Meta Essence Gacha in Marvel

Third Person P.O.V.

A certain impasse happens when all players appear, when the key figures of this event are facing each other, peace reigns before the battle, like the calm before a storm.

Everyone is here: Viper and her agents, Romulus, Daken, Silver Samurai and his people, Wolverine and the X-Men… And Lord Drakkon is just watching the drama unfold.

"Well, well, well~ I guess it's true that if someone is alive, you are gonna eventually meet him again… And who would be able to kill you, right Logan?" Ophelia Sarkissian is the first to open her mouth while staring down at Wolverine from her high ground above some steps.

"Ophelia…" Wolverine says in a low voice

"Oh, so you remember me! What a surprise!" Viper exclaims sarcastically

"Who is the Walmart Lady Jade?" Shadowcat asks from the side

"...my ex… wife…" Logan says slowly, his voice carrying a strange and foreign tone to his voice… Shame? Guilty? Logan???

"!!!!!!" If this were an anime, Kitty's eyes would have grown so big that they would obscure all her other features. She is not the only one; every X-Men is also mouth agape.

"Damn…" Kitty mutters, looking between Logan and Ophelia "A goth mommy, really? My apologies, Logan. I was not familiar with your game." She says, impressed "And is that a whip on her waist? You kinky dog!! Putting that healing factor to use, huh? Huh??" Her grin is wide while she nudges him with an elbow

Logan wisely decides to ignore anything coming out of Kitty's mouth.

"Playing the babysitter, Logan?" Ophelia comments sardonically while sparing a look at each of the X-Men, her eyes lingering more on Laura. "Never thought you the type… You know, the responsible type, I mean." She spat the word responsible.

"People can change…" He plays it off "I'm not surprised that you didn't." He shoots back while also looking at her company of criminal minions.

"Don't you dare say that to me! Don't you dare!" Ophelia snaps angrily "You have no right! I have given up on my past for you! For us! And what did you do? WHAT DID YOU DO?? Abandoned me!"

"..."

Now, everyone looks at Logan again. Lord Drakkon is wishing for some snacks now "Damn, this is good…"

"If that is true, you are in the wrong, Logan." Kitty immediately sided with Ophelia, making Wolverine look at her with an angry raised eyebrow. "What? You fumbled the baddie, man. I love you, and because of that, I'm gonna keep it real." Kitty raises her hands in a sign of peace

Ophelia continues in an angry voice "You are the one that can't change, Logan!" She spats before turning her attention to Laura and the X-Men. "Do you like him? Do you think you can trust him? Do you think he is 'ride or die'? Do you think he has your back? Hah!" She scoffs "You will just be the last ones in the long line of people he disappointed and abandoned. It will not take long for him to find an excuse to leave you all. He doesn't care! He knows nothing but killing and being in a bad mood. He is all moody because he has to kill, and he kills when he is in a bad mood. He is the one to blame for his own actions, but only the others get hurt… Such a long life, and he never stopped despite the many opportunities. Why that? Because that is his nature! He can't change! He will be that way till the day he meets a miserable end!"

"..." The words cut deep. She can't be refuted unless they use some weak emotional arguments, but those will not hold against the proof that is her own experience.

"Don't even try to argue. I was not the only one…" Ophelia controls the conversation so that they don't have the time to argue; her tone changes to one that is disgustingly sweet. "Why don't you try to guess who is the mother of Daken over here, Logan?"

"..."

"Oh~ Do you think he is a clone like that one? Oh my~ Wrong again." She covers her mouth with her fingers, faux surprise evident in her expression

"..." Logan's nose furrows in anger

"C'mon, even your animalistic brain can piece one plus one… We are in Japan… It's your biological son…" Her voice is like a knife buried in Logan's flesh and twisting inside

A memory appears on Logan's mind, a memory that is fighting hard to keep buried… But Ophelia's words are digging them.

Logan had a wife in Japan, long ago, but like most people who get close to him… She died. One day, he came back home to find her pregnant wife, Akihiro Itsu, dead. The famous killer Winter Soldier is standing over her dead, mangled body.

That night is not only what he likes to think about, but he doesn't even remember much beyond seeing red and going into the famous Wolverine Rage. It was awful in many ways; he was not even able to kill the bastard.

"It can't be…" Logan's horrified eyes slowly move to meet Daken's angry ones.

"HAHAHAHA!" Seeing that expression on his face brings unspeakable joy to Ophelia, so much that she can't help but cackle like a witch.

"You!" Wolverine turns to her with accusatory eyes full of anger

"Oh dear~, I wish that was me." Ophelia says full of regret, still looking amused.

Romulus hasn't fully revealed himself yet, his silhouette hiding in the shadows, which is why he was not suspected.

Ophelia's denial is not good enough for Logan, and in a Wolverine fashion, he jumps to attack her. Maybe he should focus on other issues, like his long-lost son, but his instincts tell him to get rid of the real enemies for now.

Or maybe he is simply avoiding the issue, running away. Fighting is easier than talking.

"Jumping to violence, huh? Typical~" Ophelia scoffs "Better that than face your past, RIGHT?!?" She removes the whip from her waist and cracks it at Wolverine, who was mid-jump.

The dark green whip hits the meta on the shoulder and back, with enough force to throw him straight to the ground. Viper is also an enhanced individual, older than she looks, so she was able to react to Wolverine's attack.

"You really don't change. So predictable…" Viper drawls.

The start of their battle jumpstarts the action throughout the whole battlefield. Hydra minions fighting ninjas, Daken fights Spyke and Laura, Nightcrawler and Shadowcat dealing with soldiers of both sides.

Spyke's help doesn't go far. He pretended to assist Laura in subduing Daken without the need of fighting too much, but he underestimated the ferocity of "wolverines". It's a bloodshed, something he can't keep up without a healing factor like theirs.

He also quickly discovered that Daken would not be easily subdued without a lot of bloodshed. Daken looks a little worse for wear because he doesn't have an adamantium skeleton; Laura's claws go through his like a knife through butter.

But for some reason, at some point, Laura starts fighting a little sluggishly after some time, like she was drugged. They don't know, but Daken has an extra power that allows him to secrete pheromones. Beyond the normal use of pheromones to influence females, he can also instill all kinds of feelings in people exposed to this, messing with their perception.

He starts gaining an upper hand when Laura starts blinking uncontrollably, her small nose furrowing. He took an opportunity to dash at her and gore her with his claws.

ATCHOO But too bad for him, she is 90% unaffected. After that sneeze, she focused again, took the attack on her stomach, but cut his arm afterwards. And then the other, making him a stump of a man.

There's a certain interesting piece of knowledge about meta-powers that is still unknown to almost everyone, even for most the meta-humans themselves… For some reason, blood-related metas tend to be immune to the powers of each other.

From his pheromones, Laura just felt some annoyance on her nose, like she had breathed out pollen, which is why she was distracted.

Some other famous cases are the instances where Emma Frost can't mind control her sisters. This goes as far as powers that you wouldn't think would work like that… For example, the Summers siblings seem to be immune to the energy projections of each other.

The reason is still unknown, and even Hector lacks understanding of this phenomenon because of the lack of material to study.

He is especially intrigued by the Summers' siblings' case. How can you be immune to such direct attack? He can understand telepathy and pheromones… There are obvious exceptions, too. Like the fact, it's impossible to be immune to truly physical powers, like the claws that are cutting each other.

'Maybe the fact that it affected Laura a bit is because she is half-Logan clone and half his daughter. I don't know if it's the same with the parent-child relationship… I'm gonna ask Emma later, she dealt with her father.' Lord Drakkon thinks while watching everything that is happening below.

He thinks that despite her cute, doll-like appearance, Laura is really ruthless. She removed her brother's arms without even blinking, and now she is going to do the same with his legs.

If someone didn't intervene, of course... Laura was pulling her arm back to do a full swing when Romulus suddenly appeared to teleport beside her, his big hand grabs her head, forces her down, sliding it through the ground before throwing her at a wall like a ragdoll.

The sudden development causes some pauses, but each one has their own fights, so they can't do much.

"Now there's a Grandpa Wolverine…" Except Kitty, who appears from the wall where Laura was thrown a little before Romulus gets to her, grabs Laura, and disappears.

"..." Romulus looks at the empty wall with narrowed eyes, his instincts warn him, and he is able to dodge the trap set in the next moments.

Laura suddenly phased through the ground behind him, emerging from it with a jump. Romulus was able to see Shadowcat's hand beneath one of her feet before it disappeared on the ground again.

The combined sneak attack was effective, but not by much, only able to allow Laura to sink her claws into Romulus's forearm and chest. The bigger man also has a healing factor, so he just takes her attacks and locks her between his arm and torso.

"Ugh! Grrr!" She struggles a little in the bear hug. Romulus is confident she can't escape, but she pulls her feet back and kicks his crotch. Snikt With the hidden claw appearing just before her foot connects.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRgghhhhhhh!!" Not even the ancient Romulus can keep a straight face when an adamantium blade pierces that area.

Lord Drakkon also visibly winced 'I would feel that even with my powers to literally turn-off pain'

That attack was enough to give Laura some edge, but Romulus is disciplined enough to ignore it after a few seconds of pain. He is a better and experienced fighter too.

"A Healing Factor will not help after I break you." He growls and punches Laura's face viciously, sending her flying.

Romulus doesn't know that, but he almost died at that moment. The immortal man's life expectancy is dwindling because one man is watching him.

That attack made Hector narrow his eyes behind his red visor, if not for the fact that Laura is a crazy ball of fury and he knows that she is not that fragile mentally… He also thinks that Eidolon doesn't need to make an appearance here, it would mess up his plans.

And they have Shadowcat and Nightcrawler, so no one here should be able to hold the X-Men.

But he doesn't like Romulus… He will sabotage the ancient man's partnership with Hydra.

He observes everything happening from his privileged position. The X-Men are well-trained, and their powers make it easy for them to deal with even trained humans. They also have more metas.

Surprisingly, Viper is dealing with Wolverine and apparently winning. It seems the saying that "Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned" is true. Hector's trained eye can see that her movements are pretty good against Logan… She trained to fight him. She visualized this day many times.

She is keeping her distance, from a high ground, keeping a medium distance, attacking unpredictably to explore the best quality of her whip. And her Whip is not normal either, it has a high voltage running through it… a good counter to any Brute with a healing factor. Logan can't try to hold and cut the whip, and the thing even resists the adamantium claws!

Looking attentively, Hector can see that the whip is covered with scales to simulate a snake; each scale is made of adamantium and gives flexibility to the whip.

She really prepared for this day, it almost makes the Batman on him praise her. And she is enjoying every moment. Each strike that takes a chunk of the feral meta makes her smile with joy.

And maybe that is why she didn't see the danger approaching…

The Silver Samurai is skilled enough to almost kill Spyke and be on high alert for Nightcrawler, who is teleporting away his subordinates. Kurt decided not to risk having a blade on his gut during the two seconds needed to do his trick. He almost died once in this battle against the samurai.

Having time to breathe, the Silver Samurai didn't hesitate to advance on Ophelia. The Viper and the Yashida family have some history, and she stole some secrets from them. Secrets that they would prefer that get buried with the woman.

Swish Sszzz

The heated adamantium blade cuts the air, a long thrust propelled by the simple but powerful adamantium power armor.

Viper only has the time to widen her eyes when she notices the tip of the katana just a foot away from her. Her choice of weapon, the whip, is a bad matchup to defend against this attack.

Luckily for her, she has the strongest ally…

"Mikiri Counter…" Bam Lord Drakkon says casually while he appears and immediately steps on the Silver Samurai's hands, making the blade go down and pierce the ground.

He doesn't waste time before grabbing the Silver Samurai helmet-covered head, his fingers acting like claws, and spinning once before throwing him into a wall.

Boom

"Don't you know that it is rude to pierce people with 3000 degrees adamantium odachis?" Lord Drakkon asks "I thought the Japanese are polite…"

"Took you long enough…" Ophelia says, trying to sound calm, but relief is evident in her tone.

"I was napping."

"...didn't you say that evil never sleeps and neither you?" She deadpans.

"I never said that." Lord Drakkon denies it shamelessly "It's always good to recover your energies to fight evil at top shape." After saying that, he strikes a super sentai pose, crouching down a little and with his arms stretched in odd directions.

"That suit is super cool!" Kitty says, her eyes shining in amazement.

"Thank you, finally someone appreciates it." Lord Drakkon gives her a thumbs up.

"Don't get all chummy with our enemies." Viper interrupts, "I still want to kill my ex-husband."

"...you married him?" Lord Drakkon seems surprised, even with his helmet covering his whole face, looking between the two "You could have done better."

"Thank you, I know now." Viper smiles, acting all intimate with him to make Logan jealous.

"I was talking with him…"

"..." her smile freezes pretty fast, her hand caressing his chest too.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Kitty has a belly laugh because of that. "I like that guy."

"Which side are you on?" Viper deadpans again.

"Justice!"

"..." She sighs and facepalms "Whatever, go deal with them."

"Don't wanna." He answers immediately, crossing his arms.

"What?"

"I say that I don't wanna…" He repeats himself "If you ask me, I would say that everyone here is kinda wrong… except the minors… So, I really don't wanna get involved with this whole debacle. I just intervened because you would have died. You are welcome, by the way."

"..." There it is. The uncontrollable nature of this guy, Viper needs to play smart. "But your mission is to protect the cargo, and they are attacking us."

"It doesn't look like it." Lord Drakkon answers and folds his arms in front of his chest. "This battle looks petty and meaningless."

The exchange is heard by everyone, and the whole battlefield finally really pauses to listen, because they instinctively feel that it is important… Whatever is decided on this talk can change the course of the battle.

"Let's do this way, I will send my men to continue to carry everything and you protect our retreat." Viper compromises, focusing on the mission. Lord Drakkon is all about completing the mission, so she will put him to use

"That I can do." He finally agrees

"And grab that small hairy man over here for me too." She points at Wolverine.

"No promises on this part…" Lord Drakkon says and starts walking towards the battlefield. "Grabbing hairy men is gay."

The Hydra agents quickly scurry back while he alone faces Wolverine, the X-Men, Silver Samurai, Romulus, Daken, and all the ninjas.

"Ikuzo." Removing Saba and his Dragon Dagger from his waist, he looks at the Silver Samurai but says to everyone "This… will only take a moment." It seems that he is surfing on the Sekiro wave now. He is probably gonna make references, like quotes and moves from the game, through the whole fight.

He attacks both Wolverine and the Silver Samurai at the same time. He dashes between the two and spins to make a circular slash. His blade cuts Wolverine in the chest but passes harmlessly through the Silver Samurai armor.

The two are unbothered and immediately retaliate with slashes on their own. Lord Drakkon sidesteps quickly enough to leave a faint after-image and looks at his weapons and at the damage caused.

"Okay, let's do this the old-fashioned way." He puts the blades back on his waist and assumes a fighting stance, his hand simulating dragon claws. No need to dispute sharpness with adamantium, he may try to coat his weapons in some energy like Nen or haki, but maybe Logan's acute senses could recognize him. He is really going with the old way.

The Silver Samurai comes with a powerful step and brings down his sword at Lord Drakkon.

"Ichimonji?" Lord Drakkon kicks the samurai's support leg and delivers a palm strike to his chest. The shockwaves of his attack bypassed the armor and hit the man inside.

The Silver Samurai would be sent flying by the attack, but surprisingly he stayed in place, the force not dispersing in momentum to move him, but instead rampaging through his body.

While the body of his enemy is shaking, Lord Drakkon grabs his forearm, tugs it to make him drop his katana, and then dislocates all three joints before kicking him in his unprotected, chin, sending him flying.

'I guess I need this guy alive for now…' He thinks before changing focus to the snarling Wolverine jumping at him.

"Time to make your curse your healing factor, animal man." Lord Drakkon declares before facing the dangerous claws without fear.

His hand grabs Wolverine's wrists, rendering his natural weapons useless, and then he mercilessly kicks Logan's balls.

BAM

The blow is strong enough to create a loud, muffled sound. Wolverine doesn't shout, but his face becomes red and filled with veins, and a heavy snarl appears.

Lord Drakkon doesn't respect any code of honor, he doesn't even give Wolverine the courtesy of recovering. He stabs the meta's eyes with two fingers and then delivers consecutive fast strikes in places where it will hurt… Throat, solar plexus, liver, joints… He is stun-locking the feral meta through continuous pain.

But to Wolverine, pain is nothing new, he recovers his bearing incredibly fast and swings with his right arm.

Lord Drakkon simply takes a step back, and the adamantium claws cut nothing but the air.

"Oops~ Too bad you have short baby arms." He taunts, despite not understanding his enemy. He spins on himself, and his bigger range allows him to safely deliver a kick to Wolverine's chest.

He stops caring about Wolverine in the next instant, changing targets to Romulus, who is almost dominating and capturing Laura.

Lord Drakkon appears above him and brings down an axe kick on the ancient man, stopping his actions. Boom

"Don't you know that I was with Viper?" Romulus says while standing up from the small crater created by the attack.

"Oh… I don't care." Lord Drakkon says before grabbing his face the same way he did with Laura and dragging him across the ground. After that, he put more strength in his arm and literally buried the Romulus's head, and then started delivering a flurry of attacks on the rest of his body.

Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak Tak

Each strike deliberately hits a joint, nerve, or tendon… With surgeon precision, he makes Romulus' whole body go numb, too.

"Mada Mada koinu yo." After the job well done, he quickly moves to Daken and simply dodges a swipe and kicks the young man into a wall.

He obviously can't forget about the X-Men… Dashing at Shadowcat, he punches her… Boom But his fist goes through her, creating a hole in the wall behind.

She looks down to where his arm is going through her chest and looks up to look at him. "I liked you more when you were not trying to kill me."

"Is that really a friendship breaker?" Lord Drakkon asks

"Well, in Logan's book… no."

"See?"

Bamf While they are having a casual chat, Nightcrawler appears behind Lord Drakkon, grabs his shoulder, and teleports away with him.

Bamf Then he goes back two seconds later. "He almost tore off my arm…" Kurt comments.

Ssssss

Before Kitty can comment, they hear a strange sound close to them, and looking around, they notice a thin line in the air growing in length. When the tip of a blade appears from the other side, they start getting worried.

"What sort of Sword of Actuation bullshit is this?" Kitty asks while seeing Lord Drakkon stepping out of the cut in space "Is there a sale on those kinds of blades? I want one too!"

"That's the second time someone tried to do this to me recently." Lord Drakkon says, "What happened to fight honorably?"

"I just saw you kicking Logan's nuts." Kitty points out

"There's no honor in a fight, only victory matters." He answers confidently

"Dude… You.. I… Are you hearing yourself?" Kitty has her first taste of Lord Drakkon's erratic personality.

"Stop stalling! You're all against me! Let's Go!" Lord Drakkon strikes a super sentai fighting pose and gets ready to distribute his hands to everyone indiscriminately. "Mayoeba yabureru!(Hesitation is defeat!)"

..............

Later, Viper was overseeing the last of the equipment being loaded in the submarines when she heard Lord Drakkon coming back.

Turning around, she frowns seeing the ones that he is dragging on the ground.

"Your ex escaped. Teleporters are tricky." He says

"Can't you teleport, too?" She asks

"His activation is much easier and faster." Lord Drakkon shrugs before throwing the bloodied Romulus and Daken on the ground.

"And… Why are you bringing our partners this way?"

"...Sorry, I mistook him with Wolverine." Lord Drakkon says it, but there's not a hint of apology in his voice. "You asked me to bring him, so…"

"He looks very battered…" Viper says while staring at the unconscious Romulus

"He resisted… a lot."

"..."

"..."

"Whatever… This can work too." She says before turning to her agents and ordering, "Put some adamantium cuffs on the two!" Turning back to Lord Drakkon she comments "We will need to change our methods, but not our plans… We can take the information we want from Romulus."

Ophelia doesn't care what happens with Romulus; her order is to cooperate, but the higher-ups know how to cut losses and go for alternative routes easily. If cooperation is impossible now, they can always try domination.

But it will take some time… So Hector delayed their plans while looking like he put her in a more advantageous situation.

'As if I'm gonna let you restart Project Weapon X again…' He thinks. Now he just needs to set a time for another raid.

He will continue like that… Gaining time, creating chaos, acquiring information… Everything to the day that Hydra will fall.

'I also gave an indirect lesson to the X-Men, so today can be considered a win.'

............….

Poison Ivy/Pamela Isley

Pamela wakes up very lost. Her mind still hasn't caught up with the strange environment and sensations, there is some soreness in the right places, phantom feelings of a night well lived… Ah, yes. She has been fucked good.

Sitting up, she facepalms. Luckily, only Harley is still peacefully snoring at her side, she has always been a heavy sleeper. That is good because now Pamela can cringe without anyone seeing…

She was talked into a threesome with a man… She really went crazy with a dude she just met and was ready to hate his guts. That is not even the worst part; the worst part is that she did things… She did things that no man is worthy of, no man deserves the service she gave last night.

And she really went all out. Was she drugged? It's weird to her, the Poison Ivy, feels offended about that… But she was immune to almost anything chemically based, so she doesn't think so.

Everything that happened is on her… No, on Harley… No, on that guy! He is the one at fault! That smooth-talking sleazy bastard… He looks all harmless, but he is a predator.

From an outside perspective, anyone would think that the duo of supervillainesses would take advantage of the poor nerdy dude, chew him and spit him out dry and boneless… But no, oh no.

He was in control the whole time… Doing the bare minimum! Why did she go through such lengths to do things to please him again? It's just because it was great sex? Was she repaying the favor for the explosion of orgasms?

'Am I that easy?' She is starting to think that she was no different from those sheep women who think with their vagina and hormones.

"Hmm~, you are not easy, Pammy~" Like she was reading her mind, Harley's first words after waking up answered her, "It's just that H-Man has this effect. It's normal…" She says while lazily stretching herself beneath the covers like a cat.

"H-Man?"

"Hehe, it was just another silly nickname, but he said that it was like calling him a pervert in Japanese. H(Ecchi) Man. Hehe~, so I use it when talking about sexy things." Harley explains the lore behind this particular name.

"Pervert is fitting for that guy." Pamela scoffs "Where was here anyway? Does he pump and dump? I'm not surprised…"

"Chill lady… He is a busy man. Big hero, you know? Like the fusion of Superman and Batman."

"That is not scary at all…" Pamela says sarcastically "And you are quick to defend him, huh?" She narrows her eyes

"You are quick to attack him." Harley replies "Don't judge our man like that. He is probably making us breakfast. He is considerate like that."

"Our man? As if!"

"Did you girls call?" Like summoned, Hector appears in the room, shirtless, wearing only sweatpants. His nerdy persona is not keeping up while he has nothing covering it.

As Harley said, he was indeed bringing them breakfast in bed, making some trays of food float. Pamela ignores the good smell and slowly, almost sheepishly covers her nudity with the blanket.

This action baffles her a little… She is Poison Ivy, a certified femme fatale! Why is she acting all shy around this guy? It must be because he is not worthy of gazing at her female form. That's it!

"Good morning." He says casually, and equally calmly, he lowers himself to deliver a peck on Harley's lips and then on hers… And for some reason, she just allowed it!

Seriously, what is happening to her? Okay, now she is gonna center herself!

"It's a little confusing to deduce what you can eat, but Harley told me that you don't mind eating meat and parts of plants that do not hurt a plant when harvested." He says while explaining the breakfast. An array of light meat, cheese, bread, and fruits.

"Okay…" She nods, he is right, but she doesn't thank him.

"I have things to do today. Harley can show you your new home later." He says before smiling and standing up to walk away.

"Wait!" She calls, the plants that are only covering her wrists and ankles growing to create a tight suit around her body. "We need to talk." She says strongly, her eyes hard and her stance confrontational.

"..." Hector gives a glance to Harley, who is simply stuffing her mouth with food. The clown woman raises her shoulders in a big shrug, so he also shows an 'I don't care' expression. "Fine. Follow me then." And he turns to walk away.

"..." She stays rooted in place for a few seconds before begrudgingly starting to follow him. She! Following a man… Men chase her! That is a new experience.

He doesn't say anything even when they walk side by side. As if she walked behind him like an obedient wife.

He guides her to a hallway that ends in some double doors that open to them, but Hector stops her before crossing them.

"What?"

"Just changing some of the security features… done. Let's go." He says and then allows Pamela to walk inside.

It's the bridge of this Space Station, the commanding center. Pamela can see many empty seats, from workers who are not here or don't even exist. Only some small robots walk around a little.

In the front, many screens shows the most diverse things… security camera footage, news reports, graphs, scans of certain areas that she doesn't recognize, faces of people she doesn't know…

"We can talk here." he says. His body is turned to her, but she can feel his attention on the many screens.

"Alright then, I will be direct…" Poison Ivy steps toward his face aggressively

"A woman being direct, we are off to a good start." Hector says sarcastically, not allowing her to control the conversation.

"Listen here, you little shit… What is your deal anyway?" Poison Ivy points at his calm face, her own features a half-snarl.

"Deal? You are gonna need to be a little more specific than that…"

"Your deal! What are you up to? What do you want from me and Harley anyway? I swear, if you hurt her, I'm gonna put seeds up your ass and make them grow in sequoias." She threatens

Despite the horrible threat, Hector just chuckles "I see… We kinda skipped the conversation to acclimate you to your new environment. I'm sorry, I kinda got lost between your legs." He smiles roguishly

Pamela controls a blush. She shouldn't blush that easily, but the memories of last night are still too fresh "And whose fault is that?" She shoots back

"Harley." he answers without missing a beat.

"...yeah, that's true." She needs to concede on that "But don't act like it was some chore that you need to do, you bastard."

"Don't act like you didn't enjoy either." He continues to answer immediately

Pamela is not liking losing the argument here, so she changes to some reliable ad hominem "Fuck you."

"You already did. Wanna do it again?"

"Grrrrr." This guy is simply so infuriating. The plants around her body are already starting to shake.

"Okay, okay. I will stop rage-baiting you." He laughs while saying softly. He lowered his guard and casually stroked her hair. "Why don't we start again properly?"

Poison Ivy defensively slaps his hand away, but that only allows him to grab her hand and kiss her knuckles romantically.

"C'mon, Pamela… What do you gain by antagonizing me?" He asks with a smooth voice, his lips still grazing her fingers while he speaks.

That sight is strangely stimulating to Poison Ivy… It should be very innocent, but last night. She had a very similar view.

Eye contact while his head is down, his lips kissing her skin… Even the way he kisses the gap between her fingers. He is simulating the way he kissed her lower lips! This guy is a fucking manipulative menace!

The worst thing is that it is working! Tingles spread through her skin; it was like his kisses were triggers that made her body remember everything.

"Stop that!" She pulls her hand away

"Stop what?" He asks innocently "Stop making it work? Sorry, but I promised Harley that I would make the effort."

"Then you can forget about it! Whatever is …THIS!" She gestures between them "It's not gonna work!"

"...why?"

"Wha-why?" The question is so sudden and broad, she doesn't know how to answer. "Because I don't want it to work." She decides to go with something he can't refute.

"Why?" He keeps his calm tone

"...I am seriously gonna kill you." His calm is infuriating her. She feels like she walking in circles on the palm of his hands.

"And I'm seriously asking a question, 'Why?'." He tilts his head to the side, looking genuinely curious "Why don't you want to try to make this work? Harley thinks it can work… Shouldn't we make an effort for our beloved in common?"

"Harley doesn't know what she is talking about! She doesn't know where she got herself to begin!"

"You're the one who doesn't know. I know it is not something you like to hear, as her ex and all that, but… Harley is happier than she has ever been." Hector says, not with a smug face, but one of pity. Like a doctor passing some bad news.

"You don't know that!"

"I know. She told me a lot. She told me everything." Hector says with confidence, "How her life has always been an uncontrollable mess. How her mistakes always come back to mess with her present and future, like trying to keep two Dobermans in a bathtub, like trying to juggle too many balls… Now, she has a clean slate, and she is able to restart. To leave behind the things that are holding her down and keep what she likes about herself… Don't you see, Pamela Isley? She wants to keep you in her life, because she likes you, despite abandoning a lot of her past."

"..."

"Like her, you are also thrown into this supers world very suddenly and made a lot of mistakes that branded you deeply. You really tried to kill all of Gotham first thing after the accident, you can't tell me that you're in your right mind… You surely were overwhelmed by the new sensations, chemicals affecting your brain and hormones… Now you can start again, like her… You are wiser, have better control. You can try changing the world without the stigma of super villainess and eco-terrorist that would make everyone ignore your good intentions."

"..." The words are getting into her… She doesn't want to listen, but she can't help herself.

Hector is simply too charismatic, he knows exactly what to say, and how to sell his cause… he praises without creating arrogance, he points out mistakes without offending, he remembers them of old ambitions…

"Unless you gave up on changing the world? In saving nature?" He asks with a tilt of his head

"What?! No!" She answers too fast. In truth, she kinda stopped trying. It's the thing that was always in her mind, she was always planning the next step, connecting the next plan… But recently? She just lived her life. Still, the same Poison Ivy that loves nature, but… Less enthusiastic.

"It's okay, it's natural to be discouraged when your efforts are not rewarded. You don't need to be ashamed or feel like a betrayer of the cause" Hector comforts her, striking the head of the nail. "You know that I can help you like I helped Harley, right?"

"So that is your game? You buy us with those… things." She accuses

"That is an oversimplification and a falsehood." He defends himself "This is not my full game, and I don't buy anyone." After a pause to look at his computer, he continues, the screens changing to show different scenes. "You don't know it, but I'm working hard on a plan to create a better world, and not only in one aspect. I'm talking about advancing technologically, morally, militarily, and even in developing synergy with nature while progressing." He points at her on the last part "The people I bring here, like you and her, are the ones that can help me keep a hand in those many branches. Harley found her place, she is enjoying working as a therapist again and I even had a talk with some heroes about it. A hero therapist, can you imagine how many situations would not escalate if people stopped and self-reflect? And obviously, I would want your help in protecting nature while making society advance… To create a future that is both green and metal."

To illustrate that he points at the screens showing some examples "Not that I want to brag, but check this."

She looks, and the screen shows all kinds of eco-friendly activities done by a black-clad hero. Hector explained that it was his hero persona, very different from his normal one, she noticed.

There are videos of him cleaning rivers and seas, stopping forests from burning and even making them grow back, working with some scientists to restore icebergs, healing animals, and even a brief appearance at a fundraiser for the ecosystem.

"I normally don't work with NGOs, many are corrupt, but that one was small and still has a heart. It was to take care of sanctuary park, my appearance brought attention to the cause and saved some species of plants in animals in danger." he explains "I don't need to work with scientists but they can learn from me and they presence can give people's peace of mind that I'm not doing anything reckless or acting arbitrarily. I sometimes help the ones that I know are good people. You are a scientist too, you must imagine how much money and time can be saved if a Superman-level hero helps, even if only to collect samples in hard places… Like the bottom of the ocean."

"..."

"There's also my Project Noah's Ark 2.0, where I collected and cataloged the genetic material of every species on Earth, including plants. One day, I will terraform Mars and we will have a second chance to seamlessly fuse modernity with nature." He says while showing some future plans, simulations of the Mars benign terraformed, the plants' DNA cataloged, how cities will be, a perfect fusion of sleek futuristic design with the green that should cover Earth. "If you want a smaller project, there's a Living Island meta that I have been talking about for some time. One day, maybe I can establish a nation there, obviously respecting his body. The plan is to lead by example… Showing how we can progress while respecting our land."

Pamela would be lying if she said, that she can't help the botanist in her from asking some questions while looking at some research titles and the information shown.

Hector answers everything with an expertise that surprises her. So the guy is smart… They talk a lot, Pamela doesn't even know how casually they are talking and how close they got.

"This theoretical Ember of Genesis would be the dream come true." She comments after going through dozens of research and plans "It would be able to terraform the whole Solar System in a day."

"It's not theoretical, it really exists in another universe… I don't know if it exists in this universe though." Hector says

"And why don't you go looking for it?"

"I can't leave Earth undefended for now. I'm waiting for more heroes to appear, and it is not a priority-

"Not a priority?" She interrupts with a raised eyebrow, almost offended

"...not a priority to find here. When I'm really ready to use it, I can simply go to the universe where I know it exists. I recently got the means of almost freely traveling the Multiverse."

"Ready to use?"

"Don't act coy, you know that something so game-breaking like that needs to be used in the correct way and will need to be protected well afterward. It doesn't matter if your intentions are good; certain things need the proper steps to work properly. That's why you failed to pass your message."

"Hmpf." It's a testament that she warmed up to him, the fact that she didn't go all defensive and simply accepted his jab.

She will not admit it loudly but trying to restore the ecosystem by committing genocide is not something most people would get behind.

"Don't be like that~" Hector pokes her nose playfully "Now you have the chance to do it properly, with all the experience from before and my support. I bet people are gonna listen to a hot green woman telling them to save the environment. The simps are gonna be recycling like crazy."

She doesn't even know what a simp is but she can imagine, laughing all the same.

"The real problem is the big corporations." She says

"That's true. They sold the lie that 'everyone should do their part to save the world' to put the responsibility on the population but they are the ones destroying most of the world. The difference is so big that it's not even funny." Hector nods "But if we play our cards right, some PR plays, they would change their ways slowly."

"Do you think?" She asks skeptically.

"Yes." he nods. "They really don't care, money is their god, but we can make them care if it makes them look bad if they don't. I can expose them, I have enough influence for that… Then maybe supporting the one that is willing to work properly. I will present them as the better alternative and the people will follow me… the other companies will be forced to adapt to recover their space in the market."

"So it's really all about money…" She sighs

"It's how the world rolls…" he shrugs. "We can act like hippies, giving away all the solutions for free, but they would not take it. We need to play the game. Yes, the game is rigged from the start… But I'm a cheater." Hector says almost proudly "I'm gonna win in the end."

"A cheater, huh?" She eyes him carefully "How far are you willing to go for this?" She probes.

His eyes get serious… The most serious she has seen him. Pamela can't help but go stiff, this is a different Hector.

"Very far. All the way..." he says slowly, his voice deep.

It's not a clear answer, but it is enough for her. At this point, she understood that this hero is not a goody-two-shoes. That's why Harley said that she would like him. Poison Ivy tends to dislike the ones that look good on paper but really don't do much. The ones that keep their pristine image by not getting their hands dirty.

The fusion of Batman and Superman… She remembers Harley's words.

Staring at his clear blue eyes, she felt like she had finally seen a glimpse of his true self. Only a glimpse, it's not enough and she is still curious, eager to discover more… Slowly falling into the trap…

And she can't help but get a little aroused by this dangerous man. Her type… Harley knows her really well.

He continues to stare at her silently, those shining blue orbs emanating intensity. The mood shifted to something a little more heated. They were close enough, she raised her chin… They don't break eye contact…

"PAMMYYY!!! Ya didn't eat!" Harley appears at the door holding a tray of food "Oh! Ooooooohhh~" She shows surprise seeing how close they are to each other before her smile widens to comical proportions.

"Ahem Thanks, dear." Poison Ivy needs to defend her image, so she separates a little of Hector, her cheeks a darker tone of green.

Hector, on the other hand, knows no shame, so he puts his arm around Pamela and pulls her to him "You should eat properly. And put on some clothes, Harley. Aren't you cold?"

"Nah, I'm good. Since the procedure, I do not get cold." Harley says while bringing the food, but Hector nonetheless puts on some robes from somewhere and puts them around her before giving her a peck on her lips. "So, are you two getting along now?" Harley asks with a smile.

Her eyes lingered on Hector's hand around Pamela's waist, despite looking uncomfortable that Harley noticed that the green villainess didn't remove his hand.

"We are getting to know each other." Hector answers

"Yeah, he proved himself a little different from my initial impression of him." Pamela admits

"She is exactly like how I imagined her to be." On the other hand, Hector roasts Pamela a little.

"Hey!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry, Pammy." Harley goes to whisper in her ear "We are exactly his type too."

"..."

He doesn't deny it.

............

Hector P.O.V.

Now I finally have some time to myself.

It was harder than Harley, but Poison Ivy was not an impossible hill. As Harley predicted, we ended up getting along. She still has some walls between us, but that is okay; these ones need time, and we are bound to be close from now on.

The reason for my confidence is the fact that I know her very well and have Harley's help. Poison Ivy is kinda one-directional in her ambitions and beliefs, obviously, she is a real person, as complex as anyone else, filled with nuances and all that… But when you know what a woman likes and dislikes… Tsk, tsk… Too easy.

Raven is harder than her, but I guess is because of the trauma.

Aah~, why the only time daddy issues don't help me get the girl is with the girl I really want? Damn Trigon, I'm gonna put you on my list.

"Master, it has been some development with the Fantastic Four." Cortana reports to me.

"What now? Another portal?" Does Reed even learn from his mistakes?

"No, they delve deep into the ocean to investigate some strange seismic activity and sightings of sea monsters. I think you should be aware of it."

"...the ocean? Atlantis…" I remember that sea monster Cassandra and I found that day.

So there's really something happening down there.

"Well, everyone has their own adventures… The Ocean can be more dangerous than Space but I guess they are competent enough to deal with this." And they're going prepared, not like when they are captured by Annihilus.

"Master… Remember the relationship link charts you made from all the people here." Cortana says in a strange tone.

I pause and turn to her slowly "You wouldn't think Namor will try to kidnap Invisible Woman, right?" This is not the 80s, she is not a damsel in distress and the guy would not be that much of a loser.

"..." Cortana only gives me a look. "You told me to never underestimate people's stupidity."

I sigh. I can already predict what is gonna happen without even using any power.

I guess it is to be expected that my first meeting with him to become some dick-measuring contest. If he were smart, he would not try anything… neither kidnap Susan, nor fight me when I stop him… And he is smart!

The problem is the other thing that affects a lot of people around here… his ego.

"...send a drone to watch them." Well, that can be interesting too… Things have been too peaceful lately, and I was almost dreading the next crisis. I didn't do much during the Dormammu invasion either.

It has been some time since Eidolon has seen some real action, but maybe is the right move to let others shine too.

.....

A.N.:Hello there.

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