"So and then Bobby froze everything in a fit, leaving only Scott and Logan to help bail us out."
Right now I was in a Café, one of the few that had been springing up on Krakoa, with 8 cups on my table as I held back the groan that was at the tip of my throat.
Everyone wanted to spend some time in Krakoa as it was quickly getting bigger and more civilized but I didn't until I was persuaded, or rather was let on kindly, that they were bored at home with nothing to do than training.
If they wanted I could just yeet them to an unknown planet and let them have the adventure they wanted to but they preferred being 'grounded for the time being'.
I think they got the feeling that they were moving too fast and maybe they thought they'd become too desensitized to the little things, I know I had.
For me it was normal, the type of normal you'd feel when you finally realized you've grown too used to something you used to hate. It was obvious in my case as I encompassed everything in this universe – including every emotion out there. (Ugh, women)
Sure I could redial my EQ back to what it had been, which admittedly wasn't that high, when I was a human but I didn't. It was a very scary concept when I found out that I could just delete whatever emotion I felt for someone and not think twice about it. I was above emotions. Do you have any idea the emotional range other alien species have? What about sentient plants or sentient rocks? It was in my best interest that I just keep everything down and have them work at an equilibrium.
"So what have you guys been doing for the past year?" I felt another bout of migraine hit me as the voice from the table behind me filtered into my ears. Yelena had opted to hang out with the other teens, specifically Kitty and Rouge, while I stayed with my own age group which unfortunately included an awkward Piotr, the gruff Logan, the brooding Scott, the tease Raven… and hotwheels.
The X-men had put out their willingness to help Ororo and she didn't have it in her to just refuse them like that so she accepted them, who would want to say no to free labor?
Like typical humans, fights had erupted when some part of the original Krakoan residents(most likely Raven's) found out about the inclusion of the X-men. Heated words and debates had devolved into a slugfest which made me realize that most of them were just teens and young adults. Logan and I had some fun at the expense of the kids throwing their powers around in frustration while we placed bets but alas the fun had been spoiled by none other than… Natasha and Steve. Spoilsports.
They sure had learnt the hard way to be tolerant when 20 of them from both opposing sides were humbled by the duo. I mean it was kind of cheating already with only Steve but adding Nat who was going the hax route to the equation was just plain bullying and also a slight show of force.
I knew we had been getting quite some stares when we arrived from both Emma's and Raven's clique so Nat and Steve's interference was just a way to get them off my back before they decided to scratch it. This was one of the reasons why I liked my house and loved living in it 24/7 – 365.
After their little display was done, Ororo had been a darling and gave the red card to anyone who wanted to talk to me, making me wonder if this was how Marky was being treated all the time and why I never got such a treatment.
The duo from the trio knew better than to irritate me on my impromptu vacation.
So far the only group I was close to was the X-men and the reason for that being that Kitty was such a social cat. It was very hard to hate someone like her – even those from Raven's side were testament to that claim.
"Aliens!!" Ugh, keep it down would you?
I was tempted to shut them up with a glare but that would be me being a dick and Yelena was having fun wowing them with her recent experiences so I had to sit at the awkward table full of adults just sipping their drinks and saying nothing.
"Yeah. It was some alien warlord who'd conquered quite a few systems in multiple galaxies. We had to slaughter our way through the warship filled with hundreds of soldiers."
I could feel some of the people at my table shifting uncomfortably at Yelena's which made me roll my eyes.
"Ya sure zher were rally hundreds of aliens people on za ship?" Kurt asked with no small amount of skepticism in his voice.
"What? You think I wouldn't lie about going to space but would about killing aliens?"
Yeah Yelena, that should have been backwards. Only Logan found their discussion amusing, same with me.
"So what did the aliens look like? Do they got some really cool abilities? What kind of weapons did they use? It must have been pretty sick!" Kitty squealed and pestered Yelena with her never ending questions but the girl was more than ready to answer them.
Yelena even took her time to explain each part of the curious feline's questions. "They looked kinda mid if you ask me; all scaly looking motherfuckers. As for abilities, almost none of them had any. They are just like us in the sense that special abilities are still rare even out in the universe and even if you do find a race that has them, it's more than likely an hereditary thing. They used some energy blasters of some kind as weapons and other than having their ass handed back to them, there was nothing notable about them."
"So what about the evil warlord guy? Did he escape?" A girl who I had no idea of interrogated from the side.
"Pfft, as if. Draul killed the dude before he could do anything while we took care of his strongest subordinates." She outright bragged. And from there she went on to tell about the little fights we've had, excluding the Gods and the stones of course, and whatnot.
"Hey, Yelena. Do you guys know what happened 6 months ago?"
Practically everyone in my seat and the one over, plus two seats away, turned rigid. Charles averted his eyes quickly away from mine, Scott grimaced, looking like the awkwardness was hitting him for the first time, Logan chugged on some bear to hide his expression and Piotr's head fell. The others at the table copied one of the other reactions as the whole Café fell into silence… that was until a loud slurp broke the tense atmosphere. Mine.
"Oh that? That was the work of some demons that were trying to enslave Earth. We did manage to take care of it but not without some losses." She seemed unbothered by the atmosphere she created due to her last words and just munched on the desert in front of her. "It was easily the hardest fight I've ever had given that we were pretty much against an ancient demon from before Earth was Earth."
Nat and Bucky were on one of their getaways while Steve was with Peggy. I had to give the man back his girl. What was I to do? I would have been the most heartless friend if I had slept on the matter for much longer.
What I had done was just reverse the time of her degraded cells back to their peak state and maybe a little reality warping for some extra present.
Steve had been over the moon with happiness only for the man to be silenced by the deepest kiss I've ever seen displayed before me. They were less like a budding relationship and more like a married couple.
She was as strict and also as compassionate as Steve made her out to be which was a very healthy contrast and made her fit right in. She didn't live with us most of the time which resulted in Steve spending almost all of his time at her house. It was something we teased Steve quite a bit about since we've all been at that stage, especially me when I started going out with Ororo.
"Aight, I'mma head out." I left the Café since I was bored out from all the talks and reactions. Maybe this was how they felt that made them want to see the mutant island for themselves – bored to hell.
Emma really didn't pull any stops when it came to the development of the place and I can see places that might have been heavily influenced by her. Most of the buildings were white and the few ones that weren't were placed in such a way that it contrasted nicely with the white building and also the abundant greenery around.
My senses covered the island in the blink of an eye and the location of everyone registered themselves to my head. Ororo was directing a few metas, Bucky was with Nat while Steve was with Peggy. "Guess I'm by myself this time around."
I spent the next few hours just aimlessly walking around the island, even to the parts that haven't even smelled construction. The island was very big by human standards so no one would be complaining about overpopulation anytime soon.
I was in the middle of the uncharted forest when the snapping of twigs caught my attention.
"Look who we have here." I rolled my eyes at the practically cliché setup. A quick scan of their minds told me that they were one of Magneto's ardent followers back in the days and Steve and Nat's thrashing opened up old wounds.
"You think you're some hotshot coming 'round these parts as if you own it, huh? Well, let us educate you otherwise." The one who spoke grew over 8ft tall with two extra arms protruding under his first pair. His partner turned into some kind of poison gas and circled the entire area.
To be honest, I've never actually been in such a situation that looks straight out of a comic panel so I eagerly waited for some entertainment that would alleviate my ever growing boredom.
The gas man started converging on me while the other four armed meta rushed head on. I was expecting something exciting but:
"Boring." Every excitement I felt immediately bled out the moment they started their attack. It felt as if I was a man trying to find a reason to hate ants.. No not hate, that's too strong an emotion. It felt as if I was bullying ants.
The world stopped at that moment.
The two assailants were frozen solid and I could see the hateful glee on their frozen faces, even on the gas man whose name was apparently Ivory while his partner was Darren. I could see the lines that extended from them widen into Earth; their destiny or future paths.
It all felt so insignificant. So little when compared to what I've experienced.
I never told them what really had happened during my ascension but you tend to be mute to most things if you had experienced what the universe was like during its creation till the present and also the future, all in a straight line and wide open for your perusal. In essence, I was as old as the universe and the people in front of me were no less than children.
Nothing I did to them would give me any sort of recompense not even after I destroyed them and reconstructed them thousands of times over.
It was a constant nagging I had recently started feeling; it disconnected me from everything except my family. It irked me so much that I just erased their existence altogether, making it as if they were never born.
"I need to find Ororo." I grumbled as I walked away from the cozy forest.
.
.
"Awake?" Ororo's voice stirred up my consciousness at the same time as all of Earth entered my senses before I threw it to my subconscious to handle.
"Mornin' love." I greeted before capturing her lips as she tried to answer back.
"Mhmn~" The kiss was as intense as any kiss we've shared when we were alone. "It's 10 in the morning~ We have to get up." Though she said that, she went back in for another kiss as she collapsed on top of me.
"There's an easy way out of tardiness, y'know." I mumbled as we broke away our lips from each other's.
"And I've told you that increasing the hours in a day is not an option." She said and tapped my lips, likely considering whether to dig in for another or not. I let out a groan of dissatisfaction when she pulled away which got a laugh out of her. She went to the bathroom to get herself ready for the day while I just laid there and stared into nothing.
"Stop staring into the universe, Draul, and get your ass off the bed while you're at it." Her voice snapped me out of my daydreaming and brought me back to focus only to find out that she was already done with her morning ablutions.
I winced as I saw the look she was giving me. "How long was I out for?"
"A little over 30 minutes. Draul, listen to me – you need to get help." She said softly and ran her hand through my hair but there was no way I would budge on the matter even if her petting was heavenly. "You've been lagging more frequently lately and if I hadn't found out about it you would have simply rewound time… again."
That had been quite the bicker when they had found me just staring into the sky for half the night. To be honest, anytime I found myself 'missing time' I would just backtrack a few minutes back or if nothing noteworthy happened, just let it be.
It wasn't that much of a problem to me honestly but I figured why it would have alarmed Ororo. What if I blanked out for like a month or even a year? – was probably what was going through her mind.
I wasn't that stressed out about it because while, yes, I did lose time, it was also something that was with control. I sometimes just let my presence flow through the universe and I end up forgetting how truly short time was to others. And it was also a way for me to alleviate my boredom which was why she's been seeing me stargazing quite frequently recently.
"Fine, I'll stop stargazing. Cool?" She looked at eyes, searching for any lies which she wouldn't have been able to find even if I did lie but I wasn't going to tell her that, before nodding her head. "And besides, I don't think I'll have the time to stargaze anytime soon."
The mood immediately dropped a few degrees at my words.
"You finally decided?" Was all she asked.
My eyes were firm with my reply, "Yes. I've found all the Eternals and the one underneath isn't going to be waking up anytime soon." Only I knew exactly how risky my plan was but I had to push forward regardless. In my sight, universes were being snuffed out by the second and it was creeping ever so closer. "If I absorbed the sleeping Celestial, it's highly possible that I'll be in a war against the Celestials which will cause a huge spark for power. The Gods and Elder Gods won't be able to sit this one out and I also can't wait any longer. It's better if I start it than let it come to me with its own agenda."
"Mhmn, it's not going to be easy but at least you have us at every moment of the way. Be they Gods or Demons untold, we'll fight to the bitter end." She said with such conviction that I sometimes wonder I made her fall in love with me because I knew I was the least serious person I knew.
"Have I ever told you how much I love you?"
"Only one too many times. But I'll love to hear it once more… after you get your ass off that bed."
Seriously? And here I thought we were having a moment. Despite being a universal entity that could create and obliterate galaxies at a whim, I still dragged my ass to the bathroom to get ready for the day.
…
My eyes trailed Ego as he moved around, devouring anything that earned his ire. He was one of the Celestials on my list, still was, but he wasn't the first I was going for.
Tiamut was the first choice for any Celestial that was available for me to absorb. While I had nothing against the Celestials, more so after my mind evolved to what it currently was, I also wasn't in a position to choose how I got my powers.
To my understanding, the Celestials were bees; hurt one and the others come running for you. But I also knew that due to the current crisis and the inevitable re-emergence of Knull, they were already on their armored toes which in turn gave me a bit of leeway. The icing on the cake was and always would be Dormammu.
I could feel him fighting my encroachment for every second of the day but that would immediately change if I managed to devour Tiamut.
'Guess I'm on a tight schedule.'
…
[Asgard]
A huge figure walked with broad shoulders that rested the head of a hard warrior with golden locks walked through the halls of Asgard's palace.
Even though it had been quite a short time, Thor had grown far more than he had in the past few centuries. His thick arms were left bare for all to see and his blue eyes had gained a bit of maturity and coldness though it still retained its purity.
He stepped into his father's, Odin's, throne room and was met with the appearance of both his parents.
"Father, mother." He greeted his parents with a slight bow before he turned his gaze to fully focus on his father. "I am ready, father."
Odin looked at his son not knowing whether to console him or rebuke him. He knew what his son was saying but he couldn't understand why he would still pursue it. Thor was as headstrong as other mighty Asgardians and it was exactly that attribute of his that was a prick in Odin's one eye.
He had met the man named Draul, and even though he would never say it, he could understand the man or at least the perspective of the man. Emphasis on could.
Now?
Odin ran his sight to the stars beyond Asgard's atmosphere and into the streams of lights that continued to flicker in and out of existence. Now he wouldn't be able to understand him.
When he had first met the man, he had been like an open book that he could read and memorize with a glance, it would take a bit of special to escape the Allfather's sight after all, but he couldn't do that now. That man didn't fuse with the Infinity Stone, no. He fused with the universe and everything in it that was, is, and will be. He was outside Odin's scope of understanding.
"*Sigh* I thought I taught you to forget your grudges, Thor." Odin tried to reason but he was surprised at the nonchalance of his son's answer.
"I hold no grudge towards him, father. I just want to see how far behind in strength I truly am. I refuse to believe he'll say no to an earnest request for a duel."
Thor's words caused his father to remain in silence while his mother had a wry smile. "Thor, what your father is trying to say is to leave the Midgardian on his own… he is now very far above you." Odin's eye bulged at the words of his wife. 'Aren't you supposed to be the one cuddling him and keeping him oblivious to the harsh reality?'
"H-how far are we talking about here? Can he now crush a star under his might?" Thor asked. There was no way he would back down at this point. The Gods were preparing for a war and if the Midgardian was at the center of it as he presumed, it meant that he was still weak to participate and Thor would give anything to fight a war alongside his father.
"Very… powerful." Was all his mother said and Thor immediately understood. – You have no chance against him then and you have no chance against him now – was what his mother was trying to say.
"I see."
He turned around and left the throne room only to find his brother resting against a wall with his trademark smirk on his face. "I see that the Mighty Thor was rejected."
"Aye. I guess your warning did come true brother. The Midgardian is above us, above me."
"I see you're still delusional to think that the world still revolves around you. You were never a part of the equation, Thor. None of us were, we're only extras in a story, part of a perspective if you will. He was never our match, Thor, not after he came in possession of the Infinity Stones. The least we can do now is get ready for what is on the horizon." Loki said in a rare moment of seriousness.
"War."
"War. Who knows? Maybe we'll get to see him again after all. That reminds me, how's Mjolnir doing?"
Thor looked at the hammer strapped to his waist before shrugging. "It's never misbehaved since that day… but I feel like something serious had happened that caused Mjolnir to act like that. Well whatever it is, we'll come face to face with it when it's time."
Loki nodded and they both went their way with Loki having a thinking expression on his face. He clearly understood the reason why they couldn't afford to even be in the presence of that man, it was also the reason why he had given him a wild berth.
He had somehow gotten all six of the Infinity Stones.
Not just him but even Asgard couldn't afford to offend someone who could wipe them all out with a snap of his finger. And then there was the spectacle of Thor's hammer relinquishing a part of his divinity to someone, a new Sky God. There were a lot of things happening all around and Loki was ignorant of them and he hated being ignorant.
…
[Draul St. Cross POV]
I blinked and the Indian Ocean was laid in front of me.
Space rippled behind me as Steve and Bucky came through.
Natasha arrived using a portal, something she'd grown easily accustomed to while Yelena ran here.
Ororo arrived with lightning, flashy as always.
"So… what are we doing here?"
"I'm going to absorb the fetus growing within the Earth." Their aghast faces told me I should have phrased that a little bit better, thankfully Yelena came with a save.
"I thought you were going to absorb a growing Celestial?"
I nodded, "Yes, hence the fetus." It was a fetus after all since it hadn't been born yet and what I was trying to do was basically an illegal abortion.
"And is there a reason why we need to be here?" Nat asked, not in displeasure but just asking for any new information they might not have been privy to.
"Just beat up any ragtag team that comes around. It'll suck if I was disturbed and whatever is down there in turn absorbed me and emerged." I said before warping myself into the Earth core.
My formless form flowed through the crevices towards the huge ball of energy that had already begun consolidating deep beneath the Earth.
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