章 98: Best Hugs In The Verse 4
Doctor Strange sat cross-legged on the dusty floor of the crumbling room, his cloak of levitation billowing slightly as it hovered behind him, almost suspiciously close to the ooze.
The rest of the Avengers stood a cautious distance away, exchanging uneasy glances. Wanda watched from her spot on the bed, her gaze flitting between Strange and the ooze, who was now wobbling back and forth like an eager puppy.
"Okay, let's try this again," Strange muttered, focusing his energy. He conjured a floating array of mystic symbols and diagrams around the ooze, each one glowing with an intricate pattern. The room buzzed faintly with magical energy, the air humming with anticipation.
The ooze watched with what seemed like childlike fascination, its eyes widening as the symbols spun around it. Then, with an excited squelch, it lunged forward and started absorbing the symbols, slurping them up as if they were a delightful snack. The symbols vanished one by one, and the ooze bounced happily, its eyes shimmering with satisfaction.
Strange sighed, rubbing his temples. "This isn't possible. It's like trying to measure the ocean with a thimble." He glanced at the ooze, which was now eyeing his cloak with a curious look that made the garment edge away, hovering just out of reach. "And stop looking at my cloak like that—it's not on the menu."
Tony snickered. "You're the one who insisted on going first. Now look who's about to get eaten."
"Very funny, Stark," Strange muttered, his frustration clear. "This thing doesn't have a magical signature, no psychic imprint, not even a trace of dimensional energy that I can identify. It's like it just… exists."
Before Wanda could respond, the sound of hurried footsteps echoed from the hallway, followed by a familiar voice. "Seriously, do you have any idea how many stairs there are in this place? I'm going to need a nap after this."
Quicksilver skidded to a halt in the doorway, breathing hard. "Wanda, I wasn't able to hold them off—" He stopped abruptly, his eyes widening as he took in the scene: Wanda sitting calmly with the ooze on her lap, Strange surrounded by half-eaten mystical runes, and the Avengers standing around like they were attending a very confusing lecture.
"Oh, great. Just what we needed," Quicksilver muttered, leaning against the doorframe. "And you all thought I was the family screw-up."
Before anyone could react, another group of figures, led by Cyclops and Wolverine, entered the room. They moved in with a blend of caution and authority, their postures tense and eyes scanning the room.
"Alright, everybody, stay calm," Cyclops announced, his visor glowing faintly. "We're just here to help."
Wolverine sniffed the air, his claws twitching slightly. "What the hell is that smell? Smells like magic and… I dunno, something like overcooked jello."
"Logan, focus," Cyclops snapped before turning to Wanda. "We heard about what happened. Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Wanda replied, her voice calm but firm. "I've got things under control."
Beside Cyclops, Emma Frost stepped forward, her diamond form glittering in the faint light. "You'll have to forgive our skepticism, Wanda," she said smoothly, her eyes narrowing on the ooze. "Given your history, you'll understand why we're concerned."
"Concerned or just curious?" Tony quipped, folding his arms. "We've got it covered, thanks."
Professor Xavier, wheeling into the room behind the others, raised a hand for silence. "We're all on the same side here, Stark," he said gently. He turned his attention to Wanda, his expression kind but serious. "Wanda, may we approach? We'd like to try and understand this… entity. For your safety and everyone else's."
Wanda hesitated, glancing down at the ooze. It stared up at her, its bright eyes blinking with innocent curiosity. She nodded slowly. "Alright, but I'm telling you—it's harmless."
Emma and Xavier exchanged a look before stepping forward. Emma's eyes glowed with a faint blue light as she extended her psychic senses toward the blob, her mind reaching out to connect. But as soon as she touched the surface of its consciousness—or rather, where a consciousness should be—she recoiled, her eyes widening in shock.
"There's… nothing," Emma whispered, her voice tinged with disbelief. "It's like trying to read the mind of a rock. No thoughts, no emotions, just… emptiness."
Xavier frowned, concentrating harder as he tried to probe deeper. Sweat beaded on his forehead as he pushed his mental powers to their limit, searching for any trace of awareness. But all he found was a vast, endless void. It was not the darkness of a mind hiding secrets or the chaos of a fractured psyche—it was simply blank, like staring into a bottomless well.
"This can't be right," Xavier murmured, withdrawing his mental reach. "Every living thing has some form of consciousness, even the most rudimentary. But this… it's like it's not even alive in how we understand."
Emma nodded, her composure returning as she folded her arms. "It's not like anything we've ever encountered. No thoughts, no feelings, just a presence. It's as if it's… playing at being alive without actually being alive."
Strange looked between Emma and Xavier, his frustration mounting. "So it's a void that eats magic and energy. That's not exactly comforting, Wanda."
Wanda shook her head, her expression resolute. "It may not have a mind, but it's not mindless. It understands me. It's not hurting anyone."
The ooze seemed to sense the tension in the room. It blinked slowly, tilting its head as if trying to understand the concern of the people around it. Then, with a lighthearted jiggle, it formed the shape of a peace sign before plopping back into a blob, wriggling closer to Wanda like a pet seeking reassurance.
Wolverine, who had been watching quietly, finally spoke up. "I don't know what it is, but it doesn't seem dangerous." He eyed the ooze, then looked at Wanda. "If it were, it would've done something by now."
Strange sighed, rubbing his eyes. "You're probably right, but I still don't like this. I've dealt with a lot of weird stuff, but this takes the cake."
"Maybe that's the point," Steve said, his voice thoughtful. "Not everything can be explained, and not everything needs to be understood completely. Wanda says it's helping her, and that's what matters."
Tony grumbled under his breath but didn't argue. "Fine, but if it starts sprouting teeth or messing with reality, I'm calling SHIELD."
The ooze gave a cheerful bounce, almost as if acknowledging Tony's half-hearted threat. It stretched into the shape of a tiny star before collapsing into a soft, squishy blob. Wanda reached down and patted it, her smile returning as she looked up at her friends.
"For once," she said softly, "I think we can all just… let it be."
As Wanda cradled the small, glowing blob in her arms, she felt a sense of peace that didn't need to be questioned or explained for the first time in a long while. It was enough to simply be in the company of friends who stood by her side despite their confusion and caution.
Still kneeling on the floor, Doctor Strange rubbed his temples with a mix of exasperation and intrigue. "Wanda, you've been clear that this… creature is harmless, but has it done anything strange? I mean, besides devouring everything we've thrown at it."
Wanda hesitated, glancing at the ooze, which was now busying itself by bouncing gently on her lap, its eyes half-closed in what could only be described as a state of blissful ignorance. The Avengers and X-Men watched intently, waiting for her response, their expressions a blend of skepticism and concern.
"Well," Wanda started slowly, trying to find the right words. "It hasn't done much… here. But there was something in a dream I had. I think… I think it might have eaten something. And I think it was Cthon."
The room fell into a stunned silence, the kind that feels almost physical in its weight. Every hero's expression shifted from wary curiosity to sheer disbelief and a hint of dread.
Tony's mouth hung open slightly while Strange's eyes widened behind his goatee in a rare display of genuine shock. Even Wolverine, who had seen and fought more than his fair share of horrors, looked visibly perturbed.
"You're saying it ate Chthon?" Strange asked, his voice tightening as he tried to process the information. "As in the elder god, the primordial force of chaos and dark magic? That Chthon?"
Wanda nodded almost sheepishly. "Yeah. I was having a nightmare, trapped in this horrible, hellish landscape, and Chthon was there..huge, terrifying. I felt him trying to consume me, to take control again, and I thought… I thought it was the end."
Her voice wavered, but the ooze snuggled closer as if offering a silent reassurance. "But then, he showed up." She gestured to the blob, which now looked up at her with its innocent, unblinking eyes.
"I don't really know how to explain it," Wanda continued, "but it just… rolled in, looked at Chthon like he was some kind of snack, and then—" She mimicked a big gulp, then shrugged. "Gone. Just like that."
Emma Frost's diamond form flickered back to flesh, her expression caught somewhere between a scoff and incredulity. "You're telling me that this tiny blob," she pointed at the ooze, which was now attempting to balance on Wanda's shoulder like an oversized parrot, "ate one of the most ancient, powerful entities in existence as if it were nothing?"
"Pretty much," Wanda said with a small smile, scratching the ooze's head as it purred in response. "He didn't seem to think it was a big deal."
The ooze, still balancing precariously on Wanda's shoulder, wobbled as if in agreement, its body rippling in a way that almost looked like a cheerful dance. It had no concept of the magnitude of what it had supposedly done; to it, everything was just part of the game, a series of simple actions with no understanding of the cosmic implications of the ooze; he thought the demonic being was bringing him some snacks, but it seems like Wanda didn't like the snacks so he had to get rid of it. It's simple logic.
Strange ran a hand over his face, trying to mask the mix of disbelief and awe. "Wanda, Chthon is—was—a god of chaos. He's tied to dark magic itself, a source of unimaginable power. If this thing really did what you said… it changes everything. Do you realize how dangerous that makes it?"
The ooze, oblivious to Strange's rising concern, gave a playful bounce and promptly plopped down onto Wanda's lap, blinking up at the sorcerer with a look that could only be described as innocently bored. It formed a tiny halo above its head as if to say, "I'm a good boy," before rolling lazily on its side.
Tony, who had been watching the display with a mix of morbid fascination and nervous amusement, finally spoke up. "So, just to be clear, we've got a squishy, oblivious blob that's running around eating elder gods like they're appetizers. That's… just great. I'm sure that won't come back to bite us at all."
Still processing the gravity of Wanda's revelation, Steve Rogers folded his arms and leaned against the wall, his gaze fixed on the tiny creature. "What do we even do with something like this? If it can take out Chthon without breaking a sweat, there's no telling what else it could do."
Natasha, who had remained silent through most of the exchange, finally shook her head, a wry smile tugging at her lips. "Well, it seems happy enough just hanging out with Wanda. Maybe it's just a weird little cosmic vacuum cleaner that found something it liked."
Strange, still unconvinced, narrowed his eyes at the blob, studying it as though he might suddenly discern its secrets alone by sheer will. "A vacuum cleaner that devours primordial entities and dimensional energies without a thought. We can't just ignore this. If it's truly mindless, it might do something catastrophic without realizing."
"Or," Wanda said, her tone firmer now, "it might not. Look, I know it sounds crazy—" She gestured to the blob, which had started amusing itself by forming tiny shapes of various objects it had seen in the room: a miniature shield, a tiny repulsor, even a crude approximation of Strange's cape, complete with a comically oversized collar. "But I think it's… harmless. It's not malevolent, and it's not scheming. It's like a kid who doesn't know its own strength."
The ooze wobbled over to Strange's cape, eyeing it hungrily before the sorcerer promptly yanked it away. It looked up at Strange with what seemed like disappointment, then flopped back onto Wanda's shoulder, puffing itself up into the shape of a disgruntled cloud.
"It's like a puppy that accidentally swallowed a neutron star," Tony mused, chuckling despite the tension. "No idea what it's doing, but it's doing it all the same."
Xavier leaned forward, resting his chin on his hand. "If it truly has no mind, no consciousness to direct it, then it's not driven by intent. It's just… reacting. And in Wanda's case, it's reacting in a way that's benign, perhaps even helpful."
Strange sighed, finally letting his defensive posture relax. "I'll admit, the idea of a cosmic blob stumbling through existence with no awareness of the havoc it could cause is… oddly comforting and terrifying simultaneously."
Wanda stroked the ooze, which nuzzled into her touch with a contented gurgle. "I know it's a lot to take in," she said quietly, her voice full of a calm certainty. "But for now, he's just here. With me. And that's all that matters."
The heroes shared uneasy looks, still grappling with the surreal reality of Wanda's revelation. They had faced gods, monsters, and threats from beyond the stars, but the tiny, unassuming creature before them was something entirely new. This enigma defied all logic and understanding yet somehow seemed perfectly at peace in its own oblivious way.
For now, the ooze seemed content to simply exist in Wanda's presence, blissfully unaware of the vast implications of its actions. As Wanda held it close, she couldn't help but feel a strange sense of comfort, knowing that this bizarre, oblivious little entity had chosen her as its companion for reasons she might never fully understand.
In the quiet aftermath, as the Avengers and X-Men tried to reconcile what they had learned, Wanda was smiling, a small, genuine smile that carried the weight of all the uncertainties she had finally learned to accept. Whatever the future held, she knew she wasn't facing it alone.
The ooze, still perched on her shoulder, blinked up at the gathered heroes and burped softly, the sound echoing in the room like a defiant statement against the moment's seriousness.
It jiggled one last time, then nestled into Wanda's neck, oblivious to the stares and the silent vows of vigilance from those around it.
And for Wanda, that simple, absurd act was enough to remind her that there was always room for a little bit of unexpected joy, no matter how chaotic things might seem.
It was a reminder that even in the face of incomprehensible power and cosmic mysteries, sometimes the greatest comfort came from the least likely of places—even if that place was a tiny, god-devouring blob that just wanted to snuggle and eat.
And regardless of what happened no one could take this happiness away from her. As she was thinking, this unnoticed by everyone, her eyes began to slightly glow red.
The ooze on the other hand was also deep in thought. From what's been discovered, it seems that if he stays with this woman and the people dressed in pajamas, he might get more things to eat. Yes, it's the perfect plan.
And one day, he will take a bite out of that cape.
(If you guys are wondering why he doesn't seem to be getting any smarter after devouring an elder God, it's because, depending on the strength of what he eats, it takes time for him to gain any memories from what he devours.)
週次パワーステータス
-- 推薦
ランキング 
-- 推薦
チケット