654 A Chance Missed

"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.

---

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.

---

"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."

"Then why do you mingle with ordinary?" Angela continued while idling around with her blade.

"Ordinary?" Nik looked at Angela strangely, "And what are you? Extraordinary?"

"I consider myself stronger than my peers. I did not have wings like other angels. So, yes, sooner than later, I started to think of myself as an extraordinary warrior," Angela replied while Nik pursed his lips with a soft chuckle. "I don't know. This feels like a philosophical question and... I would rather mingle around and enjoy. Say, why did you get so. angry when Mary asked to put your sword away?"

"This is a gift," Angela slashed in an empty region before smiling, "A promise fulfilled, if you may. It's named Xiphos— The sword of stars."

"Nice name, extraordinary, if one might say," Nik refrained from smiling at his own words before leading Angela all around New York before taking her to see the seven wonders, which, of course, failed to impress Angela completely. Then she would take the turn to describe the scene in Heven, informing Nik of various delicacies and natural gifts of skies and earth present in the form of natural herbs and metals and beasts.

"Wait, I sense something strange," Angela suddenly stopped as she looked towards a rather nondescript building while Nik nodded, "Yeah. Why are you doing this Ray? You got company?" The place that should have been an empty plot was now suddenly holding a building, of course, Ray's scent was marked all over it. "Yes!" Ray's voice echoed, his tone slightly trembling as he continued hurriedly, "If you wanna join, then join. Else, go away! I'll meet your new friend later!"

"Okay," Nik clapped with a smile as he pulled Angela away, making the woman furrow. "I sense that the speaker of the voice was going through some physical activity. His breathing was hurried."

"Angela," Nik smiled, "Angels surely... mate, right?"

"Yes, it starts from the bosom."

"Well, that's what the speaker of the voice was doing," Nik smirked, "Now that we have visited—"

Before Nik could complete, he was cut short by Angela snarling and pointing her sword at the alleyway. "Who are you? Come out, now!"

"What?" Nik peered into the darkness of the alley and much to his horror, another warrior in a bikini armor, silver, this time, slowly walked out. Unlike Angela, she was noticed by many strangers but the beautiful green eyes of the woman didn't lose focus of Angela as if she could see her true form.

'Oh... it's just bikini Mj...' Nik mused while fishing out his cellphone to record whatever was going to happen. After all, two bikini warriors fighting... at least from the looks of it, was bound to be good!

For sake of his own convenience, Nik created a rather large illusion that blanketed Mj, too. Gazing at Nik with a narrowed gaze for a moment, she turned to look at Angela. "My name is Mary Jane Watson, titled Red Sonja, and the champion of Goddess Scathach. I am here to challenge you for your honor and glory—"

"Pfft," Nik couldn't hold himself any longer. The situation was too good! Almost... 'hevenly'! From Mary Jane's words to her clothes and now her actions, Nik couldn't simply give the redhead teen the satisfaction of knowing that what she was doing wasn't embarrassing. "You've got something to say?" Mary glared at Nik with a heavy blush. She was never this embarrassed before! She didn't have any choice. The charm left by Scathach mobilized itself under Angela's presence, turning Mj's casual attire to her current bikini form and while she hid and waited for the duo to pass, Angela stopped and pointed Mj out!

The only good thing was that the people around her couldn't sense her anymore. Thanks to Nik. In her current form, her strength is increased and she even becomes bulletproof but at the price of the scandalous attire. She could even sense various supernatural forces in this form, making Nik look like a maelstrom of energies that wished to devour everything! Even Angela was dwarfed in Nik's presence.

"Ohhh, my god!" Nik wheezed, "Nothing. Nothing to say but... hah, hah, alright, sorry for interrupting. From the top once again," Nik pointed his cellphone towards Mary, making her purse her lips in indignance as Angela looked confused. "I thought that people who know each other refrained from challenges."

"It's more complicated," Nik replied. "We don't challenge others for fun but this context is highly suppressed when a person is feeling too emotional... or is too drunk. Say, Champion of Scathach, would you say you are too emotional or too drunk?"

Seeing that he wasn't going to let it go easily, Mary lowered her equally divine sword as her form and grumbled, "That's why I hate this title. Turns me into a very gross cosplay!" She spat, "And I don't even want to fight her. The sword does. It chooses targets to defeat so that it can strengthen itself."

"Hmm, nice sword then. Anyway, are you guys fighting or should I stop the recording," Nik inquired as Angela and Mary looked towards him. "What?" Nik raised his voice in defense. "This is to respect your duel. The world would want to know who is the victor!"

"Never ever upload this!" Mary growled while taking a step forward as Nik sighed and closed the phone and placed it back into his pocket. "Fine, anyway, are you going to... revert?"

"I can't," Mj sighed sadly, "Not until I complete the mission."

"Oh, ok then. Tag along. I am taking Angela to Strange to check if he knows something and talk about my sponsorship. What do you say?"

"I say... who's Strange?"

"Just come, I'll tell you on the way," Nik grinned.

***

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