(A/N):
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<AUTHOR NOTE:->
Guys I Want you to help me find all those character’s you felt they should be in…
Since I can start my research on them…
And also helps me find the character’s easily…
Hope you comments their names or img…
here…
….
Tony had barely finished discussing the scholarship with Raja when something else seemed to cross his mind.
He looked at the boy for a moment, almost as though he had just remembered an important detail, before casually asking,
“By the way, where’s Banner?”
Raja, who had been feeling considerably more relaxed after finally getting the conversation about his identity out of the way, paused for a moment.
“Bruce?
He’s with his girlfriend.”
Tony nodded automatically, but Raja continued without realizing that the next few words were about to completely derail Tony’s train of thought.
“They’re staying in my dimension.”
Tony’s head slowly turned back toward him.
“Your…
what?”
“My dimension.”
The way Raja said it made it sound as though he had just told Tony that Bruce was staying in another apartment.
Tony stared at him for several seconds, clearly trying to decide whether he had misheard the boy.
“I’m sorry.
I just want to make sure I’m understanding you correctly.
You have a dimension?”
Raja chuckled at the look on his face.
“Yeah.
It’s not exactly a finished place yet, but it’s mine.”
That answer only made Tony more confused.
Jagadish and Grace exchanged a glance.
They had known about Raja’s ability to create portals ever since the Harlem incident, and the footage of Ghost Rider opening a dimensional gateway had been broadcast all over the world,
So the existence of the portals themselves wasn’t new to them.
But they had always assumed Raja was simply opening doors to some unknown location.
They had never imagined that there was an entire separate space on the other side that belonged to their son.
Grace looked at Raja.
“You never told us it was your own dimension.”
Raja gave her an apologetic smile.
“I didn’t exactly have the opportunity and I don’t know you guys know about my power.
There were a few other things going on.”
Tony let out a short laugh.
“That’s one hell of an understatement.”
He looked around the room as though expecting the answer to suddenly appear somewhere on the walls, then looked back at Raja.
“You mean the portal you opened in Harlem didn’t just take you somewhere?
You actually have your own pocket dimension?”
“Pretty much.”
Tony’s curiosity was now impossible to hide.
“Show me.”
Raja raised an eyebrow.
“You want to see it?”
“I’ve spent the last few years trying to build things that shouldn’t be possible.
You’re telling me you casually own a dimension and expect me not to want to look at it?”
Raja couldn’t really argue with that.
“Fine.
Just give me some room.”
Tony, Jagadish and Grace stepped back as Raja looked around the room.
His eyes eventually landed on a long iron rod resting near one of the walls.
He had no idea what it was doing there, but it was close enough to use, so he picked it up and held it loosely in his hand.
Tony watched him curiously.
“Please tell me you’re not about to poke a hole in reality with that thing.”
Raja smiled.
“Something like that.”
Hellfire suddenly crawled over Raja’s fingers.
The orange-red flames wrapped themselves around his hand without burning him and then spread along the iron rod.
The metal began glowing as the supernatural fire consumed it, its shape changing under the influence of Zarathos’ power.
Within seconds, the ordinary rod had become something far sharper, almost like a crude ritual blade.
Tony’s expression changed.
“That’s definitely not something I can buy at Home Depot.”
Raja ignored the comment and raised the flaming rod in front of him.
He slowly drew a circle through the air, and as the tip completed the shape,
The space inside the circle began to ripple.
The air distorted as though the room had suddenly become the surface of a pond disturbed by a stone.
Then the circle opened.
Beyond it was the strange landscape of Raja’s dimension.
The familiar black soil stretched into the distance beneath an orange-red sky.
There were no buildings, no roads, no trees and no signs of civilization apart from the few things Raja had brought into it.
The place still looked more like an unfinished world than a home, but the sheer fact that it existed was enough to leave Tony staring.
“JARVIS,”
Tony said, without taking his eyes off the portal,
“I want a full analysis.”
JARVIS responded almost immediately.
“Attempting to analyze the phenomenon, sir.”
A few seconds passed.
“Unfortunately, I am unable to obtain meaningful readings.”
Tony frowned hearing JARVIS.
“Nothing?”
“The spatial characteristics do not correspond with any conventional dimensional model in my database.
I cannot determine the location of the destination, its relationship to our universe, or the mechanism maintaining its stability.”
Tony slowly smiled.
“That’s going to bother me.”
Raja laughed looking at the uncertain look at Tony’s face.
“You’ll survive.”
“I’ve survived worse.”
Raja stepped through the portal and turned around.
“Well?
Are you coming?”
Tony looked at the portal again, then at Raja.
“Obviously.”
He stepped through.
Jagadish and Grace followed after him, although Grace hesitated for a moment before taking her husband’s hand and crossing the threshold.
The sensation of passing through the portal was strange, but almost instantaneous.
One moment they were standing inside Stark Tower, surrounded by artificial lighting and polished metal, and the next they were standing on black soil beneath an unfamiliar orange-red sky.
Grace slowly looked around.
“Raj…
This is really yours?”
Raja nodded his head.
“I told you.”
Jagadish looked toward the horizon, trying to comprehend what he was seeing.
“How large is it?”
“I haven’t found the exact limits yet.
But closer to 100 acres.”
Tony looked at Raja.
“You haven’t found the limits?”
“It’s bigger than the area I’ve explored.”
Tony shook his head, half amused and half fascinated.
“You really need to give me more than five minutes warning before dropping information like this.”
Raja laughed looking at Tony who seems like he needed to turn this place upside down.
Before they could continue, they heard voices coming from one of the tents.
Bruce stepped outside, followed by Betty, and immediately stopped when he saw the unexpected group standing there.
“Raja?”
His eyes moved toward Tony.
Then toward Jagadish and Grace.
Bruce looked back at Raja.
“What exactly is going on?”
Raja walked over and smiled.
“I brought some people I thought you should meet.
This is Tony Stark, and these are my parents, Jagadish and Grace.”
Bruce looked at Tony for a moment before giving him a small nod.
“I’ve heard of you.”
Tony smiled hearing Bruce.
“Can’t say the same about your fashion choices, but we’ll work on that.”
Betty gave Tony a slightly amused look before turning toward Raja’s parents.
“Nice to meet you.”
Grace smiled warmly.
“You too.
We’ve heard about you from Raj.”
Raja was about to say something when a loud impact suddenly echoed across the dimension.
BOOM!
The ground trembled beneath their feet.
Everyone turned toward the sound.
A large green figure came bounding across the landscape before landing heavily several meters away, sending dust and loose soil into the air.
Tony immediately tensed.
Jagadish instinctively moved closer to Grace.
Raja, however, simply looked at the approaching figure.
“Hulk.”
The Hulk spotted Raja almost immediately, and his expression changed.
“RAJA!”
He came running toward him.
Tony’s eyes widened.
“That’s a little concerning.”
Raja stepped forward and raised a hand. Get faster updates on g.com.
“Hulk, slow down.”
Hulk stopped in front of him and looked past Raja toward the unfamiliar people.
“New people.”
“Yeah.
They’re friends.”
Hulk looked suspiciously at Tony.
“Metal man.
Where is metal?”
Tony looked at Raja.
“Does he always do that?”
“Pretty much.”
Hulk pointed at Tony again.
“Metal man.”
Tony sighed hearing some one calling him metal man straight to his face not iron man.
“I’ve been called worse.”
Raja smiled before turning toward his parents.
“Don’t worry about him.
Hulk’s not going to hurt you.”
Jagadish still looked slightly tense.
Raja continued explaining, knowing that Tony was probably wondering the same thing.
“You need to remember that Hulk isn’t mentally the same age as Bruce.
His body is obviously an adult, but his emotional development is much younger.
He’s basically a child in a very powerful body, so don’t treat him like some dangerous monster who’s waiting for an excuse to attack.”
Tony looked at Hulk again.
Hulk was now examining a rock with the concentration of a child discovering a new toy.
“That actually explains quite a lot,”
Tony admitted imagining Hulk in a diaper.
Raja nodded not knowing what Tony was thinking.
“Hulk isn’t evil.
He’s just angry, frightened and still learning how to control himself.”
Hulk looked toward Raja and nodded proudly, apparently pleased that someone had explained it correctly.
Raja smiled at him.
Then he suddenly remembered something.
“Wait.”
He turned toward his parents.
“Give me your hands mom.”
Grace looked confused, but she held hers out first.
Raja took her hand and allowed a small amount of Hellfire to spread across his fingers.
The flames moved over her skin without causing any pain, settling into a strange symbol on the back of her hand.
Grace stared at it.
“What is that?”
“It’s a protection seal.”
Raja explained that he had already placed the same mark on Bruce, Betty and Hulk.
The seal prevented demons and other supernatural beings from directly approaching them to make deals, manipulate them through contracts or use them as pawns without his involvement.
It wasn’t something he wanted to take lightly, especially now that he knew just how many supernatural beings existed in this universe.
Jagadish extended his hand next, and Raja placed the same seal on him.
Tony watched the entire process with growing curiosity.
“So you’re giving these things out now?”
Raja looked toward him.
“I can give you one too, if you want.”
Tony glanced at the mark on Grace’s hand and then at Raja.
“And you’re certain it’s safe?”
“Bruce has one.
Betty has one.
Hulk has one.
My parents now have one.
Nobody’s had any problems.”
Tony nodded slowly.
“That’s a slightly better sample size than I expected.”
Raja rolled his eyes hearing him.
“You don’t have to take it.”
Tony looked down at his own hand for a moment.
He clearly didn’t like the idea of accepting something supernatural without understanding every detail about it, but the purpose behind the seal was difficult to argue with.
He had spent enough time around dangerous people to know that enemies didn’t always attack the person they wanted.
Sometimes they went after the people around them.
“Alright,”
Tony finally said.
“Do it.”
Raja placed his hand over Tony’s.
Hellfire appeared again, curling across Tony’s skin before settling into the same symbol.
Tony studied it carefully.
“It doesn’t hurt.”
“I told you it wouldn’t.”
Tony flexed his fingers and looked at Raja.
“Pepper and Happy are getting these too after I examine it for few days.”
Raja nodded shrugging his shoulder.
“That’s what I’d recommend.”
Tony looked around the strange dimension again, then back at Raja.
“You know, when I invited you to Stark Tower, I was expecting a conversation about a scholarship with the Ghost Rider.”
“I found out that you have your own dimension, Banner and Betty are living in it, Hulk apparently considers you his favorite person, and you can hand out magical protection seals.”
Raja shrugged.
“When you put it that way, it does sound a little complicated.”
Tony laughed.
“Kid, complicated stopped being the right word about ten minutes ago.”
Raja smiled as he looked across the empty landscape.
He knew the place still needed work.
Bruce and Betty needed proper facilities,
Hulk needed somewhere he could live without feeling like he was trapped, and eventually Raja wanted to turn the barren space into something that actually felt like something Inhabitual.
After spending some time inside the dimension, the group eventually returned to Stark Tower.
Tony had plenty of questions about the place, most of which Raja either answered honestly or admitted that he himself didn’t know yet,
But eventually even Tony had to accept that he couldn’t spend the entire evening investigating another dimension when there were still hundreds of guests waiting upstairs.
Raja closed the portal behind them, and the familiar noise of the gathering immediately returned as they stepped back into the reception hall.
For Raja, however, the atmosphere felt strangely different now.
A few hours earlier, he had been worrying about money, equipment,
Bruce and Betty’s living arrangements, the possibility of needing a proper laboratory, and how on earth he was supposed to build anything useful inside his dimension without attracting attention.
Now Tony had practically taken all of those problems and shoved them into a corner with a promise to provide the necessary resources.
For the first time since arriving in this world, Raja felt like he could actually breathe.
He wandered through the crowd, occasionally exchanging greetings with people he recognized from his parents circle while quietly observing the various conversations around him.
He was beginning to relax enough that he wasn’t constantly calculating whether someone was secretly watching him.
That was probably why he wasn’t paying enough attention to where he was going.
He turned around while looking toward one of the displays, took a step backward and suddenly collided with something.
Or rather, someone.
“Sorry!”
The next thing Raja knew, he had lost his balance.
He fell forward, expecting to hit the floor.
Instead, he landed on something that wasn’t there.
Raja froze.
There was nothing visible beneath him, yet something had clearly broken his fall.
His hands had landed against something soft and strangely warm, and before his brain could catch up with what exactly he had landed on, his fingers instinctively shifted against the surface.
A soft, startled moan came from underneath him.
Raja’s entire body went rigid.
“…”
His eyes widened.
‘Oh.’
His brain finally caught up.
“Important Character Contact Confirmed”
“Sue Storm”
“XP Reward: +1,000”
“Current XP: 9,535 / 10,000”
He immediately pushed himself away and looked down.
There was absolutely nothing visible.
For a moment, he simply stared at the empty space.
“I’m so sorry,”
He said awkwardly, not entirely sure whether the person underneath him could even hear him.
There was no response.
Raja waited.
Nothing.
“Uh…
sorry?”
Still nothing.
He slowly stood up, dusted himself off and looked around in confusion.
“Did she leave?”
Apparently she had.
Raja decided that asking further questions about it would only make the situation stranger, so he quietly walked away.
A few meters behind him, however, a blonde woman was standing against the wall with one hand covering her mouth, her face bright red.
Sue Storm slowly became visible again.
She had been completely invisible when Raja fell onto her, and she had initially been too stunned by the unexpected situation to react properly.
Now she peeked around the edge of the wall and watched Raja walking away as though nothing unusual had happened.
She looked down at herself.
Then back at Raja.
“What just happened?”
Raja, completely unaware that she was watching him, returned toward the area where he had been sitting earlier.
He had barely taken a few steps when he spotted Jean again.
She was standing with another blonde woman.
Raja immediately recognized her.
Emma Frost.
He considered turning around.
‘Nope.’
The last thing he needed was to get dragged into another conversation involving powerful mutants who could either try to read his mind or turn him into a human icicle.
Unfortunately for him, Jean noticed him before he could escape.
Raja stopped.
He looked at her.
Jean smiled knowingly.
He knew that expression.
It was the expression of someone who had just caught him trying to escape.
“Come here.”
Raja sighed inwardly before walking over.
Jean gestured toward the blonde woman beside her.
“Raj, this is Emma Frost.”
Emma looked him over with open curiosity.
“So you’re the young man Jean seems to be talking about.”
Raja smiled politely.
“Hopefully She is saying good things.”
Emma’s lips curved upward.
She extended her hand.
Raja shook it.
The instant their hands touched, the familiar green interface appeared inside his mind.
“Important Character Contact Confirmed”
“Emma Frost”
“XP Reward: +1,000”
Raja’s eyes widened slightly.
His current total had been 9,535 XP.
The new points pushed him to:
“Current XP: 10,535 / 10,000”
Raja tried to keep his expression normal.
Emma released his hand.
“Nice to meet you, Raj.”
“Likewise.”
Raja was still mentally calculating how quickly he could obtain another 465 XP when another notification suddenly appeared.
“System Level-Up Requirement Met”
Raja blinked.
He looked at the interface again.
“System Level 3 → Level 4”
“Level-Up Complete”
“Remaining XP: 535/1,00,000 XP”
“Next System Level Requirement: 1,00,000 XP”
Raja’s mouth almost fell open.
‘Wait…
hundred thousand?’
He stared at the notification.
‘The System really just added a zero to the the requirement again?’
He had barely gotten used to the idea of reaching ten thousand.
Now it wanted twenty thousand.
“Everything alright?”
Jean asked looking at him.
Raja immediately snapped back.
“Yeah.
Fine.”
Emma studied him carefully.
The System then displayed another notification.
“System Level 4 Reward Unlocked”
“New Template Draw Available”
Raja’s eyes briefly lit up.
‘Finally.’
He now had another template draw available.
He still hadn’t decided whether to use it immediately or wait until he was somewhere private, but knowing that another character template was waiting for him made it difficult not to get excited.
Jean noticed the brief change in his expression.
“You’re doing that again.”
Raja looked at her.
“Doing what?”
“Looking like you’ve just received very good news while pretending nothing happened.”
Raja gave her an innocent smile.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Emma laughed quietly.
“You really are an interesting boy.”
Raja was about to respond when he heard something.
At first, he thought it was simply another voice from the crowded hall.
Then he realized it wasn’t coming from anywhere around him.
It was inside his head.
A small voice.
Frightened.
Desperate.
“Help me…”
Raja’s smile disappeared.
He looked around.
Jean noticed the sudden change in his expression.
“Raj?”
He didn’t answer.
The voice came again.
“Please…”
It sounded like a child.
There was fear in it, but more than that, there was desperation.
The kind of desperation that came when someone had already stopped believing that anyone was coming.
Raja’s eyes narrowed.
He couldn’t see anyone nearby who looked like they were calling for help.
‘What the hell?’
He mentally reached for the Zarathos.
Then Zarathos’ voice emerged from somewhere deep within his consciousness.
“You heard it.”
Raja’s expression became serious.
“What is it?”
“A plea.”
“I figured that much.”
Zarathos remained silent for a moment before explaining.
“When someone desperately calls for salvation, when their fear becomes great enough that their plea reaches beyond the boundaries of their world, sometimes those capable of hearing such things will hear them.”
Raja frowned hearing it.
“You’re saying somebody is praying for help?”
“Not merely praying.”
The voice came again.
“Please…
somebody…”
Raja’s expression hardened.
Zarathos continued.
“If their voice has reached you, then their situation is likely beyond ordinary danger.”
Raja looked around the crowded Stark Tower.
Everyone was laughing, drinking and talking as though the world outside didn’t exist.
But somewhere…
Someone was terrified.
Someone was calling for help.
And somehow, that cry had reached him.
Raja’s fingers slowly tightened.
“Can you tell where it’s coming from?”
There was a brief silence.
Then Zarathos answered.
“Not yet.”
Raja looked toward the nearest exit.
Jean noticed the direction of his gaze.
“Raj, what’s wrong?”
He looked at her.
For a moment, he considered telling her everything.
Then the child’s voice echoed through his mind once again.
“Please…”
Raja’s expression changed.
Whatever this was, he couldn’t ignore it.
He had already learned one thing since becoming Ghost Rider which seems to urge him.
When someone cried for help loudly enough for the flames to hear…
You answered.
Raja looked toward Jean and gave her an apologetic smile.
“I think I need to step outside for a minute.”
Jean frowned hearing him.
“Why?”
Raja glanced toward the exit.
“I just heard something.”
Emma raised an eyebrow.
“Heard what?”
Raja didn’t answer.
His instincts were telling him that whatever was waiting on the other side of that voice wasn’t going to wait patiently while he finished his conversation.
He turned toward the exit.
Inside his mind, Zarathos gave a low, almost approving growl.
“Find the voice.”
Raja nodded silently.
*******************************
(Author note:)
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Weekly Twice Chapters will be uploded…
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And Thursday…
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