Chapter 3: The Big Apple
Time: 2011 August. Location: Unkown.
Frei soared above the clouds, feeling the wind rushing across his entirety. Memories of a distant past reminisced to the forefront of his mind. It had been so long since he could fly without restrictions. During the rebellion, flying was a danger in itself. There were a thousand and one ways for the imperialists to track the location of the flyer. Now, however, he was far away from Viltrum, and he would indulge in the more minor pleasures such as this.
The SHIELD personnel had given him what they called "civilian clothing." He was wearing a white button-up shirt tucked into a beige khaki and black dress shoes. The outfit was breathable and easy to tear, unlike his Viltrumite full-body suit. The language specialist assigned to Frei told him that with his Viltrumite mustache, he looked like a "bodybuilding suburban father." Even Frei thought himself to look ridiculous in the outfit; however, it was essential to fit in with the humans. His military training of infiltration-subdue-conquer had helped him on the off-planet missions designated to him in his time as part of the imperial army, and it would help him now.
He needed to get away from that agent, Maria Hill, as soon as possible. She was perceptive and determined. The words she spoke swayed his own to give out valuable information too quickly. They were good. For as primitive as they were, their manipulation was on par with the Empire's finest.
Frei took notice of his daily spotless living space. No doubt they had swiped a few of his hairs and drops of his blood from his previous wounds. He scoffed at the thought. Plenty had tried to decode Viltrumites' genetics before. The earthlings were not the first and would not be the last. With previous attempts, few were able to use their DNA and create some sort of enhanced soldiers or Viltrumite clones. All of them, however, were widely inferior to the real thing. Frei had few worries on such matters, but it was something to keep in mind for the future.
Something else occupied his mind now. He had felt a change in his body, slowly decreasing his strength and speed throughout his time on Earth. Thankfully it had stopped at one point during his stay with SHIELD. However, the flight he took just now confirmed his concerns.
Frei needed to extend more of himself to fly at the speed that used to be effortless for him. 'Is it around fifty percent?' Having his own power lowering to half was not something to ease through. This event was highly alarming. He would not even be able to fight against an Imperial high officer toe-to-toe, not even mentioning Thragg or his close confidants. His decrease in strength confirmed the need to lay low and somehow regain his full potential.
Still deep in thoughts, the sounds of fire crackling came from behind him. Turning around, Frei saw a hooded figure wearing bright orange and yellow robes floating in the air. 'She could fly? Another species, perhaps? Enhanced humans?' Frei thought.
"Mr. Frei, you are a hard man to get in touch with." The figure said, lifting the hood to reveal a hairless woman.
"Who are you?" He questioned.
"I am what people called the Ancient One. I came bearing some answers to your current predicament." She said in a hurried voice.
Frei allowed her to continue despite eyeing her for possible incoming attacks.
"Your arrival had brought many changes to this world's future." Her palms collapsed together with a spark.
"We live in a universe contained in multiverses, metaverses, and the omniverse." An orb of energy emitted from her palms, duplicating with each of her words.
"Due to reasons unbeknownst to me, one of the six singularities had deemed it worthwhile to bring you forth across the omniverse from your world to our own. The Viltrum Empire, you know, does not exist here." She raised both her hands, catching two of the thousands of brightly shining spheres.
"That's not possible" Frei's mind was shattered with every piece of information.
"Travelling across worlds? How? Why?" He continued.
"We do not have much time. Your...friends are very persistent in finding you." Her words rushed to stop more of his questions from coming out. The Ancient One's eyes darted upward towards the sky. Frei followed her action, but he did not see anything. He assumed SHIELD sent some sort of drones or satellites to find him.
"You, your body, your mind, and your powers have now adjusted to the laws of this world. I am sure you have noticed." She gave a knowingly look towards Frei, which frightened the man. For the first time in his long life, something else other than the Empire scared him to the core. This woman, this Ancient One, knew more about him than he could ever imagine. It was not healthy to have all your cards laid bare for someone to see.
"I have finished the task required of me. What you'll do with your newfound freedom is of your choice. I hope you can make the right outcome" she finished her sentence and opened a circular portal to a strange wooden room. The Ancient One walked through her gate and gave Frei one last look. "We will meet again. Oh yes, one more thing. Please don't tell them about me. It is not yet time."
Breaking away from his frozen status, Frei rushed towards the woman for more answers, but the portal disappeared before he could even reach it.
"WHAT DOES THIS ALL MEAN? TELL ME WHAT IT MEANS!" He yelled towards the sky with no response.
The woman brought more questions than answers. He rushed off with his max speed to find some trace of the woman in the surrounding area, but his search was in vain.
"Freedom? Could this be true? That is not possible." Frei muttered under his breath. He could not trust everything the woman said. He would first lay low and learn more about the planet. For now, he was still safe from Viltrum's attention.
His search for the Ancient One had brought him far away from where he started. Frei was now on top of a bustling city. From a distance, he saw a highrise with the words "Stark" placed mainly near the top. The man floated down to a hidden alley and walked towards the main street.
Succumbed to the sea of people, passing by and living their lives. Frei felt the rhythm of the locals trying to find meaning in their own life amidst the dirty yet bustling human hive. Earth was much different from Viltrum. Their streets are filled with vehicles and busy bodies. Frei wondered how any of them could get anywhere in these traffic-ridden cities. On Viltrum, his people could fly, so few needed to walk on the ground. Walking became an activity for leisure and luxury. The streets were adorned with trees and beautiful pavement roads. Unlike the Earthlings, entrances on his planets were placed on top of the buildings instead for easy access by all those flying. Automatic vehicles were only used to transport the young, who had not activated their powers.
(A/N: I'm taking some creative liberty here and thought upon how Viltrum architecture and society could be.)
The first thing he hoped to do was read about this world's history, customs and culture. By thinking about this as a mission, he could ignore the crisis that the Ancient One brought. He would process it later. Besides, reading was a pleasure he had picked up on one of his off-planet missions in the past. His "English teacher" had told him that there were numerous libraries across the world that he could enter for free, filled with paper books, especially in this nation called the United States.
On Viltrum, everything was digitized, so occurrences of paper booklets were rare. Excited for this divergence, Frei tapped the shoulders of a young-looking woman near him.
"Would you be able to tell me where the nearest library is located, young lady?" He asked
The woman gave him a confused look at that and said, "Um, New York Public Library is at the next intersection right there between forty-second street and fifth avenue." She pointed towards a large marble building.
"I appreciate your help" Frei walked off towards the guided direction.
Behind him, the unknown woman was holding on to the hands of a ten years old boy.
"Who was that aunt May? Your friend?" The boy asked the only parental figure in his life.
"It was nothing, Peter. Just someone that needed help. That's all." She answered sweetly to the young boy. Her thoughts hung on the words the strange man said, 'Young Lady? He didn't even look much older than me."
….
Time: 2011 August. Location: New York City.
Walking into the massive building filled with wooden tables, chairs, and bookcases. Frei attempted to move towards one of the bookcases but was stopped by a man. He wore a similar outfit to Frei, but he had a blue cardigan on top of his buttoned shirt and a name tag with "Carl" written on it.
(A/N: You can search up the New York Public Library building. It looks cool.)
"You have to show me your library card first." The man said towards him.
"I don't have such a thing on me," Frei answered as calmly as he could despite his rising annoyance.
"Then you can sign-up for a free library card. I just need your ID." He continued.
"I…" He tried to get a word in, but before he needed to, someone chimed in.
"Mr. Wright, you forgot your ID card in the car." Another man walked up to him and handed him a piece of plastered card. The man looked to be around thirty to forty years old. Unfortunately, Frei could not pinpoint the exact numbers. He was still getting used to how short these people's lives were.
Taking a card in his hands, he showed it to the librarian. "Is this what you were looking for? Carl?" Frei said.
"Ah yes, please come this way. I'll make one for you in no time." The three walked towards the reception desk. Frei turned towards the newcomer and asked, "Did SHIELD send you?"
"I am Agent Phil Coulson. I was tasked with helping you until Director Nick Fury arrived." Phil whispered. Frei nodded and looked towards the agent's well-crafted black suit and back at his own.
"Nice clothes, Phil Coulson." He added in, still taking sneak peeks at the finely tailored clothing of the other man.
"Thank you, Mr. Wright." Phil replied, surprised at the alien's interest in his fashion choice.
"I appreciate you and your organization setting up an identification for me in your world." He continued. While he briefly handled the ID card before, he saw his supposed name on the piece of plastic. 'Felix Wright. How amusing.' He thought.
(A/N: Y'all think I'm not going to make an Ace Attorney reference? You were wrong!)
"It is my pleasure." Phil Coulson replied with a nod of his own.
After receiving his newly acquired ID card and a new library card, Frei selected a pile of books that interested him and brought them to one of the free spots in the reading area. Agent Phil Coulson sat down a few chairs away from Frei.
Tuning out the surrounding, he got to understand this world better. Viltrumites' processing speed was enhanced to match their capabilities. After a few hours, Frei got through a few piles of books and grasped a better understanding of Earth, humans, and their culture. He learned about the history of the US, their first superhero, Captain America, and the new occurrence of Tony Stark, owner of the building he saw earlier. Frei was particularly interested in the fictional section of the library. Leisure reading had never been high on Viltrum's society, yet humans loved their genres of romance, fantasy, sci-fi, etc. He inclined to agree with their fascination with fiction.
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