CHAPTER 72

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It had been a month since my last mission with Fury, and during these last thirty days, I had focused on my lab work, but still, the vibrant memories of Copycat and her death haunted me in the darkest corners of my subconscious.

I didn't understand why death was something I had already seen in large numbers to the point that I no longer saw any difference between slaughtering animals for food or killing a human to complete my goals.

Her death, although brutal and painful, shouldn't affect me. 

What bothered me was not her death as such; it was her look of dread after transforming into me, after trying to use my powers against me.

Her screams for mercy.

I had to be honest with myself. What really kept Copycat's last moments on earth in my mind was the doubt she had awakened in me. Where did my powers come from?

I wasn't so blind not to notice similarities in what happened to Copycat and what happened to Betelgeuse when he tried to possess Subaru. And even though my only sample comparison came from an anime, it was the only thing that made sense to me.

Either that or my immunity to psychic attacks killed her. But I really didn't have much to go on; I had no idea if Copycat's power was psychic in nature, never read much about her.

All I knew was that she was like Mystique, but somewhat better.

Maybe I just needed to focus on my work even more.

Taking a deep breath, I turned on the lights in my lab and began to work, when suddenly, I noticed something.

Two red dots were currently approaching my house. By the looks of it, they were roughly four miles away from the neighborhood.

"I don't get a day off." I sighed, opening a portal to my kitchen to make a sandwich, considering I had like ten minutes before they were dangerously close.

"Care to make me one?" Natasha said as she walked into the kitchen with a small smile on her face.

Little by little, she was warming up to me, with Emily on the other hand; they were super tight, like real sisters. It's surprising how fast Emily manages to capture the hearts of others.

"Sure." I nodded.

"Extra ham on mine; I am a growing young lady after all." Natasha grinned.

"Aye." I chuckled.

"Dad!" Was the last thing I heard before Emily tackled with a portal hug, which is basically her opening a portal behind me to avoid possible escapes; not sure why I would never deny her a hug.

"Sup champ." I smiled, ruffling her hair. "Want a sandwich?" 

"Yes, I do." Emily nodded, jumping off me to sit beside Natasha. "Extra cheese and lettuce!" 

"Coming right up!" I nodded.

Moments like this really take a huge weight out of me; who would've thought I would come to crave normality.

"Princess Goose also wants one, but with tuna," Emily said.

"Princess Goose?" I raised an eyebrow at that as I turned around to face Emily, just to see her and Goose with a cat-sized tiara on her head. "How?"

"I made it," Emily replied proudly.

"Once again... how?" I asked as Natasha started to giggle under her breath.

"With magic." Emily grinned.

"Meow." Goose purred, her chest puffing proudly; she obviously liked the tiara.

"I also made her a dress, but I'm still trying to convince her to let me put it on on her." Emily pouted.

"I'm sure Goose will eventually let you dress her up," I replied, getting a small narrow glare from Goose. "Oops, I mean, Princess Goose." at this, she purred. She was really getting into her new role.

"I also made Nat a tiara, but she refuses to wear it in public." Emily pouted, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Natasha.

"I have a reputation to uphold." Natasha defended with a small smile. "Kids think I'm the tough girl, can't tarnish that."

"Princesses are tough!" Emily defended, with Goose nodding at her side.

"Ok, ok. Enough about that, let's eat." I chuckled, giving the girls their sandwiches, extra cheese and lettuce for Emily, and extra ham for Nat.

"Meow!" Goose complained.

"I apologize, your highness." I bowed with a smile, giving her her tuna sandwich.

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After giving the girls and her royal highness their sandwiches, I teleported to where the red dots currently were, a two-star cheap motel. Apparently, they change course to the closest motel to camp the night.

"I am very insulted; now they don't even pay my enemies good hotels, but hour motels." I chuckled, kicking the door to their room open.

When I kicked the door of the STD farm known as the hourly motel, I expected many things, one burning my boots after finishing the enemies, two rats, maybe?

But Alexei and Melena were not something I expected.

"Sir, this is our room," Melena said as Alexei approached her, looking at me with a warm smile.

Oh yeah, he didn't know how I looked.

"Didn't I impale you?" I asked, pointing to his stomach. I mean, he looked fine, fucking super soldier cheat.

What happened next took two seconds at best, one for them to realize who I was and two for them to draw their weapons.

"Yeah, not gonna fight anyone in STD villa," I stated, pushing them to the wall with my telekinesis. 

"We came here to talk!" Melina exclaimed.

"And the guns were your ice breaker?" I snorted. "And I thought I was bad at socializing."

 "It was in case we needed to defend ourselves," Alexei added.

"I would've believed that if it wasn't for the fact you two aimed your guns at me after I said hi." I rolled my eyes. "Then again, I would've aimed at me too; I am dangerous after all." 

"We truly just want to talk," Melina repeated.

"Then let's." I smiled, tightening their hold. After all, there was more than one way to talk.