Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00196. Sending a message.

Theo was in his training room as he practiced fuinjutsu for the day. For the past two weeks he was basically left alone as Tao and Agatha studied the soul stone and its effects. Sure they would pop by once in a while, but the majority of their free time was spent researching the stone. Theo didn’t mind since that meant no ‘practice’ with Tao, or in other words he wouldn’t be treated as a punching bag. While he knew what her intentions were and overall he even appreciated it, but that didn’t mean he liked being bruised all over each day. It didn’t matter how quickly he healed, it still sucked.

As Theo worked on making another explosive tag, his phone rang. He set down his brush before he answered it and said, “What's going on Mei?”

“Really? Give me a couple minutes.” Theo said before he hung up his phone.

After he sealed up his ink container and cleaned his ink brush off. Theo stood up and transformed into Ezekiel before he created a portal and stepped through it. On the other said he found Mei Terumi and an unfamiliar man in a suit. The man stared with his mouth hanging open as Ezekiel walked towards him and asked, “I was told you have something for me and it couldn't be handed to my assistant?”

The man finally recovered and shakily reached into his coat pocket before he pulled out some papers and handed them to Ezekiel. As Ezekiel took them the man said, “Th-this. Is a su-summon to a-appear before the senate judiciary committee on Friday.”

“Why?” Ezekiel asked as he looked at the documents that didn't explain anything.

“I-I'm just here to serve you the papers.” The man said before he turned around and made a beeline for the elevator.

Ezekiel glanced over the papers one more time and after the man left he asked, “I wonder why he was so scared?”

Mei raised an eyebrow as she said sarcastically, “I doubt you just appearing out of thin air was the cause.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “You're right of course. Something like that wouldn't scare someone…”

“You must have hit on him before I arrived, didn’t you?” Ezekiel asked with a smirk.

Mei's eye twitched as she said, “He's below my standards.”

“I still think you and Kakashi…”

Mei cut him off as she said, “That man is a pervert! Always reading those stupid novels!”

Ezekiel shrugged as he said, “Maybe… But I'm sure he might stop if the right woman entered his life and he didn't need those novel's anymore.”

Ezekiel only stayed for a few more minutes to check a couple things before he portaled back to his training room. His first order of business was to find out what the summons was about. It didn’t take long and he was surprised he didn't think about it before. While he was concerned about the government and potential villains appearing.

He forgot to monitor for things that concerned his company and his Ezekiel persona. It was an oversight on his part that led to the current situation. While monitoring for both of those things wouldn't have prevented this from happening, he would've at least had a warning something was coming.

After he collected information about what was going on, Ezekiel set about making sure it wouldn't happen again. Well, he probably couldn't stop something like this from happening again, but he would at least know about it beforehand next time.

After that was done, Theo scanned the summons documentation before he sent them and the information he collected to his mother. About ten minutes later his phone rang and he answered it as he asked, “So what do you think?”

“I was planning to go alone…”

“Okay, you're right. I'll see you Friday morning then, at the office.”

“No, I was planning to portal in after it was supposed to start...”

“Alright, we'll do it your way then. But I still plan to stream the whole thing on Vibe.”

“No, I'll follow your directions on everything else. But I am going to live stream that circus they are trying to put on…”

“Okay…”

“Yes…”

“I understand…”

“Okay, see you Friday.”

After Ezekiel hung up the phone, he let out a sigh before he said to himself, “She doesn't even know who I really am and she still somehow treats me like I'm her kid.”

“It's probably her motherly intuition… Or it's because you act like a child half the time.”

Ezekiel turned around to see Tao with a smirk on her face as she stepped out of a portal. Agatha followed after her before it closed behind them. Theo smiled at both of them before he asked, “You don't normally visit at this time, did something happen?”

Tao nodded as she said, “We figured it out.”

Ezekiel excitedly jumped out of his seat as he asked, “Really? With no issues?”

“There will be a few issues, mainly soul damage. We could fix it with the soul stone, but recommend against that since we still don't fully understand its powers.”

Ezekiel nodded in understanding before he said, “So when do you want to do it?”

Tao shared a knowing glance with Agatha before Tao asked, “Can't wait to recuse your girlfriend can you?”

Ezekiel flushed slightly which made both of them snicker before Ezekiel said, “Will you both grow up.”

Tao and Agatha both burst into laughter at that as Ezekiel let out a sigh. A few moments after Tao stopped laughing she said, “We can go now if you want.”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “Alright, let's go.”

Within half an hour they were all under the magic school of Genosha where Tao opened a portal to Hel. Hela smiled a tiny bit when Ezekiel stepped out of the portal and said, “You're early.”

Ezekiel pointed over his shoulder towards Tao and Agatha as he said, “We came to spring you from your prison.”

Hela's eyes lit up as she asked, “You figured out a way?”

Ezekiel turned towards Tao and Agatha as he said, “They've been working on it.”

Tao moved closer as she said, “We figured out a way to free you from the chains. But you will still suffer from some minor soul damage.”

Agatha nodded in agreement before she added, “Unfortunately all our tests concluded that soul damage would happen whenever the chains are forcefully removed.”

Hela nodded in understanding before she said, “It's better than being trapped here for who knows how much longer…”

Tao pulled out the soul stone in its container before she said, “This will probably hurt… A lot.”

“It's fine, I'm used to pain.” Hela said as she glanced at the small rune covered box.

As Tao and Agatha pulled out a couple more items, Ezekiel went around and stored everything he brought for Hela. The custom TV, pub table and chair, along with the small display case and the handful of Gundam models Ezekiel gave Hela. They were all the lowest grade model kits that were single color and easily snapped together, but Hela still liked them.

As Ezekiel did that, Tao and Agatha set up a small array with the soul stone as the focus. After a few more minutes everything was ready and Tao said, “Prepare yourself.”

Hela nodded stoically before Tao opened the container for the soul stone. The orange light of the soul stone slowly filled the array and before long it started to coat the chains attached to Hela. At first it seemed like nothing was happening, but slowly the chains started to dissolve away near Hela. As the part connecting a chain to Hela disappeared it would drop to the ground with a heavy thud. Hela for her part gritted her teeth each time the orange light touched her.

It didn't look like it did anything at first, but when Ezekiel used a spell to observe souls he saw what really happened. It was dissolving the part of Hela's soul where the chain was attached. It was tiny compared to her actual soul, but there were hundreds of chains attached to her body.

Ezekiel watched in quiet anticipation as chain after chain detached and dropped to the ground. When the process was about half way through he asked, “Why aren't the chains being completely destroyed?”

“If that happened Odin would know something was going on.” Agatha said as Tao focused on her task of removing the chains.

“Oh, okay… So the chains will just stay there once this is all finished and Odin wont realize Hela is free?”

“Only for half an hour or so before they all disappear at once.” Agatha said as she studied Tao's progress.

Ezekiel stood there and watched in silence for a for moments before a smirk slowly crawled across his face as he thought of something. Hela for her part didn’t utter a sound throughout the whole process. Once she was free, Hela breathed a deep sigh of relief before she smiled. It wasn't her normal hint of one she had either, this one was a real smile filled with joy. Her eyes moistened a tiny bit as she glanced at everyone and said, “Thank you, for your help.”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “You're welcome.”

Tao smacked Ezekiel in the back of the head as she said, “You didn't do anything. Now shut up and go hug your girlfriend.”

Hela flushed the tiniest bit as she turned her head away slightly as Ezekiel shot a glare at Tao. A moment later he moved closer to Hela as he asked, “Are you ready to get out of here?”

Hela turned to face Ezekiel with a genuine smile before she said, “More than anything.”

Ezekiel glanced around to make sure they weren't leaving anything behind before he asked, “Since Odin will be coming here soon to find out what happened… How about you leave him a message?”

Hela frowned slightly as she spat out, “I have nothing to say to that bastard.”

Ezekiel smirked before he said, “You're missing the point of the message…”

After Ezekiel explained what he meant, Hela excitedly got to work and created a message for Odin. As she was doing that, Tao and Agatha collected everything they brought with them. Once everyone was finished Tao created a portal to Genosha and Hel was left completely empty for the first time in millennia.

After they arrived in Genosha Ezekiel turned to Hela and asked, “So you're finally free… What do you wanna do now?”

Hela frowned slightly before she said, “I have no idea.”

Ezekiel nodded in understanding before he said, “Well it's fine, there's no rush. How about we go eat a late lunch and then find you a place to live afterwards.”

“Okay.” Hela said with a hint of excitement in her voice.

About an hour later, as Ezekiel, Hela, Tao and Agatha were finishing up lunch. The environment of Hel was disturbed as a massive rainbow colored beam of light slammed into the ground. When the beam dissipated a few moments later Odin, Thor, Loki and a whole host of warriors were there in battle formation. Everyone was extremely tense as they looked around for an enemy, but only found a message instead.

Carved deep into the ground and filled with necroswords to help it stand out was a simple message that read, ‘Clean your neck and wait for me old man.’

Thor glanced at the message along with everyone else before he asked, “What's going on father?”

Odin let out a sigh before he said, “Let's head back… I have something important to tell you and your brother in private.”

A little while later as Odin was explaining to Thor and Loki about their older sister. Ezekiel was with Hela in Genosha as he showed her the penthouse suite she could live in for however long she wanted. It was part of the casino that was almost finished being built and was on the top floor in one of the VIP suites that wasn't furnished yet. Theo’s original plan was to turn this suite into ‘Ezekiel’s’ home when he needed to entertain guests or something. But now that Hela was free he decided to let her have it.

Hela glanced around the massive open concept design for a bit before she said, “Are you sure I'm not imposing? I really only need a place to sleep… This place seems a bit too much.”

Ezekiel shook his head with a smile before he said, “Not at all. I own the whole building and technically most of the property on the island. Besides, if it’s too big, just fill it with stuff you want or turn part of it into a training room or something.”

“Okay, I’ll gladly accept your generous offer then… Does it include a bed?” Hela asked as she glanced around at the empty living room area.

“No, you have to sleep on the floor.” Ezekiel said as a joke.

“Okay, I understand.”

Ezekiel’s head whipped around to see the tiniest hint of a smile on Hela's face as her eyes curved up in mirth. Ezekiel smiled back as he said, “Was that your first joke? Should we celebrate?”

“Yes, by getting me a bed.”

“Wow, I expected her to be forward. But it’s only been what, two hours and you're already asking Ezekiel to join you in bed?” Tao said in a teasing tone as she walked out of one of the rooms followed by Agatha.

Hela turned away with a hint of a blush as Ezekiel said, “She asked for a bed to sleep on…”

“I'm sure that's exactly what she meant… Now remind me again why you're giving Hela this place and you never once offered something similar to either of your masters?” Tao asked before Agatha added on, “The ones who look after you and make sure you don’t cause any problems.”

Ezekiel gave both of them a flat look as he asked, “Really? You both want a penthouse suite? Don't you both have your own homes already?”

Tao glanced out at the beautiful view of the ocean below as she said, “I have a little place I call my own… But something like this would be a nice retreat sometimes.”

“I'm sure Ebony would enjoy a place like this too.”

Ezekiel glanced between his teachers before he let out a sigh and then said, “Fine, I'll allocate the other two suites on this floor for each of you. It can be your own personal floor from now on.”

Tao and Agatha shared a smile and a nod before Tao asked, “So are we going bed shopping now?”

“I have to buy both of you beds too?” Ezekiel asked in exasperation.

“Stop acting like you aren't going to use stolen money for it in the first place.” Tao said as she headed towards the door.

Agatha nodded as she added, “Since we are getting a penthouse suite, we should probably go shopping to furnish the whole thing.”

“Great idea… Come along you two we have a lot of places to visit.” Tao said as she opened the front door and looked back at Ezekiel and Hela.

Hela glanced at Ezekiel as she asked, “Are they normally like this?”

“I might be a negative influence on them.” Ezekiel said as he rubbed the back of his head.