491AN: So it has been quite a long time for this story, since I updated it. Well, what can I say I took a break from writing due to lack of time, and then came back to it in the new year. Though admittedly I still don't have a huge amount of time.
That said I decided to update this one now, as spending two hours beasting this out was many times easier than updating my Last King Story, which I am supposed to be doing. Still, nothing to complain about, though I'll admit I probably need to get up to date with the Marvel verse before I get to into this story. Unfortunately the last MCU film I watched was Avengers 2, so I think I am probably pretty behind.
That said I am fortunately not just covering MCU things but the greater Marvel universe as some of the more observant my notice from this chapter and previous ones. Either way enough talking, here is the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy.
Disclaimer: I do not own Tokyo Ghoul or Marvel etc.
( - )
(Last Time)
Overhead a few faint beams of light made it into the sewer system, lighting Kaneki's way as the last of his Kahuja form disappeared, revealing his bloodied, injured body. One of his legs having been completely mangled, whilst his ribs had noticeably been caved in completely, blood spattering out of his mouth with his every breath.
Not that this was much of an issue, as almost immediately his wounds rapidly started to heal, even as he continued to crawl through the sewer, the air around him misting and the water below him freezing over as, after a few moments, he uneasily scrambled to his feet.
His placid grey eyes darting this way and that for a moment, before he uneasily limped deeper into New York's sewer system, ignoring the muffled noise and shouting he could hear going on, on the surface, overhead.
( - )
Chapter 10
( - )
(Within the sewers. beneath New York City)
Staggering tiredly through a dark, dingy New York sewer, his feet splashing in filthy, stinking knee higher water, Kaneki had to fight back his exhaustion.
He wasn't hungry thankfully, the gnawing hunger than had assailed and consumed him over the last few days, had disappeared.
He was still a bit peckish, yes. He'd had to exert a huge amount of energy and effort over the last couple of days, ever since Coulson, at the behest of Fury, had dragged him into this weird, alien mess. Which is why, if there were some meat going he wouldn't say no.
That said the all-consuming need to eat was gone though, or at least for the moment. Thankfully it was no longer gnawing at his stomach anymore, or twisting his thoughts.
Replacing that hunger though, was instead tiredness.
The battle far above on the surface had taken a lot out of him, and despite his wounds having all healed up - with the only remaining sign of them being his ripped up and bloodied clothes, he was still recovering.
Stumbling slightly in the fetid water, Kaneki had to thrust a black nailed hand out to catch himself on the wall.
Spitting out a mouthful of bloody bile, Kaneki took a few moments to gather himself. Absentmindedly listening to the sounds of battle far off in the distance, before he then pushed himself on.
He couldn't wait around, nor did he want to linger. Just in case his erstwhile allies, the Avengers and SHIELD caught up with him.
Admittedly the chances of it happening were unlikely, especially considering he had ripped out that implanted chip in his skull, but still it was possible.
He might have been delirious at the time, but he could still very much remember everything he had done on the surface.
He had killed and eaten Thor's brother, Loki. The mastermind of the attack, and the person that SHIELD, and Thor, both wanted brought in alive.
A pang of regret flowed through him at that thought, and at his memories of Thor's rage after the blonde alien had discovered his brother's bloody, mutilated corpse.
It hadn't been a pretty sight.
Sure he hadn't been at all close to Thor, or very fond of him. The same could be said for the rest of the Avengers actually. But still, he had killed his brother, eaten him, and then fought and maimed the God of Thunder too.
He very much doubted that Thor, or the rest of the Avengers, would be pleased about that. As for SHIELD, well Kaneki didn't trust Fury for a moment. The one eyed man had made it quite clear what he would do if Kaneki stepped out of line.
Kaneki grit his teeth at that thought. The bastard had stuck a chip in his head, no doubt to track his actions, or maybe even as a way to control him. For all Kaneki knew the chip was rigged to explode at a push of a button.
Honestly, he wasn't sure. But what his muddled mind did recognise though, was that Fury was not his friend, and that his minions; SHIELD and the Avengers, were therefore not his friends either.
This effectively mean that he was fugitive. He couldn't go back to his old life. His job, his apartment, they were both lost causes. After this mess with the invasion was over, Fury would have agents monitoring them just in case he returned.
His hands clenched into fists at that thought. Dark red, almost black blood, leaking out of self-inflicted wounds and dripping down through is porcelain white fingers and into the murky water below him.
He was a pariah again, a marked man. Just like he had been in his old world, or reality, or whatever it was.
Shaking his head at that, Kaneki pushed on. His feet eating up the distance as he continued to trudge through the sewer water. His breath becoming more regular, and his limbs stronger as the tiredness left his body.
He would still need to sleep and rest, but he was feeling better than he had been before.
Thinking on his actions as he continued to trudge wearily, haphazardly about, his returning stamina bringing with it more mental clarity and acuity as he did so, Kaneki slowly came to realise that a greater part of himself was not actually regretting what he had done. No, instead it seemed to be exulting in how he had killed and eaten Loki, and in the newfound strength that had come with his consumption of the 'would be gods' flesh.
An odd reaction, in fact one that was alien to him.
Self-hatred and regret, those were the feelings that he was generally familiar with. But pleasure, and exhilaration, those were things more in line with what a real Ghoul, and a bad one at that, would feel.
What did that mean for him?
What had happened to him?
Kaneki paused at that, and looked down at his bloodstained hands.
Something within him had changed, or mutated, or evolved.
Honestly he wasn't sure.
Either way it felt like what had happened after he had partaken of the Hulk's flesh, only slightly different, and far more noticeably, and intense.
He felt stronger than he had before, and far more powerful and more dangerous too.
Those were just the physical changes though, the internal ones, both spiritually and mentally, they seemed to be even greater.
Letting out a breath of air, Kaneki could see his breath misting in front of him. This being in spite of the humid, disgusting atmosphere of the sewer. In fact, looking closely he could see ice crystals forming in the air, and the water slicked walls and flooded floor beneath him had started to freeze over from that single breath.
Bringing one of his hands up to his face, Kaneki was startled to find that his hand was icy cold. In fact his entire body seemed to be running at a colder temperature than before.
On top of which, as he breathed out and focused on the feeling of deep-seated coldness within him, the area around him seemed to more rapidly freeze over.
The intensity and speed with which it did so, increasing the more Kaneki focused. Until, after a few moments, he found himself standing in a completely frozen sewer tunnels, frosting coating the previously slimy walls, with the thigh higher water below him having completely frozen and turned into ice.
Frowning at this, Kaneki placed to hands gently onto the surface of the ice.
Surprising himself as he did so, at how little the cold bothered him.
After which, with barely any exertion at all he ripped himself free of the ice and clambered atop it, his grimy, white hair now nearly touching the roof of the tunnel as he looked at the frozen, wasteland around him.
Somehow, it seemed like he had, perhaps permanently, managed to gain the ability to control and manipulate ice after eating Loki.
That said though, exactly how permanent this was, and what his limits were, and how fine his control was at the moment, was another thing.
Mentally too he realised, as he instinctively started to walk across the frozen water, his mind was clearer, perhaps clearer than it had been even before he had ripped into and consumed the Hulk's flesh and become filled with anger and aggression.
He had a mental clarity he had never felt before, something he hadn't realised whilst he had been in his previously exhausted and rundown state.
He also felt like some of his emotions, things like guilt and anxiety, emotions that had plagued him since even before he had become a One Eyed Ghoul, were now deadened, numb.
It was almost like a switch within him, one connected to his humanity, had been switched off.
He felt comfortable in his own skin, perhaps for the first time in his entire life.
Continuing on through the tunnel, his mind continued to whirl, disconnected and muddled thoughts swirling around and coming together as he tried to make sense of what was happening to him.
He could still feel a pang of regret over what he done to Loki, but it was not guilt, nor was his regret over Loki's death, or its effects on Thor. Instead his regret was focused on how his actions had impacted upon himself.
Ice filled his veins at that unusually selfish thought.
That kind of thinking was not like him.
Was that really the only reason he felt regret, because he was unhappy over the fact that Nick Fury and SHIELD would find out what had happened, and would start hunting him.
Again his mind drifted to Fury and his erstwhile allies, the Avengers.
Already he had gotten a clear idea of just who Nick Fury was as a person, and extents to which he would go.
The man was a fanatic, and he had made it clear that he would imprison or eliminate Kaneki, or any other powered individual on his index for that matter, if he, or they, preyed on innocents or became a threat, and Kaneki very much believed that Nick Fury currently considered him a threat. Or at elast he would once he discovered what had happened.
The rest of the Avengers too; Stark, Rogers, Romanov, Barton, Thor, they all probably saw him as a threat too, or at least they would when the dust settled and they too found out what he had done.
He had killed Loki, maimed Thor and killed who knows how many people in that fight against Thor when he had caused a skyscraper to collapse.
Which was annoying.
He wasn't too worried about Barton, Romanov or Rogers, they were not much of a threat to him as they were at moment. Their skills in hand to hand combat and gimmicky gadgets and equipment could only take them so far.
Against a Ghoul, especially one as powered up as Kaneki believed himself to be, they were not much of a threat.
Stark and Thor though, they were more of a worry, what with Stark having that suit and all those bizarre and deadly weapons, and Thor, well, being Thor the God of Thunder. Both of them could possible present a threat. Thor more so than Stark, especially since the Asgardian was likely nursing a grudge.
Yes, he wasn't too keen on those two coming after him.
The same was true of Nick Fury and SHIELD too actually the more he thought about it. After all who knew what weapons, living or otherwise, the spy master had lying around, on top of which Barton and Romanov were his agents.
If Fury armed them up with some high grade tech, or some magic space metal, or something of that ilk, and then sent them after him together with even more reinforcements… He might have to re-evaluate his opinion on Barton, Romanov and Rogers.
Shaking his head at that, Kaneki pushed on through the sewer.
He was thinking himself in circles, he had already considered this, and thus all he was doing now was worrying over what might not even come to pass, not if he could get away now and hide his trail.
No, he needed to keep his head in the here and now.
With that thought in mind, he continued heading in the opposite direction of the battle.
Until he knew how the others would react, he was going to be avoiding them. He needed to get out of the city and then lay low.
Nodding to himself at that, he then continued on down the tunnel. The water continuing to freeze over as he passed, allowing him to walk upon it as opposed to through it.
Until, after a couple of minutes of continuous walking, Kaneki soon came to a stop. His head tilting and his nose twitching.
He could hear footsteps and lowered voices. He could also smell unwashed bodies, his enhanced sense of smell, courtesy of his physiology, allowing him to distinguish the many foul smells in the sewer.
Narrowing, his eyes, one of which now had a permanently black sclera and crimson iris, with noticeable flecks of green and blue in it, he clambered off the iced over water and onto a nearby ledge. His lending bending slightly as he prepared to lunge forward. His arm and leg muscles bulging, and his fingers gouging into the concrete beneath him as he came to a stop and set himself into a positon ready to pounce should he need to.
They were still coming, their voices hushed but still audible to him.
He could hear bits and pieces of what they were saying. They had initially been drawn here by one of them sensing a powerful 'something' in the vicinity.
Another one of them, a woman this time seemed to think the 'something' was a power mutant. He had heard of them before, even if he had never met one. Some called them evolved humans, others; cursed, heretical monsters.
The man who was leading them, the one who sensed the 'something', which Kaneki presumed was himself, seemed to think otherwise though.
An abomination, that is what the man, Calaban, seemed to think he was.
The man didn't know how right he was.
Rolling his neck and shoulders, his hands clenching into fists, Kaneki continued to stare off into the gloom, his lips curling upwards into a savage smile as again, instead of worrying, he felt a sudden feeling of cold pleasure running through him, easing his anxiety and washing away any tension.
He wasn't alone in here, this Calaban and his group seemed to be looking for him.
He wasn't sure why, but what he did know was that if they meant trouble, then it would be the last thing they ever did.
"Come out, whoever you are!" Kaneki called, his voice soft, and his resolve firm. He may still be slightly tired and in desperate need of sleep and rest, but he could still put up fight if he had to.
Mist began to roll off of his body at that thought, causing the air around him to become even colder, even as his steely muscled tensed, his current body positioning reminiscent of a powerful jungle cat, waiting and ready to attack.
He was ready for anything. If they attacked him, then he would respond in kind. He was not in the mood to take any shit right now!
In response to his words, several shadows disentangled themselves from a nearby offshoot tunnel, the darkness of the sewer enshrouding them in shadows, and the stench almost, but not quite, covering their scent as they began to approach.
"Easy there stranger, don't do anything you may regret!" A strong, female voice called out, making Kaneki tense up, even as the group of three emerged from the gloom, his heterochromatic eyes widening slightly at the sight of them.
( - )
(Several days later, on the Helicarrier)
Taking a long drag from a cigar, Nick Fury exhaled a large plume of smoke as he looked out of the large windows on the Helicarrier's bridge. His single visible eye narrowing as he starred menacingly down at the still smoking and ruined island of Manhattan below.
The giant airship currently hovering only several hundred metres above the city, its giant turbines blowing away the plumes of black smoke that still rose from certain areas in the city.
With Quinjets and other light aircraft, all engaged in the relief effort or in exterminating the last of the alien threat, continuously took off from Helicarrier on missions.
Taking another drag of the cigar, Nick fury spat out a globule of spittle onto the floor of the bridge as he continued to observe the city below, the bridge around him completely silent as the crew kept their heads down and continued to work diligently. Every one of them working around the clock to organise and mobilize the response to the alien attack.
It had been a long time since Nick Fury had smoked, but needs must.
Never before in his life, had he felt as stressed, angry, and worn out as he did right now.
The invasion of New York had turned into a real shit show.
After Stark had sent that nuke through the portal in space, and Romanov had closed it, he had been hoping the invasion would be over. That that would be it, and they would just have the task of sorting out the aftermath.
Unfortunately though, it wasn't.
The Chitauri, according to his analysts, were a part of a Hive Mind.
They were similar to a giant ant colony. Each of the bug like aliens were foot soldiers, psychically controlled by a greater, higher minded being, a 'Chitauri Queen' to keep to the analogy. Or at least that was the hypothesis the SHIELD analysts had come up with over the last few days after study the alien's movements, actions, and corpses.
Which, if it was indeed true, meant that closing the portal and cutting off or destroying the alien's 'mothership', and thus the 'Chitauri Queen', could have had one of two responses. Either the Chitauri could have dropped to the ground dead, or at least braindead, like a puppet which had just had its strings cut, the moment they were disconnected. Or they could have all gone completely out of control and run riot the moment they were disconnected.
Unfortunately it was the latter option that happened.
The moment the portal had closed, the Chitauri had started rampaging.
No longer were they acting in a controlled, cohesive, tactical manner. Instead they had spread out unleashing death and destruction on anything and everything they came across. No doubt fulfilling the last overwhelming and overriding order they had received from their master, which in the simplest of terms must've have been to kill and annihilate anything that got in their way.
For that reason, the moment the Avengers had closed the portal, things had gone from terrible to catastrophic.
The thousands of aliens in the city, each of which were wielding more advanced technology than the average human solider had access to, had all gone insane. All of them spreading out through the city killing and destroying anything that got in their way with wanton abandon.
Which of course included the giant worm like, leviathan monsters which had bulled their way out of the city boundaries and into the area surrounding Manhattan, the leviathan's still unloading bloodthirsty alien warriors as they went, tearing through skyscrapers like a hot knife through butter, most projectiles and missiles sent at them just bouncing off their hard carapace harmlessly.
That had been three days ago, and even now they were still trying to track down and contain the few remaining, surviving aliens.
Currently the death count was through the roof, both in terms of civilian deaths, and service people's deaths. Tens, if not hundreds of thousands were dead, many of them at the hands of the aliens, though there were probably just as many who had been killed by collapsing skyscrapers, crashing jets and all of the collateral damage that had followed.
And that death count was still rising.
Perhaps to make matters worse on the ground, new alien diseases had also begun to spread through the populace.
Whether these were diseases and viruses that the Chitauri themselves had already been carrying when they arrived, or whether they were ones that had developed from the mounds of dead alien's bodies that currently littered New York, he didn't know.
What he did know though, was that there were already nearly twelve thousand identified cases across the state, and those were just the ones they had found in the three days that had passed since the invasion.
Most likely there were probably tens of thousands of other carriers and infected people out there, both within the state and in the other states. Already some of them were no doubt already on planes to other countries, or already there spreading their infections to others.
Which considering there was a very high mortality rate, was especially bad. Already doctors who were working on the ground in quickly thrown up hospitals, trying to treat and contain the virus, had reported that thirty to forty percent of those infected had thus far died, and those were just initially estimates.
To help with the containment the entire US army, air force and navy had been mobilised and were now either helping with the relief effort or quarantining cities, airports and anyone and everyone who was found to be infected, or thought to have been in contact with someone who was infected.
It was chaos.
The response by the disaster agencies and governmental bodies had been poor to say the least.
As for the international response to the alien invasion, well that had been mixed to say the least.
Many countries had started trying to evacuate their citizens as soon as they could, incidentally breaking quarantine, whilst others had closed their borders and mobilised their militaries, just in case this was not the end of the alien threat.
Thankfully though many others, including the US's closest allies, had sent aid workers and supplies to the US to help, and reinforcements too, adding to the rest of the US forces that had been mobilised from across the globe all of whom were being brought home.
That said many of the others governments around the world, including allies, had started asking questions about the invasion and what led to it, as well as the US governments, and SHIELDs response to the threat. Questions that were very difficult to answer.
On top of which, if all of that wasn't enough there were other issues to deal with aside from the ongoing epidemic, and the job of hunting down the last aliens.
For one SHIELD, with help from Stark and his company, had to deal with criminals, other government agencies both from inside and outside of the US, and even aid workers, all of whom had started swooping in and trying to collect up as much alien tech as possible from the defeated army.
Which was something that SHIELD, with the help of the America armed services, were struggling to stop, depleted, battered and distracted as their forces were.
Raising his hand to his face, Fury gripped the bridge of his nose, and tried to fight off a headache. They hadn't even put down the last of the aliens, and things were already falling apart; socially, economically and politically.
Not only was the world economy in crisis, with much of New York and Wall Street having been decimated. But the US's quarantine measures had disrupted both imports and exports too. An issue that had been made worse by other countries adopting the same tactics, and also stockpiling their own resources as they waited to see what would happened next.
More than that however the American government, and SHIELD, were also facing a lot of flak for their 'poor' response to the alien invasion, and for attempting to send a nuclear missile at one of their own cities.
Suffice to say when word of that had gotten out that SHIELD had attempted to wipe out a city, which it almost certainly had considering their were news crews on the scene when Stark had caught up to, and redirected the nuclear missile out of the city and into portal, shit had truly hit the fan.
Apparently it didn't matter that he tried to stop it, or that the nuclear missile ended up being used against their enemies, the mere fact that SHIELD had attempted to send a high yield nuke into the heart of one of the biggest cities in the world had caused worldwide condemnation.
And honestly, Fury wouldn't be surprised if this was the end of SHIELD as it was now.
Three days, it had been three days since Loki had escaped and opened that portal, and he had not slept a wink.
Instead he had been in meetings with SHIELD's board, the UN Security Council, and overseeing SHIELD's forces as they hovered above the city and did all they could to contain the situation. With him often times having to liaise with military generals, like that arse General Talbot, to secure the city and keep a lid on the on-going pandemic.
Letting out a sigh, Fury took another drag of his cigar, before he turned to his approaching assistant, Agent Hill, his single bloodshot eye fixing on her as she approached him and then curtly saluted.
"Sir, the Avengers have just returned to the Helicarrier." Hill rattled off promptly. "The city has been swept three times, and is now secure. The last of the aliens have been killed, and soldiers on the ground are already collecting and destroying the corpses. Both the civilian and alien."
Fury cocked an eyebrow at that.
"An order form the top brass. There are too many bodies to reasonable bury, and with the threat of the pandemic the sooner they are destroyed the better. The same method is being used to dispose of the bodies of those who died to the contagion." Hill reported, her cold expression not changing for a moment.
Fury grunted at that. It was grim, but made sense. "So the last of the aliens are dead. What of the alien tech?"
"Stark Industries is leading the effort to collect and store the tech in designated governmental compounds. Regular marines are being assigned guard duty, and are protecting the tech from scavengers." Hill replied, before she pulled out a tablet and began scanning the contents, listing off a whole raft of figures on supplies, military units and resources, and the ongoing situation with the pandemic.
Taking all this in, Fury nodded. "The situation is in hand, or at least from the primary impacts of the invasion. The secondary impacts though, I feel like we're just seeing the beginning of the trouble."
"Do you mean the contagion, sir? Or the political situation?" Hill asked.
"Both, and more." Fury grunted, looking out of the window again. "What is the condition of the Avengers?"
"Roger and Thor are all tired, but still going. Barton, Stark, Romanov and Banner are wiped out, they're going to need more time to recuperate." Hill replied.
Fury nodded at that. The remaining Avengers had been working around the clock to put the alien threat down. With Stark occasionally taking breaks to work, with his own company, other pharmaceutical companies, government organisations and SHIELD, to synthesis a vaccine, or a cure to the alien contagion.
"Any signs of infection?" Fury pressed on. All of them had been in the field, and at ground zero.
"Not yet, but they're being monitored." Hill said.
"What of the missing Avenger. Any sign of Kaneki yet; living or dead?" Fury asked after a moment, turning to look at Hill now.
"Still missing in action, and presumed dead." Hill replied, her face emotionless. "He's not been seen or heard of since partway through the battle on the first day when he went to face Loki. He's probably among the dead."
"Maybe," Fury bit out. "What of the tracker in him?"
"No response." Hill replied promptly, before she paused. "Technicians who collected up Loki's body, found the remains of the adamantine chip, it was destroyed. They also found traces of his blood, its mutagenic properties make it quite unique."
"I see." Fury replied, his brow furrowing. For something to destroy an all but indestructible metal, that was worrying. That said it might not have been the metal that was destroyed, but the solder that kept it together, he would have to wait for a more detailed report.
"It is believed he is another victim of the alien that killed Loki and wounded Thor." Hill pressed, looking up from her tablet now and at Fury.
"Maybe," Fury muttered. "Has there been any sign of the monster?"
"No sign at all, sir. It seems to have disappeared." Hill got out, licking her lips nervously now. "There's been no attacks, or any sign of it still being alive. Experts think it might not have been an alien at all. But instead something else, something from this earth."
"A mutant then?" Fury asked bluntly. He had only heard a description of the beast from Thor, but if such a thing could strike fear into the Asgardians heart, then it was something to worry about.
"Maybe," Hill replied.
"Keep it quiet for now. We've enough trouble, without bringing mutants, or whatever the fuck that monster was into the light." Fury decided, gritting his teeth at the thought of not trying to track down and destroy whatever it was that monster was, as he instead took a more pragmatic approach. "We'll deal with that monster as and when we can. For now we must continue the relief effort."
"Yes sir!" Hill saluted at once.
( - )
AN: So yes things in this are a lot messier than they were in canon. How will that impact the story going forward, well you'll just have to wait and see as things happen and events continue to churn on, each one impacting on what is to come until we have a completely up ended mess of the canon world. Should be fun, though hopefully it doesn't get too chaotic.
I'll admit I was hoping to just nuke the city and most of the Avengers out of the story last chapter. But decided that that didn't make sense, after all how would Kaneki survive too. That and the characters in the Avengers are relatively important to the plot, even as I do pulled in other things from the wider MCU and Marvel verse, such as what is going off in the sewers now. Again some might have worked out what's happening.
Yes, other than that, I hope you weren't too disappointed. I was going to put in an extended scene with the OG Avengers, but decided to leave that till next time. Along with the cliffhanger for Kaneki. I felt it would have disrupted the flow of this chapter if I put it in.
Either way, there we go. Hope you all enjoyed it and what not and leave a review! Thanks for reading and please check out my other things.
Greed720.
