[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/M6bcb3o.png[/img][/center] [b][color=#ffffff]The Triskelion, SHIELD[/color][/b] [color=#ffffff]The sound of Ben Grimm’s heavy fists slamming against the custom-made vibranium laced heavy bag reverberated around his quarters. On the couch a few metres away from him was a recuperating Guy Gardner with a copy of [i]The New York Post[/i] in hand. Every few seconds, as Ben’s punches landed, Gardner would grimace and look away from its pages. After a few minutes of trying and failing to persevere despite the noise, Guy set the newspaper to the side and turned on the large flat-screen television on the wall.[/color] [color=#ffffff]A familiar face flashed appeared onscreen. Though he looked a little worse for wear and was still limping from taking a bullet through the leg, it was clearly Zhang Chin. Grainy footage of the chemist being bundled into the back of a truck played whilst some talking head ran through a list of his crimes. Guy rolled his eyes at the sight and reached to change the channel but the sound of Ben’s workout ending stayed his hand.[/color] Ben let out a grumble as he sat next to Guy on the couch. [color=#f6b26b]“Can you believe this baloney? Last week Chin was sitting in a cell in The Hague awaiting trial and now that scumbag is free as a bird. And why? Because some bigwigs in China put the screws on Hill and she blinked.”[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“Chin’s not [i]free[/i],"[/color] Guy sighed without looking away from the screen. [color=#b6d7a8]"He’s going to live out the rest of his life on house arrest in deepest, darkest China. It might not be the outcome we wanted, but it’s better than knowing he’s still out there selling his wares to the highest bidder.”[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“Oh, I bet he’s out peddling that poison of his again before year’s end. You think the Chinese are doing this outta the goodness of their hearts? If they aren’t intending to put him to work, they’re gonna [i]profit [/i]from having him out there, making those toxins of his. It makes me [i]sick[/i], Carrot Top. I don’t know how you’re sitting there so calm. You took two bullets to bring that sucker in, for pete’s sake.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Ben was right, of course, the Chinese never did [i]anything [/i]out of the goodness of their hearts – but the Americans weren’t any better. SHIELD was a United Nations-sanctioned body and that meant it worked above national interests. Gardner had spent his entire career making decisions that put global peace above the interests of his own country, and if Hill said this was a price worth paying, he would go along with it. Once decisions like this were made, they weren’t unmade. He’d learned that much from shadowing Dugan for years.[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“Let’s just say this isn’t the first time I’ve been on the wrong side of diplomatic manoeuvring,”[/color] Guy responded with a slightly wistful smile. [color=#ffffff]It was met with a chuckle from Ben. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“From what I seem to recall the only [i]manoeuvring[/i] going on was you getting beneath Namor’s cousin.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Guy rolled his eyes and turned over the channel. Amongst the dozen or so Guy flicked through, there was a live feed of New York mayor Calvin Cassidy giving a speech to students at NYU, some kind of game show presented by a man with fiery red hair and clownish clothing, and some Canadian football highlights. He landed on another news channel and was about to flick back to the football highlights when another familiar face appeared on the screen.[/color] [color=#ffffff]“[/color] [color=#ffffff]A smile appeared on Guy’s face and he pointed towards the screen.[/color][color=#b6d7a8] “Well, will you look at that? Doc's taking those kids of his to meet Doom.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Ben looked conflicted. He watched as Reed made his way down the steps of the private jet with his students following behind him. They were all decked out in white costumes, with a few personalised flourishes here and there, with overawed expressions splashed on their faces. It was probably the first time most of them had even been on a plane, let alone to Europe. Latveria was a hell of a place to take your first vacation.[/color] [center][img]https://i.imgur.com/vKcmIrC.png[/img][/center] [color=#f6b26b]“Reed did [i]always [/i]want to teach someday ... but Doom? Christ, I mean, I know the whole world’s gone mad but ‘good guy’ or not, the Stretch I knew would [i]never [/i]have waltzed a bunch of teenagers into the heart of Latveria. What was it that Johnny said? Once a Doom, [i]always [/i]a Doom.”[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“That reminds me,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Guy said with an accusatory look.[/color][color=#b6d7a8] “When we first met back on the Pegasus, you said something about us having met be-”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Ben shook his head abruptly and interrupted the SHIELD agent.[/color][color=#f6b26b] “Can’t do it.”[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“What?! You don’t even know what I was going to ask.”[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“Of course I know what you was gonna ask, Stretch [i]expressly [/i]forbid me from talking about this kinda stuff with people, Carrot Top. Something about it throwing off the time-space continuum and the whole universe collapsing.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Guy was so taken aback by Ben’s refusal that he found himself springing to his feet. The shock of pain that ran through his side made him almost instantly regret it but he did his best to mask it. It was, at least to Gardner’s reckoning, the first time that Grimm had ever refused him anything, and though he was aware he was about to sound slightly entitled, he couldn’t help but hold his indignation back.[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“Are you being serious? I’ve heard you talk about Doom being a bad guy on your Earth a [i]thousand [/i]times. You and Johnny even said it to his face. And what about the kid telling Spider-Woman about that Spider-[i]Man [/i]guy back on your Earth? Where was the continuum thing then?!”[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“Look, rules are rules,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Ben shrugged. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“I’d [i]love [/i]to be able to tell you, I really would, but what happens if by telling you I set in motion a course of events that brings about the zombie apocalypse or something? You ain’t thinking this through.”[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“Come on, Benji.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Ben let out a heavy sigh and gestured to Guy to return to the couch. [/color][color=#f6b26b]“Alright, alright, but if the Horseman of Death comes charging through that door or an asteroid wipes us out two minutes after I tell you, it’s on you.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Guy’s indignation melted away and he nodded bashfully before launching himself back onto the couch. Ben used one of his craggy digits to indicate to Guy to learn towards him and deployed his gravelly voice at a whisper so low that Gardner had to strain to hear him. His bright blue eyes sparked with earnestness. Guy’s twinkled with expectation.[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“On my Earth, you were a hero.”[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“I knew it,”[/color][color=#ffffff] Guy said as he launched a spontaneous fist punch high above his head.[/color][color=#b6d7a8] “I knew I was a cape. What was my name? What were my powers?! Was I more powerful than you? I [i]bet [/i]I was. If you can lift a firetruck over your head, I should be able to lift a [i]mountain[/i] at least.”[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“I ain’t even gonna lie to you,” [/color][color=#ffffff]Ben nodded.[/color][color=#f6b26b] “You were about as powerful as they came. Your powers … well, they were [i]really [/i]something. Like, I thought Stretch and Suzie could pull off some crazy stuff with theirs but you were something else – like a force of nature. Lowlifes and creeps all around the galaxy knew your name.”[/color] [color=#b6d7a8]“Super-Guy? Incredi-Guy? No, no, that doesn’t work. Strong Guy? Oh, that’s just ridiculous. What was my name, Benji? I’m dying over here.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Ben looked over his shoulder as if he were being surveyed, perhaps suddenly cautious of having revealed too much already.[/color][color=#f6b26b] “Your name?”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Guy nodded. His green eyes were overflowing with excitement. His entire childhood Guy Gardner had wanted nothing more than to be a superhero and here Grimm was on the cusp of confirming that in some world, if not his own, he had been one. All those years spent burying his head in General Glory comics had been building towards this moment. Guy felt his heart stop as Ben opened his mouth to speak.[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“[i]The Condiment King[/i].”[/color] [color=#ffffff]The moment the words left Ben’s mouth, all of the blood and the excitement from Guy’s face seemed to drain away. [/color][color=#b6d7a8]“You son of a bitch.”[/color] [color=#ffffff]Guy launched a punch in Ben’s direction. It landed with a crunch against Ben’s shoulder and the SHIELD agent fell backwards in his seat cradling his knuckles. He’d broken at least two of his fingers. Not that Ben seemed to care, he was too busy leaving back in his seat howling at the top of his lungs so loudly it could be heard outside of their quarters.[/color] [color=#f6b26b]“Your face! My god, I really had you going there for a second, didn’t I? Guy Gardner – the Condiment King. Striking fear into the heart of bad guys all across the galaxy one squeezy bottle of ketchup at a time. Oh christ, that was priceless. I wish Matchstick was here to see your face!”[/color] Gardner shook his head angrily, plucked up his copy of [i]The New York Post[/i], and left Ben's quarters. The Thing was still laughing to himself when his gaze returned to the television screen on the wall. Reed was shaking hands with a Latverian diplomat and inviting the teenagers to do so one-by-one. Ben's laughter tapered out slowly until he was left, silent and alone, staring vacantly at his best friend's smiling face.