Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00206. Time to think or?

Ezekiel left Bruce and Betty alone for about a week as they performed test after test. He would still transport them back to where they were staying each day, but overall didn't talk much with them. They were engrossed in their own conversations most of the time anyway, so it didn't matter much.

Once all the testing was finished and Ezekiel was satisfied with the results, he approached the couple while they were still in the lab and asked, “So what do you think?”

Bruce looked up from the computer he was using before he said, “While my genetic structure is slightly altered, it should have no adverse effects on my life.”

Betty glanced up from the machine she was at before she added, “We just triple checked all the results and there is no chance of contamination even if someone gets a hold of some of his genetic material.”

“Well that's one less thing to worry about, but I will have Tao redo her spell so people can’t study your DNA just in case.”

Bruce frowned as he said, “What about me? I would like to be able to study myself. My new genetic makeup is fascinating and could lead to some breakthroughs in certain fields.”

“While I am sure it could, you have to remember that you turned into a big green rage monster because of what you want to study. It would probably be good to leave it as is and not mess with it anymore.”

“But it could help people.” Betty said as Bruce nodded in agreement.

Ezekiel let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose. After a few moments he looked towards Bruce and Betty before he asked, “Why are genius people so stupid sometimes?”

Both Bruce and Betty frowned but before they could talk Ezekiel said, “Do you know the story about Pandora's box?”

“Story? You mean the myth?” Bruce asked.

“No, I mean the story, because it actually happened. Anyways my point is you wanting to study your changed genetics is the same as Pandora's box except way worse. The good would never be able to outway the bad.” Ezekiel said with a frown.

“Hold on just a minute… You can’t be serious with that, Pandora's box isn’t real because that would mean gods are real.” Bruce said as he crossed his arms over his chest.

Ezekiel raised an eyebrow as he said, “Gods are real.”

Bruce shared a glance with Betty who looked as skeptical as him before he turned back to Ezekiel and said, “Prove it.”

Ezekiel let out a sigh before he said, “Easy, look at every story we have of them.”

“Those are just myths.” Betty said.

“No, those are stories that turned into myths with age. Gods are a real thing and the best way to think of them is by treating them like really powerful aliens. Because that’s kinda what they are. There is more to it than just that, but on the whole, the Gods of legends were just aliens who visited our planet and treated it like a playground at one point in time.”

“Then why did they leave? And where did they go?”

Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Fuck if I know where most of them went. I know where the Asgardians are, but the rest of them I have no idea.”

“Asgardians?”

“The gods from Norse mythology like Odin, Thor, Loki and Hela.” Ezekiel said with a tiny smile.

“I said to prove it, not just tell me more random stuff and expect me to believe it.”

Ezekiel raised an eyebrow again as he looked at Bruce before he said, “Fine. I’ll show both of you what I am talking about and also show you what can happen if you mess around with your mutated DNA.”

Ezekiel’s eyes changed into three tomoe sharingan that spun slowly as he said, “Have a nice nap.”

Both of them passed out and Ezekiel caught Betty before she collapsed on the ground. He took them over to the medical wing where he placed them on beds before he took off to go do something else while they were inside a genjutsu. He didn't need to worry about them waking up early either, since once the genjutsu finished they would fall asleep until he woke them up.

Ezekiel ended up training with Tao and took a nap before he went to wake up Bruce and Betty. Both of them sat there silently for a while before Bruce finally asked, “That wasn't real was it?”

“In a sense it is and at the same time it isn't… How much do you know about the multiverse theory?” Ezekiel asked.

Bruce and Betty’s eyes slowly widened as Ezekiel smirked before he said, “Looks like you both know of it, so this will be a lot easier.”

“But that's just an absurd and speculative theory, and there's currently no direct evidence to support it.”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “While you and the general population might think that. It's not actually true. Everything I showed you could come true depending on the choices we make now and in the future. Which is why I don't want you messing around with your changed genetics.”

Bruce frowned slightly but after a few moments he said, “While I don't fully agree, I understand the point you want to make.”

“You don't agree because it could potentially help people?” Ezekiel asked which made Bruce nod in answer before Ezekiel added, “If you wanted to help people, why were you working on a weapon program for the military?”

“It wasn't a weapon program, it was meant to help improve soldiers and help protect them.” Betty said as she looked to Bruce for help.

“By turning them into super soldiers? All that would do is make the United States more aggressive. And don't tell me it wouldn't. I know how stupid people in power think, better than both of you supposed geniuses.” Ezekiel said with a chuckle.

Bruce looked like he was about to reply when Ezekiel said, “It's fine, you don't need to justify your actions. What matters is what you plan to do now. You have a couple choices in front of you, the first is the easiest one.”

“And that is?”

“Going back to your old life. You might be considered dead at the moment but I could fix that easily. I would have to adjust both of your memories of what happened but my group has secrets it needs to keep.” Ezekiel said.

“Adjust our memories?” Both of them asked at the same time.

“Standard protocol for our group. While you only met a handful of people and have only seen this small facility. It still needs to be kept secret, so we would fix the potential security issue with false memories. Don't worry you won't have any issues afterwards because we have a team specializing in mind alterations.” Ezekiel said with a careless shrug. 

Ezekiel quickly smiled at both of them before he said, “But that's only option one. Option two is you both come and work with us. You've met a handful of our people and saw our technology. You won't find a better work environment anywhere in the world or possibly in the universe if I'm being honest.”

As Betty and Bruce shared a glance together Ezekiel said, “I would give you a third option but two should be enough.”

“Can we have some time to think?”

Ezekiel nodded before he said, “Sure. I'll give you a week to decide what you want to do. Until then, I'll show you where you can stay.”

Ezekiel had them follow him to the portal room where he created a portal to the inside of a building. Betty pushed Bruce's wheelchair into a cozy living room with big windows that looked out over a forested area. It was mostly trees, but there were small bushes and other plants they could see dotted on the red colored ground.

Betty pushed Bruce closer to the windows to get a better look outside and saw a small stream that snaked through the trees nearby. As they looked at the beautiful scenery Ezekiel double checked the kitchen and found it stocked with food. He pulled out a phone and placed it on the kitchen table as he said, “The fridge is stocked and the TV's have access to pretty much anything you could ever want to watch.”

Betty and Bruce turned to look at Ezekiel who pointed at the cellphone and said, “If you need anything just contact me with this. Otherwise I'll see you both in a week.”

As Ezekiel opened up a portal to leave Betty asked, “Where exactly did you take us?”

Ezekiel stepped closer to the portal and just before he stepped through it he said with a smirk, “Mars. I hope you enjoy it.”

The portal snapped closed as Betty glanced at Bruce and asked, “We can't be on Mars, can we?”

Bruce glanced out the windows to the red dirt and frowned slightly before he said, “I don't know… But if that red dirt is ultisols in nature, it doesn't explain the trees here. These types of trees don't normally do well in this type of soil.”

“Mars doesn't have trees in the first place though.”

Both of them shared a glance before Bruce said, “Let's go check it out.”

Betty helped push Bruce outside and over the next half an hour they explored the forest around the cabin they were dropped off at. While they were hyper focused on the plants and trees they didn't notice the sky above them until they came to a clearing with a small lake. Both of them froze as they looked up at the hazy red tinged sky above them.

Betty’s eyes were wide as she took in the sight and after a moment she asked, “How is this possible?”

Bruce and Betty ended up exploring farther and after another half an hour they came to the edge of the forest. In front of them was an empty and barren red colored landscape as far as the eye could see. At first neither fully believed they were on Mars, there is just no way it should be possible. That was until the roar of an engine filled the air and a sleek spaceship appeared in the distance.

The ship approached them and slowed down before it turned slightly and landed without blowing dust everywhere. After a few moments the rear of the craft opened and out walked a black haired youth with what looked like a very slim space suit on. He waved as he approached them before he said, “I stopped by because I picked you up on my scanners and didn't expect to see anyone else out here today.”

“Is this Mars?” Betty asked as she looked out over the red landscape.

“Yup… Are you two new? I don't think we've met before.”

“Ezekiel dropped us off here at a cabin… But we didn't really believe we were on Mars.” Bruce said as he also looked out over the view before them.

Shisui smiled as he said, “That sounds like something he would do. I'm Shisui by the way.”

“Bruce Banner.”

“Betty Ross.” They said one after the other.

Shisui pointed at the ship behind him as he asked, “I was just about to go collect data to make sure the terraforming project was on schedule, do you wanna take a ride?”

Bruce shared a glance with Betty who mouthed ‘terraforming?’ before he shrugged and turned back to Shisui and said, “Sure, if it's not a big deal.”

Shisui smiled again as he said, “It's not.”

Shisui helped push Bruce into the ship and once they were both secured in their seats he flipped a handful of switches. The ship slowly floated into the air and a few moments later it launched into the air. Shisui turned the ship and tilted it to a turn to show them the massive forest below them and said, “That's considered grove one and that's the cabin you were dropped off at.”

Below them as the ship turned and continued to rise into the sky they could see the cabin and the small lake not far away from it. Past that first forest was a giant landing pad with a couple of other space ships currently docked in place. On the other side of the pad was a massive forest that looked like it went on for miles in all directions, except towards the pad itself.

“How is that possible?!? That forest and its trees have to be at least a hundred years old if not older… Why has nobody noticed what is going on here?” Bruce asked in wonder.

“We hide everything incredibly well… Also you're wrong, those trees are only a few months old at the most.” Shisui said as he adjusted the ship's flight and set course for his first stop.

Bruce was about to argue about how that was impossible but after a few moments he let out a sigh and decided to just go with it. On their trip around Mars they passed a few places that left them in shock, one of which being a massive body of water that Shisui said they were in the process of turning into an ocean. How they were doing that Shisui didn’t explain, but he did fly the ship into the water and through it for a little while to collect samples and data on the progress.

They also visited the north and south poles of the planet which were giant ice fields that covered a few thousand miles of land each. After checking the planet itself, Shisui took them up into space where he collected some more data points before he finally took them back to the landing pad. After chatting with them for a bit and showing them the path to get back to the cabin, Shisui said goodbye before he headed over to another ship to do something else.

As Betty pushed Bruce back to the cabin she asked, “I think we should take his offer… What about you?”

Bruce was quiet for a little while before he said, “We would be stupid not to…”