webnovel

096 Forced Tasks

[Antarctica]

 

In the Man-cave Paul sat as he looked at the sea of information flowing through the screens which he processed in an instant with his mind as he pondered over what he sees.

 

"This really shows some people just crave chaos, though order in chaos does come hand in hand. People tend to think they are different so they do things to insist upon it, but I don't think the world needs this kind of useless thinking for now…" Paul closed his eyes as he looked to the void.

 

"Uatu, there is much to the things related to me friend and I hope you can tell me what might I need to do to understand more of my nature." Paul said as he sat there.

 

"…"

 

"I know what you are going to say, I had just hoped whatever I am now could not have prevented you from seeing past my present moment." Paul felt a bit disappointed when he had a talk with Uatu, the timeline he is in does not go further unless he is present within it.

 

As in his words, this reality Paul is in somehow centered around him due to the vast power inside of him.

 

But there had been a moment he could see and it coincided when Paul was out there beyond the other mutliverses or more likely his real body was beyond the universe he is residing on.

 

"I still am not sure, but I think it is for the best I cannot see you as it means others might also be not able to see as well. Some are just quite troublesome to deal with if they knew you are here." This time a faint voice sounded out making Paul nod as he knew Uatu can hear him from where ever since he had allowed the big blue head guy to hear him.

 

"They? Seems you know quite a lot of beings that might be bothered of my presence my friend." Paul smiled as he closed his eyes and felt the power coursing within his body.

 

"Friend? Quite rare for me to be called a friend." Uatu said as he felt a bit thoughtful of Paul's words.

 

"I think we both know we will outlive many even eons pass, it just feels good to know that there is someone there who could live as long as I could." Paul looked to the void as he understood he only remains human in the outside but who he is right now is vastly different from who he was.

 

Accepting that he might just not be human anymore does bring a sense of emptiness on him but still he clings upon the feelings and memories he has to at least to not lose himself and remain as who he is, to remain as Paul.

 

As soon as he thought of that, a floodgate seemed to have opened within Paul making his senses go into an overdrive as he felt power course through his veins.

 

His eyes glowed as he saw many things around him, including things that has come to pass, things that are happening at present and some images showing what could be.

 

Paul frowned as his epiphany brought upon many things unclear to him come to light and understood that the power within him is starting to coalesce into his very being.

 

He then remembered one of his wishes, that he would never die which is turning him from body and soul into a being beyond death. Though he is not there yet, the feeling of looming end has now disappeared from Paul's feelings all together.

 

"Now even I do not know if this is good or bad for me, but from I can see right now this is more of a good to my part." Paul wondered as he got out of the state that he is in.

 

He felt that he might have become omnipotent in that moment yet it also was apparent that it had drawbacks as Paul looked at the clock and two hours passed in where he felt only seconds have gone by.

 

"It seems you are becoming something that even I cannot fathom." Uatu said as he witnessed something rarely ever seen even in his eons of watch over the multiverse.

 

"It seems so my friend." Paul said as he looked at the clock again and frowned as he found he had spent more than two hours in that state. It was two weeks ahead already than when he had been brooding in this room.

 

He looked around and then spread his senses to get himself up to speed, if seemed there was nothing much happening in the Man-cave but the whole world in in turmoil right now as HYDRA had gone public as they felt themselves pressured in all sides.

 

This caused the whole world to go into disarray but there will always be people present to stand up to adversaries. Iron Man, Captain America and the Winter Soldier started showing up and saving the day from various suicidal plans HYDRA hatched just to prevent SHIELD as well as LEVIATHAN which is under Ophelia Sarkissan's rule from snuffing them out.

 

It seemed the weeks Paul was away somehow gave them a moment of respite from being found in any hiding place they go to. Fury and Ophelia sought him out but Ying Li stopped them from disturbing him when she saw him in his state.

 

Natasha was worried as well as Shana but seeing there was nothing wrong from Paul other than being unresponsive calmed them down a bit.

 

Still Fury proved to be competent as he did things his way making HYDRA stuck in a chokehold again as he used the help of the Skrulls again to slowly corner the remaining stragglers of HYDRA.

 

Paul sat down and pressed a button in his chair as he pondered at the recent events.

 

Soon Ying Li and Yinsen came in the office visibly relieved seeing him awake.

 

"Boss your back." Yinsen said as he looked a bit tired but somehow glad seeing Paul like this.

 

"Sorry about that, I just had an epiphany in my powers that it made me go into a trance to process the changes." Paul smiled as he saw the faces of his subordinates.

 

"Would you like me to report what has happened recently Sir?" Ying Li said as she now looked like a proper assistant to Paul.

 

"No need, I just got what I needed to know just earlier. There is not much need for me to do so the world can go just the way I had planned it to be." Paul' eyes shone again as he found two things that he needed to take care of that might affect his plans.

 

"But it seems there is something you need to do, from what I have heard from the dwarves and assassins, if you need to handle it means it's a big deal." Ying Li said as she looked at Paul.

 

"Yeah, I might be gone for a while but this need to be done as soon as possible." Paul suddenly vanished as he turned serious as he passed through many dimensions in a split second until he finally arrived right in front of a sealed domain where Umar is imprisoned.

 

Umar was alerted as she looked at Paul's face that seemed serious and ready for business, she was a bit taken aback as she looked at his face as she realized this was the real body of Paul.

 

"Paul, to what do I owe this visit?" Umar asked as her eyes batted with visible mist as she felt something within her light up as she looked at Paul.

 

"I'm here to take you away Umar, I have grown fond of you in the time we spent together and I find it a pity to let a beauty like you spend her time here alone, so I'm here to fix that." Paul gave Umar a smile that showed great confidence making the woman's heart beat faster.

 

"Though it is not only your brother I am going to annoy today, I just feel a bit powerful right now that one challenge is not enough for me." Paul's eyes shone with a fire within as he reached out his two hands into the void then made a pulling motion.

 

Soon two large rifts appeared in the horizon and two equally large beings were pulled into the edge of the splinter realms.

 

"Hehe, this is going to be fun." Paul said as his smiled went into a manic grin as his blood started to burn eager for what is to come.

 

 

[New York]

 

"I still can't believe you are still alive, I cried a bit for you too." Tony said as he looked at the face of the man that had saved him during his time as captive of the ten rings.

 

"Only for a bit?" Yinsen said as he was happy Paul gave him the go to be able to come out in public again.

 

"Well, I got busy soon trying to save the world so things got held up for quite some time." Tony smiled as he looked to the side seeing the chatting people that had just been with him on their recent mission.

 

"I know, Sir Paul let me see all your exploits along with other blunders you did." Yinsen smiled as he said that while Stark looked at him and asked.

 

"What blunders? And you were peeking on me?" Tony said that while making a gesture of covering his chest with his hands.

 

"Sort of, Sir Paul does watch over earth like its guardian, besides there is a limit as to what we could see because there is still some privacy protection programming placed upon his surveillance systems…" Yinsen's eyes shone as he explained the various things he got to use in Paul's laboratories.

 

"… that sounds amazing, but still you being alive still makes my head swirl. I just cannot get my thoughts around it, it's like magic and that's coming from me. I guess things are at least getting better, I can now have peace in a regret I once had." Tony sat back and looked at the room inside the bar they drank in.

 

It was one of the hideouts SHIELD prepared for them and they were said to wait for a specialist to guide them in some new toys that were given as a gift by their powerful consultant.

 

And to Stark's surprise it was Yinsen who was sent over to show the team the gadgets made for them to at least equalize the playing field since more and more powered people just keeps appearing one after the other.

 

Paul noticed this early on and found the number of metahumans appearing seems to be much more than what he had thought would be by using the knowledge he knows as base.

 

But it seems the reality of the situation made it apparent that the world itself seems to be adapting to the birth of heroes in a much more rapid manner.

 

Heroes bring upon challenge thus birthing more elements to balance out the scale, the amount of causality might have tilted too much on one side when Paul's arrival caused too much help upon the side of the 'Good'.

 

That is why as he saw the interactions of people that should have been and those that are meant to be present, he knew he needed to do something to ensure that the birth of existences that are fated to be adversaries to the heroes.

 

And such he challenged those that would birth many of the problems the earth are going to face and bring more time to the people of earth.

 

[China]

 

"Hmm?" Paul's clone, the snake version, suddenly looked serious as he looked into the void.

 

Right now other than this one, there are 5 other clones active as Paul had them pulled back so he could focus on his battle that he had started.

 

But it seemed that he might just have to leave only four active, one the Badger Clone, Lion Clone, Snake clone and Hawk Clone. The rest of the avatars were pulled back into the storage ring worn by the Badger clone.

 

Paul knew he might need to pull more of his focus away so he hurried in making sure the companies he had made could be left under the AI he had designed to handle them altogether.

 

He already had built a system that brought him tens of millions every hour and would use his funds automatically to further his plans in the earth he had envisioned.

 

It was then he and everything around paused, as time seemed to have stopped. The clones can perceive and see everything around them but it made Paul shocked as years of memories came flooding in as his battle concluded in a manner he did not expect to have done.

 

[?????]

 

"Urghhh…" Paul groaned as he stood up from the ground he is on, he looked around and found himself in the middle of the desert where a large crash site could be seen with him in the middle.

 

"Shit… how did I arrive here again?" Paul said as he closed his eyes and remembered the last moments before he blacked out.

 

[Flashback!!]

 

"YOU!! DIE!!" Dormammu said as his gigantic body swung the equally gigantic sword made out of energy towards Paul who had transformed into the strongest from he could muster.

 

Two planet size titans fighting tooth and nail as the boundaries of reality were rippling at the force of their fight.

 

Umar stood in awe as she saw her brother seemingly faltering as he was being pushed back by Paul.

 

He would have lost already if not for the other being invited in the fight when Paul pulled him from the fiery dimension he resides in.

 

"IS THIS ALL YOU HAVE??!! BOTH OF YOU DARED TO COVET THE PLANET I RESIDE AND THIS IS ALL YOU CAN MUSTER AGAINST ME?! PATHETIC!!" Paul cackled in an evil way as he rained down blows by the millions per second as he looked at the battered body of the powerful dimensional entity in front of him.

 

"Must we fight for such? Why not just fall back and we will concede this small planet to your rule." A voice sounded out in the void which made Paul twist his body in a weird manner as to dodge pillars of hell fire sent towards his direction.

 

"HAHAHA!! A DEVIL INDEED!! Sneak attacks now eh? Come one Mephisto, I know you are much more than that and do you even believe in your words? I know how much you've been poking around to get some souls of innocents within earth even when you know it is under the protection of Odin Borson!" Paul's body vanished as he appeared somewhere far with a smaller form and rained down thousands of punches right in front of him.

 

A tall red skinned being that looked like the spitting image of the devil appeared with bat-like wings and long curved horns while holding a crimson pitchfork thrumming with eldritch energies.

 

"That is not of consequence to me, he is merely an obstacle I can take away if I wish, but you on the other hand interest me. I can cede the mortal plane to you and bother you no longer, but this provocation must still be addressed." Mephisto's eyes shone crimson as he too started attacking Paul as he wanted to know more of this powerful being that had just appeared out of nowhere.

 

"Hah! I am not into men yuck. But your daughter on the other hand is quite something, I know you will not abide your words even if you promise them to me so I invited you both to see what will happen if you try to fuck around earth once more. Your pride won't allow you to bend even when knowing I am present on earth, so my fist will engrave it into you being that my earth is off limits!!" Paul's body radiated power like no other as he appeared in thousands of places at the same time and bombarded the two powerful dimensional beings making them shout in pain.

 

"You will die for that, I had felt a disturbance in that small planet but never knew what it was and here you are bringing yourself to light. I must say, I am disappointed." Mephisto said as his eyes glowed crimson while sending large swathes of hellfire towards Paul.

 

"The feeling is mutual, you only look the part but you lack the gravitas one would think 'The Devil' should have." Paul smirked as he sent thousands of fireballs made by his fist towards the plumes of hellfire to stop them in their tracks.

 

"You're the one who has been stopping my advances on my food, then I shall dine in relish once you are dead!!" Dormammu sent a gigantic purple beam of energy towards Paul but he was met with a dozen shockwaves that looked like a stampede of elephants.

 

It had been millions of years for them since they last felt such pain that they did not understand how Paul inflicted such damage into their bodies.

 

Soon the splinter realms faced as crisis as three powerful beings on the dimensional level or over fought tooth and nail within the edges of the whole frail reality.

 

The two beings, Dormammu and Mephisto were confused as to how they were dragged into this fight but their years of experience told them that if they do not reciprocate then they will face a much harder time in the future.

 

And they were right; Paul dragged them here to test out whom he should prioritize in giving trouble with in the future.

 

He knew peaceful times would only persist if these two who were mostly the primary suspects in inter-dimensional demons and monsters going into earth.

 

In his opinion, Fury is already equipped to handle most of the problems going into Earth's way but some things that require a bit of power means a lot of victims.

 

Paul does not find himself to be a hero or someone selfless to do whatever for the planet but he is selfish enough to not want some demon going about making things hard for people around him.

 

Though there are some that also do some problematic things in earth that are in the level of these two, Paul has no idea where they are for the moment.

 

As he pondered upon this while fighting, a bright light erupted between the three as they were about to clash again one more time.

 

{ENOUGH!!}

 

It was then a bright golden light flashed before the three as they were about to clash one more time, Paul, Mephisto and Dormammu were shocked how they were pushed back like they were children.

 

It was then the being that pushed them apart revealed itself, a gigantic man with a golden body and a floating head with three faces covered with a purple hood looking over them like a judge weighing their sins within his hands.

 

{This battle is to be ceased this instant, such levels of destruction is an affront to the cycle of the Universe. 'He' has demanded of you to return to your realms and parley this in the nearby future.}

 

The Living Tribunal's words asked for no refusal as he waved his hands and pure unknown divine powers wrapped around Mephisto and Dormammu in an instant and sending them back to their homes.

 

But the two powerful beings did not resist as they look at TLT(short for The Living Tribunal) with solemn looks while glancing at Paul with uncertainty in their eyes.

 

Usually when things get heated between the battles of beings at their level, rarely was there ever a time 'He' had interfered. They might be powerful that there are only a handful of beings able to make them fight seriously, yet even they only have a fleeting understanding on who 'He' is.

 

So seeing that even the one made to be the arbitrator within the Universe stepping in to stop their fight meant that whoever their interloper is means that they should just forget ever coveting the small planet that is earth.

 

The two beings scoffed as they looked at Paul trying to burn his image into their minds taking note of how such a Wild card suddenly appeared out of nowhere and could even push them both to the brink that they might have been seriously injured had TLT not interfered.

 

They had seen when they fought how this opponent of theirs seemed to have unlimited source of energy that it felt heavy in their senses, as they vanished Paul was oddly silent as he looked at the three headed Oscar award looming over him like he owed him a ton of money.

 

{'He' is waiting…}

 

That was all TLT said as he waved his hand making Paul alert for a moment but relaxed and let the divine power take him somewhere.

 

Soon he stood within a vast expanse of white space that seemed to have no end in sight, Paul took a moment to stabilize his thoughts as he turned around to see a genial old man scribbling on a desk within the white space.

 

The sound of his pen scratching the paper on the table was quite profound as Paul felt like the weight of the world was within those old wrinkled hands.

 

"Hey, that's a bit rude don't you think? I do moisturize my hands from time to time." The old man said as he smiled looking at Paul at the side.

 

"?" his words confused Paul as he didn't feel any mental intrusion at all yet somehow his mind was read.

 

"I didn't read it kid, you've just been looking at my hands for quite a while." The old man stopped scribbling and placed the pen down while reaching to the side of the table to get the tinted glasses then putting it on him.

 

"I'm sorry, it was indeed rude of me." Paul swallowed a bit as he felt some pressure facing this old man in front of him yet somehow all he could feel was gentle warmth and peacefulness from the man.

 

"Don't sweat it kid, I've been rather intrigued about you since you came here so I have been watching for a while." As the old man said this, the scenery changed as he and Paul were now sitting inside a coffee shop drinking a hot cup of beverage.

 

"Uhmm… So you are the creator of everything huh?" Paul said nervously as he felt like he was a student facing the principal of their school because of something he did wrong.

 

"Well true, but also not quite. I just kick started the whole thing and let most of the things run its course. But we are not here to talk about that, I called you in to discuss about something else entirely." The old man smiled as his croissant on his coffee.

 

"O-okay…" Paul gulped down as he felt that he might have indeed gone overboard when he fought Dormammu and Mephisto at the same time.

 

"It's not about them kid, I don't mind your actions at all in that certain reality. In fact I am thankful because lots of things changed when you arrived." The old man smiled gently as he looked at Paul with thankful eyes.

 

"Before you ask what you change, I myself do not know. Which is surprising really, but I can tell you this. The reality you are in has become some sort of fence that surrounded the Tree protecting everything around in including its branches." As the old man narrated their locations changed as he and Paul now stood somewhere in the void looking over a looming tree made up of many green threads.

 

Somewhere on the side a root of the tree somehow crept far from the tree and grew into a circular fence around the tree.

 

"Kid, you don't know how much that power inside you affected that line right there." The old man pointed out to the circular fence.

 

"You can affect fate kid, in ways I cannot predict. Thus some people took interest about that and did something that I might need to ask for forgiveness from you." The old man chuckled with a tone of self-defeat in his voice.

 

"What do you mean by that?" Paul frowned as he felt something was wrong with the words the old man just said.

 

"Your power made a timeline become a barrier, your very existence changed the course of the timeline to be out of father's control. Yet now when something 'beyond' wants to get in, they will have to get past that reality of yours first. And it made it hard to get in to thanks to the power of that 'thing' within your neck." This time another voice joined in as a tall handsome man walked from the side with a confident stride in him.

 

"*Sigh* This kid, you really went and done something unnecessary that I have to get ahead and ask for forgiveness from this guest of ours." The old man seemed annoyed as he looked at the man that arrived.

 

Paul frowned as he felt great danger from this man, greater than that of Mephisto and Dormammu. Paul's mind whirred in thousands of miles per second as he tried to think of who this man is.

 

He looked for his memories of his father and his uncles talking about matters concerning Marvel and DC superheroes that one particular topic went into mind as he looked at the bright silver spandex attire of this man like he was from the 70s.

 

"The Beyonder…" Paul frowned as from what he can remember this man is bad news.

 

"Whoa, reign in that hostility mate. I'm not here to look for a fight, but you might still hate me cause when I found out it was you who made such a 'wall' for us had me thinking of many things." The Beyonder smiled as he sat down without care in front of the creator of the reality he was borne in.

 

"Why am I here?" Paul asked as he felt there was something he was missing here.

 

"Kid, just don't be angry okay? He just means well after all but sometimes his impatience makes him do things without considering everything." The old man just sighed as he looked at this wayward child of his.

 

"So I guess you're a mediator here or something?" Paul turned his eyes towards the Beyonder as he felt a sense of emptiness within his heart.

 

"That's right, but I had to since unlike pops here that cannot leave to get the recent news from our neighbors, I on the other hand had been getting information and boy was I surprised when I found out about some of your escapades in other worlds." The Beyonder smiled gleefully as he looked at Paul.

 

"You…" Paul's frown deepened as he felt tense all of a sudden.

 

"And those worlds now have walls that are serving as a buffer zone from the corruption from 'beyond', now I come back and find the same thing to my home. I was quite surprised myself seeing it then finding out you were responsible." The Beyonder's eyes were crazed as he looked excited staring at Paul.

 

"You made a universal wall!! Hahaha!! Usually when something wants to get in they can go through many gaps but now? They would have to pass by your universe first, making monitoring outsiders much easier!" The Beyonder laughed as he said this feeling excited as he drawled on and on about how great having insurance like this was.

 

Paul listened and realized somehow the universe he was in became a border of some sort that prevented intrusion directly into the Multiverse from what they call 'Outsiders'.

 

"But, I am an outsider. And my question I asked hasn't been answered yet." Paul said as he looked at the faces of the two beings in front of him.

 

"Hmm… like I said I had traveled beyond my father's creations and went to other places as well. But not as efficient as you did, also I was not able to influence their Multiverses like what you did." The Beyonder then pulled something out of his pocket and threw it towards Paul making him catch the item.

 

"This!" Paul stood in shock as within his hands was The One Ring itself, he was shocked since he knew that this was the real deal feeling the familiar power within it yet somehow it did not have the malice like it did before.

 

"An acquaintance of mine wanted to say thank you, their Multiverse gained a fence as well because of you. Thus they made this to repay you for what you've done, you might be familiar with storage rings right?" The Beyonder smiled as he saw Paul frown for a moment and then was shocked again as he saw the contents of the ring.

 

"You still have no idea what you are boy, so to help you understand I brought it upon myself to bring to light what sort of existence you are." The Beyonder stood up and this time a Metalic bracelet was now in his hands.

 

"You don't have to do this! He can stay here and find out about what he is eventually." The old man said as he held The Beyonder's hands that held the watch.

 

"Father, you know it yourself that even your creations are not safe when many of those 'Outsiders' just come by and make a mess of things. They come and go as they please and pillage without care!" The Beyonder said as he looked serious at the moment at the old man.

 

"You said 'Outsiders', again what does that have to do with me being called over here?" Paul said as he looked towards the Beyonder with serious eyes.

 

"You know it yourself that you are an 'Outsider' but your nature does show you are not like most of what they are. These beings could also travel the void like you and go beyond, they are like us yet they do not have a 'Home' to stay on so they pillage and steal from other worlds." The Beyonder's words made Paul confused as he felt they were somehow disturbing in his words.

 

"With your Universe now being the wall, me and my kind have situated nearby so we can watch over those that try to break in other than you. Not like we can stop you since your powers are unique even to outsiders." He continued on but Paul did not interrupt since he felt what was important was almost about to be divulged.

 

"So when we did, many 'friends' from beyond reached out and asked for your assistance. They too were plagued by the problems caused by these 'Outsiders' so they too wanted a fence where they can watch over in case someone wanted to get in their creations." The Beyonder then smiled with a bit of sinister within them.

 

"And as I said, I took liberty when you were busy fighting to assist these 'friends' of my kind. So I let them take a part of you that you can follow so you can go make walls for them. But you would benefit from this as well as you would learn in this Journey what you are." The Beyonder looked at Paul with great interest as he talked.

 

"Kid, I can attest he means well but sometimes things are just not that appealing if you hear his following words. You can still stay here and learn in time of your inherent uniqueness but the friends of my kids also are closely related to me." The old man looked apologetic and this made Paul feel more uncertain as he felt the emptiness from earlier widen.

 

"A part of me?" Paul asked as he looked at the Beyonder as he frowned deeper while clenching his fist as a feeling of loss became more apparent by the second as he looked at the Beyonder's smug smile.

 

"Hehehe, I have watched many like you over the years in many of my father's branch creations and I can confidently say that it is in your interest to hear what I am about to say to you." The Beyonder's eyes gleamed with cunning as he conjured the metal bracelet again that seemed to have a bizarre luster that entail's its materials were not ordinary.

 

"Stop this round about fashion of speaking and tell me already, my patience is wearing thin." The space shuddered due to the power Paul exuded as he felt increasingly annoyed by the antics of this man in front of him.

 

"Hoohoo…" The old man looked around interested by the phenomenon done by the changes of emotion by Paul while the Beyonder looked around as well as he seemed to have affirmed something from seeing the same thing as his creator.

 

"Well then, I guess I should lay it all out then. I and some of my siblings have found the need for you to learn how to control your powers better. You have grown too fast in too short a time that you might not realize the extent of your strength…" The Beyonder then handed the metal bracelet towards Paul who seemed to be thinking which 'siblings' did The Beyonder mention.

 

"…inside that are coordinates of different realities closely related to us that they had asked for your presence in a chosen Universe of their choosing. Like it as mentioned earlier, your presence creates a wall for the Multiverse of said Universe as long as you spend enough time changing the flow of narrative and Fate within said Universe…"

 

"…but as you are quite powerful yourself, we found it hard to force you should you decline so we have made arrangements to ensure your participation. But do not worry, we also prepared to give compensation depending as to what you ask that is within our powers…" The Beyonder was about to continue but Paul stopped him as he was getting confused.

 

"I get it that you are saying that the wall that is going to be made is a Universe that I have changed due to my presence like changing the timeline or story. But does it have to be me and why can none of you do it yourselves? And what arrangements did you prepare to even make me do this?" Paul said as he felt the answer is not something he would like to hear.

 

"…We…sort of kidnapped your girlfriends as well as some of your people and pets." The Beyonder smiled as he said that as a punch flew towards his face but somehow Paul felt the space between his fist and his face seemed to be a universe apart but Paul concentrated and broke through but The Beyonder had already warped away as to not get hurt.

 

The in front of Paul's fist churned as it seemed to be like a still sea suddenly rampaging through a storm.

 

"Whoa whoa there, I did say you will be compensated as well as learn how to understand what you are. Because if you don't then there will be a time when something irreversible happens should that power inside you be taken away…" The Beyonder looked at Paul's glaring eyes as he saw that the source of the power used by the wishes was slowly affecting him.

 

"You can feel it as well, a boon I must say that your soul is getting stronger by the minute but the source of your change is still too powerful and volatile. Thus whatever we arranged would only be beneficial for you." The Beyonder stopped smiling as he looked seriously at Paul.

 

"And why should I trust you?" Paul calmed down as bit as he did feel the difference in his behavior, it was minute at first but as he thought about it he realized how much he had changed from gaining the power that he has.

 

He thought that indeed power changes a man, yet somehow his changes were different from what he had expected. He might not be a normal human anymore but he did try to cling to his humanity yet somehow he realized how indifferent he was from the deaths of the many people he had harmed.

 

"Don't think too much about it, you being indifferent is not a problem as sometimes it is your mind protecting you from breaking down when things get too much sometimes. Your change only appeared recently which was noticed by me and some of my children." The Old man patted Paul in the shoulders as he was brought back from his rumination.

 

"Father is right, that is why we had to take drastic measures to ensure you are able to control and make that power yours in this task we are about to give you. Like most outsiders like you dream about, going on a quest and adventure." The Beyonder's signature smug smile returned as he looked at Paul who closed his eyes trying to sense something.

 

"Don't worry kid, while you are away I'll slow down things for you. Even it takes you centuries it would have been only a few weeks here. But that is only if you accept their offer or would you still like to take me up on my words? I can take back what they hid away if you agree." The old man smiled kindly as he looked at Paul.

 

"…" Paul was silent as he looked at the old man then at The Beyonder as he thought about their words. He did worry about not getting a hang of his powers yet and wanted to solve it but he also wanted a relaxing life here without any worries.

 

'*sigh* Who am I kidding? I want a relaxing life when the looming threat of losing everything exist means I have to finish this as soon as I could.' Paul's eyes shone as he too didn't want to risk not understanding what changed him.

 

"Alright, I accept." Paul said as he looked at The Beyonder and wore the metallic bracelet.

 

"Great! I promise that you won't regret it!" The Beyonder smiled happily as he sent a stream of light into the bracelet somehow activating it making Paul feel the 'Coordinates' of the Universes where he can feel Natasha, Shanna, Smaug and the many others that were taken as 'guests'.

 

"Oh I suggest that you go first to the lowest ranked Universe because for you to understand your powers you must learn from the bottom. So please don't resist the bracelet's powers as soon as you are about to enter that place." The Beyonder reminded Paul as he looked over the various coordinates and found the lowest ranked was where the Three Mini Kaijus George, Lizzie and Ralph were sent along with some of the Leviathans made by Paul with Rita including some young giant crabs then Smaug who is still in cat form from the images shown.

 

There was also Sapphire along with two elves who were his lieutenants when he led as the Iron Lord , then Sonia and Kana for some reason. The elves were the ones he gave some advanced leg prosthesis that made them loyal to Paul that they had never questioned his orders.

 

"I think I'll need an hour to make arrangements for my absence…" Paul said as he focused on his avatar's whereabouts making him realize how much of a scam this dimension he was pulled into by the old man.

 

He can barely feel the Avatar even when he used all of his focus but it became clearer as the restrictions on the space loosened. He opened his eyes and looked to the old man and nodded then vanished in a blink of an eye.

 

"*Sigh* Kid, though he will learn a lot from this it will be hard for him to trust us again in the future." The old man said as he looked at The Beyonder.

 

"I don't need him to trust us, I just need him to become more dangerous for those guys. He may be wary of us but he will not hate us like he hates those who played with his original home. Those guys are starting to get overboard in their actions recently." The Beyonder's eyes sharpened as he thought about the things he saw scouting out the various different realities neighboring his father's creations.

 

"Still I'm quite angry you used some of my creations as hostages… well gotta go think of what to give the kid when he gets back." The old man then returned to his drawing table and started scribbling again.

 

 (A/N: I burned a few couple braincells in the making of this chapter, trying to understand and even think on how a being beyond time and space would act was hard. But I remembered that The Beyonder was a Class-A prick and that was enough to go by yet I did not try to make him annoying or anything, just someone who does not think about what others feel.

Whew, still have 15K words to edit which is me triple checking if I got the lore of the next world right. Though the next realities will always be AUs, the lore will mostly be followed while some missing details will be filled on based on what some of my brain cells can imagine.)

次の章へ