Microsoft

Allen took that as a challenge, and the two continued their little adventure through the city—though not without first disguising themselves as regular guards.

Mera wanted to ask Allen where he got those clothes and, more importantly, where he was hiding them, but she held back and put on the outfit. It didn't differ much from her original attire, except now she had a helmet that covered her face better. Same with Allen.

Mera started undressing absentmindedly, forgetting she wasn't alone. She was halfway out of her chest plate when she suddenly flinched and looked at Allen, who stood frozen in shock.

"Pervert!" Mera shouted, covering herself.

"Hey! Not my fault—you're the one who started undressing!" Allen turned around and began changing. He could've used the system to instantly change clothes, but during this era, he was extra cautious about showing anything at all.

"…?" Allen looked at the Atlantean guard's chest plate, confused. He didn't know how to open it. He had only asked the system to make two of those outfits.

Mera laughed at Allen's struggle with the armor and helped him. It was an oddly harmonious moment, with a surprising amount of physical contact. After that, they continued their outing.

At some point, Mera forgot her mission to keep an eye on Allen—she even forgot her identity as a princess. It was a fun afternoon, even if it ended with them being chased by a Megalodon in the deep sea.

They returned to Allen's guest room cautiously, but it turned out no one had noticed their absence.

Mera saw how late it was and bid Allen goodbye with a smile.

[Host, it didn't take you long to make a move on another woman. I see a future full of situations like this…]

If I did that, how could I face Gwen? I'll behave…

[Sure you will…]

That wouldn't be the only time Mera and Allen snuck out of the castle. Over the next three days, they visited as many places as they could. Allen even realized that, despite living in Atlantis, Mera hadn't seen most of these locations—further proof she might not have been born there. Regardless of her past, Allen was happy to see the red-haired girl smile…

…

Allen was reaching his limit. There was only so much disrespect a person could tolerate. True, he wasn't being mistreated. He was getting fancy food and good service. But that wasn't why he came here—he came for an audience. The excuse from the royal guards was that Queen Atlanna wasn't feeling well. He knew that, and that was precisely why he had brought some Amazonian medicine to help her. Still, Allen hadn't mentioned it, suspecting that if he handed the medicine to the guards, it might never reach the queen.

Allen snuck through the castle, searching for the queen. He knew that if he wanted to see her, he had to take action on his own—no matter the consequences.

Nothing and no one would stop him...

...

Allen shuddered and opened his eyes...

"I'm so stupid..."

[Allen, are you okay?]

"Yeah, I just remembered something..."

[I suppose it's a problem with a woman…]

"…"

Allen felt offended, but when he thought about it, 90% of his problems had two sources: either apocalypses... or women.

He didn't want to reply to the system and give it the satisfaction of being right, so he got up to start his morning routine. After that, while eating breakfast, he considered visiting Themyscira. This desire, of course, had been sparked by the dreams that had been haunting him lately.

"Yeah, I should go to DC... I'll contact Donna, Artemis, and Diana to join me. I'll even call Xiana and Daphne, who are probably bored in Invincible Universe 2."

With that in mind, Allen got up in a good mood, unaware of what awaited him once he crossed into DC. But before that, Allen had decided to take care of some things in his own world.

---

Allen paid a visit to Emma Frost. The woman who breathed money had built him a themed skyscraper as a monument, but she noticed it wasn't to his liking. Not to mention that Allen felt downright embarrassed seeing statues of himself here and there.

Emma understood that and moved to a more modest residence near Allen's apartment.

When he knocked on the door, it immediately opened, and he found Emma wearing an apron like a proper housewife. Allen smiled, fully aware that this woman was a business predator, and an apron would be the last thing she'd normally wear.

"Hello, Emma."

"Oh, it's such a pleasure to have you visit, darling."

The woman had been subtly tracking his movements and must've known he was coming the moment he stepped out of his apartment, but he didn't call her out on it. Upon entering, he was welcomed by the warmth of a second home. Emma had gone to great lengths to decorate this place according to Allen's tastes, using as a reference the kinds of homes he usually lived in.

Allen was guided to a sofa—it was eerily identical to the one in his luxury apartment back in the Invincible world.

"Let me get you something to drink."

Wearing clothes worth as much as a week-long cruise under that apron, the woman made an effort to play the part of a proper wife. Allen noticed she wasn't wearing any jewelry that he hadn't given her. She wore her signature blue lipstick and matching eye shadow, but no longer wore makeup—something she never really needed in the first place.

Allen reached out and stopped her from leaving. She looked at him silently before smiling and allowing herself to be pulled down onto the sofa. She fell into the arms of her lover—because at this point, that's what defined them best. They spent a long time catching up. Hours later, there was a kiss that escalated quickly, and Emma's clothes began to fall to the floor.

---

Allen also went to see Mystique, who, of course, was using the appearance of Tearju. She had dark circles under her eyes from staying up late grading homework. As soon as she saw Allen at the door, she panicked and slammed it shut in an attempt to clean her apartment and freshen up. However, Allen appeared behind her and grabbed her by the waist before taking her to bed.

---

After many hours together, both lay in bed. Mystique had returned to her real form, which had a bluish tone.

"Now that I know the truth... is it really necessary to use that appearance?" Allen smiled.

During their earlier activity, Mystique had switched between her original self and the blonde anime beauty.

Resting against his chest, Mystique ran her hand over him and replied, "I have my reasons... First of all, it was the form you met me in... Second, I feel comfortable with it. Being a woman who doesn't technically exist, it's easy to see myself in her—as a sort of second body..."

Allen, in the past, would've tried to convince Mystique that it wasn't necessary. But he had already experienced what it was like to have two bodies during Ragnarok, and honestly, it hadn't felt strange at all. It was more like a transformation—like going Super Saiyan.

Still...

Allen lowered his head and used his hand to kiss her, letting her know he respected her choice but also making it clear that it wasn't necessary—because he liked her either way.

---

Allen left the apartment and decided to visit more women.

Boom!

An explosion caught his attention for a moment, but he quickly looked away. He was already used to it. Not just him—most people no longer reacted dramatically to things like this.

Makima – As always, the human ability to adapt to any environment is astonishing...

Albedo – That's why they're so hard to exterminate, despite being weak.

Rebecca – Hey, what's with all the hostility, bitches?

Artoria – …

Wednesday – Something wrong, Artoria?

Artoria – It's not a big deal... I was just wondering. These past few days we've seen superheroes and villains fighting all over New York—many times, we've seen different variants of the same individual...

Jalter – And what's your point?

Kurumi – Ara~ how impatient~ Let her finish~

"Go on, Artoria."

Artoria appeared on Allen's shoulder in a chibi version and looked into the distance. "It's just... I find it kind of odd that not a single Allen Walker has shown up..."

The girls, Allen, and even the system went silent. In the Invincible world, it had been proven that even the main character has variants in other universes. However, even though Allen had confirmed the existence of parallel worlds of his own universe... he had never seen a single variant of himself.

Of course, there's a high possibility that he's unique—like Angstrom Levy. That would make sense, considering most of his powers come from the system.

If that's the case, then in other worlds, Allen would just be a regular civilian who would probably die in these kinds of conflicts. Because the other possibility is absurd—it implies that Allen is a unique entity in his multiverse.

Allen shrugged as a "thing" emerged from a building. It was massive, had orange rock-like skin, and wore a trench coat and fedora like a classic private detective. The thing cracked its neck in annoyance as it walked forward.

"That wasn't very nice..." it said.

"HULK SMASH!"

Hulk fell from the sky, landing on The Thing. The impact sent shockwaves while the ground beneath them cracked. Then the two resumed their battle with bare fists.

It was pretty incredible to see a colossus like Hulk go at it. Both of them fought without dodging—just massive punches thrown back and forth with such intensity that even the public started cheering.

Seeing people start to cheer instead of running away gave Allen a strange feeling. What was his world becoming? Some kind of online fighting game server?

Allen refused to get absorbed in it. He shook his head and turned away... he still had a few more places to visit before heading to DC.