This work is a piece of fiction. While it may be inspired by real events, cultures, and practices in human history, the story blends factual history with fictional characters, dramatizations, and creative interpretation.
It is not intended to promote, glorify, or encourage any illegal activities, substance use, or harmful behavior. All depictions of sensitive topics are included solely for narrative and historical context, and are not intended to be offensive or provocative.
For the effects of the story, all characters are to be considered above the age of majority.
Reader discretion is advised.
————————————————
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
Earth-5H1N3. The Barren Lands.
When the Watcher's people used the Ultimate Nullifier, nine-tenths of Universe-616 became inhospitable, and they had to seal the ravaged volume to prevent the spread of the curse left by the weapon.
While not at the level of a conceptual attack, it was as if everything within the weapon's range had suddenly changed allegiance to 'anti-life.'
Not even the past tragedies suffered by Universe-5H1N3 had been that devastating.
This particular use of the Ultimate Nullifier was done in Universe-616; however, like most history-marking events, a Nexus event was born from this, and the tragedy was imitated by all other realities.
The Ultimate Nullifier is a hard-to-replicate weapon, to the point that there are fewer than five existing across the multiverse, which translates into almost all variants of this Nexus event being carried over by homologous reasons.
For example, in a certain Reality, it was the clash between various Cosmic Entities that led to the Barrens; in another, it was an interdimensional incursion from the Splintered Realms; in some, it was the result of the Horde hunting Celestials, and plenty of other reasons that the various realities conjured to accommodate the Nexus Event.
In Earth-5H1N3, there exists a variant of the Ultimate Nullifier; however, given the risk a weapon of potential multiversal range could pose in a Doomed Reality, it was long ago taken care of by Uatu and Galactus.
Though not before the variants of the Watchers used it against the variants of the Prosilicans in Earth-5H1N3.
When the Ultimate Nullifier was used in Earth-5H1N3, Odin had not fucked the Reality up; if not, then most likely that would have been when it would have ended.
As a matter of fact, to save energy, the Abstracts tend to use these destructive Nexus Events as reality-enders in Doomed Realities, which is why any Doomed Reality discovered before this Nexus event tends not to surpass it.
As is expected, any civilization or individual old enough to know of the missing nine-tenths of the Universe would never imagine that the secret superpower, the Fulgebunt Draconis Imperium, would be hidden away in such hellish cosmic paramo.
If it were not for one of the current culminations of the Imperium's magitech, the Luminaegis Lattice—a shield capable of protecting the Imperium from something as absolute as the snap of the Infinity Gauntlet—not even the mentally unsound Duskari would have dared to translocate their territory here.
It wasn't only the general radiation that tinted space in unhealthy, hellish reds and blues, but near the center of the Barrens, where the Ultimate Nullifier itself was activated, patches of corrupted Reality could be easily spotted from light-years away.
Contrary to expected worry and concern born from their new location, inside the Luminaegis Lattice, the Duskari were panicked about the sudden influx of planets in galactic numbers that Jean had stolen from the late Shi'ar Galaxy.
Most of the Therions, instead of helping Aragorn deal with the messes caused by and on Earth, were busy relocating these planets.
"I've got another giant gaseous, but with a liquid core of compressed metal!" Luxena, Goddess of Agriculture and Celestial Stars, informed through her P-Link, her divinity passively assisting her in the feat of talking in the vacuum of space.
Behind her, a spectacle that can probably only be witnessed here, millions of planets queued in line one behind the other, and right at the front was the planet in question, which bore quite a resemblance to Uranus.
Several light-years away, and spread in mathematically complex orbits, millions of stars were arranged in a matrix, with a combination of Luxena's, Mindee's, and Emma's divinities keeping them from collapsing onto themselves and going supernova or compressing into a supermassive black hole.
Steve Rogers, God of Protection and Freedom, used his divinity to protect the planets from each other's gravitational influence, and Daria Draconisfilia, Goddess of Wellness and Stasis, made sure to lock these planets in stasis with her divinity to assist Steve Rogers.
Yekaterina, Goddess of Secrets and Lightning, manipulated the charges in the planets' atmosphere to stabilize the planets that had been tossed through multiple spatial tunnels to be delivered in a hurry to the Imperium.
Slava Dranisfilia, Goddess of Truth and Sealing, used her divinity like Daria to seal the planets in their most optimal state.
Sarah Rogers, Goddess of Bonds and Dragon, bonded the stars to specific orbits and paths to make it easier for Mindee and Emma.
And those who didn't wield a divinity that could be used in the massive cosmic migration, used their raw divinity to fuel those whose divinities were useful while blanketing the planets and stars with their telekinesis to keep things in order.
It was an astronomic task, though. And the Therions, no matter how abnormally powerful, were not equipped to handle millions of planets and stars. Hence, the Duskari, the entire population, were helping.
Across the hundreds of thousands of planets populated by the Duskari, and the space stations, spaceships, the Ark, the ringworlds—inspired by the Halo—and a few pocket dimensions found within Imperial territory, they prayed to their deities, and offered them their faith, their worship, and belief.
The Imperium has a policy of keeping a world's population between 100-200 Duskari per square kilometer of habitable land on a planet. This means that for an Earth-like planet, about 6.5 to 13 milliard (billion) Duskari would be found.
The Imperium has countless planets bigger than Earth, and given Aragorn's objective of genetic perfection during the conception of their species, the Duskari are comfortable in environments of heavy gravity. Add magic and tech to that, and the Duskari could populate planets with gravity a human could never hope to withstand.
So, keeping a low estimate, at this moment, about 3-6 hundred billion duskari—trillions in the short scale (USA/UK)—were praying and fueling less than a hundred deities.
It was such a staggering scale that the Therions acted more like high-efficiency alternators converting faith into divinity instead of motion into electricity.
What's more, they were churning so much psionic energy that their minds would have normally collapsed, but they were using their constantly regenerating divinity to enhance their Trinity of Self.
They were using their magic through arrays deployed by the Arc as well, and if that were enough, the Duskari were using their latest tech to assist their deities in the task of relocating and arranging millions of planets and stars into desired star systems.
If any other intergalactic empire witnessed this, they would instantly implore the Imperium to annex them.
If any non-therion deity caught wind of this, they would explode in envy, twist in horror, and squirm with sheer disbelief.
But to the Imperium, when they received Jean's communication, one they don't worship like the Therions but recognize as one of their Pantheon's loved ones, this was the only natural result.
When their Queen and Princess informed them of the gargantuan enterprise they were to undertake and of the role they would play, the Duskari felt nothing but pride, anticipation, and jitters of being of absolute use to their deities for the first time since the last apotheosis—when their faith helped a Therion ascend to godhood.
When Spark instructed them in the role their magitech would play, countless Duskari cried tears of joy.
When they heard that Jean was donating these cosmic resources freely, they felt almost a genetic need to repay her.
Even the criminals, most of whom worshipped Kitty, stopped to help. Some kneeled, some assumed a lotus position, some sat down comfortably, some stood up, or lay down; regardless, every Duskari prayed with fervor while watching the live feed of their gods and goddesses.
They offered their faith, they channeled their mana and chakra through the intrinsic connection they shared with their deities of worship, and they only paused when their magitech could not sustain them, and they needed to actually do their necessities.
From an outsider's perspective, the Duskari were crazy zealots, the Imperium a monster built on worship, and the current relocation of stars and planets an affront to the creator(s) of the Universe, but in the Imperium, this was only to be expected and grateful for.
The Duskari were grateful to Drachantheon Therion because these planets were to their benefit, and the Therions were grateful to the Imperium because the Duskari were helping them, and these planets would spark a population growth that, in turn, would generate more worship. Both sides were incredibly grateful to Jean.
In the Ark, in the north pole of the main satellite planet, the one locked in place right above the center of the macrostructure, Aragorn and Jean lay down over a black-sand beach, with their feet wet by the lake-like ocean of turquoise waters.
Because of the way the Ark, its satellite planets, and its stars were arranged, at this planet's north pole, there was no snow. The sand was volcanic black, and the turquoise water was due to the composition of the planet's atmosphere and sedimentary minerals.
"That one will be temporarily named Gas4-55-67C. That one should be set as a resource for Star-67C. That star system already has two habitable planets, five mining worlds, and one water world; it needs two gaseous planets," Aragorn said to his P-Link.
Across him, through The System's interface, information was constantly shifting and blinking through; he was in constant communication with Seraph and Spark; between the three, they were planning the optimal star systems for inhabitation and resource extraction, while also keeping in mind which planets needed terraformation, which could become inhabitable with just the correct placing, which could serve as outpost, and more.
The planets that the Therions and Duskari could not hold, Jean and Aragorn were keeping in order with their absurd psychokinesis.
"The Duskari requested a dense planetoid near sector 89-65J," Emma chimed in. "Along an A-type main-sequence star."
"Was that for the planetary demolition weapon they wanted to create?" Aragorn asked.
"Correct," Emma proudly replied. "They want to be ready to fight back in case a Dimensional Lord tries to invade."
"It will be lacking a bit on power, but for a first attempt at the challenge, it is a commendable effort," Aragorn acknowledged.
"Hey, hey, hey, Aragorn!" Kitty chirped like the hyperactive cat she was.
"Yo, yo, yo, Kitty!" Aragorn chirped back. "What's up, Cat?"
"My Cat's Eye System doesn't need more planets, and I don't think I have enough believers to man another star system—let me correct that, I don't have enough believers willing to develop another star system," Kitty explained.
"Okay, then what do you want for your services?" Emma asked, she made sure to channel her suspicion through the question.
"... I need a singularity," with hesitation uncharacteristic of her, she replied.
"Fuck no."
"Absolutely fucking no."
"Hell no."
"Heavens no."
"Just no."
"Is she finally fully crazy?"
"Just imagine the mess she can cause with singularity."
"I bet even the Aniki shivered at that comment."
"Is she trying to outbid the Mad Titan and push a few realities into Madame's realm?"
"I'm gonna tattletale her to her parents."
"How is that Kitty-containment cell doing?"
"I think it was to be finished a month from yesterday."
"Maybe we should drop her in the Cancerverse; that would be safer for all."
"I'll talk with Madame about that."
"Hey! Don't be rude! This time is for nothing dangerous!" Kitty protested.
"Be honest," Emma demanded.
"What? It is not that dangerous!" Kitty didn't back down.
"Be honest," Emma repeated.
"... Fine!" Kitty relented. "Relatively soon, the Incursions from other realities will reach us as we approach the 8th Cosmos. I doubt Aragorn will be here to protect our Universe during that mess."
"Are you trying to recreate what my enchanted Halley's Comet did, but on a universal scale?" Aragorn asked with some bewilderment about his question.
"You said that an exposed singularity could collapse a Reality. What better ammunition to end another Reality, then?" Kitty asked.
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
None of the Therions knew what to follow up with. Kitty was right, but still...
"I'll set up a secure pocket dimension in the Cat's Eye System for you to thinker with a singularity, make sure to escape if it blows up, because I don't know if your cores could survive being swallowed by the paradox of the singularity," Aragorn advised.
↓Part 2━━━━━━━ ● ━━━━━━━Part 2↓
"With the health of our Universe in mind, I believe I should supervise Kitty," Steve added.
His thinking was simple: if it came to it, he could use his divinity of protection to safeguard Reality from the singularity long enough for it to be hidden by another black hole generated by Reality.
"Daria and I will also help," Slava added. Daria and Slava's divinities of Stasis and Sealing may prove beneficial in case of an emergency.
"Jeez, you guys have too little faith in me. I'm the Goddess of Laws, you know?" Kitty grumbled.
"Absolutely," Natalia affirmed without hesitation. "You're the Loki of our pantheon."
"The Olympian in the family," Vladarion supported his mother's statement.
"Hey! Is that how you refer to your cool aunt, huh?" Kitty questioned like a hooligan.
"Sorry, Aunt Kitty. In retrospect, I'm glad I survived my childhood under your care," Vladarion muttered.
"Unlike Father, I have no complaints about Aunt Kitty's childraising," Plutusdrakon defended.
"Wasn't Kitty's role in your childhood your gaming buddy?" Sarah questioned her son. "I doubt you have any complaints when all she did was go to your cave to game."
"As I said, no complaints," Plutusdrakon positively reaffirmed.
"Hey, Drako, thanks for the backup, but I feel like my image didn't improve," Kitty awkwardly thanked him. "Now I'm the aunt that never helped the shut-in kid get out of his cave, not only did I not help, I assisted your vice."
"Don't make me sound like an addict," Plutusdrakon protested. "I already said that as the God of Undergrounds, I must be within my domain."
"That's no excuse, Plutus," Peggy chimed in.
"Ah, Grandma, I thought you were in charge of Grandma Gaea this week," Plutus questioned.
"The mess with the Aesir and Vanir was stabilized sooner than expected, so Hela relieved me from my duty," Peggy replied.
"Ah, that means I have to go and bring back Frigga," Aragorn interjected.
As planets and stars were moved, and as new star systems were artificially arranged, the days went by.
Aragorn and Jean remained at the same sandy beach, lying next to each other, hands held with their fingers interlaced, and a veritable current of energy channeling from Jean to Aragorn.
In the White Hot Room, the Phoenix Force in her flaming bird form, and Aragorn, the strata of him that he left outside the multiverse, in his dragon form, were coiled around each other in an intimate knot.
His wings wrapped around the flaming bird's head; Phoenix's wrapped around his torso. His tail coiled around Phoenix's tail, her head comfortably resting over his chest, and his draconic face resting atop her. Regardless of the non-anthropomorphic nature of their bodies, their hold was apparently intimate.
At a distance, within the White Hot Room, Death stared at them without judgment. It was not that she had become a cuck queen, but that she understood the reason for their actions.
Aragorn was matching his psionic energy to Phoenix's to an almost undistinguishable degree, and Phoenix was temporarily accepting this energy in her in quantities that matched her own. The resulting mixture was then delivered to Jean for her to transfer to Aragorn.
Jean was holding hands with Aragorn for this purpose, and, occasionally, due to how long it was taking for Aragorn to recover, she would lie atop him and fall asleep in his chest before accessing his mindscape.
Aragorn, Death, and Phoenix honestly preferred not to use this method of recovery because it was more intimate than the apparent full-body hug they were sharing.
When Aragorn and Death wanted to create new life, the baby growing in Gaea's womb, they did something vastly similar to what Phoenix and he were doing now.
Death and Aragorn mixed their essence through their energies with Gaea's and created a seed, which Gaea later affixed to her womb.
In their case, due to Death's incompatibility with [Life], and Aragorn's lack of it, they needed Gaea as the surrogate mother. In Phoenix's case, as the Abstract of the cycle of life, reincarnation, and many concepts related to [Life], they would only need themselves.
It was doubly risky because this energy was being channeled to Jean, so not only could Phoenix house new life, but Jean as well.
With these risks considered, why would they go through with it anyway?
Death had a level of nigh-omniotence in all things [Death]-related, and Phoenix was similar within her concepts. This nigh-omnipotence granted them something similar to a Cosmic Sense, but specialized in their concepts.
And Aragorn had something like a Cosmic Sense about his actions, and within his immediate sphere of influence. This pseudo-Cosmic Sense was what assisted Aragorn throughout Earth-199999 to understand the potential consequences of his actions; it is also what allowed him to sense what he could or could not do.
All Abstracts had something similar, and a few days ago, all of their senses tuned to Earth-5H1N3 rang like the alarm bell at a Fire Station. Something was approaching fast; it was not clear what it was, but it wasn't good.
They had to set aside their preferences, and Phoenic, Death, and Aragorn chose the simplest route to speed up Aragorn's recovery—the Self inside the multiverse.
'Love,' Death called out. 'The Living Tribunal and Oblivion have pushed Earth-5H1N3 to an even further corner of the multiverse, almost at the frontier between the multiverse and the Oblivion Void.'
'Noona, did you tell Boss Oblivion to be ready to swallow this Reality if things get out of control?' Aragorn asked.
'Yes, and he was given the contained paradoxes your Self outside this Multiverse created,' Death added.
'Hopefully it doesn't come to that,' Aragorn prayed.
'I set everything so that the only tether is the portal to Otherworld at the base of the tree,' Phoenix added.
'Thanks, Senior Sister,' Argorn nodded. 'And for willing to do this, too.'
'I have no aversion towards you, and given that we both are psionic nexuses, this is easier than if done with Death and Hela,' Phoenix replied calmly.
Although Aragorn was not alive, it wasn't the same as equating it to Death's opposing stance to [Life], so, aside from Oblivion, Phoenix was the one most similar to him. The reason Oblivion was not an option was obvious: the closest thing to a Host of Oblivion in Earth-5H1N3 was Chaos King.
Back on the volcanic beach, Aragorn stared at the starry, vast expanse ahead of him, his eyes breaking through the planet's atmosphere and carefully tracking each celestial body under his care.
At the corner of his eye, a path plotted for each celestial body was projected along a progress bar. Most celestial bodies would be carefully wrapped in a protective psionic cocoon before being warped to their assigned sectors, then Aragorn would use his psychokinesis to give the planets and stars the needed momentum, orbit, and spin, correcting angles and speeds.
These feats were something Aragorn could now achieve due to his speedy recovery with Jean's help.
In a not-so-remote sector of the Imperium, Aragorn was arranging several panels around a Type-A star he had just warped in.
Calling them panels was not exactly accurate, since these panels flew in prearranged flight paths, so they were not exactly different from unmanned spaceships.
There were multiple ways the Imperium had of obtaining usable energies. Naturally, there were d the 100 thousand different ways of making water boil to spin a turbine, some as exotic as using heat from a hellish realm, but when travelling the cosmos, boiling water stops being an option.
Dimensional energies are an option, too, and we are not talking about something as mundane as using hellfire to boil water, but with dimensions constantly shifting and moving, keeping a stable portal opened for longer than a few minutes without the presence of a caster isn't viable, and portals through technology are almost always a security hazard.
Enchanted cores—material cores enchanted to burn until only the basic subatomic particles are left—could also be considered a green energy source, especially because the decayed material could be later disposed of by yeeting it at a star or planet in the middle of terraforming.
Nuclear energy, not that dissimilar from enchanted cores, is also viable, but not preferred.
In the end, the Duskari discovered that solar energy was the way to go. Stars were already burning away so much energy just by existing. Why not take advantage of the natural phenomenon, like using a waterfall to spin a turbine?
Long ago, when the Imperium was taking its baby steps as an intergalactic empire, it opted for Dyson Spheres wrapped around selected stars.
It was such a feat of magitech engineering that Aragorn congratulated them.
There were, however, various problems with the Dyson Spheres. First of all, when a sudden solar flare exploded, the solar panels would more often than not be caught in the release of energy.
The transport of the collected energy was complicated, often resulting in portals used to pass energy lines to the panels to extract the collected energy, or simply using vessels to manually collect the stored energy. However, having portals or warp points so close to a star was not recommended.
After millennia of trial and error, the Duskari created Dyson Tunnels.
Instead of a sphere of panels affixed to an orbit, constantly collecting energy, they created tunnels of unmanned panels that would fly from a star to a warp point and deposit the collected energy into distribution space stations, to later be delivered to the needed sectors through warp points.
It was crude in the way that it felt like a brute force approach, but overall, efficiency-wise, it was the best method.
Later on, when the Imperial magitech advanced, it was discovered that the Dyson Tunnels were more efficient when used in a binary star system.
While Aragorn was arranging these tunnels, he felt Jean stirr up in his chest.
"Up already? It's been just five hours," Aragorn greeted her, his fingers untangling her long red hair.
The area of contact between the two glowed in greyish-white, the color of the resulting mix of Phoenix and Aragorn's psionic energy.
"Did you do something to my dreams?" Jean asked, her voice soft.
"No, I just lent you my Mindscape, nothing else, Firebird," Aragorn denied. "Why?"
"I think it was Seraph then," Jean concluded. "I've been having nightmares about the Shi'ar... I know how to control them, but I feel like I should not, that I should let them run their course."
She took a deep breath, her pain visible and piercing to Aragorn.
"But today it was different," Jean continued. "I dreamt of what I did, but from a third-person point of view. I saw it all, but I was detached from my actions."
"And? How was it?" Aragorn asked, caressing her scalp with his fingers. "Did it help?"
"... Maybe," Jean nodded. "I've been thinking—"
"Oh no."
"Shut up, idiot!"
Aragorn laughed, his laughter transferring as a pleasant bass to her.
"I think I want a family," Jean said.
"I'm assuming you don't mean us," Aragorn diverted a greater part of his attention to her.
"When I finally ascend as the White Phoenix of the Crown, I don't think I'll be able to enjoy motherhood with the same... innocence," Jean raised her head to look at Aragorn eye to eye. Their faces were a few inches apart.
"I think I can understand what you mean," Aragorn agreed while stretching his neck to playfully boop her nose with his.
"Do you?" Jean asked.
"If you gain that level of omniscience, the little surprises, like when they code their first AI, or disobey you to explore the nearby dimensions, or scour their code to locate hidden programming even when you left none," Aragorn smiled softly at Jean, "or when they try to kill you because you commented on their physical appearence, all of those little suprises would no longer be surprises."
Jean traced the stars in his eyes for a few seconds before she smirked and then scoffed. "I told you I was going to have a killer body," she gestured to herself.
For a while, she kept her youthful appearance, sometimes even switching back and forth depending on the occasion, but now, after the ordeal with the Shi'ar, she's been staying in her grown-up body. And, as she expected, she had a killer body.
"Maybe, but you were so easily rattled," Aragorn chuckled.
Jean lowered her head to his chest and listened to the artificial beat of his heart. She sensed the artificial warmth of his body that he imitated for her sake, and smiled before saying, "I think I'm going to focus for a while on my duties as Phoenix's host."
"Really? Is there much work to do here?" Aragorn asked, surprised by her decision. She had just returned from passing judgment on the Shi'ar; he figured she would vacation for a few years.
"It's about the M'Kraan Crystal," Jean explained. "The Shi'ar—I think it was they who did it—fragmented some shards of the whole, as we had surmised before. I saved the crystal itself, but the shards were thrown into the larger Universe when the Shi'ar Galaxy exploded. I'm going to hunt for them."
"I see," Aragorn accepted her explanation. "You're not a little girl anymore, Firebird. You can take care of yourself, and I know Senior Sister will inform me if you put your hands in something beyond you. You can go on your self-discovery sabbatical with my blessing, Firebird."
"You don't have to say it like that, Idiot," Jean grumbled while one of her hands drew circles over his chest.
A week later, Aragorn was back to the prime of that Self.
Having recovered, before she went away, Jean and Aragorn speedrun the celestial bodies allocation task and finished before the mark of 35 days.
Jean went away, and with her she took one Therion. Peggy was vastly pleased with her grandson, Plutusdrakon, being dragged away by Jean, and she made sure to ignore the desperate pleas he howled as Jean literally dragged him with her through a portal.
"Maybe Jean is headhunting for a husbando," Kitty chuckled.
Aragorn thought back to Jean mentioning wanting a family and believed that Kitty may not be that far from the truth, but he chose not to comment. Maybe she just wanted a sperm donor, which wasn't so strange for the Therions.
In his eyes, Jean never saw Plutusdrakon in that light, and the same was the other way around, so he shrugged and began casting spell after spell.
In front of him, the weaved spells stack one atop the other, and it began to take the shape of a convoluted spell matrix. "Memorize the spells, these are the key to unlock the pocket dimension and enter. Remember what I told you: if everything goes to shit, make sure to make distance before blowing up. I think your cores may survive, but better not risk it. Even if you cores carry my essence, they aren't paradoxes."
"Yep, yep," Kitty nodded, her nine tails swaying excitedly behind her. "I'll be careful, and I'll have these guys with me," she gestured to Steve, Daria, and Slava.
"Right..." Aragorn drawled.
He saw the four Therions walk into the portal, and then it closed automatically.
Aragorn jumped space to the Sapling of Discord; he had business with Doom, and that had become the accorded meeting pace.
The Sapling of Discord was nothing more than a branch of the Arbor Mundi that had grown from the vast underground network of its roots that spanned the entire planet.
Hence, saying that the sapling had grown due to all the radioactive material it had been fed was not right. But, given that the local allocation of 'fertilizer' was so rich, the Arbor Mundi had given the Sapling priority, and it gave the illusion that the Sapling was growing to, maybe in the future, match the scale of the Arbor Mundi.
Floating a few feet above the ground—which was the roots of the same tree—Aragorn moved towards the Latverian outpost.
Latveria had been the first to claim a spot of the sapling, but this did not mean that they were already exploiting the resources (sap) of the sapling.
With the war ongoing, and the nuclear blasts detonating so close, with the sapling constantly swiping its roots across the Pacific Ocean—collecting radiation and skun ships—it was impossible to harvest the sap.
In fact, it was costing the Latverians more to maintain the outpost than the returns they were getting, which were almost zero.
The outpost was made of reinforced container boxes sturdy enough to somewhat weather the constant shockwaves, and it was minimally manned. Most of its operation was carried over by the Doombots, but there were about 30 or so scientists and military personnel.
Aragorn was back to his usual appearance; if there was a change, it was that he dressed more casually now; the same three-piece suit but without a tie, and the dress shirt was black now.
Yeah, it wasn't a big change, but it was something.
This meant that the very eye-catching Eternal Flame hovering above his horns was there to announce his presence like a lighthouse in the middle of a clear, moonless night.
Aragorn hovered toward the entrance of the outpost and then paused in front of the gathered crowd.
With his empathy, he picked fear, adoration, worship, pride, respect, and boundless curiosity. He locked eyes with the ones in the front, he analyzed their souls, and then he turned to look at his upper left.
The crowd followed the movement of his head. At first, beside the stars dotting the sky, they found nothing to catch their attention, but then they saw the unmistakable trace of a missile flying towards them.
Normally, even if the sapling could deal with the radiation, they would have to fear the shockwave of a direct explosion, but, as the 'sapling' grew—more like the Arbor Mundi learned—the tree began reacting differently to a nuclear warhead aimed at, or close by, its trunk.
The black ocean illuminated by the celestial light of the stars stirred, and the roots shot upward, directly at the missile.
To Aragorn, it was no different from a child crawling happily at the sight of their mother's milky breast. There was not much thought behind their actions, as it was instinctual and a learned behavior.
"Are they trying to test the range of the Sapling of Discord?" Aragorn asked, turning back to the crowd.
A man with greying hair and large glasses stepped forward to reply. "Lord Aragorn, we speculate as much."
This man was the leader of the scientific team, and the military personnel responded to him unless there was a crisis.
"Your name?" Aragorn asked.
"Bram Velsing, Lord Aragorn," the man introduced himself.
"Bram Velsing, since when has the Sapling of Discord been actively pursuing the nuclear warheads?" Argaorn asked.
"A few weeks ago," Velsing replied, his eyes devouring Aragorn with a hard-to-contain curiosity.
Aragorn listlessly nodded before going silent.
"..." The crowd observed, awaiting a follow-up, but Aragorn simply hovered in place statically, almost as if he were a floating statue.
The crowd was almost boring holes in Velsing's back with their eyes, almost visually shouting at him to do something, to ask something!
"Ehmm, Lord Aragorn, uhmm, how can we be of assistance?" Velsing asked.
"Victor von Doom should arrive shortly," Aragorn stated, his eyes veering slightly to behind the crowd.
Some noticed and followed his eyes. A few seconds later, a green portal crackled with lightning, and Doom stepped out. Behind him, almost as silent as a shadow, another portal opened, and Fury walked through.
For weeks, Fury had been trying to decide if to cut his hair or not, but the allure of being able to store excess mana in it was too much, so he had no option but to adopt his new style.
The crowd cleared a path, and Doom and Fury arrived in front of Aragorn. This was a meeting between their king and Aragorn—plus some white-haired black man—and their tension was building up!
Much to their disappointment, Aragorn hovered at a distant root wordlessly, away from the crowd, and Fury and Doom followed behind equally wordless.
Well, not entirely. Before leaving, Doom commanded, "Business as usual." And the crowd reluctantly dispersed.
"Spark informed me you had recovered," Fury said, confirming what mattered most to him first.
"I'm at the 100% I can wield within Earth-5H1N3," Aragorn nodded. He waved his tail, the root's surface transformed into comfortable seats, and a table grew out. He pulled food from his storage and the preferred beverages of each man.
"That's an incredible relief," Fury expressed with a sigh.
"Ehmm..." Aragorn looked away.
"... 'Ehmm' what the fuck?" Fury demanded, shooting up from his seat in alarm.
"Well... There is something that triggered our senses, so that's both terrible and neutral news," Aragorn revealed with a twitching smile.
"Our?" Doom asked. "I'm surmising this is not the Drachantheon Therion you're referring to, is it?"
"Sharp as always," Aragorn affirmed. "Senior Sister, Noona, Boss Tribunal, and me."
"How in Hell's name is that neutral news?!" Fury demanded explosively. Doom was keeping a mask of practiced calm, but inside, he was very much agreeing with Fury.
"I mean, there's absolutely nothing you can do about whatever is coming that triggered our senses, hence, why worry about it at all?" Aragorn shared his wisdom, the wisdom he learned when he was Lucian, and wisely nodded.
"... The fuck is that? I will not take it while lying down and spreading my asscheeks!" Fury spat on the ground.
"First of all, disgusting!" Aragorn's face scrunched. "I feel like Spark has been a bad influence for you, child," he admonished like a concerned elder. "Second of all, I don't even know what's coming. How will you prepare for it?"
"You must have your suspicions, don't you, Aragorn?" Doom asked.
"... Have I told you about Chaos King?" Aragorn asked after a moment of thought.
He was sure they could do nothing about it, but it didn't mean he could not give them a heads-up.
"I don't believe so." Fury shook his head and sat down.
"Is this about a Dimensional Lord?" Doom asked.
"Hah! I wish," Aragorn grinned grimly. "There was this entity that, before my arrival, had consumed most of the multiverse, this Reality included, and almost ended Boss Eternity."
Fury looked down at his non-alcoholic beverage and set it down with disdain. He reached into his personal storage and pulled out a bottle of his favorite Pappy Van Winkle. He gestured to Doom with it, offering some, but Doom raised a hand in denial. Fury shrugged and started to chug down the bottle while listening to Aragorn.
"Chaos King is kinda similar to Jean, but more as if a shard of Senior Sister had developed a personality. Anyway, it's hard to classify Boss Oblivion's shards because even these shards are pieces of the original shard, the Anti-All—Ah! That reminds me, I should mention that indeed there are other shards like these around the multiverse, like Knull.
"Long story short, Chaos King is nigh-omnipotent, and I would need my true body to deal with its main body. At the moment, he was most certainly weakened, but I imagine that if we are getting this bad feeling, then probably that's no longer the case.
"He did eat a bunch of deities and their realms, recently, along with most of the Dream Dimension and the Shadow World. That's for the one I know of, but I assume that most deities across the Universe are no more, and maybe a few dimensions.
"I'm not worried about the Underworlds, because due to the nature of this Universe, the Underworlds are unnaturally powerful and solid. Last Wandabus informed us, most of them went into hiding, so we are good on that end." Aragorn continued rambling and rambling, and the more he shared, the higher the bottoms of the Pappy Van Winkle went.
"Anyway," After a few minutes, Aragorn said. "The point is that it doesn't matter if you worry about it or not. If I failed, then you all die far faster than you could register, so why worry about it and twist your balls into a knot?"
Aragorn looked from Fury to Doom and then back, awaiting their acceptance of reality.
"You mentioned before that my counterparts left SHIELD to Hill?" Fury asked.
"In some it was Coulson, in some it was other heroes, but yes, in a few of them it was CoverGirl," Aragorn nodded with a knowing smile. He knew what Fury was thinking, what most working mortals thought about: retirement.
"Good, good," Fury muttered with a sith gleam to his eyes.
"You were correct," Doom intervened. Aragorn paid him attention, indicating to him to continue. "This is not something we can do anything about. Hence, let's work on what we can: WWIII."
"That's what I like about you," Aragorn nodded in approval.
"I'm honored," Doomed quipped.
"That's a lie, but let's get down to it: WWIII," Aragorn tapped his P-Link and displayed the satellite images of the troops' distribution for all sides, even the locations of their military assets. "I feel like it's time to end this war, and by that I mean by the end of this year or the beginning of 2002."
"My original plan was to take the war to the Latverian lands, but with the tragedy that befell Atlantis and the previous destruction of North Korea, that plan was paused. Unless one of you supplies Latveria with nuclear warheads by next month, the entire Latverian nuclear armament will be spent. That's why I called for this meeting," Doom explained.
"Don't look at me," Fury shrugged. "After Hydra's end, their infiltration of SHIELD came to light. Those politicians didn't show an ounce of accountability about the many of their lot who ended with bullets through their assholes, but they certainly demanded it from SHIELD."
"Did they limit your reach?" Doom asked.
"Not only the reach of SHIELD, but they also limited my executive authority. I no longer have nuclear launch codes," Fury grumbled. "Of course, I have a few of those warheads Hydra produced from the Tesseract stashed safely away, and certainly a few nuclear warheads that were lost in 'international waters', but nothing that could make a real difference in this war."
"Now that you mention that," Aragorn interjected, "With the crisis as it is, how come no one has manifested in the streets about the waste of resources? With how many nuclear bombs these countries are blowing a day, I'm sure this world war has already been more costly than the previous two combined."
"Apocalypses proved to be great distractors for the masses," Doom cursed under his breath. "I leaked some information about this, manipulated the media, and had a few men spread the rumors and create dissidence in a few important population centers, but it was all buried under the news of Abner's death, the fall of NK, the Imperium, and the Duskari."
"I recognize that Chaos King's intervention has derailed plenty of my plans, too," Aragorn confessed. "Which is why I agreed to this meeting. I felt like we needed to gather and re-plot the world's conquest."
"I'm not going to point fingers here," Fury added. "Hydra's fall was a bit more chaotic than we had estimated. My personal influence has become temporarily limited, and I'm even considering creating another organization to work from the shadows, but I wanted to do so once the planet had united; however, with how things are going, I might choose to do so before that."
"What did Namor say about Atlantis?" Aragorn asked Doom.
As can be seen, while he was recovering, Aragorn was keeping up with the changes in Earth's societies.
"With so many Atlanteans dead, the kingdom pulled back into itself," Doom explained.
"So they are turtle-shelling, huh?" Aragorn concluded.
"Affirmative, and just when we needed to find a way to scare everybody off of the oceans and into Latveria," Fury complained to no one in particular.
"I see a few possible angles," Doom revealed amidst the storm of bad news.
"Do tell," Aragorn encouraged him.
"With the bait of the Imperium and the Halo set so... seductively, and with the global economic crisis hitting everyone," Doom said, "I believe humanity is more receptive to a planetary government if it means starting trade with the Imperium and the 'connections' Abner established beyond the Solar System before parting."
"Have I mentioned how useful that fake persona was?" Fury asked.
"Spark and I didn't create it with this purpose in mind, but it was certainly fruitful, and continues to be," Aragorn replied.
"Hence, I see two possible paths," Doom continued. "The first is plain politics and campaigns. I can say I discovered a way to exploit the renewable resource known as the Sapling of Discord, and force a stop on the war either by taking hostage the tree or by economic warfare."
"If you take it hostage, we could potentially involve Re-Nazca," Fury added while throwing an inquiring look at Aragorn.
"While I didn't exactly arm them, with how much money and resources they have, and because they hold a monopoly over the trading of produce from the Arbor Mundi and the blessed lands by Gaea, they could potentially drive a hard bargain to force an end to the war," Aragorn explained.
"What's the other option?" Fury asked Doom.
"I first need to confirm something," Doomed directed his words at Aragorn.
"Shoot," Aragorn gestured for him to ask away.
"The recent behavior of the sapling, was that deliberate?" Doom asked.
"The Arbor Mundi is a living being—closer to a divine beast if I'm being Honest—as such it grows both physically and, well, not mentally, but its soul develops," Aragorn explained.
"Will it ever be sentient?" Fury asked.
Fury's worry stemmed from the fact that he knew how much divinity was packed inside the tree—and void energy.
"Not sentient like an animal, but not that far from it," Aragorn explained.
"In that case," Doom brought the conversation back to this second angle, "Taking advantage of the stir created by the sapling's new behavior, we could make a few roots hunt for the nuclear weaponry currently above the sea."
"That's a viable plan," Aragorn commended.
"If we take away the nuclear weaponry in naval vessels, the range is going to be limited, and they'll be forced to war it out in the old way," Fury expressed his support.
"Someone who ended a war through military cunning and might would be looked upon more favorably," Doom added.
"How certain are you of winning if the war is taken to Latveria?" Aragorn didn't want Doom to underestimate his opponent, which at that point would be most of the standing first- and second-world countries.
"So long as no thermonuclear weaponry is used, Latveria will not lose," Doom confidently declared.
"What if they do nuke you?" Fury, ever the paranoid, asked. In this case, his concerns were valid.
"Then I'll use sorcery," Doom solemly stated. "I will assassinate their leaders and the next in line and paralyze their governments. From my research, only Wakanda has protection against magic, real protection, and that is because of Bastet."
"Atlantis does too," Aragorn interjected.
"But they were taken out of the picture already," Doom countered. "I'm also certain that my bunkers are enough for 100% of the Latverians. The real loss would be the irradiated territory, but—" Doom pointedly stared at Aragorn.
"Yeah, fine, I can cleanse that if it comes to it," Aragorn agreed. "Or have this guy do it," he pointed with the blade of his tail at the sapling.
"So, the plan is to have the tree go on a rampage and blame it for it. This is to exile these greedy cunts from the ocean, I get that part, but how do we move the war to Latveria?" Fury asked.
"... I was planning to claim to have obtained a seed from the sapling," Doom, not that secure with the strategy, explained.
"No, no, that would not work," Aragorn said, shaking his head. "From what humanity knows, to grow an Arbor Mundi, you need huge amounts of radiation—Extreme Gamma Radiation (EGR), which I banned—Gaea's divinity, and my energy. Even with the seed in hand, they'll never have a guarantee of ever coming across our energies substantial enough to take the war to Latveria."
"Especially if what most nations think is that Aragorn is hiding Gaea, who bears Lord Alduin's inheritance, and that Aragorn would burn to ashes or curse whoever deals EGR," Fury added.
"Curse?" Aragorn asked about the specific wording.
"I spread the rumor that Ross was cursed because he dealt with the 'forbidden radiation,'" Fury replied. Aragorn nodded in comprehension.
"How true is that?" Doom asked.
"I can curse, but I would probably just obliterate anyone who deals with EGR in this Reality," Aragorn replied nonchalantly.
"Not that," Doom shook his head. "About the 'fertilizer' needed to grow an Arbor Mundi."
"Ah, that?" Aragorn shrugged. "Totally false. It's just that you would need a fuckton of energy to replace something as highly 'caloric' as EGR and void energy."
"Could I use dimensional energy from various sources?" Doom asked.
"It's possible, why?" Aragorn's curiosity was piqued.
"There's no seed in the first place, right?" Fury asked Aragorn.
"Right, there isn't," Aragorn affirmed.
"In the future, I want an Arbor Mundi on every planet we claim," Doom stated without shame or doubt. "I want that to be the flag of our empire. More than a symbol, the prosperity that what you created brings is impossible to ignore."
"He has a point," Fury pointed out. "When the irradiation took out most of the flora of the planet, I thought he was truly doomed. Without plants, there's no complex life. But that sap, the sap of a single organism, was able to feed everyone and everything. That three is an invaluable resource, the type that I'm sure future humans will worship, and for which wars, intergalactic wars, will be fought. That tree is both the greatest blessing and curse you've ever cast on humanity, Insanity Incarnate."
Although Fury's eyes were accusing and not gentle, Aragorn smiled shyly and said, "Please stop it with the asslicking, only Noone is allowed."
"Fuck off!" Fury exclaimed. Doom gazed at the stars.
"Hahahaha!" Aragorn laughed openly. "Fine, fine, I'll share with you a guide to taking care of your personal planetary lifeform. All the do's and don'ts."
Doom nodded, pleased. Fury was not as pleased, but nodded in reluctance, anyway.
"Going back to how to bring the war to Latveria," Aragorn continued. "The answer is simple. Everyone knows you can portal," Aragorn told Doom, "they saw it during the fall of NK. So, just create a permanent portal to the sapling, and then I'll instruct the sapling to attack anything that gets within a certain range. Effectively, your portal will become the only entrance to reach teh sapling."
"We should also make it look as if the info was leaked, not willingly shared, to ensure they take the bait," Fury added.
"That's a feasible approach," Doom admitted. "The problem is that any scientist worth their titles could pick up the signature of my portal if it's permanent, and they could potentially build their own."
"No, you're bullshitting us," Fury denied vehemently. "With all of the available resources Hydra had through SHIELD, and even access to the Tesseract, they, nor I, ever cracked portaling science, even less tech. I can think of less than five people who would have the resources, motive, and mind to replicate what you said."
"If they are an obstacle," Aragorn picked up after Fury, "I can always scramble their brains a little. Nothing harmful, obviously."
"Yeah, obviously," Fury said before taking a swing of his almost empty bottle.
"If you keep that up," Argaorn gestured to the bottle, "I will have to Seraph you."
"What?" Fury asked, obviously confused.
"You know how Seraph dragged the Playboy out of alcoholism?" Aragorn asked with a knowing and expectant smile.
Fury looked from his bottle to Aragorn's smile, back and forth, shivered slightly, and then pushed the bottle through a small portal to an active volcano. "I don't drink, who's drinking?" he muttered.
"How long until the event?" Doom asked.
"Well, I don't know. Maybe Chaos King will act today, or tomorrow, but I believe that it won't be as soon," Aragorn answered honestly.
"How come?" Fury asked.
"I think Chaos King needed me distracted while I was weakened for him to accomplish something. I think he accomplished it, and now—assuming he learned from his mistakes—he will be planning, growing, and plotting. I think only when he is certain he will achieve his goal will he act," Aragorn said.
"It could be one of the impulsive kind," Fury countered with some misplaced hope.
"No, even in the mainstream Reality, the guy bided his time for 13.8 billion years," Aragorn revealed. "In fact, were it not for that sense of impending annoyance, I would have expected him to wait a very long time before acting up."
"Fuck me," Fury dispassionately exclaimed.
"I think no here would, but Spark might consider it if it is to gather dirt on you," Aragorn shamelessly replied. "I bet she would give you a scorecard and a comprehensive evaluation. She did that to Kitty after her first time; the poor cat was dumbfounded for a week."
"Ugh!" Fury facepalmed in frustration. Doom was stargazing.
"Anyways, I'll have the sapling gradually escalate its hunger for fissible material, and a month from today, no such vessel will sail the Pacific Ocean," Aragorn declared.
"Just make sure not to disturb the trading routes," Fury reminded him.
"Noted," Aragorn accepted the reminder.
"I will have the permanent portal ready a week from today," Doom stated.
"Then I'll leak the info a little over a week before everyone is kicked from the Pacific," Fury concluded. "If we time it right, they should be making a move on Latveria about a month and a half from today."
"Possibly two months," Doom corrected.
"Excellent," Aragorn nodded. "Ah! I was told the Inhumans were also interested in the sapling."
"No concerns there, they are allied with Latveria, and after I insinuated that I would marry my Duchess—"
"You what?!" Aragorn exclaimed.
"Absolutely demented," Fury commented.
"... Katherine Pryde is a commendable prospect," Doom defended himself. "Our marriage would cement my ties to the Drachantheon Therion, and the resources she can bring to the table are enough to topple anything the planet has to offer, and her reputation as a goddess would also make sure allies like the Inhumans won't think of betraying me. Physically, she leaves nothing to desire, and her personality is not incompatible with mine."
"I thought you were after the Storm bakery," Fury pointed out.
"Susan is the woman Victor von Doom sought after, but she is not the woman King Doom needs," Doom explained before turning to Aragorn and asking, "Will you oppose our union should Duches Pryde accept?"
"You..." Aragorn was lost for words. He stood up, with a gesture, the table disappeared, and he walked to the seated man. He placed a hand over Doom's left shoulder and then gave him a pitying look that made even the king uncomfortable. "You're a brave man. Should you succeed, I will personally carve your name in the Scale of Light."
Aragorn turned to look at the stars, almost as if picturing Kav'Juhus giving a look of approval to Doom from above, and then jumped away, leaving no parting words.
Fury stood up and placed a hand over Doom's right shoulder. "Good luck, your Majesty," he said and portaled away.
╚═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╝
{A/N: Kav'Juhus was the mortal who 'ascended' while sleeping with Yelena.
This chapter was on the slow side, but soon things will blow up.
Please check out my P@treon account! There are already 10 chapters ahead for premium members, which is at least 100,000 words. Premium members also gain access to a new chapter every week.
[email protected]/ExistentialVoid
Free Members get access to all free chapters, and I upload free chapters about 12 hours earlier on P@atreon.}
————————————————