620 No Jokes

Patron welcome to DDantalian!

***

Things grew slightly out of hand in Cindy's house. The physical tension between Nik and Cindy was no secret to both the parties.

"I'm scared for real," Cindy whispered while sitting beside Nik on the couch. She gulped, her scent making Nik's nose twitch but he held his brimming lust, pleasure, and anger. He glared towards Strange, who, instead of teleporting him, appeared in Cindy's living room.

"I apologize once again," Strange whispered, reading the atmosphere, literally.

"I won't do anything for you, now, not for any price," Nik smiled calmly, "don't misunderstand. I would have considered the offer if you would have knocked before interrupting but 'wooshing' into the room is... disgusting."

"I am rid of the manners that my original self is confined with," Strange looked at Nik before nodding at Cindy, "but not to the extent that I have forgotten to feel sorry. Nik is a lovely man. I am deeply... something, that I barred your path of knowing your current company at an even deeper level."

Cindy pursed her lips shut, not knowing what to say while Nik beside her didn't give her enough confidence that he was the best person to handle the situation. After all, with Strange's words, Nik's smile bloomed as he rubbed the tip of his nose with the side of his index.

"Aww, I didn't know you were such a flatterer," he chuckled before his words took a 180 with his expression still pleasant, "But you can kiss my services goodbye, you mannerless dogs— ah, no, everyone would have loved a mannerless dog with a beard. You, on the other hand, not so much."

"Aha, I think that we shouldn't insult the person who can just appear in my living room," Cindy laughed nervously while Nik looked towards her strangely.

"He's just a clone. You can kick him and he would only bark. He has a teeny bit of power that he can't use for petty reasons. At least, this is what he has shown about himself time and again," he shrugged while Strange's expression worsened.

"Garuk knows that I am powerless, relatively," Strange interjected, "and he has resurfaced. He is going against the most civilized nation of the planet out of personal spite and I fear he may succeed. And you fit the bill of one of the most treacherous person, of course, this is the least you have shown about yourself."

"Great, now we are exchanging insults. Since I am... out of this whose 'appearing out of nowhere stuff'," Cindy groaned, "Please take this out of my house and next time don't break into my living room or I'll call the cops."

"Great, you can take the address from me," Nik chimed.

"The price you asked for was too steep," Strange sighed, "But it is worth the objective given that you join our order under my umbrella."

"This is not making any sense and you need to leave, right, Nik?" Cindy stood up, annoyed that her guilty moment was ruined which she was guilty for, again.

"Yeah, but he did make sense. He doesn't want to share sensitive information unless I actually become a part of what this clone's real self stands for and I can bet that he will try to bug me in some form to keep me from betraying him eventually. It is really Master-Disciple contract 101 but yeah, dude, you need to leave."

Strange took a moment to reconsider his options. He would have never really barged into anyone's home but as they were sitting here discussing, people were dying in Wakanda as they were discussing terms, and to deal with a bastard quite adept in the dark arts, they would need an equally deceptive wielder of magic. Primarily, the best option would have been him, the clone itself, but he cannot move against the bindings of Vishanti, not currently, at least. Moreover, the ancient God— Bast— won't move against a mortal, an appreciative, and rare quality found in the higher beings.

Turning his gaze towards Cindy, another being close to the web of the multiverse, Strange's gaze flickered.

"We need to help these people, Nik," Cindy spoke up, much to Strange's surprise while Nik continued to look at Strange with intense focus.

"This God... Bast, you speak of, who is she exactly?" Nik inquired, making Strange jump from his seat as the man realized one of the flaws with low energy blessed to the clone— Muttering out loud.

---

"It takes vile to vanquish other evil!" Garuk cackled, his voice hissing and his sound without an actual face making him look all the more terrifying. He stood alone amongst the destroyed village. Massacred. Tribal men, and women. Elder, and children, lay in their pool of blood. Some tore in half, their guts spilled. Some stabbed in their heads with something big and the brain goo lathered over Garuk's hand testifying to the murder weapon.

"If this is a jab at my racial color," with the glimmering black suit covering Garuk's opponent, a growl echoing from his throat, the man raised his hands, covered by metal claws, "then you are pretty as your criminal records state you to be. My father delivered you to the Supreme Sorcerer in the past and I will finish the task he couldn't complete."

"Clad in Vibranium," Garuk chuckled, his posture conservative and still covered with heavy and full clothing, only his faceless head exposed, "Keh- Kahahah!" he snapped his head back in a loud laugh, "Vibranium is no longer my weakness. Grow up, son of Panther. You won't face me, I am no longer interested in your head but your mother's alone. The wench caught up to my plans back then. You won't fight my army, they've got the task to handle your service. You shall be haunted by them," Garuk raised his left hand, his index dripping with nauseating substance as he pointed behind Black Panther.

Not looking back, however, the man under the suit of Black Panther stood his ground. His ears perked and his caution doubled. And then he heard it. A strange swishing sound behind him followed by a squelching sound of wet flesh getting chewed. Sputters and dripping blood, from the scent. Uncertain, the man slowly looked back and found two behemoths, one black, and other silver. Maws as big as a prehistoric predators, devouring the fallen kin in the village. Their torn bodies getting feasted upon.

"Stop!" Black Panther shouted with his body already propelled as he lunged towards the two monsters, gaining their attention while Garuk stood in anticipation.

On the other hand, Kingpin— Wilson Fisk— observed everything from the city. The massacre. Garuk only took pleasure in some murders out of his fetishes but most of the task was committed by the enhanced, day-long army.

"But what is Wakanda?" Wilson muttered to himself, his eyes narrowed at the realization of some sort of an ancient civilization that he wasn't aware of.

Meanwhile, on the outskirts of the hidden nation, bulky men with venomous glowing black-orange veins and entirely red eyes tore through the mundane villagers. The nearby official workers torn, too.

"Woah, are these the remaining two symbiotes?" Suddenly, a cheerful chuckle filled the slightly dark room while Wilson stood up only to feel a relatively small hand pushing him back into his seat. "Hold now, you don't wanna turn like your odd purple fellow, right?" The whisper threatened as Wilson's eyelids trembled for a second.

"Say, I've been trying out a new spell. I can do the same with my pheromones but eh, magic is always cooler," the voice continued as Kingpin hurriedly spoke up, "How did you find me? Who told you?"

"The Supreme Sorcerer, of course. I've heard about you and many things in the city can be simple if you just stop... being a dumbass. So here's a complete reversal spell for you, my modern Robinhood," Nik cackled his pressed his other palm on Kingpin's bald head before injecting it with spiritual energy and forming runes to tweak with his personality. With his task done, Nik looked back and smiled at the patiently waiting Strange.

"If you cared so much about people, you should take care of drug leaders with magicians under their wings, too."

"I can't interfere in such matters," Strange said in a matter of fact manner.

"Whatever. So the first half of our deal is complete. You will share the basic understanding of the magic system without any deception and instead of giving me the mighty secrets, you share this guy's information. Honestly, I'm on the losing side but if it wasn't for Cindy, I would have wrung you dry," Nik mused as he looked at the video feedback and found Cindy already in the fight in the massacred village alongside a man in kitty suit.

"We need to deal with Garuk now!" Strange interjected as Nik furrowed his brows.

"I teleported Cindy using my methods so that ghost show doesn't spook easy. Don't interfere. Cindy knows the weakness of the symbiotes but I have never faced off a magician myself. You need to share the details of the man and his capabilities in detail before I can face him. Do this while I take care of those brutes," Nik pointed at the enhanced army tearing through innocent men and women.

"Fine. But we must make haste," Strange sighed as he traveled through Nik's relatively mysterious portals. While Strange's portal could allow a person to look through them, Nik's was just a circle of darkness.

---

"Sir, look at this," Maria walked into Fury's office while holding a tablet in her hands. "We just received the information from Wakanda. They are mobilizing their men to respond with a strike team and ask for Shield's avoidance into the matter."

Taking the tablet with a furrow, Nick focused his attention on the snaps of Venom and Riot facing off two familiar figures. The Wakandan Son and the shy girl from Manhattan High. "Hill, what is a member of Avenger Initiative... doing teaming up with him?" He inquired as Hills puckered her lips. "Sir, that is why I came to you. Agent Phil knows of the situation and he is mobilizing his team as we speak. He'll be ready any minute now."

"No, don't do that," Nick shook his head, "Please call in Agent Coulson for me."

With a nod, Maria took her leave as Nick tapped his table twice. "Nat, did you hear that?" he looked at his communicator on the desk while Natasha's voice echoed, "Yes, sir. We need to find who can help Cindy travel continents within minutes and... I have a few healthy suspects in mind."

"Why would Nik assist Wakanda?" Nick inquired as Natasha turned silent for a moment.

"Sir, I haven't voiced out my suspects, yet and you might not want me on this particular case. Personal bias and all."

"That has never stopped you before," Nick commented.

"When you get caught by your former partners way after getting caught by the target being spied on, one should consider changing targets altogether. Anyway, Taskmaster is in town and has a hit on Tony Stark," she informed as Fury sighed.

"I am aware. He is a useful asset and should be treated as an enemy. No need to make things difficult now. You need to act as Ms. Pepper's secretary until the end of the month. If things, however, get out of hand, you have permission to act accordingly."

"Thank you."

---

*Fwip*

Cindy strung Riot's hands before he could form deadly weapons for the umpteenth time. "Ugh, you are grosser than Nik!" she shouted as Riot shouted, his silver body instantly pushing out with spikes tearing through the webbed hands while Panther ducked down, avoiding Venom's deadly blow before striking his forearms together, causing an invisible force to strike Venom.

"Damn you!" Riot and Venom shouted together as Garuk stood, aa bit cautious and equally curious. His curiosity was fulfilled by Black Panther.

"Who are you?" Black Panther shouted as Silk jumped on the mace before webbing Riot's face and punching him in the face. "Don't you watch TV? I'm Silk! I'm kinda famous. Who are you?" She inquired in return, "That's some sick suit. The ears are cute!" She shouted as she avoided a silver whip this time, her spidey sense tingling all the way.

"Black Panth—" A blow finally struck Black Panther but it only made him 'float' back before he jumped up and groaned, "And don't call them cute. My sister will get the feed later on and I can't let her have this!"

"Sucks for you," Cindy took a breather before smiling, "They are!"

"But you," she then looked at Garuk and shivered, "You look horrendous. You need a dermatologist, psychiatrist, and a fashion doctor combined. Cover your face, at least."

"Kehehehe! I smell the web on you," Garuk whispered as Cindy narrowed her gaze with Riot lunging forward, weapons now sticking out of his body. "You're mine!" He growled.

"No, I'm not!" Cindy ducked, realizing that the spear sticking out of his chest elongated, but too late to avoid the blow as it stabbed into her back as she was pulled alongside Riot. "Agh!" groaning, she tried to move as Riot violently pushed the weapon through her shoulder, coming out from the other side before pulling back. Slowly standing up with one hand webbing the man's spiked punch that would have torn her, but that didn't matter, she was still blown back, and the other hand webbing her shoulder, Cindy slowly stood up.

Now, she heard Natasha's voice in her head once again.

"No joking while fighting supervillains," Cindy grunted as she moved her uninjured shoulder. "Now it's either asking Nik to heal me again or... hearing my demise from mum's mouth. Oops, there I go, I need to focus!"