Drastic steps

Niklaus stood still, staring at the levitating Space Stone before him.

He could feel the weight of the decision pressing down on his chest.

He closed his eyes and turned his focus inward.

Slowly, he descended into the bottomless pit of filth he called his soul—a place he had long tried to ignore.

It was dark, cold, and chaotic, filled with emotions, thoughts, and memories that he'd pushed down, buried deep inside.

The pain, the regret, the bitterness, the insecurities and the countless moments that had shaped him into who he had become.

At the bottom, there it all was—the twisted version of himself he had created over the years.

The cruelty, the endless hunger for power, the deep-seated self-loathing, the scars of every wrong choice.

They were all piled up, like a festering wound in his soul.

He opened his eyes within this void, looking at himself with a mixture of disgust and clarity.

This was what had kept him trapped.

He knew it now.

The pieces of him that dragged him toward darkness, the constant battle between what he had become and what he once was.

He didn't hesitate any longer.

Niklaus reached down, his hand glowing with a reality-warping energy, and pierced his own soul.

The pain was instant, searing through every part of him.

His hand delved deep into the very core of his being, finding those parts of himself that had held him back, the parts that led him down this path.

With a twist of his hand, he began to extinguish them.

The memories of needless cruelty, the poisonous regrets, the doubts, the overwhelming guilt the unconscious arogance —they all started to unravel.

His reality-warping abilities bent the fabric of his own soul, wiping away these parts of himself like erasing a piece of corrupted data.

The emotions, so deeply ingrained, flickered, struggled, and finally… ceased to exist.

He felt lighter, clearer, but also… hollow.

He had burned away pieces of who he was—cut them out like a surgeon removing a cancerous tumor.

For a moment, he stood in that endless void, feeling the space left behind by what he'd destroyed.

It wasn't peace, not yet.

But it was… silence.

Opening his eyes back in the physical world, he reached for the Space Stone, his decision now final.

He would no longer be held back by what he once was.

He would become a new himself , something more.

He swallowed the stone.

As soon as he did so the cosmic energy began to merge with him and then reality around him seemed to stretch.

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Inside Niklaus's Mind:

The instant the stone touched his tongue, the universe reacted.

Niklaus's vision blurred as he felt the immense power of the Space Stone surge through him.

His entire being vibrated, every atom within him trembling as the energy began to assimilate.

Niklaus was abruptly thrust into a sensory overload.

He could feel every nook and cranny of space, every crevice of existence.

His consciousness was flung across the cosmos, entwining with the very fabric of reality itself.

Black holes twisted and warped, their gravitational forces wrenching through his mind as if the space aeoind them was himself.

The complexities of magical incantations intertwined with the raw, chaotic energies of the universe.

Nebulae swirled around him, their colors bleeding into one another in a cosmic dance.

---

Third-Person Perspective:

In the vast expanse of the cosmos, the presence of Niklaus became a focal point of cosmic disturbance.

The Sorceress Supreme in her Sanctum sensed the shift.

Her protective wards flickered, adapting in response to the upheaval as the dimensional boudaries become blurred for the slightest of moment.

Odin, from his throne in Asgard, frowned as the celestial equilibrium wavered.

He could feel the disturbance,throigh the odin force as Asgard's realm seemed to stretch for a momen.

His eyes narrowed in concern.

Galactus, floating in the void, sensed the ripple of power.

His immense hunger seemed to pause as he felt the cosmic energies pause for a moment and rejoice .

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Back to Niklaus:

In the midst of this cosmic chaos, a surprising sense of warmth enveloped him.

It was like being held in a comforting embrace.

For a brief, serene instant, Niklaus felt as though he was being wrapped in a fatherly hug.

The sensation was intensely soothing, a stark contrast to the cold, indifferent expanse around him.

He felt a gentle hand on his back, and tears welled up in his eyes.

In that fleeting moment, a figure appeared in his vision—a man bathed in light, exuding an overwhelming sense of love and support.

[IMAGE]

The figure's presence was like a beacon of hope in the vast, impersonal universe.

But just as quickly as it had appeared, it faded away, leaving Niklaus with a deep, aching sense of loss and longing.

As Niklaus was recovering from this sensation.

It felt as though an immense, metaphorical lock had clicked into place, stopping the immense flow of power and knowledge as it all reeled back within him.

The vast, overwhelming sensation of existence ceased in an instant, and he found himself back in his lab.

The once familiar surroundings now seemed almost mundane in contrast to the cosmic spectacle he had just experienced.

Niklaus looked down at his hands, noticing that his skin had transformed.

[IMAGE]

It shimmered with the deep, rich hues of the cosmos, reflecting an intricate image of galaxies and stars.

His body now appeared as though it were a living canvas of the universe, each movement revealing the vast expanse of space within him.

The Space Stone had been fully absorbed, and its power had seamlessly integrated into his being.

The energy that had once torn through space and time now flowed through him no , from him in a controlled, serene manner.

Niklaus felt a profound shift within himself—an immense capability harnessed with an unspoken understanding of the cosmic forces at his command.

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