Capítulo 155: O, Death!
I walked through the hallways, towards Riley's room when I spotted someone out of the corner of my eye.
"Hm?" I intoned and turned only to find the hallway empty.
Odd.
I checked my contacts again and saw no alerts or notifications.
Must be my imagination.
I shrugged.
I continued on my way, taking a shuttle down to Riley's room.
But on the way down, passing a floor, I saw it again.
A cloak of black fluttered past a corridor, a shadow flickered on the walls and a deep unsettling chill washed over me.
Instinctively, I checked on Star.
A video feed came up on my contacts, showing Star, asleep on the couch, controller in hand, drooling all over himself.
I sighed in relief.
Must be Riley.
"Computer, where's Riley going?" I asked.
Yet what the computer answered sent chills down my spine.
"Riley is asleep in her room, sir. Should I wake her up?"
My eyes shot wide as the elevator stopped and fear gripped my heart.
Am I hallucinating?
Or is there someone else on the ship?
I stepped out and began to scan through all the feeds when I spotted it again.
A tattered black robe, disappearing behind a turn.
Immediately, I switched to the corridor.
Again, nothing.
This is bad.
I gulped hard.
"Computer? Activate the forcefield, set up an dimension anchor and get me my Ragnarok Brooch, will you. We have a ... situation on our hands."
With the dimension anchor and the ship's lockdown mode both active at the same time, portals, teleportation and any means in and out of the ship were impossible to create. It meant whatever that was, it would be trapped in here, with no chance of escape.
A brooch dropped out of a portal into my hands, and I pinned it to my shirt before spotting it again. Closer to Riley's room this time.
Is it going for her?
If so, why?
She hasn't done much around here.
Except.....
A realisation struck me.
"Of course. It's her."
And that means Riley is in danger.
I made a dash for Riley's room, zipping past the coriddors, creating little eddies of wind as I passed, the thumping of my feet shaking the halls, till I came to thundering stop before her room.
Silence. There was a dead silence all around. I couldn't even hear Riley's breathing, her heartbeat or her pulse.
My stomach sank and I tore open the door.
And there she stood.
Beautiful as the day I lost her.
Offee. My wife. The love of my life.
"Offee?!" I asked, voice shaking, and took a step towards her, my hand reaching out.
I cupped her face, caressing her cold cheeks, watching her warm loving smile, one last time, before I twisted my hand and telekinetically grabbed her.
In an instant, my watch lit up and fired a particle beam straight through her head, obliterating it entirely.
The headless corpse fell, like a puppet with it's strings cut, right onto the floor beneath my cold gaze.
For a moment nothing happened.
Then, I raised my leg and crushed the rest of her body underfoot, splattering her on the floor.
I watched carefully, as the body disappeared into nothingness and a dry chuckle echoed across the room.
"How cruel! And to think you loved her!"
I frowned.
"I still do. And I'd appreciate you not making a mockery of it, Lady Death."
"Oh, a mockery? I'm sorry. That was so rude of me." Lady Death materialized by Riley's bedside, caressing her face.
"You see, I'm just a little agitated. This blonde little shit just strolled into my dominion and ripped the souls of the dead mid journey, waking me from a millenia long slumber, all so she could impress her alcoholic father.
Imagine that?"
"Real daddy issues on that one." I replied with a shrug.
"But none of it was her fault."
"I know. But I don't care." Death replied, a sly smile on her face.
I rolled my eyes and pulled out a chair from Riley's desk, taking a seat.
"I suppose you don't care about how you're going to get out of here too, yes? After all this place is now a-"
Lady Death snapped her fingers as a chill ran down my spine.
Suddenly, alerts began to pop up in my contacts, by the dozens as the ship's forcefield fell apart and my dimension anchor cracked, falling apart.
I sucked in a cold breath and bit my lip.
Well, shit.
"So you are omnipotent. Big deal." I said putting up a brave front, even as I could feel my brain screaming inside with terror.
That explains how she bypassed my forcefield.
My tech can restrict certain laws and concepts, manipulate some phenomenon a bit.
But I can't protect against literal reality warping.
"Yes." She replied, "I might not be able to travel the multiverse or collapse reality like you, but in this universe, with the power cosmic, there is little that's impossible for me."
But the underlying threat was clear as crystal to me.
Choose you words wisely.
And that pulled me straight out of my panic, as a peace settled within me, with a seething rage roiling beneath the surface.
If there's something that pisses me off, it's someone telling me what to do and say.
I always wanted freedom. And now that I have it, I refuse to give it up.
I refuse to be pressured into doing something.
I refuse to be a puppet.
The Ancient One came to me with a negotiation.
And so, I humored her. Because it was easier than fighting her.
But Lady Death? She doesn't even have her pretense of talking it through.
She's just here to bully me!
Silently, I activated my new quantum immortality module on Project Phoenix, walking up to the bed, towering over her.
She just giggled and stood up, looking me up and down.
"Is this supposed to intimidate me, boy?" She asked, amused, as she reached out with a finger, and I found myself frozen in place, unable to move a muscle, my powers frozen.
My forcefield shattered at her touch, and she trailed her finger across my chest, coming to a stop at my heart.
She looked me in the eye as she pressed inwards lightly, and smiled.
Immediately, my chest seized, and I fell to the floor, spasming, thrashing, gasping for breath.
It felt like I was simultaneously drowning in a pitch black ocean, as silent as it was dark and deep, and at the same time being set on fire, my skin flaying right off my body as ot drues and shrinks, tearing flesh and rending bone.
The pain was unbearable and every moment seemed to stretch forever, trapped in this unfeeling cosmic cage.
Then, it was over, as quickly as it began and my senses returned to me as if it had never happened, even though it felt like I spent an eternity in that hell of pain.
I looked up, mouth parched amd saw Lady Death squatting beside me observing me like a child observes ants crawling on the ground.
She tilted her head and gave me a questioning look only to be surprised by my response.
"Is that all you got?"
I looked up at her with a smirk.
"I was curious." She began, her smile widening with glee, "To see what sort of creature undid my hold on my dominion and it's visitors.
This wasn't supposed to happen for a long while yet. Not until Thanos did his little stunt. Most would beg for my sweet embrace after .... that. But you...you are interesting.
Perhaps we can come to an arrangement after all."
"Go fuck yourself." I groaned, pushing off the ground, past my aching muscles to get back to my feet.
She smiled and flicked my forehead, sending me tumbling back to the floor, laid out flat on my back.
How did she even...?
That flick barely registered to me and yet it felt as if the world itself was forcing me to the ground!
"You should learn some respect, boy." She warned, though her face told a different story.
She was enjoying this.
"I'm sorry." I said, nodding in agreement, and her eyes twinkled with delight when I added.
"Respectfully, go fuck yourself. I'm not some purple skinned, ballsack chinned, incel you can manipulate into doing your bidding."
"Or so you think." She pointed out, poking my nose.
Hold on, what?
Is she treating me like a stray dog?
I am not a pet, lady!
"Or so I know." I snapped.
"Your daughter-"
"Can be revived. At any time. And you know full well I can do it."
"Oh, you can?" She asked, extending a hand towards Riley.
With a flick of her wrist, a ball of light emerged from Riley's chest and was pulled into the palm of her hand.
Riley's soul!
"Even if I do this?" She said, squeezing the ball.
"I can always get another version of her." I tried to play it off.
But she called my bluff.
"Just like you got yourself another version of your wife?"
She's got me there.
"Tch!" I hissed, "Touche. Fine. What do you want?"
"An offering."
"You mean lives? How many?" I asked, annoyed.
"I don't know. Why don't you start and I will tell you to stop when I feel satisfied?" She chuckled.
"You know what, no. I know for a fact that you won't stop me even after I wipe out all life in the universe. And you don't exactly keep your promises, Lady Death. You know it. I know it. It's an open secret. So what's stopping me from just collapsing this reality and moving on. Because I will cut my losses."
"You won't. Not with her in my hands."
"I will. Cut. My. Losses." I repeated, sterner this time.
"Besides. Why if it's so much to you, why don't you just kill people? You are nigh omnipotent by your own admission. What's stopping you from just wiping out all life?"
She didn't say anything for a moment, gauging my reaction, before she answered.
"An ancient covenant. With Him. Before time itself." She sighed, her shoulders dropping, "Only life may wipe out life. And death shall do naught but oversee. There were bends and loopholes sure. But none so lax that I could kill freely. But you on the other hand, boy, can do what I am bound not to.
So it falls upon you.
Appease me. And I shall return your daughter. Perhaps, even a little more."
"I see." I nodded in understanding, "Just one more thing. What happens after? Once I wipe out all life in the universe, what will you do? As you said, you oversee the aspect of death. When there is no death, what will you do? You will become irrelevant.
Then you'll be stuck here.
For the trillions upon quadrillions of years that it will then take to destroy the universe....for it to die. It will be extremely lonely. And boring too. Nothing to do, nothing to watch. Unless you want me to kill the universe too, and with it you?" I asked, curious.
"I ....." She hesitated as if stuck on something.
"I don't know. But it is what I must do. To be free of these bonds. To be....what I want to be. What hapoens after ....I will see. Cross that bridge when I get to it." She admitted with trepidation.
So even death is afraid of the unknown, huh?
From here, as she is now, Lady Death looks like just another young woman, insecure and lost.
It's cute, almost.
I hate that I found myself thinking that but it was.
She isn't harsh on the eyes either, of not complete eye candy.
Then like a bolt from the blue, a realisation struck and my frown softened.
"You.... you're just lonely, aren't you?"
I mean she was constantly seducing people in the comics, to do her bidding, Thanos first, then that one death god. Even a few others. And the way she involved herself in their schemes of destruction, it was almost as if she wanted to. Not needed. But desired to.
To be a part of something.
She could've left Thanos alone and he would've gone down the same path of death and destruction, as is evident from this timeline. And yet, she interfered. Watched over him in his worst years. Part of it was manipulation, sure, but that wouldn't explain why she watched him get bullied. Or experiment in his cave.
If all she wanted were results, at least.
It makes sense. Those behaviour patterns. Those are attachment issues at play, if entities even have those.
Especially the part where she constantly flipped between bringing people close and pushing them away.
It was how people behave in relationships when they have gone through periods of extreme loneliness.
Being an entity that as old as the universe itself, maybe even older, that's a lot of years, spent watching, mulling over things, all alone.
A caged bird with no visitors.
Such a sad fate.
"W-what? No!" She winced.
Oh, so that's a sore spot huh?
"Caged by a contract, isolated from everyone else." I said, getting onto my knees beside her.
I looked into her eyes and grabbed her by the shoulder as she squealed cutely.
"I know that feeling. It's not... something to be ashamed of."
"I don't know what you're talking about?" She looked away, gripping her hands.
"Look. This deal, let's alter it. I won't wipe out all life in the universe....But!
I will free you from your bonds. I promise.
And in return, you will release my daughter, now."
"No." She rejected it outright.
"What? Don't worry. I am a man of my word. I will-"
"That's not the problem, boy." She sighed, looking down, "He made it. The covenant. It is possible to bend the shackles he placed around me, but it is impossible to break out of them. And no. Not even if you out me in your microverse." She read my mind and replied.
"So that won't work, maybe. Sure. But I have another method. Listen to this..." I said, leaning over and whispered the idea to her.
Her eyes widened and she ran through the idea in her head as she nodded.
"That....that just might work." She said, and her ears perked up.
"But-"
"No buts. It will work. I guarantee it!" I assured her, taking her hands in mine.
She smiled softly as she imagined it and nodded.
"Okay. I will agree to it. But if you betray me...."
"I know. I know." I grinned cheekily, "You will kill me. Yes.
Now give back my daughter's life. And wait a while for me to finish it. Once I am ready.... before I leave this world, I will do it. And you will be free. Or I will personally, give my life at your altar. Happy?"
"Very much so." She smiled brightly.
It was ... breathtaking.
Even though I have no intentions on wifing her up, I can see what made Thanos go cuckoo over her.
That smile...that blush, it's to ... die for.
I chuckled at the bad pun as she frowned playfully, reading my mind.
"That joke is bad." She laughed, "You should feel bad."
"Yes. Yes." I replied, "I know. Now my daughter-"
"Ugh. Alright. Here." She huffed in annoyance, inserting Riley's soul back into her body and Riley shivered, her eyes flickering back to life.
"Thank you." I said, and connected to the ship again, to see what repairs need to be made.
"Don't worry about the ship." Lady Death added, as she snapped her fingers and the ship returned to the way it was before, undamaged, almost new.
"And thank you again. It would have taken me weeks to put it back together."
Even if you were the one that broke it in the first place. I thought, as Lady Death gave me a deadpan look.
"Maybe I should break it again." She teased.
"Maybe you should stop reading my mind." I replied.
She rolled her eyes and huffed.
"Fine. It's not worth the effort anyway." She said, "But remember, before you leave...."
"I won't forget. You will be free." I assured her again.
"Good." She smiled and hesitated for a moment before turning back to me, "And I will drop by occasionally. To check up on the progress you have made. Just to make sure you don't slack off. So.... don't."
She squeaked and disappeared.
Cute!
Now if only she added a 'b-baka!' at the end, it would have been perfect!
But I guess we make do with what we get.
Once I was sure she was gone, I switched on my thought scrambler function on the earpiece to make sure she couldn't read my mind anymore and sighed in relief, turning back to Riley, who was just waking up.
"Uhm? Papa?" She yawned, getting up.
"Yep. It's Papa." I said, giving her a hug, and relief flooded my body.
I relaxed for a bit and let out a breath I had been holding back.
Riley was alright.
And that was all that mattered.
As for Death.
I wasn't going to break my contract with her.
Oh, I would free her, alright.
One way or another.
Because while I could sympathize with her situation.....
She also fucked with my children.
And as cute and sexy as she was, that is no saving grace.
No one fucks with my kids.
No. One.
This calls for a change of plans.
I was naive to think that I could relax and take the long road out.
No. Fuck the original timeline.
I'm fast forwarding through this.
And for that, I have some house calls to make and deal to alter.
And pray, I don't have to alter them again.
____________________
MC gets a dose of reality and learns his place in the world.
And he does not like it.
So yeah, I kinda changed uo the plans cuz I could see you guys were getting bored from the recent chapters and so was I!
So let's ramp up the excitement with this new storyline.
MC will go faster and stronger than before, other characters will act smarter and more logically, offering an actual threat to the MC (well mostly just annoyances but some will be legit threats) and within the year, everything will come to a close in a grand finale of MC vs. the universe.
No more time skip bullshit.
This is a straight ride to Bonetown, USA, where MC screws everyone over and gets what he wants at a bloody price.
Thanks for reading!
And look forward to the next few chappy.
And donate your powerstones.
Let's get this fic to the top 20 baby!
Also, if you want to support me buy me a cup of coffee or read ahead go to,
www.pat.reon.com/goldenfingers
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