Marvelous Martial Arts (A Marvel Story)

Another month had passed since the Congressional Hearing, and while the world moved on and summer neared its end, Mason continued with his lightning-fast progress.

By now, Mason estimated that his physical transformation was finished. He had grown all the way to 1.88 centimeters, or 6ft2, thus officially surpassing his father. His build had also turned fully athletic, if not buffed. He had reached an even better state than he ever did in his past life; his Chi, or rather Essence, allowed him to correct any flaws he normally would have developed.

But it was his internal changes that were by far the most abundant. While Mason had not turned into some freak of nature externally, he was anything but a regular human on the inside, and were he to participate in the competition for the World’s Strongest Man, he was confident he would win, granted there were no superhuman competitors.

That was because Mason had reached what should normally have been the peak of the Body Refinement Realm.

As his master had once explained to him, the purpose of the Body Refinement Realm was to strengthen and balance the Three Treasures, and by extension, the body.

After these two months of training, Mason had advanced at a breakneck speed as his two Treasures, Essence and Breath, reached what should have been their limit, the limit of mortal humans.

However, the Body Refinement Realm was not simply about refining, but also balancing, and Mason’s third Treasure, his Spirit, had been above the ‘mortal’ limit from the very start. So he was still not at his peak of the Body Refinement Realm, since he still needed to bring his Breath and Essence to the same height as his Spirit.

Thankfully, his Spirit was not that far above the human limit, although that statement was misleading in the first place. For most people, they only ever managed to bring one of their Three Treasures to somewhere around 15 to 20% of their limit.

To put things into context, with his Essence at the normal limit, Mason’s body had grown as strong as a ‘perfect human’. In other words, he was as physically strong as someone who had been injected with the Super Soldier Serum.

Actually, Mason was a Super Soldier in all but drugs, as the Super Soldier Serum was essentially a shortcut to reach the peak of the Body Refinement Realm. This meant that Mason was not only as physically strong as Captain America, but he also had a stronger Spirit.

The Super Soldier was formidable not only for their physical prowess, but also for their ability to learn and pick up things extremely fast. Steve Rogers went from a talentless fighter to one of the best in the whole wide world with only a few months of training, and then went on to rival some supernatural masters with some more years.

And Mason had a stronger Spirit than him. Of course, Mason only had two months of training so far, with only a couple of sessions per week, so even with his gifts, he could only qualify as a skilled fighter at the moment, but the potential was there.

In the past month, Mason also learned to differentiate between all three of his treasures and their associated energies. What he had been calling Chi so far had actually been a mix of his Breath and Essence, and now that he could differentiate them, he also knew what each truly was.

Essence was the energy of the body, his lifeforce. It was physical energy, or what was known as internal energy. It was also what the Iron Fist used in his attacks, for example.

Breath also referred to lifeforce, but in a more spiritual sense. It was not necessarily the energy of life itself, but a metaphysical connection between all things alive. A sort of giant web through which all things alive were connected.

Spirit was the most obvious of the three; it was spiritual energy. It was the representation of the soul; it was will.

With that, all Mason needed to do now was balance his Three Treasures, after which he would be able to awaken them and use their powers. These powers would be limited in the Awakening Realm, but with each realm, not only would one of the Treasures be mastered, but the others would also be somewhat improved.

Mason spent most of that month training, but he did not just let his social life waste away because of that. He regularly spoke with Minx and Alice, while strengthening his relations with his family. He appreciated that none of them mentioned finding a job with the summer’s end, likely because they saw the changes he had gone through this summer.

It was a matter he debated internally, however.

Mason’s intentions in this world were to become a hero. A superhero. Strength was important for self-protection in this world, of course, but before anything else, it would also allow him to help the world at large.

Mason did not intend to become a street-level vigilante, though, but someone who dealt with larger threats to the world.

Unless he joined SHIELD, though, which he did not want considering they were very likely infiltrated by HYDRA in this world too, being a superhero would not make him a living.

Again, Mason did not need to work, as he could rely on his parents for the rest of his life. If he were to become a hero saving the world, he did not think they would see a problem with that.

But he would. And so, he would sooner or later need to find a way to provide for himself. Unfortunately, his job prospects were limited, not only because he was only a High School graduate, but also because he did not intend to mask himself once he became a superhero. It was not who he was.

And a superhero, potentially an Avenger, could not just work at McDonald’s between two world-ending crises.

He would have to think on it.

But because he struggled to find a job did not mean others did. Minx’s tattoo salon was quite successful, and although she could not yet be considered a famous spot, she did see her fair share of clients every day.

On her end, Elena had officially joined Stark Industries, not as an intern, but as an engineer. Mason was happy for her as she had gotten a step closer to her dream.

Audrey, who had been a rather popular internet celebrity, also had a spike in her numbers as she had managed to get Tony to appear in one of her videos.

Alice, finally, the unexpected friend, also found herself an interesting internship. One she had mentioned to him before. Mason had been ready to introduce her to his mother, to help her in her job research, but she had actually managed to join Baxter Building on her own.

That was where the Fantastic Four were!

Alice had been understandably busy recently, doing her best to live up to the expectations placed on her, but she had a calmer day today and had invited Mason to the tower. She did not make any promise concerning meeting the Fantastic Four, but seeing the insides of the tower was already quite the privilege.

Mason himself could use a break, as he had been focused almost entirely on his training, and as his master himself had told him, while diligence was half the work, proper rest was the other half.

So he decided to take the day off to visit Alice at the tower.

Baxter Building was a 35-story-tall building, with the top five floors being apparently reserved for the Fantastic Four as both a working and living place.

Reaching the building’s entrance, a security guard stopped Mason, quickly assessing him as he asked, ”What is your business here?”

Mason smiled easily, keeping a safe distance between them as he replied, ”I’m here to meet a friend. I see her coming this way, actually.”

Mason looked over his shoulder, where he spotted Alice rapidly walking their way. The security guard briefly looked over, and his body relaxed as he stepped aside, letting her pass, while greeting, ”Good afternoon, Ms. Stiles.”

Alice’s full name was Alice Stiles.

Alice gave the security guard a kind smile, softly greeting back, ”Hello, Barry. This one’s with me.”

She gave Mason a quick hug, leading him inside.

If Mason had to describe Baxter Building in one word, it would be futuristic. Everything looked sleek and neat, in shades of blue and white, colored after the Fantastic Four no doubt. Or was it the other way around?

Reaching the elevator, Mason and Alice were alone inside, so he asked, ”So, how is it working here? Not too much pressure?”

Alice grinned, looking radiant in her white coat as she replied, ”Oh, there’s pressure, but pressure is good. This place is everything I ever dreamed of and more. And Mr. Richards, he is just amazing!”

”Dare I say he is… fantastic?”

Alice hit him with the same grin, ”Way too easy. But yes, if you must know, he truly is. The world sees his elastic powers, but his mind is what’s truly extraordinary about him.”

”So you’re working with him? Not just in passing, I mean?”

Alice cocked an eyebrow, leaning in as she teased, ”Is my knight in shining armor, perhaps, possibly… jealous?”

The teasing amused him, so Mason decided to play into it, lamenting dramatically, ”Alas, me not very smart. Me can only boom boom with my fists.”

She shook her head, her attempt at teasing having failed. Although the way in which he took her teasing in stride felt strangely good. The confidence he exuded, to not even mind comparison with literal superheroes, was something she wished she could muster.

She kept that part to herself, but there was a certain, constant pressure working alongside superhumans. It pushed her to give her best, but it also provided a constant reminder that no matter her efforts, they would always be able to do something she couldn’t.

Suppressing these thoughts, Alice gave a second look at Mason and commented, ”Speaking of boom boom, did you grow again? Are you really not on steroids? I truly find it hard to believe.”

The doors to the elevator opened before Mason could answer. Alice told him to follow with a gesture as she said, ”Doesn’t matter, the tests will tell me all I need.”

Mason smiled, following her to her workstation.

This visit was actually not just a simple friendly visit. Alice was an intern there, and Mason doubted she could just bring a friend to visit the tower. And even if she could, Mason would not impose himself on her like that.

He was curious about the Fantastic Four, but not so much that he would place a friend’s career in jeopardy to meet them. Besides, since he was determined to become a hero, he was bound to meet them someday.

But there was a reason for his presence. Anyone close to Mason, or who had known him for more than two months, could easily tell he had gone through unusual changes. His mother even had experts working under her check for steroids, but even then, no amount of steroids should have resulted in such large changes.

They had not really pushed, since his mother did not want him to be turned into a test subject, and others around him were more happy than concerned. However, Alice was a geneticist, and his case happened to be somewhat aligned with her PhD.

So, Mason agreed to give her his body.

For science, of course.