The next morning, Erik stirred awake to find himself tangled between the three women.
Helen lay atop him, her head resting on his chest, while Wanda and Cindy snuggled closely on either side, their legs intertwined with his.
He could feel the soft, rhythmic warmth of their breaths and even the gentle thump of their heartbeats.
Wanda and Cindy had each tucked one of his arms against them, pressing them between their bodies, which made him smile.
He lay there quietly, caressing Cindy's soft butt, savoring the moment of calm. The night had been... wild.
After a few moments, he decided it was time to get up.
With a careful hand, Erik gently peeled Helen off his chest and, using a subtle touch of telekinesis, lifted her softly to the side.
Wanda and Cindy remained curled up, their heads tucked against his shoulders. Smiling to himself, he floated each of them slightly away to give himself room to move without waking them.
Once he'd freed himself, Erik slipped out of bed and made his way to the bathroom, casting a last glance back at them as they slept soundly, wrapped in blankets and each other's warmth.
As he turned on the shower, he let himself relax, feeling more at ease than he'd felt in a long time.
As he cleaned his body, his mind was working to think of as many strong beings in the galaxy as he could remember. He needed to absorb them in Beelzebuth, get his useless, damaged system updated, and become strong enough to kill Thanos without any risks.
He also planned to give himself and the girls a nice long vacation, once he had killed Thanos and Supergiant.
'Sigh... still, I wonder what should I do with Helen.'
Well, Earth was no longer safe.
Indeed.
Due to him annihilating the armies of the Xandarian and Kree empires, Mars and Earth were no longer safe from another invasion.
Sure, they might be hesitant to act up right now due to him being such a huge unknown threat. But who knows when one of them decided to make a move?
As he was lost in thoughts, a couple of delicate arms hugged him from behind.
"Just take her along with us, she'll be fine. You can protect us, I know it." The one who whispered these words, as if reading his mind, no after reading his mind, was Wanda.
"Hm... well..." He thought for a bit, "I'll probably decide by evening... Anyway, now that you're here, let's do a quickie and then head out. I need to make sure the army's done with its preparations.
Wanda smiled as he turned around and pulled her closer to capture her lips in a deep intimate kiss.
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[ Planet Ego ]
[G52 22C848T12F+E16UC22]
Outside the gates of a barely standing palace that had once been grand and resplendent, a girl with delicate antennae on her forehead sat quietly on the worn stone steps. Her expression was solemn, eyes cast down.
[Image]
Suddenly, the ground beneath her began to tremble, cracks forming around her feet. From one of the deeper fissures, a figure started to emerge. It was a barely human form, resembling nerves that coiled and stretched into a vaguely humanoid shape, eerie and unsettling.
But despite its disturbing appearance, she showed no fear, only watching with tired, unflinching eyes.
The figure's nerves shifted and coalesced into flesh, gradually taking the shape of a man. As his eyes began to form, they settled on her with an intense anger.
"Not again, you damn bitch!" he spat, voice laced with fury.
The girl, unphased, frowned slightly and touched the ground beneath her. Before he could fully manifest, the man's body wavered, then dissolved, leaving only silence.
Days passed in much the same way. She remained there, feeling each tremor as it shook the palace ground. Every quake represented another struggle, a battle she was unaware of.
Sometimes a figure would emerge, but more often, the ground only shifted and stilled.
Then, after a few days, a familiar form appeared again. This time, the man looked weary but conscious.
And she knew this man.
"Mantis, you foolish girl" he gasped, his voice hoarse, "We don't have much time. It's taking over faster than I expected. Come fast! You have to try again—to seal his consciousness within me and make me master of the energy he's brought from the outer universe."
But before she could step forward, his form began to disintegrate once more, his body crumbling to the ground.
With a resigned sigh, she returned to the steps to wait once more.
This has been happening for a few months, she doesn't know the reason for this but it has been really exhausting for her. She wants to eat but can't, she wants to sleep but can't, she wants to walk but can't.
All she can do is wait here for her master's/ father's orders.
If she'd been human, it was certain she'd have died of exhaustion or hunger by now. Thankfully, she was not. But the absence of physical needs didn't mean she was immune to the fatigue. She could still feel the strain wearing down on her, an emotional weight that left her hollow, like an endless loop with no end in sight.
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A hexagonal hole in the space near the Planet Ego glowed and ejected a ginormous mothership. It was obviously, Erik's.
Inside, Erik peered out from the viewing bay, his gaze fixed on the planet below. Ego, the Living Planet.
Yet something felt wrong.
From this distance, the planet's surface should have formed a distinct face, the image of Ego himself. But now, as Erik looked closer, the features seemed split, warped—almost as if two faces were melded together, struggling for dominance over the same form.
"It's like… some kind of internal battle," he muttered to himself, brow furrowed. "Almost like that two-faced girl from that Junji Ito manga... Creepy."
"Hm..." he murmured, a glint of intrigue in his eye. "Something changed... again."
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Indeed, something did change. But the cause of this anomaly, the 'thing' that was trying to take over Ego's consciousness, wasn't Erik's fault.
It was Watcher's and Neith's fault.
Yes.
This particular universe was somehow protected from outside interference by a veil, a barrier. For Erik? Cannot be said for sure. But this veil also didn't let Watcher enter the universe to forcefully take Erik for the mission against Ultron.
But...
Neith, a multiversal goddess, offered him help in exchange Watcher would just have to summon an extra, Cindy.
Neith tore a small portion of the veil so that Watcher could take Erik and put him back. But in that small amount of time, something snuck in.
And this thing wanted Erik's destruction.
Remember the time when Erik's soul was being transmigrated into this universe, and Watcher noticed something attacking his soul?
It was this 'thing'.
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