Chapter 83: Chapter 82 - A Meeting with Royalty
---Marvel Universe, Asgard---
Having shown up on the date Odin had given me, I was thankful he didn't try giving me a royal welcome. Keeping it simple, he had several beautiful Valkyrs lead me to his throne room. Any normal man would have probably eyed them like candy, but they weren't push overs. Even though they were wearing armor that highlighted their curves, they were armed to the teeth. Having left Sif and Enchantress at the Fortress for their safety I was interested too see how Odin would play this.
"You have ideas?", Spectre asked me telepathically.
"Odin will want to make lasting peace with me. I have no doubt he will want to marry someone off to me as a method for doing that.", I replied.
"I see, the Asgardians aren't that different from the Olympians then.", Spectre sighed, "Readily marrying off their own to save themselves...and having bastard children everywhere."
"Believe me...I understand.", I sighed, "It's ridiculous they have kids all over the place without any regards for the kids."
"Anyone you are rooting for?", he teased.
"Not really...all of them are going to be smug assholes. I will really need to help them improve themselves before getting anywhere. Being isolated from the Asgardians is actually helping Enchantress. Her aloft behavior has come down a lot since I don't give her special treatment and her powers are restricted.", I said.
"Yeah...you'd also have to grapple with that too. Anyone you'd meet here would likely want her head.", Spectre laughed.
"You live with the consequence of your own actions.", I shrugged.
Leading me to the throne room, the women left as soon as I entered the room. As expected there were a lot of people drinking and talking with each other. Seeing me enter Odin came to greet me personally.
"I am glad to see you made it.", he said.
"Of course, it would have been rude to dismiss the offer.", I chuckled.
"Come with me, and I will introduce you to people.", he stated.
Making sure to introduce me to several eligible bachelorettes, Odin was laying this shit on heavy. Smiling at me the women did try their best to impress me, but it wasn't my thing. These sorts of events reminded me of the upper society gatherings my family used to attend where people just buttered you up for benefit of their family. These people weren't as cold as those people, but some of them were just as bad. Skimming their minds most of these people were not my type...all of them would have thought they were the best woman in my harem.
Sure the current group liked to tease each other saying that, but they understood each brought something special to the table. To be frank each had their own unique trait that made them irreplaceable in my heart. For example, Raven gave off an unmoved feel when telling me about her pregnancy, but behind that look I could see she was genuinely happy to have a family. Another unique individual was Starfire whom understood the English, but butcher the delivery sometimes so she came across as an idiot. Listening to her when she got flustered was even more enjoyable because she would trip up on her words.
'The biggest thing is...they are who they are without hiding it. These assholes wear a mask to hide who they really are.', I thought.
"Lastly this is my granddaughter Hela.", Odin stated.
'That's right...she was supposedly Loki's daughter.', I remembered.
Staring at me for a moment, she could sense the Death Aura I was suppressing. Fascinated by it she was immediately interested in knowing exactly how I got that power. There were few that could send chills down her spine, now she had someone else to add to the list. Tuning her grandfather out, Hela shook my hand trying to see how I would react to her own deadly touch. Deciding to play her game, I returned the blow back at her. Feeling the aura she was emitting pushed back, she smiled at me.
"I see you are far more versed than me in death.", she laughed.
"You can say that, I fought the Entity of Death myself.", I stated.
"Do tell.", she said.
"I doubt something like that would entertain you...you aren't fond of these things either.", I chuckled.
Making an even bigger smile, Hela was enjoying this encounter far more than Odin had expected. The other people in the room also noticed that, and felt worried that this meant something bad would happen. Offering her my arm she gracefully accepted as she told me a few of her escapades.
"Of all the women he could have chosen...he picked her...", Odin muttered.
Once we were in a private area Hela sighed, and took a seat. Having to deal with such encounters like formal balls drained her. Quite honestly she hated all of them, and I could understand why. Even though she was an Asgardian, she was forced to watch over the land of dead which made her bitter. While they lived in the lap of luxury, she sat in decay and rot.
"I am sorry you got the short end of the stick.", I said.
"I have gotten used to it...while it is dreary, I don't deal with these idiots often.", she chuckled.
"Lucky you.", I laughed.
"I know.", she replied with a grin, "So...I understand you have a harem."
"I do, they wonderful women.", I said.
"I'd like to meet them sometime.", she stated curious about who'd I would settle down with.
"Of course, I thought you'd ask.", I teased.
"Someone has a pretty big ego.", she replied.
"Well you are the Goddess of Death and I am the Entity of Death...I assumed that is why you'd join me here.", I chuckled.
"Oh?", she said feinting ignorance.
"Being stuck in the realm of death by yourself is lonely. You acknowledge we do have some chemistry, but you are unsure due to your condition. What if I took care of that condition for you?", I asked.
"You seem confident you can heal-"
Touching her face a sudden warmth came over her as the half of her body that was dead started revitalizing. Shivering she tested her face in my hand as she felt life surge into her. Gently reeling the energy to a stop, she looked at me in shock.
"You are quite different from other men...you know many men have been chased away when they see me.", she stated.
"They are fools that don't see a perfect woman like I see. Sure you have your rough patches, but all of us do.", I teased.
"You better be able to back up your words with action.", she said placing her hand on my chest, "You are right, I do like this aura you exude. It is like a breath of fresh air compare to the others."
"I don't need an answer immediately, but I would be happy to make you my wife as well. You wouldn't have to live on the desolate land anymore. You'd have a home, and a family waiting for you.", I told her.
"What makes you think I'd want that?", she inquired.
"You are the only immortal here, everyone other than me here will eventually grow old and die. Till now you have put off making relationships because you don't want to be the one left holding all the pain. Not once have you complained to Odin about your position even though those before you have. You've buried your heart to stop you from feeling the pain of loss.", I stated, "I am immortal as well, I can give you that happiness you have been afraid to have. You don't have to be alone anymore."
Staring at me hard for a moment, she nodded her head. Telling me she would accept my offer, she wanted me to show her this happiness before informing Odin. Having buried her emotions for so long, she needed time to relearn them. For now, she was satisfied pairing up with another immortal that understood the pain she was avoiding. Seeing us talk, Odin smiled understanding what was happening.
Avoiding everyone else, the two of us spent the rest of the time talking in a private room. Much like Raven, Hela kept most of her emotions locked up tight so I had to work on getting her to open up. The most I got today was getting her comfortable with me wrapping my arm around her...a feat that no man lived to speak about prior as their limb would have rotted away. Before leaving her for the day, I gave her a kiss on the lips which left her flustered behind an icy look.
"I will come visit you tomorrow, and this weekend I will introduce you to everyone else.", I stated before leaving.
'He actually kissed me...', she thought touching her lips, 'That was the first man to kiss me willingly...this isn't so bad.'
---Fortress of Solitude---
"You did what!?", Sif and Enchantress shouted at me, "Are you insane!? You could have died!!"
"I knew I would be fine, she and I have control over Death so I wasn't the least bit worried.", I chuckled.
"Hela isn't a woman to be trifled with!! She is a cold, uncaring woman that has no issues dragging souls to her realm!", Sif hissed, "I was almost one of those unlucky souls!!"
"Let me ask you, other than her who else is actually immortal?", I pressed her.
"I...I...", Sif stuttered trying to think of someone else but no one came to mind.
"Exactly, anyone she'd make a genuine relationship with would die eventually and she'd be felt with all the pain. As a fellow immortal it is my greatest fear as well, being left holding the pain and sadness of losing the ones you care about.", I stated, "I worked hard to develop a method for ensuring my wives won't leave me behind. You don't see the world the way immortals do...we never age while everyone else around us does and eventually they leave us when their time comes."
"I...I didn't know...", Sif said having never really considered that.
"She hides herself away in the land of the dead so she doesn't have to experience the pain of losing someone. I spent this entire afternoon speak with her, she wants to have connections with people but is afraid she will kill them or she will outlive them.", I lectured them, "She is lonely, and acts on her loneliness by causing all of you misery. Is it right, of course not! I don't agree with her using you for entertainment, but I also can't fault her for her reasoning."
Nodding their heads the two relented their insults of Hela. Having never really spoken with her, I couldn't blame them completely for this. Asking them how things were going, the two women said that they were mending their relationship. Without Thor to fight over, the two women actually got along well enough. They did have verbal disagreements over thing like their morals, but they weren't trying to kill each other...which was an improvement.
'Seriously...I don't see how Thor could have mess this up. Both women were head over heels for him, he could have made himself a cozy harem.', I thought.
"Unfortunately Thor Odinson doesn't stray far from his father's habits. Thor has been known to flirt and sleep with many women during his escapades. He couldn't stay faithful to either of them if he tried.", Spectre sighed, "He isn't that far off from his DC counterpart."
"Still though, he couldn't have tried? I mean these two would make any man happy.", I stated, "I seriously don't understand deities, it's better to come home to several women every night then sleeping with a different woman every night."
"You are a rare man, most would just get what they want and leave.", he retorted.
"I hope I am not that rare.", I chuckled
Ending our conversation there, the two women asked what I would be doing the rest of the day. Stating that I would doing some patrolling, I inquired about their plans. As expected Enchantress wanted to stay in and read while Sif was interested in training with Fury, Mera, Wonder Woman, and Rumi. Since they would be back soon she wanted to get ready to spare with them. Seeing no problem with that I let them be, and took off.
---In Between the Worlds---
Shooting across the Multiverse, I was looking for an anomalies or signs of Emperor Joker's group. With universes being constantly created it was a tall order looking for them. Finding worlds of all different shapes and sizes I couldn't help but sneak a peek into several of them as I flew by. Just as I was about to call it a night I heard people calling out for assistance in a frantic tone. Shooting off in a hurry to the source of the sound I ended up in a different Marvel Universe where a very familiar person was coming to Earth.
---Marvel-65---
Flying through the World Barrier, I found Galactus approaching Earth. Usually I would have left things alone as Galactus was a villain of the Marvel Universes, but he was different. Seeing an eerily familiar smile painted on his face, I knew that the Batman Who Laughs had something to do with this. The timeline was so out of whack that the Kree, Skrulls, and humanity were desperately trying to fight him back.
"That bastard is huge!!", Spectre laughed, "This is going to be a wild fight kid!!"
"Are you having battle lust?", I asked.
"Kid, this is the perfect opponent for you to push your powers further!", he told me, "Go on, go get him!"
"Why are you acting so strange?", I questioned.
"Truth be told, I made a bet several billion years ago with my counterpart in the this multiverse...we bet to see whose timeline was stronger.", he chuckled.
"You waited this long to settle the bet!?", I groaned.
"Hey, when your immortal a few billion years is a drop in the bucket.", he pointed out, "Besides, there wasn't anything to do back then...life was just taking form in my universe so I could only sit there and watch."
Sighing I shot down to intercept Galactus.
---Marvel-65 Earth---
With the shadow of Galactus barreling towards them people were running for their lives, but those with knowledge of what was coming knew that there was no escaping him. The Skrull Queen Veranke glared at the being that destroyed her homeworld, and the Kree Emperor stared down the person responsible for the collapse of his empire.
Until a few weeks ago the Kree and Skrulls would have never sided with each other, but a change in Galactus force that to change. Out of the blue Galactus urge to feed on world's increase exponentially to the point where he would slaughter everything in his path if he hadn't feed in only a few hours. Not only that the Harold's of Galactus had also lost all sanity, and had been attacking anything that moved. Both of them had personally seen the Silver Surfer stare them down while laughing like an insane man. Just remembering the laugh sent shivers down their spines.
"This is it...isn't it...", Susan Storm sighed, "It's been a good run..."
"It has...", Ghost Spider said closing her eyes.
"You both are giving up too quickly!!", Johnny Storm shouted.
"Apparently you don't see the giant fatass racing here to devour our world!!", Deadpool spatted, "I swear your a bigger idiot than me!!"
"I wouldn't go that far.", Storm (X-Men) chuckled, "That is a hard level to beat."
"Fuck you lady!", Deadpool said getting on his stolen moped, "I am going to kick some asses before I kick the bucket!! I have kill this Ryan Reynold guy, there is Huge Jackman cause he ticks me off, the people at-"
"We don't give a shit.", Wolverine sighed.
"Yeah...we have bigger things to worry about.", Magneto stated, "We are about to die, and you are concerned with stuff like that?"
"Listen, I don't want to die with any regrets!! The least I can do is stop him from making that terrible Green Lantern movie!!", Deadpool groaned.
"Now I think you need to cut back on the cocaine...", Nick Fury and Captain Marvel said.
"Don't you tell me how to live my life!!", he shouted zooming away at four miles an hour.
Having banded together, friend and foe alike, all of them were awaiting death as there wasn't anything left for them to do. So many people had died trying to stop Galactus that now they really didn't have anyone left to face him. Waiting for the end to come all of looked up in the sky to watch their death come. Just before the end came, Galactus suddenly started flying away from them backwards.
"What the motherfucking hell?!", Nick spat in shock.
"Queen Veranke, we have detect another life form currently engaging Galactus.", one of the Skrull ships announced.
Following soon after, one of the Kree ships supported that claim as well. Asking for details the crew of both ships said that something was moving at lightspeed, and was forcing Galactus back. Not comfortable with being out of the loop on what was happening, he turned to the others for answers. No one present had any idea who was fighting him, nor did they have anything to add. Realizing that they were just as much unaware as him, he radioed the Helicarrier.
"Have we detected any breaches from one of those gashes?", Nick asked.
"One came through a few minutes ago.", they replied, "It appears the person that came through is the same one fighting Galactus."
"Do we have any energy signatures coming from whatever that is?", he asked.
"Negative, it's moving to quick for our sensors to get a good reading.", the crew informed him.
"Do you need us to move in?", Pepper questioned.
"I don't think you want to get in a battle with Galactus and whatever is pushing him back...just my opinion...", Ant Man chuckled dryly.
"I will go check.", Captain Marvel said.
---Marvel-65 Asteroid Belt---
Pushing Galactus back into the Asteroid belt, I started using massive asteroids to attack his weak points while simultaneously trying to seize control of his armor. My plan was to reverse the polarity of the energy siphons to make them start sucking the power out of him. To survive that he would make himself a star, and I would then be able to kill him by siphoning the energy from that form directly. Having hit him dozens of times I had gotten his attention so for the time being Earth was safe.
Pushing him close to Mars, I used the White Lantern Ring to encompass the planet and then used it like a giant mace against him. As nothing was alive on the planet I felt no remorse in destroying it as it was for the greater good. Moving it too fast for him, Galactus took the planet to the face and was left reeling from the impact. Noticing that I had broken his nose and face, he was quick to try and wipe me out with a massive explosion.
Realizing a massive Supernova sized blast at me, I used the Speed Force to increase my body's absorption rate to contain the blast. Captain Marvel wasn't that far away when she watched me take in all the energy he was putting out. Transmitting what she was seeing to the people on the ground, all of them were unable to speak.
Once Galactus started to falter from lack of energy, I shot forward and blasted right into his head. Having knowledge that Galactus was weak against magic, I released a massive magical blast inside his skull causing him to scream out in pain telepathically. Hearing his screams of anguish on the ground, everyone was left reeling as they tried to block him out. Severing his spinal column, Galactus died instantly. Sending his body parts into different different dimensions, I ensured that he would no longer be a threat.
'Well that was messy...', I thought cleaning myself off.
"Haha nice work kid!! That bet was an easy win!", Spectre chuckled, "All fun aside, it appears you have some explaining to do."
Looking back to see Captain Marvel, the look of panic on her face was clear as day. Having watched me kill Galactus in a few minutes, she was incredibly worried about whether I was friend or foe. With a snap of my finger I sent both back to the planet.
---Marvel-65 Earth---
Appearing in front of them in a mere moment, all the surviving people went on the defensive. Not wanting to start the fight, all of them waited to see what I would do. Looking past them to see several injured people, I walked by them to treat the injured people. Nervously accepting my assistance, I made sure that everything was good before sending them on their way.
"Listen, I am sure you aren't going to listen to anything I say at this moment. Here is a phone, you wanted extension 616 and ask for Nick Fury. The one answering is your counterpart from another universe.", I told Nick, "Now if you will excuse me, I have to get back to patrolling."
Flying off before he could get a word out, everyone present just looked at the phone then watched me shoot off into the sky. Deciding to follow my instructions, they were able to connect to the other Marvel Universe and gather the intelligence they needed on me.
"The kid's trustworthy.", Nick Fury (Marvel-616) told them, "He may be a bit aggressive when it comes to protecting the public, but he is a good guy."
"Sounds like you learned the hard way.", Gwen and Pepper laughed.
"I did...", he replied, "I made a mistake, and he called me on it to my face."
"And you accepted that?", Wolverine snickered.
"I dare one of you to stare him down, and see how you feel.", he spat.
"That was a joke...", Wolverine stated, "We watched him kill Galactus."
"...say what now...", he said falling into his seat.
Giving him their information, Nick's subordinates all turned pale realizing how dangerous Galactus was. Learning that I had kill him in less than ten minutes sent chills down their spines as they realized how dangerous of a bullet they dodged in upsetting me.
---Earth -22 DC---
Having watched the events on Earth-65 go down, Batman Who Laughs wasn't that disappointed. Making Galactus fall to the Joker toxin was much more difficult than anyone knew. It had taken him nearly thirty Galactus' to make one that was somewhat functional. The one in that universe was a failure in his eyes as he had become nothing, but a mindless killing machine. All sense of reason had left him thus it was no big loss.
"Where do we go from here?", Devastator asked.
"We continue to grow our numbers, and seek out allies.", Batman Who Laughs replied, "We are already having success with several prisoners we have captured. Isn't that Darkbat?"
"Yes.", Darkbat said, "We are making good progress in making weapons capable of taking out Emperor Joker." (Author Note: Darkbat is Batman fused with Darkseid)
"How many people have we successfully Jokerized?", Murder Machine inquired.
"Thus far we have several hundred sleepers throughout several dozen universes. We only need trigger the mutation, and that will be it.", Red Death answered, "Two sleepers are already making their way towards the Superman we saw there. I haven't been able to locate his universe yet, but he is sure to return to that world again."
"Excellent, once we locate his universe we will eradicate him like all the other Supermen.", Batman Who Laughed cackled.
Moving from there, all members of Dark Nights started discussing the various experiments they were carrying out.
---Fortress of Solitude, MHA Universe---
Returning home, I found the women practicing martial arts to blow off steam. Hearing them complain about the physical exams they were given, all of them were upset by the numbers they were given. Hearing that one of the doctors called a few of them chubby to their faces, I almost laughed because I wouldn't have wanted to be the doctor after saying that. Taking a seat in the living room while they spared, I sat back and relaxed till they finished.
"You're back!!", Ochaco and Itsuka shouted.
"I have been back, I didn't want to interrupt your sparing session. All of you looked pretty serious today.", I stated.
"It was physical day today...", Momo huffed.
"And we also had to get physicals for our licenses...", Blackfire groaned.
"Yeah...", Rumi said looking away.
"Something happen?", I asked.
"Rumi didn't tell the doctor she was pregnant, and the old hag we got told her she was fat.", Nemuri giggled.
"Bitch doesn't know what she is talking about!", Rumi stated, "It's all muscle!!"
"Anyways...", Raven stated, "Rumi punched the male nurse that laughed at the comment."
"You did what now?", I sighed.
"It was a knee jerk reaction, no woman wants to be laughed at after being called fat.", Rumi defended herself, "You...you don't think I am fat, do you?"
"You even sexier than the day I first met you.", I said with a wink, "You can share me bed any night."
"A yes or no would have sufficed!", she snapped hitting me.
Laughing I asked what they wanted to do for dinner tonight. Asking for sushi, I questioned whether not it was safe for some of them. Stating that it would be fine I decided to trust their judgment, and took them too a sushi bar.
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Author Note: Hey guys, sorry for the sparse releases recently. My client decided to drop a massive project on my team that needs completed by next week so we have been working long hours to meet the deadline. Hope you are all having an excellent week! Let me know if you see any mistakes, and I will do my best to resolve them.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone