M Ch 98: Two Words (Patreon)

[ Thanos' Sanctuary - N5X2 1O6311411+2123518 ]

Something completely unexpected had happened.

When they arrived at Thanos's base, it was empty. Not a single soldier or defense system was there. The base looked as if everyone had just vanished.

Gamora was furious and confused. "This must be some kind of trap!" she shouted. "HE would never run away."

Erik thought to himself as he snorted, 'Then you simply don't know him well enough."

Gamora shot him a sharp look, accurately guessing what he was thinking.

"One of my subordinates can open portals to anywhere," Erik explained.

"However, his ability can't open a portal anywhere near the base right now, this is abnormal. Supergiant must have activated some kind of eldritch magic inhibitor after witnessing my powers during the battle on Mars. She likely did this to buy them time to escape. She must've realized it was 'me', and then she probably convinced 'him' to abandon this base."

As they moved further into the base, Erik called upon the resurrected Dr. Strange and with his help, Erik discovered that some sort of magic portal blocker was indeed in place.  

It was some kind of ancient, mysterious artifact. Looked kinda similar to those stored in the Ancient One's sanctums.

Suddenly, a device in the room played a hologram recording.

A bluish feminine figure standing in a relaxed pose appeared beside the portal-blocking artifact.

The hologram... it was Supergiant. There was amusement in her eyes as she addressed Erik, or rather, Ebony Maw, her adoptive brother.

"Ah, Maw," she began, her tone dripping with mockery and... a hint of seduction... "You're here, after all, hm... You look quite well now that you have managed to obtain a new body for yourself. And obtained unfathomable powers... I'm so proud of you, little brother~ Ahaha~"

Erik gritted his teeth as he watched the recording.

Wanda who was right next to Erik just observed silently as she witnessed Supergiant.

The woman, who Erik believed was impossible to defeat for her.

Cindy also listened as the woman, who addressed Erik as her little brother spoke through the recording.

"It’s such a shame though... You were always Father’s most devoted follower. Yet, you chose to betray him~ and today, we find ourselves on opposite ends of a battlefield."

She paused, letting her words sink in, her gaze piercing through the hologram. "Did you really think it would be that simple? To destroy what he built, what we all built? You underestimate us, brother. You underestimate me."

The hologram flickered, her eyes narrowing as her expression turned cold. "Enjoy your victory over an empty throne, Maw. But know this— this is not the end, but it's the beginning of the END. The mission I was sent for is half completed... Yes~~ I have located it!! And I'll have Father take it~~ So... prepare yourself, we will be coming back."

She paused again, her holographic form coming closer to Erik and caressed his cheeks, "But don't worry dear brother~ I won't let him kill you. I'll just crush you hard enough so that you'd be unable to even walk on your own~ but don't you worry EVEN THEN as I, your beloved elder sister will take care of everything for you~~ just wait, yeah~"

And then the recording ended.

"I'll be waiting for you as well... dear Elder sister...", Erik said as he walked forward and stored the portal-blocking device into [Beelzebuth's stomach].

"Let's head back now, there is nothing more here for us. And Gamora you are free to go wherever you want." Erik said, and then [Ressurected] Strange opened a portal for him.

"I'm coming with you for now," She replied.

"Well, Greeny, your Unc has our ship so we have no choice but to go to his place once again anyway." Rocket sighed.

.

.

.

.

.

[ Mars - Erik's Base ]

After returning back on Mars, Erik gave Gamora her spaceship. Gamora thanked him for it and asked what he was planning to do now that Thanos and Supergiant had escaped and threatened to return after gaining some unknown power.

She was worried about him and obviously about the universe.

But he told her to not worry about it as he'd deal with them somehow.

Gamora also apologized to Wanda and Cindy for her initial aggressive behavior. But while Cindy shrugged it off and asked to be friends, Wanda was still not over it.

Unfortunately, due to the previous battle, Gamora's stealth ship had suffered a bit of damage and would take a few hours for repairs.

Erik had ordered the Chitauri to repair it and Rocket also helped.

"So, until your ship is repaired, why don't you just hang out with us? Oh, Wanda we also have to tell Helen about all this, and maybe drop her on Earth, it might get dangerous here." Cindy said as she dragged Gamora and Wanda.

As the three girls left for their own, Erik turned to look at the state of the Mars base. It was mostly fine, except for the Garden dome which was partially destroyed due to Gamora's fight.            

To be honest, he just wanted Gamora to leave as she wasn't any help to him. What's more, she was the whole reason this fiasco escalated this much. If she hadn't come to find him then he would have a decade's worth of peace.

Again, the only reason he doesn't want Thanos to die is that he thinks that if this universe loses its main antagonist then it might search for a new one, maybe even search through the multiverse. Just like it did in MCU.

And Erik just doesn't want shit going multiversal for as long as possible.

But he doesn't have any other choice but to kill Thanos, since the mad titan has found out about his existence.

However, when he finally decided to kill him, he escaped somewhere to gain more power.

'Fuck it...'

What Erik needs to do is also clear.

He just needs to get stronger as well.

There was a way to upgrade his system and his skills —  defeat and absorb power enemies of at least Omega class and sacrifice them.

There was also the fact that in just about 4 more months, he'll be able to alter reality as well albeit within a limit.

The matter was he didn't know when Thanos would be coming back.

How powerful would he be...

Simply put, Erik was anxious.

And there was only one person who could resolve his anxiety.

"Strange, open a portal to Kamar Taj."

.

.

.

.

.

[ Kamar-Taj ]

"Oh, Uncle Erik, where did left for suddenly? I thought you came to pick me up!" Alice grumbled to Erik just as he exited the portal.

Well, when Gamora had infiltrated his Mars base he was here to pick her up but had left abruptly without telling anything, and returned after a whole day, so her anger was valid.

"Sorry, Alice something important had come up that time, and it was dangerous so I couldn't take you back to our base as well. Anyway, where's the Ancient One?" He asked.

"I don't know, she portal-ed off to somewhere..." Alice said tapping her chin.

"I see, I'll just wait for here till then." He responded as he thought to use the time to clear his mind. "Alice, do you know a quiet place here?"

"Yup, there are quite a few actually, let me show you the best one." The 13-year-old girl trotted forward holding his hands.

Alice guided him to a nice peaceful spot with pleasant trees around and a flat stone in the center for meditation.

But Mordo was already occupying that spot.

As he sensed them, he slowly opened his eyes and then walked to him.

"You've arrived, Eirikyr. Here, the Ancient One had left you a note before leaving."

The note she left him said just two words...

[ Six Months ]

====================================

Thanks for reading!