Two days quickly passed by without anything noteworthy happening. Hela proved to be quite a difficult person to deal with, and Alex was still not satisfied with his control over her after nearly three years of training her in Gaia. By a conservative estimate, it would take another seven years before he could actually utilize Hela without having to worry about her backstabbing him. Masochistic battle junkie or not, she was far too troublesome to deal with.
That was the initial reason that he'd chosen to form a bond with Jane instead of Hela. Regrettably, that didn't really go according to plan either.
On the other hand, he and Susan treated the planet as a weekend trip, exploring cliché tourist destinations and enjoying each other's company with the occasional kinky escapade.
Eventually, a fleet of satellites arrived at the planet and took positions across the exosphere, forming a comprehensive detection dome that covered the entire planet. The moment the satellites were in place, Alex activated the Infinity Stone detection system on Farm Earth to locate any Infinity Stones that were on the planet. It took no more than a few seconds for the activated satellites to capture all traces of the unique Cosmic Energy signature of Infinity Stones.
"Four..." Alex frowned.
"You seem unhappy with that number..." Susan said while looking at the hologram of the world map in front of them. It had four prominently blinking dots, three in the deepest trenches of the ocean, and the fourth, in Wakanda of all places. "To think we waged that battle so close to an Infinity Stone..."
"There is interference," Alex said. "I can't identify which stone is which."
"Why does that matter?"
"Last time we decided to forego caution, I was almost wiped out of reality itself."
"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice..."
"It's possible that this was a protection mechanism put in place by Jane. Her powers allow her to manipulate Cosmic Energy to a certain extent."
"But it could also be a trap."
"I won't rule out the possibility."
"So what's the plan?"
"I'm going to throw people at those stones," Alex said.
"You don't mean..." Susan looked uncomfortable.
"Why do you think I'm developing so many forces? The Widows, Witches, Ten Rings-there has to be a synonym for ninjas that starts with W... I should look for similar alliterative names for any future force I develop..."
"Alex, focus."
Alex cleared his throat. "You get my point," he said before creating a mystic arts portal behind them.
"Master Apex!" The sudden exclamations startled Susan for a moment as she saw twelve people step through the portal-four women and eight men. From their long robes and general mysterious vibe, she concluded that they were likely magic users from among the Witches that Alex had just mentioned.
"You all know what to do," Alex said. "If you feel like there is any life-threatening danger, you can immediately retreat. Now go. Make sure to cast shielding spells. The underwater pressure can crush you into human mush in an instant."
The twelve nodded with determined expressions as Alex formed three portals that led directly to the vicinity of the Infinity Stones. Since the portals were underwater, Alex made some modifications to block any environmental pass-through, limiting it to people.
Quickly dividing themselves into three groups, the twelve magicians all disappeared.
"What about the one in Wakanda?" Susan asked.
"That one isn't an Infinity Stone. It's another Cosmic Cube," Alex chuckled. "I wonder if this one also plans to self-destruct and take me down."
"Just now, you were saying you couldn't identify these signals."
"Hela told me about the Cube just now," Alex said. "She's grown quite cooperative over the past four years that she's spent in the Gaia Penitentiary."
"So, are you not planning to collect it?" Susan changed the topic.
"Soon," Alex said.
"Was this whole thing bait?" Susan suddenly asked. "You spent two days after deploying those satellites when I know for a fact that you could have brought them here within moments with portals."
"Too big," Alex said, looking back at Susan with a smile.
"So you can transport a flying fortress to another planet with your portals, but can't do the same to some satellites that aren't bigger than cars?" She asked sarcastically, crossing her arms. Alex had mentioned to her the event where he brought General Dreykov's Red Room fortress from MCU Earth to Earth-Z.
"My Susan's so smart."
"That is demeaning on so many levels," she snorted. "I have a PhD, for fuck's sake. Preparing for a second."
"Oh, you're planning to get another doctorate? That's news to me."
"I'm still considering it..."
"Let me know if you need any help," Alex said. "You have the entire resources of multiple planets at your dispo...sal..."
His brow furrowed when he saw one of the signals disappear from the display.
"That's not supposed to happen, is it?" Susan asked from the side, her tone grave.
"No." Alex shook his head and tried to pull the four-person team that he'd sent back. Four portals appeared behind him and Susan, swirling with an ominous crimson. Not wanting to take the risk of using Mystic Arts portals, Alex went with Chaos Magic ones since they were more robust and less prone to interference. Moments later, the portals delivered four bodies to the ground and fizzled out.
Susan immediately started examining the four dead bodies to identify how they may have died.
"No water in their lungs... No signs of struggle... Did someone suck their souls out?" She asked. A few weeks ago, she would have dismissed anything related to the soul as metaphysical nonsense. Now, however, with the things that Alex had shown her, not to mention his power to do exactly what she'd just mentioned, she had to believe that such metaphysical concepts were real.
"I wouldn't eliminate the possibility," Alex said. "And no, I did no such thing. Why would I kill my own bait?"
"I didn't say anything," she said.
"You were thinking it."
Alex continued focusing on the other stones and saw the second one disappear similarly within seconds.
"Gaia, check for interference. Any possible leaks we might have missed. Whether cyber or mystical. Run all possibilities," he said before bringing four more dead bodies through Chaos portals. "Work with me to examine these bodies as well."
Alex tossed a small piece of himself at one of the dead bodies and started examining it.
Just as he expected the same thing to happen to the third stone, a mystic arts portal with red sparks appeared in the room, making Alex raise a brow. "Interesting..."
A group of four stumbled out, covered in red protective shields as the portal closed behind them. Without a word, Alex yanked the glowing blue Infinity Stone from the specialized container in the leader's hand as it flew through the air and into his hand.
"Space, huh?" He smiled as the stone immediately got absorbed into his body and shifted to his soul, merging with the existing Space Stone. Gaia had already examined it for him using the authority of the other stones, clearing the stone as completely safe to merge.
<
A faint blue current appeared on Alex's body as he let out a comfortable breath. Susan, beside him, let out a muffled groan as traces of concentrated authority affected her through Alex.
The moment the stone merged into Alex, the four witches dropped to the ground, losing all traces of life.
Susan gasped, her eyes wide as she immediately started walking toward the downed people.
"Don't be a fool, Sue," Alex said, locking her muscles and freezing her in place.
Just as Alex immobilized Susan, his Sixth Sense blared, informing him of an incoming calamity.
So, now you work? Where the fuck were you when that Cosmic Cube tried to wipe me from reality?
-x-X-x-