[Felix POV]
I changed my clothes to prepare to go to the auction. The auction starts at 10 and I left immediately. I think my grandmother would be alright alone. I mean, it's not like I'm not coming back.
I already know the location and luckily, they're using electronic devices for guests. SPACE can just put my name on the list.
Since it's an underground auction, I better take A.R.C and NAPS with me. I might as well carry two mags just in case.
I'll assemble the car after I develop an AI for it, probably tomorrow.
Time to go. Grandma is sleeping peacefully.
"Great. What do you want?"
As I opened the door, I saw Melina standing at the door. Well, she took a long time to find this house. I thought she'd find it within 3–7 days, but she didn't.
Or maybe she knew where I lived but didn't bother to come.
"I'm coming with you."
"Okay."
I just headed to my Challenger and Melina stood at the door for a few seconds before I called her.
"Are you coming or not?"
"I'm coming."
I started the car and drove towards the location of the auction.
While we were driving towards our location, Melina decided to make small talk.
"I thought you'd refuse me for coming with you."
"I was going to refuse you."
"Then what changed?"
"The second I saw you at the door, I figured you'd want to come with me. If I refused, you'd try to convince me or maybe threaten me, which is a waste of time because I'll end up agreeing either way. I only had two choices to begin with."
"And what are those choices?"
"Agree with you to come with me or I don't go to the auction."
I drove and she became quiet for a while before she decided to say something.
"Did you know Dreykov hired Taskmaster?"
"I didn't, but why did he hire Taskmaster?"
"I don't know but his mission is to capture Deadpool."
I thought for a while on why Dreykov would want to capture Deadpool. If Dreykov knows Deadpool, that means the mission is not to capture Deadpool but for Anthony to fail. Oh, I get it.
"He's going to fail and I think Dreykov knows that."
"What makes you think that?"
"I think Dreykov wants to study Taskmaster's physiology, biology or whatever makes him TASKMASTER. This mission is designed for him to fail. Unless... Never mind."
"What were you about to say?"
"Unless he's planning to sell him."
"What do you mean?"
"There's this secret group in the U.S that's called the Commission on Superhuman Affairs. It's CSA for short. They want to monitor those with abilities and there's a possibility they want to capture and study them. Since Taskmaster works alone, he's an easy target."
"Okay, I understand that part but how does Dreykov know about the group?"
"Through Norman Osborn. Norman is part of the group. He probably planted a spy in Oscorp for someone to work as a researcher or something. The other members are harder because they're mostly affiliated with the government."
"How do you know that?"
"I'm reading everything through SPACE."
"Цифры" (T/L: Figures)
After that small conversation, I drove without saying anything. We arrived after 90 minutes of driving because I drove WAY above the speed limit.
I was dressed like I was going to a supermarket and there were people who dressed respectably. Even Melina dressed simply but respectably.
We walked into a building and we went to a secret room or hall. When we got there, we saw a guy dressed in a suit and holding a tablet.
We walked in and the guy stopped us.
"Good evening. This is a private event. Those on the guest list can enter. Can I have your name, sir?"
"Lex Vale," I said while changing my voice to sound like Aleks Le's while he was acting as Sung Jinwoo. I thought I should make my voice sound like Neil Kaplan's while he was acting as Madara Uchiha or Figarland Garling.
"Okay sir, I see you're on the list with a plus 1. You may enter. Enjoy your night, sir."
We walked inside and everyone was already there. They looked at us as we entered the room. I signaled Melina to wait at the back while I went to grab my seat.
I sat down and waited for the auction to start.
A lady came and stood at the front, about to say something.
"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. The auction is about to start."
Everyone went quiet after the lady said her greetings. Someone brought a briefcase and put it on the table. The lady opened the briefcase, there was a small bottle/serum in the briefcase and she began talking.
"The first object of tonight's auction is Infinity Formula. It doesn't grant abilities or enhance powers, it just lets its users age slowly. It grants extended vitality and longevity, slowing the aging process and allowing its users to remain in prime physical condition. Some might call it The Fountain of Youth and it's also called the Forever Compound."
I looked around and it looked like everyone was interested in the serum. I didn't understand why they started with that but since it's my first auction, I'm not in a position to judge.
"The bidding will begin at $5 000 000 and the minimum increase is $500 000."
Everyone started bidding one by one. Well, I don't need that and didn't come here for that.
The thing was sold for $55 500 000 and I was shocked by how much it was sold for from just $5 million.
The auction went by.
The next item was an unknown sword of unknown origins. Someone found the sword and sold it at a pawn shop without knowing its worth.
The sword's blade is dangerous and its durability is higher than any blade. The bidding for it started at $1 million because they just wanted to get a higher price than the one at the pawn shop.
The sword ended up being sold for $9 million and someone sold the sword for just $1 250 at the pawn shop.
Surprisingly, SPACE doesn't know the origin of the sword either, which means it only exists in mythological books or is from a long time ago.
[FYI: Godkiller is the item.]
[A/N: I know there's some digital books. Which means SPACE found nothing in those books or she's still searching. What I mean when I said "Mythological Books", I meant books from other realms that are unknown to Earth or books that have no digital books.]
After that item, a book was introduced.
I was shocked because the book was the Darkhold. The presenter, a lady, described the book as holding infinite knowledge about everything. Just one read and you can know everything.
She did call it a Darkhold.
"It's the only one of its kind and the original," she said.
I laughed or more like chuckled when she said that. Everyone looked at me including the lady but I said nothing and just continued watching.
The bidding started at $10 million with a minimum increase of $2 million and everyone kept bidding.
I wondered how rich everyone here was if they could keep bidding.
The book was sold for $100 million because the guy was getting tired of raising the price every bid and just wanted to get the book.
The next item was Promethium metal.
"The next item is a material that was extracted from a demon. You heard me right, not a mutant but a demon. The demon said he came from a place called Limbo."
That name sounds familiar.
"The demon said he was running away from The Devil and hid in a cave. He was hungry and happened to eat a piece of a giant animal. It caused its body to mutate and it happened to end up on Earth."
The story doesn't add up. How did he escape the dimension all on his own or did he escape because they let him? The Devil let him escape.
Why did he eat the piece of an animal and not the whole animal? The demon lied to them or the lady is lying to us.
[FYI: Promethium is a magical metal found only in Limbo. In Otherplace, it takes the form of a giant animal heart, hidden in a cavern deep below its surface.]
[A/N: Technically the demon ate the piece of the heart but he didn't tell them that.]
Either way, I want it.
"The item weighs around 330 lb (150 kg) and the bidding will start at $10 million with an increase of $1 million per bid."
"I bid $20 million."
I said as I raised my number that was given to me when I sat in the chair.
"30."
Someone said out loud and I saw the person looking at me.
"$30 million. Is there a higher offer?" the lady said as she looked at me.
"40," I said while looking at the man.
"50." A woman's voice was heard and I looked at the woman. She appeared to be around her 40s or early 50s.
"SPACE, info," I whispered so that only I could hear myself.
[FULL NAME: Hilda Zemo aka Baroness
AFFILIATION: HYDRA]
Great. What did I expect? Wait, I don't get it. Didn't this material come from Hydra, then why are they trying to buy it back? Unless they're raising its value through me.
Damn. That's messed up... Technically that's genius. Unless she doesn't know.
"$50 million. Going once."
"70," I said as I looked at the woman.
"80."
Hilda said while looking at me and smirked a little.
"100." I didn't smile or smirk but just looked bored. To fool your enemy, you gotta fool yourself first.
"113."
"119," I said out loud.
"121."
"120."
Everyone looked at me like I'm crazy or something.
"Sir, 120 is less than 121," the lady said as she looked at me.
"It is?"
"YES!"
"Okay, sorry. I bid 200."
Everyone exclaimed in shock.
"What do I care, I didn't earn that money."
Everything quieted down after that. I looked at Hilda and said nothing. She didn't try to bid anymore.
"$200 million. Going once, going twice. Sold to the guy with glasses."
In my thoughts, I was practically screaming for wasting that much money on that material. Vibranium didn't cost that much but it included other items for payment.
I wanted to leave at that moment and go home to sleep.
[Felix POV]
After I bought the Promethium, the next item that was introduced was Mutant Growth Hormone, it's also called MGH for short.
It is a serum that has the ability to grant temporary powers to the powerless, and increased powers to those who already wield them. It just began to be produced and there are few of them.
The bidding started at $2 million and it was sold for $9 million. It looks like no one wanted to gamble on it.
The next item was Adamantium, which is the strongest metal on Earth. It is nearly indestructible and nobody has been able to damage the material. A very skilled metallurgist was able to create Adamantium by combining other known metals in the periodic table and it was successful.
The Adamantium weighed about 440 lb (200 kg). The bidding price started at $500 million. It cost that much because currently, only the government has the material and it was more like it was stolen from the government.
The Adamantium was sold for $1.5 billion.
Damn, I thought I was rich but I'm not at that level yet.
The last items that were introduced were 2 dead blue aliens. Yes, that's what the presenter called them, they had humanoid appearances but they were blue all over.
SPACE found out what they were.
[SPECIES: KREE]
They were Kree aliens. The presenter said they were the remnants of dead aliens that were left behind in 1995 during an invasion of shapeshifting aliens.
I guess Nick Fury hid the events of Mar-Vell but couldn't hide what the public or criminal organizations saw or heard. So, people made up stories in their minds to understand what was going on.
I don't know how they got the bodies and I don't care about them.
The bidding started at $100 million per body. The first body was sold for $600 million to one of the HYDRA agents and the next was sold for $750 million to John Sublime. The total for the Kree was $1.35 billion, which was a lot for 2 dead bodies.
I thought the last item was going to be Vibranium. The only person I know who can sell Vibranium is Ulysses Klaue and he didn't even show up. I don't know if it's smart of him not to sell at an auction or dumb of him not to sell at an auction.
[A/N: I thought I should've made the last item Vibranium but I changed my mind and had to change the course of the story.]
As I looked at my surroundings, everyone was beginning to stand up and leave, but I noticed I had eyes on me.
I noticed about 2 of them, but I don't know how many there were. I looked at Melina and Melina directed me with her eyes without moving her head. Melina showed me 5 others besides the 2.
I thought of an idea.
I got called to the other room to process the payment and collect my reward. Maintaining a voice like Jinwoo throughout the night is hard because I gotta say less and have a poker face to look badass.
I don't think looking badass is working, but looking like I belong with everyone in the room was working.
Melina walked behind me while I went to collect the materials.
I said something to Melina, only she could hear, when I got out. The promethium was put on a foldable flatbed steel platform trolley and Melina was pushing it, which she didn't like one bit.
We went to the back door to take the materials to DRIVE because they said we can't exit at the front door.
I opened the door for Melina to get out first.
"Stay dead," I said in a low voice towards her, which she didn't say anything to.
I activated my NAPS before I got out, which covered my body in 9 seconds. The guy that was showing us the way was surprised when he saw me in a different outfit.
The minute we got out, we got attacked by people who looked like ninjas. They were dressed in red, most of them, or more like, all of them. Which means it's some sort of organisation that's been operating for years, maybe decades if possible.
There were about 20 ninjas or more like assassins at this point. Ninjas tend to finish the job before they get noticed.
I don't know why they're planning to attack me. Is it because of that Japanese man that was trying to buy Promethium?
What was his name?
[NAME: NOBU YOSHIOKA]
Nice one, SPACE.
I looked at Melina and she was already holding her guns and aiming at them.
One of them threw a dagger at the guide and it stabbed his throat and he started to bleed out on the spot.
Melina started shooting but those damn ninjas were so agile that they avoided critical damage. They threw daggers at me and I had to protect my head because I didn't make a helmet for the suit, I thought it looked ridiculous.
When they threw daggers at my head, I made sure to dodge even if there were cuts on my face, but it was better than death.
Melina killed 6 ninjas and she's not sweating while we've been fighting for about 10 minutes. Well, I'm hiding like a coward and Melina is the only one fighting them.
I don't have any experience fighting killers and I don't think I'm ready to kill anybody. My body can't stop shaking and that's when I realised.
I'm afraid.
It's not that I'm afraid of fighting but I'm afraid of dying. Technically, all living beings are afraid of dying. When I looked at Melina fighting all on her own, I don't know what makes her keep fighting but she fights. She fights to not be killed but to be the one doing the killing.
If she doesn't kill, she dies and if she kills, she lives to see another day.
My body stopped shaking and I get it.
I NEED TO SEE ANOTHER DAY.