Chapter 655 - A Chance Missed (1/2)
”She must be pretty tired,” Anna chewed on the pizza slice with a look of agony while Mary and Nik stared at the snoring Angela with her head down on the table. Of course, seeing Angela wolf down Nik's cooking and sleeping instantaneously afterward was quite a revelation to them. And the fact that Angela was trusting despite being in foreign lands. There was still no sight of Natasha and she did send the text that she was going off to India for some mission. It was an overnight flight and she reckoned that she wouldn't be able to make it till tomorrow evening so Angela was kept a surprise for her.
”Whose bed is she's sleeping on?” Mary inquired as Nik mused, ”Couch?” he inquired, ”I don't know if she will even feel any discomfort tomorrow. The real question is who is taking a day off tomorrow to look after her and as I promised... guide her around?”
”Not it!” Mary and Anna spat instantly, making Nik's expression bleak. ”Yeah,” he smiled cruelly, ”It's a good thing you both didn't get to eat my specially cooked meat full of love and... spiritual energy...”
”Love? That's so cringy?” Anna pouted while Nik leaned back, ”But I looovvvveee you,” he dragged with a grin, ”So? We are putting Angela in Anna's bedroom?”
”Totally,” Mary smiled and before Anna could whine, Mary tenderly kissed her daughter's cheek before wiping off the remnant of her lipstick, ”sweetheart,” Mary oozed with mature charm, ”mommy gets lonely without you.” Meanwhile, Nik communicated with slightly chipper Cindy and sent her goodnight. After all, she was more than excited to have a sleepover in the new apartment but her father didn't like the fact that much. He wasn't openly opposed but he still felt that Cindy was too young to make such 'decisions'.
Later in the night as Anna and Mary slept with Nik in the middle, Mary's legs over his thigh and Anna's hands and legs digging under his body as if she wished to exact revenge for all the digging she went through, Nik closed his eyes to simply control Pickle which was sent into the Dream Core. Aside from Sky and Nik, even Pickle was not restricted by the restriction of Dream Core. Sky, obviously because she created that artifact. Nik, because he refined it. And Pickle, Nik hypothesized that it could be because of the fact that Pickle had formed a more intricate bond with Nik due to her natural abilities as a symbiote. He used Pickle as a vessel, in a way, reversing the process of symbiosis.
Instead of Pickle covering his body, Nik used the spiritual energy to wrap Pickle's white-pink sludge-like form and molded it into a humanoid structure. ”Woah! This is freaky!” Nik mumbled, his voice sharper than usual but it felt far freer. He could change his shape anyway he liked as Pickle's embarrassed squeak echoed. ”Nik... um, do you remember that you said that I might not feel anything physically? Well, I'm feeling it now... it is strange but I feel too... loose.”
”Hmm?” the sludge monster touched its chin with the hollowed spaces for eyes now turning a bit wider. ”It could be because I am reversing the usual process? Heck, your body is capable of pretty much everything. I can create vocal cords and shift them into their previous slimy form at a thought. With my real body, it takes a slightly longer time. Oh, and, check this out,” Nik chimed while stretching his hand forward. His dripping fingers turned into sharp knives as he whistled. ”Damn, Pickle. Your body's amazing! Sad that I still can't figure out why venom could absorb Vibranium and you couldn't.”
”I have been thinking about that... but, did we consider that a part of Venom's memory is cut off due to a part of its body taken away? We can test this by dividing Venom again and if that is possible, who knows, maybe the secret of absorbing a property of a metal is hidden in the other half of the memories or... maybe Venom simply has that ability,” Pickle replied as Nik accepted both the possibilities.
Still, the memories at hand were not enough information. Without further ado, Nik tore apart the black sludge by controlling a blade of fire and light. It was as easy as cutting a birthday cake but after examining the memories of two torn pieces, Nik realized that memories didn't only get separated. Incomplete memories that would have otherwise caused some trauma to the symbiotes were naturally destroyed, making the reduced memories a sort of inheritance.
”Maybe they accidentally fused Venom with Vibranium. Their nation exists because of the metal and some panther goddess... which sounds awesome. Still, maybe we can replicate the result with magic. These two symbiotes have mixed properties similar to Vibranium... maybe we can try to fuse you again?” Nik mumbled before shaking his head, ”But I am no expert in completely cutting off consciousness. Not to mention the fact that I am unaware if you possess a soul or not... I can try and ask Strange's assistance in the matter since Newton seemed pretty knowledgeable and both of them are Sorcerer Supreme.”
His mind was drowned with possibilities. Now that he was free from developing the spiritual system too much, since he had already composed the basic structure and left the rest to the innovative minds of more than dozens of capable women, he started to realize that he had more on his plate than thought previously. All would be cleared if Sky agreed to answer but...
'Sometimes, she acts stupid... Stupid Sky...' Nik thought to himself. Information is the key to attaining success in the many fields of cultivation. His mastery of Space and Runes had skyrocketed due to Sky and Asmodeus but still, he felt the need to 'quickly' cover things up!
'Aggh...' Nik stopped his thought process and rebooted, 'Maybe I'm acting like an ungrateful bitch. And I haven't reached rank 6. Who knows she might have a good reason to not teach me everything... then again, she taught it to Pure so yeah, there's a 50-50 that she's being a bitch, too. Let's call it even and we're both bitches at some level,' After concluding a very valuable observation, Nik began to completely wipe the two smaller symbiotes off their memories. He wasn't the best in separating consciousness from the real body. Even in the consciousness city was a complex connection of multiple consciousnesses instead of separating the girls from their minds. But that didn't mean Nik wasn't good at wiping out. He completely destroyed the consciousness of the two slimes and wiped it clean, making the two symbiotes at the mercy of their new hosts. In fact, with one single spell to connect the consciousness of the hosts with the blank slates, Nik would achieve a state where Anna's or Mary's mind would control their symbiotes and manage their health.
Not to mention, they got the added benefit of Vibranium-like qualities which removed the weakness of high-pitched noises and narrowed it down to fire and heat. Satisfied, Nik spent the rest of the time controlling the slime body in various shapes. He was a fist, a signboard, an arrow, a smaller Gojira, a large cat while enjoying Pickle's ticklish squeaks. He just found a new way to pass time. And it felt diabolical when Pickle started to beg for something for the first time in her life. And Nik didn't stop still.
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Cindy's footsteps were lighter than ever. One phone call changed her school! Well... she felt a little sad that she was changing school in the second last year but now, she didn't care that much. After all, her lifestyle had taken huge changes. First and foremost, she was in a relationship. Secondly, she was a superhero with her videos on the trend as Silk. She had a fanbase to her name! It was crazy but she did stary to give it a lot of time and it felt rewarding to Cindy. Usually, helping others sounded quite noble and enticing but in reality, when she committed any good deed, she would feel a little hollow because helping others was not common for her. Pretentious, even. But now, helping others was a job for her. And she loved it!
With a grin, she entered the Midtown Highschool, fully intent on surprising Nik, like a certain blonde with two palm-sized talking counterparts who wished to make-up for not being able to go to the movies yesterday cause her dad wanted to spend some time together. However, both Cindy's and Gwen's eagerness fell short when they reached a lone Anna simultaneously.
The news of Nik taking a day off bummed 'four' of them out and they failed to notice the tiny black speckle on Anna's red skirt squirming ever so slightly.
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”This is called a restaurant. We can order the food they have to provide in exchange for money,” Nik introduced the brunch place as Angela looked around. ”Why am I not attracting attention?” She inquired, ”And, in Heven, we call such a place— Tavern.”
”This is exactly like a Tavern except you cannot hold the wrists of any girl who attracts your attention,” Nik snickered, making Angela nod seriously before continuing, ”As for why your... armor, does not attract any attention is due to the fact that others cannot perceive your attire. This is called blending in. It's a useful tactic if you ever get thrown into another world again.”
”So? What is it that the people around me can see?” She inquired.
”A normal girl in a t-shirt and sweatpants,” Nik replied, ”Now, did you just arrive yesterday?”
”Yes.”
Nik hummed thoughtfully. ”I know of a person who can probably figure out the location of this Heven but in retrospect, I can give it a whirl, too,” Nik thought of the most common method of locating a realm. The energy present in that particular realm and use it form connection but Angela shook her head. Heven is sealed by that cruel Odin,” she hissed, ”All the Angels low in number. The population of men dwindling while remaining unable to break free from the seal.”
”A seal? It would help if you knew the exact wording and sealing process,” Nik stated while leading Angela towards a park. Seeing the wider expanse of grass, Nik introduced, ”This is a park. Just a larger garden with swings.”
”Why are you interested in all of this?” Angela queried while Nik shook his head, ”I'm not interested in parks. Not even restaurants, that much, really.”