Pov: General
It's been several weeks since Tony "awoke" his memories, and honestly, I still don't know what the protagonist was thinking when he did it. I mean, seriously? The Warhammer 40,000 universe? Of all things? Couldn't he have picked something with a bit more... I don't know... coherent, motherfucking sense?
Why do I say that? Simple. Just two days after his "awakening," Howard Stark was dead. Not at the hands of Hydra, the Red Room, or the Ten Rings, no.
He died at the hands of Tony Stark himself, who, believing his father was no longer necessary now that he'd regained his memories, silently killed him.
Frankly, even the Sorcerer Supreme was taken aback by such a massive deviation in the timeline.
And fearing the worst for the future, she decided to intervene, making sure Stark Industries would still flourish somehow.
Tony, on the other hand, couldn't care less if "Stark Industries" even existed.
He was too busy subjecting himself to a regimen of exercises so extreme they bordered on torture, yet, in his mind, one mantra kept looping with fanatical devotion:
"Pain means nothing if it's to serve by his side once more."
As for Steve, thankfully the sword was completed just in time, and, unsurprisingly, he never trained a single day with it.
But let's be honest, it wasn't even necessary, after all, there's a reason he was called the "Berserk" in his past life.
The moment he held the blade in his hands, he sliced a tank clean in half.
Yes. A. Damn. Tank.
What the hell was going through his head when he decided to do that?, Simple, his though was:
"It was the closest thing I had to a dragon, and even then, it was too weak to be worth fighting."
After that, they naturally sent him straight to a psychiatrist, and then to several doctors, running every test imaginable.
When they found nothing wrong, they blamed the serum, claiming its imperfections must have interfered with his brain somehow.
And in case you're wondering, the sword was made from every strong metal they could find, coated in an outer layer of vibranium (translator: R.I.P. the shield 😓).
It weighed around 200 kilograms and was shaped exactly like the Dragon Slayer itself.
Now, back to Steve, Sword in hand, without armor or uniform, he ran off to the front lines with Bucky, who basically forced him, saying that if Steve left him behind, he'd make sure they locked him in an asylum.
And let's be honest, the only reason Captain America agreed was because he still missed his other "friend."
You know, the one who literally caused an apocalypse and destroyed an entire dimension.
Like, come on, what the hell is wrong with the protagonist's story choices? Did he realize he's bad at creating original storyes and decide to just recycle existing ones?
At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with a tragic Naruto arc or something.
Anyway, back to the actual story. It didn't take long for Captain America to become famous.
At first, they called him "The Mad Soldier" for charging into battle with nothing but a sword, but as he kept surviving increasingly impossible fights, his title evolved
from "Mad Soldier" to "The Sworded Soldier", then "The Legendary Swordsman", and finally, "The Sword of Justice."
And yes, justice.
Because despite fighting the Germans, he never attacked civilians or innocents, In fact, when Allied soldiers crossed the line, he executed them, coldly, brutally, and without hesitation.
It sent a clear message to the world, He didn't belong to any nation. He served only justice.
Ironically, that only made him even more popular among both sides.
The American soldiers saw him as a living legend, a hero worthy of worship, practically a saint.
Meanwhile, the Germans respected him even more, as Steve represented the "perfect ideal" they were so obsessed with achieving.
His existence actually drove them to double down on genetic and technological research, desperate to replicate him.
Among the rebels in occupied lands, he was hailed as their only true ally "the man who's done more for us than our so-called allies overseas."
To the Japanese, he was a living god, proof that the way of the sword held true power.
After all, he'd already shown that he could cleave tanks in half, count bullets from point-blank machine gun fire, and even survive a missile strike by blocking it with his sword.
And yes, all of that really happened, and thanks in large part to the United States it was discovered.
At first, they tried to use his image for propaganda and dominance.
But once he started killing American soldiers too, they had no choice but to recognize his independence.
That, in turn, made other nations covet him, especially the Soviets, who even tried to recruit him.
Naturally, he refused, continuing his rampage alone.
The higher-ups in America hated him so much they tried to erase his achievements from history.
But, "surprisedly", it only backfired, turning the American public even more against their own government.
Hydra hated him as well, his actions had caused their resource supply to be cut in favor of genetic research.
Red Skull, forced to stay longer under Nazi command because of it, was absolutely furious.
As for Bucky, his loyalty to Steve only grew stronger
What once was friendship turned into devotion, not to Steve as a man, but to what he represented, the true heroism, not patriotic, not national, but universal.
And he wasn't the only one, soldiers from both sides began to desert, joining Bucky's cause, to follow Steve's ideals, even if history never remembered them.
Thus, an army was born under Bucky's command, since Steve often sent them home, knowing they'd only get in his way.
This army operated independently, fighting in other fronts: rescuing civilians, stopping atrocities, and punishing those who became the "villains" of the moment.
They called themselves "BALANCE", in honor of Steve's title.
Now, regarding the mystical organizations, nothing much changed, aside from the Sorcerer Supreme, who was now busy ensuring Iron Man would still come to exist.
In Africa, things were also mostly the same, except that they'd begun strictly allowing only Afro-descendants access their lands.
Even Wakanda began slowly opening up, enough to secretly contact Emily, curious how she'd react to their nation's truth.
Her response?
"I always knew you were special," (she meant their skin color, but they trough she referred at their potential, taking it as a compliment).
They soon proposed a secret plan to raise the continent's technological level.
She agreed without hesitation, and just like that, Africa began advancing in secret, far beyond its time.
Meanwhile, the protagonist began deploying his spies across every secret organization that existed, subtly influencing the world from the shadows.
Why didn't he use his "Sequence 4" powers from the "Visionary Pathway?" Simple, because of the Mind Stone.
He believed it could detect any attempt at large scale control, alerting the true masters of the universe.
That paranoia, while baseless, was ironically the only reason this story wasn't over already, because let's be honest here, in "secuence 4" you could already control the humanity as a whole
As for now, the protagonist had reached "Sequence 4" in the "Mother", "Darkness", and "White Tower" pathways.
As for the others, only Mariko had advanced, now standing at "Sequence 6" and was growing fast to the "secuence 5"
And that would be it, the universe haven't changed much
The mad Titán is still out there killing planets, the celestial is still sleeping in the center of the planet and Ego is still out there having childrens
It could be said that this was the peace before the storm, and an incredible storm
(Translator: Why are you publishing fragments of our private messages in your book? 😐
Writer: Because it's funny. Admit it, and besides, I know you don't actually get mad at me 😉
Translator: ...You're lucky I like your friendship. 😑)