Up The Mountain
8/1/1946, Monster Isle, Sea of Okhotsk
The members of The Squadron had been at work, they had made sure that the sensors that were installed had all been working and that each of them was taking one of the files installed and replacing it with a new one and as they did so, there was a disturbance, one that made them all look and see how there was crashing and laughter that was coming from the jungle now.
“I know that laugh.” Zarda muttered, they had all heard it during their time in the war, it was the laughter of none other than Crule, the purple skinned monster that used the camps as a playpen, it was shocking to say the least as they started to move forward before seeing that the purple creature was there, laughing at a beast he was brutalizing a poor creature with its children there.
“CRULE!” she shouted in anger towards the man and as she did so, he turned towards her, “Ah! A new playmate! Hello, Udu!” he snarled now, going towards her now when Skymax had barreled through, looking like minotaur now before he rammed him into a tree and then again, and again, and again now as the man laughed, linking his fingers to hit him now.
As he did so, the Skrull had groaned in pain, but was not done yet, he started to kick and bite into him now, the Mutant laughing towards everything right about now as the man started to pull out a weapon now which he went and stabbed into him, “Give me your heart, Udu!” He snarled towards the creature, so Skymax started to move his organs away from his claws now before Joseph had bottled him now.
“How the Hell are you still alive?!” Doctor Spectrum asked, making the man laugh towards him, “How could I not be, Udu?” He asked, “You will age and rot into dust, but I will be eternal long after all of you are extinct.” he said and hearing that, they snarled, going to attack him now as Joseph had opened holes, allowing them to take branches and weapons to attack at him.
But he had simply laughed, “This will not kill me!” he said with a laugh, “This will only make me–!” “Με συγχωρείτε, αλλά πιστεύω ότι είναι ο κρατούμενος ΜΟΥ.(Excuse me, but I believe that is MY prisoner.)” a voice said, making them all look towards the source and see that there was a strange young boy wearing a expressionless mask, “No… not you…” he said in anger.
“Παραβήσατε έναν από τους κανόνες, οι άλλοι είχαν αποφασίσει ότι η τιμωρία σας θα είναι μισός αιώνας.(You broke one of the rules, the others had decided your punishment will be half a century.)” the stranger said and hearing that, he went to make a crushing motion with one of his hands, confusing the Squadron while he started to shrink and eventually enter a cube.
They had been confused and shocked by the sight as they saw that he had turned him into some sort of snowglobe, “Ποιος είσαι; Τι κάνεις; Τι κανόνες;(Who are you? What are you doing? What rules?)” Zarda asked, but the by just walked through the sphere and took the globe, “It doesn’t matter, you will never find out.” he said towards them now.
As they saw this, the child walked away, into the shadows of the jungle, “Hey! You can’t just leave!” Robbie shouted, running forward to grab at him, but as he arrived at the spot the child was at, he realized that there was no one there, nothing, as if he had vanished from the face of the Earth, all that was left was a word carved into a tree, “Patience.” Which was all the more confusing.
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8/2/1946, Fort Erskine, Teton Wilderness
The Squadron Supreme had appeared there now with the gear in question as their vessel was dropped down, “What happened?” The General had asked, making them all start to get a bit confused before they complied now, heading towards the showers, “We saw Crule abducted by a child.” Joseph said, surprised by that, making the man confused, “Crule the Nazi?” he asked.
“Yes, and he said some strange things.” The Utopian said, “He talked about how he was never going to die… and that child, he talked about rules and others, as if there were more like Crule out there.” she said and hearing that, The General had been curious, having never heard anything like that before about the man, “You know…he and Romulus seemed very close.” Robbie told them.
They all thought on that, realizing that he was correct, that The…whatever he was, was close to him, but unlike Crule who had mentions in the past, there was nothing of Romulus, in fact, all mentions of him in nearly every file had vanished after the war, as if he was some sort of shared hallucination amongst them all, taking a breath at the idea, the General spoke now.
“I think that we’re going to have to set up a search–” he started when there was a ring from the phone there, making all confused as the red phone rang, it never rang before, confused, The General nodded, seeming to be surprised by the statement now before he had nodded, “Understood.” he said before hanging it up, “Apologies, but we’re going to ignore that and focus on a new situation.” he said.
Hearing that, they were all the more confused by that as they began to question that, “You need to go to The Kunlun mountains, there are reports of a communist threat.” he said and hearing that, the group were concerned by that statement and and who could had done something like this right now, “You’ll have a guide there.” he told them now, giving no other option now.
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8/8/1946, The Kunlun Mountains, Tibet
The Squadron Supreme had been looking towards everything that was there now and thinking that there was no one, no bases, nothing that made them think that there was some sort of threat there, “¿El escuadrón?(The Squadron?)” A voice said and hearing that, the group saw that there was a Puerto Rican man there who had been wearing clothes suited for the area.
“My name is Nestor Ayala, I will be your guide here.” he said towards them, making the Squad nod at that now as he motioned for them to follow now, making them a bit surprised by that as they went to follow after them now and as they had started to move towards the path that had been set up now so they had smiled, relieved at least now as they began to follow him.
“So, Nestor, how did you learn of this place?” Zarda asked, making him smile, “My family had started to move now, “I and my squad had come here by the orders of the US Military, and so, me and some older men, Lin Sun, Abe Brown and Bob Diamond had come here, we followed the path and I was the only one to come back.” Nestor said and hearing that, they were confused.
“What happened?” Robbie hadasked and hearing that, Nestor sighed, “I honestly don’t recall, but there was something that I remember.” he said and hearing that, they were curious before they saw that there was odd inscriptions on the stones now and seeing them, Nestor sighed, “I remember a Dragon, a red phoenix, and a white tiger.” he said and hearing that, the group were confused by it now.
“So you’re here to recover their remains as well?” Skymax asked and hearing that, the man shook his head, I have no idea.” he said towards them and hearing that, the Squadron were confused by it all right now before they started to move forward before seeing that there was a sort of gate that was there, making Nestor confused, “Was this here before?” Zarda asked, but he shook his head as they walked through.
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8/8/1946, The Gate of Heaven, K’un–Lun
They walked through now and as hey did so, the sound of a bell was heard now, making them look around in confusion at it all before they saw how there was people wearing Asian Wear who had been approaching, about to speak up before one of them spoke, “Nestor?” he asked, making the group look and see that he recognized him as well, “Lin Sun?” He asked.
That made them all start to get a bit confused by that before they had heard the sound of the man as he saw that there was a calm now amongst them now as the group had relaxed, but the people living here had kept their eyes on the man before they started to move them forward, “Come on, we need to go somewhere less… public," The man had said, "The Tiger's Cage will do.” he told them now.
That confused them, unsure why they were being taken away now and as they had done so, the group saw how they were looking at them with such hostility right about now and as they did so, the Squadron started to look towards everything that was there now and only seeing how there was so much right about now and taking a deep breath now before they had been brought somewhere new.
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8/8/1946, The Tiger Cage, K’un–Lun
The Squadron looked at everything now as they noticed how there was two others that were there, “This is A Tiger’s Cage? Where’s The Tiger?” Joseph had asked and hearing that, the group looked towards each other right now and as they saw The Jade Tiger statue that was there, they had been confused, “How are you still alive?” Nestor had asked, making them all sigh.
“You see… we had been taken by them to hide their secrets, you were the only one to not wish to stay and–” “Wait, why would you wish to stay?” Skymax asked as he looked around at it all, “This place… to call it magical would be putting it lightly.” The one called Bob Diamond said, “It is ridiculous how incredible how it all is, it’s as if we walked into The Wizard of Oz here.” he continued.
As he was speaking though, they saw that there was a strange… calling that there was a sort of growling that made the man walk ever closer towards it now with a smile and as he did so, there was something which made the Squad turn now and see how he seemed to almost touch it, “Don’t–!” Bob started and hearing that, Robbie went to grab at him now with a bit of panic
“At least now we know who let them in.” Lin Sun said as if there was a bit of surprise towards that right now which confused Zarda, “What exactly IS that statue?” she had asked, making Joseph scan it with Krimonn, “Warning! Deity Entity discovered! Approach with extreme caution.” The jewel had said which made The man surprised, “A Deity–? There’s a god in there?” he asked.
Hearing that, the three of them nodded towards that, “The Tiger God… a very powerful entity which has been trying to escape into the world for along time, to possess a person and bring fear to all.” he said and hearing that, The Squadron had been surprised by that as Nestor started to see a large White Tiger that had such large canines looking towards them all.
“And it is one of the dangers that we protect the world against.” a man in green robes and a sort of Yellow Hood said as he entered the area, “You had come here because of threats of The possibility of a Communist threat here?” he asked and hearing that, the group were surprised, “We know much here, and there is no threat to America here.” he said, hearing that, the Squadron were confused.
“You JUST said that the statue was one of the dangers you protect the world against?” Skymax said and hearing that, he had shaken his head, “The Tiger God is the only one that wishes to escape regularly… and we cannot allow it–” “You will not stop me!” a voice said, making them all flinch in confusion and shock at that as they all started to see the entity now glaring at them.
“I was the first predator in the dark! When you humans had lit you fire, it was to protect yourselves against me! And I will not be contained by you anymore, Tuan!” The creature had snarled now, making The members of The Squadron Supreme confused and nervous now it turned to the three men there, “You will serve as my vessels for now!” It said before the statue broke apart.
The three of them had gotten into fighting stances as the front claws and head went to attack them, only for Nestor to leap in the way, making them go and attach to his skin and as they did so, the man had started to fall to the ground, “Sons of The Tiger! Stop him!” he said, all of them ready to right it when they saw that there was something strange happening now.
Nestor had seemed to calm down now, looking towards them with confusion, “What the Hell happened?” the man asked of them, looking towards the group who had been confused now as he got up, “The Tiger God has not affected you?” he asked and hearing that, the man looked at them now and as they went to look at him now with some surprise and some caution.
Looking him over, they saw how everyone was cautious now while Nestor looked at the jewels that seemed to fuse with each other, appearing to be an amulet now instead of those three pieces that formed a collar around his throat now, “What is this?” he asked as Tuan had looked at him in caution and confusion now before they had started to get a spooked by it.
“The Tiger God has never been so… calm before.” the man said and hearing that, the group were confused now as a new man had entered now, “Ah, so The Tiger God has found a member of its pack, it can now be freed.” he said and hearing that, everyone, even the sons and the first man had seemed confused by that, “What is going on?” Tuan had asked of the man with confusion.
“The Tiger God has always been danger, one that we couldn’t leave just allow to roam the world, but now that we have a descendant of the Mother to contain their power.” he said and hearing that, the group had all been confused by what he was saying, “On the matter of what you will say to your masters in America, here is what you will say…” he said, giving them a story to tell.
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8/9/1946, The Kunlun Mountains, Tibet
The Squadron Supreme had been looking towards everything that was there before the Nestor had stood before them, “Thank you for bringing me here.” he said and hearing that, the others smiled now, “It was a pleasure to meet you, Nestor, and you as well, Lei–Kung.” Skymax said and hearing that, the group started to bow towards the man who smiled at that right now.
They had begun to move away now and as they did so, the gateway had vanished now before their eyes, Nestor and The Squadron seeing it vanishing now, “That magic is… how is that even possible?” Robbie had asked and hearing that, Nestor and Joseph had looked towards him, “I have a talking Jewel that allows me to fly and shoot lasers and he’s possessed by a Tiger God.” Joseph said.
That made the man shrug towards that, it made them think on that as he looked at the item that he wore underneath his shirt now, it was something that was… different, but as he looked at it, the man recalled that there were a few lessons that he learned, “I can’t wait to get home.” he said, making The Squadron relieved as Tuan spoke, “The is The Third time an outsider made The Tiger God react like this.” he said.
That caused the group to look towards him now, “Third?” Robbie asked, making The Thunderer, Lei–Kung, nod, “The man known as Victor Creed had come and after he stole metal from here after a tournament he entered and had been known to interfere with the Tiger God, it almost got loose because of him.” he said and hearing that, they were surprised, “Smiles, was here?” Joseph asked in shock at that.
The man was surprised by that now and as they thought, The five men there had all pointed and there was a inscription that was there, “Smiles was here!” with a huge smile that had been carved there, “Yes, he came here after going to Kamar–Taj.” the man continued, surprising them all right now and as they started to laugh at that, glad for the moment when they started to walk.
As they started to move now, there was a ripple now as they had started to move away from each other, The Squadron and Nestor had started to see how they had vanished now, making the group start to take a breath before they went to walk now and as they saw it all, both of them took a breath now as they started to walk away now and began to think on what they’d do now.
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8/15/1946, Fort Erskine, Teton Wilderness
The General had looked towards them now, “So then, what kind of threat is there?” he asked and hearing that, the group looked towards each other before they had all nodded silently, “There was nothing there, nothing at all, there’s no threat to America in The Kunlun mountains.” the Utopian said,making The General sigh before a thought came to his mind, “What about your guide?” he asked.
Hearing that, the group looked towards each other before there was a silent agreement, “He headed back to Harlem.” Robbie said and hearing that, The General had sighed now with some concern now while they had hoped that he was okay at the moment now before they started to think on what it as that they would do with everything they started to think on what they were going to do now.
As the General walked off, Joseph went to one of the phones that were there and dialed in the number that had been given to him by the man and as he started to look over everything before a woman had answered there, “Hello?” She asked and hearing that, the man was a bit surprised, “Hello there… I’m looking for Victor Creed?” he said and hearing that, the woman had sighed now.
“You got the Thompson number, he’s in Madripoor right now.” The woman said, making Joseph sigh, “Sorry, I wanted to know what he did in K’un–Lun that made him so… annoying, to the people there.” he said and hearing that, the woman groaned, “One Hundred and Seventeen Years Old and my brother’s still causing trouble.” She said and hearing that, Joseph was confused, “I’m sorry… 117?” he asked.
“You weren’t in the loop… dammit.” She said and hearing that, the man was all the more confused by that now while the woman continued, “Clara Creed, his little sister, and what exactly did he do this time?” She asked and hearing that, the man had been a bit surprised by that before he recalled how Dum Dum Dugan had been talking about him and making him wonder what else was there.
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9/1/1946, East Harlem, Harlem
Joseph had been walking right now and as he looked towards everything right now, the man was looking when he noticed that there was Nestor who had been walking with a beautiful woman who appeared pregnant, “Doc!” the man said with a smile, Puerto Rican man seeming relaxed now as he went to hug the man, “So good to see you!” he said, making the woman look at him before smiling, “Hello there.” He said.
“My name is Joseph Ledger, and you are?” he asked her, making the woman smile, “Maria Ayala .” she had said and hearing that, the man had smiled at him, “So, has the… souvenir, acted up?” he asked and hearing that, he had lifted up the golden necklace that he had placed the jade amulet inside now and it made the man a bit relieved right now as they started to walk together.
The trio had been looking at everything that was there and as they had done so, Joseph had spoken, “The amulet isn’t effecting you too greatly?” he said and hearing that, the man shook his head at that, “There’s nothing to bad, all I feel is The Tiger… but it takes quite a bit of my willpower as well.” he said right no which made the man nod, “If you ever need anything, just call me.” he said.
Joseph had offered a card with his and the numbers of the other members of The Squadron Supreme, making him smile towards him right now, “Gracias.” he said and hearing that, Mara spoke, “Would you be so kind as join us for dinner?” Maria asked and hearing that, Joseph smiled, “I’d be happy to.” he said and hearing that, they began to move towards their home now.