[Ororo Munroe POV]
"We are happy that the goddess has finally returned to us."
The elderly woman bowed to the white haired woman.
"Elder please stop." Ororo was exasperated. She had tried, since she was a child even, to get them to stop but they wouldn't listen. Some of them even prayed to her at night but no matter what she said, they wouldn't stop.
"But who was that the goddess brought with her? A favored?" The elder asked a question that brought a smile to Ororo's face.
"Something like that."
"I sense a great darkness in him, kept under bay, no doubt by his efforts. He would do well to take the time to purge them rather than let them stew within."
Her warnings made Ororo worry as she understood what it was that she meant. Though she worried, she knew that if it was something concerning him, then Draul would have it under control. On top of being an Omega level meta, he was also a master magician. Plus he was easily the strongest person she knew. So even if what the elder said did worry her a little, she knew that if it were something detrimental then Draul would take care of it.
"But that's not why the goddess finally visited us, is it?"
Though she was embarrassed for being called out in that way, she didn't let it show on her face.
"I want to learn. My heritage. My power."
The soft smile on the elders face widened as she listened to Ororo's reason for coming back.
For as long as she had known the now young woman in front of her, she had always been willful and headstrong, but this was different.
Responsibility.
Not just to herself but the people under her and her favored.
She heard all what the young woman had to say about her years living in the outside world. The loss, the setbacks, the betrayal, the kindness, the love, the support from those around her.
She had to say that her young goddess had lived quite a fulfilled life since the time she's been away.
But even with all these things, Ororo still made the choice to come back because she felt that she was lacking something and the only way to know what she was looking for was to come back and seek advice from the people who knew her the most.
Her family.
"I am glad you decided to come back, Ororo. Get some sleep for the night, we will continue this tomorrow. There is a place I want to bring you to." The elder said.
Ororo nodded at her words and left for her room.
…
The next day, Ororo woke up early in the morning as was her normal routine for years now that it had become part of her biological system.
She followed the elderly woman to a small groove that was ornately taken care of.
"What is this?" She asked.
"This is a temple we built after you left us. A way for us to connect to you wherever you may be in the world. If you wish to know more about yourself and seek the truth which has eluded you for so long, then pray." The elder didn't wait for her to say anything and left her alone.
Ororo was stumped as she didn't know what to do and kept looking around the groove.
For some inexplicable reason, she felt… attached to the trees and flowers in the groove.
It felt different than what she had ever felt from nature. It felt more. As if it was a place different from the rest of the world. Untainted and separated from man's world.
It felt free.
Instinctively, she knew what to do.
…
[Draul St. Cross POV]
After rectifying my shortsightedness in regards to my axe, I started drawing the matrix for the enchantment that I would later do on the axe.
What I started with was a small spell that would let my energy in its entirety, though in small amounts, seep into the axe.
Though Vibranium and Adamantium were in no way magic conductive like Uru, I hoped that soaking them in magic would change that in time. Maybe I should look for a way to craft runes into my axe like some sort of enhancements.
….
I might have underestimated the changes in my energy as it almost shredded my house with spatial slashes as I tried pouring a fuck ton of it into my axe.
Not even the Ancient One knew what kind of changes were present in my energy. I haven't even tried to gauge the destructiveness of my spells or offensive attacks. Not that I have had the time to do things yet.
Maybe that's what I should do before doing anything else. And here I was telling Ororo about learning control.
Thankfully, no one had been at home when I almost destroyed our house with a spatial collapse.
Training on earth wasn't going to cut it any more since the satellites would pick up the spatial anomalies, and not to mention how it would affect the surroundings. And I also couldn't keep hacking their satellites to wipe out that information, so I went for the easier route. And the mirror dimension was too influenced by my magic power that it somehow gets unstable, must be from whatever magic I absorbed from Doom and I didn't want to find out how it would be given that I had absorbed the Space Stone, maybe I will try that later.
Training on Mars.
I don't think anyone has ownership of the planet and while I did notice a few life forms, barely a sizable amount, they were at least thousands of kilometers from where I was.
Taking a deep breath, I released the hold I had on the energy I've kept a lid on since my evolution.
BOOOM! CRACK!!
The sky above me changed immediately, the ground already searing hot, while the space around me became chaotic.
I formed a red orb of destruction and sent it towards a mountain only for a giant hole to be blasted through it and the edge of it turned into magma.
Stretching my hands towards the mountain, I compressed the space around it to the point that it was no bigger than a rock I could hold in one palm.
Nice to know that I could turn big and small.
I shrunk the mountain further until it was at a subatomic level before I stopped.
According to the MCU, if someone was shrunk past the subatomic level to the Quantum Realm and beyond it, they will come across the time stream that crosses through space, and riding through it would allow them to time travel.
But can the Space Stone time travel?
In a bid to find that out, I continued shrinking the already shrunken mountain until I lost it.
Guess the Quantum Realm is too small, way smaller than the atomic level, that or I can't go into it, or the plain fact that being the Space Stone does not allow me to time travel or access the Quantum Realm.
It could be a slew or different reason but these were my top picks.
I tried my magic and I could say that I didn't even need a spell to use space magic anymore, at least for the easier ones. I also found out that I could power my attack with any type of energy now.
I could use ice to power up a fire slash, though the effect will be greatly reduced if I used equal amounts. If I use more ice energy then the effect would be something akin to a frost flame that makes the burning target get reduced into ice flakes.
The most interesting combination so far was mixing ice energy with space slashes.
I don't know the hell it was, but everything inside its radius had their speed greatly slowed down.
It was as if I was actually freezing the space around it, not in a time freeze sense, that only things with sufficient velocity could move.
Sure the amount of ice I mixed in with the space slash was very huge, at least enough of it to turn New York into a city-wide popsicle, the fact that mixing it with spatial energy could create such an effect meant that I could, theoretically, use it in conjunction with the other stones and produce different effect.
It might not be up to what I could do with spatial attacks since even though I don't fully understand how it happened, I could however see how the effect came to be when we put it in basic terms like 'freezing' space.
It was shoddy workmanship at best when compared to what the Time Stone could do.
I tried out different combinations of attacks, taking turns in mixing my most abundant source of energy with every attack that I could use or improvise on.
I have to say, playing with space was a very tricky and risky thing.
When it came to how to use it, there were a myriad of ways to apply it. The same could be said for its destructive ability.
I say this because I managed to create something that was way too destructive for anyone that found themselves trapped in it.
It was fashioned after a coffin, but within it was a turbulent space, an unstable black hole, that would rip anyone to subatomic shreds if their durability was below a certain level.
The bad side of it was that it was that it was slow in its formation. Anyone with keen senses and enough speed could escape it.
Having enough of ripping space and blowing mountains apart, I then tried out what could be called my strongest form.
Overwhelming amount of rage flooded through my body and with it came more power..
Unsurmountable.
Omnipotent.
The One.
The peak.
I was high on the feeling of strength that flowed through me.
It made me feel as if I was the strongest being in existence. It was as if none could compare and I alone, with no other as a worthy competition, was the one true God.
The sky bled red while the ground cried out tears of flames.
Dark energy spewed forth from my being and cloaked me in a red fog.
My towering figure making me believe that I could hold back the heavens.
The planet trembled as the chaotic space around me affected the whole body. The gravity on, at least half of the planet doubled, due to the pressure I was releasing subconsciously.
I could feel it, the entire planet and even beyond it. It was as if I was everywhere and nowhere at the same time.
All the space around Mars was an extension of myself that I could control as easily as breathing.
With a thought, I was on top of the highest peak on Mars, the Olympus Mons, but even with that, I could still see everything that was happening on this planet and beyond it.
Even the top of Olympus Mons started melting as the heat I was releasing wasn't just heat, but also destructive in every sense.
I had never felt this powerful in all my life, past and present. This was a feeling that not even my most expressive thoughts could emulate.
This amount of power that made destroying a planet look like a small task.
I could finally acknowledge that truly, I was strong.
Sure there were people way stronger than me, there were bound to be, but with this, I could finally afford the faintest sense of security.
It was a very comforting feeling.
I was a planetary level being, multi-planetary even. With this sort of strength, I could finally move out of my shell and grow stronger without always keeping a back thought of who or what would come for me if I mess things up too much.
I looked at my giant palm and waved it about. Space was a very fickle thing, never steadfast. But now, I was space.
The entire space that embodied this universe was all me. This was the least I could do.
When I am finally able to draw out the infinite energy within the stones, then destroying a planet would be the same thing as taking a breath.
All that was happening around me now was just a subconscious reaction of the world to my form, what would happen if I were to fight?
A lot of questions in which only time could answer. But soon, I would become Time, who then would answer my questions?
I left Mars with a half wrecked Olympus Mon and went back to earth after an hour of testing things out on Mars.
The planet had a visible scar, one that could be seen from out of space after I was done with why I went there.
Sometimes I still wonder how it was that I came to possess such powers that dwarfed the combined might of Earth, a planet.
As I was, I could massacre everyone on the planet by simply destroying it and it wouldn't take much out of me. Not that I was going to do that.
What I was trying to say was that I had surpassed 99.99% of everyone on earth and those who belonged in the point .01% were either still young or weren't born yet. Some do not even exist on this universe's Earth. I checked.
While it was true that I was strong, there were still powers connected to Earth that dwarfed that of mine. Well I have never been arrogant so I was clear on that front. And given my code of never going to look for trouble, I expect a somewhat steady sailing through.
I need to sleep.
I've had less than three hours of sleep ever since I evolved, and though the biological need for sleep was long gone from my system, it was a routine that I will always endeavor in.
…
Like that a week passed since the day Ororo left for home and I spent the days that followed trying to get used to smaller things and not feeling like I was some sort of spatial blanket spread over New York.
It got bad that I had unconsciously warped myself to a museum during the night. If not for my body's subconscious fight or flight reaction, then I would have woken up bound in cuffs and have my face plastered on the news.
The moment one of the security men pointed a gun at me, he found himself bound in metals around the museum which immediately jolted me awake.
It was like trying to control my emotions all over again.
Normally, the degree of control I had over the conscious and subconscious part of my body and mind was very high, humanly impossible, but since becoming the Space Stone, the degree of control, or rather the lower point of it increased and since I let my body function normally, except when in a fight, without exerting control in any of its functions, the loose control affected my abilities which now had a huge boost, especially my spatial ones.
The others had been quite worried after I had mistakenly teleported them in their sleep to different places around America. Thankfully I had been keeping an eye out on any other occurrence since my first museum visit and was quick to react by bringing them back, but I was living with three top tier assassins and a veteran soldier who immediately knew the moment their location was changed.
That had required some explaining but all was good since the hiccups only seem to happen when I'm asleep, now after a week I had finally put the clip on my control.
"What's up, Clint?" I called out to Clint who actually took the time to visit me despite his busy schedule.
"Well I was bored so I figured I would drop since it's been a while." Well…that was a reason as good as any.
"And Fury just let you?"
"It's not like I do anything other than training the newbies and whooping some arrogant metas' ass." He said with a shrug. It's been a while since Clint and I sat down and just talked over drinks. Felt like too long in my opinion.
"Right." I said and dropped some bottles between us. Pizza was already on its way and there was a game on.
"Just like old times."
"Just like old times."
We both said at the same time and laughed as we clinked our bottle together.
"So what have you been up to lately? Anything weird." He asked after taking a sip from his beer and a slice of pizza.
"Well nothing much. That's if you exclude fighting a Nordic God and also permanently scarring Mount Olympus. Other than that, my day's been pretty much laid back." I put on a thinking expression as I listed a few of the things I had done, not entirely going into details.
"Wait back up for a sec. You said you fought a God?" He said while looking at me as if I was smoking pot but as if not seeing the expression he was making, I nodded.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" I asked him as he continued staring.
"You said you fought a God? For real?" He asked again, this time making me surprised.
"You seriously believe that?"
"Well are you lying?"
"No."
"I thought so. You are not the type to lie, not when you are speaking so nonchalantly, but still, gods?" He looked between me and the game as if debating which one to focus on before he tuned it out and dedicated his attention to me. "So how were they? Were they draped in white linen with golden inlays or what?"
This was interesting. I know Clint was one to keep a secret but I also knew that he would have to tell Fury about it somewhere along the line, whichever he did, it didn't bother me. Not like Fury could do anything in regards to the knowledge of god's being real.
"Well Thor was like, almost 7 ft tall, and his hammer had a very mean swing to it." I didn't know how to describe Thor so I just said what my first impression of the demigod was. "And no, he didn't wear any white linen, gold plated fabric."
"No gold huh? Bummer. Well how strong was he then… wait. You FOUGHT a God?"
Now that was the reaction I was hoping to see.
"Yes I fought him but I won't be going into the details. As for how strong he was, well he was pretty dang strong." He was strong, not anywhere near where I was but that didn't mean he wouldn't fold most of the baddies, Alpha and some Omega level mutants currently on earth.
"You know, since the day I met you, it's like my entire life changed. Crazy and stupid things keep happening everywhere." He said took another sip of his beer. He looked at the bottle for a second before dropping it and grabbing the whiskey. "Better."
"Crazy coincidence huh? But you can't say it's not exciting."
"It's not, Draul. It's not." He gazed absentmindedly at the screen, watching the muted game as he drank his whiskey. "Everyday there are either cases of mutilated metas, or a horribly killed human. Sure barbarity has been a part of the human species since whenever, but now it's like a jungle out there. Guns hardly do shit anymore and then there are punks who think that just because they won a genetic lottery gives them a ticket to do anything."
I didn't think he had it that rough, but then again S.H.I.E.L.D, or rather Fury, was the one who volunteered themselves to be put at the frontline of meta/human war that was currently ongoing behind the scenes.
"Guess you have it rough, huh?"
Clint shook his head. "No, Draul. I had it worse. I had to kill a 19 year old. A 19 year old for crying out loud for fucks sake. He didn't look like a kid, got some weird animal mutation. His skin could bounce off bullets and he was gonna kill Drumm, so I shot him in the eye and watched the dead animal turn into a young boy." He took a swing of the bottle before looking at me, making me truly see how he felt from the moment he stepped inside the house.
He wasn't broken, this wasn't near enough to break him, but he was frustrated. Frustrated that a kid had to be drawn into the crosshairs that the adults were supposed to fight.
"It is like mad street for metas that they have taken to forming groups. They have no hope in the government coming to their aid so they've bounded together in some sort of small kingdom of their own inside the back alleys of the city." By the time he finished his rant, the half of bottle of whiskey was already gone.
"What's Fury doing about it?" I asked, even though I already knew the likely answer.
"Doing what he can."
"In other words: nothing."
Clint let out a depreciating chuckle, confirming what I said. Not that I blamed Fury but there was just no way he could actually help. In fact the amount of what help he could provide was servitude or nothing.
Fury was a government man through and through. It was to the point that his entire thinking was wired around the concept of what kind of benefits he could receive. It was a very bad thought process for someone, anyone, who wanted to help someone. But conversely, it was this thought process that made him the best spy on the planet.
Fury couldn't help, he knew that. Hell, the reason why he would put himself in the black metahuman war was because of the potential of recruits in S.H.I.E.L.D that he hoped he could pick up.
I was on no moral ground to judge the man because what he was doing was the right thing when taking in his position and his idea of what was right.
I was no better, well I think I am, since I did do a little good for the life of millions, but that didn't mean I cared. Yes, I would oppose it if the government of the world was to put the genocidal option on the table, but that was just what any sane person on the planet would do.
Just because I could say 'fuck it' to a meta dying in a ditch somewhere didn't mean I'll do the same when humans say 'let's kill all the metas'.
I was a son of a bitch, but I was not a monster.
"It sucks but that's the job, I guess. We take care of the shit no one else does… Ugh, I think I need to request a raise, haha." He groaned out as the whiskey finally hit him in the spot.
"So what is it? You're tired? It's crap but like you said, who's gonna do it if not you? Not me, that's who." I said which seems to get a genuine laugh out of him.
"Yeah, I can definitely see that."
I wasn't going to tell Clint about Krakoa for the same reason why I never told anything to Fury: he was a spy to the core. And besides, Krakoa was not my concern so there was no way I would go snooping around it's business. The only reason that I would get a problem with its future resident would be if they encroached on my private land.
The way I don't go snooping around other people's business was the same thing I wanted other people to do: don't meddle in mine.
"Do you have anything to do later in the day?" I asked.
"Except checking in, nah, I don't think so. Why?"
"We need a bros day out. That's why." I said as I stood up and took the last slice of the second box of extra large pizza.
"I thought that's what we were having."
"It's a bros day out, not a bros day in."
He groaned at the plain fact and dusted the bits of pizza on his body off. "Since it's apparently a bros day out, what are we going to do? Hit the bar, pick up some girls?"
"Hit the bar, yes. Pick up some girls? No. I'm dating someone so no can't do. Why even suggest that when you are the same?" He didn't say anything at what I said but he seemed to catch wind of something that made him pause.
"You are dating someone?" He asked, almost in disbelief.
"Yes."
...
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Read up to 30 chapters ahead at pa*treon /Draul_TheOminous.
