บท 30: Green Door, Part 1.
Earth, The Arcadia.
While, normally, a ship doing an atmospheric re-entry at this speed would turn into the proverbial Fire Ball, the Arcadia's cloaking mechanism can mask and negate the increase in heat, just as well as it can conceal it from other detection systems. All at a profligate use of energy. Luckily I made the ship with energy to spare.
It's been a week since the now-legendary fight of Captain Darth Kitty was broadcast through the galactic network. Not much has changed but we are finally returning to Halo. Or, more accurately, to Krakoa.
I felt slightly bad about how I manipulated the narrative; now Kitty, Kurt, and Carina are the most well-known trio. Just a little bit, not that much. So in the spirit of apologies, karma, and such, I officially gifted the ship to Kitty... She was not very impressed by this. After all, she knew I was going to gift it to her.
I don't have an official use for it and I made it with the Cat in mind. But I did say that I felt just a teensy-tiny bit bad. Hence my 'heartfelt' act of putting at ease her 'stress' about taking my ship without my explicit concern.
With the ship in her 'rightful' possession, Kitty decided to park it in Krakoa.
"Hey, Kitty-cat, Why not dock at Halo? You spend about half of your time up there."- This question has been bugging me.
"Ah, that? It's very simple, I moved my family to Krakoa, if it ever happens that their lives are at risk I can either have the AI on board protect them or have them evacuate with the help of the Arcadia."- That's... very sensible of this berserk girl.
"What did you tell them about your changes?"- I never asked because it never was a problem perse.
"You're asking this now? After more than a year since we evolved?"- Yelena said.
"In my defense... I have not been very considerate towards people I do not hold dear to me."
"That's not much of a defense, is it?"- Kurt chimed in.
"Unless it's Noona or Seraph, I don't make a distinction between the level of 'care' I give my loved ones. Therefore, I cannot extend any 'care' to the friends or family of my loved ones, as it would mean caring for everyone in existence"- Luckily most of my family were alone when I found them.
Emma hated most of hers and rightfully alienated herself from Christian. Jean was rejected by hers, and the rest of the girls either never met them or don't remember them. Not much can be said about James. My fae, elven, and mermaid maids were sent as my concubines, in a way they married off, so they also don't have deep bonds with their family. Yao probably never met hers.
The only outlier is this Kitty-cat.
"What is that supposed to mean?"- Kitty asks.
"If I give your family the same importance that I give to you, I would have to also give the same importance to those they hold dear, and the ones of those as well, and so on. The next thing I know I will love all of humanity."
"Young Master... Can't you just do it like a normal person does it?"- Irina asks while her bunny ears tilt to the right.
"No. I think I never went in too deep with this... but let's make it clear now... I can't find it in me to deeply care about those who are lower than me."- I care, I really do, but not enough to create meaningful bonds.
As long as my common sense of decency dictates, I wouldn't let someone innocent die on my watch, but if they did, I wouldn't lose any sleep either.
If I can help and it doesn't interfere with my goals I will help. If you can help and it doesn't negatively impact your life if you do, yet you don't, then there's a problem with you. At least within the bounds of your common sense.
I technically can help a lot, but I don't because it's unrealistic of me to do so...
"Where is this arrogant behavior coming from?"- Yelena said in confusion, emotional pain, and anger.
"I meant it about the level of life, you idiot fox! If I didn't care about you as much as I do, do you think I would put up with your bitchiness?"- I sent her my full love, which earns me a punch to my left shoulder and a fierce blush to the fox's face.
"It's not just me, Noona would treat you as my pets if you were normal humans. Instead, she treats you as her family."- Even though I somewhat exhibit this behavior, it is even more prominent in Noona.
Take a look at Phoenix, if it isn't related to Jean she doesn't flap a wing.
"What about me?"- Kurt asks.
"You're my favorite human, sort of. That's it. You don't see me as your friend either, it's the same feeling for me as well. You like me, I like you, I would help you if it fits my needs or wants, and you would help me if it fits your moral code and needs. I wouldn't cry if you were to die, and you wouldn't cry for my death either."- Empathic sense for the win.
"That's... about right. Just, normally you don't say that much to the other's face."- Nah, that depends on the person, I've met brutally honest humans before.
"And me?"- Asks Carina.
"That depends on you. What do think about pink-skinned succubi?"- Noona, my ever-dependable wife, got me a few samples of different horned demonesses.
"... What?"- Carina.
"..."- Irina rolls her eyes.
"..."- Yelena nods in agreement after making a quick physical evaluation of Carina.
"She would also look good as a pink fawn."- Kitty, the cat of culture, approves with a nod and offers another interesting option.
"..."- Kurt is left agape. Probably thinking something along the lines of 'Don't I look demonic enough? Why is my treatment different from hers?'.
"I could make you like the girls if you want to live with us, in the Crystal. If you want to start over in Nirn or in Halo that's fine as well, I won't evolve you though, there'll be no need for that if you don't plan to share the rest of your life with us."- I explain.
I won't be giving immortality with fluff to everybody I meet, just the ones that will share the rest of their lives with us... which is eternity.
"Can-Can I think about it, Master?"- She stammers.
"Oh! Yes, there's no rush. None of us is dying. Immortality, remember?"- She nods and goes back to her 'low energy' mode.
"So, Kitty? What did they say?"
"Nothing much, I just told them the truth. After some explanations, they were happy that I was getting another safeguard to my life."- This cat should know better than to try to embellish the truth in front of us. She is not lying, but something is fishy.
"That's weird..."- I can't imagine them as normal people.
"Yeah, Kitty. Your parents are.... different?"- Yelena.
"How come?"- Kitty asked.
"I think what Yelena and the Young Master mean is that normally parents would worry about the circumstances or the duties attached to an offer such as immortality. Some parents would consider the loneliness facet of eternal life before giving their approval. Also, How much did you explain about us? It's strange that they took it as swimmingly as you portrayed it."- Irina clarified.
"Even to my race, it would be anomalous if the parents of a caring family nucleus accepted so naturally the report of the new undying life of one of theirs."- Carina added.
"... Fine! Maybe it was not taken as naturally as I said!"- Kitty capitulates.
"My family and I are Jewish... Well... I can't say I 'believe' much, since now I 'know' of God. But in my family's belief, only He is eternal. As you can imagine, they didn't take it so well when I told them that I was now immortal. It's not like I was thrown out of the family. Heck! I can't even say that they are mad at me... We are just giving each other some time to come to terms with my new self."- That's still more supportive and understanding than any parents I've known, but this seems more natural if you consider that they already accepted her as a mutant.
"You no longer believe?"- Asked Kurt, with a somewhat solemn expression.
"Tell me something, Kurt. Do you believe in gravity?"- Kitty asks.
"... I know it exists, but I can't say I have faith in it like I do with my lord."
"But how do you know it exists? You don't see it, you don't touch it. It could be that the Phoenix Force is simulating gravity with her psionic powers at a universal scale. It could be that Aragorn enchanted this universe's mass to agglomerate, it could be that Lord Eternity bends space, or it could be that another force of no relation to mass is the one that acts as gravity. So, How sure are you that gravity exists if you can only experience it?"- The cat's eyes gain an almost manic gleam.
"I-I don't know? I know it does!... Right?"- Kurt doubtfully says.
"Right! But now picture this... What if you could summon some of Aragorn's visual prowess to your eyes and see gravity? What if you could conjure gravity? What if you could see a dimension of pure gravity? What if you could use sorcery to manipulate it? Wouldn't then you be assured of its existence?"- I think Kitty is giving Kurt's sanity a harder time than Irina.
"... I think so."
"That's what happened to me. I believed in Him, I had faith in Him. I could feel Him around everything that is and that was, just like you do gravity, I could talk to Him, find solace in Him. I never needed nor wanted any proof because I had faith in Him."
"Now? Now I know of him, I know the notion of Him that we have here it's just an echo of a Nexus Event caused by his magnificent existence in the Prime Reality. I know... My soul won't move to the Promised Land, I know it was supposed to follow the cycle of souls, but I know it will follow Aragorn's now. Now I know stuff... If I had to let my inner chunni out, I would say: I've been cursed with knowledge."
"I know this universe has no God, and I have a realistic shot at ascending to divinity, that puts things into perspective... And I'm not even disappointed! If things are how Aragorn suspects them to be, He is currently depressed and disappointed in humanity after the fiasco known as World War II."- That's according to my comic knowledge.
"Would I be justified in blaming him for my circumstances if our actions caused his depression? If anything, I'm grateful for all of those years he 'accompanied' me."- Kitty says with a smile.
"I would like to tell him that now I will be fine without him, that now I have the strength and a draconic safeguard needed to sail through my life, and thank him for his support, even if it was all a product of a Nexus Event."- For a believer whose belief system was crashed, I can say that she took it very smoothly.
Most would blame their object of belief in her case.
Irina took this chance to cast a few inconspicuous spells on Kurt, to study his mind and body.
Yelena enjoyed the disarray on his face. Carina was still in her low-energy mode, probably thinking about my offer.
Not everything is as crude as the girls think, the main reason why there's no presence of Yahweh here is his depression, but the fact that this universe is not fully connected to the rest of the 'tree' doesn't help either.
Except for certain nexus locations, realms, dimensions, or items, a reality that was scheduled for reset is normally disconnected from the rest of the universes. It's to prevent a chain reaction due to the reset of a doomed reality.
If the Earth-Z that I ended wasn't disconnected from its neighbors, the end of it could have brought down another, otherwise perfectly fine, neighboring reality.
With these thoughts, we neared Krakoa, more specifically, Urbs Beatorum Homines the capital and only city at the moment.
"Welcome to Urbs Beatorum Homines, or Beatorum for short, the capital of Krakoa The Living Island, Carina."- Kitty said as we pierced the protective and concealing bubble around the island.
"It's... different to what I expected from the underdeveloped planet that this is supposed to be. I thought Terrans were not this advanced. This looks somewhat like the arcologies of Xandar."- Carina was confused as she compared what she was seeing in her holoscreen to what she was taught.
"Oh! No, that's correct. Except for certain places, this planet is underdeveloped, this city was constructed by Aragorn, normally cities are not like this, though a similar level could be found in Wakanda, Atlantis, and Olympia, but the last one is not exactly a city."- Yelena commented.
There's also Attilan on the moon, but that place is falling apart. I haven't found the place where the Deviants inhabit, but those guys won't be so far behind. A few other exceptions could be considered, but in terms of 'Advanced Cities' I personally only consider Wakanda and Atlantis.
"Erhmmm... Aragorn, where do I park?"- Captain Kitty asks.
"Realistically speaking, I was not expecting them to have spaceborne capabilities anytime soon, so I didn't build a docking station. So you'll have to do with the airport."
"That's fine, it's not like we have any other aircraft, aside from The Blackbird."- Kurt said.
After Kitty 'parked' the ship we came out to find a crowd of mutants watching The Arcadia with disbelieving eyes.
I can't say I blame them, the ship looks pirate enough, and not in the 'The Pirate Bay' kind of sense.
But seeing Kurt and Kitty come out did help to alleviate their concerns.
I didn't dwell too much in their presence and just portaled to my daughter's.
___________________
Regrettably, she was with Playboy, in Malibu.
"Hello, BlueCute!"- I said as sent Seraph my affection and ignored Playboy and Virginia Potts. Looks like Harold Hogan is upstairs.
I wonder if these three will follow the comic path or the MCU path, romantically speaking that is.
But I don't think that a woman of sound mind would choose Playboy as her life partner... I won't bet on it, though, father issues are a thing.
"Father! In the flesh this time!"- As far as flesh could be used to describe my body.
I hugged Seraph and dropped a kiss on her forehead. Which earned me a tight hug from my cute daughter.
"I got you some Anulax Batteries and a couple of Phase Harmonic Coolers, the other tech should be in Halo's labs, you can go up and check whenever you have the time."- I pulled the two marbles with the batteries and the coolers out.
"Cool! They use mass-energy waves to disperse heat. A little overcomplicated, but very interesting."- She said as she grabbed the coolers and started to scan them.
I turned to the girl who was still agape looking at the place where the portal was.
Playboy, much to my displeasure, had run over to Seraph's side to scan the batteries I got for HER.
"Hello, Ms. Potts. I'm Aragorn Abner, Seraph's father and creator."- I did tell Seraph to keep to the shadows, so she told me that only Potts and Hogan, aside from Stark, knew of her.
"... You're Aragorn Abner! As in the Owner of The Spiral CO and Light Enterprises? You made Seraph!?"- She exclaimed in shock.
I put a bunch of the companies we made in my name to try and focus Hydra's attention on me, but so far all it's gained me is some sort of 'reclusive trust-fund baby with a good eye for business' reputation.
So very few even know of my name. I feel like those guys from my original universe who essentially owned the world but nobody knew them. Except here Hydra has the ownership and I'm an upstart challenger to their sovereignity.
"Yes, Ms. Potts, though I'm more surprised that you even know of my name. Most of my companies only use my name as some sort of Title-Holder. The CEOs and their teams tend to be the famous ones, not me."- I extended my hand in greetings.
Natalia is very well known, of course under a different name and face than the Black Widow's. Her Black Widow rep shouldn't meddle with her new one.
"It's a pleasure, Mr. Abner. Last trimester a subsidiary of The Light contacted us about collaboration on a project relating to Mr. Stark's Repulsor technology. I handled some of the legal dealings and I came by your name by chance."- Probably Baxter, Spark is steering them toward space exploration.
However, I think the company is still under the name of the Storm siblings.
"Hey, Old Man! Why do you treat her better than me? You don't even look at me unless I address you!"- The yapping Playboy said.
I guess Seraph told him that I'm way older than I look but didn't say by how much. Or else, he would have called me 'fossil' or some snarky remark of the sort.
Ms. Potts does look utterly confused.
"Shut up, Playboy! I can and will turn you into a girl if you keep annoying me!"
"The joke's on you! I would totally rock being a woman as hot as I am a man."
"Heeh... That's not the only thing I can turn you into. Be grateful that I let your slutty self interact with my cute daughter without making you into a eunuch... Now that sounds like a great idea! Maybe I should, maybe I will..."- I said with a sadistic grin on my face.
"S-Seraph! Protect your FRIEND'S dignity! Don't let your father do such crimes against humanity! For the betterment of the world, the Stark bloodline must be preserved!"- He ran to Seraph's side and hid behind her.
"..."- Ms. Potts tried to hide her embarrassment and schadenfreude.
"... How do you deal with him?"- I asked her. I can understand Tony from the MCU, that guy was cool. This Stark? I'm seriously considering castration...
Besides, I bet the bloodline is already spread wide.
Maybe I hate him because Seraph is involved with him, but I don't like him nonetheless.
"He pays well."- She said while occasionally glancing at my draconic features.
Which I didn't bother hiding.
"That well? I don't believe it."- Having to babysit a constantly drunk boss while sexually harassing you shouldn't be easy.
"... We are also childhood friends..."- She said after capitulating to my disbelieving stare.
I nodded in acceptance and looked back at my cute blue that was playing around with her new toys.
Maybe calling them toys can be seen as denigrating Seraph's maturity, but she is a baby for all intents and purposes... maybe not all, but she is a baby to me until her soul grows enough.
"You can ask, Ms. Potts. I don't bite."- Unless it's Noona and she asks nicely.
"I apologize, Mr. Abner. I couldn't help but stare. Besides your ID picture, there are no photos of you so I didn't know you were a mutant- Not that it matters, but this is the first time I've met one of you."
"It's not a bother Ms. Potts. However, I should correct your misconception. I'm not a mutant and you've probably met some mutants before but they didn't have outward tales. Not all of them are as outwardly unappealing as their name suggests, most of them, for that matter, look like regular humans, not that we could call that surprising given that you're all human, same species."- Those guys should do some rebranding.
"Pepper! He's an alien! Try not to get too close to him, you don't know where he would lay his eggs. Next thing you know, you have a mini-him coming out of your stomach."- The bitch shouted from behind Seraph.
'Tilt your head to the left.'
'Don't kill him... too much.'
Seraph did as instructed, I aimed a finger at him and...
*ZAP*
Stark fell dead to the floor. Nothing like a well-placed discharge to shut someone up.
"TONY! WHAT DID YOU DO!?"- Ms. Potts shouted as she ran to his side.
Seraph reached down with one hand to the Playboy and...
*ZAP* *GASP*
Alas, It came back to life.
"*Cough* *Cough* What just happened?! I felt like that time with the redhead that had a thing for erotic e-stim."- Playboy asked Seraph.
"You played around too much, so Father time outed you."- Seraph commented as she grabbed him from under his armpits and lifted him.
"Time out! He killed him!"- Ms. Potts, still panicking, commented as she reached to Playboy and patted him all over.
"Ki-Killed me? Is that what happened?"- Playboy turned his attention from Ms. Potts and asked Seraph.
"Mmmm... My definition of death is different than yours, I wouldn't call a few seconds of no heartbeats death. But Father did stop your heart if that's what you're asking."- And it was cathartic.
Who gave him the idea that he could get all ballsy now? If anything, now, he should be afraid that I won't simply neuralyze him.
"..."- Ms. Potts glared at me.
"... Don't look at me like that, Ms. Potts. If I wanted him dead he would be. This is just some of the well-deserved spanking that he was missing while growing up."- I viciously smiled at him.
I relished the shudder that was running rampant in him.
"Not that he was wrong, Ms. Potts. You can consider me an alien. It's just that he appeared under the presumption that he could be casual with me, even though this is our second time meeting and the first time was in not amicable terms."- I probably shouldn't act all 'Young Master' on him... but I don't like him.
He assumed that he could study the gifts I brought for Seraph, and I don't know what gave him that egotism.
Sigh... Maybe I'm biased against him.
But I can't truly be blamed. What father would allow a man of his reputation to get close to his daughter?
"Don't cha worry, Tony. If your cheekiness gets you killed again, I will be there for you! That's what friends are for!"- Seraph said with mirth as she patted his back and went back to focus on her batteries.
"What?! No! Friends are for having each other's backs! Not to bring the other back to life after their father killed them!"
"So... I shouldn't resuscitate you? Are you expecting Father to do it? I don't think Father likes you enough to bring you back, I think he dislikes you just enough to not annihilate you."
"No! I expect you to stop him! You even tilted your head!"- The bitch accused.
"Oh, That!... That's your fault. Who told you that you could compare Father to a lowly Xenomorph? At least pick another alien, maybe an Asgardian, I would accept Celestials."- My daughter is, obviously, the best.
Tony deadpanned at her.
___________________________
Earth, Beatorum, Krakoa.
*Crunch* *Crunch*
'Pass me the caramel corn.'- Yelena asks as if she didn't have TK. I float the bucket to her.
'This is so interesting.'- Irina commented as she analyzed the data in her P-Link.
"Girls, we can verbalize our conversation. From the mirror dimension, they won't be able to hear us."- I said. Irina and Yelena looked at each other and then back at me.
'We got used to it. It's very convenient since thoughts are much faster than vocals.'- Irina.
'You can also add feelings to your sentences. :Smug: So unless there are other non-psionic present, we default to telepathy.'- Yelena.
I feel like they got used to telepathy faster than I did.
'Do you think there will be tears?'- Yelena asked as we saw Irene Adler and Raven Darkhölme await in a lab for the maternity test.
It's been a day since we returned and after Kitty was done showing the mutant kids around her ship, she started egging Kurt into talking with his biological family.
It went about as well as one would expect. Neither of the adults remembered and Kurt was hurt, mad, and confused.
It's not like we didn't see this coming, but it all went to shit after Xavier confessed that they had asked him to seal their memories regarding a baby.
Xavier never met baby Kurt, so he never thought that Kurt and them were related. Or so he says.
'Hopefully.'- Irina morbidly commented.
'Hey, Why do you think Xavier didn't notice?'- Yelena.
'What do you mean?'- Asked Irina.
'If you want to seal memories you have to see them. Since Kurt was devilish since birth he should have known that the blue devil baby was possibly related to the blue devil teenager.'- I added.
'Huh? :Confused:'- Irina was probably more focused on Kurt's readings than the plot holes in Xavier's story.
'What do you think, Daddy?'- Yelena asked.
'*Sigh*... This is just a theory, so take it with a grain of salt.'- I said.
'Umu!'x2- Why would you telepathically 'Umu' when you could just send your feeling of agreement?
'I think whoever found Kurt and adopted him knew some magic. I think his adoptive mother or father cast a spell on baby Kurt so that whoever met him before, would slowly forget about him. I think that by the time they met Xavier, enough time had passed and they had already forgotten pieces of Kurt.'
'It would explain why my conceptual speech didn't unseal their memories. They didn't have any.'
'Why do you think it was done slowly and not all at once?'- Irina.
'Because that would require the caster and the mothers to be in the same room. Right? :Praisemebitch:'-... Yelena said...
'...Yes, you're right! So smart, much wow.'- I monotonously said.
"Heheheh!"- Yelena laughed at my tone.
'I think that the caster didn't want any strings attached to his or her new baby. Since the mothers were not around when the caster found Kurt, the best next course of action was to erase the baby's tracks.'- I said.
I agree with this. If I found a baby in the forest and decided to take care of it, and the baby was peculiar-looking, the type of physical appearance for which people would hunt him, I would make sure that whoever saw him before and whoever got rid of him would either forget or be dead.
Especially on a planet like this one.
'Hiding a blue devil baby is hard enough as it is, hence the caster decided to remove any possible pursuers from the equation and remove any memory related to Kurt... It makes sense :Realization:'- Irina.
'There are some plot holes here and there, but I think that something similar to this happened.'- I factually said.
'Is there a way to remove the influence of the spell? Or to verify if they are under a spell.'- Yelena.
'No for the verification, yes for the removal if there were any.'- I answered.
'Why?'- Asked Yelena.
'When I hit you with a fireball, is there any evidence of the spell on you the next day? Or the next year?'- I asked.
'No, but I thought that for a spell like this, which is holding influence over the target, we could find some evidence.'- Yelena.
'There are three reasons for this. One, a lot of time has passed. Two, they removed any chance of their mind fighting the spell back when Xavier sealed their memories. Three, after their memories got sealed, the spell erased them and then it ended because there was nothing else to erase.'
'Supposedly.'- Irina added.
'Exactly. If it's the spell I have in mind, then this is how it happened. If it's something else, entirely, then we would have to investigate further. But I scan everyone I meet, due to assorted reasons, and I haven't found a clue suggesting magical tempering on them. So far, only on Mindee.'- Which was probably Selene Galio's doing.
'This telenovela is getting better and better! Do you think we will ever find out?'- Passionately asked Yelena.
'We would have to look for Kurt's adoptive family. As far as I know, Kurt killed his brother and he had to run. Since then there's hardly any clue to follow. So it might prove improbable.'- So said his character's history.
'If you do, let me know. I will be there to study him.'- Irina.
'You're like a yandere at this point.'- I said.
'Except the object of her obsession is his sanity, not him.'- Yelena.
We both looked at Irina and sent:
':Disappointed:' x2- We shook our heads left and right to further demonstrate our feelings.
After bantering around for a few minutes, we saw action on the other side.
Hank, with a look of resignation, came out with an envelope in his hands and the cat followed after with a teasing grin.
There was a silence in the room and the mothers, the bald, and the devil, paid full attention to the blue furry's words.
He pulled a piece of paper from the envelope, which was stupid because he did the test himself, he already knew the result, probably he owed a favor to Kitty and she decided to mess with him.
"*Ahem* In the case of 209-month-old Kurt Wagner. Irene Adler, You... ARE the mother!"-Hank said with faked enthusiasm.
*Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap* *Clap*
"YAY!"- The cat who couldn't read the mood shouted and clapped.
Irene and Raven who were holding hands and giving each other support, hugged and cried.
"TEARS!"- Yelena shouted.
A single tear escaped Kurt's left eye.
"WOW!"- Irina shouted after getting some interesting readings on Kurt.
Now I feel bad for how self-centered these maids are.
"H-How *sob* How i-s thi-s *sob* possible?"- Irene sobbed as she asked.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Adler, I don't know. My tests just confirmed what Kitty and Kurt told us."
"Charles, Why can't you unseal our memories? IF we asked you to seal them then we should be able to unseal them!"- Raven shouted at Xavier.
"I'm sorry, Raven. I can't erase memories but somehow I can't find the seal I left. It's... It's as if it was magically removed."- Xavier apologized.
"Come on, Kitty. I don't think we will get answers from them..."- Kurt.
"Hold on, my friend! Why don't we ask Aragorn? He should have some theories at least."- Kitty.
"Ok, let's go then."- Kurt.
"No need!... Aragorn! Come out!"- Kitty shouted.
"Shitty cat, now we are gonna be seen as voyeurs. *SIGHHHH*"- I said out loud.
But it looks like my maids don't care if our rep gets a hit or two, because they were in their world, ignoring me.
"Come out! I know Yelena and Irina must have dragged you here."- Damn right, you are!
*Crack* *Shatter*- Reality broke like a mirror, and we came out.
Xavier stiffened when he saw me and then looked away. Why is this baldy panicking?
I patted the cat and caressed her chin. I continued to observe Xavier.
'Why didn't you come out with a theory yourself?'
'I'm not that studied in mind magic.' *Purrr*- She purred.
'Do you know what's his deal? His panic is annoying, Has he been talking behind my back again?'
'Just the usual manipulative statements to steer popular opinion against you.'
'Why do something so stupid? I don't even meddle with the other mutants. Is he trying to get killed?'
'No! Jean and I are responsible for the mutants, that includes him! I promised Jean that I would stop you if you go Murder-Dragon on the professor.'
'Well... I will deal with this, you use your P-Link and try to find a reason for his suspicious conduct.'
'Ugh! It's probably his usual paranoic tomfoolery.'
'Do it!'
'Fine! I'll check with my P-Link while you talk with the mommies.'
I looked at the three family members and magic circles scanned the three from the head to the feet. No results, as expected.
"There's no magic left in your systems. Most likely, if this is the result of a spell, the 'damage' was done and the spell ended by itself because it had fulfilled its purpose."
After this, I looked at Kurt and, just for confirmation since we never officially got a name for her, asked:
"Was your adoptive mother's name Margali Szardos?"- At least on Earth-616 this was the case.
"Y-yes, that is mom's name."
"If she is who I think she is, she is the caster. Probably to make sure no one was following you, after she found you, she made sure that memories of you were blurred. That, mixed with Xavier's sealing, could be the reason behind the mysterious erasure."- Kurt widened his eyes at this.
He, presumably, has some sort of evidence backing up my claims about the magical aspect of his mother.
"Most likely, when Xavier got involved in it, he was affected by the spell, that would explain why you're lacking so many memories as well."- I said to the bald telepath.
"N-NO!"- Irene cried.
"Why would we ask for our memories sealed?!"- Raven, who was holding better than Irene, asked Xavier.
"I don't know. I remember you both were in awful distress when we met. *Sigh* After that I don't remember much, just basic information. I thought that I had sealed my own memory of the event, which would explain why I had incomplete memories, but it looks like just like with you, my sealed memories of the occurrence disappeared."- Xavier said with a pained expression.
Raven held an expression of disbelief.
"Probably, your circumstances forced your hand. I could try a retrocognitive spell if you take me to the place where you both lived 209 months ago. I'm not sure if the caster left countermeasures in place, but I should be able to bypass them as long as we are not talking about permanent reality manipulation."- Irene and Raven visibly settle down a little after hearing this.
Kurt did as well but to a lower degree. It's not that he was in distress, it's simply that his SAN stat is too strong.
"Thank you, Mr. Abner."- Irene said.
"Do you think we could go now?- Raven asked.
And I planned to affirm at her request, but then I felt panic, not my panic, Jean's... and then nothing...
... Followed by rage, not only my rage, I felt Senior Sister's unquenchable wrath once again...
My eyes shifted red, and so did my mind.
I used my connection with Jean and protected her sense of self. Phoenix covered her soul with her flames and I covered the flames with my psionic energy.
I received a package of information from Phoenix and turned to Xavier, for further details. I need all information to deal with this and the shit that I'm starting to feel in South America. This is too well timed, probably a distraction.
I pulled Xavier's head to my stretched-out right hand.
I felt something wake-up.
I-W̸̗͒e̸̲͐ destroyed his mental shields. He convulsed and blood started dripping from his orifices. He pissed and shat his pants. He shouted, trying to make words come out his mouth, in plea and desperation, but only gargles of blood came out.
Kitty tried to stop me and follow the example of Raven and Irene, who were starting to stand up in slow motion and jump towards me. Kurt remained in his place trying to process what I̶̊͜ was doing.
Yelena and Irina pulled their lightsabers and flash-stepped to set them in the throats of Mystique and Destiny while stopping them mid-move with their TK, and their eyes turned animalistic with a promise of death if they interrupted.
Kitty stopped when she got a notification on her P-Link and then... her eyes followed a feral change, not unlike m-o̷͓̗̍u̴̲͋̊r̷̭̋̀ maids.
Seraph portaled in and frantically shouted:
"EXTREME GAMMA DETONATION IN CHILE! GREEN DOOR!"- ... As expected...
M̶̬̦̽y̶̤̓ͅ face changed, scales grew on my skin, and m̵͖̾y̷̩͉̣͠ nose disappeared since it was not needed. The reproductive organs were removed since, in battle, they could get in the way.
Extreme Gamma Radiation, in the amounts that could wake ḿ̵̧͔̻̄͗̈́͂͝ͅͅe̴̼͙̾̐̏͐̀͛ up from this distance, only meant one thing... and that was something that outclassed ḿ̴̼̣̒̋̚y̷̧̮͑̌ surface personality... and even m̸͉̲͖̤̺̦̤̊̃͌e̸̯̻̘̠̲͖̲̪̩͂ͅ.
Į̷̧̟͇͛̀͊̀͛͠ͅ stopped ripping through Xavier's mind, I̶̊͜ had what I̵̜̺̲̰̲͗̍͆͛̀̿̆ needed, and Ī̵̻̠̟̗͑̀͜ burst his head like a watermelon. Just a little bit of pressure and the job is done.
Raven and Irene were trembling, some of m̷̠͓͎̩̘̠̟͙͐́͛̏̾̄̚ÿ̷̳͊̑̀͌͝ presence might be leaking, or maybe they were just terrified of the core m̸͉̲͖̤̺̦̤̊̃͌e̸̯̻̘̠̲͖̲̪̩͂ͅ. The time for pleasantry is over.
After this, some may say that he was not truly a traitor, some may say that I̴͖̱̯̦̺͗͂́̄͆̏̕͠ overreacted, some may say that no life was lost on m̶̫͐̈́̏̽́̈́̈́̐̎̌͛̕y̶̻͖͎̲͙͆͑͐̍̕ side, and some may say that there were other options, that I̸̥͕͍͓̼̤̪͔̠͍̹̞̓̑̉̆͛̍̐ should have given him another chance... But he was already living on borrowed time. He had his second chance the moment he was not killed after Jean's seals were lifted.
He place̸̺̋d̴̲̈́ M̸̢̧̡̢̩̟̖̩̥͉̼̮̺̖̳̼͇̲̤̪̭͎̖̪̗̞̻͖̫͍̱̬͕̭͙̓͂̍̀̈́̇͋̌̄̀̀̎͂̕͘͜Y̶̼͓̲͈͎̤͋̓̀̿̎̑̾̎͜ͅͅP̵̹͆a̷͐͜dawan at risk.
"G̴e̴t̶ ̸a̵ ̷t̷e̶a̸m̵ ̴r̶e̷a̴d̸y̵,̵ ̸Spark wil̴l̴ ̶p̵o̴r̸t̵a̸l̴ ̷y̷o̵u̸ ̷t̸o̸ ̷E̵r̶i̸k̶ ̶t̶h̴e̷ ̸R̷e̸d̶.̸ ̶K̴i̶l̸l̷ ̸t̵h̸e̷m̸ ̵a̸l̷l̴.̸ ̴G̵e̴t̴ ̴m̴e̶ ̶m̶̢̫̖̻̞̳̰̳̗̘̥̭͆̑̈̔͌̌͐̅̎̕͘͠y̷̡̻̺̫͈̖̜̺̥̲͔͖͗ ̷J̸e̵a̴n̶ ̶b̸a̶c̴k̵.̴ ̸B̵e̵w̷a̶r̶e̸ ̴o̴f̶ ̶G̸o̷b̸l̴i̷n̵ ̴F̵o̶r̶c̷e̵ ̸t̷e̷a̸r̷ d̶e̵t̴o̴n̸a̸t̴i̴o̸n̷s̸.̴ ̶K̵a̷l̴l̷a̶r̶k̵,̵ ̴S̸t̵r̶o̶n̸t̵i̷a̷n̴,̸ ̵c̵o̸n̵f̷i̵r̸m̴e̴d̸.̵ ̷ ̸"- I̴͖̱̯̦̺͗͂́̄͆̏̕͠ said from my soul.
The last time I̴͖̱̯̦̺͗͂́̄͆̏̕͠ used ḿ̴̼̣̒̋̚y̷̧̮͑̌ soul to speak was when I̴͖̱̯̦̺͗͂́̄͆̏̕͠ was shouting in desperation as Į̷̧̟͇͛̀͊̀͛͠ͅ consumed ḿ̴̼̣̒̋̚y̶̤̓ͅ universe.
Kitty, Yelena, and Irina warped to Halo. Spark blinked in confirmation through m̶̫͐̈́̏̽́̈́̈́̐̎̌͛̕y̶̻͖͎̲͙͆͑͐̍̕ P-Link.
"Father, Why are you talking like that?"- Seraph.
"Į̷̞͉̘͉̝̯͇̭̙͍͙͂͂'̴̧̲̭̟̏́͊̽͗̍͊̏̑̋͂́̅͜͜m̴̨̡̦̥̮͎̱̱͈͔̮̰̮̝͍̦̯͌̈́̎̆̓̾́̈́͊̍̈̍̍͋̀̐͝͠ ̵̡̨͍͖̜͇͈͕̦̳̤͎̜͔̩͚̬̽̀͂̄̈́͋͜͜͠͝͠ͅț̴̫̖͔̙͎͔̗͙̠̍̀͋̔̏̀͂͊͑̍͘͘͝h̸̨̼̬͉̯͂̾̓́̈́́̅̏̉̍͒̐͑́̇̒͌͛͊͠͝ę̷̨͕̪͔͖͓̼̭͎͌̐̉͊̂͋̈́̑̏͂͆͌̚̚͝͝͝ ̷̡̟̖̿͆̔͒͗͂͌̂̇͐̈́͐͐̌̆̉͗̕͝͝c̸̡̨̢̮͔̼̥͔͈̼͚̀̌̎̐̐͛̕͝ö̴͎̖̳́̑̎̀̆̇̈́́̈́̀́͊̓̒͝r̷̺̈́̊̈̃̽̅́͗̑͗́̓̽̑͆̌͆̾͝͠ę̸̢̡͎͚̙̣͇̼̮̥̠̖͉̹̝̺̬͍̼̋̀̇̋͗̈́͂̈́́͒̒̏̌̈́͐̃͘͘͜͜͝s̷̡̛̭͔̲̗̺̤̹̩̯̙̪̹͈̦̟̎̄͒̀̿͆͊̅̿̉̂̐̀̄e̵̡̝̜̦̙̮̹̞̗̔̑͗̃̓̈͒͜ļ̸̧̧̛̭̜͔̣͙͙̼̖͍͙̣̹̮̠͙̗͒͗̔͋̇̔͆̀̌̔̇̋͑͑̎͝f̸̧̞̩̯̯̖̮̞̺͙̭͔̹͎̬̦̱̙̘̻̻̅͑͌͒̋͋͊̅̂̍́̾̀͋̕̚͝"- A reverberation of soul, mind, and sound was felt.
"Coreself?... Oh! The Father within Father!"
I̴͖̱̯̦̺͗͂́̄͆̏̕͠ nodded.
_______________________
Seraph's POV.
Father affirmed with a nod and then stabbed his chest with his claws. He pulled out his heart and gave it to me. My calculations stated that Father didn't need his heart, but he kept it anyway. How peculiar!
"M̷̹̿y̷͈̚ ̷̧͂s̵̙̒ǘ̴͍r̷͉̿f̸̧͗a̴̡̍c̵̢͗e̴̬͊ṣ̵̛e̷͙̓ḷ̶͗f̴͎͆ ̷̤̈i̴͔̎s̴͚͛ ̷̔͜ṫ̷̜h̴̳̄e̴͇͐r̶̳͒e̴̛͖,̷̤͐ ̶̥̓g̵͈̔i̸͉̔v̶͠ͅë̷̞́ ̶̟̚i̵̫̇ť̴̗ ̴͕͐t̶̢̅o̵̫͘ ̴̜̚m̴̨̊ę̷̎ ̵͖͂w̸̹̓h̶̖̿e̷̮͠n̶͚̓ ̸̘̈́Î̷͈ ̶̠̈́r̵͔̿ę̵͝t̷̗́ṳ̷̿r̶̘̓n̷̫͒.̸̤̒"- After this, he disappeared through spatial displacement, I think?
I shapeshifted a hole in my stomach and placed SurfaceFather in there, I closed the hole and made sure to safeguard it with my Element.
"This should be the safest place on Earth."
I used BrotherEye and found him in Chile.
A Green Door of pure Gamma signature was in front of him.
It was lit in neon green flames and nothing could be made out of it, just a neon green rectangle floating a top of a small mass of possible human orig-... It's the baby... That's sad...
"C-Charles... What did you do?"- Ms. Darkhölme softly sobbed as she looked at the headless body of the bald telepath.
"Three days ago, he accepted Shi'ar representatives inside his mansion. A few minutes ago Jean approached his mansion and they took that opportunity to disturb her connection to the Phoenix Force using its counterpart, the Globin Force."
"They use some type of 'Ego-restrictors' and put her mind to sleep. I think."
"You think?!"- Ms. Adler spat.
I forcefully sent them the memories Ms. Phoenix gave SurfaceFather. CoreFather also loves me very much which is why he left a few easily accessible memories in his Heart, he wouldn't be rude to his daughter and just leave without an explanation.
Ms. Darkhölme and Ms. Adler shook their heads a little, to stave off the dizziness that comes with an abrupt transfer of information.
I could have been nicer to them, but they also could have sent a notice if they were not going to attend my dinner party.
'Ding'- That's my mental notification for Tony.
I show up in the holographic projection on his P-Link.
"Hey, Tony! What's up?! I'm busy."- It's true, I don't think it will help, but I'm moving BrotherEye above South America. I should inform Spark.
[Reporting: Orbital Strike, Primed and Ready]- Seraph.
[Acknowledged. Strike Team warped to a dead planet within M-31 (Andromeda Galaxy). Shi'ar territory.]- Spark.
[Query: Warp.]- Seraph.
[Affirmative: Portable Star-Gate]- Spark.
[Query: Green Door countermeasures.]- Seraph.
[Answer: v-Energy Core Detonation. Discontinuation through erasure of Spatial Bridge to The Below-Place. Clash ill-advised, no acceptable results under simulation.]- Spark.
[Query: Core.]- Seraph.
[Answer: Core.]- Spark.
Void Energy Core Detonation? What's that?... Checking... Checking... No records?
"Don't 'I'm busy' me! There's a massive spike of radiation in Santiago, Chile. I can't access the local network, it's like everything died over there, and my satellites can't pierce through the clouds. Can you patch me in with yours?"
"Everything did die over there, Tony."- I patched him through a temp-link and showed him BrotherEye's visual.
"*Gasp!* The people? All died?"- Pepper asked. Tears flowing.
"Yes, Pepper. If it's any consolation their death was preferable, those who survive Extreme Gamma Radiation turn into rageful monsters."
"I know gamma radiation, but what's Extreme GR?"- Tony asked.
"A supernatural form of energy. It's connected to a place that imprisons a very powerful guy."
I switched the infrared view I was showing them, to the satellite view. I swapped filters until I got one that ignores water vapor.
Right at the center of the airport, what used to be an airport, a green-glowing crater can be seen. CoreFather is in his draconic form and he is breathing into the door. The entire city is caged by a void barrier and according to my readings he is doing something else with the space.
"That's a dragon! A real dragon!"- Happy shouted.
"Is that the one responsible for this tragedy? I don't know if a fusion bomb could kill that."- Tony said as he ran the numbers on his end.
"No, idiot. That's Father. The problem is that green door. More accurately, what's on the other side."- I zoomed in and located the gamma baby that rested at the base of the door.
I wonder why CoreFather hasn't killed it. If the Gamma-Mutate doesn't have a mind The One-Bellow-All can't use it as an avatar to invade...
Oh! The green door... that's the problem, the door is anchored. But still, he should kill the summoner just in case.
"That's Aragorn?! What the fuck! You really weren't kidding when you said he was not a mutant! He's not even human! He is a building-size humongous dragon!"- Tony exclaimed.
"Yes. Father is bigger but tha- Wait a second!... Okay. As I was saying Father is bigger than that but he is restricting his size. A quick question, Tony. Are the people in the room all of your loved ones?"- I asked.
[Request: Coordinate with Fury. More victims inbound. Currently busy recovering objective.]- Spark.
[Affirmative.]- Seraph.
I open a new line to Fury.
"Seraph, What the hell is going on? I got readings of about 11 fusion detonations in Santiago, Chile."
"Fury. Someone messed up, we believe that they made this distraction to kidnap the Phoenix Avatar. We don't believe that the perpetrators were aware of what they were doing, possible third party manipulating them."- No one in their right mind summons the multiverse destroyer.
"Five million five hundred thousand lives, just to distract Aragorn and extricate Phoenix? Who's responsible for this?"
"Shi'ar operatives."
"How did they get close to Phoenix? I thought her mansion was secure. And isn't she one of the heavy hitters on the planet?"
"They were waiting for her at Xavier's mansion, they disrupted her connection to the Phoenix Force, which is damaging to the consciousness of her avatars, and somehow sent her Ego to sleep."
"How the h-... Xavier?"
"Affirmative."
"FUCK! Now I have half a continent probably dying because of one suicidal motherfucker! That bitch ass eggheaded motherfucking hippie couldn't find a way to piss off Aragorn without including the rest of us in his shitfest of a suicide? FUCK!"
*BAM!*- He slammed his fist on his desk.
"Fury. Please do whatever you can to keep people away from the site. Father is keeping the radiation from spreading but I don't know what's going to happen. Spark said that they plan to detonate a core to break the bridge between the Below-Place and this universe. The surroundings may be involved in the aftermath."
"Wait! Wait! Fucking wait! The Below-Place? At the moment, I don't want to know shit about wherever the fuck that is. Just answer me this... Is the situation being handled? Do I need to initiate my Black Noah project?"
"Father is handling it... But get ready to evacuate to the Halo if needed."
"... Fuck!... Can you get Carol's family?"
"Yes."
"... I'll see what I can do, but I don't think we will be able to suppress the news... people will need answers."- Fury terminated the call.
I switched back to the instance assigned to Tony.
"Yes, it's more dangerous than it looks."- I told him.
"What are we talking about here? In terms of numbers. This is happening in South America, How are we at risk? Do I need to bring Obie in?"- Tony said.
"No, I'll portal him if you need to evacuate. It's because of what that door means."
I left this instance keeping an eye on them and proceeded with Krakoa's emergency protocols.
I turned the spire's spatial isolation on and secured the entire Island and this space.
The Spire flashed once... To the natural eye, after space was isolated, nothing changed.
|THIS IS NOT A DRILL. PREPARE FOR WARPING. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. PLEASE PROCEED TO YOUR DESIGNATED STATIONS OR SECURED ZONES. THIS IS NOT A DRILL. WARPING IN T-180s.|
___________________
Santiago, Chile.
Aragorn stands on his four while breathing his void directly into to green door. A veiny green chunk of human mass, about the size of a fat turkey, lies at the footing of the door.
Pulsing green energy clashes with Aragorn's breath.
The One-Below-All will not be able to cross over to this side, at least not fully. This was never a battle to fight it off of Earth.
No, this is a game, to steer it back into its prison before it destroys this universe.
It is mindless, which is why it needs a mind to guide it, to interact with the multiverse.
This, however, doesn't translate to being unable to act.
Like any other impulse-driven creature, it acts upon its instincts.
Alteration and destruction, a creature made as the alter ego of The One-Above-All, a creature with purpose, one of destruction. One that cleans for creation to restart.
The Gamma Baby... or what used to be a baby... has only one instinct, one impulse, one that is coded in his DNA, the only thing that a baby can 'do'... He cries for help, for assistance, for parental care, for life.
This primal, innocent, cry for help was twisted into a summoning cry.
He cries and 'demands' help... The One-Below-All answers.
He longs and cries for more help... The One-Below-All fights against Aragorn's erasure pushing it back.
He pleads for the pain to stop and cries for help... The One-Below-All pushes forward.
He implores for release from this tortured existence... The One-Below-All rushes and combats Aragorn's erasure with its destruction.
Aragorn can't kill the Gamma Baby yet. If he does, the instinct of the thing on the other side will be to reach with all of its strength to its evoker.
The strength of a thing for which Aragorn can't determine a cap.
Even though its summoner cries in desperation, IT is not desperate, for it doesn't have a need for desperation, for it brings desperation.
But this could change the moment it senses that the door to his summoner is getting closed. The moment he feels the summoner dying.
Turn to even more anger, wrath, rage, irritation, outrage, aggravation, madness, and delirium. The-One-Below-All could go into a frenzy and in its rampage, it could send a universe-shattering blow from the other side.
Aragorn is also freeing this space, this bubble within his barrier, from the rest of the spatial grid. If he doesn't and this space-time collapses, a singularity will swallow the planet.
Isolation, Separation, and Detention.
These are his current objectives.
'Aragorn... How did this happen?'- Death's voice calls for him from her realm.
'I don't know yet. I think someone did something without knowing the consequences to distract me, or someone who wants to get rid of the Multiverse used the idiots into opening this door'- Depending on your level of existence, Soul Vox (Soul Voice) can be understood better.
'... The Living Tribunal is asking me to bring 'Death' to this universe before it brings destruction to the rest of the Multiverse. It's for reasons like this, that we always reset doomed realities.'
'... Fuck. How long can you wait for?'
'Not much. It is getting closer as we speak. What even is your plan here? Separate space-time and then what?'
'I carry the baby with me and bring him to it. I will break the bridge from the middle of it.'
'And you? What about you, idiot?'
'I will return afterward. I have a way. But If I tell you, I don't think that The Living Tribunal will be happy, or Eternity for that matter.'
'What are you planning?'
'Just answer me this, Death. The Below-Place is outside of your jurisdiction, right?'
'... Yes. That's outside what we consider reality.'
'Then we are good!'
'What's with your manner of speaking? It sounds different.'
'This is my coreself.'
'... Oh... What happened to your other self? I prefer it when you call me Noona.'
'I left it with Seraph. I don't know if it would have survived my plan and I don't think I can recreate it to perfection if I lose it.'
'You don't make a very compelling case for yourself, do you?'
'I have about a 7% chance for success. Can you alert Seraph or Spark if you end up bringing 'Death' to this universe?'
'Yes. I can see they are ready. Krakoa just warped to the center of the ring and the girls are about to warp to your location with Jean.'
Just as Death confirms Jean's safety, The Sorcerer Supreme and her order, arrive.
More circles opened and the maids, James, and Jean came out.
'S̵t̴a̴b̷i̴l̵i̵z̵e̴ ̵a̸n̷d̵ ̸f̴i̴x̸ ̷S̶p̶a̷c̵e̵-̷T̶i̶m̵e̵'- Aragorn orders to Yao.
The Space-Time inside the barrier is fully disconnected from the grid.
'H̶̛̖e̴͖͝ĺ̸̠p̴̪̃ ̷͖̌t̷͔́h̵͚͊é̸̦m̴̥̏.'- Aragorn orders his maids.
'I'm ready. Are we good on time?'- Aragorn asks Death.
'Yes... You better return. I love you.'
'I will. I love you too, more than you know.'
The order of sorcerers and the Haloans moved to surround the barrier and a dome filled with magic circles adheres to its surface.
At the distance, one could see transports and carriers of different global powers closing in. Some, like the Wakandans, couldn't be seen, but this was not a problem for any of the present here.
'I leave this mess to my SurfaceSelf.'- Aragorn said to no one in particular.
With no hesitation, the Coreself grabs the Gamma-Baby and jumps into the Green Door.
'I lament your situation. I can't even save your soul. All I can, and will, do is avenge you... It's possible that the maids already did, but if they didn't, I will.'
The Gamma irradiated mass pulsed and kept pulsing in shorter intervals as they moved closer to it.
~Once they could be considered at range...
A monster of pure, unadulterated, destruction, so immense and unfathomable, rose on the opposite end.
~Aragorn concentrated on his soul...
The monster bellowed, with a primal and conceptual roar.
~He went deeper and deeper...
The wave of destruction ripped apart Aragorn's body beyond its conceivable limits, leaving behind only a dragon-shaped soul of void.
~Until he found it...
Aragorn kept forcing his soul forward, to clash against destruction incarnate.
~His link to The Void... With resolute decisiveness...
Just an instance before both collided, he shrunk his soul as much as he could, and then...
~He blew himself up...Destruction clashed with Paradox.
Alteration clashed with Void... But just a speck of The Void, just enough to shatter the bridge and to compel The One-Below-All to fulfill his purpose. The purpose of any being of power within the multiversal barrier.
A purpose that this half of the Creator couldn't deny. A purpose that in a being of no mind... it becomes an Impulse.
▁▂▄▅▆▇█ ЯΣMӨVΣ◇ƬΉΣ◇VӨID◇FЯӨM◇ΣXIƧƬΣПᄃΣ █▇▆▅▄▂▁
And so it did.
It released Destruction on this nanoparticule of Void. Which was both a particle and energy... yet none.
Aragorn pushed his soul through this speck and...
On the outside of the multiversal barrier, on The Void, his soul started to drip out of nowhere. out of inexistence.
Drip...
Drip...
Drip...
Until it stopped dripping.
All that remained of Aragorn was a tiny spot of his soul.
On the other side, The One-Below-All finished its task and no spec of Void was left. Existence was cleansed of this paradoxical stain of nothing.
The Green Door collapsed, and the Sorcerers and the Haloans quickly closed the hole left behind and fixed the dregs of Space-Time.
*Tud* *Tud* *Tud* *Tud* *Tud* *Tud*- One after the other collapsed until only Yao and Jean were left standing.
Spark opened a portal connected to the Med-Bay and Jean floated everyone through. She settled each Haloan and Sorcerer in a bed before she laid down in one herself.
Tears flowed non-stop from her eyes.
"Don't blame yourself, Jean. They have been hunting your kind for millions of years before. They were prepared, and experienced, and they had the element of surprise."
"I've been alive since before America was discovered, and my enemies still get the jump on me sometimes... You're barely 18 years old, you have no right to blame yourself for your lack of vigilance. Rest, little girl. You need it."- Yao cast a 'sleep-well' spell and watched as the tear-stricken girl fell asleep.
The door to the Med-Bay opened for Steve Rogers and 'Peggy' Carter to enter. Spark's floating body followed behind them, and Seraph portaled in.
The WWII veterans moved to Bucky's bed to support him with their get-well wishes and company.
"You should go to sleep and recover, Yao. We are space-time-locked."- Spark said as he activated the beds and morphed them into pods filled with regeneration liquid.
Yao agreed and let herself go...
"Spark... Where is Father?"- Seraph asked in a somber tone. One that was not missed by Steve or Peggy.
"*Sigh*... Don't freak out. Aragorn is alright, that much I know."- Spark spoke so that the humans paying attention could understand.
"v-Energy Core Detonation is when Aragorn explodes his soul and sends as much as possible of his soul through his link with The Void to it."
"After wondering where his abundant energy came from, Aragorn tried to explore the vastness of his soul. We had to stop because there was a risk of him ascending to the next level, sadly, we were not done yet, not by a long shot, but we did discover that his soul has a permanent link to The Void."
"Given that The Void is one, the same, and many, we theorized that, in a worst of the worst-case scenario, he could send pieces of him through a speck of the void that he would let in."
"The only problem we had with it, was the loss of his surface personality..."
Seraph reached to her stomach and pulled a beating heart made of crystal and light.
"SurfaceFather..."
"Exactly. Little sister, make sure to keep your father's heart safe and sound, he trusted you with it."
Seraph nodded with a smile and stored the heart back inside.
***********
{A/N:
This chapter required a lot of 'Metaknowledge' that I don't have, so I had to read some stuff and Wiki some others.
There are some factors of my own design in it, but everything is plausible, as far as I researched. If you think otherwise, depending on your argument and proof I could change some things.
The thing with Jean, that's not me nerfing her. Jean Grey, as a character, is what I call a Plot Device, and I don't mean on my FF I mean on Marvel. She should not lose to other mortals yet she does, and the plot moves forward.
I tried to make her kidnapping as logical as possible. You could justify it as an edge that the other party has over her due to inexperience and because she hasn't mastered her powers.
Shi'ar could have ways of masking their psionic print.
Shi'ar could have ways of dealing with omega+ telepaths.
Shi'ar could have known of the opposite force of the PF.
It's very plausible, to my eyes at least... And I also needed her to grow as a character, same with the other girls.
Aragorn as the character that I designed, I tried to make him very contradictory. Like my version of The Void. He can be serious, a joker, a kid, a horny adult, a genius, an idiot, immature, wise... My point is unless I plan to fix Aragorn's insanity and contradiction (Which I don't) I need to do character growth somewhere else.
Seraph is very good as a character for this, but I also want to include in this movement the other people he is surrounded by.
His 'battle' against TOBA... He can't battle TOBA, you can search for it on any Marvel Wiki, most don't even have a scale of power for it when they do have one for The Beyonder. That's how cranked up in steroids this character is.
But If I ever was to pin Aragorn against TOBA, it had to be done earlier in the game. It's the best way to show a clear upper level and to make readers see where the limits of the character are. Everybody does it because it works, you pin your MC against an insurmountable enemy and then readers have something to compare his progress with... When there are no systems, like in this FF.
Anyway, this FF is not a power trip but I also wanted to include some elements of it in it.
The next chapter will be a tiny flashback to the fight of the girls against the Shi'ar, don't expect much resistance, and then we will back into the chronological developments.
}
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