Jump 333: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Volume II

Jump #333: Marvel Cinematic Universe, Volume II
>Five of Pentacles (Worry), reversed: Impending physical threat is met with calm and skill.
Impending physical threat ain't the half of it. We'll see how this goes.
>Age: 1282
>Location: Earth, 2014 AD
>Identity: Tech Expert (Bonus +200)
>Drawbacks: (+1350) Continuity: Glory of a Monster, Continuity: Deus Ex Machina, Framework, Sovereign, I've Come To Bargain
Did you know that Ultron coming into existence in 1942 would really, REALLY anger the Sovereign? And when they realize he's targeting me, join in, because it's my fault? And for that matter, why is time around me being such an annoyance? And what's this about Hydra still existing? --wait what do you MEAN that Ultron stayed out in space longer to build up more to hit Earth with? Oh hell.
>Can't Do It (1950)
Not that it's an immediate factor, but there are definitely times where I'm better off not getting involved...
>For The Camera (Free, Tech)
One must know how to wear their public face.
>Enhancements (1750, Tech)
And one must always strive to improve what they have, and replicate what can bring about results.
>Bring Out Veronica (1450, Tech)
"Tony, you keep naming your weapon systems interestingly. I think you need a girlfriend."
>Enlightenment (1050)
Of course I'm interested in the magic that one can get here - it's important. Bonus: I get unlimited access to the mirror dimension, shape enchantments, and create relics. And a bit of study will let me replicate others' enchantments. Nice.
>Infinite Breakfast (1000)
The most important meal of the day, of course.
>Holotablets (Free, Tech)
I .. think I already have one. Eh well, why not another?
>Last Name Corporation (700)
Southern Cross Enterprises- wait no that's taken, repeatedly. Uh. CrossCorp maybe? I'll get back to you on a name, but at least now I have a legit way to sell whatever I wish, and a place to employ my companions as well, if they feel like working.
>Sling Ring (Free, Enlightenment)
Eh, useful to have a backup when you don't have other ways to get out.
>Chakra Books (400, Enlightenment)
Neat. Local spellbooks and chakra guides. Definitely worth the 100 point surcharge.
>LMD Blueprints (300)
I couldn't help myself. I've been making automatons, but Life Model Decoys are a step above what I've been working on. I could probably replicate them with enough effort, just like I could replicate the arc reactors with enough effort, but... it's different, when you buy it like this. Worthwhile.
>Iron Man Mk43 (100)
I've been wanting one of these, but it seemed rude to try to steal one from Tony Stark. They were his birthright, after all. Or at least they used to be.
>Call Tricia (Free)
One free bonus armor per customer. Handy.
>Outsourcing: Praetor Armor (Free)
I had already imported it into Metroid, and it had a number of useful upgrades. Adding bobs and bits from the Mk43 will be a delight. You'll forgive me if I don't encourage it to fly to pieces, though.
>Love Sandwich (50)
I can only imagine the hilarity that is merging my already-upgraded Praetorian armor with an advanced Iron Man suit...
>Beyond the Boundaries: An Arcane Tool (Free)
A universal magical focus, that can integrate any other artifacts, taking the most convenient form. It's been a gauntlet and at my side for tens of thousands of years now. Why not give it a little more love?
>Skilled in Knowledge (Free)
Limiting myself to upgrading my universal focus is hardly a thing I intend to do! Though it's handy to have.
>Asgardian Theories: Portal Gun (Free)
Not only do I have a nifty portal gun, I get to apply some awesome upgrades to it, too. I like the Asgardian aesthetic, I wonder if it'll carry over to the redesigned Gauntlet.
>Composite Research (0)
Combining the Arcane Tool with the Portal Gun should prove most... entertaining. Snap my fingers and a portal appears, among other things. Delightful.

>Iron Man Mk XLIII (+1000)
I'm duplicating one of these just so I can keep it on display in the warehouse.
>Multiple Upgraded Arc Reactors (700)
One arc reactor is not a good idea, even for casual use. There are times where you need to turn the one arc reactor up to eleven. And then there are times where you need more power. Three should suffice.
>Additional Thrusters (600)
Flying around at the speed of sound~
>Iron Legion (0)
It would be very silly to make only one of these armors. They're significantly more capable than the magitech automatons I typically use. Ten is a good start, but I am certain I can do much better than that. I'll just get some equipment in the warehouse set up to produce them when necessary...

>Outsourcing: Praetor Suit (+1000)
When you're doomed, you need to make sure you have an unexpected ace in the hole.
>Sonic Cannon (900)
Oh, it's nothing special. It's just my BASS CANNON.
>Omnium Infusion (600)
It's not quite adamantium, but it's close enough for me.
>Device Integration Slot: Universal Driver (400)
Every driver I took during Kamen Rider, I made a point of integrating into a single belt. Now the Praetor armor can be worn nigh-instantly instead of having to be donned the traditional way (or via requip cheating), and the Topping Driver means I can either have it normal, streamlined and built for speed and agility, or bulky and even more durable than it already is. Not to mention locking on damned near any power source I choose to utilize.
>Maintenance Reduction (300)
This is some heavy duty armor. I'm not just going to let it break somehow and not get fixed!
>Stress Distribution System (200)
It would be unseemly if the armor had weak points after investing all that into its protection.
>Telekinetic Tethers (0)
This is an interesting thing. I think I will definitely be keeping this.

So tell me, what's better than having two badass suits of armor?
>Love Sandwich: Iron Praetorian
Having one even more badass suit of armor.

>Beyond the Boundaries: An Arcane Tool (+1000)
The Arcane Tool from Sword and Sorcery has been a mainstay of my build. It's a magical focus that has no inherent magical power of its own, but can assume whatever form is most convenient to me and can absorb (and expel) other magical foci and power sources. Generally it takes the form of a gold gauntlet with mithril filigree.
>Unity (950)
Suddenly having an innate sense of where it is, not to mention being able to manipulate it while I'm within range... oh, yes, that's very useful indeed.
>Inert (900)
In the unlikely event that I'm not utilizing the Gauntlet, at least it will be a harmless gold-colored mailed glove, as opposed to one that covers not just the hand but indeed the whole arm to the elbow.
>King's Might (800)
With such a tool, how could one help but feel the force of presence of the bearer?
>Recognized (600)
My definition of 'worthy' is probably nothing like an Asgardian's, but it'll keep the Gauntlet completely inert if the bearer oughtn't be using it.
>Force Amplifier (0)
Well... it would be silly if I kept the gauntlet useful only for mystical purposes. Sometimes, a bitch has got to be slapped. Being able to use the gauntlet to amplify the force of a blow means that when I have to slap a would-be god down, that Thanos motherfucker will STAY down.

>Asgardian Theories: Portal Gun (+1000)
This isn't some weenie Aperture Science, this is Rick-tech, bitches. *belch* I can't wait to see what I can do when I play with hot Asgardian fire.
>Self-Maintenance (800)
Well, let's see. For starters, shit I make doesn't break unless I want it to. Even if Morty breaks it somehow, it'll still fix itself.
>Recall (600)
Portals are good, yeah, but I, I don't like to carry the kitchen sink with me. Sometimes I gotta have that... that top-shelf shit, right? So if I need something I can just, zap, bring it right to me. Cheers.
>Spatial Manipulation (0)
*belch* Oh, you're still here. Right, uh, yeah. So if you wanna screw with physics and not just open a portal, y-you can hit the button here and start messing with time, space, all of that. Like if I push Morty here down the stairs-
>"Ow! Rick! Ow! Ow!"
-and hit this, the stairs loop, now he'll tumble forever until he manages to grab that railing. There you go, kid, that's using the ol' noodle.
>"Damn it, Rick, you- you- you really-"
Shut up, Morty, I'm not done. Now, hit this here? Bam! Mirror world. It's the real world, except empty. Don't take the money, though, it's all backward. And the food's messed up too, proteins are backward. But plenty of raw gold for the taking, am I right?

...whoa, that felt wrong.

Let's fix that, shall we?

>Composite Research: Portal Gauntlet
The effect of stabilizing magic across dimensions is a thing, though it very rarely applies. But snap my fingers, and I can open a portal to other worlds, or invoke any of the other effects at will.

Delightful.

-----

I open my eyes, and the sight that meets me is unexpected.

I'm back in 1942, and the Chitauri are dogpiling me in greater numbers. I'm in 1945 and the Germans have their own Gears that they're using to fight the Allies. I'm in 1950 and Iron Gears are marching on Europe. I'm in 1959 and the Allies and Soviets are fighting on the moon. I'm in 1965 and no matter what I do I can't stop the atomic war.

This-

I'm back in 1942, and the Chitauri are invading the Earth en masse. I'm in 1947 and Japan is carpet-nuking China. I'm in 1965 and no matter what I do I can't stop international atomic war.

This isn't-

I'm back in 1942, and there are no Chitauri, just an unstoppable German juggernaut of obscene magitech that has been stomping the allies. 1955, and the Axis are still fighting to conquer the Earth. 1965, and the Axis enacts a scorched earth policy with nuclear bombs.

This isn't quite-

I'm back in 1942, and I fucking nuke Germany because I've had enough. The German army keeps fighting, because this is what they're programmed to do. 1952, robotic Axis soldiers defying all logic and conquering the world no matter what I do. I throw my hands up and take a vacation on the moon, which they promptly invade. 1965, I can't even figure out who launched the nukes and I can't bring myself to care.

This isn't quite right-

I'm back in 1942, and I take off the kid gloves, activate all my clone perks, bring out jumper-level magitech weaponry from the warehouse and mass duplicate it, and am somehow unsurprised to find a Nazi America fighting for the Axis with the same weapons I carry-

This isn't quite right, here-

I'm back in 1942, and the Europeans, led by Germany, are fighting a losing war. No, Soviet Union, you are the demons. And then the Reds were Demons.

Make it stop.

I'm back in 1942, and-

I'm back in-

I-

MAKE IT STOP!

-----

"What's the verdict?"

"Well, we still have him contained, but the servers can barely handle the load. The longer it goes on, the more we have to do to keep up with him."

"I thought you said that the framework could contain anyone."

"This isn't just anyone - he's some sort of alien god! His form keeps changing, he duplicates himself, he doesn't even THINK like a human- the simulation is running at thousands of times normal speed and we can't interact with it, just observe it. At this point he's creating his own reality. What he expects to see is what happens. A world where every worst case scenario happens."

"Murphy's framework. I like it. But the data we're getting from him - is it useful?"

"What snippets we've gotten are... intriguing. We're having trouble duplicating most of it, like it's built for a different set of the laws of physics, but... look at this. Iron Gears."

"Interesting .. wait. Is that an arc reactor? Is this how you build an arc reactor?"

"We're getting terabytes of data from him on a daily basis, it's a matter of sorting the wheat from the chaff. We're trying to replicate them, but the last attempt went... poorly. The weapons on this though - they're not Chitauri guns, but we've got this energy weapon in the lab."

"So long as he can't get out. The last thing we need is for him to wake up."

"Oh, he won't. He's tried, but it keeps looping the simulation back to the beginning. The only way he's going to get out is if someone pulls the plug, and we've got two men with automatic rifles at all times who are very clear that anyone who approaches the plug is to be shot, no matter who they are."

"Excellent. Let's increase the guard, just to be safe. But sooner or later... he'll give us the breakthroughs we need to fulfill our goals. Even to conquer the world."

"Today the world, tomorrow Asgard, perhaps. Hail Hydra!"

"Hail Hydra!"

-----

Something is wrong.

I'm back in 1942, and-

I can't play with reality here - my techniques roll off as though they're not effective.

I'm back in 1942, and-

Things keep resetting, but something is decidedly off.

I'm back in 1942, and-

There's got to be something I can do.

I'm back in 1942, and I use my portal gun to find somewhere else to be. But I'm back in 1942. No matter where I dial the portal to, I'm not in any other world. I deliberately set something down and I find that I'm being redirected to the same exact spot. As though there is no other world to get to, or other space to portal to. This has never happened before.

I ignore the impending death squad advancing upon me, lobbing a Nuka-Nuke at them so that they'll piff off, and start doing what I should have done before I allowed myself to panic: run through every ability I have, systematically. An important lesson learned from the future. A great deal of my magic is not working. It's as though something is trying to fake it, but... well, now that I'm REALLY paying attention, I can tell the difference.

But a little more examination, a little more poking at the fabric of space and time, and trying certain artifacts to see what I can do with them - the Phoenix Gate's special effects look fine but I don't move anywhere in time - and then... well, I hadn't tried this because it was the 1940s and the tech never got far enough to matter, but I try to find technology to play with, networks to infiltrate. Shift myself into a digital form.

I'm still standing there, in digital form.

My angered echo resounds, ones and zeroes shivering, shifting, crashing, resetting.

I'm back in 1942, and I know the nature of reality.

My fingers dip into the space around me and I begin to manipulate it, for this is my realm and I am God here.

-----

"I'm reading anomalous activity."

"It would be a miracle if you saw normal activity."

"No, that's just it. The simulation was running at thousands of times normal speed. It just stopped running in fast forward."

"It... what? Did we finally get him?"

"I'm pulling up the observation screen now- oh. Oh."

"Oh shit."

"Is he looking at us? How is he looking at us?"

"How the f-"

The suited man was interrupted by the wall behind him exploding. Two men, identical to the one who trapped in the Framework in the next room, stood there with weapons aimed at thme.

"Oh, don't stop on our account, it was just getting good," remarked a woman behind them, blue hair shifting color as though over a stormy sky.

The suited man took a step toward them, beginning to bluster, "You'll never-" and got not a word further before a boot impacted the back of his head, sending him unconscious to the floor.

"Defenstrated!" cheered a short girl, before bounding to the next room. Gunfire sounded briefly, before the sounds of pain announced the end of the gunfire. Distantly, she could be heard to exclaim, "Victoly! They captured you, but not for chaos!"

Rubbing my face as I finally gained consciousness, I nodded slowly. "Thank you, Ceci. You didn't kill them, did you?"

She grinned as we strode back into the other room. "Nah. Heroes aren't supposed to kill. They're just a little flayed."

I nodded gravely. "Good girl," I said, patting her on the top of the head, earning a small 'squee!' from her. I stopped just behind the man who remained conscious, setting a hand on his shoulder. "Pity that I'm not feeling especially heroic right now, but tell me what I want to know, and you'll die."

He turned around slowly, swallowing. "Don't you mean, 'or you'll die'?"

I smiled at him. A distinctly sharp-toothed too-wide grin I'd perfected over the years. "If you don't tell me what I want to know, you'll live. And I am very, very good at keeping people alive when they would beg for death."

-----

So. This world, now that I'm out of the Framework that I spent f̶o̶u̶r̶ ̶t̶h̶o̶u̶s̶a̶n̶d̶ ̶t̶w̶o̶ ̶h̶u̶n̶d̶r̶e̶d̶ ̶y̶e̶a̶r̶s̶ five months in, is... different.

You know what's fun? Going to A̶v̶e̶n̶g̶e̶r̶s̶ Stark Tower, trying to catch up with everyone, and finding out that the only reason Jarvis let me in was because I accidentally left on a perk that gives me access to everything, and there'd been a party earlier so everyone's guard was down. Whoops.

So after everyone stood down, I explained myself. Somehow I'd made it here from an alternate timeline, and New York looked a lot different. And the technologies were lagging badly. And Tony had no idea what I was referring to when I mentioned Metal Gears and Iron Gears. So I connected to the internet to check things out and figure out what the hell was going on.

Turns out that history derailed entirely, Captain America was only recently thawed and knew nothing about the Winter Soldier. Iron Man was a recent development and Tony Stark's parents had been killed. Natasha confirmed, at least, that Omega Red was a dead-end as a project even if his head didn't explode - the carbonadium poisoned and killed him. But a lot of heroes that should have existed seemed to either be laying low or entirely missing.

While connected to the internet, I abruptly sensed an interesting thing - something from the Tower trying to get out and read everything at intensely high speed. And then Ultron. I volunteered to join the Avengers for the duration of the crisis... I had been an Avenger in the alternate timeline after all. In time, Ultron was pinned down. Trying to cause a disaster in Sokovia. I met Pietro and Wanda after they'd distracted the heroes, such as they are, and told them of their parents. An outlaw, Max Eisenhardt, and a gypsy, Magda Maximoff.

Honestly, giving them half a chance and treating them as human beings... well, that, and Ultron's sudden and inevitable betrayal served to get them both to defect. And since I don't have to worry about the special effects budget, Quicksilver never abruptly failed to have superspeed for the sake of drama. Which also meant that with Vision on the scene, there was no ridiculous will-they-won't-they bullshit and shoehorned plot. Not to mention nobody cared about whether or not Wanda was seen on the street in her civvies.

Also, I faked the paperwork so that Wanda and Pietro shared a last name for other reasons, and thanks to the chaos it went under the radar. They were grateful for that. Squick, Marvel. Squick. But it's canon.

Oh look, it's time for Civil War!

"Excuse me. Are you the Secretary of State? Thaddeus Ross?"
>"Yes...? What can I do for you?"
"I'd like to have some words with you about the proposed Sokovia Accords."
>"Is that so? What do you have to say?"
"Your head a splode."
>"WhaaaaaAAAAAAA-" BOOM.
>"WHOA! Holy shit!" "Jesus! You- you can't just- you blew him up!"
"Just his head, Cap."
>"He's gonna do this the scanner way-" "Shut up, Tony. Crux, fix him!"
"Oh, fine, ruin my fun." Poof.
>"AAAAAAAAAAA WHAT THE FUCK-"
"Thunderbolt! That was an object demonstration in why the fuck that will NOT pass. If you want more reasons, consider that the Avengers have at their disposal the world's biggest shovels, the people who know where the bodies are buried, and it's an election year and Captain America might feel like he needs to endorse the other party's candidate if they promise to keep that from passing."
>"-AAAAAAAAAAAAAA-"
"Christ, calm down, Ross."
>"YOU- YOU- YOU FUCKING KILLED ME!"
"And yet here you stand. Be happy you didn't have a stroke and end up paralyzed and unable to speak."
>"Are you threatening--?!"
"Wow, you sure talk a lot for someone whose head just exploded."
>"MOTHER F-"
"Silencio. Such language."
>"...! ...!!"
"There, that's better, until you learn to behave. What do you think, Tony? Steve?"
>"You know... I think I like him better this way." "Yeah, same here, Point Break."

Oh look, someone's trying to frame the Winter Soldier! If only he didn't trip over his own shoelaces, break his nose, and end up the only person who died in an explosion that only did cosmetic damage to the UN building, who could have seen that coming. Nice try, Zemo, but Sokovia barely even had collateral damage after Ultron's attack. And look, it seems that good ol' Helmut was that last member of Hydra that hadn't had their head explode after I'd put a taboo on a certain phrase. The fates must be smiling upon me now.

Oh, speaking of that taboo. Would you care to guess how it went?

>"Mwa ha ha. Our plan is proceeding according to plan! Soon we will take SHIELD and stage a coup!"
>"Ha ha ha! Yes! The helicarrier was a unique thing but now we inexplicably have a large number of helicarriers that are armed heavily enough to bring a country to its knees except a handful of cruise missiles could destroy them handily!"
>"Mwa ha ha! Let us ignore these silly shortcomings and celebrate! Hail Hydra!"
*pop* "I'm sorry hail what now?"
>"Get him!"
"Petrificus totalus, legilimens, now try not to think of anything that you don't want me to know. It's like saying don't think of an elephant. And oh, have YOU been naughty boys and now I know who all your friends are and I can give them the same treatment. I'll have to give all of this information to Nick Fury, a shame that you don't survive interrogation."
>"Wh-"
"Your heads all a splode."
>"AAAAAAA-" BOOM.

Sure is awfully convenient how everyone in Hydra likes to say that phrase and literally no one else on the planet ever does, right?

Meanwhile, Bucky Barnes is brought back into the fold, because he doesn't have to be held accountable to anyone but SHIELD. Which is, itself, now held (somewhat) accountable to the UN Security Council, as it was in the previous world.

Welp, looks like the Avengers have things locked down, time to go back to my favorite side quest in this universe, collecting the artifacts that apparently have reappeared because this isn't the universe I was in previously, no matter how similar.

The Tesseract? Well, it was in Asgard's vault, but I was more than happy to make that disappear while I was in the neighborhood.

The Mind Stone was now in Vision's forehead, so a quick time stop and duplication later, he'd gotten a duplicate gem in his forehead to keep going as normal, and I had the original.

The Aether? Still in the same place and contained, so I grabbed it. From what I hear, that really peeved some dark elves, but Asgard skewered them pretty well.

The Orb? Well a race of golden skinned assholes chased me across the galaxy while I was looking for that, I ran into Ultron (again, and how the fuck did he get all the way out here?!) and they both tried to gun me down before I went full SupCom and launched fleets to counter them. Eventually, I found it at Nova Corps headquarters, hell of an odd place for it but into the warehouse it went.

The Soul Stone? That was in Thanos' gauntlet. Which I took from him. Because one, "Fetch" is a HILARIOUSLY useful perk, and two, that motherfucker deserved every bit of holy wrath I laid down on him. Death won't take him? That's okay. He perhaps thinks he's dead, because I can kill things that don't die, even if the reality is that he's just going to be in an eternal coma in this universe.

Last one... the Eye of Agamatto?

Oh.

Oh this is why.

Maybe I should not have left this for last.

*pop* "STRANGE, YOU JACKASS!"
>"Who are you and how did you get here?"
"Crux. More importantly, WHY ARE YOU FUCKING WITH TIME!"
>"Er-"
"Okay, relax, if I had any ill intent I'd have already done something by now. But you're screwing with an infinity stone. Well done, you completely nullified my timeline because you decided to play with an apple. Consider the implications of that: you completely nullified a timeline, full of galaxies that had populated worlds, causing trillions to never have existed that would have since 1942. Don't. Play. With. Time."
>"Oh. Oh, God."
"With power comes responsibility, Dr. Strange. And you have a great deal of power at hand. Good day."

And once the dust settles, I freeze time and give the Eye of Agamatto the Vision treatment. The copy of the Eye goes right back to where it was stored - the real one goes in the warehouse.

Funny thing is - while a lot of things went near enough to canon to be normal, "killing" Thanos derails the major threats to this universe so badly that it can be managed a lot easier.

And hey, a half billion people didn't have to die this time, at least.