Long story short, all of us had gotten pretty much wasted by the end of the night.
I even invited Fury, Clint and a few others when the first buzz hit me. I think I might have made a new best friend in Logan as the man just couldn't stop singing my praises as I showed him the never ending alcohol barrels I had gotten from Asgard's finest. He was as jealous as a pouty bitch when he found out about that little tidbit.
The party was just an excuse for us to unwind after everything and maybe just that moment where we all share a drink before jumping into battle because we don't know who'll die at the end. So it wasn't about my engagement with Ororo but rather a party because it was a reason to party.
And the night that followed after that was… spectacular, to say the least.
Now?
I was preparing myself to face Dormammu again for the last time. The reason being that other than me eating the guy, it was also because it was somewhere that resonated with me for a reason and at least I won't have to hold back when facing the Dark Lord. My encroachment of the Dark Dimension was over half of it and Dormammu was as murderous as he could get, all the more better for me.
Ororo was still asleep so hopefully I can get this done before she wakes up because time works very differently and I could manipulate it as freely as I want there.
Tapping upon my connection with the void, reality squeezed and contorted on itself before opening a door to the Dark Dimension. I donned on my suit and tied my tie in its rightful place, loosely around my neck, before twisting the handle on the door. Whoever said you couldn't go to hell with style?
The moment I stepped into this dimension of darkness and fire, a very refreshing feeling washed over me, making me feel as if I just breathed in fresh air for the first time.
"You're back!!" Endless darkness rushed towards me in a mad frenzy only for it to be obstructed by a divide in dimensions.
Dormammu and I fought the first time I fused with all stones and he was basically the whetstone I used in getting to know my current abilities at that time. My training partner so to speak.
We were both owners of the Dark Dimension, one which spanned over numerous universes, which also meant that I could draw as much as I wanted from the Dark Dimension and hold my own against Dormammu with it.
"Do you know what you have done?! The domain of power you took over the Dark Dimension is crawling with so much chaos and insurgents without any form of order or hierarchy. It's chaos!!" Dormammu bellowed. I knew exactly what he was talking about but it's not like I particularly care. Yes I understand that the Dark Dimension was a vital part of the universe but it's not like I was planning to destroy it, on the contrary, I would very much like it to continue existing. But I just did not give a single care about who ruled over it.
"Isn't this supposed to be a domain of chaos and darkness? What's the need for order?" Dormammu lashed out once again but like before, his attack failed to reach me. The first time I fought Dormammu after my apotheosis, all I did was just blast him with unlimited power and he responded in kind. Drawing from the abundant power of the Dark Dimension that overshadowed any singular universe, he had more than enough raw power to match me blow for blow.
But there were two things, well two more things, apart from my ever growing influence with this domain. First was my mastery with the power of Infinity, and second was what happened after I visited that alternate universe.
After I started growing my link with all the other Infinity Stones, I was able to learn something basic yet fundamental in every way.
Evolution is not constant.
Evolution didn't happen forever because if it did, well there wouldn't be a One Above All Others in Marvel, there instead would be the Council of Many Above All Others. The evolutionary chain could only get you to what was the preconceived height of the accumulation of everything you ever was. It was a predestined path in its simplicity.
But at the point I was, evolution no longer did it for me. I wouldn't say I was above evolution yet, but I was pretty much near the limit of my evolution… if I continued on the path that is.
I held a portion of the multiversal essence of Infinity in me, one far stronger than Evolution as it was only a concept while Infinity was more. Rather than being a concept, Infinity was a substantial part of reality. It was a paragon of growth in a way evolution could never be and I was encroaching on her domain like I'm doing Dormammu's.
"You insect! You don't understand, do you? It draws them in. The chaos IN darkness, the strife and madness is what reels them in like fishes to a bait. It is why there must be order, even in blinding darkness. They are called the Mad Ones because all preconceived notions and concepts of existence are rendered nothing but a grim joke in their presence. And what you're doing…" He drew closer to me and the smell of darkness and death mixed with hellish flames assaulted my nostrils. "You are drawing them here, aren't you? I see. Hahahahahaha!" His mad laughter echoed throughout the vast expanse of the Dark Dimension, bringing down dark lightning and strife on its denizens.
"That's it! No wonder they came here in the first place. Who are you really? A lost kin of the Laughing Nightmare or a measly human who dreamed of darkness? Hahahahahahahahaha!"
Though my expression didn't change, my thoughts did. Dormammu had all but confirmed his knowledge about the existence of them and their kind, but it was what he said that confused me.
I've never had any connection with any Dark God and I've never practiced the dark arts either in this or my past life. Heck, I made sure to say away from any occultic practice that came to my knowledge. From what I know, I only awakened this thing after I escaped HYDRA which was when my powers started manifesting outside of myself.
"What do you know about them? Since one of us is pretty much going to have their existence devoured today, how about a little show and tell." At those words, I let go of every inhibition I had, both of myself and my abilities and let everything just flow as they were meant to.
There was no orderliness to my energy, nor was there to my sight or senses. The influence I've had on every action my body took since forever was released.
My human form devolved into nothing more than kaleidoscopes of lights, every point and time of the universe, from the brightest stars to its most darkest realm all reflected in my new form.
And then the darkness came.
There was a reason why some of the strongest forces in existence were those related to light and darkness.
Light and Darkness.
Fire and Water.
Yin and Yang.
The Sun and Moon.
Life and Death.
Destruction and Rebirth.
Chaos and Order.
These were concepts that all had their roots buried deep in the first two; light and darkness. And out of these two, it was said that the darkness came first.
No, rather than coming first, it is safe to say it was always there before the beginning. Even in the biblical texts, darkness had always existed before God even created time. The first thing to be created even before time was light. That was why it is so strongly intertwined with rebirth, life, order and anything good.
Everything I was melded with the first concept that came even before existence – darkness.
And chaos ensued.
The Dark Dimension and all the universes I was getting progressingly associated with all wailed as the purest form, or at least the smidgen of it that was in me, fused with their realities. Darkness would never end unless there was unending light.
I was chaos, madness, death and darkness personified.
"I see. You held its essence when we fought the first two times, now you've come you bare in front of me your greatest darkness. How magnificent!"
The endless distance of the Dark Dimension became too small for me to transverse as everything in it became finite.
I was formless and my reach was everywhere and before me was Dormammu in his never ending darkness.
"Will you tell me what I want to know now or would I need to devour it out of you?" The words flowed out of me even though I had no mouth and upon hearing it, the faintest shadow of a smile appeared on his face.
"Hohoho. I like your spirit. There is a lot to be known about those who hailed from the first darkness… but you'll have to eat it out of me."
And with those words, the fight started.
I was the first to reach Dormammu and my darkness manifested into a fist with reality being rend across its fingertips as it came down on Dormammu.
Strength didn't matter because strength was however I defined it, but time and space did.
Space shook while time rippled in strain as my punch connected to Dormammu millions of times in an instant as it hit. Whatever was around us had been obliterated to its finest particles, leaving only resounding darkness for us to bath in.
"Oh how I'll enjoy this!" He gnarled and came at me with wild abandon, drawing power from his nigh infinite reserves of energy from the Dark Dimension and brought it down on me like the proverbial judgment day.
Not fazed a bit at the sight of his attacks, I waved my hands and drew it back, stretching the space between me and the attack and used my power of reality joined with that of space to tear away the distance between the attack and me, leaving it to fly into the empty vacuum of what laid beneath its tiny fabric.
'This form is too annoying to fight in.' While I easily adapted to having an immeasurable height and could traverse infinite distances with a thought, I still didn't like the fact that I was this big. My smaller form was where the glory was at.
And so with that train of thought, my size decreased by a lot but it was only the size that decreased, my form remained as it was. Even though it decreased, I was still easily taller than any sun out there.
I could feel the humming of my axe-tie but now wasn't it's time. It did surprise me a little that it had gained some sort of sentience, not to the point where it could communicate with me because I would have erased it from existence had that happened, but it held intent. Intent it copied from me.
Seeing that I wished to handle this on my own, it settled down but I could still feel its lust for unadulterated destruction.
The three way exchange between me, my axe and Dormammu took only an instant, and in the next we were both up against each other.
Ten dark suns surrounded Dormammu's form and for the life of me, I could only partially read what they could do. I could read the reality and intent of everything, a passive perk of my omniscience but Dormammu just casually showed me that omniscience still wasn't absolute.
I waved off my concern against the gigantic balls of darkness because of just one thing my senses told me.
They are weak.
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pa*treon.com/Draul_TheOminous.