Alex felt as if he was floating in an infinite void of space. No matter how much he tried to extend himself, no matter how much he tried to move forward, it was all useless. The void stretched out for all eternity as he used his instincts to navigate himself through the world. His current situation reminded him of the time when he'd just awoken as a symbiote but even worse. At the very least, symbiotes had an innate sense of touch, but he felt that even that was completely gone at the moment.
"Hm..." Alex heard a neutral voice that he couldn't identify as male or female, "What a peculiar challenger," The voice spoke, this time seeming much closer to Alex, "Yet the one with the most positive prospects yet." Alex wanted to respond, but it was of no use. He felt like nothing more than a powerless blob in a mass of infinite nothingness, "I hope you can put me back together. In return, I will make you infallible."
Alex's attempts to respond were completely useless. As he kept trying to respond or do anything, he felt a severe sense of vertigo before everything came back.
[Did you get it?] Jane asked as she parried a golden green glowing beam of light. It pushed her back, causing Alex's tentacle to get detached from the casing of the Soul Stone. Just as Jane asked Alex the question, a familiar burst of energy started coursing through her. Having already felt it two times before, she didn't need Alex's confirmation to understand that they had gotten the Soul Stone. Slowly, the green arcs of energy that were on Jane's body turned from the original green to orange before being contained within her.
On the other hand, Alex was feeling a little dazed. He couldn't quite recall the exact words that he'd heard the Soul Stone's spirit say to him. Like a fleeting dream, the words escaped his mind as he came back to reality. Bringing his focus back on the battle, Alex saw the man going completely berserk as the Stone in his head started to release an immense glow. The huge amount of green and gold energy started concentrating right at the place where the man was housing the Soul Stone.
Sadly for the man, with Alex having grabbed the main stone that had been suppressing him and Jane, he was now free to become an active participant in the battle. As the man charged his energy, multiple lightning bolts broke through the palace walls and ceiling, being attracted toward Jane. They struck her within moments and she charged at the man with Mjolnir raised and arching with blue.
With the impending attack upon him, the man showed an unwilling expression as he released the beam prematurely, hoping to push back Jane sufficiently. Sadly for him, the lightning bolts were constantly being attracted toward Jane, striking her and powering her up as Mjolnir cut through the beam of green and gold light before striking the man directly in the head. He still didn't fall down, putting up a last-ditch effort while resisting Jane's attacks.
Alex didn't waste a single moment before extending forward from Jane's arm and enveloping his tendril in the energy of the Soul Stone. He quickly grabbed that stone as well and it disappeared into him.
Following the loss of the stone, the man fell to the ground like a puppet that had been cut off from its strings. His body looked emaciated and shriveled as he fell to the floor and fainted yet he was still breathing lightly.
It was now that Jane got a good look around the chamber that had already left her horrified when she'd barely gotten a look at it. An uncomfortable expression appeared on her face as she dropped her hammer, right on top of the emancipated man. She didn't want him to run away. As for her sword, it disappeared from her hand and appeared in its scabbard at her waist.
"This is madness..." She spoke. Most of the room was filled with thousands of pods lined up like batteries. Each and every single one of those pods was housing a Xandarian with an agony-filled expression on their face. Jane was quickly making her way to the control terminal to see if she could free them, not knowing what else she could be doing.
Moments later, she noticed one of the pods stirring. Whipping her face in its direction, she saw a shriveled-up Xandarian that literally turned to dust. The pod didn't even need to be opened before an unconscious Xandarian came up from below. They awoke with panic visible in their eyes before a soundless scream escaped their lips. Jane saw how that agony filled persisted on their lips as their vitality started getting sucked.
[Emotions...] Alex spoke in Jane's head while taking control of the entire system. He didn't want her to break down in guilt. The faces of all the Xandarians normalized as the pods powered down. Without the Soul Stone there to be powered, it was useless to keep the people in those states.
Jane didn't seem to hear Alex's random musing and held on to a railing at the side before leaning against it, [Why would they do such a thing?]
[With how much work their Soul Stone was doing, I was sure that they had some sort of power source for it. Turns out extreme stimulation of the soul alongside the vitalities of the respective soul is a very efficient way to power the stone.] Alex said with a clinical tone, not expressing any feelings toward the matter.
She didn't respond to his words as a numb feeling overtook her. She saw as the expressions of the thousands of Xandarians all stabilized and they merely seemed like they were deeply asleep at this point. As the seconds passed, a feeling of anger overtook her, "I'll destroy the Sovereign!" She expressed herself while grabbing her sword and moving toward her hammer.
Her assailant had already woken up and was groaning in pain while trying to escape from under the hammer. Sadly for him, Mjolnir was a divine weapon that he had no hope to contend against, at least not without the Soul Stone. Jane approached him with a dark expression in her eyes. Wordlessly, she pulled out Hofund from the scabbard, limply holding it in her hand as the tip of the blade scraped against the floor.
The sounds startled the man, making him turn his head to look at her while struggling to get out from under the hammer. Jane continued approaching him with heavy, slow steps as the man's struggles grew stronger. Each of Jane's steps was accompanied by a thud that made the man feel like a bell was tolling, with each step, his death approached.
"I'll start with you," Jane said with disgust marring her tone as she raised her sword. The man didn't plead. He merely continued struggling, hoping to get out of his predicament.
Just as Jane was about to swing her sword to behead the man, "Wait!" A tired, undoubtedly feminine voice spoke, "Please! I'm begging you!" She spoke hurriedly between huffs from the balcony on top.
"You're next," Jane said apathetically, "What you're doing here deserves nothing but death."
"Please!" Jane's swing faltered at the woman's plea, "It wasn't me! I'm merely working for my creator. We can't defy him." She spoke shortly while descending down the stairs at the side as quickly as she could. Jane kept an apathetic yet furious expression on her face as she looked at the gold-skinned woman, Ayesha descending the stairs hurriedly. A pained exclaim followed by the woman slipping and desperately holding on to the railing on the side, "Please ... Just listen to me, I'm begging..." Her pitiful pleas mixed with her slipping made Jane's expression soften ever so slightly.
Ayesha limped down the stairs as her gaze met the trapped man's desperate one, "Mother!" He said with a pained tone as his struggles renewed.
The gold-skinned woman looked at the man who was apparently her son in a pitiful state and knelt in front of Jane, "Please," She spoke, "Let my son live. If you want someone to blame, kill me. Please let him go."
[Stand down, Jane. I think we can get some very necessary information from this woman.] Alex said, [Listen to me, okay.]
Alex had to coax her a little, but Jane came to and agreed. She sheathed Hofund and looked at the woman, "I have some questions for you."
"I-I will answer what I am able to," She continued kneeling while throwing fleeting glances at her enraged son, "W-would it be possible for you to free my Adam?" She asked, "J-just to send him to the medical bay."
"He'll be fine," A male voice startled Ayesha as she quickly looked up at Jane, only to see black tendrils extending out of her armor and coalescing into a humanoid form.
***
The kneeling woman felt captivated by the view in front of her as black tendrils started forming into a man wearing a black suit. His black hair was cut short and neat yet had a wild, untamed look. The most captivating was his piercing green eyes which made Ayesha feel that he was looking directly into her soul.
"State your name," Alex spoke while stepping forward, standing right in front of Ayesha's figure that was on all fours.
"Ayesha," The woman spoke in a monotonous tone, answering thoughtlessly as she raised her head further to keep meeting Alex's gaze, "High Priestess of the Sovereign." There was no pride in her blank eyes as she told him her status. It was as if whatever she spoke was completely inconsequential.
Alex looked at her arching her back with difficulty as she met his gaze and smiled. He brought his hand forward and held her chin, helping her keep the uncomfortable posture.
[Aren't you out of energy to use the Mind Stone?] Jane asked. She was sure that Alex was out of energy by now. And she was right.
«ΕΡ: 21068 -> 783»
With how much of both authorities of the Mind and the Soul Stone Alex had been forced to channel, having a couple hundred points of EP left was only possible since Alex had already put both Ms. Marvel and Laura from Hydra Earth to work, having them farm EP for him like crazy. Otherwise, he would've ended up using even more than what was available to him previously.
[Why do you think that I'm using the Mind Stone?] Alex asked her, [I'm hypnotizing her. Unlike before, when she had the Soul Stone's protection, she is defenseless now. As long as I don't take things too far, she will obediently answer my questions.] His words made Jane nod in understanding as she glanced at the kneeling woman's figure as she looked ever so submissive in front of Alex.
She recalled the time in the cell when Alex rendered her completely helpless and took complete control over her, 'Does he want to do this kind of role-play with me?' The fleeting thought appeared in her mind and she quickly shook her head, wishing to banish that thought away. Sadly for her, it seemed to have taken up permanent residence in her mind. The image of her being in Ayesha's place kept appearing in Jane's head. And Alex was doing much more than just holding her chin in those mental images.
Soon, however, that image overlapped with the image of Alex doing the same thing with the silhouette of another woman. Jane recalled the six other women and the seventh who seemed ever so illusory from her hallucination and felt herself being doused with cold water. Feeling angry for a whole different reason, Jane looked at Alex with an intent gaze.
Alex, aware of Jane's inner dilemma, deemed that the current situation took precedence over her jealousy. His beautiful battle- junkie of a host was running on very high emotions right now and it was better to allow her to calm down for now. He looked into Ayesha's eyes, meeting her gaze while recalling the knowledge of
He asked Ayesha some more basic questions to acclimate her to answering him with an empty mind. When he was confident in her state of hypnosis, Alex spoke, "You may sit up," He kept holding her chin and guided her to sit up on her knees in front of him. She naturally placed both palms flat on her thighs as she continued looking up at Alex with dazed eyes.
Alex then pulled his thumb and index finger away from her chin and cupped her cheek, "How did the Sovereign take over the Nova Empire?" He asked while lightly caressing her cheekbone with his thumb. Her skin was very similar to a human's but slightly more elastic and soft, however, it was nothing too different.
Seeing his action, Alex could feel Jane's piercing gaze turn palpable as he sensed clouds appearing above the castle that they were in. Suppressing his amusement at her reaction, he let Jane stew in her thoughts while bringing his focus to Ayesha's response.
"We were told by the creator to take over the Nova Empire in the absence of Irani Rael - The Nova Supreme. He is the one who provided us with the gem that was suppressing the variants of Thor," She answered.
"Why were you capturing Thor's variants?" Alex asked.
"It was ordered by the creator," She spoke, making Alex narrow his eyes.
"Who set up this methodology to harness the agony of the Soul to power the stone?" Alex asked, already having an idea of her answer.
"Our creator," She answered.
"What about the other stone?" Alex asked, "The one possessed by this son of yours. Where did you receive it?"
He noticed the woman resisting slightly and followed with a light caress of her cheekbone with his hand as he pressed a specific spot on her neck. It caused the release of certain endorphins that made her more susceptible to his hypnosis - He had already examined her body and found eerie similarities with the biology of humans. Her expression went back to her previously blank one as she spoke, "We obtained it in the vault of the Nova Empire."
Alex narrowed his eyes at her answer, realizing that she was deliberately giving him a vague answer, 'I haven't numbed her down enough. She has much higher willpower... As the ruler of an intergalactic empire, Alex wasn't surprised that she could somewhat retain control while under his hypnosis.
"What were you planning to do with it?" He asked her before flicking his other hand. The force made Ayesha's crown fly off of her head as her silky golden hair was freed cascading down her shoulders and to her chest, covering half of her face. "Speak," He prompted as he saw her resistant expression.
Her expression disappeared into the previous blank one as Alex traced his thumb from her cheek to her temple, pressing it in a way that made her release a faint, almost unnoticeable yelp. "I- insurance in case the creator decided that we were useless. I can take his wrath, but I wanted to protect my Adam. He has already pulled him out of the gestation pod far too prematurely."
Alex sighed at her words as Adam released his aura with a scream, wishing to free himself even at the cost of his life. Ayesha's eyes trembled but she kept her gaze locked to Alex's. Noticing a red glow appearing in those piercing green eyes, she stopped hearing her son's cries and struggles. A defiant expression appeared on her face again as Alex kept his hand on her face, telling her, "He's merely asleep. Cooperate."
Under normal circumstances, the High Priestess would never have believed Alex's words, but under hypnosis, Alex's words were all the confirmation she needed. As her expression went blank again, Alex asked her, "Who is this leader of yours?"
"The High - Argh!" She swung her head away from Alex's hand and kneeled over, cradling her head in her hands while groaning in pain.
"What's wrong?" Jane asked with a frown. She had grown somewhat understanding of Ayesha's situation after hearing her answers; realizing that she wasn't responsible for the state of the Xandarian civilians, but whoever the creator that she referred to was.
Alex's scrunched brows mirrored Jane's expression, "A fail-safe," He said before raising his hand - palm facing downwards at Ayesha's cradled head. A tentacle extended out of his palm and stabbed into the back of Ayesha's head, slightly above her neck, "I'm taking care of it." He said as Ayesha's pained groans were transformed into meek whimpers as she wiggled. Her fists balled up as she tried to raise herself, but the tentacle forced her to keep her head down.
Alex invaded her mind and enwrapped the small device that was in her head; meant to fry her brain completely in the incident that she decided to speak about her creator to anyone. It took Alex no more than a few moments to take care of the device, but then he went deep in thought. Ayesha - now free from the hypnosis and recalling what had just happened - was whimpering and struggling, but unable even to raise her head. She was forced to press her head on Alex's shoe as he decided on the next course of action.
"Fine," Alex spoke with a heavy tone, "You seem useful enough." Before either Jane or Ayesha could make sense of Alex's words, the appendage that was suppressing Ayesha's head disappeared as her head flew up.
"What have you done!" She spoke with a horrified tone, "He'll kill me! He'll kill us all."
"Who will?" Alex asked her, glancing at the plain black collar that had appeared on her neck. He was thinking of the design that he should set for it.
"Our creator," Ayesha spoke, "The-the High-" She was expecting the familiar pain in her head to return, but it never came. The words naturally escaped her mouth in a horror-filled gasp, "The High Evolutionary."
"I see," Alex said with a nod as the collar on Ayesha's neck flashed a few colors before settling back down at black. That was the color that represented Alex best. He made a horizontal gold streak pass through the middle of the collar and a gold gem appeared at the front part.
"That's it?" She asked in disbelief, "He is a god!" Ayesha was outraged, "Whatever you did has set a target on not only us but you as well. He will come for you!"
"Let him," Alex said nonchalantly, "I'll deal with him as need be."
***