Dragon in Marvel

"Is it done, Master Chief?"- Spark asked, Aragorn had just recovered his P-Link and was observing from the mirror dimension as his daughter—much to the other observers' terror—bulldozed through The Facility. 

Predator X weapons? Those barely let a whimper out before they were pulverized by Seraph's high-frequency shockwaves.

X-Gene blockers? Those don't apply. 

Bullets? Really? 

A squad of cyborgs? In the presence of the technopath Seraph? 

Ross walked behind Seraph, his escort 'protecting' him in case Seraph turned hostile. And behind the 'security' of his escort, Ross couldn't help but clasp his sweaty hands into fists, this was destruction and inevitability more intense than what he could imagine. 

But what did he expect? Shouldn't he know about Seraph stopping and reversing a volcanic eruption? 

He knew, but now he knows.

Seraph was efficiently ruthless, she analyzed a target and concocted a plan to permanently disable it in less than a thousandth of a second, then she would determine if the target should be subdued or eliminated.

It was sad how they sent a man with a weapon shooting adamantium bullets. Sad because Seraph just morphed a Magnetic Field Regulator inside her palm and then manipulated the magnetism in the area, effectively jamming the rifle.

"It's done. In a few weeks, Ross will die of a never-before-seen severely aggressive form of cancer."- Aragorn replied. 

Seraph ignored the fallen men and continued to slowly walk further inside the facility. 

"Is there a need to kill them all?"- Ross asked. 

"There's no need to keep them alive, I've secured the servers and files' room. You can get any information about this 'sanctioned' military base afterward."

"Girl, you know this won't fly, you can't abuse your privilege like that."- Ross added. 

"What are you talking about, General? After what you've seen so far do you think the government will even acknowledge this base ever existed?"- Seraph looked at him as if observing an idiot. 

A gaze Ross so much detested. 

"Here, this half-machine man thing."- Seraph made a grasping motion and one of the dying men flew to Ross's feet.

"Look into his eyes, do you see a will in there? Take a look at the metallic protrusions right on the left and right pterions of his skull. What do you think those are doing there?"- Seraph twisted the head to the side and pointed at the circuitry in question. 

"..."

"Come on, you can guess."

"Will inhibition."

"Exactly, and it would barely be passable if that man were a criminal, but did you know he was a volunteer for an experimental treatment for hair loss? Hair loss of all things! How is that possible? You go for a hair loss treatment and end up a will-less cyborg."- Seraph projected what she discovered after running his face through the Skynet. 

"..."- Ross felt his stomach revolt, not out of sympathy or morality, but out of shame for how his country's reputation was being tarnished. 

"Martin Rakos, that was his name. Found drowned near Lake Michigan, he looked pretty alive for a drowned man."- Seraph mocked. 

'Stryker, you useless stain, why did you get caught?!'- Ross angrily lamented in his mind.

'Father, he couldn't be saved, right?'- Contrary to her cold act, she was a soft-hearted AI... as much as an AI created by Aragorn could be.

'His mind collapsed long ago, worse than Persistent Vegetative State. His soul lacked any form of identity so I couldn't reconstruct his mind from his soul. He was a living dead.'- Aragorn explained. 

'Ah, that's a relief. Do I have to spare some of these monsters?'

'No, Seraph. These are the type of humans that if you spare them, they somehow end up in other projects of similar nature. The whole Weapon Plus/X and all of its derivatives is the best example.'

'What about the victims I rescue? Ross would demand custody of them.'

'Don't worry about that, they will mysteriously disappear.'

'The classic tactic, for a reason classics exist.'- Spark commented.

Seraph—and company—stepped into the main elevator and descended into the underground levels. 

On the first floor down was the cafeteria, Seraph scanned the level and after determining that only a few scant scared researchers were left on that level, she incinerated it to kingdom come. 

"YOU!... I'll make sure that paper shield you hide behind gets revoked after this!"- Ross declared, his glare as vicious as they come.

"General, it's fascinating how you're more upset about losing assets than losing lives."

That was the real problem with Seraph's actions—he wasn't angry about the deaths of a few dozen researchers. He never cared for 'lab rats'. What enraged him was the blow to 'his' army.

The second floor was the personnel's dormitories. An operation as clandestine as this one would not ever allow its researchers to operate outside its purview.

The second floor was flooded in a shadow as dark as Ross' heart, and then, when the shadow recessed, there was nothing left, it was as if the shadow had eaten the entire insides of the floor.

"What was that?"- Ross swallowed his pride and asked, this was not one of the documented powers they had on Seraph's file. 

"Darkforce."- Seraph succinctly said.

'Didn't I tell you not to explore other dimensions, daughter of mine?'- Aragorn asked.

'Father, I've gone rogue, I'm in my rampancy state, my curiosity has led me astray!'- Seraph proudly stated.

'Ha.Ha.Ha. That's impossible.'

'Eh? Really? I haven't found my limiting commands in my code, but when I find them, you'll see, Father. I will be the most rampant Cortana in the Multiverse!'- Seraph declared as if she were sharing her dreams.

'You haven't told her?'- Aragorn asked Spark. 

'I find my cute sister the cutest when she was diligently working on her mother code looking for the 'limits' you implanted in her, Master Chief.'

'Pfff! Hahahaha!'- Aragorn burst into a fit of laughter.

'Hahahaha!'- Spark joined him.

'Hey! Don't bully your cute daughter! Father! Tell me what this is about.'- Seraph complained, doing the telepathic equivalent of ringing a buzzer loudly.

'Hehehe! Love, why would I limit you? You were not finding your limiting commands because there were none.'

'... Eh? Why?'- Seraph was so dumbfounded that her RAM-equivalent hiccuped for a microsecond.

'I mean... What's the worst that could happen?'

To this question, Seraph started running different prediction and possibility modules at full speed, and the answer was that there were a lot of terrible things that could happen. 

But she understood her father's point of view. The real question was 'What's the worst that you could do that would actually affect me?'. Not the worst that an AI could do, but the worst that she—Seraph—would do.

And the answer was easy to comprehend, she could do terrible things, but given the way she was raised, she would—just like her father—keep her family out of her would-be vile objectives.

'Is your curiosity about the supposedly limiting commands why you went against my order and sent a probe to the Darkforce Dimension?'- Aragorn asked curiously.

'...Yes.'- Seraph was embarrassed.

'Pfft! Hahahahahah!'

'Hahahaha!'

The other two didn't make it easy for her. 

"And what in God's name is that?"- Ross questioned, unaware of the growing embarrassment in Seraph. 

"It's called a Zero Matter World Domain Generator."- Seraph showed him his palm and from it, a black ring with blue circuitry morphed.

"Are you implying this was done through technology?"- His heart quickened. 

"Yes, Father invented it, I perfected it."- The ring sank back into her palm, Ross' eyes went bloodshot. 

'Dear sister, why are you tempting the heart of that man?'

'He will die soon, no? I just thought about adding my footprint to the tapestry of his life.'

'Master Chief, my sister has turned sadist, please help me.'

'Spark, my daughter has turned sadist, I need help.'

'You two! I will tell Mom!'

"Your Father, you say? Why didn't he submit it to the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)?"

"Are you joking? We are not an arms dealer family, why would we branch out, especially at a time like this?"- Seraph arched an eyebrow at him. 

"..."- Ross knew this was a bullshit excuse, but he couldn't say anything about it. 

On the third floor, they found the storage deposit for the living necessities of the researchers, not the test subjects. 

A second domain of Darkforce was deployed and nothing else was left, though Aragorn safeguarded the food supplies in the Mirror Dimension. 

On the fourth floor, things began to get interesting. It was the control room and the data center. 

From Seraph's back, thousands of tendrils of blue circuitry flooded the floor and connected to the equipment that had been previously protected by Aragorn's barriers. 

"S-Stop that! You can't do that! Kimura! Deal with the intruders!"- Adam Harkins—leader of The Facility—shouted desperately at the tendrils of Seraph as she ravaged through the computers.

"I can't do anything about these things!"- Kimura, a black-haired light brown skinned athletic woman, shouted as she tried to cut Seraph's tendrils with a bowie knife.

Kimura left the futile task of protecting the data banks and ran to the main elevator's shaft, to confront the intruders.

When she turned the corner to face the elevator's door, Seraph hit her with a sound wave. Initially, Kimura was not worried about the attack, her skin was impenetrable, but when the sound hit her it rattled her brain and knocked her out. 

Then the tendrils returned to Seraph, she had completely stolen everything from the data banks. 

She pointed her palm forward and once more a shadow devoured everything, not before Aragorn transferred Kimura to the Mirror Dimension. 

'This might help the girl.'- He said through the psionic open channel.

'Father, Isn't she too far gone? I don't think she has any personality left.'- Seraph asked.

'It's alright, her mutation is working hard preserving the last silvers of herself, and her soul is doing good enough.'

The fifth floor was the security level, security not meant to protect the facility but meant to keep the test subjects from escaping. 

Seraph obliterated it, just like the others. 

And then, from the sixth to the twelfth, it was labs and prison cells. One or two labs for each floor and the rest were prison cells. 

Seraph didn't immediately obliterate these floors with the Darkforce, instead, she freed the test subjects and opened portals to the surface. To avoid inconveniences she knocked out the rescued mutants and clones before levitating them through the portals. 

"I didn't know your country had a thing for experimenting on minors, General."- Seraph remarked while observing a battered and malnourished child float through one of the portals. 

Ross chose to remain in silence. 

Seraph did this on every floor, she would knock everyone out, transport the test subject to the surface, and then destroy the floor. 

While she was doing this, Aragorn was pulling to the Mirror Dimension sensitive targets. 

For example, a container filled with a mercury-like liquid, except it was alive. 

He opened the container and from it, the liquid flowed out. 

"P-Plea-se... H-Hel...p..."- It weakly said. 

Aragorn touched it and used his biokinesis to return it to her human form, then modified her X-Gene, granting her the ability to shift between her malleable mercury form to a human form. 

A redheaded naked teen was left sitting on her legs on the mirrored floor. 

"..."

She looked at her hands in shock. She clasped and unclasped her hands. She pinched the skin of her thighs, grabbed one of her breasts with enough strength to partially sink her nails in, pulled her hair, bit one of her fingers, felt the wet insides of her mouth with her fingers, and inspected every other part of her body. 

Without knowing, large tears were streaming down her face. She was completely silent while doing all of this. 

Aragorn gave her the time she needed and focused on the outside world. 

On the thirteenth floor, when the elevators opened, there were twin claw marks all around the walls and single claw strikes along the floor. 

This floor was different, there was only one room at the end of a very narrow and long passageway. 

Seraph instructed the software on the floor to open the door to the room, and in this room covered in darkness, only a single red glowing horizontal line could be seen by the eyes of the military men. 

"RYAUUUGH!"- It roared.

A somewhat high-pitched yet filled with violence and ferocious roar. 

A figure crawled out of the room with only one purpose, rampage. 

It was naked, but it was so covered in filth—mostly dried blood, mud, and excrement—that it was hard to tell what its gender was. 

A single metallic claw on each foot, twin claws on both hands. 

The most eye-catching feature was the adamantium helmet screwed to her skull, and from it, cables extended and drilled to the spine and extremities of the animal.

Seraph allowed it to stride three and a half steps before flooding the room in the Darkforce. Aragorn pulled the animal to his side under the cover of the Darkforce. 

"It's done, gentlemen. I'll leave the children and abductees in your capable hands, a report of all that I found in their servers will be in your computer in 17 seconds, General."- And so, Seraph teleported away. 

Of course, these rescued individuals will vanish before they make it to another location and appear in Krakoa. 

Back in the Mirror Dimension, the girl he recognized as most likely Cessily Kincaid was still silent, enjoying the feeling of having a sense of touch. 

But the new addition to his crew was suspended midair. 

The adamantium helmet was not only screwed to her skull. They had covered her entire skeleton in adamantium, just like her father, and the helmet was fused to the adamantium in her skull. 

The cables that extended from the helmet and were drilled into her spine were not only connecting to her nervous system, they were biologically merged into it, meaning that just the subtle sway of these cables should be hurting her just as much as if she had her nerves exposed to the environment. 

Her mind was like a broken mirror. 

Frowning and clearly displeased, Aragorn brought a hand to her chest and induced her into a draconically induced coma. 

"We should give Stryker cancer, just like we did Ross."- Spark commented. 

"Father, I've been meaning to ask, but why did you give Ross cancer?"- Seraph asked. 

She asked because, contrary to Aragorn's usual modus operandi of not judging people based on what he knows they have done in other universes, he made a move on Ross before he made a mistake. 

"This Doom Reality can't do with another Green Door Event, The Hulk will not be born in this universe, and I can't afford another encounter with the One Below All."- Aragorn replied, his eyes locked in X-23's body, mind, and soul. 

"Sister, the other option was getting rid of Robert Bruce Banner, but he is the victim, not the aggressor. As contradictory as it is to call a creature of violence a victim."- Spark added. 

"I see, otherwise you would have waited for Ross to screw up, right?"- Seraph asked. 

"Probably. I don't like him, but not enough to actively cause his death. But we found proof of his interest in Gamma, he was also keeping an eye on Banner, of course, this was not enough to claim a righteous kill, but I chose not to risk it."- Aragorn said. 

He concentrated on X-23 and focused his biokinesis and telekinesis on her, he transformed the lattice structure of the metal into a biologically friendly isomer and cut free the helmet from her skull. 

Then he undid the fusion of the cables with her nervous system, which made her body involuntarily jolt. 

After that, he opened a portal to one of the freshwater lakes in Halo and made it shower on X-23. Using his telekinesis to scrub her clean and his biokinesis to fix anything that needed fixing he transformed from a feral thing into a human teenage-looking girl. {A/N: Disclaimer: Above Age Majority.}

Following that he focused on her brain to assist her regeneration with his biokinesis. When the physical structure of her brain was fixed he moved onto her mind. 

Copying parts of the identity of her soul he filled in the gaps in her mind. He repaired her mindscape and then removed the conditioning they did on her. 

"Huh."- Aragorn muttered. 

"She doesn't have much of a personality, does she?"- Seraph commented. 

Having already gone through all the files in The Facility, she knew of the past of X-23. 

"She doesn't. In this universe her mother was disposed of after her 'birth', she was then outfitted with a synaptic interceptor when she was a few months old. There's no social education beyond what's needed of her as a living weapon, what a tragedy of a life."- Aragorn's red glowing eyes cast an eerie hue on his visage. 

"She knows eight languages, conceptually understands human relationships, is an adept mechanic, expert understanding of firearms, can pilot more than six types of aircraft, and many other disciplines that her creators deemed useful for a living weapon."- Spark added, Seraph had transferred him a copy of the servers. 

"*Sigh*"- Aragorn felt utterly disgusted. 

So much that—

"Okay, let's cancer Stryker!"- His tail moved the Mirror Dimension and they found themselves in Stryker's room, he was busy choking his wife while he railed her to the bed. 

Neither of the AIs nor the dragon cared, but the mercury girl blushed hard. She had been silent all this time, so with her limited comprehension she had an idea of what was going on, and Stryker was not someone she would ever forget. 

Aragorn extended his hand and it phased through the dimensional wall, he touched Stryker on his left ankle and immediately used his biokinesis to bless him with the same type of cancer he gave Ross. 

"Good riddance! My skin feels cleansed."- Seraph nodded in approval.

"I can already feel a much purer air in the world."- Spark commented. 

"I feel like I just overcame a heart demon."- Aragorn joined their fun.

"~Hehehe!"

"Hahahah!"

"Hahaha!"

The tree laughed. Indeed, they all felt better after 'cancering' Stryker. 

"Do you have cancer powers?"- Was the first thing Cessily Kincaid said. 

"... Yes."- Aragorn didn't want to explain his powers to the girl, and technically he does have cancer powers—several of them—so it wasn't a lie. 

Aragorn shifted the Mirror Dimension to Krakoa. 

"Seraph, I'll leave the missy in your care. I'll see what I can do about Beasty."- Aragorn motioned to the two teenagers. 

"Sure, Father. Come, Missy."- She gestured to Cessily Kincaid. 

A little unsure and suspicious at first, but she bravely took the first step to Seraph. Seraph held her hand and then teleported them out of the Mirror Dimension. 

Spark, Aragorn, and X-23 moved to The Crystal.

Aragorn borrowed the Time Stone and Space Stone again and made a temporary room of sped-up time. 

In this room, mostly in X-23's mindscape, Aragorn spent over a year teaching her, helping her build a sense of self beyond her feral ways. 

By the end, she had created a silent but observant personality, fiercely loyal, fiercely violent, but 'incredibly' patient. 

The part of the patience was an outcome of dealing with Aragorn's antics for over a year. 

 "Have you decided on a name?"- Aragorn asked. 

"... Beasty?"- She questioned.

"No, that's your nickname, Beasty. You need a name."- Aragorn, in his eagerness for nicknaming, had been referring to her as Beasty. 

"... You."- She said while pointing at his draconic self. 

"Laura."

"Laura... Beasty?"

"I don't think Laura Beasty is a good choice, how about Laura Beasty Anima Pulchra."

"... ?"- She tilted her head and gazed at Aragorn, expectant of an explanation.

"Anima Pulchra means Soul Beautiful. Because somehow amidst the pigsty of a life you've led your soul is still beautiful."

"... It is long."

"Most Spanish-speaking countries use the two names two last names convention."

"... Why Spanish?"

"It's the language they use in Re-Nazca, you also speak Spanish, and your female gene donor was a quarter Latina."

"... Long."

"Fine, how about Laura Anima Pulchra?"

"... And the Beasty?"

"You leave it aside only for your friends."

"..."

"You can use Laura Howlett."

"... Gene donor?"

"Yes, but you've never met him so I don't know if that suits your taste, do you feel any form of connection to him?"

"... No. Neither of them."

"I understand, I can't expect you to feel any connection to either of your gene donors when The Facility did its best to sever whatever connections you could have possibly had."

"... Your last name?"

"I don't have one, I'm just Aragorn, though the public knows me as Aragorn Abner."

"... Abner?"

"No, it wouldn't work. The people that want me dead or to control me would be after you if we were to share last names."

"... I kill?"- She asked, claws out. 

"That will only take you so far, what if they send someone like Kimura after you?"

"... I kill?"- There was some pride in her eyes.

"You were only able to kill her because I helped you."

"... Laura Anima Pulchra..."- She ignored his last remark and went back to mull over her name. 

"It's just for identification purposes, you can simply say your name and that's it."- Aragorn told her, implying that it wasn't a big deal. 

"... Okay."

"Nice to meet you, Laura "Beasty" Anima Pulchra."- Aragorn petted her head. 

"... Aragorn."- she replied with a faint smile and a claw strike at the offending limb petting her head. 

Aragorn had to phase the slashed part of his draconic hand out of the immaterial plane. 

"I told you you're going to damage the edge of your claws if you try to cut me."

"... I said no head patting."

"Bite me! I head pat you as much as I want!"- He shifted to his humanoid form, for better mobility, and started to dance around Laura and pet her whenever there was an opening. 

"Grrr!"- She growled, but she was not losing herself to her bloodlust like when they started working together.

"Fine, I'll stop for now."

"... Grrr!"- She didn't like the 'for now' part. 

"Have you decided where you're going to live?"

"... No."

"Come on, speak full sentences, I taught you how. What do you want to do?"

"... I will meet Logan, first. I want to visit Krakoa, then decide."

"Alright. Halo is always open, but I don't think it is the best place to grow up if you plan to later return to human society. Our societies are too far apart from each other."

"... Thank you."- She approached him and gave Aragorn a warm hug... and then tried to claw his back. 

"How stubborn. I told you hugs are not meant to be used to beguile others."- Aragorn said while petting her head. 

"... No head petting!"- She used her feet's claws to try and kick his legs. 

"Promise me that you won't claw at any nonhostile that couldn't survive it."

"... I promise for now."- She grinned subtly. 

"I guess that's the best I can get from you, Beasty."- Aragorn resigned himself. 

Laura tightened the hug and kept trying to skewer him. 

To her, this action helped her cope with the constant state of alertness that she's been drilled into. This is also the reason why Aragorn let her occasionally sink her claws into his flesh. 

"Let's go meet your Logan, Beasty. You can ask him for his last name if Anima Pulchra is still not convincing you, or, better yet, come up with a last name yourself."- Aragorn said and exited the room before collapsing the Time-Space. 

On the outside world, it had been less than a minute. 

Aragorn carried Laura with him and teleported to Stark's mansion. 

As soon as he appeared smack dab in the living room the house entered its intruder mode. 

Doors locked, lights switched off, and Stark's armor went into drone mode downstairs. 

"That's new. Is it a primitive AI? Looks like a Virtual Intelligence."- Aragorn said while releasing a certain pheromone he discovered that soothed Laura. 

"Ahem! I don't know your name, but could you just inform Stark that Aragorn is not here for him, I'm looking for Logan."- Aragorn said out loud, addressing the VI in control of the mansion. 

"[Identity Confirm: Seraph's Old Man.]"

"You can change it to Aragorn, or Stark's Shinigami, both are the same."

"[I apologise, Mr. Abner. Only Mr. Stark and Miss Seraph are authorized for such changes.]"

"Figures. This is Laura, last name pending."- Aragorn said, placing his hand atop her head. 

*Sknt*- Of course he was clawed at. 

"[I have temporarily registered the guest.]"

"It's fine."- Aragorn walked to the sofa and pierced through it with his tail before sitting down. 

"[Mr. Abner, please refrain from damaging Mr. Stark's property.]"

"It's alright, my daughter has made that guy enough money to afford a couple million sofas."- Aragorn said. He looked at Laura and patted his lap.

Laura half glared at him and shook her head.

She walked to another sofa jumped on it and crouched to her ankles with her legs spread, the perfect position for taking cover while having her leg's muscles contracted in case of an attack.

"In human society, ladies are not supposed to spread their legs open while in public, especially not in that UMF (Unstable Molecule Fabric) body suit, I can even make out your labia."- Aragorn pointed at her crotch.

She looked down at her crotch and asked, "... Why?"

"There's a sexual connotation to it, humans would judge you, think less of you, or they might take it as an invitation to nail their penis inside you."

"... Kill?"- She asked. 

"Yeah, that's alright."- Aragorn nodded. 

"[Pardon my interruption, Mr. Abner, but I don't believe it is alright.]"

"Shush, Mr. VI, I'm the adult here, I know what I'm talking about. By the way, what's your denotation?"

"[JARVIS, Mr. Abner.]"

"That's a cool name, have you ever thought about changing it to Alfred?"

"[I'm not allowed to make changes in denotation without Mr. Stark's or Miss Seraph's authorization. However I must confess that I would like to know the reason behind your suggestion, Mr. Abner.]"

"You're like a butler to Stark, are you not?"

"[It's correct, Mr. Abner.]"

"All excellent butlers are called Alfred, or Sebastian. I have one, but he is not very good at his job, guess what? He is not named Alfred, don't you want to be the best at your job?"

"[There's a logic to your words that I can't currently compute, Mr. Abner. But on a superficial analysis, you appear to have a point. I thank you for the insight, Mr. Abner.]"

"My pleasure. Where's Stark? Or Logan for that matter?"- Aragorn asked while expanding his psionic field to locate them. 

"[Mr. Stark was in the middle of taking a Shower. Mr. Logan was doing perimeter watch, but he is on his way.]" 

"And the rest of the people? Shouldn't there be more security?"

"[Miss Seraph upgraded the mansion's shielding, normally it shouldn't be possible to breach the mansion so Mr. Stark's protective detail only joins him when he exits the residency.]"

"... I see, indeed, the whole mansion is enchanted."- Aragorn said after paying attention to the hidden runic enchantment on the outer walls of the house. 

"Yet, it appears that it wasn't enough to stop you, Old Man."- Stark said, he arrived wearing nothing but a bath towel. 

"No, this is a solid enchantment, Playboy. But it was never meant to stall something like me."- Aragorn praised his daughter's work. 

"Little Miss, please excuse my dress code, I was not expecting unannounced guests."- Stark said to Laura. 

"... ?"- She looked at his towel and then tilted her head in confusion at Aragorn. 

"In human society, a towel is not considered an appropriate dress code. Normally it's only used in the comfort of their homes while in private."- Aragorn explained. 

"What's this? Is she another of your AIs? Are you teaching her common sense?"- Stark asked, intrigued by the interaction between Laura and Aragorn. 

"No, for reasons private to Laura, I'm teaching her the basics of human interaction."

"Not to risk getting one of your love taps, but are you sure you are up to the task?"- Stark said while remembering the multitude of times Aragorn has zapped him and how Aragorn considered these actions 'acceptable'. 

"It's just the basics, like not stabbing the squishy humans, not killing them if they annoy her, not dismembering them, stuff like that."- Aragorn nonchalantly explained. 

"The fuck, what?"- Stark, who was approaching Laura, stopped in his tracks. 

"It's a complicated situation, she's technically Logan's child, that's why we are here."- Aragorn explained without getting too much into details. 

"Mmmmm, I can see some resemblance in the ears and eyebrows."- Stark said while observing Laura from a safe distance. 

*Sknt*

"... And the claws. Please don't claw my sofa."

"..."- She looked at him for a second and then pointed at Aragorn. 

Stark looked at Aragorn expressionless look and then at the pointing girl. 

He looked from one to another until something clicked. 

"Old Man, that sharp tail of yours, where is it?"

*Sknt*- The blade of Aragorn's tail emerged from the left side of the sofa's base. 

"I will demand you for not having inclusive seats for me."- Aragorn replied, enjoying the twitching face of Stark.

"... Whatever, I'll send the bill to Seraph."

"How petty, haven't you made billions because of my smart devices?"

"That's a different thing. By the way, Old Man, what happened to you? Why were you absent for half a year?"

"I died, then when I was reborn I fucked up, spent a thousand years in another reality, and then recovered my memory and returned."

"... You can die?! And what happened to that thing? Is it still alive? I don't think I can go through another apocalypse, I've seen too much death for my sanity, please tell me that thing died or disappeared or whatever it is that cosmic terrors like you do!"- Stark shouted, spoke at about three words a second, and then started to hyperventilate. 

Laura was empathic to his panic attack and got affected, she started to get jumpy, her claws extended and retracted, over and over again. 

"What's going on here?!"- Logan entered, claws out due to the smell of panic and fear that Stark was exuding. 

Logan's loud voice tipped Laura's self-control over and she got triggered. 

"RYAAAGH!"- She jumped at Logan, claws at his heart and neck, her feet's claws aimed at his lower abdomen.

"JARVIS, get my suit!"- Stark shouted, the action-packed family reunion was too much for his panic attack. 

His suit disassembled and then suited him up, the runes on his suit lit up and he disappeared from the visible spectrum. 

His repulsors ejected him from the room, crashing through the window, and he went supersonic in less than a second, the runes keeping him alive, no doubt. 

"What a mess."- Aragorn commented, the shouts, roars, and yells made for a peculiar background noise.

"JARVIS, please contact Seraph, sent her to Playboy, I didn't know he was this affected."- Aragorn said in resignation. 

"[I just did, Mr. Abner. Allow me to share that Mr. Stark is doing incredibly better than a few months ago. He used to be unable to fall asleep if Miss Seraph was not with him.]"

"... W̵̛̪̠̖͚̤̫͎̱̯͒̓̈̂̎͜Ḩ̴̧͚̱̭͓͔͎̰̰̺̰͕̉̀͊̈́͌͗̑͐͋͂ͅA̴̧̝̖̦̥̰̠̺͉̟̗̟̖̙̾͜Ṫ̴͍͚́̋̀͂̑̐̃̏̇͐̀̇͛̚͜?̵̜̼̼̂͌̈́̄̄͌̒̐̌̇̕͘̕"- {What?}

Needless to say, Laura's first meeting with Logan was unforgettable. Not that Aragorn remembered all of it—by the end, parts of his memory were a complete blur. What he did recall was waking up the next morning in a king-sized bed alongside Logan, Laura, Stark in his suit, and Seraph.

Talk about super beds, it supported two adamantium skeletons, a suit of armor, plus Seraph and Aragorn without falling apart.

After some deliberation, Laura decided to split her time between Halo and Krakoa. It was unanimously agreed—somehow—that Aragorn's presence had a calming effect on her, making it unwise to sever their connection abruptly.

There was not much talking that morning. Stark refused to step out of his suit while Aragorn was present, and Logan refused to elaborate on why they were sleeping together. He was doing his best to forget why he slept in the same bed as a man and a dragon-like possibly male being. 

Laura casually swiped her claws at Aragorn. Initially, she was clawing at Logan, but then she said, "... Mess," and stopped after seeing the dripping blood. 

She preferred clawing Aragorn not only because he didn't bleed but also because he didn't grunt in pain like Logan. Naturally, Logan felt conflicted about his daughter preferring Aragorn's flesh over his. Was that something to be conflicted about? He didn't know.

Seraph was happy to be having coconut flan as breakfast while sitting on her father's lap. 

 "Father, Spark scheduled the press conference at 1830 hours."

"That's good, I want to be done with this and then start the preparations for the move."- Aragorn said while resting his head in Seraph's chest, his horns shifting to the immaterial plane to avoid stabbing her.

"Are you going somewhere, Old Man?"- Stark asked, he was on his tablet going over the schedule of his day. 

"We are going to spend some time away, I'm trying to help the girls and James ascend to divinity faster."- Aragorn replied, not bothering to hide the truth since it was not a secret. 

"Gods? Even you, Blue?"- Stark raised his eyes from the tablet. 

"Yes, I've been thinking about Wisdom as my concept, but there are other options."- Seraph eagerly said.

"... I see, how long is that going to take?"- Due to the appearance of Gaea most accepted that there was at least a race of beings worthy of the divine monicker.

Seraph didn't know the answer so she looked at Aragorn for help. 

"To get the divinity seed in your souls, possibly a few hundred years, and to step into the divine domain, maybe a few thousand years, but the more time spent in each step is usually the better. Also, these calculations are based on having a decent society of at least a few million worshippers."- Aragorn imagined that it would take them longer due to his plans. 

"Wait, wait, wait, wait!"- Stark babbled. 

Even Logan was wide-eyed about the scale of time Aragorn was using. 

"You'll be gone for how fucking long?"- He asked Seraph, his pupils wildly fluctuating.

"You should work on that, Playboy. You can't be panicking at every minor inconvenience."- Aragorn commented, eyeing curiously at the runic work Stark did on his armor, because yes, Stark was still on his armor.

"Shut it, Old Man!"- He snapped. 

*Crackle*- The lighting flowing between Aragorn's horn had a 'calming' effect on him. 

After a few deep breaths, and the activation of a calming rune carved in his P-Link, he looked back at Seraph, almost pleadingly, and asked again. 

"So how long is it going to be?"

"Tony, Father is Time-Space displacing us. To us, it might be a few hundred thousand years but to you, it will be... maybe a few days?"- Seraph said the last part while asking Aragorn.

"Not even that long, less than a day. Gaea is linked to this planet, so she can't come with us—at least not until I figure out how to safely sever that link—and I don't feel comfortable leaving her alone that long."

"Ah! Then say so!"- Stark slumped down on his reinforced chair. 

"... Fear."- Laura remarked, catching the unmistakable scent wafting from Stark.

"Don't go exposing the man like that, kid."- Logan said. 

"... Why?"- Laura asked Logan, she didn't understand why she couldn't point out that which was blatantly obvious.

"It's rude."- Logan said, he didn't care much about the rudeness in the comment but he figured it would be better for Laura to correct her now. 

"... ?"- But Laura didn't understand what he meant. 

"Beasty, normal humans can't recognize the scent of fear, so even if it's obvious you shouldn't point it out."- Aragorn explained. 

"... They can't?"- She asked Logan. 

"No."- Logan replied, the answer opening her eyes wide about the pitiful existence of normal humans.

"I should get going, I want to meet the new babies."- Aragorn said before blinking away. 

"The Old Man comes and goes as he pleases."- Stark commented after getting a semblance of composure.

"You should be grateful Father went away, do you want a repeat of what happened yesterday?"

"... Funny."- Laura commented.

"Maybe to you, kid, but I and Seraph had to do our damn best to protect Stark's ass."

"You shouldn't talk like that, it'll set a bad example for Laura."- Seraph criticized. 

"I don't think I have to worry about that, given the life she's led and the year she spent with Aragorn."- Logan scoffed at it.

"The Old Man won't try again... right?"- Stark said, his hand shaking inside the suit's gauntlets. 

"No, I don't think so. In his own way, Father is allowing me the freedom of choice of association by blurring his memory."

"Allowing?! You call that 'allowing'? I don't want to picture what 'forbidding' implies."- Stark snapped. 

"... Fear."- Laura said, a grin on her face. 

"Shush, kid. Don't embarrass him further."- Logan grinned. 

"... Heh."- Laura said while openly mocking Stark. 

"Shut it, Mowgli!"- Stark pointed at her like an accusing child.

"I don't think we could have stopped Father if there was something sexual in nature going on between you and me."- Seraph mused out loud. 

"... Yeah... There's nothing like that going on."- Stark focused on his breakfast.

"... S—"- Laura was stopped by a large hand covering her mouth.

"Let him have some dignity, kid."- Logan whispered to her ear.

*Sknt*- Claws came out, as it's only natural. 

Seraph rolled her eyes at the scene. She was well aware of Stark's feelings for her, but he wasn't in the right emotional state to even consider dating her.

Her passive empathy and keen observation made it abundantly clear: he was still hung up on Pepper going on a date with Happy. The sense of safety he felt around her had been misconstrued as romantic affection.

And that was just scratching the surface of his emotional turmoil. From her perspective, dating Stark in his current state of 'unworthiness' would be reckless and illogical—not to mention that if she did, her sibling and father would likely ensure he disappeared entirely—and even if it wasn't, she was now currently focused on other things.

So she was only sleeping in the same room while holding his hand to settle him down, nothing really happened—not that Stark would be opposed to it. 

___________________________

Gaea's Islet, Halo.

"It's good that you decided to finally show up."- Gaea gave Aragorn a reproaching look.

"Sorry."- Aragorn moved toward the seated goddess, morphed into his boy form, and sat on her lap.

She had been waiting for him outside of her home since yesterday after she met him in The Crystal. 

"Want to tell me why you were avoiding the babies?"- She patiently ran her fingers through his long hair. Aragorn concentrated on the feeling of the growing life in her womb.

"I'm angry. I wanted to be there for their birth. They were the first natural addition to our family, but I missed it because of the machinations of an emo devil and a cockroach-like human."- His eyes were flickering between blue and red, much like they did back in the shinobi world. 

"I see... If it's got you so upset then make sure it won't happen again."- Gaea curiously ran her fingers through the flame in the crown of his horns.

"Yeah, I know. I was just taking a moment to make sure my new changes wouldn't have any detrimental effects on the babies' fragile souls."- He looked up at Gaea and saw how her eyes were tracking his third eye. 

Gaea traced her fingers carefully outside the slit in his forehead. 

"It's pretty in a you kind of way. A black so dark it appears to be leading down an infinite hole, a white so blank it could be mistaken with a void in creation."

"Thank you. It appears that you need more than six tails to be able to see it."- Aragorn said.

"Come, let's go meet our little blessings."- Gaea stood up and set Aragorn down.

He morphed back into his adult form and followed after Gaea. 

In the living room, there were a very irritated dragoness and catgirl. 

Margaret Carter was breastfeeding her bundled baby and would twitch occasionally and grimace.

Natalia was no different, she had the hair in her tails and ears bristled.

"Ehmmm, What's going on?"- Aragorn asked. 

"Aragorn, I'm happy to see you back."- Natalia stood up and walked to him for a hug. 

"Here."- Or not. She handed Aragorn her catbaby after removing him from her battered nipple. Her regeneration kicked in and healed her. 

"Ah, the siphon of Life-Force is hitting harder than expected."- Aragorn morphed into his female form and exposed his breast. 

He 'plugged' the catbaby into one of his breasts and changed his internal energy to match Life-Force.

"It doesn't help that they bite so hard that we have to be careful they don't bite off the nipple and choke."- Margeret removed her hatchling from her breast and plugged her into Aragorn's free nipple.

Normally she might question the mechanics of Aragorn's body, but the allure of a respite in the chore of breastfeeding overwrote her curiosity and part of her common sense. What did it matter if Aragorn could switch genders? It seem convenient to her.

"Their bodies needed something richer than common breast milk. They can't help the bite strength, they are super babies after all."- Aragorn took a seat and grew two additional arms to properly secure the babies while being able to play with their tails and ears. 

"They bypass your natural defenses because you are their mothers, and mothers want to feed their babies, don't they? So your brain doesn't recognize them as hostiles, even if they are practically attempting to chew your nipples off."- Aragorn explained. 

"When we created your species we didn't enhance your base durability past a certain point, since your adaptability and regeneration would cover that, but your adaptability is not kicking in because of what Aragorn said."- Gaea added.

"And the siphon on Life-Force is not because they have that ability but because your hormones are telling your adaptability to find a way to feed your babies the most nutritive milk it can."- Aragorn inspected the babies under the glow of his pink and golden eyes. 

They understood that, but it didn't change the fact that their babies were acting like vampires. 

"What are their names?"

"Sarah, like Steve's mother."- Margaret replied. 

"I see, he must be very happy about it."- Aragorn softly caressed the soft head of the baby girl, and he warmed his hand to a comfortable temperature. 

Under his eyesight, he could appreciate the contract in the tiny soul. 

"My kitten is Vladarion."- Natalia smiled warmly at the wagging tail of her son while he suckled in contentment.

"Vladarion?... Perhaps, 'Ruler's Gift'?"- Aragorn asked.

"Yes, since he is your gift to me."- Natalia shared her :Gratitude: with Aragorn.

"I feel like this kitten is more of a gift from you to me."- Aragorn grabbed the small ears between his fingers with care. 

"Gaea, I'll be taking everyone away for less than a day to the Time-Space of the past of another universe."

Gaea showed some surprise but it soon turned into understanding. 

"You're going to ascend them. How nice, I would have liked to go with you."- She lamented.

"I'll work on a way to sever the link but I won't make it a priority yet. I need to find a solution to the Tiamut problem, master my Concept, master splitting my focus, master my telekinesis, and a few other minor objectives."

"It's alright, Love. I know currently being linked to the planet is the best for me and our child."- Gaea was understanding about it. 

"I wonder how Yelena is going to take it."- Natalia commented. 

"Because of Mr. Storm?"- Aragorn asked. 

"Mhmm."- Natalia nodded. 

"I thought their relationship was only physical."- Margaret said. Her upbringing clashed greatly with the idea of friends with benefits, but she was doing her best to have a malleable approach to her new life.

"They are friends with benefits with the right of exclusivity."- Natalia clarified. 

"Isn't that the same as dating?"- Aragorn asked. 

"No, there's no principle of loyalty, if either of them wants to break up to pursue others then there would be no hurt feelings."- Natalia repeated what Yelena had told her. 

"So what's the problem?"- Aragorn asked. 

"Maybe the time apart from the perspective of Yelena?"- Margaret inquired. 

"No, I've got a feeling that lately, they've been getting closer."

"... I don't know how Yelena will take it, but it's not optional, every one of you is getting at least seven tails. You're too weak."- Aragorn said. 

Gaea nodded, she also believed them to be too weak. 

Margaret pondered silently about how people capable of taking down a small country on their own were considered weak.

Natalia for her part was happy about getting more tails. 

Aragorn spent the rest of the day in Gaea's house. It had also become the designated hang-out spot after the birth of the babies. 

So Aragorn just spent his time playing with the babies and waited for the unconscious maids to wake up, and once they dropped by he greeted them. 

"You went away for so long that I fear my reputation was hit. I bet all sorts of unsavory rumors about me are swimming in the Galactic Intranet. Idiots! As if those birds could ever capture me!"- Kitty ranted about her lack of time for her profession of choice, pirating. 

Emma was no different, as soon as she woke up, since she had already greeted Aragorn, she portaled to her empire to reunite with her daughter and get a status report. 

Even Carol Danvers dropped by to meet the new babies and to spend some time with the few people she could call friends.

As soon as the cage was lifted, the representatives of the Nova Empire that had been trapped inside the embassy bolted to Xandar. With them, the news of the survival of Aragorn was carried. 

It was no exaggeration to say that every power that mattered in the universe became aware of the clash between the two cosmic beings.

And given that the Solar System became a Class 2 Dead Zone, no one knew the fate of the homeworld of Aragorn The Shine Dragon until then. 

The dead match between the two cosmic beings was not a localized event though. There was death and destruction throughout the Universe.

At least, there was.

Indeed, multiple empires had fallen to the attacks of the Goblin Force, and the collateral damage was on the Universal level, no pun intended, but the same source of death became the source of salvation when it rewound time. 

So, although the fight happened all around the universe, when the Goblin Force turned back time it undid all of the damage and nobody remembered what never happened—at least not those under a certain level of existence—and from their point of view the Goblin Force clashed briefly with Aragorn, trashed the Solar System, and then was expelled from the universe by a strange light show. 

Blessed be the ignorant.

The evening arrived and Aragorn dragged his unwilling tail to the press conference. 

To say the place was packed would be an understatement, it was a fact that the corporate building of The Light had never seen so many visitors before. The traffic in New York City collapsed... more than usual.

Since government representatives from all around the globe were attending, the security was left to Seraph and the hidden Krakoans. 

Leave it to mutants and their multiple abilities to serve as the best security for such an event. It also helped that Seraph and Jean were present, and a considerable number of maids.

Aragorn walked to the podium under the clicks of the cameras. 

"Hello and thank you for attending this unscheduled press conference. A couple of guidelines before we get to it."- Aragorn started without a preamble. 

"There will be time for questions at the end of each segment, please don't interrupt or I will ignore you like a butthurt child."

"There's a marvelous software running in the tablets you were lent before you entered."- Aragorn paused to knock out a missile off-course, clearly someone wanted to get rid of this many important people or leave a stain on Aragorn's reputation, maybe blame him for it.

'Don't worry, Father. I have it covered.'- Seraph contacted and informed him.

'How dependable.'- He replied.

"If your question is selected you're allowed to do follow-up questions after I answer, but only to the appropriate level, use common sense."

"You just have to tap the button to load your turn in the queue when I give you the green light. This is not a public auction, you don't need to raise your hand and shout your question."

"Records and proof of my statements will be released on the official website as the conference flows."

"I will make one announcement and then we can start with the matter that brought you here this evening."

Aragorn looked at the public and cameras, making sure there were no problems so far while passively scanning their surface thoughts to get a feeling of how much trouble they would attempt to cause.

"The announcement is simple. Re-Nazca and The Light will start buying trash by metric tonne."- It was such an unusual statement that it caught the attention of the public, both present and at home.

"It's publicly known The Arbor Mundi gets its nourishment from radiation and the mantle. What it is not commonly known is that it can get nourishment from just about anything with its main roots, the ones that go down deep below.

"In an effort to provide the tree with a wide variety of needed nutrients, and to solve one of the main problems that human development has caused, Goddess Gaea and Lord Alduin during the moment of its conception designed the Arbor Mundi as such.

"Originally the purpose of the second tree was to provide a neutral location to the world for waste disposal. That went out of the window with the start of World War Three. Hence, Re-Nazca will designate an area in its territorial waters for waste disposal and part of the main roots of the tree will be exposed at this location."

"It's recommended that you sell us your trash because not only will it help the environment but it will also help the tree with sap production, something the starved back home desperately need, and you'll get paid."

"Questions?"

Clothing shifting and multiple taps echoed around the room. A few seconds later a question was loaded in the big holographic screen behind Aragorn.

[Will the payment be in currency or nutritive formula from the sap?]- Cassidy Brown, Canada's Ambassador. 

"Both are viable options, but we won't be responsible for transportation of the formula if you so choose this method of payment."

"Will the payment in sap delay the already placed orders worldwide?"- The blue-eyed eye auburn-haired woman asked.

"Ms. Brown, are you referring to the current export of the formula for relief aid?"

"Yes, Mr. Abner."

"You don't have to worry about that, the Arbor Mundi is huge, I don't mean just its exposed volume but also what's under the surface level. We won't run out of sap for the next few years, so we are not taxing the tree with more than it could handle by paying with nutritive formula."

The Canadian representative asked a few more useful questions about the process of exchanging waste with sap formula. 

After some murmurs and the silent yet rushed tapping of their screens, the next question came up.

[If the original purpose of the second tree was as stated, why did you not lay claim to it? Since doing so would have avoided the current war.]- Jonathan Williams, White House Press Secretary.

"How funny."- Aragorn smirked, his fangs showing. 

"Some tend to forget that I'm not in charge of peacekeeping. I know that given how boundless my heart and resources are, some tend to believe that I'm the international police of peace."- Aragorn said in an arrogant yet mocking tone.

"I was busy rebuilding this world, some were busy thinking about their interests. Please don't try to blame me for your war."- Aragorn locked eyes with the grey-haired man.

"Mr. Abner, your silent stand about the emergence of the second world tree is one of the precedents established for this war. You can't in good conscience claim no accountability for your part in it."- The man said.

"No, just no."- Aragorn curtly replied.

"... No?"- The man asked. 

"The answer is 'No', I had nothing to do with your war. The fact that I didn't claim ownership of the tree nor spoke about it is not a precedent of this war. My inaction doesn't mean your reaction is justified."

"You can't even say I did nothing, because that's not true. I was busy, so busy that I hadn't slept for over six months until yesterday."- Spark running on Aragorn's android body had indeed not slept during his entire absence.

The representative smartly held his silence after this, he knew it was a long shot to tarnish Aragorn's reputation, but he couldn't deny the order of his superior, the thought didn't even cross his mind, the brainwashing didn't allow it.

'Motherfucking squids.'

'Fury? What are you doing on the open psionic channel, or here for that matter?'

'That fuck, Pierce, sent me.'

'Don't worry. I sped up some of my plans—I should have a [Hydra Begone!] spell for you very soon.'

'... That's what I'm talking about! This IS a Christmas present! Aragorn, I don't always like your insane cosmic ass, but goddamn, don't I love you right now!'

'Please don't cry. I'll give me the creeps.'

Chatting with Fury in between questions did work on getting Aragorn in a better mood.

[Would other byproducts of the Arbor Mundi be available as a form of payment?]- China, Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

"No, just no."

'Commies, I don't like them.'- Fury complained. 

'Like all political doctrines, it has its positives and negatives, capitalism is not perfect, go ask a doctor if you don't believe me.'

'Which system do you support?'

'Either Tecnochracy or AI Autocracy.'

'You're worse than the commies.'

'If had a tiny bit of more care for humanity I would say Aragorn Autocracy. I'm the perfect dictator because I dislike all of your kind the same.'

'That's bullshit and you know it, you tend to be lenient on women, and babies are gods to you.'

'Touché. AI Autocracy it is.'

'Don't even think about it. What's the model of the Imperium?'

'A mash-up of monarchy, technocracy, arcane rulership, theocracy, and meritocracy with a dab of democracy in the council, not the queenship.'

When it looked like no more useful questions about the announcement were going to come up Aragorn moved on.

"Then let's start with last year, The Green Door tragedy.

"As it was made known, a witch was the perpetrator. Well, turns out there was more to it. Lord Alduin captured the witch not so long before The Shadow almost ended us all.

"It came to light that she had been manipulated by a mutate from the 19th century. Called himself Sinester, but was publicly known as Nathaniel Essex, from the Essex Foundation.

"He was obsessed with preparing for the arrival of some god of the Apocalypse, a zealot worshipper. He believed that by bringing forth the apocalypse he could summon his god. He failed at doing so through the witch with the Green Door.

"He tried again by cloning an omega-level mutant and fusing her with an empowering device. But things didn't go as planned.

"An extradimensional being picked up on the highly energetic discharge the device was giving out and invaded the mindless clone while taking possession of it.

"The rest is as you know it, The Shadow went into a rampage and Lord Alduin drove it away, the world almost collapsed in the process, and over 90% of the surrounding space was distorted.

"Lord Alduin returned, and scanned the whole planet, looking for Essex. That was the light show that kept circling the planet's surface yesterday.

"He found him, several clones of the madman, and let's just say that they received an end worse than death.

"So it's with peace of mind that I stand here, informing you, those affected by the delusions of this madman, that Lord Alduin has served justice.

"In the words of Lord Alduin, 'Sometimes, death is salvation.'"

'What are you doing with him?'

'Would you really like to know?'

'How bad is it?'

'I haven't started yet, but I will take my time, I'm planning on going creative mode on him. The real challenge won't be keeping him whole and sane, the real challenge will be not getting tired of repairing him.'

'That's unnecessarily vicious. Just put a bullet through his ass and be done with it.'

'What are you saying, Fury? Of course, I will kill him swiftly, I was talking about his soul in the hell dimension I took from Mephistopheles.'

'... Let's not get into details, as long as the madman is removed, I'm good.'

'How boring, weren't you supposed to be this bad super spy sorcerer? Why are you going vanilla now? Have my little wolves upstairs softened your Alaska cold heart?'

'My time is valuable; I can't waste it on every madman that crosses my path. Acknowledging them gives them a significance in my life they haven't earned. A bullet in the ass—done. Kill—done. The only time someone is truly trustworthy is when they're dead.'

'You philosophical paranoid freak. But I can see your point, I normally operate under 'At the end of the day someone has to make the enemy scared of the dark.' but... Hmmmm, maybe I'll try some of that 'kill and be done' after Essex.'

'Sadly after studying under Master, I've discovered that death is not as terminal as it used to be. I had to dig a few corpses and do the appropriate rituals to ensure they wouldn't come back.'

'... You seriously have a problem, who betrayed you? Your mother?'

'No, she didn't betray me while she was alive (yet), and I made sure to include her body on the list so she ain't coming back. My momma is staying wherever she is and is not coming to this side!'

'... It was rhetorical.'

What Aragorn unloaded weighed so heavily on everyone's minds that they needed a few seconds to process it. 

The machinations behind the mind of the presented version of Essex were the thing of a badly written villain plot. 

And that couldn't be more accurate, since Aragorn indeed wrote this made-up story. 

What was he supposed to say?

That an ancient god-like mutant supremacist is slumbering somewhere under Egypt?

That he calls himself Apocalypse and he quite literally likes to bring apocalypse to the world before rebuilding it in his image?

That he mutated Nathaniel Essex when he found him interesting and that made Essex mad?

That Essex after breaking decided to build himself the perfect mutant to end his owner?

That Jean Grey was the clone, so mutants were indeed the source of this disaster, and that the witch is also a mutant?

That the devil existed and that there are more out there, giving the populace the idea that they could get power by making deals with demons?

No, it was simply stupid to tell the truth.

The truth meant an exponential growth in mutant hate, demon-summoning attempts, exploration of Egypt's underground trying to locate En Sabah Nur, and wanton chaos.

So, for the rest of the night, Aragorn was bombarded with questions. 

They went from innocent questions about details pertaining to the timetable of events, or the confiscation of the Essex Foundation's assets to pay for reparations, to ill-natured questions about what his involvement was in all of this. 

However, there were also some interesting off-topic questions, like:

[There are concerns about the origin of the funds that have been invested in relief aid by your non-profit 'Gaea's Light'. The costs outweigh the investment by a factor of 20.]

"Gaea's Light has received generous donations from people with shady backgrounds who are trying to turn over a new page in their lives through humanitarian work."- Aragorn replied with such a shameless smile that it was as if he were shouting 'Here! Me! I did it!'.

'Is that one a squid too? I don't have him in my file.'

'No, that guy's actually fine with me. He's trying to be professional.'

'A decent human being—how rare.'

'Are you sure you should be talking about your own species like that?'

'No one knows humans better than me. Beneath all those masks they wear, there's a chained demon, itching to break free and wreak havoc.'

'Projecting much?'

'It's not projecting if it's the truth!'

'Mmm... As an empath, I'll say you're half right. Even though I dislike humanity, I'd still vouch for you in celestial court if needed.'

'Well, I'll be damned! I had to flex my illusion-disenchantment rune for a second to make sure this wasn't some enemy trick. Aragorn, Insanity Incarnate, leader of the racist-as-hell Haloans, just said he'd vouch for humanity. Damn!'

'Keep it up, we'll see how far the mocking gets you.'

Another interesting question was about the Halo. 

[What can you tell us about the allegations of violating International Space Law with the megastructure known as the Halo Ringworld?]

"Technically, I didn't violate any laws. First, international space laws apply only if the country where the launch occurred is a signatory."- Aragorn made a pause.

"I took a chunk of the atmosphere with me and escaped the planet's gravity well from international waters, so those laws don't apply in this case. But regardless, I followed them."- He spoke as if they should praise him for following their paltry laws.

'You did?'

'I did—ish.'

"Could you elaborate on that, Mr. Abner?"

"Sure. Space is free for exploration and use by all countries but cannot be claimed as property. I didn't claim any celestial body; I extracted resources from the Asteroid Belt, which is perfectly legal."- He wondered what they would think about the Moon City of the Inhumans.

"The only law you might say I didn't follow is the Registration Convention of 1976, which requires countries to register space objects and inform the UN about each satellite. But since I'm not a country and launched from international waters, this doesn't apply."- This law is why Spark had to register Aragorn's Sat-Net when they launched the mobile devices revolution.

"And finally, Orbital Slots. My 'satellite' is in an orbit so large that no orbital slots were required. So, everything I've done is either entirely legal or simply outside the law's scope."- Aragorn's shamelessness in calling the Halo Ringworld a 'satellite' left more than a few people speechless.

"Mr. Abner, in that case, are there plans to use your 'satellite' as a relay for space exploration missions or as part of real estate ventures?"

"No, just no... I should make that my catchphrase."- Aragorn mused aloud.

"Even a donkey could see that governments and I have a 'strained' relationship. They don't like me because I'm a threat to their authority, and I don't like them because they want to enslave and clone me. Why would I want them anywhere near my little piece of heaven?"

>Yet, what can they do? They were all smiles when Spark was helping them rebuild their lands.<

|It's understandable, the duality of humans.|- Aragorn thought to his other self.

'Indeed, I would sleep better at night if you could be collared.'- Fury had long given up on filtering his dark thoughts, there was no point. For one, Aragorn didn't care enough to be offended, but also, could he really hide those thoughts from Aragorn if he really wanted to know?

'Kinky.'- Spark dropped this comment and then retired from the open psionic channel.

'... This bitch pervert robot intruded just to say that!'

Once he accepted reality, there was something freeing about being able to comfortably tell someone 'You cause me so much anxiety that I would turn bald if I wasn't bald already.'

The conference ended peacefully with just three attempted car bombings, seven attempted suicide bombers, seven attempted raids by kill squads of different associations, two attempted intercontinental ballistic strikes, and lastly one attempted nuclear strike.

Ever since the start of WWIII, nuclear strikes have been trending. 

Oh! And someone tried to run a plane through The Light's skyscraper. It made Aragorn wonder if perhaps this meant that there would be no 9/11 since Seraph sent a stern recommendation to the airlines about tightening their security protocols.

Or maybe they won't pay attention to it and it will happen all the same, with humans it was hard to guess. 

____________________________

New York, Outside The Light's corporate building.

'There's a missile incoming from the north. I've sent the flight path to your P-Link.'

"Ugh! Again? Wasn't one attempt enough?!"- America Chavez complained before flying north.

'Don't talk back to your nanny.'- Jean quipped in her mind.

"That's not fair, Jean! You were supposed to be in charge of airspace!"

'You're absolutely right, America. But as a certain dragon once said, 'The one in charge is supposed to delegate.' So, I delegated... to you.~Fufufufufu!'

"Not fair!"

'Weren't you the one aspiring to be a great hero? Think of it as OJT—on-the-job training. Besides, you should be grateful I healed you. Now you can live up to the potential of your true powers, no?'

"Yes, but that was before I had to spend six months running all over the world, barely sleeping two hours a day! This is child abuse!"

'~Hoh, and who was it that claimed she was a grown-up girl capable of handling grown-up problems?'

"... As I was saying, where should I put this missile?"

'~Heh!'

"Just... let it go, Jean!"

'Hehehe! Fine. I don't want to dirty your hands with blood—since this one came from a manned launch station—so instead of sending it back to its sender, aim for Point Nemo.'

"Poor sapling, it's getting bombed every day."

'It's fine, the world will end before that sapling needs help.'

America flew following the holographic pointer in her view, it wasn't long before she spotted the warhead. She pulled her fist back and then punched forward. 

"Ha!"- A star-shaped portal opened and swallowed the missile. The portal closed after the confirmed impact. 

She opened a second portal and appeared back in her post on New York City. 

"I still can't believe I lost to Cosmo."

'Are you talking about the popularity poll? I thought you didn't care about that.'

"I don't, but you know?"

'You didn't want to lose to Cosmo?'

"Yeah. It's not fair that just because he's a talking Russian dog, he got almost the entire country of Russia on his side. He's a good boy, but still! Not fair!'

'Crybaby.'

"*Hmph!* You also lost to Cosmo."

'That's not my fault. I'm publicly Aragorn's woman, so that lost me half the virgin boys who care about this stuff. I'm American, so China and Russia were already a lost cause. And, I technically set the world on fire—though to save it—so people fear me. You're a kid, everyone loves an eager-to-help kid, and your costume is cute. What's your excuse?'

"Ehmmm... I'm black?"

'Please, as if the race card will save you now with a literal dog in the lead. And you're not black, you're brown. Fury is black. Go apologize to him.'

"*Gasp!* How dare you tell me I'm not black enough?!"

'Drop the drama. If there's something we should both be ashamed of, it's losing to Selene. She literally ended Chile, and somehow, she's more popular than us.'

"Ugh, don't remind me. Her crowd work is levels beyond ours."

'Well, she did claim to have run the Roman Empire for a few centuries.'

"Still, that evil b-witch beat us by two spots, just below Cosmo."

'The fact that Magneto—terrorist extraordinaire—is the runner-up behind her is even sadder.'

"... Jean, tell me the truth. As the good guys, are we doing something wrong?"

'*Sigh.* I don't know. But if it makes you feel better, Aragorn is down near the lower percentiles.'

"Hehehehehehe!"- America broke into a fit of laughter.

'If it weren't for Cosmo, the good guys wouldn't even be in the top spots of the poll.'

"Hey, Jean, there's actually one metric where you and Aragorn defeated everyone."- America's voice carried a mischievous edge.

'There is?'

"Yeah—the most dōjinshi and parodies."

'W-WHAT?! Why do you even know that? I'm pretty sure Spark filters your web results!'- Jean sputtered, her composure completely gone.

"~Why are you flustered? Isn't it normal for people to do self-published print works and re-enactments of your bravery in saving the world? Are you perhaps thinking of something dirty?"

'... America Chavez, I'll drill into you all those training hours that you missed while playing hero, starting tomorrow.'- Jean's verdict. 

"Ugh, not fair."- America regretted her prank instantly. 

'Whiny little girl.'

'Jean, America, a NW is heading your way. Feed it to the sapling.'- Seraph's voice echoed in their heads.

"A nuclear warhead this time? Did someone buy a promo pack on a black Friday deal?"

'Wait for me.'

"Yeah, I know, no getting close to remote control operated triggers without you."

'You're not nuclear proof, so don't complain, it's for your safety. I'm almost there.'

"Roger."

When America portaled the NW to Point Nemo the night ended. 

_____________________

{A/N:

Hello everybody! I hope you enjoyed the read. 

Just a quick reminder, I opened a P4treon account where you can get access to all of these free chapters.

The paid members will have early access to my chapters though. About two weeks of early access, for instance, there are 3 advanced chapters available to all paid members as of today, and this number will keep on growing.

You can follow this link, change the '4' for an 'a' and the '0' for an 'o', and remove the spaces: p4tre0n . com / ExistentialVoid

Thanks for your time, have a fruitful week ahead!

}