Marvel-ous Ninjutsu

00207. Someone is jealous?

The week passed quickly with Ezekiel leaving Bruce and Betty alone to think. Well he didn't truly leave them alone since he sent Shisui and a couple other people to Mars to interact with them. He even hid in the mirror dimension when they met Hashirama for the first time and watched him create an entire forest like it was nothing. You would expect at this point they would be used to surprises, but the looks on their faces said otherwise.

Ezekiel portaled to the front of the cabin they were staying in before he knocked on the door and waited. A few moments later Betty opened the door and stepped out of the way as she said, “Hi, come on in.”

Entering the cabin Ezekiel found Bruce seated on the couch in the living room using a tablet. Ezekiel moved over to one of the chairs where he sat down as he said, “How's it going doc?”

Bruce glanced up from the tablet in his hands as Betty sat down next to him before he said, “Pretty good. I can finally walk around without collapsing.”

“That's good… So did you two make a decision?” Ezekiel asked as he glanced between both of them.

Bruce turned to Betty as he said, “I think we did.”

Betty nodded in agreement before she said, “We decided to accept your job offer.”

Ezekiel smiled as he said, “I was hoping you would. We could definitely use people with your skillset.”

“That's said, you will both need to go through the vetting process before you are officially hired.”

“Vetting process?” Betty asked with a hint of confusion.

Ezekiel pointed towards the window and the martian landscape as he asked, “You will be working for a group that is terraforming Mars in secret and you don't think we have a vetting process?”

“That makes sense, it's just a little weird is all. Since you already offered us the job.” Bruce said as Betty nodded in agreement.

“I offered the jobs because I know you will both pass the vetting process without problems.” Ezekiel said after which he paused and thought over something before he added, “Are you both okay with basically disappearing from the world for a while?”

“Disappearing?”

Ezekiel nodded as he said, “We tend to work in the shadows and almost all of our members are considered dead or have disappeared from the general public.”

Bruce didn't really have any family besides his cousin so he didn't really care, but Betty had her father and asked, “What about my family? Will I be able to contact them or visit them sometimes?”

“It's not recommended for the operational security of the group… But that doesn't mean it's out of the question. Any contact you have with your family will be monitored through. When you meet more of the group and find out our mission you'll understand why that's needed.”

Betty frowned but nodded which made Ezekiel smile as he said, “Good. Let's take you both to go start the process.”

Over a week went by since that conversation and both of them passed the vetting process and physiological evaluations. They were assigned to the main base and were given their own lab next to the Pyms who they quickly made friends with. They were also allowed access to the medical base to help out with projects there if they wanted, but their main focus was in studying alien technology and reverse engineering it.

Sure Bruce's main skill set was nuclear physics along with Betty, but they had no need for that field of study currently. That said they didn't complain since working with alien technology was fascinating to both of them.

After they were settled in at the base, Ezekiel decided against giving them new bodies for now. With them both being younger and not being combat oriented, he didn't see the need.

As for the Hulk, Ezekiel left shadow clones to keep him company and was slowly teaching him. Hulk still talked in broken English, but his vocabulary was slowly expanding and he was getting better each day. He also really enjoyed video games that Ezekiel introduced him to. They were older, simple video games like Pacman and Frogger, but Ezekiel was slowly exposing Hulk to new stuff.

Ezekiel was at Hela's hanging out with her as they chatted on the couch. Ezekiel was worn out from training with Tao so he was laying down while Hela sat close by. As they talked, there was a knock on the door. Ezekiel glanced towards the entryway as he asked, “Expecting anyone?”

Hela shook her head as she stood up and said, “No… But Tao and Agatha stop by every few days.”

“Don't they normally text you before they come over?”

“Not all the time.” Hela said as she reached the door and opened it up.

She glanced down in surprise as a younger girl with black hair smiled up at her and said, “Hi, I'm Gabby!”

Hela froze for a few moments at how upbeat the girl was and in that moment the girl walked right past her and into the penthouse as she asked, “Is Ezekiel here?”

Ezekiel who was on the couch heard Gabby's voice and as he started to stand up, Gabby noticed him. She quickly ran towards him and jumped to hug him as she said, “I knew you were here!”

Gabby's speed knocked Ezekiel off his feet and back out the couch before he said, “It's good to see you too Gabby, but what are you doing here?”

Hela quickly made it back to the living room to see Gabby hugging Ezekiel on the couch which made her frown. Gabby released her hug as she said, “Ava came to visit her master and I came with her, but then I smelled you and wanted to see if you were still here.”

“So you ditched your friend?”

Gabby blushed slightly and avoided eye contact as she said, “No, we agreed to meet up later.”

“I'm sure that's what happened.” Ezekiel said before he noticed Hela's frown and said, “Hela, this is Gabby. She is someone I helped rescue from a bad situation.”

Ezekiel turned Gabby towards Hela and said, “Gabby, this is Hela. I also helped her get out of a bad situation.”

Hela's frown disappeared and she nodded curtly to Gabby before she said, “It's not polite to just enter a person's house without permission.”

Gabby's eyes widened and quickly glanced at Ezekiel as she asked, “This isn't your house?”

“No, it's Hela's.”

Gabby frowned slightly and sniffed the air before she said, “But it smells like you live here.”

“Well I do come here a lot. But it's not my house.”

“Oh…” Gabby said in a nervous tone before she said, “Please don’t tell my mom, I don't wanna get in trouble again.”

Hela smirked the tiniest bit at that comment before Ezekiel said, “I won't if you apologize to Hela.”

Gabby moved over to Hela before she bowed her head slightly and said, “I'm sorry, I didn't know this was your home. Please don't tell my mom.”

Hela glanced at the girl before she looked at Ezekiel who was smiling. Hela glanced back down at the girl with her head still lowered before she said, “It's fine. Just don't do it again.”

“Thanks, you're the best!” Gabby said before she hugged Hela which made the woman freeze up.

Ezekiel shook his head slightly with a smirk playing across it as he stood up. Gabby released the hug a moment later before she turned to Ezekiel and asked, “What are you doing now? Can we go ride the roller coasters together?”

“I was planning to take it easy and just relax for today, since I'm not feeling great today.”

Gabby tilted her head slightly as she asked, “Aren’t roller coasters relaxing and make you feel better?”

“I think that really depends on the person in question… Do you find roller coasters relaxing?” Ezekiel asked with a raised eyebrow.

“No, roller coasters are fun and exciting! But after I ride one I always feel better though.”

Ezekiel shook his head as he said, “Well roller coasters don't do the same thing for me.”

“Oh… Well what makes you feel better?” Gabby asked as Hela also curiously glanced at Ezekiel.

“A lot of things. Hanging out with my family, hanging out here… Taking a really hot shower or bath.”

Ezekiel was cut off as Gabby excitedly grabbed Ezekiel’s hand and said, “I know just what to do!”

As Gabby tugged on Ezekiel’s hand to get him to stand up she turned to Hela and asked with confidence, “Where's your bathroom?”

“What?” Ezekiel and Hela asked at the same time.

“Ezekiel said he likes to relax here and also in a hot bath, so we should put him in a hot bath here and it will be double relaxing.” Gabby said it like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Ezekiel started to chuckle before he said, “While I appreciate the idea, I find it relaxing here because I am spending time with Hela.”

“Then let's all take a bath together.” Gabby said with a hint of excitement.

Ezekiel’s eyes went wide as he glanced towards Hela who also did the same. Gabby grinned as she asked, “It's a great idea right?”

“While I appreciate the idea, I doubt Hela's bath will fit all of us in it.” Ezekiel said with a forced smile as he tried to politely refuse the idea.

Gabby nodded in understanding before she asked, “Then how about we go someplace with a bigger bath?”

“I don't think...” Ezekiel started to say as Gabby cut him off and said, “Hot spring! It's like a bath but really big!”

Ezekiel glanced towards Hela for help only to notice she was frowning slightly as she looked at Ezekiel and Gabby holding hands. Hela focused on Gabby a moment later as she asked in a flat tone, “How old are you Gabby?”

“I just turned thirteen a couple of months ago.” Gabby said with an infectious smile.

Hela glanced between Ezekiel and Gabby for a moment as she thought about how old Ezekiel really was. After a moment she narrowed her eyes slightly before she reached out and possessively grabbed Ezekiel’s other hand. Ezekiel froze for a moment at the action before Hela pulled on his hand and said, “Let's go to a hot spring.”

“Yes!” Gabby said as she bounced on her feet before she started to move towards the door.

Ezekiel, who was now being pulled by both of them, asked with a hint of resignation, “Shouldn’t we bring a change of clothes or something? Also don't we need to ask your mom if you can even go, Gabby?”

Gabby pulled out a phone and started to type on it with her free hand. As they reached the door she flashed her phone to Ezekiel with a smile as she said, “Mom said to have fun and come back before bed time.”

Ezekiel let out a sigh before he said, “Alright.”

As they left Hela's penthouse and entered the hallway they ran into Ava, Tao and Agatha who were next to the runic spell patterns for the personal portal hub they created. Tao smiled when she noticed Ezekiel being dragged by Hela and Gabby at the same time. Agatha also smiled before she asked, “What are all of you up to?”

“We are going to a hot spring so Ezekiel can relax!” Gabby said excitedly.

“Didn't you say you needed to go home?” Ava asked Gabby with narrowed eyes.

“I did… But I found Ezekiel and then asked my mom if I could go to a hot spring with him.” Gabby said as she avoided eye contact with Ava.

“I'm sure that's what happened…”

Tao glanced at Agatha before both women grinned and Tao asked, “A hot spring trip? Isn’t that a little bold of you, my apprentice?”

“It was Gabby's idea and Hela agreed for some reason.” Ezekiel said with a helpless shrug.

Tao glanced at the hand Hela was holding before she said, “We were just about to go out and train a bit, but relaxing in a hot spring doesn't sound like a bad idea and I know the perfect one with a mixed bath.”

“A mixed bath?” Ezekiel asked as Tao smirked and opened a portal.

Everyone stepped through the portal to be greeted by cold and rainy weather, along with a darkened sky. In front of them stood a modest wooden building in a Japanese style. Tao quickly ushered everyone inside the building where they were greeted by some staff. Tao handled everything quickly and Ezekiel was sent to one side to change and clean off, while everyone else went to the other side.

Ezekiel only needed to change his henge to change his appearance. But he still made sure to remove his real clothes and put on some swim trunks he carried with him after he cleaned himself off. Changed and ready to get things over with he headed out the door with a towel over his shoulder.

The open air hot spring was just below the entrance building and you had to walk down some stairs to reach it. While it was open air, the had a large patio cover that protected half of it from the weather, while the rest was open to the sky. With the rain pouring down as it was, the whole place was covered in a low cloud of mist.

Ezekiel quickly made his way to the covered section and placed his towel down on a small bench. Afterwards he stepped towards the hot spring before he sat on the edge and slowly dropped into the water. He let out a relaxed sigh as he settled into the almost stifling water. Ezekiel closed his eyes and leaned back against the edge of the spring where he started to drift off to sleep.

Unfortunately his relaxation was destroyed when he was covered in water by a violent splash. Ezekiel rubbed the water from his face to see Gabby pop up from the water with a smile on her face before Agatha said, “You shouldn't cannonball into the hot spring like that, they're very shallow and you can get hurt.”

Ezekiel nodded in agreement before another person jumped into the hot spring next to him. After cleaning his face off again he saw Ava who was now playing and swimming with Gabby. He was gonna say something about not swimming in the hot spring but decided to close his eyes and ignore them instead.