章 270: New World, Old Me part 3
30 advance chapters in my Pat.reon. Pat.reon.com/Saintbarbido.
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The last part is a sneak peek of my new book once Aden Strong ends.
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(Aden's P.O.V)
Pulling the Ancient One, Loki and Thor into a mind space was as easy as breathing. Displayed by my divine sense range, my mental abilities had gone past what could be termed as normal.
My telekinesis was sufficient enough to juggle planets as if they were nothing and my clairvoyance was so enhanced, even I had trouble dealing with the flashes of high speed images about the future and it's possibilities.
I have always liked surprises so I made sure not to use that skill to spoil the future for me. Only if I ever felt the need. And my Psychokinesis which was just another fancy term for energy control was... changing.
Back to the matter at hand. I was irritated by my current situation. The fact that Thor and Loki were here meant it wasn't by chance. Seems like the higher tier powers knew of me. Or something like that.
I parsed through their memories easily. Understanding I was violating their privacy but also knowing that mental context was better than listening to them explain why they were here.
Holy... crap.
More than a million years had passed from what the ancient texts say. Yao or rather the Ancient One was not only charged with making sure the time stone was safe but also with making sure the universe was protected...from me.
The Avatar. A being even Agamotto himself could not deal with. Something from before the age of gods. Traced to the time of the celestials.
Somehow I was also The antithesis to Knull, the god of darkness. Never even met the dude but goddamn if these Sorcerers couldn't spin a tale. I wonder...is that going to cause trouble? Maybe a celestial force sent to kill me to stop the rise of another Knull? Or Knull himself finding a way to come at me for some stupid power hungry reason? Man, I think I traded DC's grimdark for stupid marvel soap opera drama.
Let's focus on that for a second, I had ended up in the marvel universe and stayed in this rock for an uncountable number of years. Something had seriously gone wrong. And I knew I could get the answers I wanted simply by just clicking on the system. I looked at the corner of my vision and the piled up notifications there. Of course I had noticed them. But...I was afraid.
I barked out a laugh, scaring the wits of a few chameleon squirrels on a tree branch above me. The squirrels blended into the branch to hide away.
I paid them no mind, simply staring down at my pale soft hands. The calluses were gone. My body seemed to have been made anew. Weird. Still, just because I had used up over a million years, that does not mean it was too late. Time is relative. Maybe when and it's when not if, I got back, only a few short years will have passed. Maybe...a lone tear fell out of my right eye and onto the ground.
I wiped away the trail.
I am a god! An emperor!
And ...I also miss my family. I can't believe there's a chance I might have missed my Son's birth! I can't believe there's a chance I didn't see Sai, Kai, Breeze, Vor, Aqua all grow up. Oh god! Aqua! She is all alone in the water dimension. Separated from our family.
All alone just like...me.
My body grew light. Power started brimming inside me as my emotions got out of control. Then just before I could blow up again, I clammed hard on my self control. A sigh broke out of me. When did I start getting so emotional? Was it a concequence of my situation maybe?
If so I needed to get it under control. Opening my eyes fortunately revealed that apart from a small scorched patch under my feet, no other damage from my outburst was present.
I knelt down and touched the scorched soil.
Where my tear drop had fallen, something was growing.
"This is so cliche'..." I chuckled to myself, caressing the small sapling. Using Clairvoyance, I knew all there was to know about it's future.
"The tree of healing..." An image of a huge tree with a massive canopy hanging over hundreds of meters in the sky and spanning out to thousands of meters away appeared in my vision. All would be healed under it, no matter the wound, whether mental or physical or spiritual.
Touching the sapling gave me clarity. It didn't really matter how much time had passed now, did it? I was the Avatar and what we excelled at was control. Time was a fundamental aspect of nature. Probably the greatest because it presents change and chaos presents change. So what if I had been looking at this all wrong?
What if Space wasn't actually more connected with air as I had thought but instead was another expression of Order? Like a small part of it? The layer, the canvas of reality? And time, time could be chaos. Not really a flow or a straight line but a jumbled mess of past, present and future all mixed and combined into a thick solution that was chaotic inside a container that was space/order?
Could this be a different concept to what was known? Something that worked for me, maybe. But, no that would mean that I would have to reconsider a lot of things that had hitherto never failed.
But fuck all that! Arggh! My mind kept on drifting to thoughts that weren't even important. I needed to deal with my guests before figuring everything else out. Yes, I was avoiding seeing how bad it was. Sue me.
Taking one step forward, I emerged in a white world overlooking them.
I watched from the sky, undetected. And by my name, it actually was them. I don't know what I was expecting but, my eyes did not lie. The clothes and energy signatures confirmed that I wasn't dealing with cosplayers or something like that. These were real and breathing Asgardian princes and a powerful Sorcerer who could make time her bitch.
I cocked my head to the side.
'And it doesn't seem like they are the only ones here either.' I felt a telepathic scan, pass over the planet. The mind behind it was powerful. Very. At least for a mortal.
I reached out to it and pulled the owner of the scan into the mind space, a certain mutant activist leader. Xavier stumbled into the mindspace looking confused and wary. 'So,' I thought, 'this wasn't just the M.C.U but a marvel universe with mutants alongside the roster of live action heroes I had watched an eternity ago.'
Speaking of heroes, I wonder if the Marvel ones will disappoint me as much as the DC superheroes did. Then again, even in terms of likability, marvel heroes take the cake. DC is full of people who see things in black and white. Absolute right and absolute wrong. Marvel is much more complex. The heroes deal with a lot of villains and sometimes they understand that the only way to end a threat is to eliminate it.
They were realistic while still being heroes.
The second I pulled Xavier into the mindspace, I felt another set of eyes; these ones cleverly hidden away above space and time. They bore right through the layers of space to watch me.
"I can see you." I told the Watcher Uatu and immediately his gaze receded. Good. I don't want anyone to poke their noses in my business. Now, to tell the other three the same thing in a way that will convince them I wanted to be left alone.
"Is this your doing?"
Xavier asked the Ancient One. Seeing a chance to announce myself, I finally spoke.
"No, it's mine."
The effect was immediate. Fear, wariness and surprise with a judicious amount of curiosity in the case of the Ancient One fell upon them.
They looked towards the sky and came face to face with my eyes, peering down at them like the god I was.
"So you finally decided to show yourself..."
The Ancient One addressed me with a small upturn at the corner of her lips. 'She is bold,' I observed. 'Reminds me a little of Kori.'
"What in the 9 realms are you?"
Loki questioned.
The same curiousity was shared by the other two. Thor had his hand wrapped around Mjolnir and looked like he was two seconds away from attacking. The serious expression on his face was shared by Xavier. On the latter's part though, his eyes contained a certain light. Interest and a certain hunger. Was he thinking of ways to further his agenda for Peaceful coexistance between Mutants and humans? Keep dreaming Charles. Just don't involve me.
"Who said I was hiding?"
I asked the only member of the group brave enough to not show her fear.
"I believe introductions are in order. I am..."
She begun only for me to interrupt her.
"The Sorcerer Supreme, Yao. Born in Tibet millenia ago." The eyes in the sky narrowed. The Ancient One lost the smile on her face as I continued to speak. A trace of nervousness appeared in the midst of the wariness she held for me. Despite that, her confidence, blazing like a wildfire kept going strong. Mmmh, she had a back up plan in case things went south.
"A bit too spry for a human who has lived for hundreds of years."
I told her.
"Then again..." The whole mindspace shook as my humanoid form rippled into being right in-between them.
I held Mjolnir in my hand by the handle. Having grabbed it from Thor's hands faster than he could react.
The enchantments cast on it tried to fight me but ultimately failed. I threw it to the sky, feeling out it's weight. There was a substantial amount of power hidden inside the Uru weapon.
"...I know how you have kept yourself alive. I gotta say, never had someone steal power from me before. It almost feels like death is a light punishment for such a thing."
I finished telling the ancient one.
I turned to a speechless Thor and threw Mjolnir back at him.
"Great weapon, but its a clutch. If I were you, I would use it to supplement my divinity, not store it inside because I never tried to learn how to control it."
Oh the hypocrisy in me. Chaos was still inside Equity.
"Did he just..."
Loki stammered, eyes shifting between me and the hammer in Thor's hands.
"How dare y..."
The Ancient One did a few seals and immediately, I felt Thor and Loki get expelled from the Mind Space.
I raised an eyebrow as she flew down. Smart move. She had no idea what I would have done had Thor attacked, so sending them away was the right move. I mean I would have only smacked him around a little. Maybe broken a few bones but that's it. Really. I promise.
I shrugged, turning my back to her and facing the bald headed man before me. A man who did not flinch under my chromatic eyes. Just barely.
"What is your deal?"
I wondered, walking around him a little.
"You have a strong mind but...did no one ever tell you that snooping is bad?"
I whispered next to his ears.
A shiver went down his spine as he took a step back.
"I can hear your thoughts, Charles. You are afraid and with good cause." I released a little of my aura.
"I am nothing like you have faced before. Apocalypse is nothing infront of a cell on the skin of my pinky finger. Boo."
This time he flinched.
I chuckled a little, turning to the Ancient One.
"Well? What the fuck do you want?"
The Ancient One took a deep breath.
"Peaceful co-existence."
She said.
"Pass."
I immediately refused, gliding closer to her.
"I am quite aware that you are not the only one stealing power from me to keep yourself alive."
I could feel it. The almost unnoticeable drain in my reserves that did not even account for 0.00000000000000....ah fuck too many zeroes to count, percentage of my total energy capacity. I had grown more powerful, to the point, even I myself had no idea what I was capable of. But I knew I would have fun finding out.
What I did know was that it wasn't enough. There was a... feeling of loss inside.
"And through that power, sorcerers and druids across the world have kept the earth safe for years. So please, see the good not the bad."
Weird. That was the same thing I told the Justice League.
She was right but...if I was to make it back, something told me I would need every ounce of my power I could get.
"And I'm supposed to care why?"
I asked her.
"I... don't have the context of what's going on but I can assure you, the world is a dark and dangerous place. Why don't you judge for yourself if they deserve your power or not?" Charles finally found the courage to address me.
"A reasonable request."
The Ancient One grabbed onto the lifeline offered. I thought about it for a few seconds before bursting out in laughter.
"Hahahahaha oh god. This...this is priceless. You guys are funny as fuck. I mean you have sucked on me like leeches for thousands of years and still it's not enough?"
I asked them. Were they actually serious? Looking at the Ancient One's face set in a grim visage, I decided to give her a test. If she succeeded then...maybe I would listen to her request, if not...I was going to take back everything that was rightfully mine.
I held out my hand.
"How bad do you want things to stay the same?" I questioned before continuing.
"Give it."
The Ancient One knew what I was asking for.
She didn't answer for a few seconds but I could see her jaw working like crazy. Then ever so slowly, she reached into her robe and came out with the thing giving her the confidence to actually face me.
The book of Vishanti.
I could feel an aura of mystical might that overshadowed even the helmet of Nabu coming off the book. She placed it in my hands all the while never looking away from my eyes.
The minute she let go, her mind was overcome by this incredible worry but within that worry was hope. Hope that I was not an enemy. Hope that I wouldn't hurt anyone.
And with the book of Vishanti in my hands the only thing that she thought could pose a danger to me, I made my decision.
"Here's the thing. I am taking back all the power stolen from me."
She sucked in a breath, despair almost clouding her eyes.
"But in return, I'll create a Force. A pool of dimensional power that your Sorcerers and druids can draw in power from to do magic."
"What..? You can actually do that?"
Xavier questioned in shock.
"I am the most powerful thing you have ever laid your eyes on Charles. And yes, that includes the Phoenix Force locked away in Jean's mind. She would probably give me a good workout if we were to clash though."
Xavier went silent at that.
I turned to the Ancient One who was similarly stumped by my wild claim.
"Think of it as a gift of goodwill for showing me that the heroes in this universe are reasonable and can actually trust."
'Plus, I want you out of here so that I can actually focus on what truly matters, finding out what happened and making my way back home.' I thought to myself.
NEW BOOK ALERT
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I REAP SOULS IN MY SPARE TIME (DC/BLEACH)
Chapter 1: Hell Beckons
(Davian's P.O.V)
The cold was barely noticeable. I inched in through the backdoor as the breeze ruffled my clothes once more. I looked behind me to make sure I wasn't being followed. They weren't expecting me to come but I couldn't be too sure. They knew I was dangerous and I had a reputation for not letting shit slide and this...this was...
"Fuck."
I muttered, leaning on a post and letting the weight of emotion push me to the ground. My eyes burned with unshed tears. This, this was too much man.
"You need to get up."
I slapped myself on the cheek, psyching myself up for what needed to be done. My knees gave out and I stretched out my legs, looking up and allowing the tears to fall.
"Real men don't cry. They blame it on onions or the Lakers winning."
I chuckled, remembering what Nick always said whenever he got too sappy from rewatching Friends. I swear, never met a niggah that...
There was a ruffle from over the fence as I heard Max begun to bark before going silent. I immediately stiffened when torch light started shining through the small chain link fence.
"There's nothing there man, Max is tripping as usual."
Marc's voice was easily identifiable.
"Yo Dre, check your dog before I put a bullet through the one eyed freak."
There was a scuffle before I heard the solid thump of a fist landing on a body.
"Don't call him a freak!"
Andre yelled back.
"Hey! Hey! Stop this shit right now before Papa hears you two fuckwits."
Serena, Andre's sister and our 'girl's manager' said. She was and wasn't a pimp. She liked to call herself a 'proprietor of pussy'. Shit used to make me laugh before I went in and did time. We even used to have a little something going on in the past.
Now...all I could feel was hatred for Papa Fred and his kind.
The torch disappeared and I heard them all enter the house. Tensions were high right now but it didn't seem as if they knew that I had survived. That I had gotten out of the apartment alive. That I only had a bullet on my shoulder but was relatively okay. That I was okay only because Nick shielded me with his body.
I wrapped my fingers around my trusty Colt 1911 and removed it from my pocket, only slightly wincing at the pain in my shoulder. The blood was leaking from the hasty glued wound and I could still feel the bullet inside my flesh in the middle of the arm and chest.
I breathed heavily, studying the gun in my hand under the waning light of the moon. Then I grabbed it and placed it right next to my temple, clenching my jaw. I could do it here...right now. I could end it all.
A shot to the head and a release from this life. It would be so easy. I wasn't afraid of death. What I was afraid of, was living. Living without the most important person in my life. Bitches came and left, Nick always stuck by me. I was content to hustle for money the dirty way. Hitting up liquor stores with Dre and Marc before Papa Fred decided we were ready for the real shit.
Nick never abandoned me. Even when I pushed him away.
Fuck. All those memories reminded me of why I couldn't pull the trigger. In many ways, Papa and the Gang had been a family but Nick, Nick had been real. Nick had been the brother I never deserved. And after taking a fall for Dre over allegations about an attempted Manslaughter, he had finally convinced me to get out.
And I had agreed. I got out and my so called family tried to off me. It wasn't anything personal either. Once you're in this life, getting out wasn't easy. But...they made it personal when they took out my best friend.
That's why I couldn't let shit go. No. Most of the gang were not around. I had made sure of that. I knew how to stall them. They were over at 6th street owing to a call about our rival gang being spotted around our turf. But the ring leaders, the ones who mattered were around.
I got to my feet and cocked the gun, slowly releasing it. You would be surprised at how much noise the cocking handle makes. I stretched my neck, swallowing the grunt of pain at the agony on my shoulder. Slowly unlatching the hatch holding the backyard door closed, I snuck in. I knew this place like the back of my hand.
Max was on me in a second.
"Shh boy...go get it." I threw the piece of meat out into the street and watched the hound run after the tasty treat. He trusted me and would be knocked out for about 10 minutes. Somehow that felt worse than what I was planning.
I secured the hatch and slowly walked towards the house. The stair boards creaked when I stepped on them, before I finally reached the door step. The buzzer did not work.
Papa Fred usually made about 50k a week but he still chose to live frugally. Most of our...sorry. Most of the gang's money was spent on the corrupt cops on his payroll. I also made sure to send a little gift to some high profile news channel about just how dirty the arm of the law was. By trying to kill me, Papa had caused what he was trying to avoid.
I knocked on the door two times without a response. Andre and Marc were probably high already and lazing around on the couch while...I looked at my watch. Yup, Papa was probably watching game highlights as was his daily routine. Which meant...I felt someone make their way to the door while complaining.
"I know y'all can hear me Andre. You better not show your fucking..."
Serena's words cut off once she opened the door and found a gun pointing towards her forehead. Then she looked at the person holding the gun. My cold dead eyes stared back unflinchingly.
Serena's breath hitched. Guilt and fear warred inside her eyes.
"Davi...?"
I pulled the trigger and blew her brains out. The shot rang out through the house and I had scrambling feet.
"Serena!"
Papa Fred's voice was usually deep and menacing but today it sounded panicked and rushed.
I raised a hand and waited. The next person to come running towards the door was Marc. See, I've never really liked Marc. And Marc knew it. The second he saw me, he said,
"Shit."
And tried to roll away.
A scream of gut wrenching, ball bursting pain escaped him because, well...I had shot his balls off.
"Marc!"
Andre showed up just as Max begun to bark once more outside the fence.
Andre saw Marc bleeding out on the floor and his sister dead under my feet and scrambled for his gun in anger, uncaring that I had one pointed at his face. Andre was a bit of an idiot.
A large hand grabbed him and pulled him over the corner. Another shot rang out as my bullet managed to graze his shoulder and his cries of pain begun.
"Papa...Papa its Davi! Davian is alive!"
I could clearly hear the distress in his voice. 'Yes, you ugrateful prick, I'm alive.'
"Davian! Impossible!"
Papa Fred's voice came out of the corner.
"Fred what..."
Serena's mom, Missus M and Serena's younger sister appeared from another room.
"Martha! Get out of here now!"
Papa was quick to say and Martha obliged with a scared look on her face. I had a clear shot of her back. All I had to do was pull the trigger and I could cause Papa the same pain of losing family that he had put me through.
I breathed out and let them run through the front door. I was a monster but only to those who crossed me.
"I'm disappointed Papa. You used to tell us you were in the Marines yet... you're huddling behind the kitchen counter like a little bitch."
I taunted, digging my hand inside my pockets and bringing out the little surprise I had brought with me.
"You're a dead man Davi! I will make you scream you little shit. I'll fuck you up like I fucked your whore mother! I'll shove a broken piece of bottle up your ass and cut off your dick and balls you fuckturd!"
I tsked.
"So many profanities. Where is the refined businessman who wears the hide of a crook? Oh my bad, guess it's the other way huh?"
"Please Davi! Don't kill..."
Andre started to say before I heard a resounding slap.
"Shut the fuck up you useless piece of shit!"
I stepped over Serena's cooling corpse and arrived next to Marc who was trembling and lying on a pool of his own shit and blood. I put a bullet through his brains in disgust. His body slumped on to the ground. Max had suspiciously gone silent, I didn't hear any barking on the outside. The tasty treat had been laced with a knockout drug.
I stepped over Marc's dead body.
"So I've been thinking, Pops. I never really got to tender my resignation. I'm thinking of trying out a new career path. Subway's hiring and although I hear the pay ain't that good, it's honest work."
The door to the bathroom was now next to me. I knew Papa Fred. Fucker had a lot of patience. Too bad today it wasn't going to save him. I pulled the pins off the grenades I had been carrying then begun to count to 5 seconds.
At 3, I threw them towards the Kitchen before entering the Bathroom and jumping into the bathtub.
"Fuu!!"
I heard his voice as he realized my little surprise. The the curse was replaced by a loud boom that messed with my ears, left them ringing as I struggled to even breath.
Dust covered the entire room and a chunk of the door was missing. I stumbled past the debris and made my way to the Kitchen, gun at the ready.
What I saw was nothing but burnt body parts that smelled like badly cooked meat. I couldn't even distinguish who was who.I bent down and saw a piece of an eye. It was blackened but I thought the eye was staring at me in anger and bitterness.
I spit on his remains as I felt the anger and hate in me abate a little. Just a little mind you. I was still mad and I wanted to make them all pay.
The back door was slammed open as the rest of my former gang walked in with guns. The pin from the third grenade dropped onto the floor as I turned around.
"Hey boys, what took your asses so long?"
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As I lay there, feeling the cold metal of the bullets inside my upper body and the burn in the wounds left by a missing leg, arm and a huge chunk of my left chest, I couldn't help but think about all the mistakes I had made. The crime life was all I had known and now it was poetically the thing that led to my downfall.
The pain was unbearable, however I couldn't help but feel a sense of relief wash over me. My best friend was gone and the gang I had once called my family was now nothing but a distant memory. I had carried out my vow to avenge him and now it was time for me to pay the price.
Darkness begun to take over, clouding my vision completely until I saw nothing...felt nothing. I let go of life. My soul detached from my body. It was all so light. Light and heavy at the same time. Then I begun to see something once more. A red hole that occupied center stage in the darkness. A darkness I wasn't sure I was alone in.
The red portal beckoned me and I knew that my fate was sealed. It was an instinctual feeling. I was headed straight to hell, but I accepted it with grim determination. The crimes I had committed, the lives I had ruined, the pain I had caused - all of it weighed heavily on my conscience.
But even as I spread out my hands (if I had any) and allowed the pull, I couldn't help but feel a twinge of regret. Perhaps if I had made different choices, if I had sought redemption earlier, things could have ended differently. My background was a contributing factor but it shouldn't have been an excuse. But it was too late now. The only thing left for me was to face my punishment with as much dignity as I could muster.
And so, I took my last breath and passed through the portal, ready for whatever lay ahead. Hell may have been my destination, but it was also my penance for a life of crime.
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