Flickering green hues illuminated the gold cell. Green lines were spread across the walls and floor like an encompassing circuit that radiated an unfathomable, suppressive energy. The translucent green energy shield at the entrance didn't hide the inside of the cell from the eyes of the two guards stationed outside.
Inside the cell, were Alex and Jane. Alex was free to walk around with just his hands cuffed in front of him — they had changed to a different set of cuffs when putting him and Jane in the cell. Jane, on the other hand, was cuffed to the wall with her arms held above her head, forced to stay on her toes.
"Why are you free?" She asked while struggling against the suppressive cuffs, unwilling to give up. She had already attempted to summon Mjolnir to herself, but without a response, she couldn't do anything.
[This entire cell is made of a circuit that is harnessing the Soul Stone's power, Jane. They don't need to restrain us because the circuit is doing the suppression for us. You are tied up like that because you annoyed them.] Alex said helpfully, [I, on the other hand, am a model prisoner. No resistance, no punching the guard in the face, nothing. These things matter.]
Jane's response was cut short by a deep growl that resounded through the hall, "Unhand me, metal fiends!" Thor's booming voice reached Jane's ears, making her sigh.
"How many Thors does that make?" She asked Alex rhetorically. They had already passed by a few occupied cells, telling them that it wasn't just them who were in this situation.
"Three," He said, "Four if I include you. Someone's probably luring them here."
She didn't respond to his words, [So what's your plan?] She asked instead, [You're not one to just act like a sitting duck while someone keeps you imprisoned.]
[I'm working on it.] He said, [I want the Soul Stone that these people are using to suppress us.]
[You make it sound like there are more Soul Stones.] She said, [There's only supposed to be one of each Infinity Stone in a universe.]
[Under normal circumstances, you would be correct. But this universe is not normal, is it?] Alex's question stumped Jane.
She didn't say anything and started brooding while sending a piercing glare at the green-hued barrier.
After a few minutes of silence, [I think that it's been long enough that you delayed accepting me don't you think?] Alex asked her.
[Was that your master plan? Getting us trapped in a helpless situation where I would have no way to escape without accepting your help.] Jane said.
[I think you know the answer to that question.] Alex said uncaringly while taking a seat on the floor and leaning against the wall beside Jane.
She glanced at him, sitting there calmly as if he didn't care about what happened here, and felt fury bubbling up inside her, [What is wrong with you?] She snapped, [We are here stuck in what could possibly be a deathly situation for us and you are nonchalant as if it is of no consequence. Not to mention, how these people are literally capturing Thor's variants as if they are some kind of zoo animal with the use of the Soul Stone. Do you really feel nothing about all this?]
What greeted Jane's outburst was the inexpressive unreadable blank face of Alex as he looked up at her. It needed her to crane her neck, but the apathy-filled expression sent a chill down her spine. He finally gave her his answer, [It's because I truly, genuinely, do not feel anything close to remorse for anything here, Jane. To me, this planet, the Sovereign, Xandarians, none of it matters. This planet can burn and explode and I couldn't give two shits about it. Hell, if I'm given an ultimatum where I have to choose between snatching the Soul Stone and destroying this planet then I will, without a second of thought, choose to take the Soul Stone at the expense of this planet and all the lives on it.]
Jane had complicated feelings toward Alex's words and didn't know how to respond to him, growing quiet with a contemplative expression, [Then why haven't you dissolved our bond and left? I know you have multiple copies of yourself scattered all across the forty converged Earths. You can leave me here with no consequence to yourself.]
Alex took a while to give her a reply, [Truth be told, I would rather not destroy the possible bond that we may develop eventually. As you have most likely realized, I not only have multiple copies in the cluster but also multiple hosts. Dissolving this bond would be, at worst, a minor inconvenience.]
[Then why?] She asked, her voice trembled as she spoke.
[I'm getting to it. I like you. Plain and simple. Think of it as some kind of appreciation toward your headstrong personality that's a breath of fresh air in front of my other hosts. Maybe it's just that you are very strong and can help me get much stronger as we deepen our biological bond. There are many factors to it. Ultimately, I don't want to dissolve our bond, so I'm not going to, plain and simple.] Alex confessed.
She didn't know how many of his words she could blindly trust, but she understood that he wasn't planning on letting go, [Can you… Can you tell me what your endgame is here? What do you, really, expect from our bond?]
Alex returned a crooked smile, turning his face back up, [Are you sure that you can handle my answer?] His lips curled up into a menacing grin.
[Tell me…] Jane didn't like the expression that she was seeing on Alex's face but she was too deep in to give up like that.
[I want to conquer both your body and soul, Jane. I want to make sure that you are fully aware that you belong to me for all of eternity. You will be my general of war. My wife. My confidante. And when we free ourselves from this sick joke of a multiversal prank, we will have all of existence at our fingertips.]
His words sent a shiver down Jane's spine, giving rise to an image in her mind. Countless beings, spread across entire universes, acknowledging Alex's rule, bowing respectfully. Behind him, at the side, she, with her weapons drawn, stood by like the general of his multiversal army. Beside her, stood six faceless figures, undoubtedly female, each with their own respective roles and responsibilities that she was unaware of. She felt a faint, seventh figure, still illusory and unclear, standing alongside the six to make a total of eight. In front of him, an army, comprised of some formless mist, yet with unmistakable grandeur, covered the expanse as far as her eyes could see. They stretched even further beyond, every single one of them, silently awaiting his orders. She noticed some of the foremost beings within the army standing at the front, like commanders, similar to the previous six faceless feminine figures that stood at his sides.
The sound of Alex's fingers snapping brought her out of the lucid dream that had felt ever so real. She shook, her eyelids trembling as they fluttered open, only to see Alex's face right in front of her, the usual infuriating smirk on his lips. What she had experienced in that faint illusory yet realistic feeling vision had left her shaken. At this moment, meeting Alex's eyes, she felt the walls that she had so desperately clung to for so long crumbling to dust.
'Look away.'
She berated herself, but her body betrayed her mind, continuing to gaze into Alex's gentle yet bright emerald green eyes, unable to extricate herself from the spell that seemed to have been cast on her. Powerless, suppressed, restrained, her quivering eyes felt naked in front of him, vulnerable, unable to resist, her gaze fixed at her emerald green orbs.
"I see now that you just needed to feel my sincerity," Alex gently cupped Jane's face with a light smile, calming her tense, shivering figure.
'I was shivering?' 'When did he get free of those cuffs?'
As Alex's palm graced her cheek, the warmth calmed the tumultuous waves in her heart. Her questions, unable to escape her lips, dissipated into nonexistence.
"Alex…" Jane spoke as Alex merely shushed her.
"I know," He said as Jane felt herself falling further and further down the spiral.
"But —" This time, it was Alex's lips meeting hers that shut her up. It was a momentary, fleeting kiss, but it left a lasting impression. The faint sense of warmth on her lips and the fleeting breath that had just graced her cheek left her longing and wanting more.
"Describe to me what you saw, Jane," Alex said, the distance between their faces still negligible as he continued cupping her cheek. She finally had the presence of mind to realize that it wasn't just their faces, but their bodies were also sticking to each other. Jane felt her breasts being lightly compressed due to being pushed by Alex's sturdy build, her thighs brushing against his as his other hand held her by the waist, pulling her close.
"Didn't… Didn't you show me that scene?" She spoke with a glazed tone, the amplified beating of her heart felt like drums in her ears that made her stomach churn.
"I prompted the hallucination biologically. I couldn't control its contents," Alex said, "It was all you. I merely guided you when I said that you were going to be my general. Everything else, your own interpretation of our future." This was the reason that she had been so shaken up when Alex snapped his fingers. That hallucination was the amalgamation of what she knew to be true alongside her deepest desires, leaving her vulnerable and wanting in front of Alex. It was also the result of Alex having spent almost two months convincing her, helping her in the tiniest ways, and slowly breaking her defenses. All of those efforts finally broke through like a dam that finally made Jane accept him.
The fleeting kiss had been the sign that marked the complete destruction of her walls and Jane leaned forward, capturing Alex's lips in a passionate kiss. She gave into her desires and poured her passion into that kiss, unwilling to let go of Alex. Deep down, she knew, she was afraid of him giving up on her. That was why she kept trying to push him away. Like a patient with depression who refuses to accept the help that they are given and lashes out, she was the same. Broken, unwilling to be in a similar situation again. But she was lonely and wanting.
Alex felt a sense of surprise as Jane pressed her lips against his, even going as far as to push her tongue into his mouth to convey her passion. He wasn't one to passively accept a kiss and quickly responded to her with equal and even greater passion.
The two pairs of lips separated, breathless, greedily sucking the air as Alex and Jane gazed into each other's eyes.
"No turning back after this," Alex spoke with an overbearingly obsessive look in his eyes, "You'll be mine. From now until all of eternity."
Jane wordlessly responded with her trembling eyes that continued meeting his gaze, gaining a sheen of liquid as she closed them, expectant, yet not sure what she was expecting.
[You've finally accepted me, Jane…] Alex smiled and spoke in her head, meeting Jane's lips in another brief yet fleeting kiss, [I will deepen the bond with you. But I won't be able to pamper you like I want to.]
She whimpered at the feeling of loss that assaulted her when Alex pulled himself away from her. She tried to move her body forward to maintain their previous contact but the restraints sapped her strength and she could only limply hang in her place.
[Don't worry. Once we get out of here, I will properly pamper you. I will make sure that you can't walk for the next week no matter what healing measures you use. For now, however, I will take absolute control over your physique and get rid of the cancer plaguing you.]
"Uu~" She wasn't in a state to form coherent thoughts, let alone speak clearly. All she knew was that she wanted Alex's warmth back.
Her watery, desolate, and forlorn eyes made Alex's heart melt as he said with a light smile, [I won't be able to continue without the guards noticing.]
At his words, Jane whimpered again, but the sound didn't escape her pouty lips and was only transmitted as a thought to Alex. He spoke to her again, [Try not to fall too deep into the pleasure…]
As Jane tried to respond, it only came out as a telepathic whine, not even the slightest sound escaping her lips. It was then that she felt something wiggling inside her clothes. She felt something that she thought to be cilia lightly moving along the skin of her stomach. They were wet and constantly rubbed some kind of oil on her skin that left a burning sensation in its wake. She tried to respond, but all that escaped her lips was a weak breath. Mentally, however, she was whimpering to Alex, unable to form coherent telepathic words to say anything more than a weak plea.
As the cilia started spreading all along her skin, a sense of helplessness started creeping along the sides of her vision in the form of darkness. She closed her watery eyes — one of the only things that she could actually physically do since the rest of her body seemed to be completely out of her control. Previously suppressed by the Soul Stone, she was already feeling helpless, but this was a sense of suppression that she'd never experienced.
Shutting her eyes didn't do her any good. If anything, the sensations only got amplified as the cilia under her clothes extended all around her waist, forming a sort of thick belt around her stomach that made her feel unique sensations as a result of Alex massaging her skin with the EP-rich oil.
Trying to move her arms, and legs, even trying to wiggle her fingers or toes was of no use. She could only helplessly hang from her bound wrists as the feeling of pleasure building up within her core got even stronger. She wanted to move, to moan, to wiggle, and to respond, but her mind was trapped in her own body, unable to express itself.
The cilia continued expanding under her clothes, continuing to massage her as her entire back was being stimulated by the gentle caresses of the hair-like material that left an arousing heat wherever they rubbed her. Soon, the cilia expanded even further, extending to her arms as she felt a ticklish sensation followed by even more pleasure that the oil gave her. Even her hands weren't spared since she had been wearing gloves that went up to her elbows.
The sense of helplessness started to dominate her mind alongside the arousal, and other feelings and thoughts slowly disappeared. It gave her a contrasting sense of pleasure that she couldn't quite understand. She was never turned on by feeling helpless. The only feelings she had associated with helplessness were negative. The helplessness of her battles against cancer. The helplessness of her miscarriage. She had never even considered that being helpless would ever bring her pleasure. But here she was. The increasing arousal and proportionally increasing sense of being trapped and helpless in her own body only fueled the gratifying heat in her core.
Soon, the cilia extended up her torso, finally reaching her breasts, causing her mind to react with a jerk. She expected to feel a familiar pain when the cilia spread that aphrodisiac all over her tumor-infested breast. Her cancer had completely destroyed any sense of pleasure that she had ever associated with her breasts, making her expect nothing but a piercing pain that she would have to helplessly endure.
To her surprise, that piercing pain never came and she only released a mental moan as the cilia traced around her mounds gently stimulating the boundary while extending toward her nipples. All she felt from the oil that was being massaged around her breasts was heat and arousal, not even the slightest trace of pain affecting her when it started assaulting her chest. Her reaction to the stimulation was just as pronounced — that is, her mental reaction. Her body was restrained, not in her control, her closed yet trembling eyes being the only thing that betrayed her thoughts.
[Such sensitive breasts… You've left them unattended for so long. Don't worry. I won't leave even any part of your body unattended to. Promise…] Alex's words sent a shiver through Jane's aroused body, her mind imagining various scenarios, all of them revolving around her being put in increasingly helpless states as she was forced to endure relentless pleasure.
The cilia slowed down their assault on Jane's breasts, mostly massaging around the mounds instead of really covering all of the area. They started extending to her shoulders instead, meeting the cilia that were stimulating her back so that her entire torso was covered in cilia that continued massaging her with EP-rich oil that kept increasing her arousal.
Continuing to tease her breasts, the area of her most sensitive skin that the cilia covered was increasing at a snail's pace, making her feel frustrated even as the excitement of being able to feel pleasure from her breasts aroused her to no end.
Eventually, the cilia started moving down from her torso, reaching her long, smooth legs that were covered in leather pants. They started moving along the outsides of her thighs, continuing the frustrating massage that was assaulting her mind with numbing arousal but was still not doing what she needed to climax. The insides of her leather pants were already drenched in the liquids that were escaping her core, but Alex was taking his sweet time, letting her stew in the feelings of arousal and frustration that she could only helplessly endure without any real resistance.
Ignoring her inner thighs and her core, the cilia extended from the outside down to her knees before reaching her calves and massaging them with the oil. The moment the cilia reached her feet, her mind jerked again, this time even more than when she felt the cilia creeping toward her breasts. This time, her reaction came because of the incredible ticklishness that came from her sole that started to be massaged by the fine cilia.
The cilia extended from her soles, uncaring of her ticklishness and forcing another prominent feeling into her numb mind that was already addled with the frustrating pleasure and helplessness. As her toes were covered by the same, her mind only fell deeper and deeper into the unique pleasure.
[Time for the main course, my Jane. I've warmed you up enough. I'm going to start bonding with you now.] Before she could express her disbelief about the previous experience only being considered as warming up, the cilia started covering her well-endowed breasts at a much faster pace, sending multiple jolts all along her body as her breasts, neglected for years, finally received the love that they deserved.
Moments before the cilia reached her nipples, a jolt of pleasure passed through her body that made her mind go completely blank. Her juices burst out of her crotch as she squirted with an orgasm just as Alex initiated the process of the level two bond. Just as her orgasm started to die down, the cilia finally reached her nipples. The massage was somewhat different for her nipples, but she wasn't in the mind to notice the more forceful massage of her nubs as her body was rocked with another orgasm before the first completely died down.
With the process initiated and her body being completely helpless putty in Alex's hands, he continued focusing on her breasts for the next few minutes, continuously making her climax without letting her trapped — yet overwhelmed with pleasure — mind rest for even a moment. Eventually, the cilia that had been teasing her thighs without affecting the most important areas also joined in, making sure that it was completely impossible for her to be freed from the pleasure unless Alex deemed fit.
The bonding process lasted for the next few hours as Alex made sure to completely engrave himself on Jane's mind. All of that without truly being intimate with her. At least not in the way that she considers intimate.
{ «Status- Host #7»
«Name: Jane Foster (Mighty Thor)»
«Bonding Rate: 2%»
«Bonding Level: 2»
«Powers: Low Cosmic Physique— Lightning Divinity (Mjolnir)— Bifrost Summon (Hofund)— Cosmic Energy Manipulation (???)»
}
Since Jane was already much further beyond the level of Alex's other hosts in terms of her power, the level two bond didn't truly affect her that much. Except for the most important parts. Her cancer was no longer a thing that she would ever need to worry about. The Asgardian physique that gave her all of the physical boosts had now become permanent. It was no longer dependent on Mjolnir, which meant that she no longer needed the hammer to sustain her and the divine weapon could now show its true potential without being limited by her physique.
Another important thing was that now she could truly improve her physique. Previously, her physical attributes had been completely dependent on the hammer and even if she tried to train to get stronger, once she reverted back to her original form, all of those gains were gone. Even when turning back into Thor, the hammer used the original template, which meant that her training and improvements were all for naught. Still, she didn't have a major problem with the situation since the template that the hammer used was Thor's. It gave her a physique much stronger than most Asgardians, comparable to the strongest of them.
As for Alex, nothing much had changed. His physique creation skill was still at Low Cosmic — the threshold between Low Cosmic and Cosmic was like a vast chasm that Alex would have to spend a lot of effort traversing — and his Lightning Manipulation was also still of the advanced grade, albeit with a higher level of mastery with the ability. Unlike the Lightning Manipulation ability, the other two abilities that Jane had — stemming from Hofund and an unknown source — seemed to be even more detached from her, not allowing Alex to get even the slightest benefit. The Bifrost was understandable, but even Cosmic Energy Manipulation stayed the same, still an incomplete ability.
The bonding process lasted for almost four hours since Alex wasn't able to have a fully intimate experience with Jane. Not to mention he, unlike what was actually visible, could see and hear all of Jane's blissful reactions to what he was doing to augment the bonding process. When it was finally finished, the woman's mind was completely exhausted and she needed at least twelve hours of genuine rest.
Jane's current state gave Alex the time to continue working on breaking into the Sovereign's systems. His focus here was on two main things. One was to take control of their military aspects — in this case, their remote piloting system that kept their citizens safe would backfire on them — to disable them from coming after him and Jane like annoying flies; the other was to form a viable plan to go to Morag. He not only needed the coordinates for the planet but also a nice ship that would get him and Jane there since they couldn't use the Bifrost.
As Alex kept working things out and formed an escape plan for him and Jane, the tired woman finally woke up after ten hours, still hung from the cuffs that kept her arms attached to the wall. She groaned out, "Alex…" Resistance against the cuffs came naturally to her as she tried to free herself while looking down at her side and craning her neck. Alex was seated on the floor with his head lowered.
Hearing Jane's call, he looked up, "You're awake," He said with a smile and stood up, naturally wrapping an arm around Jane's waist and pulling her close. Instead of the emotionally high state that she was in previously, right now, she was completely sober, and feeling Alex wrap his arm around her waist made her tense up for a moment before she gave him a light smile.
"How long was I out?" She asked him as the warmth of his body calmed her down despite being tied up.
"Ten hours. We've been in this cell for almost fifteen hours," Alex said, not mentioning Jane's hesitation. She was still not completely used to the presence of another man in her life. Previously, they had both done everything in an emotionally high state, but now they had to work with reality. And reality needed time and patience.
"Oh," She raised a brow and asked absently, "did they capture another Thor?"
"Not yet. I can only assume that the two there were here before had been here for a while. The one who got captured right after us might have been an outlier," Alex said.
"When are we going to get out?" She asked, "I'm dying to get out of these cuffs."
"Soon," Alex said before smiling, "And don't think you're getting rid of cuffs so quickly. I'm going to be the one cuffing you soon enough."
Jane rolled her eyes, but the imperceptible blush that appeared on her cheeks gave her inner thoughts away, "We'll see about that," She said, "If you think you can just tie me up and top me, then you're dead wrong."
"Well," Alex said, getting closer to her face, "we'll see about that, won't we?" He then met Jane's lips with a gentle peck that made her shiver. She tried to suppress her reaction, but the rattling of her cuffs gave her away. "Now, are you ready to get out of here?" He asked her with a knowing smile on his face.
Jane looked away from his piercing eyes, "Yeah…"
"Look at me," Alex said, holding her chin and gently guiding her head back to make her meet his eyes, "never avert your eyes when I'm talking to you. Understood?" His forceful words mixed with the tone made Jane nod meekly, having lost all her previous defiant momentum as she started recalling the overwhelming experience from before.
The reminiscing of the helplessness and pleasure made Jane feel limp as she completely leaned herself in Alex's arm. Before a whimper could escape her lips, Alex pulled her in for another kiss, this one as deep as possible, making sure that Jane understood the depths of Alex's lust and passion toward her.
A trail of saliva, glistening, connected Alex and Jane even when they separated. The string broke, the remnants falling on Jane's chest plate. Alex spoke, "It's time to get going. I will truly show you the depths of my lust when we leave this planet."
The woman's misty eyes, filled with warmth and expectation were enough for Alex to know her response without a single word escaping her wet lips. Jane felt lost in his piercing green eyes and leaned forward once again.
A clanking sound interrupted her actions as the handcuffs suppressing her broke, her eyes widening as she fell to the ground. Shaken, her feet met the ground, making her stumble as she leaned in Alex's arms, her arms naturally wrapping around his neck as her grip tightened.
The abrupt change had shaken her out of her reverie. When she pulled her face back, a fiery glow shrouded her pupils. She was ready to wreak havoc on this planet if that's what it took for her to get out of here.
"We have less than ten minutes before my energy reserves get too low to continue resisting the Soul Stone without both of us feeling immense pain. Any more than that and the Mind Stone will start consuming our life force to power its resistive force. I can easily replenish your lost life force with time, but the pain…" He didn't need to complete his sentence for Jane to understand.
"Ten minutes are more than enough." She said.
'I need to actively work with my two EP farmer girls now. It's time to clear out Earth-Z a little.'
Alex's thoughts trailed off to something completely different from the current situation. He had realized that this conflict was going to reduce or completely finish his EP reserves.
Returning from stray thoughts, Alex's body started to lose its color as the clothes started turning black. Soon, he turned into a humanoid black slime that was just a little taller than Jane, [Get ready.] He said to Jane before merging into her, the cuffs on his wrists falling to the ground with a clank as he covered Jane's Asgardian form and gave her a distinct look to depict his presence. She was covered in black chainmail with prominent parts like the silver disks and the knee and arm braces staying the same as before. The chainmail extended up to her neck and her head was left bare. Alex decided that the helmet wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as Jane's face.
[Dumbass, the helmet is supposed to keep my head safe…] Jane felt some heat on her cheeks as she somehow 'felt' Alex's thoughts about her face.
[I'm the one keeping your head safe. You don't need that winged helmet.] Alex said and Jane felt that there was a transparent material wrapping around her face for a moment before the feeling disappeared, [You don't need the armor either, but I'm not into exhibiting my women.]
Jane felt cold sweats at the thought of fighting against the hundreds of Xandarians naked. [Yeah, let's keep that armor on. Preferably forever.]
Alex laughed at her words, [We'll see about that. Can you summon Hofund to yourself?]
[It has the same enchantment as Mjolnir.] She told him.
[Then start trying to summon them. The moment you feel a response, run out and incapacitate those two guards.]
[Tell me the plan —] She said, following Alex's words to summon her sword and Hammer.
[Just follow along with whatever I tell you to do. It's not that complicated.] Jane wasn't sure why she didn't push back against Alex's words. At any other time, she would've gotten herself in on the plan before doing anything else. Right now though, she merely responded with a light nod, trusting Alex.
She continued calling her sword and hammer with concentration, not noticing the yellow arcs of energy that kept appearing all over her body, slowly increasing in intensity. Just as the arcs of that energy reached a threshold, Jane felt the response, opening her eyes wide.
The translucent green force field blocking the entrance of the cell shut down, and the green circuit all around the cell completely also shut down, causing the previously bright cell to dim down as the main source of light disappeared.
Just as Jane felt the response of her weapons, she charged out of the cell, reaching the two guards who manned the front of her cell. She extended her arms in both of their directions they extended into a thick black mass that enveloped both guards before devouring them.
As the black mass returned to Jane, she asked, [Are you killing them?] There was an uncomfortable sense in her tone.
[I need to replenish my biological energy reserves, Jane. I'm not going to waste my time on keeping random guards alive.] Alex told her.
[Fine, I guess.] She agreed, much to Alex's surprise.
[That's it?] He asked, [I thought you would throw a tantrum or something.]
[What do you take me for? I don't like killing people meaninglessly. That doesn't mean that I don't kill.] She scoffed, [I understand that we can't be holding back in the current situation.]
[Ah, I see. So you aren't a psychopath like me.] Alex acted disappointed, [It's fine, people will consider you to be the psychopath anyway.]
A helpless laugh escaped Jane's lips as both Mjolnir and Hofund broke through the ceiling and approached her. She quickly grabbed both of her weapons and started moving along the corridor.
[Shouldn't we free these three?] She looked at the still-trapped Thors in their respective cells.
[None of them have access to either the Thorforce or the Odinforce. They are the base versions of Thor and can't hope to contend against Infinity Stones with their strengths. That's why they were captured in the first place.] Jane continued moving through the corridor, ignoring the calling from the three versions of Thor. At the same time, Alex split three small bodies that slipped through the translucent force fields and entered the cells of the three suppressed Thors.
[Thorforce?] Jane asked, unfamiliar with the term.
Meanwhile, the three lightning gods disappeared from their cells, appearing within the Klyntar Soul Dimension as Alex made sure that they were suppressed under the light of Mind Stone. 'I'll devour them later. I don't have the time to break through their natural resistance right now.' He decided. They may not have the formless energy of the Odinforce to power them, but their natural defenses were still comparable to the Cosmic Energy user Inhuman that Alex had previously devoured, seeming even stronger than him.
Alex answered Jane's query, [What happens in a reality where Thor reigns as king after the loss of Odin?] He didn't need to say anything more to make Jane understand.
A stray thought entered Jane's mind as she slammed her hammer on the main door of the prison, [Can create my own version of it if I can make Asgard prosper…]
[No.] Alex mercilessly rejected her, [It's not that simple. The Odinforce is the culmination of the strongest of all Asgardians becoming one.] His answer was cryptic and unclear since he couldn't truly tell Jane that he knew more about the History of Asgard than her. Not to mention that due to her being from a different reality, his story might conflict with what she knew.
[Which means that if the Asgardians prosper, then I can get my own version of the Odinforce.] Jane took his words in another way.
[Only if you kill and absorb all of those 'prospering' Asgardians and their powers.] Alex said, [I have something figured out when it comes to the Odinforce and creating my own version of it. Leave it to me for now, okay?] He tried to get her to focus on the plan.
Just as she broke through the door of the prison, she was met with four guards. [Promise me you'll call it the Janeforce!] She said while jumping to the guards, slamming her foot in one of their faces as Alex promptly devoured the Xandarian. She swung her sword and hammer at the same time, hitting one of the guards in the skull with Mjolnir, instantly killing them. As for the other, they were bisected in two after Jane's sword cleanly cut through their weapon and subsequently their body.
The final guard didn't even have the time to make a plea as Jane's foot struck their abdomen and Alex enveloped them, killing them, [Hell no. The other girls will kill me if it becomes the core of my strength. And it very much might if everything works out the way I envision.]
Jane felt a sense of extreme irritation and annoyance at Alex's words, [Then I'll kill them.] Expressing herself, she smashed another door. Arcs of lightning exploded out all around them as a huge hole was made in the door, allowing Jane to pass through.
[Jane.] Alex said with a serious tone, [You have to understand. I can give you all the love and attention that you need from me. The way I work allows me to use different bodies to exist in multiple places at the same time. These bodies are essentially all me, like my limbs. If you aren't comfortable with the idea of me having other women, I understand and we can ignore that they exist without any issues. But you cannot threaten them. Do you understand?]
The slime man's words struck Jane like a hammer, her aggressive momentum diminishing as her steps grew weaker, [I don't know, Alex…] She had complicated feelings toward those words.
[Jane.] Alex spoke and Jane felt her chainmail tightening around her, giving her the illusion of a hug, [What do you say we first get out of here and then have the difficult conversation that you think you need to have with me?] He asked.
Seeing a troop of fifty soldiers approaching her with their weapons drawn as an alarm started blaring through the prison, Jane took a battle stance and spoke to Alex, [Don't you dare forget about your words.] She said before swinging her hammer in front of herself and summoning a violent gust of wind. The advancing soldiers were forced to slow down as their movements got sluggish and impeded.
Jane might have agreed to postpone the conversation, but that didn't mean her mood was good. She stopped swinging Mjolnir, the windy tornado weakening as it started dying down. With a battle cry, she swung Hofund horizontally, seemingly slashing nothing. A crescent arc escaped the path that she traced and extended toward the guards who had appeared in the room. Along with the mini tornado, everything was cut. Two pillars that were in the path of the arc, the wall behind the soldiers, and of course, the soldiers all got bisected. Their torsos slid to the floor as their legs collapsed, giving rise to a particularly bloody scene.
Alex knew that Jane's outburst was related to his previous words and didn't say anything, he focused on guiding her further while scooping up all of the dead bodies. All of that biomass ended up giving him a little over a point of EP.
Soon enough, they entered an elevator that they couldn't use without a key. Before Alex had a chance to take control of the elevator, Jane smashed her hammer on the floor, breaking through and falling down the elevator shaft.
[What floor?] She asked with suppressed annoyance.
[Keep going.] Alex said, [You'll know when you hit the bottom of the shaft.]
[Okay.] She said, expecting to collide with the ground at any second. As the seconds passed, she got impatient, [Forget it.] Shaking her head, she started twisting Mjolnir to propel herself downwards.
[Slow down —] Before Alex could tell her, Jane breached Mach speed. Alongside the resultant sonic boom, the entire building shook as Jane collided with the bottom of the shaft and exploded in a blast of lightning from her hammer.
[Goddamn it, woman!] Alex shouted in her head while protecting her from the huge force with which she just slammed into the ground, going much deeper than even the lowest floor of the building.
[What?] She acted nonchalant and flew upwards before dropping onto the lowest floor's corridor, [I miscalculated my speed.] Her tone was as flat as possible, but Alex was bonded to her. The imperceptible tremble was easily noticeable to him no matter how much she suppressed it.
Unfortunately for him, he was on a horrible time crunch right now, having already spent upwards of five thousand EP, he couldn't spend ten minutes talking to her to calm her down. In the end, he just comforted her by tightening her armor as if he were hugging her while guiding her to the main room that contained the Soul Stone.
Jane felt his actions and wanted to shake him off, but sadly for her, he was her clothes. If she shook him off, she wouldn't be in a state to battle.
Following the instructions, It didn't take long before Jane was breaking through a door that led her into a huge chamber. The first thing that she noticed was the huge turbine-like generator that was releasing a familiar green glow. From the sheer power radiating off of it, she could tell that it was the Soul Stone. The energy from the slowly spinning turbine was moving up into the ceiling through a tube that was glowing green.
Walking forward, Jane realized that she was on a balcony, overlooking a huge chamber. She'd only seen what was on top of the chamber, but what she saw on the lower part of the chamber left her gasping in sheer horror.
Before she could say anything, a man, enveloped in golden energy broke through the ceiling and floated in front of her, "Stop right there!" He exclaimed as his glowing form got tinged with green.
-x-X-x-
Jane's horror-filled eyes met the man who was looking at her with hostility as his golden-green aura flared, "This is madness!" She shouted while getting ready for a fight.
"It is what needs to be done." The entrant spoke before attacking pushing an arm in front of himself and boosting toward Jane, aiming to punch her. She tried to defend herself with her hammer, bringing it in front of the newcomer's fist. Just as she tried to swing it, Jane felt a sense of pain that stemmed from her very soul and forced her to drop the hammer.
The punch made contact with her stomach, slamming her into the wall and breaking through it. [Didn't you already block their Soul Stone from affecting us?] She asked him.
Alex's tone was solemn, [I blocked us from one Soul Stone…] He trailed off.
[What do you…] Jane only needed a moment to process Alex's words, [They have two?] She asked, disbelief lacing her tone. The only reason that she didn't instantly deny the possibility was that Alex had already discussed with her that the stones were most likely broken up and spread all across the universe, diluting their authority.
[What are the odds, right?] Alex was just as surprised. Even after having hacked the systems of both the Xandarians and the Sovereign, he hadn't found any reference to the second Soul Stone.
'Ayesha…' Alex's thoughts directly honed in on the gold-skinned leader of both civilizations,'She had more plans than what I could tell from the surface. And now, Jane's escape forced her to reveal herself.' Alex instantly thought about all sorts of things, realizing that there was most likely some being that Ayesha was being defensive against. The captured Thors weren't her targets. He felt that either she was following someone else's orders, or she was using the Thors as bait for someone or something.
Since his interest was piqued, he decided to at the very least have a conversation with this intergalactic ruler before he and Jane snatched the stones and disappeared from this planet. The man empowered by another Soul Stone quickly reached Jane as she powered herself up. Alex spoke in her head, [I'll block his stone from influencing you. Unlike the main stone, this one is merely using this man's life force — far from enough for the stone to be used at its full potential. Still, from the five minutes that we had left, we now have a little over three.]
Jane felt an uncomfortable feeling when she was reminded of the scene that she had just seen and nodded, powering herself up with lightning from Mjolnir that Alex had enhanced. The gold man saw Jane getting ready to attack and tried to get his Soul Stone to suppress her once again while approaching her to bring her away from the main scene.
[Try to get closer to the other stone, I'll try to snatch it. Once I can get it, we can fight this bitch on an equal level for as long as we need to.] Alex's words received a nod from Jane as she swung her hammer at the charging gold-skinned man. The surprised expression of the man was visible even through the thick sheen of his gold aura as Jane's hammer met his fist and threw him back with a blast of lightning, causing him to collide with the wall. He broke through back onto the previous chamber's balcony.
Jane was quickly upon him with her sword pulled back, ready to stab him. Feeling the life-threatening danger to his life whilst the Soul Stone sucked out his vitality while still being completely useless against his foe, the man felt his fight-or-flight instincts flare up. A warcry was followed by an explosion of his blinding gold aura that illuminated the surroundings and directly struck Jane's eyes with the light.
She wasn't deterred and continued moving forward, intent on attacking the man and finishing everything once and for all. Coupled with Alex protecting her eyes, she quickly stabbed her sword at the previous spot that the man was on. Unfortunately, the clanging sound of striking steel meant that he'd escaped. Just as Jane pulled back her sword, the light started receding and the man punched her waist, throwing her off to the side.
Jane felt her head banging against the railing of the balcony and stabilized herself, instinctively swinging her hammer to parry another of the man's blows. The ensuing lightning explosion pushed him back and Jane attacked him once again. The sword swung, whistling through the air as it made an arc toward the man who barely shifted himself to the side to dodge. A groan followed the gash that remained on his shoulder instead of his neck being chopped off.
He put a hand on his shoulder and looked at Jane hatefully. She didn't deign to care about his anger and quickly swung her sword again to finish things but the man let out another warcry. Jane increased her speed of movement, not wanting him to escape again, but this time, the golden aura didn't shine brightly. Instead, the green tint of his Soul Stone started overpowering his golden aura as it receded.
Just as the green aura took over, the man directly stopped Jane's sword with his bare hands, clasping it between both palms. Alex spoke in her head, [He is drawing out the potential of his soul with the stone. We may not be able to beat him directly, try to get close to the other stone so that I can get it.]
With her sword clasped, Jane quickly swung her hammer at the man, forcing him to let go of her sword. She gave an imperceptible glance at the generator in the center of the room that he noticed. Jane quickly swung her hammer at him, knowing that it would be almost impossible for him to stop it with his bare hands.
"I won't let you!" He screamed and flew up, out of the way of the hammer. He quickly sent out a beam of his now-green aura at Jane. She stabbed her sword on the floor in an attempt to block the attack. The attempt only partially worked. The beam was deflected into multiple weaker beams that spread out as if being reflected by Hofund, but Jane was still pushed back by the immense force of the attack, leaving a long gash on the floor.
Alex was getting irritated by the man's resilience — not understanding why Adam Warlock was working for the Sovereign in the first place. Not to mention that he seemed to be much less proficient with the use of the Soul Stone than he expected. He considered many possibilities about what the exact situation here could be, but none of them truly stuck. He shook himself out of his thoughts and focused on the fight again.
As Jane stood up, pulling her sword out of the ground, the man was upon her once again. A glowing green gem protruded out of the front part of his head as he continued channeling the power of his Infinity Stone. Jane met his charge with her hammer, pushing him back and slicing at him at the same time, leaving a nasty gash on his abdomen.
[We have less than a minute, Jane. I'll be out of energy at that point and we will both be forced to endure excruciating pain to use any of my Infinity Stones.] Alex told her, annoyed that he had to completely focus on resisting the influence of the two Soul Stones. He couldn't help Jane in the fight, nor could he separate himself and grab the other stone. Both of those things would distract him and could cause problems.
Jane heard Alex's words and decided to take things up a notch. She raised her hammer in the air and summoned a lightning storm right above the huge castle that housed not only the prison but everything related to the Sovereign on Xandar. The man tried to attack her with another beam — this one green — but she sent out an arc of Cosmic Energy from Hofund that disintegrated it until reaching the man. Sadly, he flared his aura as the green gem in the center of his forehead glowed brightly and dispelled the arc of Cosmic Energy.
An expression full of agony and pain appeared on his face for a moment before disappearing as he ignored it and cried out while attacking Jane once again. Parrying his fist with her hammer, Jane sent him flying into the wall and a bolt of lightning fell directly on him, piercing through the castle and causing a huge amount of rubble to fall down on top of him.
Hoping that the attack was enough, Jane didn't waste even a moment and used Mjolnir to propel herself to the Soul Stone that was powering everything. Just as she was about to destroy the turbine, the man burst out of the rubble with a desperate expression and charged her once again. He left a thick trail of green in his path as he reached her.
Unfortunately for him, Jane was close enough to the stone for Alex to merely need to extend a tendril into the turbine and wrap it around the stone.
-x-X-x-
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.
«EP: 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 ‹Hypnosis› that he'd received after devouring Doctor Faustus.
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."
-x-X-x-
A few minutes before Ayesha's appearance.
In Alex's soul. Two Infinity Stones — Mind, yellow; and Time, green were floating. They constantly released a glow that layered over Wanda's red that was the closest to Alex's soul. The three variants of Thor were also floating in the paradoxical place that was Alex's soul. They weren't being devoured yet, their innate energy resisting any instinctive encroachment.
Abruptly, Alex's soul was filled with a green glow that contrasted against the green of the time. Just as the green Soul Stone appeared in his soul, Alex 'told it' to turn to the true color scheme and it followed his will. It turned into the familiar orange that the Soul Stone should be. Taking its place beside the Mind Stone, the Soul Stone started releasing an orange glow that layered over the other lights, covering Alex's soul.
'I can't believe that this clusterfuck —' That was Alex's personal moniker for the Convergence of Earths, '— even has pre-MCU retcon Stones from when the Infinity Gems all had a different color scheme…' He thought about how the Marvel Cinematic Universe's introduction had essentially induced a retcon in the comics, changing the color scheme for the Infinity Stones.
As for his status panel, not much changed other than Soul Authority being added to the Authorities column.
Soon, however, a similar green glow appeared once again, illuminating its surroundings as it was attracted by the Soul Stone in the center of Alex's soul. The green glow of the new stone disappeared as it merged into the already existing Soul Stone, strengthening its orange glow by a factor as the stone let out a pulsating hum, expressing its satisfaction.
{ «Skill Acquisition»
«EP: 783»
«CP: 0.0000»
«Manipulation Abilities»:: ‹Advanced Lightning Manipulation› ‹Basic Blood Manipulation›
«Innate Abilities»:: ‹Biological Manipulation› ‹Host Enhancement› ‹Devour› ‹Copy›
«Derived Abilities»:: ‹Low Cosmic Physique Creation› ‹True 6th Sense› ‹Inventory› ‹Advanced Camouflage› ‹Elemental Immunity› ‹Hypnosis›
«Magical Abilities»:: ‹High Magic Affinity› ‹High Chaos Affinity› ‹Host of the Scarlet Witch›
«Authorities»:: ‹Time (2.5%)› ‹Mind (2.5%)› ‹Soul (5%)›
«Cosmic Abilities»:: ‹Low Cosmic Manipulation (Incomplete)›
}
"Time to leave, Jane," Alex said before turning to Ayesha, "Get us a ship that can travel to Morag."
"Why do you think I would ever help you?" She asked with disbelief etched on her flawless golden face, "Not to mention I have no idea what that planet is."
Alex sighed, "I don't know," He looked around and saw Adam, who was still under his sleeping spell, "… I'll spare your son or something. I can steal a ship anyway. Your help is only going to make our work marginally easier."
Seeing the nonchalant way Alex threatened Adam's life, she couldn't help but bite her lower lip while feeling helpless, "Fine," She growled out before touching the control panel on her arm. She contacted some of her trusted aids to bring a ship for the duo of Alex and Jane. She was smart enough to know that she didn't have anything to contend against Alex and Jane without the immensely powerful gems. "Please," She pleaded, "Leave as soon as possible so that I can prepare something against the High Evolutionary."
[Who said I'm leaving?] Alex asked in her head, his voice incomparably amused, [Ayesha, honey. Allow me to loop you in. I haven't freed you from the High Evolutionary. I've merely stolen you from him.] An outraged expression appeared on her face, but before she could respond to Alex's words, she felt the choker that she hadn't noticed yet tightening right in such a manner that she lost all manner of speech. Alex gave her a subtle look while shushing her telepathically, [We will talk once I'm on the way to Morag with Thor. I will have more than enough time to help you come to terms with your new status as my subordinate.]
"Jane," Alex said, "Can you take away the hammer?" He asked her, "Let her check up on her son. It's the least she deserves."
The goddess of thunder nodded to Alex and summoned her hammer to herself, "The only reason I'm letting these two live is because I understand that they most likely had no choice but to do what they did."
"And she's grateful to you for your mercy," Alex said, "Right, Ayesha?" He glanced over at the woman who hurriedly nodded and thanked Jane.
Still, on her knees, Ayesha crawled over to Adam and caressed the side of her face, "My son…" There was an expression of genuine pain on her face as she looked at the state of her son. "I'm so sorry," She tightly closed her eyes, trying to suppress her tears but was unable to. With misty eyes dripping with her tears, she traced the wrinkles on her son's face that represented his emaciated status after the Soul Stone sucked away his vitality.
Jane looked at the scene of the mother grieving over the state of her son with a complicated expression on her face. Her eyes had many mixed emotions that Alex easily noticed. He walked up to her and held her hand, [Are you thinking of what might have been?] He asked her.
A faint hum came from Jane's throat as she kept her gaze fixed on the mother-and-son duo. Ayesha had already awoken her son after Alex dispelled his magic and was talking to him with pain and regret. It was clear that Adam's mind wasn't truly completely developed from the way he was only responding with simple sentences and wasn't completely able to empathize with his mother's emotions.
[Look at me.] Alex said, but Jane ignored him, keeping her gaze focused in front of herself. [Jane.] Alex grabbed her hand and cupped her cheek, gently guiding her to look at him, [You can talk to me, you know that, right?]
[Don't you already know?] She asked him, looking away from his eyes, [You could read me and my entire life like an open book in that cell.]
[I want to hear it from you.] He said while moving her face again, forcing her to look at him.
[Stop forcing me to look at you!] She shook him off and looked away.
Alex sighed helplessly, [Fine. We'll talk on the ship. Come with me.] He told her while grabbing her hand and pulling her toward the stairs that led to the balcony at the exit of the room. Jane's mild resistance was useless as Alex pulled her to the exit of the room. He'd already intercepted Ayesha's communication with her aide and knew where their ship was docked.
…
As he left with Jane, Alex decided to start working on his new subordinate who needed to be 'inducted' into her new life.
She was still talking to her son when Alex spoke in her head, [Ayesha.] Just him calling out her name made the woman stiffen up, [Send your son to the medical bay. He has multiple internal injuries. Then you are to move to your personal chamber. That is where we will be having our talk.]
"What makes you think that I will listen to you?" Ayesha spoke out to nothing as Adam looked at her with confusion.
"Mother?" He asked her.
"Nothing, love. Rest." She pressed his forehead and caressed his hair with a forced smile on her face.
[Because I'm your only chance to survive the High Evolutionary. You know I'm right.] Alex said, [If you want some kind of reassurance then I can confidently say that my punishments are very different from your creator. Mine are much less permanent and much more… fun.]
Ayesha couldn't make much sense of the implication behind Apex's words, but she understood that he was correct about the first part. He was her only chance at survival after having gotten rid of the High Evolutionary's fail-safe that was in her head.
'Understood,' She thought to Alex, attempting to use his telepathy. Not receiving any feedback, she showed a confused expression.
[No, that's not how it works. Our telepathic connection is a one-way thing. I can speak in your head, not the other way around.] Alex clarified, [Yes, this also means that I can't specifically read your thoughts either.]
Suppressing the sigh of relief that threatened to escape her mouth, Ayesha nodded, "Understood," Confusing Adam once again. She didn't address his confusion and spoke, "You need to be healed, son. I will call someone to bring you to the medical bay."
A few minutes later, Adam was taken care of and Ayesha was standing in her personal chamber within the temporary — and now damaged castle of the Sovereign.
[You can be of a lot of use to me, Ayesha.] Alex spoke to the unsettled woman who didn't know what was going on. The abrupt change in her life was still going to take time for her to get used to. Alex continued, [As long as you are obedient and helpful to my cause, I will make sure that you are satisfied and happy. I can even heal your son's damaged vitality.]
Alex's final words made Ayesha's dull eyes light up, "Truly?" She asked, "If you can truly heal my Adam, I will fully support you with everything."
[Really.] Alex confirmed, [I think you saw firsthand how easy it was for me to take care of the High Evolutionary's fail-safe. My abilities when it comes to biology are something completely unfathomable for you. Not only can I heal your son, but I can even make you immortal.]
The hard facts that Alex put in front of her made Ayesha feel that there was some weight to Alex's words. Even if he wasn't telling her the truth, she was willing to bet on him. Especially considering that the High Evolutionary had definitely decided to kill her and wipe out the Sovereign.
"I-I will agree to your demands," She said, "As long as you can heal my son…"
[Good Queenie.] Alex's nickname for her made her cheeks darken as he continued, [Show me your sincerity. Kneel.] His words left Ayesha stunned.
"What?!" The golden-skinned woman was outraged at Alex's proposition.
[I remember you very promptly begging in front of me downstairs. Kneeling shouldn't come as too much of an issue for you.] Alex spoke in her head.
"That was a different situation," Ayesha said with gritted teeth, "I am the ruler of the Sovereign. The High Priestess — Argh!" A painful shock that ran through her entire body made her fall to her knees with an expression of agony.
[You are my subordinate. Slave. Nothing more, nothing less. Any other identities that you held or hold in the future are inconsequential.] Alex spoke in her head as Ayesha writhed on the floor, shivering from the aftereffects of the shock that had just traveled through her entire being.
Instead of the outrage that should have followed Alex's words, what escaped Ayesha's trembling figure was a weak whimper of pain and desolation. The voice had invoked a feeling of subordination in Ayesha that she had never quite felt before. Not even her creator had ever invoked such a feeling of submission in her. She stayed on her knees, her head cradled in her arms while it was pressed on the floor.
[I will not be using hypnosis on you anymore, you need not worry. Not because it doesn't work, but because it's more fun to break someone in the traditional manner.] Alex's light chuckle sounded quite maniacal to Ayesha, making her think that he was crazy. The feelings that had been invoked in her by a mere few words from him wouldn't just disappear, but they were indeed mellowed down after a few seconds.
What followed those feelings that had been forced upon her was indignation, "What do you want from me?" Ayesha looked up with a defiant expression — still on her knees, but not seeing anyone to direct her anger to, she felt her aggressive momentum being impeded somewhat. It wasn't very easy to express anger to a voice that was merely in her head. It was already incomprehensible to her how this same voice was able to make her feel so helpless. It gave rise to a sense of suffocation as if she was trapped in a cage, unable to even move freely.
When he spoke in her head again, she could've sworn that she identified the amusement in his voice, [It's simple really, Ayesha. You have the potential to be a very competent ruler. You merely need to be trained to work on my whims and you will be a perfect little queenie.]
"Don't call me that!" She snapped, but seeing nothing in front of her, her eye twitched as she lost the fury in her words, "It sounds like the name of a pet."
[Don't you get it yet?] Alex chuckled in her head, [That's the point, my queenie.]
Ayesha's nostrils flared as she decided on another approach to deal with the being that was talking in her head, "The High Evolutionary could be upon us at any time — he may already be at the Sovereign belt, destroying my people as we speak. I cannot partake in these games with you anymore. I have to protect my people."
Regaining her bearing as the ruler of a planetary empire, she stood up from the floor, fixing her disheveled gold robes. [Fine, you aren't wrong. Tell me about your version of the High Evolutionary first. I'll think of a solution for you to deal with him in the short term.] The woman was still defiant, but Alex continued, [Remember the reason that you accepted my presence.]
The words made Ayesha suppress her annoyance as she nodded with a hum, "I will not be kneeling or anything of the sort," She spoke defiantly before recalling the words spoken in her head, "Your words imply there is more than one High Evolutionary…" The undertone of dread would be heard by anyone who heard her words.
[Yes. If there are multiple versions of Thor, why not the High Evolutionary? Why not of you?] He asked the very questions that Ayesha had been dreading ever since she was ordered to capture the different versions of Thor. She hadn't dared to entertain those possibilities solely because of how dreadful the idea of more than one High Evolutionary existing was to her.
Weak, she fell onto the couch, barely sitting on it, "What do you need to know about him?"
[Where is his base of operations?] Alex asked her, [Counter-Earth?] He pulled that specific name from the 616 variant of the High Evolutionary.
"Yes," She nodded, "He tells us that he traveled to Earth in the past once and that gave him the idea to create Counter-Earth."
[Is he an Earthling?] He asked her next.
"Impossible," Ayesha spoke, "I examined the species that so fascinated him along with their planet when I found out about Counter-Earth, but he is nothing like them."
Alex had doubts about Ayesha's conclusion but didn't oppose her words since there weren't any signs of him having existed in MCU Earth. The MCU's High Evolutionary had no hand in the creation of Wanda and Quicksilver, nor were there any signs of him having operated in Wundagore. Putting his internal thoughts aside, Alex asked her, [What exactly is the deal with Adam? You previously said that he was pulled out of his pod early.]
Ayesha hesitated for a moment, shuffling in her place on the couch, "The Sovereign Empire disdains the natural birthing process," She said, hints of pride in her tone, "We birth our children in pods, extracting the egg from the females of our race and inseminating it externally. The young then undergo accelerated germination that quickly matures them."
[Way to suck the joy out of life.] Alex mumbled, [You must be in a very unique situation that you care for your son to such an extent.]
Ayesha frowned, "W-why?" She couldn't quite make sense of Alex's words.
[Statistically, the most emotional part of being a parent is the birthing process. Not to mention raising your child from the time they are completely helpless to being independent. Developing the kind of motherly bond that you have with your Adam is a rare thing among your people, is it not?] Alex asked her.
Ayesha had to take a few minutes to think, "You are correct…" She said, "Our culture is fiercely independent. We don't have concepts such as raising our young or marriage…"
[As I said. Your bond with your son is a unique one.] Alex said, [Anyway, we're getting off-topic. The High Evolutionary is the one we need to be talking about for now.]
"Is there anything else that you need to know?" She asked, a hint of impatience slipping in her tone.
[What does he exactly wish to do?] Alex asked, [Or is he just interested in mindless destruction?]
"The High Evolutionary…" Ayesha said. "His goal is to create a perfect species out of lower life forms. A utopia, as he calls it. Beings that require minimal energy; use it to the peak efficiency and more." The hints of awe in her tone weren't missed by Alex.
[So a geneticist with a god complex. Understandable. I don't think he told you the reason behind him wanting you to capture Thors for him.] Alex said.
Ayesha shook her head, "You're correct." She started fiddling with her fingers, bouncing her foot anxiously.
[You are hurried. Is there a way he can take care of your people within minutes?] Alex asked, not sure of the methods of the man. They had merely spent a few minutes talking about the High Evolutionary and Ayesha's impatience was making him think that the man had an instant kill-switch on the entire civilization.
"From what I know, he has bombs planted all over the Sovereign planet belt, ready to be detonated the moment he deems that he has no more use for our civilization," Ayesha spoke with a tired tone while leaning back. Alex calling out her impatience had sapped out all of her strength.
[How long will it take for us to reach the Sovereign belt? If I'm on the planet, I can intercept the self-destruction signal that he might send.] Alex told her.
Ayesha shook her head, "We'll be too late under any circumstances. Fortunately, I prepared for such an eventuality," She spoke, "With the control chip in my head taken care of. I can safely take command of the evacuation fleet of the Sovereign. I have been prepared for this for a long time."
[You're coming off as more and more of a competent woman, Ayesha.] Alex praised her, [You might just be a very useful part of my forces in the future.]
"Please," She spoke, "If you would give me some time to issue the necessary commands, I will stand true to my word. I will follow along with your whims as long as you heal my son."
[Fine. As impatient as I am about examining your body closely, I will let you take care of your things. Just call my name out once you're done.] Alex decided to agree to her bargaining.
"What is your name? You never told me…" She spoke softly while standing up from her couch.
[Apex.]