This work is a piece of fiction. While inspired by real events, cultures, and practices in human history, the story blends factual history with fictional characters, dramatizations, and creative interpretation.
It is not intended to promote, glorify, or encourage any illegal activities, substance use, or harmful behavior. All depictions of sensitive topics are included solely for narrative and historical context.
For the effects of the story, all characters are to be considered above the majority age.
Reader discretion is advised.
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DxD Multiverse, Underworld, Gremory Residence.
In a room luxurious enough to have a lounge area, Rias sat on a comfortable sofa opposite her peerage. The comfy support provided by the couch was wasted on her at the moment, though.
Each of the looks her peerage members were giving her made her heart constrict further.
Koneko's once innocent eyes were now narrowed slightly, evoking a sense of guilt in Rias' heart.
Kiba, her knight, looked at her with concern that pierced her heart deeply.
And Akeno, her queen and sister in all but blood, the sadistic glee in her gaze was difficult to ignore.
"Rias, our dear king, do you care to explain yourself?" Akeno took the lead. "Why did you ask me about the Dragon God of Systems back then, and why does it sound like you're connected to them?"
"I-I don't think we should focus on that," Rias stammered out.
"Buchou is nervous," Koneko, driving the point by leaning forward and smelling Rias' scent, said.
"Buchou," Kiba said while shaking his head in disappointment. It wasn't that she was keeping secrets, not entirely; he was truly disappointed at the pathetic attempt at concealment.
"Rias ~Ufufufufu," Akeno chuckled evilly. "Should I bring this up to Venelana-sama?"
"NO!" Rias exclaimed. She clamped her mouth when she realized she had overreacted.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"Fine!" Rias caved in to the unamused stares of her peerage. "Through some form of magic, or divinity for all I know, the Dragon God of Systems contacted me some time ago."
"Is it related to your change in attitude?" Kiba asked.
"Their magic recompensates me for my efforts. The more I train, work, or do something that requires effort, the better I get at it," Rias explained.
"Why?" Koneko asked.
"I don't know," Rias huffed. "I don't know why they are helping me, nor how. All I know is that they are helping me."
"Rias, you're not that dumb, are you?" Akeno, mercilessly, interjected. "You must know it is suspicious, right? Maybe you're not being given power directly, but there can't be no hidden motive."
"Onii-sama has this knack of scanning me 'discreetly' every time we meet," Rias bashfully said. However, she didn't expect her queen's follow-up.
"I know," Akeno said. "It's not only Sirzechs-sama. Venelana-sama also does it and not you; she scans us from time to time."
"Wa-What?" Rias asked.
"Magic was never your strong suit, Rias, but even then, Venelana-sama is discreet enough that I can only notice it three out of ten times," Akeno explained. "Sirzechs-sama tends to be more intrusive; maybe that's why you noticed."
"..." Rias was dumbfounded to discover Akeno knew, and that even her mother scanned her.
"When you think about it, since Buchou is exposed to the risks of the surface, it doesn't hurt to be careful, does it?" Kiba added.
"Buchou, are you trying to say that not even Sirzechs-sama discovered something amiss?" Koneko asked.
"Like Koneko said, Onii-sama didn't sense something off even as I grew stronger," Rias said. "I don't know what hidden intentions they have, I only have a short letter advising me to get stronger, but even if their intentions were nefarious, what could I possibly do about something Onii-sama can't even detect?"
"We could take this matter to Lord Adjuka," Akeno said with lessened reproach. She had to acknowledge that Rias had a point, but she was still mad about her keeping it a secret.
"And if they are angered by it?" Rias asked.
"..." Akeno had no answer to that.
"Is that where Requip Magic came from?" Koneko asked.
"Yes," Rias confirmed.
How does this... system(?) help you improve your swordsmanship?" Kiba asked.
"I don't fully comprehend it, the general idea, though, is that it helps me learn and adapt to knowledge and practice faster via training and experience," Rias explained. "Additionally, there's a ritualistic facet about it."
"Ritualistic?" Akeno interjected, worried.
"I, technically, dedicated all those strays to it. In exchange, as you've seen, I improved faster," Rias explained while looking away from the judging eyes of her peerage. She realized then, after saying it out loud, that her actions were those of those crazy cultists who sometimes summon them.
"Evil Buchou," Koneko commented.
"Kuh!" Her words pierced deeply.
"What other... sacrifices have you made to it?" Akeno asked.
"It's not as bad as it sounds," Rias meekly defended. "I haven't sacrificed anyone aside from those strays and excommunicated exorcists. I swear it is not some evil system."
"..."
Her peerage shared some looks, but at the end of it all, they decided not to grill their king further.
"There's something I still don't understand, Buchou," Kiba said. "I understand the use of strays and the motive behind the increase in training, but what about your cooking classes?"
"Ah, that?" Rias perked up at the question. "I selected a mysterious mission that needed me to master the skill."
"Cooking?" Kiba asked, incredulous.
"Technically, making cold desserts," Rias explained.
"Why?" Kiba asked, confused.
"I don't know," Rias shook her head. She connected the dots for the part of the pain immunity to the Holy Element, which was probably related to the mission of surviving a deadly holy attack. Still, she had no idea about the motive for the glacier training.
"Sweets are not evil," Koneko declared as if to dispel the possibility of Kiba suggesting they stop attending Kyomu's classes.
"I suppose so," Kiba said with an amused smile.
From that day, after understanding that the more Rias was pushed, the more effort she put into training, and the more she experienced, the faster she would grow.
So, on the days they didn't have to pick up supplies from Urakyoto, they worked their king to the bone.
Soon, for Rias, the only respite was the cooking classes.
Another interesting development was that Serafall tried some of the food made by Aragorn, and that was enough. She got hooked on the stuff; additionally, she made it her mission to get an expression out of her fan, Mugen.
"Mugen-chan," Serafall called out with almost as much love as she calls her sister's name. "Guess what I brought today!"
Contrary to the energetic and cheerful vibe of the satan, Ophis replied with a tilt of her head.
Serafall, already used to her listlessness, didn't wait for an answer and brought out a magical girl pink wand from her storage and showed it off to Ophis like it was a treasure. "It's the wand I used in season 1 during the Cayun Island arc!"
Ophis, faced with such bubbly display, did what she had learned worked best. She reached out and received the gift, looked at the movie prop with curiosity, and then returned a gaze that was 0.0000000000000000001% less listless.
She had to put in some real effort for that accomplishment; she tried to imagine Serafall as one of Aragorn's sweets, which was the secret.
Following that, Ophis was ready for the next part.
Serafall, as stealthily as she could, slowly reached for Ophis's head, like a hunter, and when she was sure her hand could feel the warmth of Ophis' head, she went all in. Only to miss.
Somewhat poutily, she turned to Aragorn and found Ophis comfortably seated at his kitchen counter.
"So close," Aragorn commented with a flat expression.
"~Mou, you two are impossible," Serafall complained.
'Why did you tell her I watch her performance?' Ophis asked through the psionic channel Aragorn kept open for them.
'While amusement is an important reason behind it, I also thought you might get something useful from interacting with her,' Aragorn replied.
'What?' Ophis asked.
'She is quite the neutral being. A great part of her desires is motivated by her sister, while she was also a participant in the devil's civil war. Like the many who have fought in wars behind a cause, she experienced a great many evils. Unlike angels, with a tendency to cleanse their souls as they exist, devils tend to darken theirs. Hence, a neutral devil soul, while not exactly rare, is a valuable research subject for your pursuit of morality,' Aragorn explained.
'... Do you think I will understand evil eventually?' Ophis asked after a moment of thought.
'I'm trying to teach you about good and evil, but even I don't dare to claim to have it figured out,' Aragorn said. 'Are killing, stealing, torturing, lying, scheming, assaulting, and many of the so-called evils bad? I would like to say yes and for the world to be that clear cut, but the truth is that even evil can be used as a tool for good.'
'Then, what's the point?' Ophis asked, confused.
'It's about discovering your personal moral code,' Aragorn said. 'I find it unbelievable for someone to be 100% evil or good, aside from in their conceptual personifications. I am evil, but I'm also good. I think you're evil, but also good. It's a matter of taking the reins and finding the ruler to measure yourself with.'
'She and I are similar?' Ophis asked in realization.
'She is neutral while having a clear understanding of her form of morality, you're neutral but simply because you're ignorant and sometimes an utter idiot,' Aragorn said with no filters.
'.... I will observe her,' Ophis declared.
Ophis teleported from Aragorn's side to Serafall and stared fixedly at her.
"Oh, What's this about, Mugen-chan? Are you warming up to me?" Serafall asked, ecstatic.
"I, observe you," Ophis replied with no tact.
"... So Mugen-chan will observe me? I'm jittery and happy," Serafall said with an amused smile. She, once more, crept slowly a hand to Ophis' head, and when she could almost feel her scalp, she went all in.
This time, however, Ophis didn't dodge but raised her hand to intercept and interlaced her fingers with Serafall's.
"...~Mugen-chan!" Serafall purred with a proud look. "You didn't dodge."
Serafall turned to Aragorn and gave him a look that said: Look at this, look, I did it!
Aragorn chuckled at her.
A few minutes after that, Venelana arrived. She wasn't delayed; Serafall arrived earlier to interact with Ophis.
"Kyomu-sensei," Venelana greeted.
"Mrs. Gremory, a pleasure as always," Aragorn replied in kind.
"My daughter shall be late for a few minutes. I hope it isn't a problem," Venelana informed him.
"I understand Rias and Koneko have been focusing on their training the past days," Aragorn said. Enough classes had passed so that he could address them by their given names. Additionally, while Rias loved all things Japan, the underworld was not Japan, so the etiquette was slightly different.
A few minutes later, with their hair damp from a shower, Rias and Koneko arrived. Although they came fresh out of a shower, they moved battered from all their training.
"Welcome," Aragorn greeted them amicably. "Don't mind the small things and take a seat."
"Thank you, Kyomu-sensei," Rias replied with a tired smile. Koneko nodded.
Aragorn started the class; this time it was for a Tres Leches, the type that oozed a milky aura. As normal, he made a demonstration, which they tried to follow in their respective counters, while simultaneously teaching them the magic involved in the creation process.
At the end of the class, Aragorn, like a gentleman, had the decency of exiting the kitchen with Ophis, not before Serafall did something that gained her more brownie points than anything magical-girl-related that she had done so far; she gifted Ophis half of her Tres Leches.
After returning to Urakyoto, Aragorn found his room empty, which, considering Ophis, Asia, Phoenix, and he lived in there, was strange.
Following his senses, he dropped Ophis with Kunou; they were like sister at this point, and walked to the training ground. On his way, he passed by a few of the kitsune staff who, shamelessly, pointed their tail at him, baiting him with their fluff. Aragorn, a dragon of will tempered by the trials of the void and countless years of experience, obviously resisted for the grand total of a fifth of a second before he combed tail after tail.
About an hour later, obviously because that's how big Yasaka's place was and not because he was held back by the fluff, he arrived to find the peculiar scene of Issei fighting a Tengu, a member of the security forces of Urakyto, and Phoenix training Asia in archery.
Aragorn walked to stand next to Phoenix and said, "I'm back."
"You were back some time ago," Phoenix pointed out.
"... I saw some messy tails that needed some combing," Aragorn replied without a single ounce of shame.
"Sure, just as all the fur coats that cross your path," Phoenix quipped.
"... It's not my fault the world demands it," Aragorn declared with conviction after a moment of thought. "By the way, why are you teaching Asia archery?"
"I'll allow that abrupt change in topic because it was useless to continue discussing," Phoenix said, his eyes—Phoenix was still in her male form in the presence of Issei—not leaving Asia. "About her, I finished with my research on Sacred Gears. I'm sure when my original receives my data, she'll adapt it to the new hosts. Since I had the time, I decided to make something out of your cotton ball."
Asia, clearly putting in effort into her training, nocked an arrow against the taut bowstring and drew back as far as her saintly arms allowed. She released the arrow and, with a thwack, missed her target completely.
"You're aiming right, but your grip is faltering at the last moment. You also need to work on your breathing," Phoenix said out loud and advised the saint.
Asia, with innocence characteristic of her, nodded her head in agreement and nocked another arrow to try again.
"I wanted to talk to you about that," Aragorn said. "You've accomplished what you wanted from this multiverse and I made some gains, too," Aragorn's eyes pointedly stared at Asia. "You could say we have no more motive to stay here, and we can plot our return course or explore further The Void. What do you want to do?"
"Mmmmm, that's a good question," Phoenix pondered. "There was that interesting world we could visit, as well as that nascent world with its large upper strata... Most obvious, there's Veldanava's world. Well, let's set this aside for the moment," Phoenix turned to Aragorn, "What about you? There's Asia, who might or might not accompany us, and then there's your little project with the devil girl."
"My project with Rias demands that I exit this Multiverse to evaluate how the system would respond to my absence. Logically, I would need to return to collect data after my absence," Aragorn explained.
"So there's no problem on that side, but I sense there's a but, right?" Phoenix asked.
"I must confess, I'm interested in Ophis' moral development," Aragorn cheepishly answered. "Also, I don't feel like abandoning the foxes, and Asia is still a work in progress; I'm not confident in her choosing me over her Lord yet."
"So you want us to wait?" Phoenix concluded.
"That or... Void-chan said I could take this world with me," Aragorn explained an outrageous idea. "And I feel like that's what Void-chan wants me to do."
"... You can move a Multiverse?" Phoenix asked, eyes wide in surprise.
"I can't under normal circumstances, but I think Void-chan wants me to, so there's a chance she'll give me another concept or teach me how to do it," Aragorn said.
"Wouldn't accepting a new concept be in your best interest?" Phoenix asked.
"As far as I was able to understand from Void-chan, I don't get stronger the more concepts I adapt to; my range of capabilities expands. So, whether it is for the best or not, it depends on Void-chan. I could receive a concept that lets me listen to colors in a different way than I normally do, and that would be all. Or, she could return to me my absorbing concept that I rejected when I became what I am today and turn me into the ultimate monster."
"So, random?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes, and it will probably take me long enough that even if you stay inside a Multiverse, you'd notice the passage of eventuality," Aragorn said.
"How long?" Phoenix asked.
"I don't know," Aragorn shook his head. "All Void-chan promised me is that I would return to my main body in Marvel before I need to return to Earth-5H1N3."
"So from my perspective, since I can't accompany you in The Void while you go through your... expansion, it could be a short period or a long time, right?" Phoenix asked.
"Yes, because Void-chan only spoke about the time of Marvel and not of this place," Aragorn affirmed.
"...Mmmmm, I still think you should go for it." Phoenix turned back to observe Asia's practice. "Whatever happens, I'll stay here with your cotton ball, and I'll create a psionic clone of you. I know you enough to replicate you in their eyes. If you take too long, I extend her lifespan."
"Thank you, Senior Sister," Aragorn said while projecting his :Gratefulness: at Phoenix. "Could you also make sure Ophis doesn't derail in her morality project?"
"So long as she doesn't want me to be her role model, I can help," Phoenix shrugged.
"That's all I can ask for," Aragorn said with a chuckle.
He reached for Phoenix and placed a hand on her shoulder. Then he transferred all of his psionic energy held in that Self before slowly disappearing. Phoenix then created a psionic clone and transferred his psionic energy to it. This all happened in less than a second.
Outside the DxD Multiverse, Aragorn grew in size until he was multiple times larger than the Multiverse. He created a 'glass' sphere around the Multiversal Barrier of DxD and wrapped his tail around the sphere.
He didn't know how long it would take, but additionally, he didn't want to wake up from his training with Void-chan or 'evolution' and discover that he drifted 11 Multiverse away from DxD.
Aragorn made sure that his tail was wrapped around it securely, then he turned his eyes to The Void.
'I'm ready, Void-chan.'
Like a mirage, Void-chan in all of her nihility appeared in front of Aragorn in Aragorn's female draconic form.
}{17'54C0NC3P7N077R41N1N6}{ Void-chan clarified.
{A/N: Void-chan speaks by replacing any possible letter with a number: IT'S A CONCEPT NOT TRAINING}
'I suspected as much because Multiverses felt immovable from their planes/trajectories/locations/points/equations.' Aragorn said.
}{+}{ Void-chan affirmed Aragorn's hypothesis.
'Let's get this done, the sooner the better,' Aragorn said.
Void-chan approached him and coiled around him with her tail, body, wings, and limbs. Her long, serpentine neck allowed her head to end up face-to-face with Aragorn. Then she touched his forehead with hers.
Slowly, the boundaries between Aragorn and Void-chan blurred.
Slowly, Aragorn's sense of 'individuality'—which was always minor due to his multiple Selves—mixed with Void-chan.
Slowly, Aragorn returned to nothingness and became a part of the whole, Void-chan.
Slowly, regardless of how securely his tail was wrapped around the DxD Multiverse, Aragorn disappeared, and he was no more.
He died, but he didn't because he was not alive. However, in the sense of losing individuality and a sense of self—or selves, in Aragorn's case—he was truly dead.
The main Self parked outside the Marvel Multiverse also disappeared.
The Selves inside Marvel recognized what was coming up and barely had the time to inform Death and Spark before disappearing as well.
Death, after receiving the telepathic message, looked at Aragorn's heart in her hands slowly fizzling out of existence.
"My Love, I wonder how much you'll change," she whispered in a wistful tone.
Death has been Death since the beginning. Death, as the antithesis of Life, doesn't change, doesn't evolve, doesn't transform. Death means death, and death means Death.
So, for her, an eternal unchangeable entity, Aragorn, an entity in flux with no predetermined shape, was both alluring and a source of worry.
Naturally, Death was beyond thoughts as silly as Aragorn losing his 'humanity', that ship had sailed long ago, and she was so madly in love with him that she didn't care what he changed into. However, she worried about him just as any normal woman in love would worry for her partner.
Spark, after receiving the heads-up, pulled out the trusty A-117, the Aragorn-shaped android, and took over his life outside the Halo.
Aragorn was not doing much in the human world, mainly interacting with Hulk and occasionally assisting Fury in getting rid of Hydra plants. There was a certain canon event that needed some correction; in this case, it was that Hydra was larger than it should be. So Aragorn tipped the scales by bringing their existence to light to Fury sooner than expected.
However, outside the human world, he was indeed doing something of importance.
Ever since, due to his interference, Hela got quite the power up Aragorn has been working on how to tip the scales to Thor's side, because based on how things were going, Thor and Loki would possibly not arrive at Sakaar alive, much less save Asgard's people. Hela would kill them right after Odin's death.
Hence, Aragorn was boosting some of the pieces on Thor's side.
Hulk was an obvious one. Aragorn had not been playing with Hulk all the medieval variants of Call of Duty for nothing other than entertainment. No, he was training him.
As can be inferred, the medieval variants of COD were less of a shooter and more of a martial combat simulator. All manners of CQC were fair game, and cold weapons were also a fan favorite. Hulk in the SPHERE, which was nigh-indistinguishable from reality, was receiving days' worth of training through experience in hours.
Hulk was going from 'HULK SMASH' to 'HULK DISCOMBOBULATE,' and Aragorn was proud of that. He always wanted to see a Hulk putting to good use his brawn, not like the civilized Hulk of Endgame, but more like a Kratos/Zangief Hulk that would undo any enemies through overwhelming might and skill.
The other piece on Thor's board game he was thinking of improving was the future 'King' of New Asgard, Brünnhilde. The problem with that one was different than Hulk's.
"Little Valkyrie, alcoholism is not the solution," Aragorn (Spark) said in his loudest talking voice.
"Shut up!" With a groan, Brünnhilde rolled out of a nest of empty bottles and turned to glare at Aragorn. "What do you know? Leave alone!"
"Is it that you're drinking to forget?" Aragorn asked. "Then let me help you forget," he inched slowly with his hand extended at her head, "I'll erase your memories of the Valkyrior. I can do a better job than ethanol. If you don't remember them, then you can get over their deaths, right?"
"S-Stay away!" Brünnhilde rolled away and reached for her laser gun before discharging it completely on Aragorn.
All the lasers stopped at arm's length from Aragorn, and Brünnhilde only stopped until the clicking of her empty laser echoed.
"I see you're not in the mood for talks today," Aragorn calmly said. "I'll be back tomorrow."
"Please don't," Brünnhilde snapped with anger.
Spark teleported a distance away and reappeared in the intergalactic garbage dump under the Devil's Anus.
'The Master Chief wanted some samples of this tech,' he thought to himself while garbage diving.
Outside of Marvel, or any Multiverse for that matter, after Aragorn was absorbed by Void-chan, The Void went through changes unlike those of its eternal shift between void and chaos. It pulsed with a bluish white light.
For all those beings capable of surfing The Void, it was a monumental change that, in their eternities-measured ages, they hadn't seen before. However, no matter how much they wanted it, due to the origin being The Void itself and not a focal point, they couldn't track the source of the change.
It pulsed, then it returned to 'normalcy', only to pulse again. It repeated this for a few eons and then two eternities more, until slowly...
... A spot of Void starts to eat its surroundings... or maybe not 'eat' but 'expand upon', or maybe neither, maybe it was a spot that was never a spot and it was always a universe-size sphere.
Maybe I? was looking at it wrong.
Maybe you were... seeing it (?)... experiencing it (?)... dreaming it (?)... reading of it (?)... hearing of it (?)... or interpreting it wrong.
Maybe it never was a sphere, maybe it was something else.
A pulpy, tentacled head surmounted by a grotesque and scaly body with rudimentary wings; a vaguely anthropoid outline, but with an octopus-like head whose face was a mass of feelers, a scaly, rubbery-looking body, prodigious claws on hind and fore feet, and long, narrow wings behind.
A mass of glowing orbs, with eyes or tendrils, with a maw behind a gate, with a beam of light of color outside the electromagnetic spectrum.
A darkness so obscure that you might fill it with the works of your mind just to make some sense of it.
A mist that couldn't be called, a mist that might have been flames, that might as well be fluid.
A faceless worm-like serpent or a faceless serpent-like worm, with a maw filled with teeth and tentacles at the end of both ends or the beginnings of both starts.
A disguise of a human being, usually a tall, slim, joyous man, sometimes a woman, sometimes of negroid features, sometimes of Anglo-Saxon features, sometimes a child, sometimes an old man, sometimes an old woman, sometimes of no features.
An enormous mass that extrudes black tentacles, slime-dripping mouths, and short, writhing goat legs. Small creatures are continually spat forth by the monstrosity, which are immediately consumed into the miasmatic form.
A form which none can withstand the sight of, even the slightest glimpse of it would result in the utter and complete destruction to the beholder.
Maybe It changed, and yet it didn't; no matter the form it took, it always was the one you saw of it.
It shifted forms, states, shapes, and compositions through many undescribable and unnameable forms, states, shapes, and compositions, and then it cycled back.
It kept at it for a few eras until it finally settled down in Aragorn's draconic form.
{A/N: We'll do with this one for the moment.}
'It felt like a ride in a rollercoaster but times a bazillion.'
}{H0W4R3Y0UF3311N6}{
'I'm feeling... full. [Paradox Liminal Permutation]? That's a strange concept even by my standards. I can rearrange targets transitionally?... No, that makes no sense...'
}{P4r4D0X}{
'Ah... So are Multiverses considered paradoxes?'
}{-}{
'No? Then not the Multiverses but... Ah! I can rearrange paradoxes in transitional paths, planes, or trajectories, right?'
}{+}{
'Okay, I'm getting warmer. How does this help me move Multiverses?'
}{1=P4R4D0X}{
'Void-chan is a paradox? That's a fact, the mother of paradoxes... So I can rearrange parts of The Void in transitional reorderings?... I still can't see how to move Multiverses.'
Aragorn reached for The Void with his new concept, and a 'chunk' of it gained a changing orbit around Aragorn. Then he reached for another 'chunk' and set it in an ever-changing matrix with the first 'chunk'.
He repeated this a few times until he had a transitional matrix of 'chunks' of The Void of such complexity that it couldn't be mathematically plotted, not even by Aragorn.
It was like a solar system where Aragorn was the Sun, but the orbits of the 'planets' were plotted by the creator after doing a few lines of cocaine, crack, LSD, RedBull, sleep deprivation, and Uranium-235, and yet, somehow, this rearrangement was functional.
No 'chunks' were colliding with each other, and none were crashing onto Aragorn.
Since the 'orbits' were non-linear and followed no rules of time-space, the 'chunks' were moving in more than the natural three dimensions of space. Time, space, causality, eventuality, and nine more unnamed dimensions were the 'racetrack' for these 'chunks'.
'I'm also a paradox... So this could be considered another form of displacement. But, going back to moving Multiverses... Multiverses are not paradoxes, but maybe... I could move the paradox they inhabit?'
}{+!}{
'Oh? So that was it!'
Aragorn, in his draconic form, grabbed one 'chunk' and then switched it with Void-chan. Void-chan appeared in her draconic form, grabbed by her waist, in Aragorn's hold. He then spun around in celebration.
'This is great! This makes me even more dangerous and hard to kill. Not only that, I can pull Void-chan to me whenever I want; I no longer have to wait for you to appear in front of me.'
}{+}{
'Hehehehe! This is great!... But... I'm so fucking far away from Phoenix.'
His new concept granted him a great deal of freedom of movement and design in The Void; however, this was only for paradoxes he had influenced with his concept. Since he had just obtained [Paradox Liminal Permutation], the only marked paradoxes were himself, Void-chan (personification), and the 'chunks' obiting him.
Hence, despite his celebratory mood, there was a long way ahead.
'I'm closer to that interesting Multiverse with a large upper strata than to Phoenix... In fact, their locations changed greatly... How long was I out?'
}{?}{
'Yes, I know my dear Void-chan has no sense of time, and you can only measure it through me. As cute as that is, it doesn't help me at all.'
Aragorn chuckled while petting Void-chan.
'I need to send a Self to Marvel too... That one is closer than DxD and about as far as that one Multiverse... I guess I'll go to Marvel first, a Self is needed more urgently there than in DxD.'
Close and far away were such loose concepts in The Void that it was better not to use them under normal circumstances; however, Aragorn's third eye allowed him a sense of direction. Even so, Aragorn had plenty of time(?) to practice his new concept, get bored, practice again, achieve enlightenment, get bored again, and practice again only to start the cycle for the umpteenth time.
But eventually he made it back. He quickly stratified himself and then left to pick up the interesting world with the large upper strata.
Once more, an endless cycle of boredom and productivity was achieved before he reached this Multiverse.
Upon arrival, he intended to take a glance, mark it with [Paradox Liminal Permutation], and then move on. However...
'Tenkai, the upper strata, and Genkai, the lower strata?' Aragorn wondered.
'Tenkai has something like the total sum of all deities humanity ever dreamt of, is that why it was such a large strata? To allow for all the upper realms of all deities to exist?'
Aragorn, after taking a glance, was hooked by his curiosity. So, as the saying goes: Only mortals make choices, dragons want it all.
Aragorn looked at his eternal flame and thought, 'A flame that isn't a flame; a paradox.'
He wrapped his flame around the Multiverse and then nestled it above his head, between his crown of horns. [Paradox Liminal Permutation] permeated the eternal flame and him, and then he put himself in an orbit to DxD.
Finally, he set one of his eyes to observe the Multiverse and gather information about its laws to enter it. He had plenty of time to study it and find out if there was anything he would want out of it.
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{A/N: I won't get into details in the new Multiverse for a while longer. I'm focused on bringing the story back to Earth-5H1N3 rather than starting a new world.}
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Earth-199999.
~11 BE (Before Emergence) ~ 2012 CE (Current Era).
After I discovered that Interesting world—which for the moment I shall name Deity World—and created a Self for this Multiverse, not much time had passed, even by mortal standards of time.
Only about three months had passed on Earth-199999. However, I decided to stay outside, in the Far Shore, to practice with [Paradox Liminal Permutation].
Inherently, I'm harmful to any Reality I've met so far.
My void energy, if unmodulated and unregulated, would only erase if set free in its rawest forms. My presence, if fully unleashed, would break, deny, corrupt, and warp everything in its path. My soul is a cognito hazard and beyond for those souls of low standing. And these are just the immediate concerns.
Equally so, my concepts can take away all of the shine in these beautiful, ever-shifting, ever-changing, shiny Multiverses.
So, I stayed in the Far Shore, the location in Marvel closest to The Void, and consequently the most reinforced. Here, my Bosses, the Firmaments, the Beyonders, the Aniki, and many other terrors of this Multiverse, me included, can move about without worrying about ripping a new one to Reality.
Hence, it was the most suitable location for me to try to master my new concept. As is expected from a strata equipped to handle the big guns, there's no [Time] in the Far Shore, so it's hard to measure by mortal standards how long I stayed here. A ballpark figure would be somewhere between 6 and 7 million years, maybe.
So, after I stayed that long in here, I decided to timeskip to 2012, when Loki invades with the Chitauri.
I could have used those years to make a dent in the nigh-impenetrable wall of aggression, alcoholism, unjust resentment, and Asgardian brutish resolve that Brunnhilde has up for me, but I left it to my trusty Spark.
As the saying goes, a man may not understand a woman, and a woman may not understand another woman either, but at least a woman holds exclusive audience with her own delightful inscrutability.
Yeah... there's no saying like that, but I meant that in a somewhat sexist but totally deserved consensus, probably a woman would know better what to do about getting the little valkyrie out of her slump. I could use my FemaleSelf for the job, but she (I) is (am) busy working with Sahara in the design of my Therion's divine regalia.
With my return to Earth-199999 came hundreds of messages from my sweet kids filled with concern about my disappearance. Then came the absurdly disgusting loads of data from The System after I reconnected to it. It was more data than humanity had ever stored in any means since the inception of cave painting.
It also appears that Banner has found some weird zen shit inner peace or something because my pal Hulk hasn't come out for years. Did he fuse the brawn and the brain as his future self said?
I took a quick peek at India, Kolkata, and scanned the subcontinent for an instant to locate him... No, he didn't fuse with Hulk; he really did find some zen inner peace arrangement.
It's not a secret that I prefer Hulk over Banner, but, ultimately, they are the same soul, so I can say that I care for them the same. So, even if it isn't what I would like, I respect Banner's efforts in denying half of himself.
But that's alright, Hulk has been trained enough that I just need to hammer down the final nails in the following years to have a truly capable Hulk ready to assist Thor with his goth big sister.
Now, let's see what our dear Supespy Pirate has been doing about Hydra.
For this one, I blast my psionic field around the globe and begin to filter the broadcast thoughts with scrutiny. Hydra agents, especially the ignorantly brainwashed plants, don't normally broadcast 'Hail Hydra' 24/7, no matter how much it looks like they do, since at the moment before their deaths, those are their final words.
However, I'm not trying to pinpoint every Hydra associate on the planet; I'm trying to get a feel for the global climate of hidden Illuminati societies.
Well... Hydra is still the same plague as always, but it's apparent that Fury has been doing his part. They are not the overgrown plague they were before I left; now they are more like a controlled rat infestation.
That's good. All according to keikaku. (Dragon Note: keikaku means plan.)
Though, to be fair, given my status, it is a bit childish to be joyful about this because of the difference in status between me and the task. It's like a professional card-counting troll with eidetic memory playing against a senile old man with late-stage Alzheimer's.
Either way, I can just change to one of my ChildSelves and truly enjoy the feeling of victory!
So I did that, and after having relished in the joy of victory for a second, I returned to my SurfaceSelf and jumped to the Helicarrier about to ascend.
"Fury," I greet the pirate.
"Goddamn!" He exclaimed in surprise at my sudden arrival.
"Rogers," I greeted the 'old' man.
"Mr. Abner," his eyes opened wide, "I can't say you're not a sight for sore eyes," Rogers said with a smile.
He offered his hand for a handshake, an otherwise mundane act; however, my empathy picked up the load of emotions behind that simple gesture.
I shook hands with him; this was the equivalent of a consoling hug for him. What strange and fascinating emotions my empathy sensed!
"I imagine it's like waking in a different, foreign world that has some faint, distant connection with the one you lived in," I say.
Sigh, "It is...hard to come to terms with. It can be overwhelming, but like I said," he looks into my eyes with the gaze of a hurt puppy, "finding out that you remain the same brings me relief."
"66 years used to be not that big of a leap; not with how slow humanity developed. After the Industrial Revolution, that changed," I added.
I turned to the pirate and greeted again, "Fury."
"Mr. Abner, it's a pleasure to have your unexpected presence with us," he said. While he was being diplomatic, it was obvious how much displeasure my 'unregulated' existence brought him.
All the more reason to reccurringly make contact with him!
"It appears that your incautious handling of the Tesseract has brought peril to Earth from beyond, hasn't it?" I asked.
"... I can't deny that, however, at the time, I believed I had taken all precautions possible. Cutting corners is not in my book, even more so with an object of its caliber," he said in his defense.
"It's alright, Fury. Some challenges can make humanity grow. Some challenges are opportunities under the guise of calamity," I said.
"Calamity... no matter what, that's never a word I want to hear," Fury replied.
"It is what it is," I dispensed the irrefutable ancient wisdom.
Both men exhaled through their noses. Yeah, that's the undeniable truth. Shit is what it is.
We soon moved to the inside of the Helicarrier. Curiously, Rogers didn't claim that nothing would surprise him this time around. With existences like mine and those affiliated with me in his school curriculum, it would be arrogant beyond words to claim to have seen it all.
"Mr. Abner, please don't misinterpret my words, but why are you here?" Fury asked.
We made it to the command of the helicarrier as it lifted off. I spotted the Covergirl of this Earth, Maria Hill. While I was observing the similarities between her soul and the Covergirl from my Earth, the room dwindled into silence.
I pulled my perception back and realized they were all silently staring at me. I know that I can be dazzling, so I'm used to this by now, hence I ignored it and addressed Fury.
"Hey, how come you didn't bring Banner to the party?" I asked. It didn't show, but it irked him when I didn't answer his question.
"That's the intention," Fury replied. "However, due to access to certain resources thanks to a bling hanging around his neck, Dr. Banner has turned into a difficult-to-track man. I had sent my best agent for him, but she was met with certain... predicaments."
"Ah, so he received help from the Duskari? Did he become a ghost in the system?" I asked. I didn't grin at Fury's annoyance, but my golden eyes might as well have instead of me.
"He is not as ethereal as other ghosts I know, but it's affirmatively a massive pain in the ass to keep track of where he stays," Fury complained. "Still, he was persuaded a few hours ago; they should be landing soon."
"That makes sense, Banner doesn't have a PHD in espionage, so even with the tools available to him, he is but an amateur at hiding from the spooks like you," I add. Furty scoffed at the idea of Banner hiding from him, yet he could recognize the, as he said, massive pain in the ass Banner had become.
"Regarding what I'm doing here," I continued. "I'm just here to make sure Loki understands boundaries."
"Boundaries? Isn't the premise for the teacher to understand the subject before teaching the student?" Fury jabbed. I heard a few silent gasps in the background from his agents.
"Of course, I know boundaries; this entire quadrant of the universe is within my boundaries," I played dumb.
Fury's heart skips a beat, but not out of a sudden encounter with love, but out of indignation.
~Ah, I miss messing with my Superspy Sorcerer Pirate.
Less than an hour later, Black Widow entered command with an awkward Banner trailing behind her like a lost puppy.
"Oh, my outer demon," Banner said in a flat tone upon seeing me. "So long since I last saw you that I was beginning to think that only my inner demon was a cause for concern now."
"What an utterly rude greeting for one of my standing," I replied.
"As if you cared for that," Banner scoffed. "By the way, how is my dog doing?"
"Angelic," I answered. "He's a good boy. Recently, he achieved his second pair of wings; he is rapidly climbing to the top."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
Not only Banner, but the listeners in the command hub went equally silent.
"That's... good(?) to hear," Banner replied in confusion.
After restarting his thought stream, Banner got to work on building an algorithm to track the Tesseract's weak Gamma signature.
The agents employed various methods of tracking to determine if they could identify a match for Loki, Barton, Selvig, or any of the other agents Loki had stolen from Fury.
Coulson went fan boy on Rogers, insisting with fake calm to have him sign his vintage collection of Captain America cards.
"Would you like me to sign them?" I asked, jokingly.
"No, Mr. Abner, please refrain," Coulson replied within an instant.
"Why?" I asked, confused. Even though it was a joke, I figured something with my signature would be valued astronomically.
"That's because anything with your name is either related to the dead or a lesson for overstepping fools. Some even say that your signature is cursed," Fury replied with a chirpy undertone.
"Remind me again, of the people in this room, or the planet for that matter, whose signature is in the Independence Act?" I fired back.
Nothing like naming their country for a patriotic bunch to go silent. How stupid to worry about borders and division when the monsters don't see a difference between one human and another.
The hollers of an agent with a positive match for Loki in Stuttgart, Germany, broke the uncomfortable silence.
"Captain, you're up," Fury called to Rogers.
With Rogers on the move, Banner holed up in his lab, and Black Widow shadowing him, only Fury and I remained in the command bridge.
"I've been wondering, with all the good Rogers did for the USA, how come he was not promoted posthumously?" I asked.
He held the rank of a captain, as his moniker implies, when he was officially declared dead, but normally, war heroes receive promotions after their deaths.
"That's what's on your mind?" Fury raised an eyebrow.
"Not only that, I'm having enough thoughts to actively fill every data storage device on Earth," I replied. "This is what's on my mind concerning my immediate surroundings."
Sigh, Fury pinched the bridge of his nose. "Captain America was already such an iconic alias that now one saw the meaning in promoting him," Fury replied.
"Now that you mention it, that makes sense," I affirmed.
"How come you couldn't think of that yourself?" Fury asked. He was not being facetious; he was genuinely curious.
"In simpler terms, I dumb down when interacting with humans because otherwise I wouldn't be able to hold meaningful conversations with you," I stated.
"... Can I assume you don't mean that as an insult?" Fury asked.
"Why would I insult you?" I tilted my head. "It was a fact."
When I hold a conversation privately with my Sweet Blue and Spark, I do so throughout 77% of the electromagnetic spectrum and high frequencies simultaneously. I literally have to dumb down and slow down my thought process when I hold verbal conversations.
With my Therions, I can use psionics in addition to sound transmission, so it is acceptable, but when talking with the average human, that's impossible unless I go full Baldi and intrude in their core thoughts.
"... Never mind," Fury released a heavy sigh.
Flying in quinjets, a few minutes later, the assault team, composed of the grand total of two individuals, Rogers and Black Widow, arrived at the target's location.
If there was one thing to give Loki credit for, it was flamboyance.
There's a reason I don't go around demanding worship and submission from humans. Loki, for all that he put himself in the position of a god and humans in that of an ant, cared too much about humanity's reverence.
The image that made it from the external cameras of the quinjet was that of the so-called boot basking in the fear and reverence of the ants. How nonsensical.
This was as if humans went about their lives expecting dogs and cats to prostrate themselves upon a human's visage. Except even more ridiculous.
I quickly lost interest in that, though. Loki not using his illusions should have made it clear it was a trap.
Instead of in the theater act, I turned to Coulson and asked, "How did it go on your end with the research in the Destroyer?"
Coulson looked between the display where his hero was fighting a god, and asked with his eyes, 'Really? Is now the time for that?'
I, most obviously, stared back at him without expression, clearly indicating to him to respond to the question asked.
"... We made advancements in the field of energy projection; however, the properties of the metal, metaphysical aspects of the armor, and many of the mysteries behind it remain that... a mystery," Coulson replied.
I nodded to that. Consequence of my actions, mainly a result of the Libralisk, humanity is technologically about 3 or 4 decades ahead of its 'canon'.
At any other time in history, 3 or 4 decades would be negligible. In this era of disgustingly rapid progress, 3 or 4 decades might as well be 3 or 4 eras of technology. From beepers to flip-flop cellphones, to tactile screens, then touch screens, and before you know it, quantum computing is around the corner.
Hence, in this version of Earth I wove like a professional weaver; SHIELD managed to build more than just a prototype energy discharge gun.
However, based on the mundane projectile weaponry I see on the agents, Fury most likely restricted access to the technology. Probably because he is aware of the filth in SHIELD.
I talked with Coulson about our little project, and before we knew it, Loki was shackled and was being escorted to Hulk's suite.
"Lord Aragorn," Thor greeted me with a startle.
"Lord Aragorn? Are you not going to call me 'Horned One' like before?" I asked, teasingly.
"For a warrior of your mettle, respect is owed as is Asgardian costume," Thor replied diplomatically.
It all sounded 'correct' for Asgard's prince, but I could sense the 'incorrectness' behind his words. He felt slight trepidation.
Fury and his cabal of spylings watched our interaction with concealed interest and unconcealed intrigue.
"It appears your father put the fear of me in you," I comment. "What did he tell you to have you fear me instead of wanting to challenge me, as I have no doubt you intended after our first encounter?"
"..." That put a stop to his political smile.
"He said you took his eye and you're responsible for the scars that mark his body," Thor replied with his jaw clenched.
"No need for any of that," I point at the shaking hammer at a distance from him.
He noticed what I meant and calmed down before returning my gaze.
"It might sound strange coming from me, but your father has no qualms with me. He changed a great deal before your birth, prince. The Odin who fought me couldn't be more different than the one who raised you and your wayward brother," I explained.
"Your honor is worthy of praise... Aragorn," he said in almost a questioningly tone. I nod at his use of my name/title.
"With that out of the way," I turned to Stark. "When you trash that armor, give it to me."
"Ha! And you want to deny being my fan?" Stark haughtily scoffed.
"As payment, and if it feeds your overinflated ego, just as you like it, you can think that," I said. "In fact, if you want," I switched into my female self and continued in the most sexually loaded tone I could muster to make everyone hearing me transhumanly uncomfortable, "I can erect a Dragon Ore monolith just for you."
The shiver my offer sent down his spine overwrote whatever shock he was experiencing after seeing me shift forms.
Dragon Ore Monoliths are all named after the 'idiots' that caused them, like the Caligula Monolith, so my offer came out closer to a death threat than a fan gift, but loaded with innuendo. Like a seductive big-titty goth yandere tempting you with double martyrdom. Logically, you must say no, but...
It wasn't only Stark; the others in the room sweated cold.
Seeing their fright, I shifted back to my male form and teleported to Loki's cell.
"The one burden with glorious purpose," I said in greeting. "But is it really you?"
"Hahahaha," he laughed out loud in delight at my arrival. "The monster of Odin's nightmares. The scorch in his 'golden' conquest of the Nine Realms. I'm your biggest fan!"
It wasn't only delight, there was madness—obviously there was—envy, and fanaticism in his eyes. Like one of those fans that kill their object of worship after discovering their idol was not "pure" or that they were not special in their eyes.
Disgusting! Appalling! Despicable! Revolting! Repulsing! Gross!
Which is why...
"Oh, fool, God of Lying to Oneself, Inferiority Complex, the Oedipus of Asgard, and my most special fan," I smiled sweetly; his smile died. "Expurgate out of your warped mind the possibility of using any of my Obelisks as your stage," my eyes flashed crimson for a moment, "otherwise I'll eat you like I did the Olympians," a growl that makes the helicarrier quake escapes my throat, "and what I did to the man who adopted you would be a show of affection in comparison to what awaits you."
To seal the deal, a sliver of my presence pressed on him. It didn't hurt him; that wasn't my objective. But the soulless gaze indicated the success of my warning.
I saw in the future this fool, as the flamboyant diva he was, trying to open the portal above my New York Obelisk.
Needless to say, that future was a dead end. Loki died to the automatic defenses of the Obelisks and a very eager Custodian who had been waiting for this his whole life. Then, Thor had no help when facing Hela the first time, and he died. Asgard fell into her hands, she went to war with Earth after feeling assured of her victory over me, and then... well, it was a dead end.
So, the best solution for this and the many other futures that end in Loki's death due to his self-centrism was to put the terror of me in him.
I did not have much else to do in the Helicarrier after this, maybe annoy Fury and Stark a little bit more. I teleported to one of the 'low' balconies of the New York Obelisk with a bird's eye view of the upcoming 'tragedy'.
I could even see the Sanctum.
Peering through the veil of anonymity, I crossed eyes with the Ancient One of this Earth and waved hello. She waved back. She is a nice human. Even if her soul is smeared in Dormamu's gunk.
While I was 'sitting back and relaxing', I went over the final reports from The System. Nothing out of the ordinary happened, and I could officially declare that now we're only missing the moving part of the Great Moving.
Star Systems are locked securely in place, ready for transuniversald warping, destination coordinates have been secured, and, most importantly to me, war preparations are complete.
Maybe this would appear strange, being prepared for a war over a decade before it starts, but a decade is basically next week.
The wait wasn't lengthy; from the tallest man-made structure in the city, Stark Tower, a thin beam of 'light' climbed above, aiming at the sky. With a spatial quake characteristic of warping—one only those attuned to it, like me, could sense—a nebulous warp hole was opened above New York by Loki's trickery.
I peeked through the hole, but there was no trace of Thanos, the Minister of Universal Health, on the other side. Maybe he was family planning in another corner of the Edge of the Universe.
Stark, in his new armor, which I will definitely collect after this is over, jetted out of his penthouse and flew towards the incoming Chitauri wave.
I wonder why he didn't arm his tower instead of just his armor.
'Laws.'
|Safety.|
-Terrorism.-
>And it's strange to outfit a tower in the middle of the city with weaponry.<
I mean... I understand the logic, but I don't agree with it. For example, I knew little things could pose a threat to my Obelisks on this Earth, to not say it would be impossible, still, I have layers upon layers of defense/attack mechanisms outfitted in any of my 'towers'.
That's just common sense to me.
Anyway, since I'll be parting ways with this Earth, I think I should make a final effort to leave with a positive parting.
Like I did in the times of old, and just as I protected more than a quarter of humanity during my deadmatch with the Unquenchable Hunger, my void barriers bubbled up the would-be victims.
(Like this.)
Panic ensued, as it always does when the threat of certain death meets those striving for more [Life].
Buildings, defaced,
Cars, exploded.
Streets, scraped.
And that was only the Chitauri's greeting.
Thor arrived, and both brothers inevitably clashed.
Yet, amidst all the destruction, tragedy, and disaster. None had died yet.
A Chitauri blasted at a panicking human, and my honeycomb void barrier flickered briefly protectively, leaving both victim and aggressor momentarily confused.
Like the almost mindless insects they were, the simplicity of cause and effect was not enough to stop the Chitauri from trying over and over again.
The humans, seeing that they were not in immediate danger, did as the modern Homo sapiens technologicus does. They pulled out their phones and began streaming.
Normally, I would allow those 'exceptional' specimens to earn a Darwin Award; however, this time, in the spirit of having a positive parting in eleven years, I decided to allow them their fun.
The Chitauri, even as brutish as they were, had the technology to track energy signatures; hence, not even five minutes later, I had a swarm of the insects buzzing around my balcony.
I glared at the swarm in warning, and, as expected, the brainless insects didn't understand the message. So I compressed them into a ball with my matter control.
Compress! Compress! Compress! Compress! Until the ball was about as big as a .50 Cal round. It was spherical, not bullet-shaped, though.
Then, I contacted Stark; he was in the way. "Go downward, I'm gonna shoot something at the swarm behind you in 3..."
"Wait! What the fuck is 'something' supposed to mean?" He panickly replied.
"2..." I continued the countdown.
"Don't blow up the city!" He panicked harder.
"1."
He flew downward. The swarm tailgating him was instantly cut through by my special 'bullet'.
"JARVIS, what was that?!" Stark exclaimed.
"A mass of high momentum, Sir," JARVIS replied.
Even after compressing my swarm and cutting down Stark's, the Chitauri returned to harass me. That made no sense.
I hijacked their HiveWiFi and put some effort into deciphering the language the 'queen' used to interact with the 'workers'. It was an annoying language, something like a mix of ancient Greek with C++, Haskell, and Assembly Language, and it was all spoken/written backwards from the middle.
However, as complex and annoying as it was, when you could compute the entire duration of the universe since its Big Bang in a fraction of a second, it never went past that, a mild annoyance.
After my educational journey through the wonders of Chitaurian, or as they call it themselves: ■█▄▌▐▀▓—I even nailed the accent—I discovered why they kept swarming me.
In their stupid language, the workers notified the queen of >Origin of Obstaculization=The handsome Shine Dragon< and the queen ordered >Cessation of Origin or Obstaculation=Priority< and since she didn't demand a follow-up with the result of the task, they kept swarming me.
Such strange creatures. Half sentient, with only being able to experience full sentience through their hive mind.
The Black Widow and Archer arrived in a quijet, which, as all aircraft with helixes do in movies, crashed down after one of its rotors was shot down.
Rogers was on the ground soon after, and now just my pal was missing.
Thor, after getting duped by Loki for the umpteenth time, landed to regroup with the rest of the gang. Stark kept circling around the disaster zone with an angry leviathan behind his tail.
"Hey, guys, can you stop focusing on saving civilians?" Stark asked through the comms.
"What?!" Rogers fired back.
"A certain annoying dragon is shielding them all," Stark shared.
"Annoying your ass," I joined the chat.
"How do you keep doing that?" Stark asked. "I'm sure JARVIS encrypted this line."
"Never mind the small details," I shrugged his question off. "Fight to your hearts' content, I'll make sure the civilians are protected. You, not so much. Also, they are a hive mind species; the queen/controller is on the other side of the portal. I don't recommend a battle of attrition."
I exited the line after my assurance. There was something else I was currently more interested in. I was not paying attention before, but that's not an issue; I can easily observe the past.
It's about my pal. Thor is alive, which is a miracle on its own. He shouldn't have survived a trained Hulk. That's what I'm studying.
Mmmmmm, his mind is raging. That's normal for Hulk, but not this type of uncontrolled rage... Could it be a Nexus event forcing itself on him?... No, I would have detected that.... It isn't fate/plot either... Fate barely has an influence in this reality due to its nature and my presence here... Ah! It's banner fault! Of course it's his fault!
He kept my pal caged for so long in a state of constant rage that his first outing in public in years exploded him in an aura of anger and excitement.
Stupid Banner!
Okay, back to the present! The green shine of time dissipated from my draconic eyes, and I was just in time to see Banner idiotically, proudly declare that his secret was that he was always angry.
To prove my findings, after my pal emerged, he centered his stance, tightened his core, his left leg stepped forward powerfully, and then, with his whole body twisting with the fist, he punched forward to the leviathan.
BOOOOOOM!
The obvious outcome: it exploded.
From the point of impact, its carapace cracked like eggshell, and its insides turned to smoothie.
What followed was not a shout of rageful triumph in declaration from my raging pal. No, what came next was the predator gaze of a hunter identifying its prey.
'Hulk, go wild. I'm protecting the civilians,' I informed him.
A smirk that made Romanoff skip a beat and Thor clench hard bloomed in my pal's wratful green mien.
He crouched, then he was no more. Only the blasted cloud of dust, debris, and cracked asphalt remained.
BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!BOOM!
Like the drums of war.
Like the symphony of destruction and property damage.
Like the beating heart of the beast set free, explosion after explosion gleefully echoed with the promise of destruction, gore, and the certainty of death. Hulk had arrived.
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{A/N:
Please check out my P@treon account! There are already 10 chapters ahead for premium members, which is at least 100,000 words. Premium members also gain access to a new chapter every week.
[email protected]/ExistentialVoid
Free Members get access to all free chapters, and I upload free chapters about 12 hours earlier on P@atreon.}
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