28

'Okay, this is gonna take a while…' Alex realized as he tried to devour the Inhuman.

After examining the subdued Inhuman for a while, Alex understood the reason behind the devouring process being resisted. Cosmic Energy.

'It's always fucking Cosmic Energy…' He cursed. The Inhuman's entire body was coated with it and it was the one energy Alex couldn't directly absorb even after trying. Ultimately, he would have to slowly wear down the coating while keeping the Inhuman in an unconscious state.

Laura saw the mass of black that had enveloped and was devouring the Inhuman in front of her slowly get smaller and smaller as it compressed into nothingness.

Alex told her, [I haven't devoured this Inhuman yet, but suppressed them somewhere else. It will take me a while to wear down their defenses. Let's continue the original plan.]

He'd brought the Inhuman into his ‹Inventory›[1]. This also allowed him to test what happens if he brings a living person in there. He was happy to see that he could safely support a human's presence inside the ‹Inventory› that he'd created by utilizing a subspace within his own soul that resided inside the Klyntar Soul Dimension.

'If we're ever in a pinch, I can bring one of the girls here as a last resort…' He thought as he started grinding through the Inhuman's defenses.

As for Laura, the new berserk ability had no post-use weakness state, so Alex was easily able to bring her to top shape within seconds as she started moving again.

It didn't take long for her to take control of the facility after their main line of defense — Their last remaining Inhuman — was taken care of. The rest of their resistance was inconsequential to the repertoire of powers that Alex and Laura possessed.

Within an hour, she sent a signal to Logan to pick her up from this facility. Alex had found that little tidbit of information from the memories of the original Laura of this Earth. Logan had left her a specific frequency to send a message if she was ever in a dangerous situation.

When he told Laura about it, her reaction was a cute squeal, "My dad gave me the same frequency…" She murmured in a reminiscent tone.

[Don't get soft on me now…] Alex said, [We still need to infiltrate into Hydra to get information about their plans. You can reunite with your Earth's Wolverine sooner or later.]

Laura's mood quickly shifted and she gave him a careless, "Meh…" She didn't say anything more about it and sat in silence, waiting for Wolverine to arrive. Alex felt her complicated feelings when it came to her version of Wolverine and understood that it was a bit of a sore spot for her. It made sense. The man had essentially left her in that hell of a place called The Bastion for years.

It didn't take long before a jet hovered above the facility in broad daylight without any camouflage. Seeing that no hostiles attacked them, the jet descended into the landing bay in front of Laura who was already waiting.

lightsnοvεl.cοm The jet powered down and a minute or so later, the hatch opened, allowing Wolverine to walk out.

"Are you alone?" Laura asked Wolverine.

He grunted in response as Laura showed a reminiscent smile, "Let's—" She was interrupted by the metallic scraping sound of Wolverine's claws extending.

Laura instantly dodged to the left and backflipped before wrapping her leg around his neck, trying to pin him down. He ducked before Laura was able to make contact and stabbed toward her, forcing her to dodge as she punched in his direction again.

"You're not my daughter," Wolverine growled as he retracted his claws and engaged in a pure martial battle with her.

"I mean technically, I am," Laura said as she parried Wolverine's kick and swiped his legs, forcing him to skip over her leg.



"You might be using the fighting style I taught her, but you aren't her." He tried to elbow Laura's back after getting behind her, but she grabbed his shoulder and flipped herself around, landing on her feet.

"Boo, fucking hoo." Laura quipped with an undertone of annoyance as she tried to knee his leg, trying to mess with his balance, but he turned his leg and rendered her move meaningless before punching her, forcing her to step back to dodge.

"Where is she!" He growled as Laura went in between his legs and got behind him before kicking him in the back.

"I'm your fucking daughter!" Laura shouted as Wolverine was slammed into the wall in front of her.

Instead of saying something, he extended his claws, making Laura draw them too as he charged at her once again, crossing his claws with hers.

"Tell me where she is, or I'll kill you no matter what!" He threatened while stabbing her stomach with his claws, which she promptly blocked before kicking him with her clawed foot.

"Don't make me laugh, Dad!" Laura laughed in anger as clouds gathered in the sky, but Wolverine was too busy to notice it.

Laura's movements got more and more aggressive as she attacked Wolverine ferally, "Why did you leave me, huh?!"

Even at the cost of getting nicked by his claws, she kept stabbing toward Wolverine who narrowed his eyes after noticing that his claws failed to penetrate Laura's armor. He got defensive and kept fighting her as Laura got more agitated.

"Why!?" She screamed as lightning crackled in the sky, "I spent years in that hellhole!"

The lightning resonated with her mood as the crackling got even more furious as she forced Wolverine to be on the defensive.

Even with his superior combat skills, Laura had the upper hand due to her greater physical stats and her defenseless fighting style. Alex could easily tank any of his attacks while Wolverine had to constantly dodge her more dangerous attacks since his regeneration had limits.

"I hate you!" She screamed as a thick bolt of lightning finally fell from the sky and enveloped both Laura and Wolverine. As Laura got empowered in that mass of pure white, she sent Wolverine's smoking figure flying out of the radius of the blast as he collided with a wall and broke through the concrete, getting buried in the rubble.

As the dust settled, instead of Laura's empowered figure, what was revealed was her armorless figure as she appeared in casual clothes. She looked in Wolverine's direction with reddened eyes as she panted to catch her breath.

[Better?] Alex asked in her head.

She breathed heavily and gave him an annoyed yet throaty, "Meh… Not really."

…

"I seem to have abandoned you in your reality…" Wolverine looked at Laura's expressionless face.

"I'm over it." She said. [You are clearly not over it, honey. But don't worry, we'll work things out together.] Alex consoled her.

"Is she dead?" He asked.

"What?" Laura was confused.



"My Laura." He clarified, "Is she dead?" He asked.

"Not at all." Laura shook her head, "She's currently on the Earth from my reality." She answered.

"Can I see her?" He asked.

"Sure…" Laura said with gritted teeth, feeling a little sour inwardly. She pointed her hand in a direction and a black tentacle extended out of her palm, pointing at the empty space before a mystic arts portal opened. It showed the scene of Laura and Ms. Marvel walking through the wasteland.

They were both in their venomized outfits as Ms. Marvel spoke to Laura while the girl merely listened. There was a black tether that connected them both together at their waists, attached to their suits.

Seeing his daughter safe, some of the tension left Wolverine's shoulders. He then noticed the similarities between the outfits of the Laura in front of him and his Laura, "What's with that black goo outfit?" He asked, having realized that it wasn't a simple set of clothes, but something much more than that.

"My symbiote friend, Apex. You don't have to worry, he'll keep them safe." Her words had multiple implications for Wolverine.

"So this Apex can also kill them whenever he wants?" He asked.

"Why do you have to be so negative?" She rolled her eyes, "I'm just here to see what the deal with Hydra invading another planet is. Once we take care of things related to that, we'll leave. Then you can take care of your daughter all you want. But, for now, I'm going to play the part of your daughter."

"You're here to stop Rogers?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes." Laura nodded, "At the very least, I need to know his plans."

"If you're relying on that lightning ability, then I suggest that you give up." Wolverine said bluntly, "He wields Thor's hammer. I've seen him fight…" Wolverine had a reminiscent look that told Laura of the psychological impact that Captain America wielding Mjolnir would've had on him.

"He's like a god of lightning when he fights..." He looked back at Laura.

"Well, that hammer does belong to the god of lightning… Well, thunder, but whatever," Laura shrugged, "I'm not just going to give up like that."

"Just knowing his plans won't be enough for you either, is it?" Wolverine asked her.

Laura stayed quiet, her expression was enough to relay her answer to Wolverine.

"I'll start from the beginning then…" He sighed, deciding to support Laura. He was ultimately working against Hydra as an undercover agent. The more help the Underground could have, the better.

…

[1] ‹Inventory›:: A central storage present within the Klyntar Soul Dimension where anything can be stored. Whether it is matter or energy, it can be stored within this storage. As long as an item is placed within the inventory, no time will pass for that item and it will come out with the exact conditions that it came in. There is no limit to the materials that can be stored within the inventory as long as the consciousness can envelop the items.

***

"Fuck…" Laura couldn't help herself from cursing, "That's a lot to take in."

"Language." Wolverine chided.

Laura ignored him and continued, "So you're telling me that one day, Captain America was essentially given the complete authority of commander-in-chief of the United States under the threat of an ongoing alien invasion as the President and the higher staff all disappeared into a bunker?" She confirmed.

Logan nodded.

"And he then established absolute control by enabling a planetary shield that stranded most of the strongest heroes in space, so no one could truly resist his regime?" She asked, 'It's similar to that shield that you were talking about, Alex…'

"Again, yes." Logan nodded.

"And he has the Scarlet Witch working for him for some reason… The mutant who can bend reality itself to her will? Magneto's daughter… that Scarlet Witch?" She asked again.

"How many times do I have to say? Yes." Logan was getting impatient.

"With absolute power and authority, he reestablished Hydra and took control over Shield before people even realized…" Laura mumbled to herself, "Insane. How did he even get Thor's hammer?" She asked him.

Wolverine got a reminiscent expression, "I remember that day, Thor and an enemy of his landed on Earth in the middle of their fight," He started, "They continued their battle and leveled a few desert towns of land, killing numerous people in the process. The being he was fighting seemed like a minotaur. It was wielding a golden hammer axe that could go toe-to-toe with Thor's hammer."

"Thor seemed to have been previously injured and was clearly losing the battle." He said, "By the time I reached the scene and things became visible to me, I saw the hammer floating in the air before shooting in a direction. A bolt of lightning fell from the sky as Captain America emerged. The following fight was…" Logan had no words to describe it.

"All right, you can stop sucking his dick now." Laura rolled her eyes, making Wolverine's brow twitch. He barely stopped himself from disciplining this version of his daughter.

She continued speaking, "Captain America can wield Mjolnir. Got it. As for that Underground that you were talking about, you said that it's being led by a council consisting of Blackbolt, Old Charles, and that fucker Stark?"

"The Wakandan king, T'Challa too," Logan said.

"What a fun lineup…" She said dryly, "Let's go home for now. I'm gonna be playing the part of your daughter for the next couple of days."

"I suggest you change your plan. You will be under extreme scrutiny if you go with me. For one, you are the only one returning when Laura and Ms. Marvel both disappeared." He tried to dissuade her.

"That's where you come in, right Dad?" She blinked cutely, "You'll keep the pressure away from me, right?" She asked with a sweet smile.

Wolverine all but scowled before looking away.

"Come on… Help me out here…" She pleaded while grabbing his arm like a little kid.

"On one condition." Wolverine looked at her with an annoyed expression. He answered Laura's questioning look, "I want to keep track of her and regularly see how she's doing."

"Done." Laura nodded before walking to the jet that Wolverine had come in, "Let's get going."



…

"I have to go to school?!" Laura almost screamed at Wolverine when the next day arrived.

"Yes," Wolverine said without being bothered.

"Won't they indoctrinate me with Hydra propaganda?" She was still agitated.

"And will you be?" He asked back.

"Did you send the original to this place too?" She asked with a whisper. She dreaded what kind of things would have been filled in the original's mind by a Hydra-run school.

"Yes." Wolverine nodded, "And it's a public school that 'you've' been going to from before this Hydra situation. It's not some special school place for superheroes like the one Xavier had. So no propaganda." He told her, "Yet…" He said the last part under his breath.

"So, It's a normal school?" Laura confirmed.

"Yes."

"I don't wanna!" She threw a tantrum. She was almost about to lie down on the ground and bang her fists on the floor to change his mind.

"You'll be late, get ready." Wolverine didn't care for her tantrum and forcefully dragged her to the bathroom before throwing her inside and closing the door, "You have friends there, don't cause problems. And you'll be able to see how things are working under the current regime." He coerced her.

"I don't want to go to school…" She mumbled while looking at the closed door.

'And she says she hates her dad…' Alex thought amusedly while enjoying the heartfelt scene. He then had a thought that sent chills down his spine, [Laura, how old are you?] He asked her with dread creeping in, 'If she's supposed to be in school then…'

[Don't you know it's rude to ask a lady for her age?] She chided him.

[Tell me.] He asked again.

Laura went silent for a while before letting out an amused giggle of realization. She told him with a laugh, [Old enough to not have to go to school. And definitely old enough to have sex legally if that's what you're worried about.]

She could feel Alex's relieved feelings and straight up laughed, [Why do you even care about human customs? You're an alien slimeball for fuck's sake.]

[You wouldn't get it…] He said before changing her clothes into ones more appropriate for school, [You're ready for your first day of school.] He told her as she let out a scowl.

When she walked out of the bathroom, Wolverine was still preparing breakfast, "Ready so soon?" He was surprised.

"Living bio-suit." She raised her arm and the cuff of her sleeve turned pitch black before turning back, "Apex is very helpful."

"Neat." Wolverine shrugged before gesturing to the seat, "Take a seat while I prepare breakfast."

Laura didn't say anything and took a seat at the dining table. Every once in a while, her gaze couldn't help but go to the single dad in the kitchen who was cooking food for her.



After a while, he brought her pancakes and sat with her, "Try not to gather too much attention. You are after all mostly an introvert who doesn't interact much with your fellow classmates." He said while serving them to her, just the way she liked, drowned in syrup.

Laura was silent and bit into the pancake as Wolverine continued her briefing, "You also have two people that are kind of your acquaintances, Britanny and Tyler. Just greet them casually, they aren't too close to you, but not greeting them would be weird."

He told her some more nuances as Laura ate the pancakes quietly. As she was done, Wolverine dropped her off at the bus stop, "Don't cause trouble." He told her one last time before turning around.

[Feel stuffy inside?] Alex asked her.

"Kinda…" She mumbled as the bus arrived in front of her, [It's a weird feeling…]

[You can have all the resentment you want against your planet's Wolverine, but this guy did nothing wrong to you. And he's treating you like his daughter. Of course, you'd melt.] Alex stated the obvious to Laura.

[Shut up.] She growled at him while getting up on the bus.

…

[What did he say about there being no Hydra propaganda?] Laura asked Alex as she heard the absurd shit that had happened in recent times.

[Apparently, there was none…] Alex said with dry sarcasm as he processed the contents that the teacher was teaching the students.

"Jason, Abrahan Erskine not the correct answer. That name was what was written in the editions that we burned, remember? Can anyone tell me the answer from the corrected texts?" The teacher asked.

One of the students raised their hands and answered, "Arnim Zola?"

"That's correct, Anna. Arnim Zola was the one who ran the Super-Soldier program for the Allies, while secretly creating vastly superior forces for Hydra. It was one of the great covert operations that helped Hydra gain an advantage during the war..." The teacher spoke as the previous student raised his hand.

Jason questioned, "But, I don't get it. You told us last year that America won the war."

"Yes, Jason." The teacher got a strict look on her face, "That's what we call, the Great Illusion." She emphasized, "During the end of the war, as they faced total defeat, the Allied forces committed the greatest atrocity. They made us forget the truth. They made us forget who we really are and they made us believe that they were the ones who won the war."

Laura couldn't believe the stuff that she was hearing from the teacher's mouth.

"But now." The teacher continued, "We have awakened from that dream. All thanks to Captain America, who was restored to his true self and is now helping us do the same."

Laura couldn't deal with this anymore and excused herself, leaving the classroom.

[They are attacking the core foundations of everything we've learned and known…] She said to Alex while walking out of the school building under his camouflage. He also modified the teacher's memory to the extent that she forgets about Laura having come to school in the first place. Same with the students. To them, Laura was still on leave.

[Say what you want, Steve Rogers knows how to play politics like no one else…] Alex admired the methods of Captain America to an extent, [He's doing so much more than just indoctrinating students into his regime…] He said as Laura asked him to elaborate.

***

[They're drugging the population too?] Laura asked with a sarcastic scoff.

[Ding Ding Ding… Correct.] Alex answered.

[I was joking…] Laura said with a dark expression.

[Well, you were on point.] Alex said, [The entire country's water supplies have been administered a neuro-depressant that will make them susceptible to accepting the new 'truth'. It's ingenious really.] He had been exploring around with a separate clone and had found out many details that would make the conspiracy theorists of the world look like naive fools.

[In all honesty, capitalizing on herd mentality could only take Hydra's propaganda so far. They have to make it so that people don't fight their so-called 'truth'.] Alex said, [With multiple underhanded and overhanded methods, it's not that difficult to make people accept Hydra's victory.]

Alex was truly appreciative of Captain America's methods. He'd done his fair share of conquering, but most of it was done by an inefficient brute force method.

To an extent, Alex was still in the shadows and wasn't completely out as the sole leader of the Gaia Federation. He could control everything from behind the scenes, but the populous didn't know that or accept his regime.

As for Captain America, he'd done everything while staying in the public eye. He created an elaborate story that was acceptable to at least some of the people. And the people who wouldn't accept it under normal circumstances were all under the influence of the population control methods that Hydra had employed. As for the extremely vocal ones, they were the first ones to disappear in front of this regime.

'I could learn a thing or two from him…' Alex thought, looking forward to devouring Captain America. Even though this situation was very similar to the Secret Empire storyline in the comics that Alex had read and absolutely loved, he wasn't aware of the intricate details. So he wasn't able to apply those concepts to his regime establishment, 'But now, I have a first-hand case study…'

After Alex explained all of the things going on behind the scenes — At least what he'd found out about till now — to Laura, she was practically horrified.

[It's like he's destroying all free will…] She said with a weak tone, [How can someone like that even wield Mjolnir… Doesn't it require its wielder to be worthy?]

[Please…] Alex scoffed at Laura's naivete, [Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor. Worthy of what really?]

[You know the exact words of the enchantment?] Laura was surprised.

[I know a lot of things.] Alex acted nonchalant about it, [Anyway, 'worthy' in Mjolnir is defined by Odin's definition of worthy. And guess what? A successful conquerer who doesn't indiscriminately kill is worthy. Mjolnir isn't a hero's weapon, Laura, it's a king's weapon.]

In the first place, the enchantment was placed on Mjolnir because Thor wanted to destroy the entirety of Jotunheim. Odin wanted Thor to be a conquerer, not a destroyer. Odin would be a true moron if Thor just lost control of Mjolnir as Asgard was going to war against another realm.

[So whatever Captain America is doing… It's all worthy in Odin's eyes to make him the ruler of Asgard?] Laura was in disbelief, [Seems like a stretch, no?]

[Not at all. The hammer has two main criteria to determine 'worthy'.] Alex said, [One is to determine if the person is a worthy king. And Hydra Cap checks that box. The second is whether or not their mentality is actually strong enough to be consistent in front of adversity — that is willpower. And the one thing Captain fucking America has is willpower, no one can deny that.]

"Fuck…" Laura said out loud.

[I'll direct you to someplace interesting.] Alex told Laura, wanting to distract her from this situation a little.

[Where?] She asked and changed her direction to where Alex wanted her to go.

[An interesting situation is unfolding. You can help them and calm your superhero urge.] Alex didn't want Laura to feel guilty and think that she wasn't doing anything to help the people who were being manipulated to follow Hydra's regime. And he noticed something happening close to her.

On the way there, Laura asked Alex, [Did you figure out the reason behind Hydra's Inhuman registration program? I don't see them running anything similar for mutants.]

[Mutants are very limited in number after Scarlet Witch's famous mutant extinction words — 'No more mutants'.] Alex told her with a little laugh, [As for Inhumans, they are extremely common nowadays with more and more popping out every single day— This happened after Terrigen mist was mixed into the atmosphere, awakening Inhumans everywhere. Mutants aren't an uncontrollable threat considering that most of them are either already working for Hydra, or are working for Professor X in the Underground.] He told her.

[It happened here too, huh?] She sighed, intimately familiar with the event, [No wonder Hydra doesn't consider mutants their main targets.] She understood.

They talked a bit more before reaching an alley. Laura went into the alley and climbed up the fire escape of the apartment in her camouflaged state.



As she climbed up, she heard banging sounds from a specific apartment, [That one?] She asked Alex.

[Yep. The person in there is the older brother of that Jason kid who gave the correct answer about the Super Soldier serum. One of your other classmates just ratted out that kid's older brother.] He gave Laura the summarized backstory.

As Laura got up to the window, she heard the sound of the door crashing followed by a proclamation, "Inhuman, you are hereby placed under arrest for failing to register yourself with your local observation committee." A team of fully armored individuals entered the apartment in front of a terrified man.

As the Hydra soldiers subdued the Inhuman, Laura entered the room, "Well that's not a pleasant sight…"

"Halt!" The other three members of the squad pointed their guns in Laura's direction. At the same time, the Inhuman groaned in pain.

"Let's not do that…" She said and immediately charged at the three guards. In their perception, she appeared behind one of them and touched their nape as the man fell to the ground due to a mild brain hemorrhage.

Before they were able to react, she did the same with the other two, only leaving the one who was previously apprehending the Inhuman.

"You wanna let go of him now?" Laura asked mirthlessly while giving the armored man a dead-eyed look.

"Don't come any closer!" He said with panic while keeping his arm wrapped around the Inhuman's neck, "I'll kill him if you do."

Laura narrowed her eyes and said, "Hydra will always be Hydra, huh?" She pointed a finger in the direction of the man and shot a bolt of lightning at his face. The man screamed in pain and let go of the Inhuman as he recoiled while enduring the agonizing feeling of having his face burned by lightning.

"You okay?" Laura asked the Inhuman who was still in shock.

"Do you think you helped me?" He asked Laura with a growl after he came to terms with the situation.

"What?" She blinked in surprise.

"You didn't help me." He sat on the ground with his hands on his forehead, "You doomed me. And my brother. They already have my information in the database. If they know that I resisted arrest, I'll have hell to pay…" He started mumbling to himself.

[Should I tell him that their servers are down and he hasn't yet been marked as an unregistered Inhuman?] Laura asked Alex while looking at the man breaking down in front of her.

[Nah, he'll understand in due time when more people don't show up.] Alex shrugged, [He'll be thanking you that at least he has the chance to register on his own instead of being deemed a threat.]

"You'll thank me later." Laura gave the Inhuman Alex's words and disappeared from the apartment under camouflage.

[This was fun, I want to help some more people out…] Laura said while blending into and walking in the crowd. She'd missed this after spending months in that empty wasteland where the only company was either Alex or Abominations.

[Or, I have a better suggestion, you could meet with Captain America instead.] He said.

[What?] Laura was confused.

"Laura Howlett, Agent X-23. Please follow us." Laura heard and found a squad of armored soldiers approaching her. They were similar to the ones she had beaten previously, yet they were much more prepared, wielding different types of weapons than just the standard-issue guns.

'Why didn't I sense them approaching me?' She thought but attributed it to Alex wanting to make the scene seem more dramatic.

[Hey, I could have a reason for this…] He defended himself.

[I doubt it.]

"Do you need something?" She asked the newcomers cautiously.

"Please follow us, we have some questions for you." The leader said to her.



"What if I refuse?" She extended her claws, ready for a fight.

"Student Laura Howlett, registered enhanced, you are hereby placed under arrest for skipping school." He announced and the entire squad pointed their weapons at her.

Just as Laura was about to attack the first person, Alex said in her head, [You'll get to meet Captain America. Follow them. Do you think I would've let you get discovered by their cameras otherwise?] Alex asked, making Laura calm down as her tense shoulders calmed down.

[You're a terrible infiltrator…] Laura chided him, [You don't break all pretenses in the first few hours.]

They took her calming down as a sign of resignation and the leader approached her to cuff her arms.

"You really want to get close to me when I have my claws drawn?" She asked with a tone that sent shivers down the man's spine.

"Comply, otherwise you'll be forced to comply." He put up a brave front.

"I'll follow you, but stay the fuck away from me." She growled in a way reminiscent of Wolverine and walked toward them.

"W-we have to cuff you." The leader seemed adamant.

"Tell me," Laura said, "Do you like having your head attached to your neck or separated?" She threatened bluntly.

'Only one person can cuff me. And he's a slime.' She was inwardly proud of her thought, leaving Alex a little speechless when he heard her thought.

There was an audible gulping sound as the squad members seemed to be intimidated, "Please come with us." They decided to surround her while guiding her to the station. She seemed less like a suspect and more like a VIP being escorted by the police.

Laura, on the other hand, pouted, [I wanted a fight…]

[Don't cause trouble. If I didn't mellow these guys a little, they would've definitely busted their asses trying to capture you. Grassroots Hydra soldiers are insufferably arrogant. It's the upper echelons that have the larger picture in mind.] Alex told her.

[Boring…] She complained. Alex had actively prevented her from being able to fight.

[I think you've become a battle junkie after living in that apocalyptic wasteland for so long…] Alex criticized.

[Your fault. We had the perfect opportunity to continue our usual dating and fluffy life, but you couldn't help yourself and brought me to that insufferable underwater location.] She complained even more.

[Hey, you haven't breathed any of Hydra's drugged air. This is a win in my book.] Alex said.

[Even the air… Motherfuckers…] Laura was speechless, [Wasn't it just the water?] She asked.

[Actually, it's not just the air and water, anything that the regular people consume. Produce, dairy, meats. Everything.] His words made Laura uncomfortable. The regime was extreme even by dictator standards.

lightsnοvεl.cοm Meanwhile, the soldiers escorted Laura to one of the interrogation rooms in the police station. The leader said, "Someone will come meet you soon." He then left and locked Laura inside.

[Should I tell them that I can see them through the glass?] Laura asked Alex, [It will probably spook the fuck out of them.] She laughed inwardly. She could see through the glass after the enhancement to her eyes from the Organ Bond. It was the same with her ears and other senses.

After bonding with her eyes, Alex enhanced her eyesight and also gave her the capability to view a wider range of wavelengths on the electromagnetic spectrum. She now had x-ray vision and more as long as she tried to view those specific wavelengths.

[Keep them in the dark about your abilities as much as you can.] Alex suggested, [Then again, them knowing won't change anything. So go ham, you're probably going to be bored for the next couple of hours. So it's better to be entertained.]

***

Hearing Alex's words, Laura smiled and looked at the one-way glass. She said, "I can see you guys scrambling over there."

"Do you think she can actually see us?" One of the station officers asked the leader of the squad that escorted Laura here.

"Of course, I can see you, Officer Thepedo. I can even see that weird balding that the center of your forehead is going through. What's the story behind that little rectangle of hairlessness in the center of your hairline?" She asked with amusement as the officer's face turned slightly red. Laura wasn't done, "Did your barber run the trimmer along your forehead and end up trimming off a section from your hairline?" She asked.

"That should've answered your question." The squad leader said to the officer with a voice that was laced with slight pity.

Before the officer was able to say anything, "It's like your face has an inverted notch, were you that inspired by the current phone designs?" She asked.

"I'll be outside." The officer couldn't take it and almost quit his job. The worst part was that he couldn't even do anything about Laura. Even though she was brought here as a 'criminal', her status was high enough that the Hydra Supreme, Steve Rogers himself was coming to interrogate her. Their job was only to keep her in the station.

"I'm not done. Why are you leaving…" Laura seemed to pout before gazing at her next victim, one of the members of the squad who brought her here, "You there." She pointed at the man, "What's your name?" Her voice had a natural compulsion that came from the organ bond. Level 6 was a threshold of a large number of sub-abilities unlocking since Alex got to work with many of the parts of her body in an extremely intimate manner. He gave her whatever he thought would work best.

Alex usually suppressed it, but he didn't need to do it right now.

"Hansel," The man answered instinctively before clasping his hands over his mouth.

"So, Mr. Hansel…" Laura's onslaught of insults and roasting began as she made sure to destroy each and every one of the people who were observing her. With her current abilities and Alex's mind-reading capabilities, she was able to ascertain a large number of insecurities and directly target them, making all of the recipients of her words want to cry to their mothers.

[We should do this more…] She laughed after making the twentieth person leave the observation room. This latest victim was also the first person whom she saw cry as they ran away.

[You're a menace…] Alex told her.

Laura merely gave him a proud smile as she enjoyed her time in the interrogation room. Even though she was supposed to be the one unnerved after being stuck in the room for hours, she'd done that for everyone but herself.

When Captain America was close, Alex told her and Laura finally stopped. She patiently waited for the man to enter the interrogation room.

'Oh damn…' When Captain America came within the range of Alex's senses, Alex instantly realized that it wasn't just Mjolnir that was special about this version of Captain America. He also had the Venom symbiote bonded to himself. And this one didn't have anything to do with Spider-Man. This version of the Venom Symbiote was originally bonded to Captain America and worked perfectly with him.

'Is it even right to call it Venom this time?' Alex thought. The name Venom came from the experiences of the symbiote, specifically the ones that related to Spider-Man. Considering that this one had no encounter with Spider-Man, it's possible that it named itself differently, 'Or even, this one might not have developed itself independently. With Hydra Cap's mindset, it's unlikely that he let his suit develop much in terms of critical thinking and solely focused on making it enhance its powers.' Alex thought, 'It's at times like this that connecting to the hive-mind would be very useful.' Alex was a little regretful, but not too much.

The door finally swung open and Steve Rogers walked in alongside the leader, who had been the only one to endure Laura's berating.



"Captain Rogers, greetings." Laura said, "I'd get up, but as you can see, I'm supposed to be captive." She raised her uncuffed hands with a sarcastic tone.

"You are in the presence of the Hydra Supreme. You are to show the necessary respect." The leader berated Laura.

"So this is what finally got to your nerves…" Laura nodded in understanding, "I should've been saying bad things about Hydra from the start in that case." She taunted.

The man was about to engage with Laura, but Steve raised his hand and made him instantly shut up. He calmly walked toward the table with Laura and took a seat, "Leave us."

"But sire…" The man hesitated, but one look from Steve had him nodding as left after saluting, "Hail Hydra."

lightsnοvεl.cοm Steve smiled at Laura and said, "I'm happy to see that you're doing well, Laura."

Laura didn't know how to respond, "Thanks?"

"Will you please tell me why you aren't in school?" He asked her, "According to Logan's report, you were supposed to be in school today."

Laura narrowed her eyes and asked, "And that warrants the leader of the country coming to meet me personally?"

"No," Steve shook his head, "Under normal circumstances, we would merely have you written up and penalize your homeroom teacher for negligent management. But these aren't normal circumstances, are they?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, feigning ignorance.

"I have a comprehensive set of documentation on Wolverine's daughter, her mannerisms, speech, even the tiniest nuances when it comes to her, and while similar, you are wildly different from what is described in any file." He told her.

She shrugged, "A file can't define a person. I just never showed anything." She was curious about how he would counter her words.

"Understandable," He nodded, "But we have multiple psychologists who regularly analyze the files of our high-profile individuals. Your current state can't come without going through a drastic event or experience."

"Of course, I went through a drastic experience, I was almost strangled to death by a tree." She said. She knew what was fishing for, but didn't want to give it to him directly.

"That doesn't line up with the report either. Wolverine gave a completely different report." At this point, Steve was just gaslighting Laura, wanting to form a rift between her and Wolverine. They had already matched their stories and Alex had confirmed that Wolverine wasn't lying. If this was anyone other than Wolverine's original Laura, she would start doubting the man.

"Oh?" Laura tilted her head curiously, "Would you like to know what happened during the week of my disappearance, Captain America?" She asked, wanting to see his reaction to being called his superhero name.

He didn't show any outward reaction to her address and told her, "Yes, just so we can make a comprehensive analysis of your mental state." He said, "And it's Hydra Supreme." He corrected her.



Laura shrugged, seemingly deciding to give him an answer, "I don't know what you got from the report from my dad, but I was initially strangled by the vines in that forest along with Ms. Marvel. We were both essentially devoured. The next thing I know, I wake up and it's already been a week. Ms. Marvel's gone and I'm all alone. I called my dad and he picked me up and brought me back." She gave him her story.

"Is that so." He said with a scrutinizing look.

Laura didn't flinch under his gaze and calmly met his eyes with an almost curious look. She wanted to know what he would be doing.

After a few seconds, he raised his hand up in the air and Laura instantly stood up with her claws drawn, ready for a fight. Mjolnir broke through the ceiling in conjunction with a lightning bolt as he grasped the handle.

"The truth this time." He said. Just as Laura was about to summon her own lightning state and go all out, Wolverine jumped down from the newly formed hole in the ceiling and looked between Laura and Steve who were looking ready for a fight.

"We talked about this, Steve." He growled at the hammer-wielding man.

"And I said I'll think about it. She's too much of a variable in our plans and I need either the truth from her, or she must be subdued." Steve confronted Logan.

"You will not lay a hand on my daughter," Wolverine growled, even against impossible odds, he was willing to fight the Hydra Supreme.

"Daaaad~" Laura cooed from the side and instantly hugged Wolverine tightly. She didn't care about the tension in the room and defenselessly hugged Logan.

"Damnit kid, this isn't the time for this!" Logan was equal parts embarrassed and alert, he was sure that Steve would attack him or Laura at this time.

Unlike what he expected to happen, Steve asked Laura with a much more defensive stance than he had previously, "What do you have, Laura? What do you have on you that makes me feel such a feeling of danger?" His words made Wolverine's eyes widen as he looked at Laura.

She gave him a smug smile and said, "I'm much stronger than you think, Dad." She then turned to Captain America and taunted, "You'll know if you attack me, won't you?"

The man's intuition of danger came from his symbiote. Just as Alex could sense it, it could also sense Alex.

Previously, Alex had suppressed his presence so that Venom wouldn't be able to sense him. But now that Laura was about to fall out with Hydra, he stopped suppressing his presence and Venom could now feel that it was in front of someone from the same race. And its instincts were screaming at it that Alex was extremely dangerous, one of the reasons being that there was no presence of this unknown Symbiote in the hive mind.

The feelings being conveyed by his suit made Captain America extremely wary.

***

The feelings being conveyed from his Symbiotic suit made Captain America extremely wary. He trusted his suit's gut and wouldn't disregard it.

"Let's take a step back, shall we?" He asked as he held his hammer to the side and dropped it on the ground, seemingly as a peaceful gesture. However, Alex could tell that he was stalling for time. Even with all of the power that Steve Rogers possessed, he had never gotten complacent and was very meticulous with everything he did.

Just as Steve raised his hands up in the air as a show of trust, the sound of sparks was heard and Laura gave him the finger before saying, "You think I can't sense the crazy reality-bending mutant approaching our location?" With her words, Wolverine and Laura both fell through the ground into a mystic arts portal.

"No!" Steve instantly grabbed his hammer and hit it on the ground in an attempt to destabilize the portal. The ensuing explosion of lightning destroyed the entire building and Steve was the only one who emerged from the rubble. He had an annoyed expression on his face.

Moments later, a red-adorned flying witch descended in front of Steve, "You lost them?"

He didn't answer and asked another question, "Can you track them? They went through Strange's mystic arts portal." He asked 'Wanda'.

"Wasn't Doctor Strange stranded back in our original reality?" She tilted her head curiously, not giving him the answer he wanted.

"We've been infiltrated," Steve said with a grave tone.

"How fun…" Unlike Steve's solemn demeanor, 'Wanda' was incomparably excited, "Are we going to be attacking them soon?" She asked, "They both have gone to their base." She seemed to have already tracked the destination of the portal.

"Any traces of your main body?" Steve deflected the question.

'Wanda' gave Steve a fleeting side-eye and said, "None. It's like this reality's Cthon doesn't even exist. So no, all you get is the tiny wisp of my true power in this vessel."

…

Laura and Wolverine jumped out of the ground in front of the entrance of the base of the Underground. The organization was aptly located in an old underground Shield facility that was untraceable by any satellites.

Just as the father-daughter duo appeared at the entrance of the facility, multiple guards had their weapons pointed at them, "Halt!" One of them said while gesturing to the others to call for backup and surround the two unfamiliar faces.

Wolverine raised his hands up in surrender to calm down the panicked guards and asked Laura with a hushed tone, "How did you even know about the location of this place?"



"I just do," She said with a shrug, "They aren't as hidden as they think." The location for this base was present behind a relatively safe firewall in Hydra's servers. It wasn't that Steve didn't know where they were, he was just preparing for attack.

Laura didn't care for the guns pointed at her and calmly started walking toward the entrance.

"Stay right there, or else we will be forced to shoot you." The same man warned her again and the guards all pointed their guns at Laura's head, leaving Wolverine free.

Laura snorted and her eyes gained a hue of blue while red energy surrounded her whole being, making her hair float upwards, "Or," Laura gave them a better suggestion, "You can threaten me again and I'll wipe you off of the face of this planet. Would you like to try?" She asked with a harmless smile that terrified each and every one of them. Combined with a compulsion that Alex cast using Chaos magic, everyone was visibly spooked and dropped their weapons while stepping back shakily.

"Come on, pops." Laura gestured to a stunned Wolverine as she started walking past the guards.

He followed her while mumbling, "I'm getting too old for this…"

As Laura walked in the door, she was attacked by a repulsor blast to her face.

Her expression darkened and she directly summoned a bolt of lightning from the sky, uncaring of the damage it would cause to the facility. The Iron Man suit that attacked her got caught up in the blast and was destroyed as a large amount of rubble fell directly on top of Laura. A red barrier appeared above her and Wolverine making the debris fall to the side, not even touching them.

lightsnοvεl.cοm "I don't like Stark…" She mumbled as Wolverine barely stopped himself from jumping back from the blast radius. Laura was now in her symbiote suit as it pulsed with blue lightning arcs that were tinted with a red bue from Chaos energy. Wolverine now stepped back, giving Laura some space.

"Logan, can you please calm her down?" An aged voice sounded out and Alex felt goosebumps rising throughout his being. He knew who this person was. He knew that this person would be here, but Alex still didn't stop Laura from taking the hard-handed showboaty approach.

Alex realized that in his complacency, he'd fucked up, 'Fuck fuck fuck…' He mumbled as he felt Charles Xavier forming a tether into Laura's mind to forcefully calm her down and 'inadvertently' read some of her memories. It would be an accident after all, and she wouldn't know. Plus, it's all for the greater good.

The problem was that that tether led directly to Alex. He was visibly enraged as he felt Xavier's mental probe getting through his defenses.

That rage was reflected in the suit as the Chaos Energy surrounding Laura's body formed a thin sheen over her suit that also had multiple tentacles extending out of it.

"I'll fucking kill you!" Laura shouted at Xavier as her emotions mirrored Alex's. Her eyes met with Xavier's even through Alex's 'head' that covered her head. Unlike a modification of her superhero suit, this time, she looked much more monstrous, similar to how a Venomized person should look.

Xavier narrowed his eyes as he felt Alex's presence within Laura and went even deeper into Laura's mind. In that instant, countless bolts of lightning fell down directly on top of Laura as Alex charged up his lightning crazily. He didn't hold anything back as he felt Xavier having touched upon his soul. Within moments, the older mutant would be able to read his memories and know everything about his existence.

With those falling lightning bolts, more of the facility was destroyed as Charles alongside most of the people was about to be buried in the rubble, but a translucent barrier surrounded him and some of the people who were in the blast radius and made the debris slide off, preventing anyone from getting hurt.

Due to Xavier's mental compulsion, Alex-Laura couldn't get rid of their eye contact with him. The maw in place of Laura's head opened and roared monstrously at him, mirroring Alex's current rage. It was directed both at himself for his complacency and at Xavier for directly invading his and Laura's mind without asking any questions.



As the monstrous howl reverberated through the facility and mixed with the clapping sounds of thunder, "Dieee!" Laura-Alex screamed at Xavier and everything instantly halted. The lightning stopped falling from the sky, and the pulsating of red and blue within Laura's Apex form halted in its place as if stopped in time.

The large white pupilless eyes narrowed at Xavier with cold rage and the bald man instantly fell to the ground with no more fanfare.

Everything returned to normal. The debris continued falling, the lightning continued crackling in the sky and the people started scrambling away from the site of the battle.

Charles Xavier was dead.

'I fucked up…' Alex panted tiredly as he hurriedly cast a portal under the unconscious Laura and disappeared. He also grabbed Xavier's dead body with him in hopes of getting some kind of mental defense ability by devouring the man. However, it was unlikely since he was already dead.

Leaving Logan to deal with the aftermath of her actions, Laura appeared in Farm Earth, inside the presidential suite in the White House along with the dead body of Professor X. The Apex outfit surrounding her receded into her body and turned into casual clothes as she slept on the bed.

As for Alex, his consciousness was extremely tired after the ability that he'd just forced himself to bypass many restrictions to utilize.

‹Synapse Collapse›:: The ability to halt all electrical impulses in the brain and cause instant brain death. Cooldown: 24 hrs

This was an ability that he'd unlocked after bonding with Jane and advancing his lightning manipulation to the advanced grade. There were many prerequisites for it. For one, he had to be in contact with the recipient. He couldn't just look at someone and kill them.

As overpowered as that would be, it was very impractical. He couldn't control the brain's electrical impulses through someone's skull without physical contact.

During the fight, he was under the immense strain of having his mental defenses broken through like they were cheap recycled paper. This was the main reason that he didn't want to get anywhere close to the X-Men in any of the variations of Earth. Because of telepaths like Emma Frost, Jean Grey, and Charles Xavier. They could invade his mind and he wouldn't even know. The only reason that he was able to take care of Charles was because the older man made the mistake of being close enough to Laura. Otherwise, Alex would have no way to kill the man and would be completely helpless.

The whole encounter with Charles had merely lasted for 4 seconds. Alex had to summon all the lightning he could so that he would be able to form a tiny path to reach Xavier through the flood of lightning that was in his control. He'd barely gotten through Charles' telekinetic barrier after exhausting himself to an insane extent.

Even though it was merely four seconds, it had taken enough out of Alex that he wanted to nap for a couple of days for the first time since he awoke as a Symbiote.

'I'll go back there in a few days…' He thought to himself.

***

"What happened?" Wanda asked Alex with a voice laced with concern. They had been cuddling on the extremely comfortable bed in the royal bedroom of the Wakandan castle when she felt Alex going instantly to extreme rage, then desperation, and finally to exhaustion mixed with a sense of accomplishment.

The aftermath of his intense emotions was clearly visible on his face here as he sighed tiredly and said, "Later…" He buried his face in her naked bosom and hugged her tightly, making her let out a cute yelp. He closed his eyes and embraced his favorite redhead while recovering his exhausted mental energy.

Wanda lightly smiled and ran her fingers through his hair, massing his head gently. She pulled the covers up over their naked bodies and enjoyed a peaceful nap with him.

A few hours later, Wanda woke up to Alex caressing her hair as he licked her breasts gently. She let out a cute giggle as she felt his tongue roaming along her chest, "Stopp~" She was feeling ticklish from his actions.

Alex pulled his face away from her heavenly breasts and pressed his lips against hers before getting on top of her. Wanda could only let out a yelp and moan as she felt his hand trailing down her stomach toward her pussy.

…

"Are you gonna tell me about your thing now? What happened that made you so tired?" She asked him while nuzzling her face into his neck.

Alex didn't answer for a while and rested his hand on her hip, lightly stroking her. He was deep in thought about whether or not he should come clean about everything with Wanda. She was the most likely one to understand him if he did come clean.

"Alex?" She asked again, pulling away from his neck.

He instantly asked her, "What will you do if you realize that I've been lying to you about something big?"

"Are you going to die soon?" She asked as her eyes started tearing up, "Don't leave me!" She tightened her hug.

Alex just gave her a dry look that made her let out a cute giggle as she said, "Don't worry. All I can think of is that you're finally willing to tell me that you have other women that you're bonded to in addition to Natasha."

Her words left Alex speechless, "I…" He was completely confused about how to take the conversation from here.

He'd thought of appeasing her, even lying to her to gaslight her into believing that she was the only one. Never did he expect that she would already know and wouldn't even seem to be too strung up about it. Well, he kinda did expect her to have an idea about it with her enhanced mental capabilities and how she easily discerned his emotions.

"Well, yeah." Alex gave her a nod.

"I don't really care, you know," Wanda gave him a shrug as if knowing what he was thinking, "The only messed up thing about you bonding with other women is that I know about it. If I don't know feel their presence, and you are always with me, there isn't really any difference, is there?"

Her words made so much sense that Alex felt confused about why he was making such a big deal of not telling the girls about him having been bonded to other hosts, 'Ah, yes,' He realized, 'Wanda is much more… something…' He didn't have the correct word for it.

"Getting back on topic," Alex said, "I have multiple bodies, we've already established that, right?" He asked her.

"Mhm." She nodded with a curious look in her eyes, wondering where this was going.

"So, I'm simultaneously doing stuff on multiple planets in this clusterfuck of Earths." He told her.

Wanda understood, "So you ran into a tough enemy, and beating them took a lot out of you?" She asked.

"Not really a fight per se, this dude was trying to read Laura's memories, and that led him to me. I was fucking terrified that he would mind rape me like I do to others." Alex shuddered.

"Laura, huh?" Wanda didn't seem to care about the other stuff that he'd just said.

"Yeah…" Alex was a little awkward, "One of the… others."

"I can tell." She said with a smile that hid an indecipherable meaning. Alex couldn't tell what her mood was.

"Go on…" She said with an almost flat tone, the weird smile still on her face.



"I have this ability that can halt all of the electric impulses within a person's brain. I call it ‹Synapse Collapse›. I had to overcharge it to kill the guy who was trying to read my memories." He told her.

"Sounds interesting." She shook her head and snuggled back into Alex's neck.

"That's it?" He asked, having expected something more, 'A lot more to be honest.' He thought.

"What do you want me to do? I'm not going to threaten to kill the women that you're bonded with, that would make you resent me. Plus, I really don't care about anything other than you and me. The world can go burn for all I care." She said calmly while cutely licking his neck.

"Only you can act so cute while saying something so terrifying." Alex smiled while hugging her back.

"You say that like you care about the world burning." Wanda scoffed at Alex's hypocrisy.

"I'm not against it. I'm just saying it's a terrifying thought." Alex said, "I'm pretty apathetic when it comes to these kinds of things."

"Should we go see these other worlds?" She asked him with curiosity in her voice.

"Sure, you've been focusing on your mystic arts training for the past few months now and it's better to— wait…months?" Alex realized something.

"What?" She asked.

"Shhh." He put a finger on Wanda's lips and made her quiet down. At the same time, he closed his eyes and focused all of his different bodies on the clocks around him and on his internal biological clock.

He started mumbling to himself, "Two months have passed in the MCU Earth, but I've barely spent time with Jane who keeps wandering out in space… Laura's barely been thought two weeks since Wanda's training started…" Alex kept recalling distinct events to match the timelines, "What about the Farm and Research Earths…" He focused on the two conjoined worlds and saw that their time was in perfect sync. Except for those two planets, each and every other planet that he was on had a different 'speed' of time.

"Alex." Wanda shook him, "Are you okay? You've been mumbling weird things for a while now."

"So I have my bodies on most than just this Earth. I have bodies on around 20 of the Earths in this cluster of 40 Earths." He told her. The fact that the cluster had 40 planets that were extremely similar to Earth has been public knowledge for a while now.

"You already told me this," Wanda said.

"Each and every single one of those Earths has a different 'time' that they are running on," Alex told her.

"What do you mean?" She raised her brow.

"Exactly that. One minute here is three minutes on another planet and 10 seconds on another planet. It's messed up. And it's not even consistent." He told her.

"How is that even…" She widened her eyes at his absurd claim.

"Apparently it's possible and it's happening right in front of us." He said, "How long has it been since we did our whole Kamar Taj adventure?" He asked.

"They accepted me two months ago. I became a graduate master of the Mystic arts in two months." She said with a hint of pride in her tone, "Even the current Sorcerer Supreme needed longer than that to master the necessary knowledge."

"I know. And you're amazing for that." Alex gave her forehead a loving kiss, "But that's the thing. Two months have passed here, but only two weeks have passed in another of the Earths, Laura's earth, to be precise."

Wanda got a frown on her face after hearing his words, "But how could you not have noticed that? Aren't you in all of those places simultaneously?" She asked.

"I don't know…" Alex was also a little confused.

"I remember you telling me that your different bodies are like different limbs for you. I'm pretty sure that I'd notice it if one of my arms was moving slower than the other." She told him.

Alex frowned and didn't say anything.

Wanda understood his thoughts, "You think there's some external influence that caused you to not notice it?" She asked.



"Let's not think of the Cosmic Entity that made all of this clusterfuck of Earths possible and get a little grounded." Alex decided as a chill ran down his spine. He would rather not deal with the thought of an overhanging Cosmic Being with powers rivaling the highest gods in the Cosmic hierarchy.

"What could've caused this kind of time dilation of planets that are in such close proximity?" He asked her.

After some thought, Wanda asked him, "Remember movie night two weeks ago?"

"Interstellar?" Alex understood where she was going with this.

"It's possible that all of the planets' gravitational fields are crossing together and causing the time on each planet to get messed up." Wanda gave him her theory.

Alex wasn't completely satisfied by that explanation, "The whole 7 years here is an hour on Earth was because of the presence of a black hole near that planet. They were being devoured by that black hole, which messed up the gravitational fields since Light itself was working at a different speed and frequency…" Alex trailed off as he realized that Wanda's words were correct.

"There is no black hole near us, but there are many planets with their gravity getting all jumbled up together," Wanda said with a smile filled with pride.

"The interference is much weaker than that black hole, and that's why the dilation is so much more minute." He said.

"You know what this means, right?" She asked.

"That it's not just the planets that have different times." Alex understood what she was getting at, "There are probably locations on each planet that have a different 'speed' of time than the other locations."

"What I can't understand is how no one has noticed it yet…" Wanda said, "If nothing else, the day-night cycles should've been messed up."

"That's the weird thing…" Alex said, "Each Earth is also rotating at different speeds around their axes. I can't believe I didn't notice this before." He was almost in disbelief as he looked at the speeds of each planet's rotation from outer space.

"But doesn't that…" Wanda trailed off, confused.

"That's where the time dilation comes in…" Alex explained, "Let's take a simpler example. Two planets, in a cluster, revolving together. Both of them have different speeds of rotation about their axes, i.e. the day-night cycle. One 24 hours and the other 48 hours. You follow me?" He asked.

"Yep." Wanda nodded.

"Now the 48-hour cycle planet has its time dilated and is running at twice the speed of the 'normal timeline' due to the gravitational influence messing the light around it. What does this mean?" He asked her.

"The completion of the 48-hour planet's cycle will take the whole 48 hours in real-time, but the inhabitants of that planet won't realize it and would think that everything is perfectly normal and only 24 hours have passed." She said with a proud expression, though the glint of confusion in her eyes was unmistakable.

"Exactly." Alex smiled at Wanda's expression and continued, "If we consider the actual time that has passed in space, without any external influences as the General Time. This planet is experiencing a single day, but the General Time that has passed is only a couple of hours."

"Ugh… I have a headache." Wanda complained, "Stop making me think about this complicated shit."

Alex knew how to distract Wanda, "I have another idea, do you want to see those special time zones that are moving faster than the outside world? Now that I'm looking for them, it's ridiculously easy to find them." He enticed her. He'd already found a location that was experiencing more time on the inside than on the outside.

"All right, you've convinced me, let's explore." Wanda jumped up on the bed as if her headache never existed and sat up on her knees. She grabbed Alex's arm and shook him, "I wanna see…"

Alex on the other hand didn't listen to her words, all he could see were her tits that were swaying up and down from her jumpy actions.

"Sure, but I have something important to do first," Alex said and Wanda found herself under him as his lips pressed against hers.

***