The Sage of the Mind

Disclaimer - The rights of the respective characters are with their respective owners. I don’t mean to violate their intellectual property rights and thus, only my original characters are my IP. 

The Sage of the Mind: Chapter 41 [December 2009]

–Axle Riddle–

“Not so fast,” He muttered to himself as he watched the seventh Hulk about to hightail it out of the area, presumably sensing the sudden movement of his other accomplices. It was quite hilarious to watch, even from his non visual senses, the flailing about that the absurdly dense and heavy Hulk did as he was flown straight into the water.

He must have been so surprised when, instead of getting a mouthful of water as he crashed into the river, he entered a completely dry, empty space as the river seemingly parted for him. He dumped him straight into a hole in the riverbed, which led straight to the huge hole dug right under the city, landing right beside his six other acquaintances, on his legs. 

He then proceeded to look around widely, recovering remarkably faster than the other Hulks. Unfortunately for him, the tunnel was a secret from the wider public, mostly in part to SHIELD, and it was nothing more than a huge dark tunnel with splatters of light scattered here and there, remnants of the inspection that the city tried to carry out before SHIELD came hammering in with their weight and took over the entire project.

He had been in talks with the city to get it approved, mostly because it was just sitting there, at the moment, gathering dust but red tape was hindering progress. The national significance of the city and the added scrutiny that came with his presence in it meant that the tunnel would not be open to the public for a long time to come.

…And he was fine with that.

After all, this was going to be his emergency evacuation shelter when the Chitauri started pouring down from the blue portal from hell. He had already started making conduits and makeshift rooms in the tunnel, which could be filled with the required emergency supplies a day or two before the Invasion.

How would he even know about the Invasion, you might ask? Well, for one, he hoped to establish some sort of collaborative relationship with SHIELD before that, one that would have them trust him enough to divulge such critical information.

Secondly, he hoped that Tony Stark might let it slip, especially since Coulson supposedly came to Tony Stark in the almost finished Stark Tower in canon, but that was not a guaranteed solution to the problem that was the consequences of his limited range of powers.

What was a surefire way of gathering information were the people that lived in Manhattan, under his umbrella of protection. All kinds of people lived in Manhattan, having either brought out a property at the absurd prices that it was selling for these days or rented it for an equally absurd amount of money.

Most of the locals had probably retired, settling outside the city, even New Jersey, as they cashed in on the boom of real estate prices within the city. His mere presence in the city meant that every  Tom Dick and Harry, with a bit of money, wanted to stay in Manhattan.

Now, normal middle class people certainly wanted to stay safe, in general, but the people who were more afraid for their lives, valued their lives more than anyone else, were the elites, the Billionaires.

…And thanks to the universal protective umbrella he gave to any person that wandered into his range, most of the Billionaires on the East Coast had found themselves a penthouse in the wealthiest neighbourhood of New York City. 

Those people were his last resort when it came to gathering information about the invasion if none of the other options panned out. He would surely notice the surefire influx of rich immigrants into the city, hoping that they would be safe from the forces of Loki, in the safest city on the planet, not knowing that this was precisely going to be the ground zero for the Chitauri Invasion.

Sure, the thought of Loki not choosing New York did cross his mind, what with his reputation of being an all seeing god, but if that happened, well, what would be the point of all this?

He would either have the ability to influence things or he wouldn’t, no two ways about it. Plus, the sheer power of the curtain that kept him imprisoned within the city meant that there was a high chance that the INvasion would happen and it would happen in this very city.

He didn’t know if it would happen in the same location as Stark Tower, or would Loki figure out something else to open the portal, unlikely as it may be.

Ah, stuff to worry about later, he thought to himself as he poured another cup of coffee for himself and settled down to read a nice book, the spicy kind. Of course, it was all a sham for the Personal Investigator that somebody had hired to spy on him and him specifically.

Most probably Stark because of their latest encounter. He didn’t know more because the PI arrived in the city just a few days ago, continually stalking him at his office and then at his apartment, probably looking for something to report back to Stark.

It was good that he had literally nothing of value in his apartment and nothing of note in his office as well. 

While he pretended to read his book, he shifted to give the PI better angles as he continued to read on his balcony, his mind wandered around the city as the Hulks regrouped and began trudging through the tunnel in near darkness, all the while Bruce and Betty enjoyed a nice movie, snuggling into the couch.

Ah, the joys of being in a loving, committed, heterosexual relationship. He wished he knew that as well but, oh well, duty calls.

He cut off the spying on the happy couple and focused on the Hulks.

Now that they were in his range, he scanned them down to the lowest level he could, revealing pretty much the same as before. They were enhanced, very…organically

See, he had some theories as to the process of enhancements that happen artificially. Using Bruce Banner as an example, the process of turning into the Hulk was a very painful and uncomfortable one, a sign of it being artificial or not yet settled power. 

Once that power probably settled down, Bruce would become the Hulk completely, having both his powers and intellect in a single package, making him far more formidable than he was now.

These Hulks, on the other hand, were quite clearly recent, considering that Bruce had been the Hulk for less than two years now. He could spot no abnormality, no deficiency, no useless organ, no disproportionate organs…nothing.

Well, the only way to find out anything about them would be to talk to them, and considering that one of them had actually called him out, he was sure that they had someone to say to him.

So, flexing his powers, he flooded the area in front of them with his presence, gathering some foliage and then burning them to create some light in the otherwise nearly pitch black tunnel.

All of the seven came to a stop as he recreated his iconic paper avatar, floating in front of them, only this time, just for shits and giggles, he only made the head.

Understandably, before he could get a word in, the Seventh Hulk, the one who landed in the sewers, just jumped in with his fist cocked back, ready to deliver a powerful haymaker at the paper head.

Predictably, he went straight through, landing on the other side, looking at the reforming paper head with confusion before he once again jumped the head, this time, with the help of his six other Hulks.

Well, time to show them the alpha dog of this place then.

With a flex of his will, all seven of them felt as if a huge boulder was pressing down on them and all of them found themselves in a crater the size of their body. He had made sure that none of them were hurt, not that it was hard considering the durability of their bodies.

“Now,” He made the same menacing sound by creating vibrations in the air, the same one that made Agent Ross shoot him in panic, “What do we have here?”

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