The Greedy Frog
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Marvel: Chapter 93
🕑 Added 2023-03-24 08:48:28 +0000 UTCChapter 93: The Wooden Box
Everything about my current situation felt surreal. I was not sure if things would have ended the way I envisioned— but thankfully they did.
It was funny seeing her panic and hearing her imagination run wild during the trip. But most importantly, I am glad that she accepted.
I felt a sense of relief spread throughout my body as I looked at Peggy's sleeping face resting on my shoulder.
"We are about to descend, sir."
"Very well."
…
…
Getting Peggy back home and having to explain every little detail to my mother was a chore, but the smile on my mother's face was more than enough to prove the worth of my efforts.
"I knew that you could do it."
When she said that, I knew that she meant it. But on the other hand, I was a little worried.
After all, it was my first time confessing in real life.
After giving her a detailed summary of my trip, I crashed on the bed. It was painfully obvious that I was exhausted.
All the powers kept my body energetic but there was no ability that could relieve mental fatigue. That could only be cured with meditation.
And it was not easy for me as my mind kept running with thoughts every second.
The events of the past couple of days played in my head as I rested. I was a little ahead of my plans and since everything was going orderly, I had the privilege to take on a new project.
But what could it be?
Hydra was done for and the Order was hunting down the other illegal organisations. Even many of the other events that are to take place— will be in the far future.
After all, I made sure that they won't occur anytime soon.
A sinister smile spread across my face which I instantly got rid of.
Hunting things like the infinity stones would require planning and resources— which I was gathering. But it will take a few years before I am ready to hunt them down.
I still had to deal with those immortal potatoes, however, that was only going to take me a week at most.
So, what should I do for now?
Search for some cosmic weapons?
I slapped myself as that was something that I couldn't think of so casually.
As I kept rolling over my bed, I remembered that my mother had something for me.
I was tired but I still decided to get the answer by tonight.
I walked to her room and knocked on the door.
"It's open."
Pushing the door, I walked inside and found her reading a book.
"Is there something that you require, Marcel?" She inquired.
Nodding at her, I took a seat on the couch.
"Remember before I left… you said there was something that you wanted to show me?"
She smiled at my question.
"I do." She nodded. "I thought of waiting for the morning as you seemed tired."
That was thoughtful of her but I disliked wasting time.
"No, it's fine. But if you can… can you tell me what you were referring to? It's still bugging me."
She looked at the wall clock and sighed.
Getting off the bed, she smiled at me softly.
"Follow me."
Doing as told, I walked with her to the basement— which was quite big with various compartments to carefully store the previous items.
I even added some safety locks to prevent others from accessing the things in here.
She took me to a compartment where she kept the things that she holds dear to her. It mostly had things like my childhood photos, my first drawing, souvenirs from our first foreign trip among many other precious items.
Most might think of them as junk but my mother considered them a treasure.
Scouring through the items, she took out a small wooden box. The box was old but it had no scratches or cracks over it.
Makes sense considering mother spent most of her time cleaning and preserving the things in here.
The box was pretty prosaic with the only noticeable feature being a red stripe running from the edges of the top to the bottom.
"Even before you were born, your father gave this to me. He asked me to pass this onto you."
As I took the box in my hand, I looked at her curiously.
"What made you wait until now?" I asked which made her adopt a sad smile.
"Your father made me promise." She looked at me. "That until I believed you were capable of taking care of yourself and also strong enough to face hurdles on your own— I was to keep the box with me."
She sighed. "I don't know what's inside of it. His promise involved keeping the contents of the box a secret… Even I was told to not open it." She looked at the box. "But considering there is no keyhole, I couldn't open it even if I wanted."
It was true that the box looked more like a cube than a container. It was a single piece of wood with a red stripe and no visible way to open it.
I rotated the box in my hand— looking for a way to open it.
Unable to find a way, I decided to use my X-ray vision over it.
And as I did— I had my eyes go wide.
I looked at her and then at the box.
"I will try to figure this out." I said and rushed towards my room, leaving my confused mother behind.
.
.
.
The hell is this?
At times I forget that this is the Marvel universe— a very unpredictable universe.
And each time I forget, I get kicked back into realisation.
Not being able to read Joel's mind was a first and being unable to scan the box was another.
Yeah… X-Ray vision didn't work on the box.
I tried thermal vision, spectral vision, magnetic vision— nothing worked.
I was intrigued, confused and worried at being unable to figure out the reason behind such an occurrence.
Just who was my father?
No simple man can get their hands on such a unique piece of work.
As I became assured that scanning the box was not possible— I decided to force open it.
I applied my super strength on the box, hoping to crack it open.
But to add to my confusion, the box remained in its pristine glory.
"What the hell is this?" I subconsciously mumbled while trying to figure out the secrets of the box.
How do I open it? The only clue I had was the red stripe. But what does a red stripe mean?
I had a few more methods but I went with the safest method that I believe would open the box for sure.
Molecular manipulation.
.
.
.
It can't be.
It didn't work.
Sentry's molecular manipulation was a beyond omega level ability that could affect multiple universes.
But even that was deemed useless against the box.
How was that possible?
My thoughts were going haywire and my worries kept on increasing.
Who was my father and how did he obtain this item?
The only possibility for the box to not open even after using molecular manipulation was…
If it was of cosmic level.
There was no other explanation.
It was a piece of wood. No special feature, no scientific locks… only a wooden box.
How did my father, a simple man… get his hands on a cosmic level item?
There were quite a few ideas running around my head— each more absurd than the other.
But the biggest question was… how do I open this box?
One clue— a red stripe.
Possible ways to open the box— seemingly none.
I tried to scratch off the red stripe, but it was just as futile as trying to open the box.
It was clear as the day that the red stripe had something to do with opening the box.
But what?
Red…
Only I was to open the box…
Red…
Red…
Wait!
I looked around my study table and found a pair of scissors laying with my drawing kit.
Picking it up and stabbed my hand without a second thought— drawing blood.
If this failed, I would be left with no clue.
I brought my bleeding hand over the box and let the blood run over it.
And as I suspected— the box started glowing.
It had opened.
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