In MCU with One for All -Chapter 3

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Disclaimer - All the usual Yada Yada Yada. I don’t own any rights to any characters in this fic save for my OCs. Marvel owns them. Don’t sue me

Earth - 16969 [MCU AU]

Vancouver, Canada [2008]

–Jamie Bell–

His car slowly came to a halt, in the middle of nowhere. So far, he had been driving mindlessly, not knowing where he was going or if he was even coming back or not. He had no destination, no plan but he knew one thing now. He had nothing to lose, nada, and a lot to gain, potentially, if he finally got off his ass and began doing something.

Something with the stupid broken powers he had gotten, something to help the world. This was right around the time that Tony Stark would be kidnapped which would kickstart the timeline he once adored but now dreaded as the Marvel universe was very rarely a forgiving universe.

Exhaling heavily, he got out of his car and leaned on the bonnet, looking straight up at the absolutely massive sprawling trees that were fortunately commonplace in the Canadian Wilderness. He had no plans of draining the life force from these trees because they were way too public but even standing a few dozen feet away, he could feel the massive amount of life coursing through the trees.

The life force did not belong to the trees individually but also to the massive root network that thrummed with life beneath the soil, the road, and everything else. It was a work of beauty and he just let himself get immersed in it more and more as he stood there, to get a nice moment of clarity and peace away from the haze that had clouded his mind.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Mr.Bell.” A crisp voice broke him out of the haze as he whirled around, his hand crackling with electricity because he had not felt anyone or anything approach him with his CHI sense. 

He faltered as soon as he saw the person who was standing a mere 3 feet away from him, basically within arm’s reach. Normally, he would have been faced with a very ugly choice if some normie had seen his hand crackling with electricity but the person standing in front of him, he wouldn’t be able to touch her even if he absorbed every single element for a thousand more years.

Relaxing, he deactivated the lightning and winced as he felt the numbness in that hand. That was going to take a while to get the feeling back. In the meanwhile, he took in the yellow robes, the bald head, the plaid expression, and the absolute certainty on her face as she stood in the middle of nowhere, in monk clothes, as if she was the one who belonged here.

The Ancient One.

He smiled nervously, wondering if this was the moment the Ancient One chose to evict him from this reality since he was technically an outsider. If so, it would be a very cruel joke. “W-What can I do for you, Ancient One?”

She raised a single eyebrow towards him, “Not going to deny your knowledge?”

He chuckled bitterly, suddenly feeling utterly relaxed because he knew there was nothing he could do to a being of her calibre. It was oddly freeing, knowing your fate did not lie in your hands at the moment. “No, you showing up means you know everything I have ever said, done, will say, or will do in the future. It’s impossible to hide stuff from you, especially with the broken powers I have.”

To demonstrate, he raised his now trembling right hand, “That little light show just cost me a few days' worth of healing.”

She just looked at him and then at his hand, as if dissecting it, and he felt very uncomfortable during the whole process but thankfully, she never went past visual inspection, that would have been really painful.

“I see. I wouldn’t say your powers are broken, Mr.Bell. It is only a matter of perspective. Perspective that can be gained at Kamar Taj.” 

He looked at her oddly for that, “You are inviting me? To Kamar Taj? To do what? Learn Sorcery?”

She shrugged, her robes staying in place immaculately, without a single crease in them–there has got to be a specific spell for that. “Learn Sorcery, Meditation, Perspective, advance your powers, whatever suits you really. Kamar Taj is not restricted in that sense. We don’t have a syllabus, if that’s the word you were looking for.”

He just stood there, his mind whirling at the implications. Who wouldn’t want to learn Sorcery? Hell, the ability to open portals alone would be a massive game changer for him. He could be clandestine as all hell and back while doing his hospital work. Be a vigilante healer.

The notion made him snort out loud.

“So, what will it be? Will you be joining us at Kamar Taj? To get guidance for the next step of your journey? Or will you continue melding with the Green and forever lose your sense of individuality?” She said with the same practiced ease as if she was asking about the weather and not something that would have led to his death in all sense of the word.

After all, what was the point of having an alive body if the mind itself was dead?

In the end, as chills ran down his spine, he could only utter one word, “What?”

“That is what you were doing, losing yourself in the symphony of the roots, the song of the trees, a process through which the Green assimilates individuals with life Affinities to act as the Avatar of the Green, after wiping their personalities, obviously. The Green does not like independent avatars, it likes worker drones.”

His entire body began trembling as he realised just how close he had come to death. He had heard of the Green, an entire dimension or something representing all plant and tree life in the universe. He thought that was the DC universe, not the MCU. Apparently, this world was more fucked up than he thought it was.

The only way he could gather more information, regroup, and then hopefully get the tools to start making a difference was to join Kamar Taj and then think about what to do from there.

One thing was for certain though, that he was not going to cling to the monotonous life he had built around himself. Sure, it would be hard work down the drain but he had to do this or it might just eat him alive for the rest of his life because he would end up spending the rest of his days asking himself the same question over and over again.

What if.

And that, was worse than death, for him.

So, he exhaled, stopped his trembling or as much as he could, and looked straight into the now smiling eyes of the Ancient One, “Yes. I will join Kamar Taj. Thank you for having me”

And hopefully, this would be the start of his life, his second life, if you will.

He did not know how the portal came to be right next to him or if she hid it from his perception but the second he finished his words, a glowing portal was just to the right of his, with the Ancient One gesturing to the portal, “After you.”

He gulped and then nodded, taking a hesitant step into the portal. Before he could take the second cautious step, he heard the Ancient one speaking behind him, “I’ve heard that portals are always on the move, not in our dimension but in the 7th dimension, and as such, can sometimes cut material off before they close fully.”

With a yelp, he just jumped into the portal. And found himself lying at two very leather booted feet. He looked up and found the grim visage of one Karl Mordo, future Rogue Evil Sorcerer, looking down at him.

Such was his beginnings at the vaunted Kamar Taj, the place that housed the Masters of the Mystic Arts, the guardians of reality itself.