Marvel: King of Mythology Chapter 32

Chapter 32: Ooga Booga, Club > Blades


``Let’s meet for Dinner.``


Gwen’s text was the only thing that stopped me from raging outside and slapping myself.


“How dumb am I?”


People didn't lie when they said you can forget the obvious under stress. You make ridiculous and simple mistakes that end up costing you a lot.


<<Congratulations! The host has defeated three famed villains without lifting a finger!>>


<<Host has been rewarded with a B-Grade Equipment spin>>


It didn’t even impress me that I had received an equipment spin. 


Why?


Because I fucked up and didn’t use the one equipment I was supposed to us.


[Equipment: Mask of Loki (B), Adamantium Chains (A)]


The fucking Adamantium Chains.


Why did I not use them? 


I wasn’t certain about its ability, but I knew that it was kind of a binding item. And given it was mythological, it wasn’t a simple binding either.


I cursed myself for forgetting such an obvious item that I could have used.


But there is no point in crying over spilt milk.


So, let’s not worry about what happened.


“So what did I get?” I asked the system, ‘Roll for the equipment.’


<<Affirmative!>>


<<Rolling for B Grade Equipment!>>


At this point, I had stopped asking about the roll despite the grade being obvious.


But yeah, following the same pattern, I got an equipment.


And maybe this was the first item that I had enough knowledge about to not even have to research it. 


<<Congratulations! Host has acquired the B-Grade Equipment: Club of Hercules.>>


Yep.


The club that Hercules carried around which I think was made of an olive branch. But from what I read about Herclues, the club isn’t necessarily magical but it is strong.


Like very very strong. 


“This guy smashed open the Nemean Lion’s skull with this.” 


The Nemean Lion was something that couldn’t even be injured with regular weapons like swords and for Hercules to smack the Lion to death with the club…


It should be obvious as to how durable this club is.


And this also solves an issue I had.


“I couldn’t use a lot of weapons earlier.”


I tried using a metallic bat while in my Herculean Essence, but well, the bat broke even before I could exert half of my strength.


So it was really nice that I got something which helped me to exert my full power.


“Did Hercules use his full power using the club?”


Did he?


Well, even if he didn’t. 


It didn’t matter.


He used it in almost all his fights, so it is something I don’t have to worry about breaking.


Anyhow, not worrying about any of that for the time being. I decided to go to the important place.


``Sure, we can do that.``


Assuring Gwen that we could meet for dinner, I decided to leave. 


I wanted nothing but chicken at the moment.


Nothing’s better than nice crispy chicken.


…

…


[Oscorp Tower, Manhattan]


Sitting inside a dark room was a masked man, his body injured and bandaged. But despite the pain that he felt, his eyes stayed glued to the scene in front of him –burning through the mask that he wore. 


“You… are a monster.”


This made the man responsible for the scene laugh.


“It holds no meaning coming from you, Taskmaster.” The man said, not amused by the mercenary’s words. “You have more blood in your hands than me.”


“I have blood.” Taskmaster countered, “But what I give is a merciful death, while the life that you are giving them is nothing more than hell, Norman.”


Norman did not bother with a reply, nor did he care to listen to the man he had to spend a fortune to rescue.


“You surely are quite talkative for someone I just saved.” Norman said, walking around with a glass of fine wine. “I spent enough to purchase ten of you, but be glad that I found your life valuable.”


“You just didn't want to leave me with S.H.I.E.L.D,” Taskmaster scoffed, “After all, if they did manage to get information out of me, it would have costed you a little too much.”


Taskmaster knew that he wasn’t wrong. The only reason why Norman saved him was because the experiments that Norman was conducting turned out to be a great success. 


And if by chance, even though he wouldn’t, S.H.I.E.L.D was able to extract information from him, it was going to be a nightmare for Norman.


“Your skills were also part of the reason.” Norman explained, sitting next to a one way see-through glass panel, “And I always prefer to have skillful people around me.”


“For what?” Taskmaster asked, “Once you complete this formula, you have no need for anyone besides you.”


His face morphed into a scowl, but it remained hidden thanks to his mask.


Norman pointed, “Look.”


And that was all Taskmaster had been doing.


Looking.


Looking at the chaos.


“Stab him,” Norman ordered through his phone, which made his voice echo inside the room that was fully sealed off.


The only way out was a white painted metallic door that remained close from the outside.


“You monster…” Taskmaster muttered as both he and Norman saw a young woman stabbing a similar aged man with a knife –right at his stomach.


Taskmaster clenched his fists, almost horrified by the experimentation that went behind the glass panel.


“Magnifient…”


All while Norman gasped in awe.


“Look,” He said, “This is what a path to a perfect world is like.”


Taskmaster saw it.


He saw the guy getting stabbed. The woman who was clearly related to the man didn’t hesitate even for a second as the drug she was given made her obedient to follow every single of Norman’s command.


But that wasn’t the only thing that the drug did.


“See, no sign of injury.”


As she took out the knife from the wound, the wound in the boy’s body began to close. 


“This is art.”


Leaving no scar.


Norman looked at Taskmaster. 


“And next week,” He grinned, “Next week I will reveal what I have created.”


Next week.


That was possibly when something no one expected was going to happen.


Something… horrible.


…

…


[Eastside Restaurant, NYC]


“You look…”


I know.


Oh, I know.


“Don’t say it.” I gave her a tired smile.


“Rough day, aye?” Gwen asked, staring at my dirty clothes.


“Had a stupid ass car splatter dirt over me.”


Today just wasn’t my day.


Truly.


“Anyhow, what were you up to?” She asked, but how do I exactly answer her?


“Nothing much, was at home the whole day.” What else? But lie. “What about you?”


“Was looking into Baxter.” She said, quite enthusiastically, “You know that if you get a recommendation from them, you can study your masters for entirely free?”


“Really?”


Money wasn’t an issue but that was still a nice piece of information.


“Mhm.” She nodded, “Quite the lot of universities are happy to grant 100% scholarships to students who have done internship and been recommended by Baxter, Oscorp, Frost Enterprises, Rand and Co. or Stark Industries.”


Frost and Stark were two corporations that I knew quite a lot about.


Both of them are quite ‘famous’ after all.


“You will get the scholarship.” I assured her, “If they don’t recommend you then they are blind.”


She was quite the genius, so it was all in good cause.


“It will help a lot.” She showed a little hopeful smile, “College tuition fee is a lot and even with the scholarship which I currently have, it does not cover the entire fee. So, having a full scholarship will definitely be helpful when I go for my masters.” 


Could I help her with her fees?


Most certainly.


But was I going to?


Of course not. Even if I offered, she would just get angry at me.


“I feel bad though.” I said, slouching back and waiting for my order. “It would have been better if someone like Peter would have gotten the internship inplace of me.”


He deserves it. 


He works a lot, he is smart and he could use that 100% scholarship more than me.


Gwen knew that Peter could use that money as well, but she did not say that.


“You earned it.”


Instead, she smiled at me.


This made me shrug, “Peter is smart, he will manage to score scholarships from places that we cannot.”


He was a monster when it came to intellect.


And I did not mean that sarcastically.


“But I just hope that he will be fine.”


Hearing Gwen say that with a sigh made me curious. “What do you mean?”


“She is coming back.” She said, confusing me. “She will be back by next week.”


She?


“And… who are we talking about again?” I raised an eyebrow, curious.


“MJ.” She said, but seeing that I still stared at her dumbly, she elaborated. “Mary Jane.”


“Oh.”


Damn, now I get it.


“It might be tough, but he has to get over her.” Gwen said, “You cannot just chase after someone who rejected you for someone else, that also in public.”


I had heard about it.


How Mary Jane rejected Peter in front of everyone and that ended up with him getting bullied even more. 


“Peter is a tough kid.” I assured her, “He will handle it.”


I hope he does. And well, if he doesn’t.


There is nothing that a man to man talk cannot fix.


“Anyways, our food is here.” I said pointing at the chicken that was being carried by the waiter.


This made her laugh, “Yeah, better to eat than to worry.”


I had never agreed with someone this easily, but when it came to food, especially chicken –I had to agree.


As for whatever is to be dealt later? 


I will worry about that next week.


For now, fried chicken it is.


______________________________________________________________________________


[[A/N: We will be introduced to another love interest in the next chapter and it is not Mary Jane. 


I am taking the romance slow because I do not want to rush the relationships. ]]