Five years before the Avengers Initiative
The ceiling was white. Sterile. Buzzing faintly with the sound of high-grade ventilation. King stared at it for a long time, trying to remember how he got here.
His last memory was chaos. A divine presence. The God Arc. And then—nothing.
Now he was in a room that smelled like disinfectant and danger.
He sat up slowly. Monitors beeped beside him. A tray of untouched hospital food sat nearby, still steaming. The walls were reinforced steel, the windows were holographic, and the logo on the far wall read:
S.H.I.E.L.D.
King squinted. "This… isn't Z-City."
Before he could process that thought, the door hissed open. In walked a man with an eyepatch, a trench coat, and the kind of presence that made generals stand straighter.
Nick Fury.
"You're awake," Fury said, voice gravelly. "Good. We've got a situation."
King blinked. "I… where am I?"
"New York. SHIELD medical wing. You've been unconscious for three days. After the Galactus incident."
King's brain short-circuited. "Galactus?"
"Classified," Fury said. "The world doesn't know. And they won't."
Then it happened.
A low, mechanical rumble filled the room. Deep. Rhythmic. Like a reactor spinning up.
King's Engine had started.
Every agent in the room flinched.
"He's powering up!" screamed a junior analyst, diving behind a desk.
King sat up, rubbed his face, and muttered:
"I missed nine meals…"
The Engine growled louder. Lights flickered. A coffee mug cracked.
"He's entering Phase Two!" someone yelled.
King: "I just want a sandwich…"
The Myth of the First Shield
The Galactus incident was buried deep in SHIELD's vaults. But the timing of King's arrival coincided with a series of geopolitical miracles.
Suddenly, America was winning wars.
The Iraq conflict ended overnight.
Military bases across the globe reported "King sightings."
Entire battalions surrendered at the sound of a low, mechanical hum.
No one questioned it. They just assumed King was responsible.
The SHIELD logo—briefly glimpsed in one leaked photo—was misinterpreted. No one knew what SHIELD was. So they called him:
"The First Shield."
"He's the shield that protects Earth," said one viral tweet. "The living embodiment of defense," said another. "The Shield of Humanity," declared a podcast.
King tried to correct them.
"I'm with SHIELD," he said on national TV.
"Exactly," replied the anchor. "You are the shield."
"No, I mean the organization—"
"A metaphorical organization of one," the anchor nodded solemnly.
Global Legends
America: King is credited with ending the Iraq War, neutralizing rogue bases, and "staring down a tank until it cried." He's more respected than Captain America. His bathrobe is enshrined in the Smithsonian.
Africa: Locals believe King stopped an American invasion by walking into a battlefield and activating his Engine. The resulting shockwave grounded every drone. In some villages, his silhouette is painted on shields. Children chant his name during storms.
Russia: The Kremlin claims King once stood outside Moscow for 17 minutes, causing NATO satellites to malfunction. He's known as "The Silent Winter." Russian operatives wear fake Engine emitters to mimic his aura.
Europe: In France, he's considered a philosopher-warrior. In Germany, a techno song samples the Engine's hum. In Italy, he's rumored to have ended a mafia war by sipping espresso and blinking twice.
Asia: In China, King is called "The Still Dragon." A viral video shows him walking past a military parade—every soldier salutes instinctively. In Japan, manga artists depict him as a wandering monk whose Engine can shatter mountains.
Tony Stark's First Encounter
At this point, Tony Stark was still a flamboyant weapons magnate, not yet Iron Man. He saw the footage and immediately assumed King was FBI.
"That guy's Bureau," Stark told his board. "You can tell by the silence. Classic federal intimidation."
"He says he's SHIELD," someone offered.
"SHIELD? What is that, a comic book?" Stark scoffed.
He sent King a fruit basket labeled: "To the FBI's finest. Keep shielding us."
King sighed and ate the grapes.
SHIELD's Greatest Agent (Unofficially)
Nick Fury leaned into the myth. He assigned King to high-profile missions—mostly ones that required him to stand ominously in the background. Villains surrendered preemptively. Alien invasions rerouted. Even Tony Stark's prototype AI refused to simulate a fight against him.
"Probability of survival: 0.0001%," said JARVIS.
"Against King?" Stark asked.
"No, against his Engine."
King's file in SHIELD's database was classified as Level Infinity. No one could access it. Mostly because it was blank.
"We don't know what he is," said Agent Hill. "But he's our agent now."
The Multiversal Mystery
Late one night, King sat alone in his safehouse, staring at a flickering screen. It showed fragments of his old world—Z-City, Saitama, the God Arc. He remembered the moment he blacked out. The pressure. The fear. The silence.
And then… this.
A new world. A new myth. A new identity.
"Why me?" he whispered.
The screen glitched. A symbol appeared—one he recognized from the God Arc. A spiral. A whisper. A promise.
"You are the seed," it said. "The myth must spread."
King's Engine rumbled.
The world trembled.
Closing Scene
Nick Fury entered the room, holding a folder.
"We've got a new mission. Something's stirring in Wakanda."
King nodded slowly. "Do I… need to fight?"
Fury smirked. "Just stand there. Let the Engine do the rest."
King sighed, picked up his bathrobe, and walked out the door.
The Cloak of National Security™ billowed behind him.