Marvel: The Journey

"Champion?" Val calmed down after hearing Yggdrasil's words and frowned while asking, "Since when? I never consented to be your 'Champion.' "

"Hmph!" Yggdrasil crossed her arms and pouted after noticing the caution and alertness in his voice. She said, "Even after I saved you from dying back in Auschwitz, you still mistrust me?"

"What?!" Val's eyes widened and shouted, "You were the one who teleported me from Auschwitz to Peggy's home?!"

"Hehehe!!" Yggdrasil giggled mischievously when she noticed his sudden realization and asked, "So? Will you let me make you my Champion?"

"HELL NO!" Val shouted angrily, "You think saving me gives you the right to own me like some kind of a plaything?! I want no such bullshit!"

"I didn't do it out of my own good will.", Yggdrasil protested while not being discouraged and smiled cunningly.

"Well?"

"Well? WHAT?"

"How about...." She walked closer, ran her fingers on his shoulders, and whispered seductively, "I saved you because I love you."

Her voice and the things that her fingers did on his shoulder didn't go unnoticed by Val. They would have driven any man crazy, but...

"Hah! Don't play games with me!"

Val just sighed in annoyance before moving her hands away. He scoffed and said, "I'm not a low-life to get turned on by a fucking cosmic tree."

"Eh??!!" Yggdrasil moved away, pouting cutely with an indignant frown when Val declined and called her a 'tree.'

"Stop playing games with me and answer my question!" Val barked while pointing at her.

After seeing him like that, Yggdrasil sighed and replied, "You want to know the truth?"

"Of course!" Val said while nodding.

Yggdrasil sighed again, and a serious look replaced the teasing, flirty demeanor she had just now, and she revealed, "I didn't choose you to be my Champion."

"What?" Val frowned and asked, "How did I become one?"

Yggdrasil sighed again and explained, "In the entire Multiverse, people like you have appeared out of thin air and directly or indirectly caused havoc. We, the cosmic beings, call them... THE OTHERWORLDERS!"

She gazed up at the pitch-black sky with shining eyes that contained various thoughts, emotions, and wisdom and stated, "When the first one appeared, we were fascinated by her. We discovered they aren't mutants, humans, or gods but something completely different! They didn't need powers beyond the limit of the greatest heroes or the most vicious evils to influence multiple realms. And.. when this news leaked, the first major change occurred.

The cosmic beings fought amongst each other. They used various dirty tricks and plans to obtain people like you. Some fought to protect them, while others fought to use them as pawns. In the end, the first otherworlder was caught by Master Order and Lord Chaos, who destroyed her soul to protect the Multiverse from destruction."

"Yet," Another sigh escaped Yggdrasil's lips, and she continued, "A second one appeared, and the cycle of war repeated. This time, it was obtained by Nightmare, who, after tearing apart the poor soul, found out about its origins. He discovered that they or you come from a separate dimension or reality where we all exist as nothing but mere pictures in books. He spread his findings across every cosmic being in the Multiverse. This only further escalated the conflict. A third one appeared, then a fourth one, and they kept coming. Some were captured by Dormammu, while others were captured by Mephisto. Some killed themselves before getting caught by any cosmic being."

"What happened after that?" Val asked while listening to her words with extreme concentration.

Yggdrasil smiled at Val and said, "Those captured by the evil cosmic beings wreaked havoc across the Multiverse. Timelines were destroyed. Entire universes were bombed. It got so bad that some of us had to beg The Living Tribunal to interfere and end this madness. However, he..." She sighed and continued, "He merely said - 'I CAN'T JUDGE THEM!'

We repeatedly begged him, but he repeated those four words. That's when we realized that we had to do the work ourselves. So, we devised a plan to kill them before others could capture them. And it worked!

That was the only way to stop them from destroying the universes since if we tried to pull them on our side and prevent them from being captured, they would backstab us, which has happened to some of us.

Also, an otherworlder with a Devouring power used it to devour a portion of Dormammu and turned into a mindless cosmic being who destroyed countless universes.

And the most important thing about these otherworlders was that they always appeared after 50 years, and two never existed simultaneously. We were expecting another one after the last one was captured by The Chaos King, but... nothing happened. We searched every corner of the Multiverse yet found no trace of the otherworlder."

She stared into his eyes with her emerald orbs and declared, "Until a secret power informed me that you're my Champion. I felt your connection with me and instantly sought you out. I saw you on the brink of death outside the Auschwitz camp and teleported you to her home. And, I left you a present in your body that helped you from being captured by Dormammu."

Val ran his fingers through his hair and exhaled deeply. He stared at the ground and murmured, "Well... that... was a lot to take in."

"That's nothing, Val." Yggdrasil said, causing him to look back at her and ask, "What? What do you mean?"

Yggdrasil kept a serious look on her face and said, "Ever since you appeared, we've felt a change. Not just in the universe but in the entire Multiverse. A change by a higher power unknown to us."

"A high power? Who?" Val asked while frowning.

"If I knew, I would tell you," Yggdrasil said, shaking her head. She sighed and continued, "But you are a smart man. I believe you understand that some questions are better left unanswered."

"Also, the most weird thing about you is that the moment the previous otherworlders appeared, we felt their presence. But, you... You're different. I had no idea about your existence before I learned about you being my Champion. Nor did Dormammu before the Zero Matter from his dimension came into contact with you. And, neither did Mephisto until you killed his vessel, Azazel.

It's... as if there's an invisible cloak on you that's preventing the cosmic beings from finding out who you are."

"What? But I—" Val stopped himself from speaking further and thought, 'But I don't have any means to hide or turn a blind eye from any 'cosmic entities' or 'gods.' Even if I had one, I would know. And, I declined TOAA's offer of having any power.'

Val suddenly raised his head and looked straight ahead, thinking, 'Could there be... a higher power helping me all this while? Hiding my aura from 'THEY' so I don't get their attention?'

He frowned and thought, 'This whole thing is getting too complicated.'

He looked back to Yggdrasil, who was staring at him, causing the latter to ask, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"I can't help it." Yggdrasil stared off into the distance while giggling and added, "There's something about you that I find intriguing, and so.. "

Yggdrasil had an excited glint in her eyes as she looked back at him and asked, "Do you trust me now?"

Val sighed deeply and nodded. He smiled and said, "Yes, I trust yo—."

But, before he could finish...

"Yayy!!" Yggdrasil cheered happily and jumped on him, hugging him tightly while saying, "Don't worry. I won't do anything, and you can keep doing things however you like."

"You were supposed to stop doing such stuff, stupid woman!" He mumbled, but that didn't stop Yggdrasil, who only increased the intensity of her embrace when he called her a 'woman' instead of a 'tree.'

Seeing no choice but to follow along, Val merely sighed and awkwardly hugged her back.

The silence descended, and they didn't seem to have any thoughts of breaking away from each other's warm embrace.

Finally, a few minutes later, Yggdrasil let go of Val, who asked, "Can you tell me where I am now?"

"Hahaha!" Yggdrasil laughed and said, "I totally forgot about that."

"You can ask her." She said while pointing at the strange woman beside her.

"Hmm?" Val had, honestly, forgotten about the strange woman after Yggdrasil had emerged before her eyes. But, when he looked at her, his eyes widened, and he exclaimed in shock, "DEATH?!"

Death smiled at Val with her head on her palm and said, "Hello, Otherworlder. And...

Welcome to the Realm Of Death."