“Wouldn’t be the first time Zanzo made something without our consent. Remembered Coffeenator 3000?”
*BEEEP* *BEEP* *BEEEP* *BEEP*
A red light beeped in his desk. It was them, and he couldn’t ignore them. “Meeting is over.” He shut off the channels and took a deep breath. “They can’t hurt you, you are too valuable to them.” He pressed the button, and four people appeared on four screens.
The first screen showed a woman with long green hair and green lipstick. She was wearing a green latex suit with no sleeves. She was in her fancy chair with her legs closed. She was the definition of a femme fatale, a woman who could hypnotize men and women with ease. But he knew her closely. He knew about her fangs and her poison as well. She was the leader of the Serpent Society: Viper.
The second screen showed the face of an overweight old man wearing an old-fashioned suit, he had red hair and a very long beard. He also had a handlebar mustache and 19th century style glasses. The man was playing with his beard, and for a second, he reminded him of Roquefort. But Roquefort would wish to have the power and influence of this man: Doctor Johann Fennhoff.
On the third screen was a man wearing a purple mask that covered his entire face. Of all the people on the screen, he was the one who was uninterested in all of this. He was only here because of obligation, he was the eldest member of their organization, and perhaps the strongest: Baron Helmut Zemo.
And the last and biggest screen belonged to their leader, a bald man with a monocle on his left eye: Baron Wolfgang von Strucker.
The supreme leader of HYDRA.
“Where is Zola?”
<<FENNHOFF: We are the ones making questions, young man>>
Kale hated when they called him by that, it diminished his role in the organization. “Forgive me, how may I serve you, herr Strucker?”
<<STUCKER: By answering our every question, you fool.>>
<<STRUCKER: What happened there? And if you dare to give us the same excuses that you give to the media, we are sending Viper to get you.>>
<<VIPER: Wonderful. I wanted another play-toy for my collection.>>
Kale shivered in fear and that implication.
<<FENNHOFF: Alright, not need to be violent yet.>>
<<FENNHOFF: Kale, inform us of what happened to Project Sierpinski? Our radars picked up that something exploded in your installation. Tell us, this has something to do with the man that you are calling, and quote, a ‘defect’?>>
<<STRUCKER: Explain to us what happened to that subject. I don’t comprehend how a skimpy man becomes three times his size and gains powers qualifies as a ‘defect’.>>
<<VIPER: Perhaps Kale is projecting himself in this matter. For what I see, the subject is more manly than Kale would ever hope to be.>>
<<FENNHOFF: Leave your sassy comments to yourself, madame.>>
<<STRUCKER: And? What do you have to say?>>
“….We are currently working at full force to secure both projects.”
<<VIPER: Are you? Because that man from Night City is funding the rescues, not you.>>
“Lucifer Morningstar’s help is helping us to reduce our-“
<<FENNHOFF: How is that the men we send to you haven’t caught the subject yet?>>
<<FENNHOFF: By all means, with the technology and logistics of your company, they should at least know where he’ll be by now.>>
“Doctor, may I remind you that my island is full of civilians who are still being rescued?”
<<FENNHOFF: And when do you start caring about people?>>
<<FENNHOFF: So far, you haven’t shown us the benefits of Project Armstrong, and under your supervision, Project Sierpinski is comprised.>>
<<FENNHOFF: Our entire power so far, our future depends on that project.>>
<<FENNHOFF: And you don’t understand that you are not as reliable as you think you are.>>
“What….What do you want me to do?”
<<STRUCKER: You will capture that subject, ALIVE, and bring him to us.>>
<<STRUCKER: Defect or not, he is still a valuable asset for Hydra.>>
<<STRUCKER: AND FOUND PROJECT SIERPINSKI!!>>
<<ZEMO: Calm down, Strucker. Is not good for your heart.>>
<<STRUCKER: You haven’t said anything until now, Zemo. Stop mocking me.>>
<<ZEMO: You mock yourself with these petty ‘projects’ of yours.>>
<<STRUCKER: They are the sole reason for our power. Don’t forget that.>>
<<ZEMO: Power? You have that seat because of nepotism.>>
<<ZEMO: All you do is hide in the shadows, while we have enemies alive all over the globe.>>
<<VIPER: Curious, I never see you move a finger against Arasaka and those people from Japan.>>
<<ZEMO: Because that worked so well for you, Viper.>>
<<VIPER: Want to have a…..private meeting? Or you are not man enough?>>
<<ZEMO: Leave those cheap psychological tricks to your boy-toys, woman. A difference of every man in this world….I don’t need metal parts to compensate my deficiencies. Or operate my nose to pretend that I have natural beauty.>>
<<STRUCKER: Enough!!>>
<<STRUCKER: Kale, if you have anything to add. Now is the time.>>
“As a matter of fact, my head of security found something that happened the day of the explosion. Take a look.” Kale showed them the footage between the fight of those two men.
<<FENNHOFF: Interesting…..who could ha->>
<<ZEMO: Hahaha…..>>
Suddenly, everyone turned their attention towards Zemo, who was holding his mouth with his hand.
<<ZEMO: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!>>
<<ZEMO: OOOOH, Kale. You must be the luckiest man on the world.>>
<<ZEMO: This is the second time that you have everything fix by Hydra.>>
<<STRUCKER: Zemo? What’s wrong with you?>>
<<ZEMO: This is what happens when you let children do an adult’s work. They always come back to the grown-ups.>>
<<ZEMO: Don’t worry, boys. I will take care of this matter myself.>>
<<ZEMO: Heil Hydra.>>
6vomtcty (Guest) on Chapter 1 Mon 03 Jul 2023 05:28AM UTC
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joseskywalker02 on Chapter 1 Fri 04 Aug 2023 08:17PM UTC
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Brokenhear61 on Chapter 1 Sat 07 Oct 2023 08:01AM UTC
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VulcanRider on Chapter 1 Tue 24 Oct 2023 05:38PM UTC
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VulcanRider on Chapter 2 Mon 19 Feb 2024 10:20PM UTC
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BlackBat1 on Chapter 2 Mon 19 Feb 2024 11:11PM UTC
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Soledadsilveyra on Chapter 2 Mon 19 Feb 2024 11:19PM UTC
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joseskywalker02 on Chapter 2 Tue 20 Feb 2024 12:13AM UTC
Last Edited Tue 20 Feb 2024 12:15AM UTC
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Soledadsilveyra on Chapter 2 Tue 20 Feb 2024 12:31AM UTC
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joseskywalker02 on Chapter 2 Tue 20 Feb 2024 12:32AM UTC
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joseskywalker02 on Chapter 3 Sun 03 Mar 2024 08:50PM UTC
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CMbasher7 (Guest) on Chapter 3 Thu 08 Aug 2024 09:41PM UTC
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VulcanRider on Chapter 5 Mon 26 May 2025 11:22AM UTC
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