As Alex was healing Yelena, Natasha got busy managing the personnel system of the previously called Red Room.
Within 24 hours of taking over the fortress, she had brought back all of the widows who were on missions outside the facility. Some of them had even been undercover for a decade or so, having infiltrated many influential positions in high society.
Unlike the ones who were inside the fortress, to most of the women who'd been undercover for decades, the answer was instant. They were more than willing to be freed from mind control and to go back to their 'normal lives'. They had essentially been freed from the control of the Red Room and couldn't wait to continue living their 'undercover lives'.
In the end, the final number of people Natasha had under her direct command was a bit under a hundred and fifty. That was including the initial hundred women that were already inside the base.
"What am I supposed to do with you two?" Natasha looked at Melina and Alexi who were currently imprisoned in one of the cells.
"What happened to Dreykov?" Melina asked.
"I'm not surprised that that's your first question," Natasha scoffed, "Dead. I'm going to be taking over this place from now on. Voluntary widows can become extended members of the Avengers."
"I'm so proud of you, Natasha!" Alexi boomed out in the usual proud fatherly tone that he always used with Natasha and Yelena.
Natasha rolled her eyes, "Save the bit. I'm not interested. Stay there for a while until I decide what to do with you."
She turned around and was walking away when the sound of an airlock opening was heard, "You always were too quick to get overconfident, Natasha." With those words, Melina's kick connected with Natasha's back.
Unlike what should've happened, Natasha didn't even budge from her position, "Am I?" She asked with a smile that had hints of smugness as she turned to look at Melina who barely landed on her feet.
Before the older widow could say anything, Natasha threw her back in her cell and closed the door, "You may have worked in the creation of this fortress, Melina. But that's not enough in front of me."
The door closed again and Natasha walked away, [Try not to let the door open again…] She said to Alex.
[Of course. The only reason she was able to open the door in the first place was because I wanted you to knock her down a peg.] Alex didn't want to have an overconfident Melina on the loose inside his new toy fortress.
After Natasha went back to the control room, she sat in the main seat and contemplated, [How do I get the money to sustain this place? I doubt Russia is going to fund me like they did Dreykov.]
[Wakanda has enough money and resources to easily fund this fortress and make more if needed. On the other hand, you could talk to Stark and get him to fund you.] Alex suggested.
[Talking to Stark means signing the Sokovia Accords. Not just me, but every one of the widows would have to do that.] She told him.
[Or you could use the immense resources at your disposal, i.e. your new group of superpowered spies and get them to strong-arm the American government into making the Avengers a private organization again.] He said.
[It hasn't even been 4 months since the accords were approved. They can't just apply to revert a bill that the UN passed without a valid reason or at least a year of buffer time.] Natasha said.
[Then get the President to create a new Shield and to call it Avengers. If the Avengers are a government organization, but completely under your control, then everything is solved.] Alex said.
[You would do amazing as a dictator…] Natasha complimented Alex, 'I already am…' He thought to himself.
[Probably.] Alex shrugged her question off, [So what are you going to do?] He asked her.
[I'll contact Steve first… I need get another opinion.] Nat decided.
…
"Nice place you've got here…" Steve said as he got out of the jet. Bucky was off doing his own thing so it was just Steve here.
"Costs a shit-ton of money though." She told him as she greeted him with a light hug.
"Money that you don't have," Steve responded, understanding her problem.
"Yep," Nat agreed, "I never thought that I would have both personnel and a nice base, but no sanctioned organization to identify myself with." She sounded a little bitter.
"It's better this way." Steve told her, "How'd you even get this place?"
"The Red Room…" Natasha told him as she turned on her heel and started walking to the hangar's exit.
Steve's expression changed as he asked, "Didn't you take care of everything that had to do with the Red Room?" He knew almost all of Shield's information, especially important mission information about his team members, which included Natasha's past.
"I thought I did… Dreykov isn't dead… Neither is his daughter, apparently…" She said.
"Well, that's good, I guess." Steve said, "It means you didn't kill a child."
"Ever the positive outlook on things…" Natasha smiled, "I pulled that trigger. I intended to kill her. End of story." She had a tone of finality.
Steve went silent at her words before changing the subject, "So why'd you call me here?"
"I have a hundred and fifty trained top-of-the-line super assassins working for me and nothing for them to do. Nor do I have any funding to sustain them." She said.
"You could talk to Stark," Steve told her. Nat didn't miss the subtle undertone of bitterness in his voice, but didn't mention it, "He was the one who funded us back then. I'm sure that he would love to fund the second coming of Shield. Or you could talk to the actual remnants of Shield…"
Nat laughed with amusement, "Yeah. I'm sure Coulson's team would love to have a hundred and fifty more ex-Widows to work for them."
"That's sarcasm," Steve noted with a weirdly proud tone.
"Yes, that's sarcasm." Nat shook her head, "Now give me more ideas…"
"You could defect to Russia. I'm sure they would love to give you Dreykov's position. They were the ones who funded the creation of this fortress in the first place, right?" He laughed.
"Wouldn't that be fun… So Stark's the only option?" She asked.
"Yeah. Or bounty hunting, I guess… But that's not a sustainable model. When T'Challa was still there he…" Steve trailed off, still not having gotten over the loss of his Wakandan friend.
[So Wakanda's the best option, huh…] Nat said to Alex.
[Told you.] He shrugged. Nat was internally resistant to depending on Alex for everything. She didn't have to talk to Steve about this and could directly move the fortress to Wakandan airspace. Her current actions were all because she didn't really want to go to Wakanda, which would essentially be the most convenient and easy country to be in. But she didn't want to do that.
Nat and Steve spent an hour or so brainstorming ideas for funding sources but they kept coming back to relying on Tony. If Natasha wanted to publicize her new organization as the Avengers, Tony's presence was extremely important. Neither Natasha nor Steve could be the face of this organization since they were still wanted.
After making a rough plan, Steve got back on the jet that he'd 'procured' from one of Shield's old stashes and left the fortress. He had some things to get done.
When — if — Natasha got her new organization legitimized, Steve and the other 'decommissioned' Avengers would be able to work as unofficial operatives under the guise of that new organization. It would make life much easier for them.
As Nat looked at Steve's departing jet while the hatch slowly closed, she sighed, "I have to talk to Tony…" She felt that it was such a troublesome situation.
…
"Well, this is a surprise…" Tony said with surprise evident in his tone as he saw Natasha sitting on his couch. He was staying at a penthouse apartment in New York for the week, and he'd kept his current whereabouts pretty discrete, so his surprise wasn't unjustified, 'Then again, it's Natasha…' He thought as he changed his destination to the bar.
"How are you, Tony?" Natasha asked him with a subtle smile.
"What would you like?" He asked as he poured himself a glass of whiskey.
"My usual," Nat told him as she stood up and walked to the other side of the bar as Tony poured some clear liquid from a bottle.
"Vodka, neat. What's going on?" He asked while sliding her the drink.
"Straight to business, I see…" She smiled, "I want back in." She told him.
"Great. Sign the accords, you're reinstated." Tony shrugged.
"You know that I'm not going to do that." Nat looked dead into Tony's eyes.
"I know. So why are you here?" He asked her, "There's not much I can do aside from that."
Nat stayed silent for a few seconds before saying, "I have a group of women who don't know what to do in their lives. Over a hundred trained widows who have graduated from Dreykov's Red Room."
"So, a hundred copies of Agent Romanov?" He said insensitively. He was still a little bitter about Nat playing for both sides during his fight against Steve's team at the airport in Germany.
"Pretty much." Nat nodded with an uncaring shrug, "But with one key difference."
"What's that?" He asked.
"I'm an Avenger." She said with mock dramatics and Tony smiled with amusement.
"So you want to bring about a second coming of Shield?" He asked her, "As fun as bantering is, I would rather get to business, I have a date with Pepper in…" He looked at the clock, "…about 5 minutes."
Nat shook her head and downed the glass of vodka before saying, "I'll get the necessary sanctions from the government, but I need your money. The new 'Shield' will be a private organization. I'm not putting those tragic women in the hands of the government."
"So… What the Avengers were before Steve wrecked everything?" Tony asked her.
Nat smiled at him, "Pretty much. We can even name the new organization the New Avengers if you want."
Tony said, "I don't think the UN will take very kindly to an organization called the New Avengers being formed without the member countries signing the accords." He twirled the whiskey in his glass before downing it and said, "I'll come up with a finalized plan. But I need you to give me concrete information about your personnel. I don't want to be blindsided by someone like Banner emerging from your group."
"You have to worry about that." She told him with an amused tone. With Alex monitoring each and every one of those widows through the chokers that Nat would be handing to them soon, being blindsided by them would be almost impossible.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a date," Tony told her as he entered a room to fix his hair. Just as he closed the door, it opened again, "And also…" He trailed off as he realized that Natasha was nowhere to be seen, "…Of course." He shook his head.
…
Natasha looked at Yelena with a scrutinizing gaze, "You look… different."
Yelena had just come out of the 'healing pod' and was wearing the same black and white leather combat suit that she'd been previously wearing. Her outward appearance was also exactly the same as before. The only difference was her complexion which seemed to have become more vibrant.
"Of course. I was stuck inside practically concrete for the past 72 hours with an unknown man talking in my head all the time. It was amazing." She said, her sarcasm shining through her tone.
"You're fine." Natasha nodded.
"Of course, I'm fine. In fact, I'm better than ever. Look!" Yelena excitedly showed Natasha her sparking fingers. Even though it was difficult for her to even stand right now due to her prolonged suspension, she didn't hesitate to show her new ability to Natasha.
Along with a greater enhancement over her physique, Alex had given her a basic lightning ability. She would be able to channel electricity from the collar and use it to essentially turn her fingers into a Taser.
Natasha gave her an amused smile, "Let's go. Some celebration is in order."
"Ahem…" Yelena looked away, "I would rather get some rest in a bed right now. I need some sleep…" Yelena was too embarrassed to say that she was barely even standing on her legs. She was sure that the figure-hugging pants of her combat suit were supporting her current state and inwardly thanked Apex for helping her not embarrass herself in front of Natasha.
Nat understood her predicament and left her dignity as a competent woman intact, "No problem. When you wake up, we'll celebrate…" She said and gave her a hug, "You can stay with me in the administrative suite. I'm in the bedroom closest to the entry door, you can take the one beside it."
"Thanks, sis…" Yelena smiled as Nat bit her goodbye and went to manage the administrative work of the new organization that she was going to be setting up. She was extremely swamped and barely took the time to talk to Yelena.
As Yelena looked at Nat's receding back she stretched her arms and arched her torso before saying, "Apex?"
[What's up?] He asked.
"Just checking if you're still here…" She said and went to the administrative suite and went to the room beside Nat's.
She slumped on the bed and mumbled to herself, "I almost miss my time in that chamber…" Although she had felt as if she was encased within a block of concrete when in that chamber, the experience was exhilarating for her. She had loved every second of her time when Apex was fucking her in all her holes and giving her mind-melting pleasure.
She chuckled at her words, "I think something broke in my mind during those three days that felt like three months and three minutes at the same time…"
[That's what overwhelming pleasure does to a person.] Alex chimed in her head, [I mean, this is the first time I'm actually talking to you without you merely grunting and moaning in response as I decipher your intent through that response alone…] He laughed.
Yelena snorted, "You could've let me speak if you wanted…"
[I could've, but that wouldn't have been as fun now, would it?] He asked her.
"No…" She trailed off, unable to get that feeling of endless pleasure out of her mind.
[I don't mind continuing our arrangement. To a lesser and more sustainable degree, of course.] He told her, [We could take things slow and steady.]
In the past two days, Alex had found himself wanting something. He wanted to have a threesome with Natasha and Yelena, 'And damn it, I'm going to convince them. No matter how difficult it is…' His conviction was stronger than ever.
'If I was as motivated to get stronger, I probably would've devoured a planet or something by now. Then again… Do all of these Earths have a celestial being nurtured inside them…' Alex's stray thought sent a shiver down his nonexistent spine, 'Wouldn't that be a view…' He couldn't help but form an image where all forty planets exploded outward and a celestial came out of each of them.
'Would they be multiversal clones of the same celestial… Or different celestials entirely… Or would they even exist…' He almost wanted to see that scene happening. Almost.
"Apex?" Yelena's call brought him out of his reverie.
[Hm?] He asked.
"I'm tired…" Yelena mumbled as her eyes closed.
[I'll put you in a sleepsack if you really miss being in that chamber.] Alex laughed and a sleeping bag formed around Yelena, making her clothes vanish. She was cozily tugged inside the sleeping bag.
At the same time, Yelena felt something similar to cilia wrapping all around her naked body. Her arms, calves, thighs, feet, and even her torso. Up to her neck, she was being wrapped in what could only be considered a living bio-suit. It took away her mobility, making her stay still yet comfortable at the same time.
Soon, the hood part of the sleeping bag extended and covered her head, blinding her. At the same time, the same cilia seemed to wrap around her head and went into her ears and nose, taking away two more of her senses. She was still able to freely breathe but it was the filtered oxygen that Alex gave her. She loved breathing in that perfect blend of air that was free from any possible impurities.
[Better?] Alex asked her and Yelena flexed her body a little. She was still able to flex her muscles, but her mobility existed only to a very slight extent. With each and every part of her body wrapped by the bio-suit, she was essentially fixed in her place. Just as she heard Alex's voice in her head, she felt herself growing sleepy.
"Mhm…" She hummed in response and closed her eyes, enjoying the peace that she had almost grown used to in that chamber.
…
"You fucked her." Natasha confronted Alex. She was in the control room of the fortress, aka Dreykov's old office. Alex was standing in front of her after she just called him out to talk.
"She wanted me to." He told her with innocence shining in his tone. He already expected that Yelena's experience wouldn't be hidden from Natasha for long. She was a master of reading simple signs and as good of a spy as Yelena was, she wasn't the Black Widow. And having just come out of the chamber, she wasn't in the best state in the first place.
"Did she ask you to do it?" She asked him, "Wanting something and asking for it are two completely different things."
"I offered, and she agreed. It was completely consensual. I'm a changed slime, I don't force myself on people anymore." He told her, "And it's not like I bonded with Yelena. That's still all you."
"And Wanda." Natasha corrected him.
"…And Wanda. I thought you would prefer that I didn't mention my bond with her." He said.
She tilted her head and shrugged in agreement, "You're not wrong…" Natasha's mind wandered off to a promise that he'd made to her before, "You once said to me you would be able to heal my womb…" She trailed off, almost afraid of him reneging on his words.
"Mhm. I did. I still am going to heal your womb." He told her.
"Can you give me a timeline?" She asked, "I'm gonna be busy with this new organization for a while now…"
"It's not really a time thing… Healing you has more to do with me bonding with you in a deeper manner." He told her.
"What do you mean?" She asked him.
"So, this stuff works in a bit of a complicated way. Ultimately, it has to do with how 'deeply' I'm bonded with you." Seeing Nat's confused expression, he continued, "For example, what I have with you is what I call a Level 2 bond. To an extent, it's to an extent a superficial bond. If I go 'deeper', I will be forming a more intertwined bond with specifically your skin. This constitutes a Level 3 bond. As I go further and bond in an intimate manner with more of your body, I will eventually form a deeper bond with your womb or uterus. That's gonna be at the Level 6 bond if you're curious. That's when I'll be able to heal your uterus and allow you to have my children."
Natasha coughed as she heard his words. She shivered when she imagined herself giving birth to alien slimes.
Alex laughed at her ashen expression and said with amusement, "You don't have to worry. As you said to Yelena, I'm an apex biological being. I can essentially modify the genus of my semen to allow you to have a child with my human form. The kid that we have will be 100% human. They might have a superpower or two, but that's it."
Nat went silent after that, "…That's a lot to take in." A few moments later, she frowned, "I remember you telling me that you can heal me from any sort of injury… I distinctly remember you telling me that you can heal me back to top shape even if my body is destroyed." She looked at him with narrowed eyes.
"Ever the observationist, my lovely spy." Alex smiled, "That has to do with what your 'top shape' is. Even if your body is destroyed, I will essentially create a new body for you from scratch. Now for that, I need a record of your body in its 'top shape'. You see where I'm going with this?" He asked
"You bonded with me after my surgery." She said in realization.
"Exactly." Alex shrugged, "Healing mere flesh wounds and stabs is easy, I just have to mend the wounds, but complicated 'injuries' that aren't really injuries to even your body can't be dealt with so easily." He wasn't lying to get her to form a deeper bond with him. He truly couldn't heal her womb without forming a deep bond with her organs.
Just as Natasha was about to reply to Alex, she heard the door buzzing and almost groaned inwardly. Someone was outside and wanted to talk to her.
Nat went to her seat and pressed a button to open the door, at the same time, Alex disappeared inside Nat.
One of the widows came inside the control room and said to Nat, "We have a bit of a problem, chief…"
"Of course we do…" Nat mumbled as she got the report from her. This wasn't a new occurrence. For the past few days, Nat had been completely swamped with work. Either dealing with Tony's requirements that were needed to establish the new organization or dealing with the internal problems with the widows.
[Women who were mind-controlled and forced to work together don't actually get along well… What a surprise.] Alex chuckled in Nat's head.
[Not another word, Alex. I am already this close to beating all of them up so they fall in line…] Nat almost growled at Alex.
[All righty, calm down little tigress. You'll get your milk at night…] Alex teased. Natasha knew exactly what kind of milk he was talking about and felt her heart race with anticipation. Though there was no change in her expression outwardly.
The rest of the day passed by with Natasha dealing with the widows who didn't have anything to do. She had to keep the unruly ones in line until a sustainable management process was created.
[You should just let me put the collars on them. Your work will become much easier. I could just drug them so they mellow down.] He told her as she was walking to her bedroom with a tired expression. She was physically perfectly fine, but mentally, she was tired.
[Not yet, Alex. Baby steps. If I tell them that I'm giving them a monitoring collar after what they've experienced, they will obviously resist it.] She told him, ignoring the drugging part.
[Your call.] Alex shrugged. He'd left all of this stuff to Nat to deal with.
As Nat entered the administrative suite, she glanced around and realized that everything was completely untouched.
[Yelena's already asleep. She was dead tired after being awake for so long.] Alex informed her, knowing that Nat was probably looking for Yelena.
"Oh…" Nat glanced at the door to Yelena's bedroom and walked to the door beside it that led to her own bedroom.
Just as Nat entered her room and locked the door, she felt Alex's arms wrapping around her waist as she was pulled into a hug from behind, her back pressing against his chest.
"I'll make you go crazy tonight…" Alex whispered throatily as he playfully bit her ear.
"I'm looking forward to it…" She said expectantly as she turned around and kissed him. At the same time, she wrapped her legs around his waist, directly pressing herself on him as she hugged him like a koala.
He kept kissing her as his hands cupped her ass and squeezed while he made his way to the bed.
Soon, Nat found herself under him as they both passionately made out on the bed. Just as she wanted to move her hands along his back, she felt something wrapping around her wrists and preventing her movement. She understood where this was going to go and didn't mind. Using restraints of varying degrees was pretty common for them. She was intimately familiar with Alex's preference for tying her up when it came to having sex.
Her arms were tied above her head as Alex continued making out with her. At the same time, his hands started trailing along the sides of her body. That was when Nat felt a cold breeze on her sides, at the spots where Alex had trailed his fingers. Her clothes were disappearing wherever Alex touched her.
"You're so sexy, Nat…" Alex pulled away from her lips and whispered in her ear.
"Yeah?" She mumbled while closing her eyes. She liked it when Alex teased her like this.
"I want to completely defile you…" He continued getting rid of more and more of the fabric covering her body as he continued whispering into her ear while nibbling her earlobe every once in a while.
"Do it…" She arched her back and gave him a sensual moan, "Mark me as yours…"
By now, Nat was left wearing nothing but her underwear along with leather gloves that ended at her biceps and matching stockings that reached up to her thighs.
Alex's hands slipped under her bra and squeezed both her tits tightly as Nat let out a hiss at Alex's rough action.
"More~" She moaned out and Alex obliged, he pulled her bra up, revealing her tits before focusing on one of her beautiful breasts, directly taking one of her nipples inside his mouth.
"Mhmm~" Nat moaned out as she felt his tongue wrapping around her nipple as a jolt of pleasure went through her body. At the same time, Alex's hands made their way down her stomach and to her thighs.
As he slowly teased her inner thighs, Nat got impatient, "Come on, Alex~ I want it~" She pleaded.
Her request seemed to bear fruit as within a few more seconds, one of Alex's hands was on her snatch, her panties already having disappeared.
"Yess~" She moaned as his finger entered her snatch and directly teased her sensitive spots.
When Alex finally stopped sucking on her breasts and teasing her nipples, he said to her, "I'll form the level three bond with you tonight, Nat…"
Nat's eyes opened wide, but her reply was drowned in Alex's mouth as he pressed his lips against hers, invading her mouth with his tongue.
It was then that Alex stopped teasing her snatch and pushed his cock inside her. As for his now free hands, they started trailing all over her body. Nat felt a slithery sensation spreading along her body from the paths that Alex's hands trailed. It was as if something was enveloping her entire body.
[I'm going to be deepening my bond with your skin.] Alex informed her as he covered her entire body with his symbiote material while continuing to slowly thrust his cock inside her.
"Mhm~" She moaned into his mouth, feeling a sense of excitement rising from the sensations that she was experiencing.
Alex decided to take things slightly differently this time and didn't immediately start the bonding process. He continued slowly fucking her as the material covered every single exposed part of her body, including her head. At this point, Nat was no more than a faceless latex doll that Alex was fucking.
'It's good that I don't really 'see' the same way that humans do, otherwise, this would feel weird as fuck…' Alex inwardly chuckled. Even with Nat looking like a faceless head from the outside, Alex was intimately aware of every single inch of her body and all of her expressions.
With her body covered like this, Alex was even more aware of Nat's presence and he loved that sense of intimacy that this kind of thing allowed him to experience with his girls.
Slowly, the material started going into places that Nat didn't expect it to. For one, Alex had stopped making out with her, and her face was stuck with her mouth open, forming an 'o' shape. She was unable to move her jaw or even open her eyes right now. As more and more sensations started disappearing, she felt the presence of Alex's cock even more intimately.
'What's wrong with me…' She thought arousedly as she felt herself enjoying this experience immensely.
She felt that each and every slow thrust of his cock was reverberating through her entire being with her body stuck like that in her prison of sensory deprivation. Alex's cock that was slowly pumping in and out of her was the only salvation that she had with her entire body stuck like this. She didn't even notice when the tiny tendrils started extending into her nose and ears, cementing the loss of her senses.
She felt both her nipples being pinched painfully and a jolt ran along her entire body. At the same time, Alex's cock picked up the pace while she felt her ass also being penetrated by something that she wasn't able to instantly recognize.
She felt something spherical entering her asshole as she was close to losing her grip on her sanity and losing herself to the pleasure.
'Oh, Alex~' She moaned mentally, not thinking straight. That was when another similar spherical object entered her ass.
'Beads…' She realized what was entering her ass and each thrust of Alex's cock suddenly rocked her body even more. With the beads being disturbed with each of his thrusts, her insides started churning, as the heat of her core started to overwhelm her.
Within mere seconds, she was close to her climax, [Cum for me, my partner.] She heard Alex's whisper which triggered her climax. At the same time, Alex started the bonding procedure that would flood her entire body with pure, unadulterated pleasure.
Just as she was tipped over the edge, she lost her grip on reality. Merely able to shake lightly in response to her explosive climax that made her squirt. She didn't realize it, but the climax didn't stop.
Not after a few seconds. Even as a minute passed, her climax hadn't stopped. It just kept going. With each passing moment, the bonding process increased more and more as Nat's climax just kept going. Instead of tipping over the edge, she ended up going even higher after the point of her climax.
With each and every part of her body being flooded by overwhelming pleasure, Nat's came continously for almost half an hour, each peak being higher than the one before. By the time it started dying down, the latex-like material that was covering her body started entering her body and leaving her naked, giving her back the mobility that she was so used to.
'Merely half an hour…' Alex was impressed by the speed at which Nat was able to handle the bonding process.
It didn't have to do with their connection and more to do with her mental fortitude. Even with the huge amount of pleasure that he'd flooded into her body, she was still able to endure it and maintain her grip on her sanity.
Even though she'd lost her grip over reality, she was still self-aware and was able to endure the pace that Alex took.
'You're a monster, Nat…' Alex thought something he never thought he would think. He was sure that no one had the mental fortitude that Natasha had, 'Hell, even I don't compare to the level of her mental stability…'
Alex's mental prowess or consciousness may be enough to sustain hundreds of clones at the same time, but that was merely a quantitative thing. His mental defenses were no more than a paper for an experienced mind manipulator like Charles even with his large consciousness.
Nat, on the other hand, might not have a very defended mind, but the integrity of her consciousness was at a level that even scared Alex.
'Too complicated…' Alex thought annoyedly as he thought of the different aspects of the mind.
One was merely the size or quantity of the consciousness. Something that Alex had plenty of.
Two was the integrity of the consciousness. It was how condensed the mentality of a person was. For eg, Nat. She had immense mental fortitude and could endure almost any kind of situation and her mind wouldn't break down or go into shock.
Three was a defense against psychic abilities. Something neither Alex nor Nat had.
Till now, this was all that Alex had concluded about the mind or consciousness, but he knew that there was more to it.
***
The morning after Alex formed the Level 3 bond with Nat.
Yelena's eyes opened with a bright glint. She was completely refreshed after having slept for more than 16 hours. Her eyes opened only to see complete darkness as she realized the presence of the sleeping bag that was wrapped around her entire body rendering her completely immobile. There was also a small phallus-like object inside her mouth that she had been instinctively sucking in her sleep. She hummed to Apex, wanting him to free her.
It didn't take long before the cocoon surrounding her disappeared. Yelena stretched her naked body, forming a sexy arch of her back, "I slept like a baby in that… Can you do that every night?"
[I'll set it as your sleeping outfit. You can just will your sleeping outfit to appear if you want that cocoon to wrap around you.] Alex told her.
"Cool…" Yelena said as she got up and went to the attached bathroom to take a shower.
In the room beside hers.
"Mmm~" Nat moaned into Alex's mouth. They were making out with Nat lying on top of Alex. He was still inside her and Nat was lightly grinding her hips, enjoying some light morning sex with her slime partner.
Alex let Nat take charge and just enjoyed her actions.
It didn't take long for Nat to ride herself to a soft climax while Alex filled her up.
She comfortably lay on his chest, having lost most of her strength with her climax.
"Yelena's already up, you should get her to help you with all these administrative things. You can't take care of everything by yourself." Alex told her, not realizing the hypocrisy of his words. He was controlling two entire planets from the shadows all by himself. Even most of the people that he was working with were being controlled by him and didn't have too much of a critical thinking capacity.
Even though the administration work for entire countries was difficult and not very straightforward, he was indeed doing most of the work by himself.
"In a bit… Last night was a bit too much for me…" She mumbled to him, basking in the warmth of his embrace.
Alex was happy to see her being vulnerable in front of him. It showed him that she was beginning to trust him to some extent.
Soon, both Nat and Yelena got busy.
After Yelena got familiar with some of the administrative work, Nat took a leave for two days to help Tony get some of the necessary permits for their new organization. It ended up bringing up the timeline by months if not years. All of that trouble was due to the newly established Sokovia Accords that made forming a 'vigilante' organization extremely difficult.
For now, things in the MCU were stable, without anything noteworthy happening.
Wanda was still busy learning the Mystic Arts and getting a handle on her own power.
Unlike the other Sorcerers, Wanda was her own walking powerhouse. She didn't have to channel the energies from other entities — Vishanti in particular — to use the Mystic Arts. She was able to cast spells by channeling the energy from her own reserves. In case she needed more, she could channel the energy from the Chaos Dimension — Or Chthon in particular, but that didn't need to be focused on for now.
Plus, Alex was doubtful if Chthon was even the source of Wanda's powers in the MCU, considering that her power here came from the Mind Stone.
…
Earth-Z, with Laura.
"Woohoo!" Laura shouted joyfully as she surfed the waves. Alex was standing behind her with his arms wrapped around her waist as he maintained their balance and made sure that the two of them wouldn't end up drowning.
He was wearing simple beach shorts while Laura was wearing a sexy two-piece bikini that barely left anything to the imagination.
They were currently in what used to be Hawaii. Although most of it was a similar wasteland to most of what Alex and Laura encountered. Another important thing to note was that they also encountered another shelter with a sufficiently large population. They seemed to be sustaining themselves pretty well.
But Alex wasn't very interested in going there so he convinced Laura to ignore it for the time being.
As the wave slowly died down, the surfboard slowly landed on the sandy beach.
"This is so amazing!" She exclaimed and turned to hug Alex tightly before getting on her tiptoes and kissing him deeply, "You're the best…" She whispered in between kisses.
"Of course I am. Do you have any idea how harmful this water is? If a normal person even touched it, they would instantly start growing a few more limbs and would probably lose most of their motor functions." He bragged with a playful smile.
"Yes yes, you're very amazing…" Laura agreed, "Come on, I wanna do it again." She grabbed his hand and pulled him.
Alex didn't move, "There aren't any waves for the next couple of minutes."
"But but but…" She looked at him pleadingly.
A growl interrupted her as Laura and Alex turned to see an abomination. It was a huge?Animal Class? turtle.
Laura's face got a light scowl as she said, "Just a moment."
She disappeared from her spot and appeared in front of that turtle. Before it could even register her presence, her claws had stabbed through its exposed skull. A black substance spread through her claws and covered its entire body before devouring it and converting it into EP.
"Good work…" Alex praised her.
[?Status- Host #6?
?Name: Laura Kinney (X-23) (Earth-Z)?
?Bonding Rate: 26% -> 31%?
?Bonding Level: 5?
?Powers: Peak Superhuman Physique (200 -> 600)— Cosmic Healing Factor— Bone Claws (Vibranium-Adamantium Alloy)— Blood Berserker— Melee Mastery— Weapons Mastery— Espionage Mastery?
]
Although she hadn't yet breached the Low Cosmic Threshold for her physique, she had grown far stronger than before.
With Alex's regular EP-infused massages that left her a bumbling mess, and constant EP infusion in her bloodstream through her bone marrow, her physique had gotten much stronger than it was when they had fought the million abominations that ambushed the both of them.
"How about we go for a swim?" Laura asked Alex, "If we can't surf, we can swim…" She said thoughtfully.
"Underwater combat could be fun…" Alex said as Laura looked at him confusedly.
"What?" She asked.
"The water is infested with abominations." He told her, "Hell, I'm sure that the oceans are probably many times more dangerous than the land. Can you imagine a blue whale abomination? Or something even bigger having become an abomination?" His words made a shiver run down Laura's spine.
She shook her head, "No! You aren't deterring me from the water. I wanna play in the water. I've never been to a beach before…" She pouted, playing the one card that made Alex always indulge her.
"Fine you pitiful soul who didn't get a childhood…" He sighed and held her hand. He knew that she was just exaggerating things, but he still ended up caving.
"Yay~" She jumped happily and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
Just as her lips made contact with Alex's cheek, he wrapped his arms around her and held her close to himself. Laura understood what he wanted to do and wrapped her legs around his waist, tightly clasping them together.
"Hold tight…" He whispered before jumping high in the air.
Laura's eyes widened before she tightly closed them and buried her face in Alex's neck.
With a splash, Laura felt a splash of water after it hit her back. She quickly held her breath and tightened her hold over Alex.
[Open your eyes…] Alex said and Laura blinked her eyes open, getting used to the water's presence.
[It doesn't hurt…] She mentioned. She'd thought that the radiated water would be harming her.
[Please.] Alex scoffed. As harmful as this water was to the human body, Alex was the perfect counter to any biologically harmful substance like this.
Laura shook her head and turned her head while still holding her breath. She looked around and looked at the beautiful oceanic sights as the duo kept descending lower.
[Shouldn't we stop?] She asked as they kept descending for a minute. It was getting harder for Laura to hold her breath.
[Don't worry.] Alex said as he kissed her. Laura felt him pushing some air inside her mouth and felt heat rising in her body as she realized that she would have to rely on Alex for her air supply.
Although she didn't actually need to breathe anymore and Alex had told her that. She didn't recall it considering that there was no reason for her to hold her breath when she was on the ground. Ultimately, she just thought that it was hot that she would rely on Alex's kisses for air.
He was amused at her thought process and didn't bother to correct her. It would be more fun this way, 'Maybe I could try to take things further…' He thought.
As they both got lower and lower, Laura suddenly heard a loud screeching sound that almost ruptured her eardrums. Within a moment, she felt something wrapping around her ears and the painful sound disappeared. She heard Alex's voice, [Sea creatures are extremely loud. More so after they become abominations. That was the cry of a mutated whale from tens of miles away in the deep ocean.]
[Fuck…] Laura was suddenly terrified of the water, [Let's get out.]
[It's fine. Since we're here, let's test something out.] Alex said, and before Laura could ask for more, their speed of descent increased and she had to tighten her hold around Alex. She didn't realize, but they weren't directly descending down. They were at a slight angle since Alex wanted to reach a certain area on the seabed.
Alex could kiss her and transfer air into her mouth through deep kisses every minute or so. After five minutes, a large fish came into Laura's vision, [There's a fish, Alex…] She alarmed him.
[Well, stab it then.] Alex told her with an amused smile that made her want to punch him.
[How?] Laura asked Alex after he told her to attack the fish that was approaching them.
[Think.] He told her. He wanted her to come up with an idea by herself.
[Can you propel me to that fish?] She asked him quickly as she saw it getting closer and closer to them.
[Sure.] Alex nodded and before she realized it, Laura found herself being propelled at the fist that was approaching them. Her eyes widened as she struggled to keep her mouth closed. Though, as a battle-hardened 'weapon', she was able to adapt to the situation and quickly slashed the fish, allowing Alex to devour it.
[Can you imagine that that huge fish that was almost as large as you was a weak-ass carp before being mutated?] Alex said and Laura could only think to herself, 'This planet's fucked…'
[Pull me back…] She told him.
[What do you mean?] Alex played the fool, [Just swim back to me.]
Laura glared at him. She was more than fifteen meters away from him and it felt like miles to her, [I don't know how to swim asshole.]
[Well I guess you're stranded.] He shrugged and continued descending.
[Alex!] She screamed in his head so loudly that he flinched.
Without saying anything, he sent a tentacle to Laura and it wrapped around her ankle, pulling her down with twice their previous speed.
She widened her eyes and was about to scream, but something prevented her from opening her mouth, [Try not to fill yourself up with water. I would rather not go back up so quickly.] With his words, she was greeted by Alex's face. He was looking at her dryly.
[You're being mean to me~] She frowned and hugged him tightly like a koala, wrapping her arms and legs around his torso.
He didn't reply and instead kissed her, passing some more oxygen to her.
They both descended for almost half an hour before finally touching the floor. Laura didn't notice it, but Alex had brought the intervals that he passed air to her further apart slowly. From giving her air every minute, he'd been giving her air every three minutes.
As for not having enough oxygen, that wasn't a problem. With his bond to her blood, he could directly infuse her blood with oxygen, negating the need for breathing completely. He could completely negate her need for her lungs entirely if he really tried.
Due to the presence of water all around her, Laura didn't accurately notice the passage of time so she didn't notice the slowly increasing intervals.
[So, how was the experience?] Alex asked her as he took a seat on the sandy floor as if he wasn't even in the water and was still on a beach.
[Mesmerizing…] She told him as she looked around, enjoying the ocean sights, [If all the fishes we encountered weren't monsters that wanted to kill us, it would've been even better.]
[If you're annoyed by that, then you'll love what I have prepared for you…] Alex said to her as he turned his head in a direction.
[No…] She mumbled as she saw a literal horde of fish monsters charging in their direction.
[Yes. It's much more difficult to move underwater. Plus, you'll get used to fighting without being able to breathe.] Alex told her.
[How does that help me?] She almost snarled at him as she prepared herself for a fight, both her hand and foot claws extended out of her body.
[There is a technique called Breathless attacking when it comes to melee combat. The tiny moments that you take to breathe cause your rhythm to be disturbed.] Alex didn't explain further but Laura understood.
[Are you sure you actually like me?] She said with panic, [I'll die without air…]
[You think too little of me my lovely Laura. I'm perfectly prepared to keep you with me for eternity. You don't have to worry about anything but those abominations.] His words did little to calm Laura down.
[At least give me some armor…] She pleaded.
[Nope. You can heal from any sort of injury easily and I want some nice eye candy while watching you fight in that skimpy bikini.] He told her.
[The water is salty, Alex! It'll hurt like a bitch!] She almost shouted as she barely slashed at the first shark-like fish that approached her.
[Then try not to get hurt…] He said amusedly.
He was working on a multifaceted approach here. One, he wanted her to learn Breathless Attack, a technique he found when he was scouring through Asgardian data that Jane allowed him to access. Two, he wanted to discourage her mutually destructive combat style. If someone fought her with a weapon like the Murasama Blade that could negate her healing factor, it would be problematic for even him to heal her.
[Alex, I hate you!] She screamed as she bisected a fish while trying her best to dodge another's attack. That led to her losing ground and had her floating in the water. Even though Alex had made it so that she wouldn't start abruptly floating upward, she was stuck floating in the water for a few seconds.
With her mobility essentially destroyed, she ended up getting slashed by two of the abominations' fins. A third also came up to her and took a bite out of her arm before she stabbed its skull and killed it.
[Fuck you, Alex! I hate you!] She screamed again as she felt her urge to breathe overpowering her. The pain from the salty water entering her wounds wasn't helping her either.
As Laura healed herself, the surrounding abominations strangely weren't attacking her, as if waiting for her to get ready for the second wave.
In her current state, Laura didn't realize that and only felt that she got a moment of respite. She took that moment to look over at Alex with desperation. She wanted to breathe.
[After this wave.] He said and more abominations approached her.
As Laura barely got through them, the abominations stopped attacking her again. But she'd already lost control and her mouth opened, desperately gasping for air.
Unlike what she expected, she found Alex standing in front of her and his lips pressed against hers. She desperately sucked in the air from his mouth as he kissed her. As their tongues intertwined, Laura felt heat rising in her abdomen, [Can you send them away? I'm not very sane right now…] She asked him.
[Nope. We'll be living down here for the next few days. You have to get used to this experience.] Alex's words had Laura opening her eyes wide.
[Alex?!] She said with disbelief lacing her tone.
[Shh.] He pushed his tongue deeper, invading her throat, [You can trust that I will never let any harm come to you. Hell, who knows, you might even have your first time a few thousand meters underwater.]
[What?! We're that deep in?] Laura couldn't believe it, [We should've been crushed by the pressure by now…]
She could feel Alex scoffing through the kiss, [Please…]
She barely rolled her eyes as she continued desperately sucking air from the kiss. After realizing that they would be here for a while, Laura didn't act impatient.
Soon, Alex stopped kissing her and pulled away from her lips, [Continue.] He said as he pulled away from her and took a seat in his previous spot.
Before Laura had a chance to say anything to him, she was swamped by more marine abominations that made things extremely difficult for her. Alex wasn't worried about her being overwhelmed. After all, most of these fish were being controlled by him. He had a huge dome of chaos energy surrounding this area that would repel the stronger marine creatures and control the weaker ones.
Alex made each wave last longer than the previous one as Laura's limits were constantly pushed. After an hour of constant fighting, she was able to hold her breath for five minutes while in constant combat.
He constantly kept her overwhelmed, so she didn't realize that this kind of training would normally be extremely harmful to her. The only reason that this was sustainable was because Alex was constantly infusing oxygen and traces of EP into her blood, allowing her to have plenty of energy to keep herself sustained.
He wanted to overpower her breathing instinct so that she would have full control over her breathing since it wasn't really a necessary process anymore.
Alex made Laura fight sea monsters for the next five hours.
'She's done for now…' He realized as he saw her about to open her mouth after 12 minutes of not having breathed. It was lower than her previous 14 minutes.
He pulled her away from the fight and kissed her again, passing air to her through her mouth.
[We're done for now…] He told her and Laura's body went limp in his arms. She was way too tired and wanted to cuddle up with Alex to sleep.
[Can we watch a movie?] She asked.
[We're underwater for the next few days, Laura.] He told her.
[I hate you…] She said but still kept kissing him while sucking more and more air from his mouth.
-x-X-x-
It was impossible for Laura to continue fighting in her current state so Alex let her rest with him.
He created a makeshift bed on the sea floor before pulling Laura down with himself. He could easily manipulate the density of his own body and make it much denser than water. This allowed him to sink with ease and act treat the water around him and Laura as air.
[I'm turning off the lights, Laura…] He told her and she curiously looked around, only to realize that she was in complete darkness.
[Is this…] She trailed off.
[Yep. We are thousands of meters underwater, It's impossible for the sun's light to reach here.] Alex told her and she wrapped her arms around him even tighter. Similar to how Alex was maintaining a dome of Chaos Magic around himself, he had also illuminated their surroundings to allow Laura to fight more easily.
[This is terrifying…] She said as she kissed him again, tightly closing her eyes and desperately sucking in air from his mouth.
[All the more fun, don't you think? Think of how amazing having sex in this environment would be…] Alex's words aroused a desire inside Laura as she opened her eyes to look at him. But the pervasive darkness quickly quenched that desire.
[Yeah, I don't think it's as hot as it is scary…] Laura said to him, not willing to separate her mouth from his for even a moment.
[Isn't it? You're completely helpless here… You can't even swim up to the surface without me. You're completely dependent on me for something as simple as breathing. Stuck in eternal darkness with the only source of warmth being me. I think it's plenty hot…] Alex's words had made the situation much clearer to Laura as she tightened her hold over him.
[How long do we stay like this?] Laura asked him, [I'll agree about this situation being hot, but we have to go to the surface at some point too, no?]
[I'm currently looking for something. Once I can confirm their presence or absence, we can leave. It's probably going to be a few days or a week at most.] He told her.
[Are you looking for Atlantis or something?] She asked with a laugh.
[I actually am. I wanna check something.] Laura was about to ask more about how he knew about Atlantis' existence in the first place but he distracted her when she felt his hand slipping inside her skimpy bikini bottoms and touching her pussy.
[I don't think this is a very good idea…] Laura mumbled to him as she realized where this was going.
[Don't worry. I'll remind you of something that you seem to have forgotten. You don't actually need to breathe anymore.] He informed her.
[Hm?] She questioned.
[When I bonded with your blood and skeleton, gaining control over your bone marrow, I could directly infuse the necessary particles into your blood. You don't really need your lungs anymore.] He said.
[But I still need to breathe.] She said, [I feel dizzy and weird when I hold my breath for too long…]
[That's your body's natural instinct. By the end of your fighting spree, you had been holding your breath for 15 minutes. It could be plausible if you had some monstrous lung capacity, but that would be with you not exerting yourself. Your fights against the marine abominations were even more difficult than normal. So trust me, that dizzy feeling was no more than a placebo effect. Or I guess the inverse of a placebo effect but whatever.] He told her.
[So I don't actually need to breathe?] Laura confirmed.
[Not to sustain yourself, no. Once we deepen our bond to the point where I'm bonded with your organs, I should be able to use your lungs as the medium to infuse air into your blood, making the process even more efficient.] Alex mused to her.
Laura's reply was a muffled moan into Alex's mouth as he pushed two of his fingers inside her snatch.
…
The next few days passed by with the duo constantly staying underwater. Soon, Alex moved to another location where the population of abominations was abundant. After Laura's constant killing spree, the surrounding marine abominations had all been wiped out.
When he brought her to the second location, Laura was mesmerized by the view of the coral reefs.
[It's so beautiful…] She told him.
[Go closer to it…] Alex said. She didn't notice the undertone of amusement in his words and innocently approached the beautiful undersea structure.
Just as Laura was a couple of feet away from it, she heard a screeching sound and the reef in front of her started expanding as a cavity formed in the middle. The structure was literally opening up like a mouth to envelop her.
She widened her eyes and before she realized it, the 'jaws' of the living reef were about to envelop her.
Just as she prepared to blast it with lightning, she felt a thick tentacle wrapping around her waist and pulling her away from it.
She turned around and saw Alex's amused face.
[You couldn't have warned me?] She complained.
[At this point, you should've expected it.] He shrugged as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her close, [Everything that remains of nature is completely against humanity.]
[At least the water isn't trying to kill me…] She mumbled, hugging him back.
[Wrong again. The water that we are currently in is literally trying its best to kill us and turn us into abominations. It's not just radioactive, but also contains biological stimulants that when mixed with radiation can turn any biological being into a mindless abomination.] He said.
[Why the hell would you bring me here…] She said with a terrified tone.
[Because I want to search for Atlantis. Though they might all be dead already…] He trailed off.
[We were perfectly safe on the surface. But you brought us into a place that's ten times worse.] She continued complaining.
[We can only do so much on the surface. After this oceanic adventure of ours, we'll go to another Earth and play around there. I've already found a way to move us between planets.] He told her.
Wanda had already learned how to create portals to travel around. And Alex also had a pretty nice magic affinity that he got from Wanda. He only had to swipe a sling ring from one of the masters at Kamar Taj and he would be able to portal anywhere he wanted.
[Wait, really!] Forgetting her previous complaints, her eyes lit up as she looked at him with excitement.
Alex nodded and pulled her into another kiss, passing air to her, [What do you think about having your first time underwater?] He offered.
Laura didn't respond, but Alex could feel the emotions that she was experiencing. And she loved the idea of having her first time in their current situation.
She was still not used to completely not breathing. Even after days, she needed to breathe after at most half an hour. That point was like a block that her instincts weren't allowing her to surpass.
She felt excited when she thought of giving herself to him while being so completely and utterly dependent on him for even her most basic needs like breathing.
Knowing her feelings about the matter, Alex decided that he would take her virginity before they left their underwater expedition. For now, though, he was going to train her until she got used to the Breathless combat style that he was trying to ingrain into her body.
[I'll give you your special daily meal before we continue your training. There are many more unique creatures in this location for you to kill.] His words made a tint of red appear on her cheeks as she pulled away from the kiss and looked at him with desire.
[You ready?] He asked and Laura nodded.
With her nod, a black over-the-nose gag was formed on her face, covering half of her face up to her nose. Alex put his hand on her head and pushed her down before taking a seat on a comfortable couch that he created for himself.
She knelt in between his legs, with her face close to his crotch. She put her hands on his thighs to get a grip on her position before she brought her mouth close to his shorts.
Unlike Laura, who was completely naked after Alex got rid of her bikini on the first day, Alex was still wearing beach shorts. As she pressed her face against his slowly hardening cock, she said, [Come on, give it to me…]
That's what Alex was waiting for. With her plea, he pulled his shorts lower, freeing his cock. At the same time, the gag that he'd created formed a tiny cavity in the place of her mouth as she welcomed his half-erect dick inside her mouth.
The gag perfectly sealed itself around his cock so that no water would end up entering either her mouth or her nose.
Laura slowly licked his cock while moving her head in a forward and backward motion. Alex hummed in pleasure as his cock started hardening further. Laura had to open her mouth wider to accommodate his girth while the gag also accommodated itself to make sure no water entered her mouth.
Alex was almost mesmerized by the view of Laura sucking his cock. With her hair floating freely and her glassy eyes looking up at him, he felt that she was a mermaid who was charming him. The thought aroused him even more as he enjoyed every second of her service.
Laura started increasing her pace while teasing the tip with her tongue as gagging sounds were heard from her mouth.
[Yeah, that's my girl…] Alex praised her and patted her head as she took him into her throat, giving him even more pleasure.
Laura kept going as one of her hands stopped gripping his thighs and slipped to his ballsack and started massaging them, increasing the stimulation that he was receiving from her.
Her blowjob lasted for 5 minutes before Alex told her, [Prepare yourself…] She instantly understood what he was going to do and felt both his hands gripping her head tightly.
He quickly started fucking her mouth roughly while thrusting his hips a little. Laura's nose kept hitting his pelvis as he forced his entire cock into her mouth, making her give him a rough deepthroat.
As he kept going for a few minutes, [I'm close, Laura…] He told her and increased his pace even more such that Laura's eyes rolled back and she lost her grip over his thighs.
When Alex exploded, he made sure that a large amount of his load directly went to her stomach. As he slowly pulled his dick out of her mouth, he shot a spurt at the back of her throat and another at her tongue before fully pulling his cock out, resealing the gag completely so that no water entered her mouth.
As she came back to her senses, Laura instinctively swallowed the remaining load inside her mouth and looked up at him lustfully.
At this point, she was completely ready and almost desperate to have sex with him. She just needed him to ask her, 'Hell you don't even have to ask me…Just force that cock into my pussy…' She thought as she glanced at his cock.
As if he knew her thoughts, Alex looked amused as he grabbed her arms and pulled her up into his embrace, cuddling with her.
...
More days passed with Laura training underwater with Alex as he looked for traces of Atlantis.
At the same time, he'd already started making preparations for his next destination with Laura.
He was going to bring her to the Hydra-controlled Earth and there was a perfect person for Laura to replace on that planet. He wanted to infiltrate Hydra and get some benefit from their takeover of another version of the Earth.
"Kid, cover my flank." Wolverine's voice was heard in Laura's intercom and she instantly got out of cover and blocked a stray bullet from hitting her as she moved to another location.
A buff man wearing a yellow and black costume burst out from the location that Laura was running toward and charged at the line of defense that comprised the resistance forces.
He extended his claws and crossed them in front of his head as he charged at them. Meanwhile, Laura cut through a person who was approaching Wolverine from behind and slashed at them with her Adamantium-coated claws.
She stood behind Wolverine and defended him from attacks that came from the sides and behind him as he charged at the line of defense, uncaring of the wounds that he got.
Working together, they quickly made their way to the line of defense and made quick work of the non-enhanced individuals there, either subduing or straight-up slicing through them.
"This sector's clear." Wolverine activated another intercom that was attached to his bracelet and reported his status.
"Copy that, Logan." A feminine voice came from his intercom, "I need you to provide cover for the team at site C. They have sighted Spider-Man and Silk, and might potentially be facing more enhanced individuals."
"Isn't that the Defenders team? With all due respect, Hill. I'm not dealing with that fucker right now." He spat out into the intercom.
"That's an order, Agent Logan." She said and Wolverine went silent.
After a few seconds of silence, he looked over at Laura who was looking at him innocently. In the end, he grunted into the intercom before cutting the connection.
It was at this time that a team of soldiers wearing combat armor with Hydra logos entered the building. They ignored Logan and Logan ignored them.
"Keep up, kid." He said as he left the building and made his way through the almost dystopian 'battlefield' that used to be a bustling borough of New York City, namely, the Bronx. Many of the buildings had been destroyed and the ruined streets were completely deserted except for the occasional pests. It was a complete warzone.
Within minutes, the duo heard the sound of gunfire mixed with loud shouts and approached the fighting forces.
Wolverine signaled to Laura to attack one of the shooting people while he went to attack another. They both quickly joined in the conflict and killed multiple of the resistance forces before their presence was registered.
That was when Logan felt a strong kick at his back and was thrown away from his position as he flipped his body multiple times before coming to a stop. He faced the figure of Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O'Hara.
Wolverine growled as he attacked Spider-Man who blocked the man's claws using his own spinnerets that were on his forearms. As they got into a fight, Spider-Man extended the claws that were on his fingers and scratched Wolverine's forearm with them. At the same time, he received a knee in the gut from Wolverine.
As they were fighting, Laura was facing her own foe. Silk.
She had a radically different fighting style in comparison to Wolverine, yet there was a sense of similarity that one would see with Wolverine's combat style when looking at how she fought. She was countering all of Silk's attacks with her acrobatics-leaning combat style.
With Laura and Wolverine's presence, the Defenders finally had some room to breathe. After regrouping themselves, they quickly started taking care of the remaining resistance forces.
As Spider-Man and Silk noticed their people being subdued by the Defenders, their actions got more and more desperate, leading to them getting more hurt.
With both Wolverine and Laura having a monstrous healing factor, it was impossible for the two spider people to take care of them quickly enough.
Soon, Spider-Man signaled to Silk and they quickly shot their webs at a remaining building before swinging away. The resistance forces were already incapacitated by then.
Wolverine narrowed his eyes as he looked at Spider-Man's receding back and said, "Let's regroup."
Laura and Logan met up with the Defenders.
"Rand," Wolverine said toward Iron Fist.
"Howlett," He replied with a gruff tone. Luke Cage and Jessica Jones stood beside him as they looked at Wolverine with slightly apprehensive expressions. They were ready for a fight.
"Logan, come in." The tense atmosphere was broken by the sound of the intercom at Wolverine's wrist.
"I'm here." He brought his wrist close to his face.
"We need you and Laura at the containment facility. The line of defense there is being attacked." She said.
"Copy that." Wolverine replied before turning back to Iron Fist, "Fuck off, Rand." He then turned to Laura and said, "Keep up, kid."
He started moving to his next destination before Iron Fist could say anything.
Laura looked back at the fuming team and asked Wolverine, "Do you have something with them, Dad?"
"It's not important," Wolverine replied with his usual gruff voice as he increased his pace, making it slightly difficult for Laura to keep up. It had the necessary effect and Wolverine didn't hear any more questions from Laura.
As he approached his destination, a large prison was made visible. It had been repurposed for Hydra's purposes.
As he approached the line of defense, he understood why the soldiers were having trouble. The forces of Hydra were being annihilated by The Thing as the resistance forces were gaining ground.
"You asked me to deal with this guy?" He muttered with a tone of slight disbelief as he didn't stop his approach and directly kicked the Thing.
The rocky man stumbled from the effects of Wolverine's kick and roared at him, ignoring the troops that he was previously decimating. At the same time, two more heroes, namely Gambit and Blade came up to the troops and started incapacitating them. Without the cover that Thing was providing, their task just got much more difficult.
"Fuck off, Logan." Thing roared and swiped his arm at Logan who barely countered him with his claws. Laura also came up from the side and attacked Thing.
He raised his arm and received Laura's claws. They created four cuts on his rocky skin but also caused her claws to be stuck in his skin. Thing swiped his arm and hurled Laura away as she was freeing her claws, throwing her into a pile of concrete debris.
Thing focused back on Wolverine and received a slash directly at his chest. That moment that he took to take care of Laura had given Wolverine a nice window.
As for Laura. As she was about to get up from the rubble, she felt her hand touching something slimy.
"Huh?" She raised it up and saw that her hand was now covered in black and her yellow glove was nowhere to be seen.
Moments later, she realized that that black substance was extending along her entire body. She frowned and tried to pull away her glove. As she was unable to pull it away, she was about to try harder, but something compelled her to allow that 'suit' to cover her body.
Feeling a little weird, she ignored the new black suit that had taken over her costume and rose out of the rubble, wearing a new black suit.
'I've been following these two for so long…' Alex cheered to himself as he decided to play Venom for a while until he could replace this Laura with his Laura.
Laura came out of the pile of rubble wearing a new all-black costume with yellow tones and instantly pounced at Thing who couldn't react until he felt her claws getting embedded into his back.
She ferally stabbed him multiple times until he charged backward into a thick concrete pillar, forcing Laura to get off of his back. She jumped away and regrouped with Wolverine.
"Easy there, kid. We just need to keep them busy." Wolverine told Laura. He noticed the change in her costume but decided to leave it until they dealt with The Thing.
Wolverine and Laura kept the Thing busy until more reinforcements could come and help them out.
In the end, Hydra deployed one of the heavy hitters, and the assailing forces were all repelled as Wolverine and Laura were extracted from the battlefield.
"You were holding back." Wolverine heard as he was reporting to his handler, Agent Maria Hill.
"I was supposed to be holding back The Thing." He replied in his usual gruff tone.
"If you made some effort, we would've caught one of the Fantastic Four in one fell swoop. It would force Richards out of hiding." She chided him but Wolverine didn't care.
She shook her head and said, "Rest up. Tomorrow, you'll be deployed with a team to attack one of the Inhuman bases."
"You know I don't work well with others." He told her.
"And yet you have an apprentice." She glanced at a closed door. It was the door to Laura's room, "It doesn't matter. You will be deployed with the team and you will get along with them." She told him and without waiting for a reply, she turned around.
Wolverine growled at her back with a hostile gaze, but he didn't make a move.
He shook his head and turned to Laura's bedroom door, 'Let's see what the deal with her is…' He'd noticed her acting weird since she got that all-black suit. She'd gotten more feral than she already was under normal circumstances.
***
Back in Earth-Z.
Two more weeks passed as Laura and Alex stayed underwater for the entire duration. They hadn't come out of the water for even a moment.
At this point, Laura had very much adapted to being underwater.
Although not yet a completely voluntary process, she was now able to hold her breath for as long as she wanted. She just had to make a constant effort to not breathe. And that was an instinct that would take a lot of time for Laura to overpower.
As Laura killed the last of the abominations in this region, Alex decided to curb his search for Atlantis. He'd looked as far as he could look while making sure that it was safe and he hadn't yet found any traces. Atlantis had either been destroyed with its citizens turned into abominations, or they had disappeared from the face of the earth in the advent of the abominations.
[How'd I do?] Laura came up to Alex with an anticipatory smile. She wanted to be praised.
[Amazingly.] He smiled and pulled her in for a hug.
[Are we going to the next area now?] She asked.
[Nah. I don't think there's any point in staying here anymore. I'll take you to the next world now.] He told her. At this point, there was no real reason for them to stay on Earth-Z. It was a nice EP farm for Alex, but that was it. As for Laura's history with the Bastion and the X-men of this Earth, they would come back to it later.
Alex still hadn't used the over 60,000 EP that he had hoarded. He didn't even know what to do with it. He didn't need to get any teleportation skills after getting access to portals that could be made through the mystic arts. As for his heat and sound resistance skill, that was even more useless. Ever since he used the Extremis formula to create a cure for his ingrained trauma, he was essentially immune to almost all basic forms of energy.
Now, the only thing that could truly harm him was Cosmic Energy and that was an insanely expensive skill.
‹Basic Cosmic Energy Resistance›:: Gives a weak level of resistance to Cosmic energy-based attacks. Cost: 1,000,000 EP.
A shitty skill that probably wouldn't even be able to help him endure a simple slash from Jane's sword, Hofund, cost him a million EP. He didn't even try to look for the stronger variants of the skill or anything relating to Cosmic energy in general after that insane price.
He decided to use his EP just to slowly strengthen his own skills while also enhancing his girls after looking at that insane price.
[So we can have sex now?] Laura's excited voice brought Alex out of his thoughts.
[You're really excited, huh?] Alex smiled.
[You have no idea…] She said while looking directly into his eyes, conveying her desire, [I've been ready for so long. But you kept delaying it…] She showed him a cute pout that he couldn't resist as he kissed her.
[Do you want to do it right here, or should we go to the surface first?] He asked her. As much as he wanted to do it underwater with her, he wanted her to be comfortable for her first time doing it. They could have the second round underwater.
[I don't mind doing it here…] She said as she pushed her tongue against Alex's tongue, deepening their kiss, [I've grown pretty comfortable underwater in the past few weeks. And the view is just breathtaking… Pun intended.]
[Well then, let's not waste any more time…] Alex said, ignoring her bad joke, his impatience shone through his words and tone as Laura smiled excitedly at his words. She was just as impatient as him.
His hands trailed down her body as he gently held her waist and asked her, [So how was your underwater expedition without even a scrap of clothing on your body?]
[Initially, it was a little embarrassing, but I've gotten pretty used to it by now.] She shrugged as she grabbed the waistband of his beach shorts and pulled it lower, freeing his rapidly hardening shaft, [I can even say that I might prefer being naked all the time now.]
[Oh god, you're going to get arrested for indecent exposure, aren't you?] He joked as he trailed his hand lower, lightly touching her pussy.
[No, I'm not!] She got embarrassed, [I have enough self-control…] She pushed her face into his neck and started sucking his skin.
[No, I think I'll have to manage your daily life to an even greater extent from now on…] He said with a serious and thoughtful tone.
[Like you don't already. Sometimes, I feel like you are just treating me as your personal doll that you clean, dress and fuck.] She joked with a moan as she felt his fingers entering her pussy.
[Don't patronize me. You love every second of me controlling everything from your outfits to your food.] He scoffed as he cupped her ass with his other hand.
[Ahn~] She felt him brushing his finger against her g-spot and moaned as she got wet.
She wanted to reciprocate his actions, so she grabbed his cock and started lightly pumping it while using his neck to create a vacuum seal to make sure that no water entered her mouth.
As for Alex, he enjoyed their slow foreplay for a couple of minutes before he said in her head, [Do you remember those heels that I put you in?]
[Those uncomfortably tall ones? Yeah. They were so sexy…] She told him as the grip of her hands around his cock tightened.
[I'm putting those on you.] Alex said and Laura felt her feet being forced into a slightly uncomfortable position. The heels rose up to the middle of her calves and she felt herself sinking lower. She firmly stood on the seabed. This forced her to let go of Alex. Although she tried to rise up, the heels were extremely dense and heavy and weren't budging.
Soon, Alex lowered himself and looked at her with a smile, [I'll make you experience something extremely unique…] He said as he hugged her and pushed two of his fingers into her pussy, still wanting to tease her.
Just as Laura wrapped her arms around him, she felt a resisting force being applied to his body, [What are you doing?] She asked.
[I'm letting you feel what would've happened to us at this depth if I hadn't been able to increase the density of our bodies. This is why we could stay sunk and didn't float upwards.] He told her. He stopped forcefully making her skin and blood denser than water and made it even more loosely packed to counter the effects of her metal skeleton. Although humans can float on water, metals would naturally sink, especially Laura's sleketon that was made of an alloy of both Adamantium and Vibranium.
Her eyes widened as she felt herself being forcefully pulled upward as if the effects of gravity had just been reversed for her.
She tried to keep her arms wrapped around Alex, but he brushed his thumb against her clit, causing her to moan as her grip loosened. In the end, she was floating upward. Or at least that's what would've been happening if she wasn't essentially cemented to the seabed.
[Feels weird, right?] Alex asked amusedly as he continued fingering her while pulling back to admire her visage. She looked as if she was hung upside down.
[It's like gravity has been reversed and is pulling me upward instead…] She mumbled distractedly before yelping as she felt Alex's fingers tracing along her anal rim.
[Alex…] She trailed off.
[Don't worry. We have all the time in the world for me to explore each and every hole that you have…] He said teasingly as he stopped teasing her ass and kept focusing on her pussy.
He wrapped one arm around her waist and held her close while teasing her pussy with the other.
She wanted to hug him back but the force that was pulling her upward was too strong for her. She could've hugged him if she really tried, but with her sensitive spots being assaulted by Alex, she wasn't able to gather her strength to resist the buoyancy force of the ocean from thousands of meters deep underwater.
[Kiss me…] She called out to him in a pleading tone. Unable to move freely under such a strenuous condition, she wanted to Feel Alex even more.
He wasn't one to disappoint as he quickly pressed his lips against hers, creating a seal that wouldn't let any of the salty sea water enter either of their mouths. He invaded her mouth with his tongue as Laura struggled to do anything other than release cute moans.
A few seconds later, Laura felt something attaching itself to her nipple. As she tried to lower her head to look at it, she noticed that it was a black string that was released from Alex's abdomen that was attached to her nipple with a sort of four-petaled flower. Another similar appendage attached to her other nipple she felt a suction force arise from both appendages as she felt heat rising inside her body.
[I'm gonna bond with your organs today.] Alex's words surprised the fuck out of Laura, literally.
[Are you sure?] She didn't mind but Alex had previously told her that there were more requirements that had to be met before they could deepen their bond level.
[Yeah. The current situation is almost perfect for it.] He said, determined to form the Level 6 bond with her.
This motivation came from the stuff that he'd found out after delving deeper into Hydra's data archives and servers on the Earth that he was going to take her to. He wanted to have another aspect of security by increasing their level of bond.
***