{A/N:
I had to split the chapter because for some reason I could only save less than 20,000 words or 100,000 characters. So this is the first half.}
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Above the battlefield, Kymellia III.
|Bararaq Inqerad-Saiqa|!
A blue blade showered in arcs of lightning materializes from a magic circle with an octagonal star emblazoned on it.
It pierces a Spartaxian warship and goes through to pierce one more warship, this one of Kree origin.
A flash of light and fire is briefly followed by a silence of astonishment and disbelief. Only to be broken by the sound of the explosion.
The conflagration is led to expansion by the quaking of the atmosphere. Only to finally diminish, leaving destruction and black smoke as the only evidence of the deed.
Kymelia III, once a planet full of life, under the rule of a technocracy, is now a battleground where the clash between several galactic forces takes place.
Its forest, cities, plains, and landscape have been forcefully transformed. It's rivers, or what's left of them, now carry the blood of the fallen. Its oceans are now the final destination of warships and bodies alike.
"That should keep them busy!"- I shout as the shockwave of my attack disrupts the battlefield once more.
"How many refugees are left? I don't think we will be able to stay on the planet longer. The last attack from the Spartaxians destabilized the core."- I say as I use my TK to hold back the ground below us from exploding into a volcano.
This war is going to Krypton the planet into oblivion.
Other parts of the planet are not as lucky. This is the only continent that hasn't turned into a volcanic landscape. As well as the last stand of all forces involved.
*Bamf*- Kurt teleports behind me with more Kymellian refugees in his hands.
"I have two more trips left and we will be done with the ones that accepted the migration offer."- Kurt answered before teleporting.
"What's the total?"- I ask Yelena who stands beside me. Irina is in charge of overseeing the well-being of the ones boarding our ships.
"With this planet... 1.784.637 citizens."- We are making a better time than I expected, but that's probably because the Kree and Spartax are waging war throughout the whole system, looking for the Black Vortex.
"Go help expedite the migration, I think the planet will collapse sooner rather than later, Yelena."- More so since I will soon stop holding it from falling apart.
"As you wish, Young Master."- Sometimes they are formal... sometimes they call me 'Daddy' just to fuck with my sense of inner peace. Fuck you, Schmidt!
"Spark, get me the Fluff."- I command to my P-Link.
"Please wait, Master Chief. The distance entails a longer waiting time than usual."- I could always open a portal to take a shortcut, but I'm refraining from long-distance portaling for now.
"Maybe I should work on Quantum Entanglement communication, distance would be irrelevant that way"- I comment as I wait for the call to connect.
"I'm already working on a viable model, you can evaluate it when you return."- Spark added.
"Thanks, Spark. I will update our tech once we have this migration sorted out. The Sovereign tech we got will prove valuable in our genetic manipulation field, since I will update the Bio-Lab I should do the same with the rest of our systems."- It's not like I can always have my biokinesis everywhere, hence the need to upgrade our tech.
[Transmission Handshake Established]
"Aragorn. I see you're as busy as me. What can I do for you?"- Emma said from the other end as she noticed the battlefield in my background. On her end, I glimpsed one of her tails was held by her mini-me.
"Hi Fluff, Hi Mindee. How are you doing with the refugees? Any problems with the first batches we sent you?"- I earned a wave from the princess, I should be grateful.
I normally don't pay attention to the world around me when I'm lost in the fluff. Hence, I should really be grateful. I don't have the high ground to shame her for not properly greeting me.
"There's so many problems that I would waste my day numbering them. But not ones we were not expecting."- Emma said as she rolled her eyes at her daughter's behavior. I bet she has seen those manners before... on me.
"We have the usual clashing of religious beliefs, ideologies, races, previous hostile ethnicities, monetary systems, the usual cycle of hate, biological collisions between races and environments, a spy or a thousand more, but so far nothing that would need our direct intervention. The dryads and nais are doing great as diplomats of peace."- I can tell that also all the AI helping her doesn't hurt.
|Mugetsu|!- A blade of black flames ripples from my hand in the direction of a warship that was loading a photonic warhead in the direction of the ships behind me. That would have been like setting a solar flare rampant on this side of the planet.
Which I don't need at the moment.
"... I see you're having problems of your own."- Emma.
"Cool."- Mindee said with her usual aloofness and star-like eyes. A cute incongruity.
"Not really. These guys are strong at the level of a galactic empire, but they are just that. I'm using them to test some of the AoE attacks that I've been recreating. Instead of focusing on their stupid conflict, they decided to serve themselves as my test subjects by targeting my refugees."- Only obliteration is left on the path of Mugetsu, you have to at least be Aizen-sama if you want to survive.
"Why are they fighting? We don't understand what this 'Black Vortex' is."- Mindee asked from the other side, without freeing her mother's tail. She looks like a kid hugging her favorite pillow.
I suppose that Emma is letting the girl hear the reports that Irina and Yelena sent her.
"The Black Vortex is something that was created by a God-Robot a long time ago. It's a mirror that gives you powers."- This is the simplified kids' version of the story.
"Like ours?"- Mindee said as she petted her tail. 'Her tail' because I can see that she has taken possession of that tail of her mother.
"Similar, but more god-like. It depends on the person."- In the comics Shadowcat, aka Katherine Pryde, becomes a multiversal entity with it, though eventually her power-up seemingly wore out.
I won't let my cat touch that mirror since there's no guarantee that she will have the same fate as the one in 616.
"Are you bringing that home?"- My power-hungry fluff asked.
"No. That stuff corrupts. I will probably return it to its creator or find a way to destroy it."- If all fails I will just dump it in The Void.
"*Sigh*... Are there no safe ways of getting 'power-ups'?"- Emma asked in resignation.
"Am I chopped liver? I have already given you all the powering up that you'll need in your eternal life, you're welcome by the way."- I asked while looking at her with derision.
"*Sigh*... Sorry, I just feel wholly underprepared for all the dangers out there. I don't feel strong enough to protect everything that you've given me, my empire, my dignity, myself, my family..."- She patted the head of Mindee with a second tail. This pleases the princess.
"I understand what you mean, Fluff. But there are no safer paths to power than the one I paved for you. And as corny as it sounds, you're safe in my shadows, you don't need to put yourself out there and call for unwanted attention, that's what my role as your protector demands."- Technology and Biology are, probably, the safest ways to go about power-ups, exceptions aside.
"Thanks, Aragorn. For everything."
"No need to get melancholic, Fluff. You know that I love you, all of you, and I will always do my best to pamper you silly. How is it going with the girls and their corporate life? Do you think they will last long enough to fake the deaths of their current personas?"
"Hahaha! Let me get Natalia on the line, she will probably give you the best point of view."- She connected Natalia to the call.
"... That can't be right! What's this really about? I already signed that deal! Over a semester ago! Why are they complaining now?... You think!? *Sigh* It doesn't matter! A deal is a deal! Stop entertaining those fools! Stop wasting time on that sinking ship of a company. Roxxon's vehicle division will be ours by next year."- Natalia can be seen wearing a wine pantsuit and waving a golf club in her office with a breathtaking view of the fjords behind her while shouting over her office phone.
She has her 'Wolf of Wall Street' vibe down to the tee.
"Idiots! Hey Emma-... And my enslaver employer! When am I dying?! I don't think I can handle this anymore. I want to go back to The Crystal, I miss the time when all I had to do was train the girls, this is not as empowering as I thought it would be. The assassination attempts are not even the problem, I enjoyed those, it's the greedy and misogynist idiots around me. Do you know how many have attempted to confidently sex their way into a deal with me?!"- She huffed and puffed.
Which is something weird about society in this universe. By the time technology back in my universe had advanced as much as here the role of women in society was not that of a possession. The typical 70's housewife.
They played active roles... Which didn't turn out so well after most men were sent to the grinder against the invaders. By the time we got back, polygamy was actively encouraged by the world government to fight against the massive global depopulation.
Which, ironically, brought back the times of harems. Something that feminism was strongly opposed to.
Also, we had a vast communication network spanning the whole globe, one known as social media. 'The Culture' had already planted its roots, and ignoring certain exceptions there was a faint sense of unity as a race.
Not like that helped when World War III was about to happen and Russia was getting ready to bring the joys of the 'Motherland' to the rest of Europe. But at least Sexism and Racism weren't as blatant as it is here.
"... I'm sorry? You should have at least one more year and then you can fake your death and the company will be moved under me. However, I would appreciate it if you drop by and help from time to time. I intend to make you part of the owners of the company, on paper at least."
"Agh! Remind me again, Why are we doing this?"
"To create your identities, your new personas need a paper trail. We will be Earthbound for at least 18 years more, until Tiamut's emergence, so if you want to have a peaceful life then it's best not to have someone on your ass for such a small matter. It was part of the deal that I made with you and the little maids/widows."- Their current personas are standing on flimsy ground.
The only reason no one has discovered the incongruities in their legal papers is because we are actively using our telepathy to fog the truth.
"I don't think any of us will care if we are left Halobound for the rest of our lives. You have spoiled our sense of commodity and I don't think any will be thrilled to go back to the hinterland ways of Earth, surrounded by unevolved pigs who think they are better than us without knowing that we could mush their balls with a flick of a wrist."- What a visual...
"I can tell... But we are already this far, and I still need someone to manage my budding companies for at least 1 or 2 years more. I will handle the rest thereafter. Although Irina and Yelena are the only ones doing 'maidly' work, you can consider this as an extension of your maid duties."- In other words: 'Consider this a repayment for all the titty-sucking you've been doing on this 'sugar daddy''
|Super Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann Gigga Dri-|- Just kidding! I don't plan to destroy the universe and its neighbors. But I did make a giant drill of psionic energy and sent it to that ship that has been giving me a weird feeling.
To my surprise, the attack never reached. It wasn't snuffed out, I can feel it going and going, but it's not moving forward.
"What was that? Why did you stop?"- Natalia asked.
"I don't know. I didn't. Let me see."- I focused my sight on the ship, which didn't appear to be Kree or Spartaxian. Probably one of the Kymellians.
This one is the most likely one to carry the Black Vortex. Let's look for it.
"Ah... Fuck. A space-warper. That idiot is trying to Satoru Gojō my attack but in a terrible way. He is adding space layer upon space layer. The idiot will create a singularity. Oddly enough, that's something very Satoru Gojō to do."- I can't help but watch with morbid fascination.
"Which overpowering empire out there can deploy a space-warper to a battlefield?"- Natalia asked in confusion, knowing how valuable space-warpers are.
"It's some Black Vortex shenanigans! No space-warpers are serving an empire, that I know of. Fury is the closest one and he is lacking in power, he can't do what this idiot is doing, and he only serves himself and his conspiracy theories."
"Black Vortex?"- She cutely tilted her head in confusion.
"It's a mirror that grants cosmic powers depending on your potential. Another of the fuck-ups of the Celestials. More specifically the one called Godhead."
The psionic drill kept flying straight, while suspended by the 'infinity' between it and the ship. The space-warper upheld his end by pilling layer upon layer.
"Why would they leave something like that behind?"
"I don't know. Sometimes Celestials mess up. I thought that one Black Vortex on the prime reality was enough. Why would they make a second one?"
"Shouldn't you stop the drill?"- Natalia asked.
"No. If they erase evidence of our involvement in their war we won't have to deal with a resentful Kree or Spatax empire. It's best to help the black hole grow and erase all."- Fluff answered.
"The vast majority of the bystanders have been evacuated, whoever is left is either involved or better off dying than informing their superiors of our involvement and starting a war against us, one that would only result in their annihilation and more death, needless death."- I added as I pulled a mountain from the distance and threw it to the space-warper.
"That planet was already going to collapse, a singularity just makes things cleaner."- Fluff, who apparently received a status update from Spark, added.
"Wait! How come no one knows of our involvement?"- Natalia asked since she was not aware of the specifics of our mission.
"Emma had the foresight to instruct me to mask our presence. The only ones that have evidence of our implication are the ones directly under Stakar, and they won't be suicidal enough to earn the scorn of three empires if they betray us."- Ours, Kree, and Spartax.
"Not even Nova is clear on where we are migrating people from. It also helps that this is not the only battlefield that we have visited. So everything has been very clandestine. Rumors will probably fly over their radar."- Emma.
"What about the refugees?"- Natalia directed the question to Emma.
"Once Aragorn finds me new territory we will move them over there. While in Nirn they have minimal to no contact with the rest of the universe."
*Bamf*- A tired Kurt appears.
"Aragorn this group is the last. Kitty also said that I shouldn't teleport anymore because some idiot is attempting to create a black hole, something about destabilizing the space lattice... She thought it was you... Yes! It looks like I won the bet!"- Kurt said as he eyed the clash of forces in the distance.
"What bet?"- I asked.
"I said that you wouldn't be insensitive enough to create a black hole while the refugees were here. It looks like someone over there is responsible and you're doing some damage control."-...
"Of course, Kurt. In no way I'm stupid enough to enable the creation of a black hole while you all are in the vicinity.
"... Right... That's what I said..."- Kurt said while he eyed me suspiciously.
"..."- Natalia.
"..."- Emma.
"Hehehe!"- Mindee, who has been paying attention to our conversation.
'Everybody that doesn't want to experience an event horizon and furthermore discover what's beyond! Get out of this star system!'- I sent the 'get the F out' call to all Ravagers.
'Roger'
'Copy that'
'Leaving.'
'I am already at the edge of the gravity well.'
'Remember to follow the agreed-upon paths when reaching the Nova Empire.'- I reminded the members of the tele-chat (Telepathic Chat).
'What's the timeframe, Aragorn?'- Stakar asked.
'3 to 7 minutes.'- I sent another drill to make it look like I'm an idiot that doesn't learn. This should put more pressure on the space-warper.
"Get on the ship, Kurt. I have a mirror to retrieve from the wreckage left behind."
"You don't need to tell me twice."- Kurt ran towards the ship behind me as fast as an SDS Velociraptor, perks of the Nanosuit.
"How are things going with James, Steve, and Ms. Carter?"- I asked as I kept track of my allies evacuating, through my psionic sense.
"Fury effectively faked Ms. Carter's death a week ago. She moved to Halo yesterday, but she is having a hard time with the girls."- Emma informed.
"Why?"- I asked since I only had a suspicion about the reason.
"Steve is handsome, famous, of good character, Spark-approved, has a good behind, and is fertile... some of the older girls are pursuing him. They challenged Ms. Carter for his hand in marriage or a place in his harem."- Emma says while showing a difficult expression.
"They challenged Peggy Carter, the seventy-eight-year-old, to a duel for Steve's hand or a place in his nonexistent harem?"- This is more out of whack than I expected.
"Yes."- Emma confirms.
"Why would they think that challenging a grandma to a duel was fine?"
"That's because you used to say 'All is fair in war and love.' while you cheated during our spars."- Natalia said.
"..."- I don't think I can genuinely be blamed for this, Can I?
"What did she do?"- If she is like the Peggy I saw on the TV show then she might have actually tried to fight them off.
"She told Bucky that as the best man he should deal with the hussies flying around her soldier."- Emma.
"I don't think that Bucky could deal with more than 2 or 3 girls. How did that go?"- That's one way to do it.
"He was beaten black and blue by the 4 girls. He only 'won' at the end because he did a mutually destructive attack. We had to ask Master to cleanse the shadow corruption from the 5 of them when they were not waking up after 29 hours."- Natalia.
Bucky must have used an incomplete spell from his shadow branch of magic. But the complete version should be a monster of a spell because, for the bodies of my people, 29 hours is almost impossibly long for a time of unconsciousness.
"... I'm glad they didn't fight a grandma."- I don't know what else to say about their fierce and shameless character.
"She's okay. She's been enjoying her life on Halo ever since she went through the med bay and got her maladies dealt with. Her only complaint is about the women trying to ensnare her man. She is awaiting enhancement along with Mindee, Wanda, and Ms. Harkness."- Emma said.
"Mindee, have you chosen already?"- I ask the princess. I also want to stop talking about how the girls behave with others.
"Mhm! We will be like Mother. We want our ears and tails soon."- I figured. As if the excessive amount of possessiveness over her mom's tails was not enough confirmation.
"This reminded me of poor Wanda"- Fluff commented.
"Hehehe! You should see Wanda."- Natalia added with a mischievous grin on her face.
"Wanda?"- I asked in confusion.
"Yeah, let me add her."- Natalia connected Wanda to the call a few seconds later.
"Huh? Natalia, What's up?"- A teen with a bird's nest for a hairdo and red baggy-eyes came up on the hologram.
"Wanda? What happened to you?"- She looks as if Sybill Trelawney went through one of those raves that Eastern Europe was famous for. At least before it went to shit just prior to the alien invasion.
"Agh! You idiot! Where are my horns?! Please, for the love of all that is magical, put some horns on me!"- She shouted while bringing her face closer to the holo screen.
"...Wut?"- Wut?
"HAHAHAHAHA."- Natalia.
"*Pff* Hahaha!"- Emma failed to contain her laugh.
"HAHAHAHA! What's wrong with you?"- I joined them.
"It's the itchiness! I hardly sleep and I can't get it out of my head. I need horns!"- She yelled as she further messed with her hair and her Chaos magic messed up with the room in her background.
"Has it been this bad since I left?"- It's been three months since then, and people can go crazy in that timeframe.
"No! I made a breakthrough in my magic control 5 days ago, so the amount of Chaos suffusing grew further. Your void energy also pervaded and that balanced things out, but ever since, the itch has grown!"- I can't help but find it funnier.
"Why don't you ask Agatha to put a sensory-depriving rune on you?"
"Ugh! She told me that I should do it myself. But I can't concentrate!"- Agatha can be sadistic like that.
"Did you ask Yao for help?"
"She said that she won't interfere in my academic curriculum."- Yao can also be sadistic like that.
"If you can't find a fix you could ask Jean for help with the sensory deprivation. I will 'put' some horns on you in about a month."- I haven't found any succubi but I could probably ask Noona for some help.
"She can help me? I thought that she couldn't do magic until she mastered her avatar powers."
"She can use her telepathy to alter your perception of stimuli. Emma could probably do it as well but Jean can easily maintain the trick, even after you separate."- I looked back at Emma for confirmation.
"Mmm yes. If it's within Halo I could do it. But I usually have to move between Halo and Nirn. So Jean would be better."- Besides this should keep her busy while I can't personally train her. Lately, she spends an unholy amount of time in the corner of my mindscape that she uses for sleeping purposes.
The shameless padawan bird started making a tiny planetoid in there, but since it's my mindscape I'm the one that has to maintain it. The bright side is that this works for my training, so taking a page of her idea I made a few other planets around it.
I'm aiming to the extremity of my mastery over my powers.
|Cursed Technique Amplification: Blue|- A cobalt blue magic circle manifest on my right.
|Cursed Technique Reversal: Red|- A crimson red magic circle manifest on my left.
|Hollow Purple|- A purple bright speck of destruction is born from the wicked combination of both.
I sent my recreation of Hollow Purple to the Satoru Gojō wannabe. Ironic.
"How is that any different from making the black hole yourself?"- Natalia asked.
"What black hole?"- Wanda said in confusion, as she peeked at my surroundings.
"This is not the real black hole I'm talking about. I recreated this one with gravity, different from the one in the anime. That idiot is attempting to block my attacks with space. He will make a black hole of space, not one of mass or gravity."
"What's the difference?"- Emma asked. She is less knowledgeable about the universe's makeup, compared to my other daughters.
"Oh! I know the answer. If you make a black hole out of mass and or space, the black hole becomes permanent, one leads to the other, on the other hand, one made out of gravity will collapse after it consumes the energy that sustains it."- Wanda answered like that kid in the classroom that we all consider the teacher's pet.
"That's correct, if you collapse space and bring all the layers that form its makeup into a singular point, you scar the space-time in a way that creates a permanent black hole, later that cavity is filled with matter and you end up with a veridic black hole."- I paraphrased what Wanda said.
"If you compress enough mass you create a black hole, one that scars space-time collapsing its layers upon a singular point."- Wanda explained how one type could lead to another.
"The gravitational pull is just a consequence of the other two. If you want to create a black hole with gravity you must accumulate enough mass for the black hole to be made. Then said mass concentration scars space-time."- This usually takes an obscene amount of time, so making permanent black holes by gravitational control is not viable.
"Won't it take too long for the idiot to collapse space into a singular point?"- Natalia asked.
"No. This is the strongest space-warper that I currently know of. Take a look, he is already absorbing the ship, the ground, the atmosphere."- The girls and I pause for a moment of silence to witness the ship that the fool was so desperate to protect being sucked in by his own creation. There goes the mirror.
"Why is he still fueling the singularity?"- Emma asked.
"Corruption. This guy is most definitely one of the empowered by the Black Vortex. His mind was corrupted by power and now he is only thinking about overpowering my attacks, ascertaining his might over my own."
|Bararaq Saiqa|- A pillar of light and lightning strikes forward from a magic circle on my left. I left this one 'on'.
"Any requests? You can send them through the contract, and I will recreate them over here."- I just need to pretend to be as brainless as the idiot until the singularity is born.
"Me! I made a photon laser spell. It was part of an assignment Master left us."- I received Emma's spell through the contract.
Oh. Wow. Is she trying to slice a country in half?
"Emma, this shit is dangerous. It moves at lightspeed and erodes while it burns, similar to how solar flares erode the atmosphere. You'll have to be careful of what's behind your target when you use it."- I informed her after examining her spell.
"I know, Master said the same, so I haven't tried it."
"Have you named it?"
"Trabem Lucis. I used Latin, as you and Master said."
"'Beam of light' I like it. Let's try it."
__________________________________________
At the edge of the Kymellian star system, Sanctuary II.
"Father. I have confirmation from one of our spies that your prize awaits on the third planet of the system. Presently, The Kree and the Spartaxians are fighting over its supremacy while the Kymellians fail to protect it."- A white-haired, gray-skinned, and noseless Chancellor Palpatine look-alike said so.
"All that power at their reach, and even then the Kymellians fail to protect their so-called possession. Power at the reach of the weak is nothing more than a tragedy in the making. Only when the hands of the strong wield it can the worthy truly bring about much-needed change."- Thanos says as he surveys the ongoing conflict on the holograms before him.
"No other one is truly worthy of such power. No other being has ever the might to wield such power, such as yourself."- Ebony Maw said in a faithful tone of voice.
"Do we make haste to the conflict and placate the unworthy souls?"- Ebony Maw.
"It's not needed. Let them cull themselves in this futile struggle. The Black Vortex is already mine, after that... it won't be long before I offer half of all that is life to her."- Simp Thanos.
"Do we have any information on the source of the energy readings we've been receiving?"
"No, my Liege. We suspect that the readings are coming from the other side of the planet. We need to change the ship's position if we want to ascertain the origin of the energy. Should I command the crew to do so?"
"No. Keep on the current course. Once we get in orbit will have our visual."- Thanos.
"As you wis-"- Before Ebony Maw could affirm, a blaring sound followed by a warning notice on the holographic screen interrupted them.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
"Proximity Alert? It appears that we have several escapees nearing our location. Father, your orders?"
"Bring them up to the screen and get weapons ready. In the infinitesimal chance of them holding the Black Vortex... we can leave some of the Black Order to go through the wreckage."
[Transmission Chanel Opened]
"You have been graced with-"- Ebony Maw tried to initiate the greeting by announcing the presence of the one and only, so the unworthy knew who was before them.
Because even with all of Thanos's bravado, he knew that there were certain existences that he must not cross if he wanted to fulfill his destiny. At least not until he had the power to back it up.
Had there been an Asgardian on one of the ships, he wouldn't destroy that ship. Dealing with Odin, the All-Father, before having at least one of the Infinity Stones in his hands was not part of his current plans.
At least he tried, because an inpatient cat interrupted him before he could do so.
"This is Captain Darth Kitty, of the Sith. In the name of my draconic overlord and mount! Who the fuck gave you the balls to hail my ship whil- Shit! Is that Darth Sidious? What happened to his nose? Kurt! Take a look! It's Palpatine!"
"Shut up Kitty! They are aiming at us and there's a fucking black hole on our asses. This is not the time for this, either blast through them or portal us out of here!"- Kurt... a man who has seen and lived through some serious stuff... had no qualms about ending the life signs on the ship that was preventing their escape.
"Ms. Kitty, that's Ebony Maw and the one behind him is Thanos, The Mad Titan."- Carina brought the duo back to reality. She has grown a spine bigger than a spinosaurus' after her recent adventures, this was only enhanced further by the education about the 'Truth' of the universe that she received in the past months.
When you have a cosmic dragon as your backer... What's a simp mutant eternal titan to you? This was Carina's situation.
"That's him?! I thought he'd be taller. Isn't he supposed to be a titan? What is he? 6 feet and... 7 inches? Maybe more."- Kitty asked with curiosity as she tried to guess Thanos's height.
A difficult task given that Thanos was on his throne.
"Ms. Kitty, no one part of the recognized galactic races uses their feet as a form of measurement."
"..."
"Pfff! Carina is calling you an uneducated peasant, Kitty."- Kurt chuckled at his friend's expense.
"Well, I don't thi-"- Kitty tried to retort only to be interrupted.
"Kill them. The clowns have no say in their deaths, anyway."- Thanos ordered.
"As you wi-"- Before Ebony Maw could confirm, a blaring sound followed by a warning notice on the holographic screens interrupted them. This time on both sides of the transmission.
*BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!*
"Gravitational Anomaly?"- Ebony Maw asked, shocked, while not understanding how a gravitational anomaly could happen so suddenly.
"Oh shit! Get us the fuck out of here! Now! Kitty! Fucking NOW!"- Kurt shouted. His manners have taken a toll after a few months of living on the battlefield, near-constant death.
You can even consider him a hardened veteran mercenary at this point.
He now has such an extensive understanding of the art of combat that he can beat Kitty in CQC as long as she is not using magic or sorcery.
Yet, the cracking point of his sanity remains as elusive as always. Certain maid hasn't given up, she is determined to discover his limits.
In the pursuit of her study of Kurt's sanity, she has taken to her hands the dispatch of Kurt to the most perilous battlefields.
"Shit!"- Kitty said as she moved her hands in a circle.
A portal of about half The Arcadia's length opened up in front of the ship, followed by a smaller one opening behind her.
"All ships! Follow through! I repeat! Follow through!"- Kitty shouted through the coms as she ordered the caravan behind her to follow The Arcadia.
The urgency was felt in her tone of voice, she knew how her dragon friend tends to over-exceed expectations when it comes to destruction, which is something almost sarcastic when spoken through by the planet-buster Kitty.
"Kurt, you'll be in command until I return. I'll guard the rearguard."- Kitty said as she jumped through the portal behind her, into the vacuum of space.
[Transmission Ended]
"Get us out of here! Now!"- Thanos ordered with urgency.
"But, my Liege! Your prize?!"
"I can't hold my future in my hands if I have no future left. I will have other opportunities. I am inevitable, but for now, we retreat."- Besides, it's not like he didn't gain anything from this venture.
He discovered a previously hidden force capable of creating stable dimensional wormholes big enough to fit warships through.
He thought as much as he eyed the catgirl freely floating above a massive portal while a caravan of refugees moved through it.
Even from this distance, against all logic, he could feel her gaze on him.
He was not mistaken, Kitty used a summoning spell to call upon her eyes the telescopic and see-through sight of Aragorn. She did as much to keep her enemy under her careful watch.
"As you wish."- Ebony Maw said as the Sanctuary II made haste away from the soon-to-collapse star system.
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Battlefield, Kymellia III.
"This looks like some form of trippy art exposition."- Wanda commented as we appreciated all of the attacks, locked in the air, that I've been using on the idiot.
Drills, pillars of light, photon beams, flares, lances, and all shapes of different forms of energy, and much more.
A chunk of the continent where we stood was already absorbed by the nascent black hole.
"Are you sure the mirror was on the ship that was sucked in?"- Emma asks for confirmation.
"Yes. I saw it."
"Doesn't that mean that the mirror is already destroyed?"- Natalia.
"No. I can still see it. I think my breath can destroy it. Or I just make a quick trip to The Void and dump it there."
"Won't that cause any problems with the Celestials?"- Wanda.
"*Sigh* Maybe? Give me a sec, I will ask Tiamut, it's the only Celestial whose position I know."
"Isn't Tiamut still... a baby?"- Emma.
"Celestials are all multiversal, so even if it's only a baby it should be connected to its multiversal counterparts."
"Not that, I mean... Is it awake? Shouldn't it be sleeping? Growing?"
"Nope. This guy is a peeping Tom like Uatu. I felt its sight when I first landed on Earth. I'm pretty sure of it."
I shapeshift an eye on the back of my head, creepily covered by my hair, and use focused-by-sight telepathy in the direction of Earth's biggest baby.
This is one of the answers that I came to when trying to use my focused-by-sight telepathy without zooming out of my surroundings.
'Tiamut? Are you up?'- This is just for courtesy, I know they are up.
'Who?...'- I received a multivoiced response.
'Aragorn.'- It can't see me because it is currently not born, so its area of influence is bound to Earth.
'The progeny of The Outside...'- Yes, this is their way of referring to me, according to Schmidt.
'Yes.'
'I can't find you...'
'I'm not near Earth, I have a bit of a problem and you're the only Celestial I can find.'
'What demands of my knowledge?...'- It probably feels lethargic, hence the short but extended answers, as lethargic as a Celestial can be.
'I will have The Black Vortex in my possession soon enough. May I destroy it?'- Celestial tend to have complicated plans for reality and I don't want to later be blamed for something stupid because I tried to get rid of this cursed mirror.
'The reflection of possibilities and potential?...'
'Yes. As far as I know, Godhead made the one on the prime reality. I assume this one was made by them as well. It's causing some problems so I want to remove it from the chessboard.'
I waited a couple of seconds before I felt a sight on me... I grew another eye and followed it back.
Back to... ?... outside this universe... ? ... close to the main reality... Oh! It's Godhead's main body.
I made eye contact and extended a finger pointing to the singularity where the mirror was found.
A second more and it lifted its sight from me. I removed my last grown eye and stopped watching. I don't want to peep on business that's not my own, and whatever happens outside of my universe is not my business. Not even if that guy is standing in front of a rip in reality leading to what I believe is the Cancerverse.
'... ... ... Godhead approves of your decision. You should cleanse this reality from this failed experiment...'- I'm going to assume that Tiamut's main self got the answer from Godhead.
'Thanks. By the way, are you still up for the emergence in about 18 more cycles?'- I better get confirmation now that I have the chance.
'Affirmative... The possibility for deviation exists, but 18 cycles is a close estimate... What will you do?...'
'I'm working on it. If no solution is found, I will just move the whole biosphere to Mars and simply leave you with the planet itself.'- This is the nuclear option. Gaea's lifeforce is still connected to Earth's so I will either connect her to some other planet or find a different approach.
If I exit the timestream I will have an infinite amount of 'time' to come up with a solution, so I'm not worried.
'... Acceptable, yet not ideal. It would be regretful to lose the planet...'- Meaning that Tiamut doesn't want to be done with Earth either.
'I have other ideas, I will run them through you when the time is right. Thank you for the help.'
I 'hung up' the call.
"Alright! we got the green light!"- I made a thumbs up to the girls on the other side of the holo screen.
"That's good. I don't want you fighting the 'God-robots'."- Emma said while bringing Mindee to her lap.
"Ugh, It wouldn't be much of a fight and more of a beat down."- I confessed.
"... Are they that strong?"- Wanda asked.
"Yes and no. I could kill a few of them on my own. But they are multiversal... So it would be useless."
"How come?"- Natalia.
"Meaning, he kills one, and another version of it will just come out from another reality and continue the fight right where it was left."- Wanda clarified.
"Yeah, what she said... I would have to go the the prime reality and kill the prime body, but as soon as they spot me then they would summon their counterparts and I don't think I could fight an infinite number of Celestials. It is like one of those questions about which infinite is bigger."- Not like we will ever be enemies, under normal circumstances that is.
"That sounds like a nightmare. Aragorn, Why don't you hurry up with your studies on the multiversal barrier and create a universe where I could live my life without worrying about 'God-robots' and whatnot? I would have the sole creator as my sugar daddy."- Emma.
"..."- Natalia.
"..."- Wanda.
"..."- Me.
"What's a sugar daddy, Mom?"- Mindee.
That's what you get for being so shameless.
"I'll tell you later, when you grow up, my princess."- She kissed Mindee on her nose and covered her with her other tails. Only the girl's face was left out of the fluff heaven.
A masterful move to make your daughter ignore your verbal slip.
I'm envious. I should shapeshift into my loli form and enjoy the same privilege. I'll set up a reminder on my schedule.
I raise my arms above my head and manipulate the energy in the atmosphere (What's left of it.) and the mantle, I compress all of it into a light blue shiny sphere.
|Genki-dama|- I think this technique, for all of its build-up, only worked once in Dragon Ball-Z.
"That one is from Dragon Ball, right?"- Emma asked.
"Yeah. Did you not recognize the previous attacks?"- She was all quiet so I thought she was just not impressed.
"No. I don't have much time to go over the anime you have uploaded to the learning room."- To be fair, after Spark, she is the busiest of us.
Even Yao has free time.
"Do you want our help? You shouldn't be so busy."
"No. I enjoy this. This and teaching were always my dreams."- She answered with a blinding smile.
"Did you use ki for that attack?"- Wanda asked.
"No. Ki can be said to be almost exclusively practiced on Earth. The ki density here is laughable."- The reason behind this has to do with the bunch of crazy stuff that happened to or on Earth. Gaea confirmed that initially there was no ki. She also said that her lifeforce has some hand in it.
"By the way, How is it going with Cosmo?"- I sent him back to Halo because I promised him a family, not a battlefield.
"Oh! He is wonderful! He is a good boy and he has been enjoying the plains east of The Crystal. He is also infatuated with Princess."- Wanda.
"Yekaterina's mutant dog?"- I thought because of the difference in the level of existence, between a psychic dog and an almost feral one, he wouldn't be attracted to another of his race.
Similar to me with regular humans.
"Yep. They are cute together and Cosmo is taking care of her. He did ask me if there was a way to make Princess like him. But I told him to wait for your return."- That makes more sense.
"It shouldn't be a problem."- I assented.
"That looks different. Is it happening?"- Natalia asked as the planet was *Whomp* by the almost newborn black hole.
"Almost th-"- I turn my head around as I feel another ship in the system.
"What's happening?"- Wanda.
"Thanos."- I say.
We stayed silent for a minute or two. Not because Thanos was any threat but because they know that I'm trying to stay away from him as long as he doesn't have the Mind Stone.
I don't want to butterfly-effect my chances of getting the Mind Stone.
I can't mess with him or Loki if I want either of them to deliver the stone to my planet.
*Rummmmble*- The singularity finally happened as the gravitational waves hit me.
"HAHAHAHAHA! Kitty can be an idiot sometimes. Spark send them a copy."- I said out loud.
A few seconds later the girls got a copy of the transmission between The Arcadia and The Sanctuary II.
*Rummmmble*- There goes another planet.
"HAHAHAHAHAHA!"x3- At least Emma had the hindsight of covering Mindee's ears so that she wouldn't listen to the crass language of my cat.
After an extended but needed silence that allowed them to recover Natalia asked:
"Is the corruption such a thing that the idiot hasn't realized he is about to die?"
"Yeah. In the prime reality, even the Supreme Intelligence of the Kree rejected the mirror, and they are always looking for ways to empower their empire. Anyone with half a mind would understand that instant power always bears consequences. The infinity stones are the best example."- Though 616 Thanos doesn't have a problem wielding all of the stones, maybe this is part of those things that conflict with my comic knowledge.
*Rummmmble*- Now only the star is missing.
"Will he survive the assimilation of the star?"- Wanda.
"I don't think so. But we should have our answer soon."- I comment as the star begins to lose mass, as more and more is sucked out of it.
The external structure of the star begins to collapse, and then...
Light. The core which is normally kept stable under the pressure of the fuel above it, explodes.
The explosion is then attracted to the singularity. Exponentially so.
"It looks different from what I imagined."- Natalia commented.
"It's because this is not a natural meet-up of a black hole and a star. Normally the star is slowly attracted by the singularity and then the former orbits around the latter until it eventually falls under the event horizon. In this case, the idiot powered through all the steps and went to the annihilation part, the fun part."- It's also slightly different from the theoretical knowledge that we had back in my universe.
"Did he survive?"- Emma.
Due to the plasmatic 'stardust' that is currently being absorbed by the singularity, we can't see if the idiot is alive or not.
Nothing a quick application of my enhanced sight can't peer through.
"...He is... dead. Just killed-"
*RUMBLE*- I'm hit by a massive gravitational wave.
The black hole exponentially expands and swallows most of the remaining nebulae. I erect around me a barrier to protect my P-link from dying because I'm about to be gobbled up by the singularity.
I opened a small astral path connecting to Noona's realm and a second path from there connecting to Halo, this way I won't lose 'reception'. Dimensional portalling is useless from the inside of a black hole.
Massively compressed space will restrict my current communication tech. I need to update to quantum if I plan to swim in black holes or stars.
"What was that? It got out of control all of a sudden."- Natalia.
"The idiot died so my attacks fed the black hole and it went out of control. Let me get out of here."- I forcefully moved out of space and popped just outside the event horizon.
"What was that? It was like your background shifted but you didn't move."- Wanda asked.
"This is something that you should be able to replicate once you learn spatial displacement. Instead of teleporting through space, you move the space through you."- Sort of, it's kinda weird because I can naturally do this since it was the only way of moving in The Void.
"I will be able to do that? I didn't see a magic circle."- She is observant that way.
"I can do it naturally, you can use Chaos magic to rewrite reality, in this case, space-time. But it's some advanced stuff so don't try it on your own."- Not that she'll be able to do it in Halo since I locked space-time over there.
"I will ask moth-Master later."- It's weird how they both think of themselves as mother-daughter but they rarely call each other as such.
"Emma, Do you know if we need to remove this black hole from here? I don't want this black hole to eat a neighboring system if people are living in it."- I'm all about removing evidence, but I would rather create a myth about how the Kymellian star system disappeared with no apparent cause than justify the disappearance of a neighboring system after the newborn Kymellian black hole was discovered eating it.
Avoiding innocent casualties is the bare minimum one should try to do when in a position of power.
"... I don't know. Can't you ask the Ravagers?"
"I don't think I want to let them know that I can remove a black hole in case that removal wasn't needed."- I'm still trying to make any possible enemies underestimate me, however fruitless that might prove in the future.
"Then I don't know, maybe the black hole wasn't the most optimal method."
"I was thinking the same..."
"Why don't you ask Carol? She can keep a secret."- Natalia, Aniki-sent, gave us a viable path.
"Spark, Can you get her for me? Please."- I said.
I waited for a few seconds for the call to connect. But we apparently got her in a bad time, because she has a massive case of bed hair, she is also horizontal. Yep. She was sleeping.
However, you could describe her present state as more captivating than 'beddy'.
"Aragorn. What?"- Hehehe! She is annoyed.
"If a black hole suddenly appears on the Kymellian system, Would any neighboring systems be affected? I don't have a complete start map so I wanted you to check."- I should get Spark to download one from Skatar later. It wasn't a priority before so I didn't need it. I was leaving it for later.
"... Did you make a black hole? Wasn't Kymellia III an active war zone? What are you doing over there?"- She said as she splashed her eyes with water to try and wake up.
"Did you know that we were moving migrants into Nirn?"- Emma asked, as she eyed out the recently woken-up Carol with interest.
"Yes, Irani Rael informed me about it."- Rael seemed to be curious about the source of our new residents.
"I, along with Kitty, have been moving around different conflict zones picking up willing refugees. This was one of the last batches. An idiot made a mistake and created a black hole. I'm just wondering if there are any populated systems in the way or near this one. I can remove the black hole if needed."- I told her.
"By the way, don't tell anyone that we've been migrating refugees."- Emma supplemented.
"... Right. You'd gain the enmity of the affected third parties... Though, Is there any fool out there that would attack an empire under the wing of a cosmic entity?"- Carol asked.
"Yes... It has happened with the Phoenix Force's Avatars. Your scanners are not enough to differentiate power levels after a certain point. A Puny Old Man Odin would appear on the same level as a Prime Allfather Young Daddy Odin. A Celestial would appear on the same level as me. I appear at the same level as Jean. If there's one resource that's not lacking in the universe... it's idiots."- And scum, but those are test subjects and such, you're always lacking those.
I can't kill idiots just because they are. Otherwise, I would have done Xavier and Scott in by now. But that's the murderhobo path. We don't do that here.
"I can't even argue with you on that. I'm receiving the coordinates from Spark. Give me just a second and I will match it to Nova's star chart..."
'Are you enjoying the sight?'- I used my sight-based telepathy just to ask Emma this.
'Shut it! You can't blame it for it.'- Emma responded as she savored Carol's disheveled appearance.
'Are you looking for a queen? A mother to Mindee?'- I'm just curious... and who doesn't enjoy some healthy gossip?
'I don't know... From an emotional stance? No. From a physical stance?... Lately, I've been more open about it, ever since I acknowledged my sexuality.'- Oh...
'... That's in some way my fault, and in some other not.'- I revealed.
'What did you do?'
'So, you know how you don't get the period anymore since I evolved you?'
'Yes, much appreciated by the way.'- I earned myself many brownie points with girls just because of this.
'You're welcome. Animals usually have an 'in heat' phase where the females become... well, horny. Magical Beast included.'
'Since I didn't want you girls to have to go through such vulnerable experiences and I was removing your period I came up with the solution that whenever something that you recognized as 'sexually approved' your body would let you know that you are fertile should you choose to be.'
'I couldn't completely remove the 'in-heat' genetic markers, nor the 'let's bleed' ones. So I mixed them this way.'- Biology and Life are very adamant about the laws of reproduction, if I had completely removed said markers they would have become infertile.
'When I tickled your interest in females last time, your body must have flooded you with some 'you can get pregnant' hormones. Normally this would have flushed out after a good night of sleep. But since you recently were discovering your sexuality and you're usually surrounded by highly attractive and fertile individuals, you fell into a cycle of horniness.'
'You find someone 'sexually approved' around every corner you take, your body gets you more receptive to sex... thus the cycle restarts.'
'... How do I stop it?'- I could see some rosy tint in her cheeks through the holograph.
'Just take a couple of chill days with Mindee. Or somehow become less... 'jumpy' about every female that you look at.'- The second option would be more viable if she had not just recently accepted her attraction to females, or if there were any ugly females around her.
'I could also use my bio-kinesis, but I recommend you to try to get used to it and learn to control it.'
"What category is this black hole?"- Carol asked.
"Intermediate-mass."- It should be star-mass but the idiot messed with it.
"Yes, you should remove it. There's a system that will get pulled by it according to Spark's projections. I sold a copy of my personal star chart to Spark, I will be waiting for my compensation."- Star charts, of military or governmental use, are tightly secured and very complete, when compared to what's publicly available, so I can only imagine what type of compensation she negotiated with Spark.
"Sure. Thanks, Shiny. Will you spend the new year with us?"- I asked my dazzling friend.
"Can I take Maria and Monica with me?"
"Sure. You should explain to them our situation first if you don't want to shock them too much."
"Where's the fun in that?"- Carol said as much with a cocky smile that did things to Emma.
"You have a point there."- I responded with a similar smile.
Let's get rid of this black hole.
I shift to my dragon form and grow in size until I can fit the black hole in my crystal-like clawed hand.
I flood my mouth with my breath and...
*Whomp*- I ate it.
My normal breath would have gone through, I little bit of an overkill, this way is more cost-effective.
Not that I require such measures, but in the future when I fight someone with greater energy reserves than me I might need to take these steps. Better get used to it now.
I grow some eyes inside my 'stomach' and I find... Nothing.
No Black Vortex, which is what matters.
"I-Is this your true form?"- Carol asked with some trepidation in her voice. She has never seen my dragon form.
"Within reality. On the inside (Soul), I look amorphous. But my humanoid form can be considered one of my true forms."
"Shapeshifters without a defined shape, like Noona and I, can be complicated. We choose forms, so technically none and all are our true forms. But this is my first form, which normally is what we call 'True form'."
"How big can you grow?"-...
"Mmmh... I see. I didn't know you saw me like that. I'm sorry Carol, I'm Noonasexual. It's not you, you are one of the most beautiful women I've met. But this can't be. Leaving me aside, Noona would kill you. I'm sorry, my dazzling friend, but this... This can't be!"- I fake a tear on my draconic visage, which I later wipe with my bladed tail. I should gift this crystal tear to Wanda. She likes jewels.
"Pff! Hehe- *Cough*- Hehehe"- Wanda tries to contain her laughter.
"Fuck you, Aragorn."- Carol says as she flipped me off.
"HAHAHAHAHA!"- Natalia.
Emma shielded Mindee's ears with more fluff.
After we made fun of Carol some more and set up a few things about our New Year party, I left for one of the planets that Stakar and crew found.
One of the six very Earth-like planets, composition-wise.
At least in the sense that the surface is mostly water and the atmosphere is oxygenated and Nitrogen-rich.
Of course, since the formation of each planet is very different from the other, the landscapes are something 'out of this world'.
5 of the planets can be considered normal, in alien terms.
1 of them has floating islands. The composition of the core made the planet highly conductive and magnetic.
Meaning that lightning storms and crazy magnetic fields are the norm over there. It's so crazy that you can't use metal over there because it gets magnetized or electrified as soon as you take some out.
Luckily for us... There's magic and runes. Emma was especially happy about this one. She said that she will make it her throneworld.
I also found a place where we could plant the roots of our empire. Nothing special, just far away and close enough to the rest of the empires.
Sadly, it's only the location. There's nothing in there. Just the vacuum.
Which is why I'm stealing all planets along with their corresponding star systems.
But it's not the same as with the Solar System. Because most, if not all, of these planets were left alone due to similar reasons.
They were out of their habitable zones and lacked resources. All of them were considered Death Worlds, due to either unstable climate, high gravitational pull, high magnetic fields, eroding weather, among other deadly afflictions.
We will have to do some terraforming and some star system designing.
I'm half a mind away from pulling the Ark out and letting Emma populate it meanwhile we terraform these planets. I'll run it through her and see what she thinks. It currently lacks any semblance of life, but that could be fixed.
We don't have an overpopulation problem so it's not like we will need the new planets ready by next Monday.
Jean could do it in a jiffy, but only until she fully masters her aspects of destruction, rebirth, and life, and with Senior Sister's assistance. At least for the first time, once she gets full mastery of her powers she will be our personal terraformer.
For the moment... I'm saving these star systems in my shrunken barriers.
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