fics I read

Capture Confirmed!

Name: Red Skull

World: MCU (with TVA)

Effective Waifu Tier: Tier 4

Credits earned: 6

Current Credits: 21

"A physicist with some skill in engineering weapons of mass destruction." I answered with a satisfied grin and a nod- more to the confirmation than to Red Skull. Or more accurate to say, my physicist with some skill in engineering weapons of mass destruction.

"And you are correct." Red Skull affirmed, "But a man cannot call himself a man if he has no appreciation for the arts. Song, poetry, painting... even men of science and logic must possess such appreciation, no matter how small."

"Finally!" Venti exclaimed with a bright smile, "Someone who appreciates the Fine Arts! Hey, would you introduce me to the bards who have composed the best ballads of this realm? I want to know who my rivals are."

"We've talked enough on this rock, Venti." I sighed, before beckoning with a dragonbone-plated hand at Red Skull to come closer, "Let's go, Red. We have a lot of things to do."

"I am bound to the Soul Stone for as long as it goes unclaimed." He replied, and I couldn't help but roll my blood red eyes in exasperation.

"Not anymore, I've already freed you just a moment ago." I interjected before grabbing him by the scruff of his fluttery black cloak and effortlessly lifting him up off his feet, "Now come, we're burning precious minutes and you have my Magitech research & development to oversee."

"I'm free of my duty? Against the bindings of an Infinity Stone?" Red Skull boggled, his crimson features frozen in shock that he did not even resist as I continued to carry him over towards my Dragon Cabin like a cat with its kitten. The clack of Ei's wooden sandals and Venti's leather shoes followed as the two gods followed behind.

"But what of the Soul Stone? Will you not be making an attempt to acquire it?" Raiden Ei pointed out, her purple eyes glancing back at the sacrificial shrine at the edge of the cliff. Obviously, Aether did not brief them on how the Soul Stone was to be obtained: sacrificing someone you love in exchange for it.

"We're leaving it behind as I refuse to play its games." I growled in distaste as my dragon form opened the door for us, and we stepped aboard with my newest Capture in tow, "I'll be acquiring it on my terms. But as for this one though..."

And just as I carried Red Skull across the threshold of my [Dragon Cabin], the [Adjustment Field] immediately began its work just as I had configured it to do so beforehand. Over the span of a single second, where once a man with blood red skin and skeletal features was dangling from my grip, there was now a woman.

A very beautiful woman in fact.

So beautiful that looking at her, three words came to mind: quintessential German beauty. Kneeling on the floor in her ragged black cloak, she raised her slender hands to her face and stared in shock at their appearance- pale and smooth like some fairy tale princess. The ratty robes that hung off her may have hid the rest of her body from view, but there was no doubt from the silhouette that she had a temptingly flawless figure as well.

"The 'image of Aryan perfection' indeed." I muttered, quoting the words that she had said in the movie as I let go of her.

Then she tilted her head up to look at me with clear blue eyes like arctic ice. Her blonde hair the colour of a golden wheat field parting to reveal an angelic face. A dusting of a pink blush on her fair cheeks, her lips pink like insides of a fresh cut strawberries. And with a voice that was as melodic as a chord from an angel's harp was a single question.

"But how?"

Not 'what have I done?', nor 'why I had done it?', but 'how?' It looks like she still could not get over the fact that the Company brand can overpower the Soul Stone. Well, she certainly has the mindset of a scientist.

"Through a fragment of a power beyond even those of the Infinity Stones." I evaded the question, "Don't worry, the effects of Erskine's serum are still in effect, what you see is mostly superficial. For now, at least, soon even Erskine's serum will be but a quaint little thing for us."

A flurry of emotions crossed her pretty features: Confusion at what I meant, then dread as she realised what I did mean, and finally, pure awe as she realised just how far up the cosmic food chain I was from everyone else. Speaking of which, I turned to the two gods that accompanied us.

"Venti, Ei. We'll see you later." I waved them off, "Unless you want to join us in the meeting for the Space Stone?"

Venti made a face like he had swallowed a particularly sour lemon.

"Zhongli will be in attendance later, will he not?" He stated in distaste, already walking the other direction as he knew the answer beforehand. "I must decline then."

Raiden Ei gave Venti a glance before turning back to me- her purple eyes glancing at mine.

"As will I, the discussion is beyond my field of expertise." She added with a deep graceful bow, "However, I am at your disposal should you require my counsel. I shall be meditating in my room for the next few days."

But I saw through her charade- aiming a knowing stare at her.

"You're going to go neet-mode again and shut yourself in your room for a few days, got it." I chortled in amusement as Ei blushed at being caught. Unable to say anything in her defense, she merely speed walked away in embarrassment, but not before grabbing a big bottle of cola and an even bigger bag of chips, tucking both under her arms and speed walking to her with all the dignity she had left.

The door to her room slammed shut in the distance- leaving just me and the Red Skull who had stopped looking admiring the restored flesh of her hands and was looking up at me with her beautiful blue eyes- the colour of a clear afternoon sky.

"I see that gods are truly as fickle as the legends say." She noted before exhaling- likely steadying herself what the discussion we were about to start.

"You had mentioned that you sought me out for my expertise. Undoubtedly, it is for Tesseract weapons." She correctly surmised as she aimed a pointed look in my direction with her clear blue eyes, "I presume you aim to replicate my attack strategy that I had previously attempted with the Walküre in 1945, and bomb capital cities into submission?"

With that angelic face and sweet talk, I wanted to thoroughly rape her then and there. But unfortunately, I had to hold back for now. My chief scientist for the Space Stone should have her wits about her when she's engineering better reactors and weapons for my corvettes. And that was not something she could do when she was in an orgasm-induced stupor.

I sighed. The things I do for an eternity of Raping, Killing, and Pillaging...

"Yes and no." I answered her question, "I aim to make your Walküre to be the smallest class of ship in my fleet, and work up from there. But I do plan on ravaging hostile capitals until they surrender… Ultimately, our immediate goal is to build up a capable raiding fleet by the end of the week."

"Speed and Violence." I enumerated- raising two dragonbone-plated fingers, "Those will be the tenets of our fleet. A focus on good thrusters and weapons."

"How large of a fleet are we considering?" She prompted, already considering the how's and how else's.

"300 corvettes." my deep voice answered immediately in an almost growl of anticipation, "We'll begin by equipping a fleet of 200 corvettes with your Tesseract cannons, upgrading them to Tesseract reactors if needed. They will be more than a match for most planetary defense fleets already. I imagine having three cubic meters of hull suddenly being vaporized into nothing with just one hit would cripple most ships."

"300 hundred is feasible, barely." She considered, clear blue eyes flickering up and down looking at equations that she could see, "However, what goal is the fleet supposed to achieve?"

"Our mid-term goal is to build up Sakaar." I articulated, quickly following up with an explanation, "Quadruple its economic output and its population. The fleet will raid as many planets as need be for both. My previous administrator called it 'Nihilistic Acquisition,' I prefer to just call it slavery. Sakaar will be a rich and prosperous planet... set on a foundation of a billion dead slaves if necessary, I don't give a damn."

At that, the former Red Skull graced me with a small smile- her soft pink lips curling in a small graceful curve at the idea of administrating a totalitarian rule where slavery was allowed. And I couldn't help but roll my eyes at that: First Sylvie, and now Joanne. Evil-aligned waifus always seemed so delighted with the idea of ruling over others; or in Sylvie's case, she literally got off to the idea. I just wanted the reward for the Company Quest.

"The Space Stone can be leveraged for civil applications too if you are inclined." She reminded, still wearing that pretty smile, "I assume the end goal after that would be to build up the fleet once again to tackle an even greater goal?"

I hummed in contemplation.

"If you're referring to what state I wish for my Dread Armada to be… A nomadic society on starships. And every warrior under my command, glowing with the energies of all six Infinity Stones. Their energies seeping into every bullet, filling every rocket, and empowering every blade. Each one with the strength of a thousand men. Blasting the weak into atoms with rays of light. Pillaging their homeworlds."

And all good cheer evaporated from Joanne's face- a mixture of appall and frustration twisting her angelic features.

"I can abide by many things, but distributing the power of all six Infinity Stones to the masses is insanity!" She ranted, "Why would you even wish to do that!? Whatever society we prop up would collapse in in-fighting. All semblance of order would disintegrate and it would be anarchy! Pure chaos of the highest order! I refuse to let you go through with this! To what end is this utter madness even aimed for?!"

And like a monument slowly turning its head, I turned to stare at her, my voice starting at only a whisper.

"You can disagree, you can be apathetic, but you do not 'refuse to let me do something' and make yourself an active obstacle for me." My deep voice rumbled in the only warning I'll give her. And I allowed her just enough time to realise I had just said right before she found a big hand armoured in dragonbone clenching around her fragile neck. "As for the end goal of this 'madness'… Rape, Kill, Pillage. Forever."

"Allow me to demonstrate."

She found herself slammed against the wall with enough force to crack bone. And it was at that moment that I saw- flickering behind her clear blue eyes- fear. The same Red Skull who was a symbol of fear and terror to the Allies, and even in modern day earth: She feared me. Feared what I would do to her. Frozen in fear like a small animal caught in the teeth of a lion…

…or a Dragon.

"Might makes Right." I reminded her in a quiet whisper. Just a few seconds away from begging for me to spare her if I pushed her further, but I decided to be generous for once, and let go of her throat. She stumbled onto the wood floor, coughing and gasping for air for an entire minute. Eventually, she looked up and flinched as she realised that I simply stood there gazing down on her imperiously.

"It will be an armada of barbarians and savages." she cautioned in a whisper- massaging her bruised neck, "Like the mongol horde of earth."

"Precisely." I acknowledged.

"Genghis Khan and his mongol horde come again…" Joanne muttered bitterly, "How would you even control a force like that?"

"Ah, my liebschen, the answer is simple: By being the strongest." My voice was like crumbling rocks as it gave its simple reply, "So strong that I'll have my claws around every throat that serves me, ready to squeeze the moment they even think of disobeying."

At that, she gulped nervously, remembering how close she was to that point- holding very still as her blue eyes met my blood red ones.

"Does that... include me?" She finally asked the question.

"I did not bring you here to claim you as my equal, Joanne Schmidt. No one is. For your liberation from the Soul Stone's eternal servitude, this is my price: eternal servitude to me." my voice rumbled, completely unapologetic. "However, I can assure you…"

I pulled out the Hydra Infinity Gauntlet. Matte black metal trimmed with blood red. The Space Stone foreign to this timeline emanated a bright blue glow from its central place at the back of the Gauntlet's hand.

"...it is not without its benefits." I finished, offering to the awestruck blonde the Infinity Gauntlet. "Here, you will need this for your duties."

"The Tesseract- the Space Stone- and… you are giving it away to me." She muttered softly in disbelief, unable to take her eyes off the Space Stone, then her clear blue eyes- incredulous and hopeful- flicked towards me.

"Who…" Her voice lowered to a terrified whisper, as she licked her suddenly dry lips. "Who are you to give such a thing away?"

"It is time for the Age of the Gods to begin." I shrugged, the Infinity Gauntlet still held towards the blonde before my voice pressed with an edge of seriousness, "You do understand what I am offering to you... don't you?"

Still gaping like a fish out of water, her ice-blue eyes flickered to the corridor where Venti and Raiden Ei had left. And Red Skull seemed to piece together what exactly I was offering.

"Immense power, immortality…" Her voice before gulping in apprehensive awe, "... Eventual Godhood."

"Yes." I insisted in a whisper, pushing the Infinity Gauntlet just that bit closer to her face.

Of all the waifus currently under my control, Red Skull herself was the one whose morals meshed the most with my own. She believed that the Right to Rule was closely tied to one's power, that was why she had held the Norse gods in such high esteem. That was why she had been so obsessed with Erskine's formula for a superior man. And that was why...even without the brand, she would be my most loyal Waifu thus far.

After being bound to the Soul Stone to that desolate planet for over 70 years, here I come along, offering her not only freedom from her bonds, but also everything she had dreamed of. She will worship the ground I tread upon for the sole fact that I had chosen her to be granted not just the chance to be a part of gods and legends in the making, but to be part of said pantheon of gods.

"What do you require of me?" She whispered, her voice quavering with the gravity of what I was offering to her.

"Swear to me, Joanne Scmidt." I answered, my blood red eyes gazing imperiously down on the kneeling blonde. And though I personally didn't care for oaths, lawful evil waifus will appreciate the sentiment. Accepting the Infinity Gauntlet like a knight would a presented sword, she bowed her head low.

"I understand!" she vowed in her most valiant voice. And as she did, she slipped her slender hand into the gauntlet, and promptly grunted in pain as bright blue lightning and what I can safely assume was immense pain coursed through her body. But through it all, her ice-blue eyes remained locked with my blood red ones.

"I, Joanne Schmidt, swear to you, Hevnokren, Dragon God of Proto-Adamantium, that I will be loyal and brave. I pledge obedience unto death to you and those you appoint to lead. So help me, my God."

A variation of the patriotic oath that was originally pledged to a certain square-moustache man, how quaint. But 'Dragon God of Proto-Adamantium'? I liked the sound of that, so I'll be striving towards making myself a proper dragon god, and getting those sweet virgin sacrifices.

But enough daydreaming, down to business.

"We still have some time before the meeting." my deep voice began as I gestured a hand down the hall where the other two exited, "Your room is the third door to the right. You will find a change of clothes in the closet, and you'll find that there are still ready-made meals at the dining table. Be ready within two hours."

"My thanks." She replied with genuine gratitude as she sat down in front of one of the covered griddles, "The Soul Stone's energies may have sustained me in the long years of my servitude, but this will be the first meal I've eaten in over seventy years."

I grinned at her viciously.

"You'll love it." I smugly assured her as I lifted the cover off the food I had cooked, "It's the classic American Breakfast."

The flat, unimpressed look she shot me was delicious, but it was the absolutely conflicted expression as she took a hesitant bite and realised that it was one of the best dishes she had ever tasted was something that I'll treasure forever.

[Chitauri Space]

In a darkened throne room overlooking a vast nebula of stars, a massive rectangular hologram flickered to life. And on it, a worried look coloured Star-Lord's fairly handsome features.

"Hey, Yondu… I heard about what went down over at G-69." he began with a restless expression, staring at the camera. "Heard about Captain Marvel and the Nova Corps fleet… and how you and the fellas fought like it was your last. But you're too much of a slippery-bastard to die just like that, right?"

"Listen…" Star-Lord began, but the words seemed to be lost to him, so he instead nervously ran his fingers through his blond hair. "I did like you said: I got to Sakaar and got in on the action. But by the time you get this message, I guess you already know what went down."

Star-Lord took a moment to suck in a deep breath, then another, and another. His pale-green eyes looked directly into the camera.

"They're after things called the Infinity Stones." he finally said, "I don't know what they do exactly, but they're really powerful and really dangerous. And the head honcho, Hevnokren, already has two of them according to what Sylvie said. Maybe more now."

Star-Lord gave a heavy sigh as he shook his head in exasperation.

"You have to understand, Yondu." his voice wavered almost desperately, "Hevnokren wants these Stones really badly. This whole thing with Sakaar picking a fight with the Nova Empire? It's all just a smokescreen for Hevnokren to grab the rest of the Infinity Stones. I don't even know how many people got killed on O-12 and G-69, but this has to stop. And that's why I have to stay here. I can't bust out, not yet. Someone has to rein in the Sakaarians while Hevnokren is still away."

Star-Lord went quiet just then, a melancholy look on his face as if he was reminiscing memories of good times gone past.

"Hey, your birthday is coming up, so…" He offered in a bittersweet tone, "meet me at that bar you showed me when we had that man-to-man talk that one time. My treat, okay?"

"I'm sorry for being a sap, but…" He let out a shuddering sigh- his voice cracking under the heavy emotion, "You'll be there, right, Yondu?"

And the screen flicked off- leaving only the occupants to ponder what they had just watched.

Thanos, the Mad Titan, sat silently on his throne. And no one dared to interrupt his thoughts. Even when seated, he was taller and larger than any mortal man. And much stronger still. His blue eyes still stared at the space where the screen was- gigantic fists clenching and unclenching the armrests of his throne. Then finally, calm as death, his voice resounded throughout his throne room.

"Rally the Chitauri. Summon the Black Order." His voice was calm but the other occupants of the room had been with him long enough to know that he was anything but. The undercurrent of unbreakable steel floating underneath the composed surface of his voice.

"That is directly contrary to your previous order…" The Other, Thanos' personal servant, mentioned in its hissing voice, "Are you certain, my Lord?"

Thanos then stood up from his throne, and everyone understood the gravity of the situation from that one action: Most things were beneath him, and thus delegated to others. Only in the most serious of situations would the Titan ever deign to grant it his personal attention.

"This 'Hevnokren' has two Stones to my one." He admonished the Other, "This is no longer the time to sit in the shadows."

"As you command, my lord." The Other acquiesced with a deep bow, its dark robes sweeping across the stone floor as it went to fulfill Thanos' command- leaving Thanos with the two other occupants of the throne room.

His blue eyes swept across the both of them where they sat far from each other. Nebula sat on one of the rock outcropping- tweaking the inner workings of her cybernetic arm. Gamorra sat on another rock outcropping, twirling around her green fingers was the exquisite Uru dagger that he had given her all those years ago.

"My daughters." Thanos began in an even tone, "You will not fail in this mission that I am about to send you on."

At the word 'mission,' both of them surrendered their undivided attention to him.

"Are we going to steal them for you, Father?" Nebula led with a question, her cybernetic forearm's armor plating clicking shut with a clench of her fist.

"No." Thanos firmly dictated- leaving no room for disagreement, "A wielder of two Infinity Stones is far beyond your powers to face in battle."

"Then we are to find out what he knows?" Gamora ventured instead with her smooth voice- earning the slightest smile from Thanos, and a hateful glower from her sister, Nebula, at being once again shown up.

"It is no coincidence that Hevnokren has found two in this short span of time." He coolly divulged to them- a large purple hand gesturing them to come closer- which they did as he continued, "He clearly has been gifted- or cursed- with knowledge, and likely possesses clues to the location of the other Infinity Stones… if he does not already know where they are."

And as they reached arms' length of him, his large purple hands gently rested on each of his daughter's shoulders, and they both leaned into his touch.

"Your mission is thus: Go to Sakaar. Report back to me his every move, every location he sends his most trusted, every direction that he turns his gaze to. You have all the resources of my domain at your disposal to do so. No price is too high…"

His blue eyes met both of theirs.

"No price." He emphasized in his deep voice steeped with the ominous gravitas.

"Father?" Gamora hesitated, a look of hesitant confusion on her green-skinned face.

"If it is required… I only need one of you to continue reporting back to me." He elaborated in a grave tone of voice and a slight squeeze on their slender shoulders, "...Do you understand?"

Gomorra and Nebula stared at their father for a moment, before turning that stare at each other.

Two pairs of brown eyes met gazes with one another, but they could not be any more different. One pair under a green brow with white tattoos, and the other a blue one with cybernetics jutting out.

Like a broken mirror, the same indecipherable expression was on each of their faces. The two sisters did not speak any words to each other as they stared at the other. They didn't have to: Their many years of bitter rivalry made up the words for their silent conversation. And the unspoken words were many, many things all except nice.

But if there was one thing that was apparent from their silent conversation it was that: They both knew that only one of them was going to come back from this mission alive, even if they had to make sure of it themselves.

"I understand, Father. / Understood, Father."

At their chorused answer, Thanos once again graced them with a small smile on his purple lips. And the two ladies looked as if they had been gifted the world.

"Good. Make your preparations and leave immediately." he approved in a tone that was almost gentle. And with those words, they both turned and left- all the while keeping a cautious distance between the two of them as they eyed the other with suspicion.

With Thanos left alone in his throne room, he wordlessly turned back to his throne and started a very important call. Two rings passed by before the person on the other end picked up, and the massive screen once again lit up over the background of the nebula.

And on the holographic screen, a figure appeared- the feeble light of their comms being the only thing lighting up the otherwise black void that the figure sat in.

"The Mad Titan…" the figure's voice rasped in great contempt, "How did you get my comms' key?"

Undaunted by the open hatred, Thanos merely faced the figure with a determined expression.

"That lies outside what I want to discuss with you." He calmly pointed out, but the figure's patience was already short.

"I don't discuss anything with mindless mass murderers." they snarled- their ragged mask of bandages leaning closer to the screen so that the figure could spit out venom.

"Then how about as allies of circumstance?" Thanos proposed instead- still unshaken by the hostility, "I believe we have a common enemy: his name is Hevnokren."

At the sound of the name, the figure leaned back from the light of their comms- back into the shadows. And Thanos knew then and there, that he had already won this conversation.

"You have a body count even higher than his." the figure muttered with suspicion from its place wrapped in shadows. "You should be friends with him."

And it was there that Thanos gave his first unintentional display of emotion: a frown.

"No." he strongly denounced, "Hevnokren aims to perpetrate everything that I wish to avoid."

And just the thought of what Hevnokren had planned boiled the blood in Thanos' veins with unimaginably great anger. And his voice rose to a boom because of it.

"The violent war for resources, the cruel slavery, the mindless slaughter, the pointless raping." He enumerated the metal dragon's crimes- cold fury powering his booming voice, "He is the embodiment of all the worst that sapient lifeforms become when the Scarcity that I warn you all about comes to pass!"

Then he found his composure. Took a deep breath and stared the figure right in the eye.

"I want to stop his rampage as much as anyone else, maybe even more." he vowed with grave sincerity, "Now we can fight each other and let him do as he pleases or… We can work together in stopping him."

And as Thanos finished his impassioned speech, a long silence came over the two of them. The figure's lone eye looking down at Thanos- searching for worth in him. For his part, the Titan merely stood like an immovable and implaccable rock of ages- accepting the figures judging stare.

And finally, the figure sighed and turned on the lights of her room- The sterile ICU of the Xandar's best hospital lit up bright and clear. And with the room lit up, it also revealed the bandages covering the wasteland of radiation burns that was her charred and ruined face and body.

"I'm listening..." Captain Marvel rasped with her burnt vocal chords.

And Thanos smiled.

-