Chapter 285: Symbiote 0285: Announcement (2/2)

Symbiote 0285: Announcement (2/2)

The room was soon filled up with most of the members of the new team having populated the seats.

“Since most of you are here. Let us start,” Captain America addressed the room of a little over two hundred street-level heroes. “I’m Samantha, the handler of the Neo Avengers. This is for the Mutants in the room. I have already talked to most of the others, after all. You’ve been called back today because we will move on to the battle’s final stretch against Mandarin. This here is Mr. Apex, someone who will be critical for our upcoming battle.” The African-American woman stepped aside and allowed the suited man beside her to take up the podium.

“Greetings,” Alex’s voice itself had a magnetic quality that captured the attention of every single person in the room. “You don’t know me yet, but you will, eventually. I am taking temporary control of the Neo Avengers to combat the threat of the Mandarin. You’ve all done very well in cleaning out most of the bombs that were planted by them in New York, but that’s not enough. They don’t lack manpower or resources. It will only take them a small amount of time to plant more explosives and bring even more terror to the state and the country. But I can’t do it myself. In the next few days, I will run an operation to lure out the man behind all this terror, but I will need your help to make it successful. Are you with me?”

The collective agreement shook the room.

‘Man, I should thank Doctor Faustus and his hypnosis knowledge. Crowd control is so much easier and less suspicious with these natural charisma techniques.’

While Alex could do the same with Chaos Magic, that would be much more suspicious and detectable than just using natural charisma abilities. Even telepaths like Emma Frost couldn’t see anything wrong with these techniques because they weren’t actual abilities but merely simple charisma-enhancing techniques that anyone could use.

After a few more instructions, the group dispersed enthusiastically.

“So, how do you plan to lure Shang Chi out into the open? We can’t fight in his facility. Strange detected enough nuclear material in there to blow this state to smithereens if he got desperate enough,” Samantha spoke to Alex in a slightly low voice.

“The Reality Stone is a hack …” Alex sighed. “There is an underlying reason that he went against his original orders and is trying to take over the planet. Revenge.”

“When is it not?” She scoffed.

“Listen,” Alex’s impassive stare made the woman shrink. “What was his first target?”

“One of the more average skyscrapers in Manhattan.”

“He blew it up for a specific person. Cindy Moon. That woman wanted Shang Chi’s heritage and killed his father and sister, eventually torturing and killing his girlfriend as well. He wants revenge. And I’m going to give him the opportunity for revenge.”

“Silk hasn’t been active for a few months …” Samantha gave a thoughtful look at Alex. “Suddenly, she appears and is working for Stacy Industries. The namesake of your girlfriend.”

“If you are suspicious, I didn’t know about Cindy’s affiliation with the past Ten Rings until the building blew up. I subdued her because of her obsession with Gwen.”

Samantha sighed in defeat. “Let me know what needs to be done. The resources of the Illuminati are at your disposal.”

“Thanks,” Alex gave her a pleased smile.

…

By the time the room cleared out, Gwen was the only one left. She was waiting for Alex.

“So,” Gwen looked at him pointedly. “You’re going to be my new handler now, are you?”

“I’ll handle you however you want me to,” Alex said with a smirk, extending his hand toward her. Gwen took a few seconds before holding his hand. Moments later, they appeared back in Gwen’s apartment.

“There won’t be any problems if you show them your relationship with me, will there?” She asked as her hood disappeared into her outfit, letting her blonde locks flow. Her hair appeared a little longer than usual since Gwen decided to grow it out.

“Not in the slightest. After all, you will eventually be the First Lady of the country.”

“I’d rather not …” Gwen sighed. “After hearing about your other MJ, I want to stay as far away from being the First Lady as possible.”

“What are you worried about? Do you think I have it in me to abandon you?” Alex pulled her arm and held her close, wrapping his arms around her waist. “There is no way in hell I am ever letting you go.”

“Yeah … I know,” Gwen leaned into his hug and rested her forehead on his shoulder. “Doesn’t stop me from feeling anxious, though.”

“It’s going to be fine. We will fight Shng Chi tomorrow. I will steal the two Infinity Stones from under Wanda’s nose, and we’ll bring this planet into Gaia. With all of that done, the only thing left for me will be to bond with your organs. After that, we can take that little interstellar trip that we talked about.” Alex said.

“Woah, hold up, hold up …” Gwen pulled back. “Bring into Gaia? What about that Eternal? Did it just disappear?”

“Oh, that’s simple. I’m not using the Dyson Core Shield this time. The generator won’t be powered by the core but instead will use Chaos Energy to power itself. It can be placed on the surface of the planet.”

“That seems to contradict many of the things you’ve told me before,” Gwen seemed confused.

“Yeah, kinda. I guess. But that’s why this Earth isn’t going to become an actual part of Gaia just yet. For one, they won’t be subject to the same Time Dilation field yet.”

“To keep the maturity process of the Celestial slow?”

“Yes. I’m not touching any of them before gathering all of the Infinity Stones. At least one of each fragment. Only the synergy between all six of them will allow me to take care of the threat of the Celestial.”

“Have any of your hosts told you that you have a habit of making simple things convoluted?” Gwen asked him.

“Not that I recall.”

“Well, you do. So stop it.”

“Then what would you have me do?” Alex smiled amusedly.

“Take things slow. You don’t need to rush to make this planet a part of Gaia, do you?”

“I don’t. But a planetary shield is necessary. For the sole reason that the Scarlet Angel has a superpowered army that will wantonly invade this planet if we leave it unprotected from her hands.”

“See, you should’ve told me that beforehand.”

“Just trust that what I do, I do for a reason. That way, you get to enjoy life with me while we comfortably breeze through the looming threat that’s hanging over my head like the Sword of Damocles.”

“It’s hanging over all of our heads, really,” Gwen sighed before narrowing her eyes. “Right?”

“Of course. We’re all in this together, right? It’s not like I have it any different from you all,” Alex smiled, though Gwen could tell that there was something he was hiding from her.

She shook her head in defeat and decided to change the topic, “You got stronger.”

“I did,” Alex nodded. “Do you remember seeing those three Thors in my soul three weeks ago?”

“So you finally devoured them …”

“I did. At this point, the base boost I provide to your Bioelectricity should be enough to beat up Shang Chi without any need for lightning empowerment,”

“Cool. Sadly, he also has Infinity Stones.”

“With me there, you can easily hold him back long enough until I am able to form a channel to steal his Infinity Stones.”

“You won’t fight him directly?” Gwen asked. “I thought after the thing with the Illuminati, you would choose to show your face more.”

“No. I need to be prepared for whatever Wanda throws at us. That’s also why I need to establish the planet shield. To prevent her from directly coming after us and this planet.”

“And the others? You said they would also have an important role.”

“They will,” Alex nodded, “as grunts. They will hold Shang Chi’s forces at bay while you and Cindy mess him up.”

“And where does Cindy fit in all this?”

“Why are you asking so many questions?” Alex put his hands on the sides of her face and squeezed her cheeks, making her lips look like that of a fish.

“Tew me,” Gwen’s words came out a little slurred.

“She will join one of the teams and help with the bomb diffusing process. We will be lying in wait for Shang Chi to ambush her.”