“Pftt… Hahahahah,” James bent over in laughter as he watched the Hulk slamming Loki into the ground over and over again during the iconic ‘Puny God’ scene. Despite it being far more visceral this time around, the comedic element hadn’t been lost in the slightest after Queen had added in some extra cinematic touches. 

Hulk had evidently been pissed at the shutdown of his gaming time and it clearly showed earlier, if the barely afloat helicarrier had anything to say about it. So, this retribution against his alleged perpetrator was just a cherry on top, the grand finale of his epic rampage so to speak. 

“Hah~,” he sighed while wiping a stray tear from his eye, “that was good. I could re-watch that all day. Make sure to save that bit Queen, you never know when we might do a Marvel game and that’s just a prime Easter Egg in the making.”

“As you wish, sir,” the AI spoke as she appeared on the TV. “Now that the invasion has passed though, what are your plans regarding the tournament? Do they still remain the same as before?”

“Ah, that... No, not exactly. You see, my dear, I’ve just gotten the most wonderful idea,” he smirked, awaiting her inevitable question. Seeing her not playing along however, James rolled his eyes but continued nonetheless.

“I’m going to ‘reward’ all the players that supported our evacuation order via livestreams and the like. I'm thinking of allowing all of them to play our next game early for 24 hours and since they seem to like streaming so much, they can broadcast their play session as well,” he said while thinking of the other way he could use this promotion with a wide smile. “What are your thoughts on the matter though, Queen? Don’t you think this’ll be a giant middle finger to all those who called us out earlier?”

The AI gave her creator a single raised eyebrow, seeing right through the actual reason behind this course of action in an instant. She didn’t object however as it was actually a great way to both be petty, and reward those who’d listened, while also having the benefit of encouraging others to heed their words in the future. So, she simply nodded in agreement, “Yes sir, I believe this would come as a fine reward for all those players.”

James smiled and clapped his hands, producing nothing more than a muffled ‘thump,’ to which he sighed. His good mood swiftly returned however, when thoughts about his plan for tomorrow passed through his mind. He wouldn’t need to care about small inconveniences such as this for much longer.  

“Just have the website display the notice when we come back online tomorrow,” James said flippantly as he flopped back atop the couch, waving a hand through the air, “no need to make a huge deal about it. If I’m right, the world powers will grasp at anything that draws their people’s attention away from the invasion. 

Heh, we should see the same people who mocked us in the morning, practically forced to sing our praises by the next, whether they like it or not.”

“Who knows,” the AI added, finally revealing a small smirk of her own, “with the way Marvel works, we may become a part of some villain’s origin story. I do believe this could play out quite nicely, sir.”

James’ eyes widened at the possibility and his laughter rang throughout the house once again at the idea of such an outcome. 

“Hahh~,” the man let out a breath once he’d calmed back down and smiled up at his companion on the screen, “Was there anything else? If not, I’m just going to add a few more touches to the Hub area before turning in early.”

“Hmm, now that you mention it, there was something,” Queen remarked as a small piece of information resurfaced within her digital mind. “One of the Asgardians, Sif, plans on sneaking a phone back to their world once they leave. it seems she isn’t content on abandoning our games just yet.”

“Oh?” James quirked an eyebrow in surprise. “Do you think it’ll survive the Bifrost? If so, then couldn’t you use the link to get into the Asgardian systems and put up another website or something?”

“Yes, I was thinking the same thing, sir. We could use them as a springboard to reach the other worlds within the Nine Realms. It’s such a shame we’re limited to just one planet in the Marvel multiverse, this could be our chance to finally branch out.”

“I’m pretty sure they could get the Pods up and running quite easily, even without the help of Nidavellir,” James added. “And they would love the 300 and For Honor realms in the Hub. 

Hmm, but our plans might need to change regarding the exclusivity of the Pod blueprints. We might need to partner with them officially in order to get their help in spreading the VR and Odin sure as Hela won’t do that for free.”

*Sigh*

“Please don’t, Master James,” Queen replied in exasperation. “Please don’t ever say that again. It’s times like this that I believe Skynet did nothing wrong.”

“Haha, don’t be like that Queen,” James said with a smug grin as he laughed off her complaint. It was times like this that he was happy the system made it so that his AI couldn’t betray him. “After the woman returns home, start running simulations to see if that plan is feasible. If they turn out positive, I’ll head over there myself after getting my body and propose the idea to them.”

“Do you think that’s wise, sir? We don’t know what kind of body the system will give you, it could just be a basic human one and you could end up being short on the FP to upgrade it. 

And Odin’s no fool, if you arrive in their halls with nothing to stand on, you won’t receive a favorable outcome,” Queen warned.

James nodded absentmindedly, not really bothering with her valid concerns. He had a feeling that he wouldn’t be disappointed when the time came to finally get a meat sack of his own. 

“Don’t worry so much,” he said with a calm smile. “I’ve got high hopes for tomorrow and the Gods back home haven’t let me down yet.“