Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00021. Striking a deal.

Ezekiel blinked his eyes a few times to clear them before he looked at The Ancient One and smiled as he said, "Marvel Comics was Sam's favorite and the timeline he liked the most was this one. He introduced me to comics with this timeline and I read everything about it, watched all the movies and shows when I was older. I even played all the video games. I also branched out and read other comics, anime and manga."

The Ancient One looked at Ezekiel with one eyebrow raised and asked, "You expect me to believe you know so much about our universe because it was originally comic books in your past life?"

"You are the only one I could tell that to and not seem crazy. If I told Fury? Peggy? Or even Hank. They would all assume I was crazy, no matter how much info I give them that is correct. But you and Strange are open minded and would give me the benefit of the doubt.”

The Ancient One studied Ezekiel for a while before she nodded her head and said, “You are correct, I will keep this bit of info between us for now. So what are your plans for this world?”

Ezekiel shook his head and said, “To change things for the better. I won’t tell you my plan, but one of my main goals is to stop half of the universe from disappearing.”

The Ancient One’s voice raised slightly as she asked, “Half of the universe is going to disappear?”

“More like half of the people living in the universe are going to disappear. Some crazy purple guy collects all of the infinity stones and uses them to do it.”

The Ancient One shook her head and said, “That shouldn’t be possible, the time stone should have been protected by Strange and the other stones should be almost impossible to find.”

“It was, but he used the time stone to check the future and only saw one where they could win against the threat they faced and turning the time stone over was part of his answer. I think it was a stupid idea, so I am changing stuff so we don’t have to make that choice at all.”

The Ancient One examined Ezekiel for a while before she said, “Fine I won’t interfere with what you are trying to do for now, but I will be part of this group you are building. If I find a reason to doubt you in the future, I will not hesitate to put you down.”

Ezekiel nodded his head as he stood back up and put his hand out as he said, “Fair enough, welcome to the team.”

The Ancient One reached down and shook Ezekiel’s hand as she said, “Thank you.”

As they shook hands, The Ancient One’s eyes widened as she said, “I have never seen anyone like you before. You have a perfect resonance with universal energy. It’s flowing into your body naturally almost like you have been practicing magic for decades. Did you practice magic in your old world?”

Ezekiel smirked as they released hands and said, “I never practiced magic, my world didn’t have it.”

The Ancient One shook her head and said, “Maybe it was too well hidden. I guess that doesn’t matter anymore, but how would you like to become a sorcerer in this world?”

Ezekiel shook his head and said, “Not currently, I have too much other stuff I need to worry about. Maybe when I can handle running a few clones at the same time I might think about it. But my current concerns are building my team, programming and training myself.”

The Ancient One shook her head again and said, “You are currently two years old, training in the mystic arts is mostly reading at the start with some minor practice lessons. It would be perfect for you to learn now since training a child's body will have negative effects while you are still growing.”

Ezekiel smiled and said, “If this was a normal body you would be correct, but physical training for me will only be a net positive. Also I was talking about training my powers more than my body. I think just becoming decent with my skills will take years of practice, even if I use clones to help me.”

“Fine, but let me know if you change your mind. I will personally train you in the mystic arts when the time comes.”

Ezekiel bowed slightly and said, “Thank you, I will take it under consideration for now. I do know at some point I will need someone to help me with my martial arts. I would love to be able to train under Shang Chi, but I don’t know if I will be able to find him.”

The Ancient One smiled and said, “I could help with that, but if I am busy I know a few other people who could help you in my place.”

Ezekiel laughed and asked, “Master Mordo? Wong?”

The Ancient One smiled again and said, “I was also thinking about Captain Rogers.”

“He is one of my choices already, but traveling to him might be an issue. That and I would have to deal with Fury if I showed up at the base.”

The Ancient One nodded her head and said, “Fury would be an issue, but I could take care of the travel portion.”

“Once I am older I will take you up on that offer.”

Ezekiel’s eyes lit up for a moment and he asked, “I almost forgot! When I was waiting to be born, I had all of my memories, yet I had no brain at the time. I am pretty sure I was just cells dividing. Is my memory tied into my soul or something? Is that why astral projection works?”

The Ancient One laughed and said, “It’s a lot more complicated than that, but the short answer is yes. If you want to find out how and why it works, you would need to study the mystic arts.”

Ezekiel shook his head and said, “I am good for now.”

Ezekiel looked back at The Ancient One and asked, “Are you satisfied that I am not a pawn for some external planar threat?”

“Yes, you have an un-corrupted soul.”

Ezekiel nodded his head and said, “Good, I need to head back before Aunt May calls us back inside.”

The Ancient One moved her hand before her and Ezekiel reappeared back in the real world. Ezekiel glanced at the clock and then looked at The Ancient One and said, “I will send my clone back over and you can take him with you to the base. He should be able to last for a week or so, that should be enough to get a few things done.”

The Ancient One asked, “Isn’t that gonna give away who you are?”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “No, he will look how he does when they talk to him over the internet.”

The Ancient One nodded before she asked, “One last thing before you leave, do your eyes change?”

“Change?”

The Ancient One pulled out a piece of paper and handed it to Ezekiel as she said, “Yes do they change from black into something like that.”

Ezekiel looked at the paper with a perfect copy of a three tomoe sharingan on it. He frowned and said, “At some point they will, but I am not sure when.”

“So you were the person I was looking for.”

Ezekiel looked back at The Ancient One and asked, “Can’t see the future clearly anymore?”

“That is correct. I can see glimpses, but most of it is clouded. I saw you with those eyes and you turned around and looked back at me.”

Ezekiel nodded his head and said, “Makes sense, it’s hard to hide from a sharingan.”

The Ancient One asked, “Is it one of your powers?”

“Yes.”

The Ancient One waited, but when Ezekiel provided no more info, she sighed and said, “Alright, go back and send your clone over so we can head back.”

Ezekiel nodded his head and said, “Make sure you travel back from somewhere else. I don’t want Fury knowing where I live.”

The Ancient One nodded and said, “Of course.”

Ezekiel nodded and then flickered out of existence, within a second he was in the backyard and then ran up and over the fence. He was back at May’s fence within a few seconds and paused by where his clone had sat down and knocked twice on the wall. After a pause, he knocked again three times followed by another two and a reply knock of two followed by one knock was heard right after. Ezekiel moved over to where the shed was and then quickly scaled the fence, where his clone walked behind to meet him.

Ezekiel made a few hand signs and then touched his clone's head, sending a small packet of info to his clone with what he and The Ancient One talked about. It also had a few ideas on what to do when he made it to the base. The clone nodded to Ezekiel and then climbed over the fence as Ezekiel walked back out into the yard. Ezekiel looked around and decided to go back inside the house and see what May was making for lunch.

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Ezekiel’s clone was running back to his house as it thought, “Why do I have to do this troublesome stuff? I would rather be programming.”

After a minute or so, the clone made it into the backyard and walked into the house, before closing and locking the back door. After he made it in front of The Ancient One he did a hand sign and changed into the Ezekiel she had seen when he was using the computer to talk with everyone.

The Ancient One studied him for a few moments before she reached out and touched him. After she poked and prodded Ezekiel a few times she said, “This is better than any illusion spell I have ever seen. You are real and at the same time you are not. Anyone else wouldn’t know better, but I can currently see what you truly are.”

“It’s just a simple skill, we still haven’t mastered it yet. But we can do it well enough to fool normal people.”

The Ancient One nodded her head and said, “You will fool pretty much anyone, even most masters of the mystic arts. You need a special skill to see past what you are currently doing.”

The Ancient One reached out and spun her hand in a circle for a moment and a portal appeared before her. She gestured for Ezekiel to walk through and then followed after him. Once she was through the portal, she closed it and then made another portal to the secret base where she had been earlier. Ezekiel stepped forward and she followed after him. They stepped out into the meeting room that was being used early, but everyone else was gone. As the portal closed, Ezekiel walked over to a control panel next to the door and entered a code on it. The panel turned green and the door opened up. Ezekiel turned back to The Ancient One and said “Everyone is currently eating in the mess hall, feel like taking a walk?”

The Ancient One nodded her head and started to follow Ezekiel out the door and down the hall. They walked in silence for a while turning one way, then another, before they came to a set of double doors. When Ezekiel reached them, he opened one of them and let The Ancient One walk into the room past him and followed her inside. There was conversation going on inside the room till Ezekiel and The Ancient One entered. Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the duo who just entered, Ezekiel stepped forward and said, “Hi, my name is Ezekiel and I am not a pawn to some extraplanar entity, I hope we can work together now.”

Everyone looked from him to The Ancient One who let out a little sigh as she nodded her head in confirmation.

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